Surprise Plus Good News

Dear Hourglass Readers,

This post is coming a few months late and I really really apologize for that.

The good news is something great has happened on the Hourglass. We’ve moved spaces!

We sorta gave ourselves quit notice on here and moved to our own domain. That’s great, yeah?

 

Our new address is http://www.mimiadebayo.com and we just need you to click on the link and follow the new blog so you can get updates on our stories.

You should know, it’s been running for a few months now, meaning the Club Series is finished already on the site and another funny series is being featured.

You have a lot to catch up on, dear Hourglass readers!

I’m so sorry this is coming late. Forgive me!

So, what are we waiting for? Let’s go read some beautiful stories! It’s on me!

 

 

Hugs and kisses!

😉

 

The Club Of God Fearing Men- 14

His fingers danced across the keyboard as he typed his proposal. He had been working on it for two weeks now and still hadn’t managed to come up with something satisfactory.
‘Genesis,’ someone rapped on the door to his office and stepped in.
He looked up, his brows creased in concentration.
‘Rita, what is it? I’m busy…’
She strolled forward, perching on his desk.
‘You’re always busy these days. We haven’t even gone out for our usual drinks in a while. Is it because of that new church you’re attending?’
‘What new church?’ How did she know he was now attending church?
‘Somebody saw you and told somebody that told me,’ she leaned forward, giving him an easy view of her pockmarked cleavage.
‘Gossip. Is that what you people come to work to do?’
‘You’re Mister Popular na. What do you expect? Anyway, what do you say? Drinks tonight? On me…’
Rita had been coming on to him since she began working in the company a year ago and once at an office party, he had shared some sloppy kisses with her in one of the office’ cubicles. He’d considered taking her on at a time before he found out that she had been sleeping with another colleague at work. His interest had dissipated then, restricting their relationship to sharing drinks once in two weeks.
Her offer to have drinks with him was not a surprise but his date with Lola was slated for that evening.
‘Not tonight, Rita. Some other time.’
‘Are you blowing me off?’ she frowned.
‘No. I just said some other time. I have things to do later today,’ he glared at her. ‘Now, did you need something?’
Eyeing him, she slid off his desk, rearranging her dress. ‘Oga said the lady handling the catering for the seminar is around.’
‘And?’
‘He wants you to discuss with her since you’re the one in charge of the statistics.’
‘Seriously?’ Genesis scowled. Since when did he handle food affairs for this company? ‘Why didn’t he pick a female staff to handle this?’
‘You’re the one with an idea of the number of people who registered for the seminar na, so…’ she grinned, enjoying his discomfort. ‘Anyway, she’s in the waiting room. I’ll direct her to your office, okay?’
Genesis nodded, groaning inwardly at the meeting ahead. The caterer was probably some illiterate woman who would not understand simple English. He’d have to talk with Oga about getting a woman, maybe Mrs Nneji to handle the catering aspect of programs like these.
He heard the door close quietly behind Rita and he returned his attention to the laptop before him. He could only hope he discharged the caterer woman soon. First, he’d find the document that contained the list of people who’d registered for the seminar…
Almost immediately, there was a small rap on his door again.
Undeniably, the caterer. ‘Come in,’ he said, his eyes still on his laptop.
‘Good day sir.’
He paused, all his senses coming alert. The voice sounded familiar. Slowly, he raised his head and gasped when he saw who lingered at the door.
‘You?’ the words were out of his mouth before he knew it.
She blinked, obviously caught by surprise at seeing him there too.
‘You…you’re the caterer?’
‘Sorry to disappoint you,’ the words were clipped as she said them. Almost as if she were hurt by what he implied.
‘No…no, I don’t mean…argh, never mind. Just…come in and take a seat,’ he stood, gesturing to the chair on the other side of the table.
He was struck again by her gracefulness, her poise…her. How long had it been since that encounter at her house? Since he started purging himself of her?
