He said no episode 6 – 8
HE ~SAID NO.
~
Episode 6
Grace was standing at the tail end of a long tarred road, it looked like she was waiting for someone or something. All of a sudden, she saw from a far distance, some uniformed men dragging a young man in handcuffs, up the tarred road. She could not see his face from the distance and she was hoping to see him when he got to where she was. Then she saw that it wasn’t just one man, another woman was being dragged aloñgside with him and she was also in handcuffs. But from that distance, she recognized the lady,
“Amifel! Amifel!” She scre-med, jumping as Amifel was being dragged closer, Amifel, who was in tears, couldn’t say a word as she tried to resist the uniformed men, which made them handle her quite roughly. The first man on the other hand didn’t resist the uniformed men and was just looking receptive to their directions.
“What happened? What did she do? What did he do?” Grace wondered,
Meanwhile, Amifel was soaked in tears as Grace kept scre-ming h-rder but it seemed like she was incapacitated to help sort of. But even while looking for a way to rescue Amifel, she was still trying to see the face of the young man, he had almost gotten to where she was when she woke up sweating and p-nting hærd.
It was a nightmare!
“Amifel!” She yelled as she glanced at Blessing who was sleeping on the bed they shared. She was sleeping so soundly that she didn’t move one bit.
“It’s a dream! Thank God it’s a dream, ” she heaved a sigh of relief. But her heart was heavy with a burden to pray, she hurriedly checked the time, time was 2:30 a.m at midnight.
Grace tried to reminisce about her dream. She could not see his face, and she was wondering what he could have done to deserve such harsh treatment and why was Amifel also dragged alongside him?
She decided to stop asking questions and pray instead,
“Dear Father in the name of Jesus! I call on you on behalf of Amifel, ” she started as she removed the duvet off her body and adjusted it on Blessing before standing up to pace the room so she wouldn’t sleep off,
“For every trap that has been prepared for her, there is a mighty deliverance!
The bible says in the book of Isaiah 49:24-25,
Shall the prey be taken from the mighty or the lawful captive delivered?
But thus saith the Lord , Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
*prays in the holy ghost*
There is a mighty deliverance!
*prays in the holy ghost*
Yes! Amifel, because you are precious in God’s sight, he would give other men in place of you in the name of Jesus!
You are delivered from the trap of the enemy in the name of Jesus!” She prayed, pacing the room, she prayed for over an hour till she felt the burden on her heart melt away.
“Thank you father, thank you father, ” she muttered as she laid back on her bed, and zoomed off after some minutes.
******************
Mummy grace laid on the cushion with her legs straightened out as she scrolled through her phone for her daughter’s number. She was in her shop as usual and her sales girls were attending to customers.
“Hello my daughter, how are you? ” mummy Grace asked as soon as her daughter picked up her call,
“Fine, ” she dragged, she was sleeping when her mother called,
“What of my grandson?” She asked quickly as if that was why she called,
“He is fine, he has gone to play with my neighbor’s kids, ” Mrs. Grace Akinwale quickly added before she would ask to speak to him, she always does anytime she called.
“Why! How many times would I tell you not to leave my grandson at the mercy of strangers? Ehn? ”
“Mummy, I can’t kill myself, I needed to rest!” Grace answered grudgingly as she turned on her matrimonial bed,
“You can as well lock him up in your room so that he would be within your reach, let him play with his toys and if he is tired of them, buy him new ones. People are dangerous oh!” Mummy Grace stressed,
“I have heard you, mummy, ” Grace replied reluctantly,
“My other baby nko? Hope she is kicking well?” She asked, smiling as she demonstrated it with her legs as if Grace could see her.
“He or she is fine, ” she replied bluntly,
“What of your husband?”
“He should be fine, ”
“What do you mean by, ‘he should be fine?’ Didn’t he sleep at home last night?” Mummy Grace asked,
“He did but we didn’t talk, as usual, he slept not too long after he got back and he left before I woke up this morning, ” Mrs .Grace explained,
“It is well, ” Mrs Grace said,
“It is well ke, is that all you would say? Anyway, when are you coming to visit us here? It’s been long we saw you, ”
“Visit you for what?”