She wore a long oxblood gown that swept across her feet, her toes peeked out beneath the gown, and he marveled at how she could look so delicate and strong at the same time. She wore her hair up in a bun and small gold hoops dangled from her ears. He could tell she wasn’t wearing any make-up except for the shiny gloss on her lips that made him want to suck on it.
Jeez! He blinked, taking his eyes off her.
‘Can we get to business now…sir?’ she had a serious look on her face, like she was oblivious to the effect she had on him. How could one woman affect him so even after avoiding her for weeks?
He sat, clearing his throat. ‘You can drop the sir…Abbey.’
‘Why?’
‘Because it makes me uncomfortable,’ he blinked. ‘Because I’m no sir to you.’
Instead of answering, she opened her bag and took out a mini laptop setting it on his desk.
‘You…you didn’t tell me you were a caterer,’ he said.
‘Last I checked, we didn’t know each other that well,’ she flipped open the laptop, avoiding his eyes
He heard the accusation in her voice and felt the guilt rushing at him. ‘How…how are the girls?’
‘What do you care?’ she looked at him now, ‘Listen, can we just cut to the chase and not pretend you actually care about anything that concerns me? I’m here for business. I hear your former caterers moved so I’m being called on to replace them. Tell me what I need to know about this seminar. How many people are you expecting? Any dignitaries? The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I get out of your face.’
She said he words in a rush but he heard every one of them and they felt like tiny darts aimed at hurting him. He knew he deserved it. He’d been a jerk, leaving her house like he did and never calling, not once, to even know how the girls were, or keep his promise to them.
Even though at the time it had seemed like the best thing to do, he now saw it as it really was from her point of view. A selfish bastard.
‘Abbey…I’m sorry,’ he couldn’t go on without telling her that.
She held up a hand, ‘don’t. Just…don’t.’
He heard the tremor in her voice, heard her take a deep breath before looking straight at him.
‘Business, please. Give me the data I need to cater your event.’
He couldn’t argue with her and he didn’t blame her for not wanting to have any personal discussion with him. He deserved it.
‘Okay. We have fifty registered people…and six dignitaries.’
‘What about the staff?’ she was typing on her laptop as he spoke.
‘Er…lemme check that.’
Sorting out the catering didn’t turn out to be as boring as he’d thought. He had to admit Abbey knew her onions; she took him through the process step by step, reminding of things he’d forgotten that would be necessary and once again he found himself enjoying her company even though it was only in the business capacity.
Their planning took almost an hour and by the time they were done, it was lunch hour.
‘So in conclusion, we should have everything at the venue by ten a.m?’ she asked, as she slapped the laptop close.
‘Yes. Ten is fine because we have the first break scheduled for eleven-thirty.’
She nodded, zipping her bag.
As she stood, she stretched out a hand, ‘a pleasure doing business with you.’ She said.
He took her hand in his and even though the gesture was impersonal, he wanted to take her hand to his lips and kiss it, or place it against his cheek.
Jeez!
Shaking himself out of it, Genesis scolded himself for slowly turning into a mushy rat. He released the hand before he did anything stupid.
‘Well…goodbye,’ she said, turning to leave.
He didn’t know how it happened; how one minute he was standing behind his table, separated from her and the next he was standing beside her. He was so close to her he could feel the heat emanating from her body and he liked it.
For a moment he forgot where they were.
‘Have lunch with me,’ he breathed. ‘Please.’
She was a few inches shorter, her head stopping at his shoulder. She took a step back, breaking their closeness.
‘I…I have to go,’ she said, quietly.
‘Abbey, I’ve been a jerk. Please let me fix it…have lunch with me now.’
He saw her eyes flick at the door, her only way of escape but she couldn’t get to it without getting past him.

‘Please Abbey,’ he pleaded.

To Be Continued

Mimi A.

The Marriage Counsellor

My hands were sweaty in anticipation as I sat behind the mahogany desk that vested me with authority. It didn’t happen always, I didn’t get nervous over counseling sections often. I had been a marriage counselor in the church for seven years. The way it went in my church; you applied for the position, with reasons why you wanted to serve in that department of the church.
I still remembered the day I sent in my application. One moment I was cuddled up in bed with my favourite blanket and favorite Gary Chapman book, feeling floozy and lovey, the next I was considering how beautiful it would be to make a side career from being a marriage counselor. A Christian marriage counselor. I sent in an application on that whim however I would later refer to it as the spirit of God in me, conveniently forgetting a lot of things that had happened in my life that led to that flashlight moment.
My application went through and my interview was smooth; I was exactly the kind of person they needed on the team; dynamic, not-too-old, knowledgeable, zealous and passionate about relationships and God.
“I think the church has gotten to an extent where we are slack about the relationships we keep. There’s no seeing eye, no one fears God anymore to think about what they do in their relationships. God is invisible to them, we are the god they see. We are the ones to censor whatever goes on when they leave the church premises and go back to their lives out there. I am willing to give my all to make sure that there is no unequal yoking going on in church and there are no games being played behind our backs.” That was the speech that won over the Pastors who interviewed me. A speech that whenever I recalled, I always smiled, giving myself a mental high-five.
I liked to think that it was that same memorable speech that got me steadily climbing the ladder till I was made second-in-command on the Marriage Committee. Deputy Head Counselor, a title I wore with…pride. The good kind of pride, as expected. I was a Christian and pride was not a part of the fruit of the spirit.
I shuffled the papers before me, trying to look important, trying to not show how nervous I was to start this session.
“Sister Jumoke, are you okay?” it was Mrs Nike speaking. She had wide teeth I thought looked like a rabbit’s. Her makeup was always bland, a dash of talcum powder, no doubt and then lip gloss as light as vaseline applied on her thick lips. And yet she was married. It beat me how God worked. I knew I wasn’t exactly Miss World, but then again I wasn’t Miss Ugly, I didn’t have rabbit teeth and didn’t use makeup like a morgue attendant. So, what was wrong with me? I often wondered when I looked at her.
“I’m fine,” I replied, trying to pretend I appreciated her kindness. Another reason I wasn’t really comfortable with her was because she had been passed over for The Deputy Head position and it had been handed to me.
It was no secret that the position was the most envied position after the Head Counselor; the Deputy Head was powerful enough to determine if a wedding would hold in church or not. Sometimes desperate couples bombarded the Head Counselor and Deputy Counselor with ‘gifts’ while hinting on what they actually wanted from them.
Once, in my short tenure as Deputy, a sister who’d been undergoing counseling with us had approached me and offered to ‘take me shopping’ and ‘spoil’ me as ‘directed by the Holy Spirit’. The reason for this she later confessed to me was that she had discovered she was pregnant and needed my help to cover it up for her wedding to go on.
“So you’re telling me the Holy Spirit directed you to commit fornication then bribe me to help you cover up the consequences?” I asked.
“No ma…erm…please…”
“Don’t ‘ma’ me!” I yelled more annoyed at being called ma than anything. Did the position come with such salty respect or did I look that old? “It is people like you that are desecrating the house of God, tarnishing the image of Christianity.”
“No, please! I beg you…in the name of God, just help me. if we don’t get married soon, it will…the pregnancy would start showing and…my father will…please ma, just help me for God’s sake.” she was almost kneeling, her lips quivering.
“Was I there when you were doing the deed?” I asked, my voice tinged with contempt. “You dare bribe a servant of God and blame it on the Holy Spirit? Jesus Christ!”
“No…it was the…devil. Yes, the work of the devil.”
I didn’t tell her I envied her. That the real reason for my self-righteousness was because she had what I didn’t. A man to love her, to want her, to touch her. She had a baby growing inside her!
I was thirty-six, never been touched by a man, never experienced an orgasm in my lifetime. The closest I’d come to pleasure were those moments in my bathtub at home, imagining Bro Terence with my fingers groping.
Bro. Terence who was due to arrive any moment for his marriage classes to begin.
Bro. Terence, tall and good-looking whom I had wanted from the first time I heard him sing, yet he never noticed me. Whenever our paths crossed, he greeted me with a slight head bow and a ‘ma’ attached.
The first day he called me ‘ma’, I had gone home and cried myself to sleep. Was I that old, that unappealing? I wondered. Did he now see me as his mother instead of as a woman?
I wasn’t much older than him for Chrissakes! And looking at his file before me now, I saw he was even a year older than I was. How. Dare. He. Ma. Me!
“Ahem.” the sound snapped me out of my semi-trance.
I looked up. The couple was just entering.
My eyes drank in Bro. Terence, dressed in a white U.S.A T-shirt and jeans with blue sneakers, giving him a casual but ‘hot’ look. His haircut was the same; adult punk. He had well-shaped fingers that I often imagined in my lonely nights, dancing across my thighs, squeezing my nipples.
Fingers I wanted to kiss.
Sighing, I shifted my gaze to the lady. Sister Angela was her name in the file but when I saw her, something in me snapped.
****
More than a decade ago, I had been in love with a wonderful man. Or so I thought.
Tunji was my first and so far, only love. I was a new convert, a babe in the faith when he’d approached me. He was the Brothers Coordinator of the fellowship, the crush of every sister. Tall, handsome, Holy Ghost filled and tongue-tongueing.
I was no exception. I fell hard when he came to me.
“I see you in my future,” he’d said as we sat in the school’s Love Garden one evening.
My heart raced. I knew God had promised me a husband if I followed Him diligently but I didn’t know it would happen so fast…I was barely six months in the faith.
“You’ re special Jummy,” he continued, his fingers entwining mine. “You and I together, can fulfill purpose.”
The word ‘purpose ‘ rang in my head. We’d been talking a lot about that in church recently, how we had to find the purpose we were on earth. We were studying Rick Warren’s The Purpose -Driven Life at the time.
“What do you think?” he asked, turning his dreamy eyes on me.
“I…I’ll think about it.” I replied.
“Think, but not too much. Praying is more important.”
I blushed then. Could life get any better?
I did neither praying nor thinking, instead I fantasized. Whenever we were in church, I would stare at the back of his head thinking :
“He chose me! Out of all these sisters, he came to me!”