“Okay, when are you coming to visit your grandson?”
“If it’s about my grandson, there are many ways to see him. You can bring him to my shop or I visit him at his school, I am not coming to your house!” She said bluntly,
“Ahn Ahn! ”
“What is Ahn Ahn? So that your husband would beat me up this time around? Shebi the last time I came, he just pushed me and I hit my head on your wall? ”
“But he has apologized and even got you expensive jewelleries to compensate you!”
“So because he bought me jewelry now, I should allow one small boy to send me to my early grave? It is his mother that he would kill not me! Even my husband did not succeed in killing me!”
“But you want him to kill me abi?” Mrs. Grace asked she was almost in tears.
“He cannot kill you, you know that your dad too was a hærd man, but a woman must be tolerant and to live with a man, Grace. People will make jest of her if she leaves her husband’s house! See me now, no one knew what was going on with me till he died, ” she stressed as one of her sales girls came to tell her that a customer wanted to buy goods in bulk and she needed her attention,
“Just keep praying, my daughter. God will see you through, Greet my son for me, and take care, shogbo? (you hear?) I have to go now, ” she concluded before hanging up, she didn’t even bother to wait for her daughter’s response.
“No child can kill me because I didn’t kill my parents!” Mummy Grace muttered as she gave a slight hiss before she standing up from the cushion to attend to the customer,
HE SAID NO
EPISODE 7 – 8
Fresh tears rolled down Mrs. Akinwale’s face, she sobbed as her mum hung up on her. She was just 25 but she looked twice her age, she wasn’t always like that, she was a beautiful lady, whose skin mimicked the color of baked clay only that hers shone brighter. Thanks to her father, professor Abiodun, she grew up to be an ambitious young lady with a promising future, her father was a solid source of moral support for her and her younger brother, even though she only discovered this after her father passed on mysteriously.
She remembered how her mum used to tell her to introduce a man to her when she had none. She remembered how she met Akinwale, the short, dark, and plump young man with a broken front tooth. Although he was well-read, he had a staunch local Ekiti accent, Akinwale wasn’t her type so she paid him no attention at first until he trolled her home and met her mum. Her mum liked him from the very first day, maybe it was because she was eager to give her out in marriage but she didn’t want to get married yet, she still wanted to take her time, she had always wanted to get a masters degree in English and build a career in the communications industry, but her mum wanted a grandson, she wanted to show off to her friends. She just hoped that Daniel, her younger brother, and only sibling won’t fall prey to her mummy’s gimmicks/ tactics.
She knew that if her father, were alive, he would never consent to her getting married without at least, a master’s degree. Now she is stuck with a man with anger issues, and she had no one to run to, she rubbed her belly, which was gradually shooting out ~as she blew her nose into the edge of her wrapper. Getting married to Akinwale not only stopped her from furthering her education, but it al~ so shattered all her dreams of being a career woman.
After they had Tobi, he made her quit her job at the Oriental T.V where she worked as a presenter and told her that he would take care of the bills while she played the role of a full housewife.
Akinwale initially appeared to her as a sweet young man who could barely talk, or maybe that was the only part he showed her and that made her change her mind about him quickly.
She remembered a particular incident that made her wonder if Akinwale was actually who she thought he was…
**********************
Grace Biodun had gone to visit her fiancé, Akinwale in his house, he seemed excited to see her even though it wasn’t her first time visiting, at a point, Akinwale excused himself to get something, he came back home after some minutes with a plate of peppered meat and two mini bowls of ice-cream, she was seeing a movie on his laptop and he just joined in,
“I don’t really like meat, I prefer fish,” Grace remarked, as he uncovered the plastic containing the peppered meat, she picked a bowl of ice cream instead,
“I love meat,” Akinwale objected, chewing the meat vigorously, “This particular one is tasty, c’mon have a bite,” he said as he made to put one into her mouth.