We started dating a month later and it wasn’t difficult to imagine him in my future. A future we spent every second planning for, we would sit on his bed in his room, leaning against each other, talking, naming kids we didn’t have, discussing in-laws we hadn’t met.
The crown of it all was he never made a move towards sex. When we first began, he had held my hands, looked me in the eye and said;
“I will not touch you inappropriately Jummy. I respect you and would want to see where God takes us with this relationship.”
I knew how many sisters in the fellowship lamented about their boyfriends and how they demanded for sex, I remembered the many nights I thanked God for the man I had.
We were three years into our relationship when Toke joined the fellowship. Toke, who looked good in mini skirts or Mary-Amakas. She didn’t have to wear mini skirts to be every brother’s fantasy, all she had to do was just be her. And then she had the charisma of Margaret Thatcher. She was outspoken, the kind who could stand up in church and give a word of prophecy without balking.
I didn’t think much of her at first, until she was made the sister’s coordinator few months after she joined. Tunji had just graduated then but was called back as an alumni to give a three day seminar to incoming excos.
Perhaps I should have seen it coming, but I did not. Soon, Tunji was spending less time with me and more time elsewhere.
It wasn’t long before he told me it wasn’t working between us.
“What do you mean it’s not working?” I asked, almost hysterical. I had given him my all, for the future he promised.
“I mean, I think God is leading me elsewhere. I don’t want to hurt you, Jummy,” he had the good grace to look contrite.
“The same God who led you to me, made a mistake before? Or did you just see someone with wider hips and decide you’d fulfill purpose better with her?” Even then, I knew somehow that there was someone else.
I didn’t know it was Toke until three months after we broke up. I was still depressed, dressing like a homeless person. I saw them leaving the cinema together, laughing and holding each other.
I turned and walked away, not wanting to be seen.

Toke’s face was forever etched in my memory.
And now I’m looking in a face; Angela’s face, and I see it’s none other than Toke. Toke, the one who’d taken Tunji from me, had done same to Terrence.
How had Terrence found her? Of all the women in our church, why had he gone outside and picked this relationship wrecker?
I stared at her, checking to see if she recognized me. I didn’t expect her to anyway, I was faceless to her. She had never bothered to know whose man she was stealing when she did.
Looking at her now, she hadn’t changed much. Yes, she was older, but she still had that slutty-sisterly quality about her. I could see why men would be attracted to her.
I zoned out as I listened to the remaining counselors ask them questions. I looked at Bro Terrence and saw Tunji. Tunji, who I gave three years of my life to and suddenly couldn’t imagine being with anyone else. Tunji who had made me become obsessed with relationships and what went wrong with them. Tunji who made me take up this position as marriage counselor, because the only way I could see myself being a part of any marriage was by doing what I did. Being an outsider looking in. Years had gone by, I was thirty-six; an old maid and the best I had done was masturbate myself to sleep.
And then it occurred to me at that moment; who was I keeping myself for? It had stopped being about God a long time ago, everything about my life was no longer about God. It was fake, God was the facade I used to hide my flaws.
The reason I had wanted to become a counselor was not because of God, the reason I obstructed weddings and refused to budge when bribed was not because I was noble; it was because I was powerful. I loved the power, I loved knowing that I had the fate of a couple in my hands. Like now.
It was time to crush Toke and Terence.
I looked up, smiling in my heart;
“Are you a virgin?” I asked, directing the question at Toke, who sat cross-legged in her knee-length skirt.
She blinked, then glanced at Terrence.
I could feel the eyes of my colleagues on me. This was not part of the script.
“Please answer the question, sister.” I prodded.
“I…I don’t see how that’s relevant,” she said, mild irritation showing in her voice.
“Do you want to marry this man or not?” I asked, unfazed.
“Yes.”
“Then answer.”
“No, I’m not,” she mumbled.
“Have you ever been pregnant?”
This time there was an audible sound from my colleagues. Toke was looking at me, frozen.
“Why are you asking her that?” Mrs Adejumo passed a note to me.
“As the spirit leads.” I replied.
Infact, it was no spirit. When Tunji had jilted me for Toke years ago, I had made it a mission to keep tabs on their lives, especially Toke.
I knew she had gotten pregnant at some point in their relationship; that she had gotten rid of the baby was a tidbit that I had happened upon by chance. The doctor who had performed the abortion was a friend of my sister’s.
“Angie, please answer,” I saw Terence nudge her.
“You want to marry this man, don’t you? ” I asked again. “The key to a happy marriage is communication. It is getting rid of all secrets before you walk down the aisle.”
There was a pleading look in her eyes as she looked at me. Her lips quivered as she said;
“Yes, I have.”
From the look on Terence’s face, I knew he had no idea. Strike one.
“What happened to the baby?” I continued.
Terrence was staring at her, like he was seeing her for the first time.
“I…I don’t have to answer that. It’s…private,” she stuttered.
By now, everyone was curious, waiting in hushed silence.
“Let me help you answer it then. You had an abortion, yes? During which your womb was damaged. Sister Toke, you can’t have children, can you?” I didn’t blink as I let the words leave my mouth.
There was a gasp from somewhere in the room.
Terrence stood abruptly, his face a mirror of the pain I felt years ago. Strike two.
“Is that true?” he bellowed, turning to her.
“Terry, please. Just…just hear me out…please…” she stood too, a hand on his arm. Tears streaming down her face.
“And you didn’t tell me? You didn’t tell me! God! I can’t handle this right now!” With that Terence stormed out of the room.
Toke glanced at me once, pain and anger written all over her face.
“You think I don’t remember you? You exposed yourself the moment you called me Toke. No wonder Tunji left you! No wonder you’re still alone after all these years! Your heart is wicked!” with that she rushed out after Terence.
Her words sank into me like water into a sponge.
Strike three and…out.

Mimi. A.