Grace seemed to enjoy it as she took more and more, the pepper made them open their mouth at intervals for their tongues to cool off a bit as they kept eating while seeing the movie.
“I thought you said you don’t like meat?” he inquired, the plate was almost empty and Grace didn’t seem like she was ready to stop.
“Did I?” she chuckled, “I said I prefer fish, that doesn’t mean I don’t eat meat moreover this one is really tasty,” she said, picking at another piece of meat. They kept eating until it was left with just one.
“Baby let me have this last one, “Grace requested, stretching her toothpick into the plate,
“Don’t try it!” Akinwale objected, taking a hold of her hands rather firmly,
“Please please,” Grace must have thought it was a joke because she kept struggling with him as she tried to have the meat. But he was too strong for her and he was holding her in a rather harsh manner, so she devised another strategy, “Okay, fine. Let go of my hands, you can have it,” she said. As soon as he released her hands, she swiftly too the meat and threw it into her mouth without the toothpick.
She had not even gotten to chew the meat when he landed her two hot slaps that sent the peppered meat straight out of her mouth as her l-ips bled slightly, at first, she thought she had gone deaf.
“Are you mad?!” he yelled, as his eyes w¡dened angrily. She held her face in both hands as her ears hovered, she did not have an answer for him, she had never seen anyone that mad before and she was too awestruck to say a word. She packed her bag and stood up to leave,
As if he was temporarily possessed by some wicked demon, he knelt down before her and tugged at her dress begging her to forgive him as he blamed it on the devil,
“Please baby, I don’t know what came over me, please forgive me,” he pleaded, she did not say a word as she jerked her dress off his hands and made for the door.
As soon as she got home, she sent him a farewell message but he wouldn’t have it as he kept calling and sending apology messages.
********************
Looking back at all those times, she regretted that she didn’t dump him. He claimed it was a mistake and her mum thought it was too.
Whatever charm Akinwale used on her mum was definitely working wonders because Mrs. Biodun seemed to be blinded to all his faults, he didn’t touch her again after then and so she thought he had changed or maybe it was because they got married shortly after…
To be continued…
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HE SAID NO.
Episode 8
“Where is Blessing?” Amifel asked as soon as Grace got to the tasty foods eatery,
“She had to deliver a birthday cake to one of her customers, she would be around soon, ” Grace replied, adjusting herself in the red seat.
Amifel, Grace, and Blessing usually hung out on Sunday evenings at designated places, except when they had other engagements, sometimes they stayed together indoors at Grace’s place, and at other times, cinemas. This time, it was their favorite eatery, they had been there a couple of times before then,
“Okay then, do we just make orders or wait for her?” Amifel probed,
“Erhm, I think it would be better we wait for her. We might be done eating by the time she gets here and that might kill the fun altogether, ” Grace suggested,
“Okay, if you say so, how have you been?” Amifel smiled as she rested her elbows elbow the table covered with a sparkling white table cover and beautiful flowers.
“I’m good babe, this week was the bomb! You know we are close to the month-end?” Amifel nodded as she continued, “we had to do our monthly reports coupled with all sorts of meetings, Grace lamented, ” Eeya, I can imagine, sorry about that, ”
“Thank you, Ami, how did your week go?” Grace asked, “Went well, I was quite less busy, I only org-nized one event, so I was virtually free!” Amifel said, swinging her hands in the air,
“Somebody is enjoying herself,” Grace smiled, “You can say that again, ” Amifel said, flaunting her weaves,
“Lest I forget, there is something we need to talk about, ” Grace said, dragging her chair closer to Amifel, “I had a dream, ”
“Oh, not again!” Amifel sighed, “Let me talk first now, I’m serious about this, ”
“Who were you sent to this time?”
“I dreamt about you, Amifel and it was very serious,”
“Uhmm! Grace the dreamer! Okay, fine, let’s hear it. I hope it’s good though because the last one you had about me was a nightmare, ”
“I’d let you be the judge of that, ” Grace said, “I saw a man in handcuffs, dragged by uniformed men and I was wondering who he was and what he had done, ”
“Please, how does that concern me?” Amifel asked nonchalantly, “Let me finish abeg, ” Grace said as Amifel listened, “Then I saw you in handcuffs too, you were dragged by another set of uniformed men, ”
“Another nightmare…”
“I felt so burdened up when I woke up that I had to pray through. I just wished I saw the face of the man, ” Grace concluded, “Wow, I don’t even know what to say to this, ”
“Have you told George?”
“No…” Amifel dragged, “I don’t think I want to tell him about it anymore, ”
“Why?” Grace queried, ” I thought you said you…”
“Yeah, I did say I wasn’t convinced, but I am beginning to feel that I am being unnecessarily scared, ”
“How do you mean?”
“Even if something bad was bound to happen, the bible says that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available, we can overturn the course of events with our prayers, ”
“Uhmmm… Interesting! Where is all this coming from?”
“From a man who knows the power of prayers, ” Amifel answered,
“Really? So you want to use prayers to turn the course of an event that God wants you to avoid altogether, are you even listening to yourself?” Grace said while gesticulating with her hands,
“Amifel, don’t try to play smart. God did not ask you to avert anything, he said you should let this man go!”
“I am getting really confused about the wh0le thing, ” Amifel said, looking dejected,
“Listen to me Amifel, God is all-wise and he can see what you are not seeing oh, ” she paused for a while before she continued, “even though I didn’t see the face of the man in handcuffs, something tells me that that was George, ” Grace said as Amifel looked away
“I already prayed about it though but you don’t hide under the guise of prayers when God has already told you what to do, prayer ought to give you direction and once God tells you what you do, your response should be to obey and not to act smart, to obey is better than sacrifice,”
“But I am scared, I am scared that I am getting older, where would I find someone else?”
“Do you trust God?”
“I do, ”
“Then, you should trust him enough to know that when he asks you to release something, it is because he wants to give you a better one, God loves you, Ami. Trust him on this one, let George go, ”
“I feel I am incapacitated to tell him, ”
“Pray about it, be sincere with God and with yourself, then ask him to help you. I am so sure he will, ”
“Hey ladies! ” Blessing said excitedly, as she swung her purse in the air and catwalked to where they were seated, her pleated short skirt danced to the rhythm of her movement, “Did I miss much?”
“Not really, we have been waiting for you, ” Blessing said as she helped her drag out the third seat on their table,
“Awww, thank you ‘durlings’, I was held up in thick traffic, I was even thinking of calling you guys that I might not be able to make it here, ”
“How did you now manage to get here this fast, if the traffic was as mad as you claim, “Amifel asked,
“Okada to the rescue baby!” Blessing said, “Let’s go get something, I am a little starved, ”
“I’ll go with you, ” Grace volunteered, standing up to adjust her blue polo.
“We will talk about this later, ” Grace whispered to Amifel before she followed Blessing,
They came back some minutes later with snacks, two bottles of coca-cola and one sprite, Blessing and Grace carried a tray each, “Did Grace tell you about the S.U brother that has been trolling her up and down?” Blessing asked as soon as she took a seat,
“No o, Please come and give me the full gist, ” Amifel giggled,
“Let her tell you about him herself biko, “Blessing said as she grabbed a bite of her meat pie,
“Which of them oh?” Grace asked, “The brother that has been getting my friend excited, ” Blessing chuckled,
“Don’t mind Blessing, she is talking about Mike, we attend the same church and he’s just a friend,”
“No o, It has not finished, tell us everything, ” Blessing insisted,
“Please, leave me oh, I have told you all you need to know abeg, ”
“You know I won’t take no for an answer, ” she insisted, “Except you want me to cook up stories of my fantasies, I have told you all that happened. We are cool, just friends for now but I’m hoping something beautiful comes out of this,
” Awwwwwn, something beautiful ” they chorused, as they clapped excitedly, as they chatted into the evening…
To be continued…