The Club Of God-fearing Men- 13

Silence reigned for a few seconds after he dropped by the bombshell. He waited, tense, sneaking a look at Lola’s face.
Suddenly the tension broke as she burst into laughter.
Genesis let a smile loose as he watched her throw her head back, tears peeking out of her eyelids.
‘You’re kidding right?’ she asked in-between bouts of uncontrolled laughter.
‘Er…what do you think?’ he was trying to read this woman. She didn’t seem like the average woman who got thrown off-balance by sweet talk.
‘I think you’re crazy or stupid. Or delusional.’ She cocked an eyebrow at him, ‘you’ve known me what – all of two weeks, yeah? And you’re already seeing vision? When I’m not mammy water or Miss World?’
He smiled then. He had to admit, her sense of humour was infectious.
‘So you don’t think you’re beautiful, is that it?’ he asked, still playing it cool.
‘On the contrary, I think I’m gorgeous. But I also don’t think anyone can possibly have visions about a woman he barely knows. Come on, all we’ve talked about is bible and church. So what about me is so adorable, apart from my nice ass?’ she wiggled her forefinger at him.
‘You. That. That amazing sense of humour. I admit you’ve got a nice ass…I mean, who won’t notice? He winked at her. ‘But you’ve got something more…you’re smart, you love God. You are hot. That combination is the bomb. I mean, what’s not to like?’
She laughed again, her right hand tucked beneath her chin as she looked at him.
‘I take exception to being called hot, by the way.’
‘Yes ma’am,’ he actually enjoyed listening to her talk, and she had taken his mind of Abbey at least.
‘Now that’s cleared…can we continue with our lesson?’
‘What’s cleared? You didn’t give me an answer, woman.’
‘An answer to what, Genesis? Don’t do this abeg, or…’
‘Or what?’
‘I might have to put in a request for a change…if we can’t make this work,’ it was the first time he had seen her looking so solemn.
‘Just one dinner, Lola. Let’s get to know each other better. You are, after all my new best friend, right?’
‘Genesis.’
‘Once. It’ll be fun, I promise. Look at me now, I’m Mister Fun Guy.’
‘Fine. One dinner. And it’s not a date. Now, can we go back to our lesson?’
‘Yes ma’am.’

****
‘The babe dey form like say my chest no impress her…’ Tango was saying.
They were at an isi ewu joint in the area; Chris had just been paid salary and had offered to take them out for goat head and drinks.
As usual, the topic of discussion was their recent escapades and how far they’d gone in their game.
‘Wait T, you showed her your chest?’ Chris asked, nursing a bottle of Star.
‘Accidentally,’ Tango grinned, showing off a set of shallow dimples.
‘Abeg how persin dey take show persin chest accidentally eh? Abeg enlighten us…I wan learn.’ Sly munched away on his meat.
‘She been come my house…’
‘Wait, your house already? Bros, you sure say that geh na true spirikoko?’ Genesis interrupted.
‘I don dey her case for three weeks now o. Besides, I had to lie that I was sick to get her to come,’ he winked.
‘Correct, guy!’ Sly hailed.
‘So di geh show o. Omo, I tink say she go carry food flask come, as per sick persin. Omo, babe carry big Bible come o. And me I been dey without shirt, dey reason say if she come, she go play mother and then one thing go lead to another na…chai, na dat day I know say Nollywood sabi lie! If na Desmond Elliot do dat kain tin, na so di geh go fall sharply like persin wey no get gravity. Mtchew.’
His friends burst into laughter at his words.
‘Na you be mumu for believing Nollywood,’ Genesis chuckled.
‘Na you sabi.’
‘Oya continue…’ Chris urged him.
‘Di babe no even look my chest twice. She just stand for door talk say make I wear shirt before she go enter.’
‘Erm… but wait o T. Wetin be the babe name? Shebi you’ve known her for three weeks? Why you still calling her ‘babe’?’ Genesis didn’t know why it suddenly rattled him the way Tango referred to the girl. He had done it himself several times before; referring to the girl he was sleeping with as something impersonal like ‘babe’ or ‘chic’. It helped him keep an emotional distance, no strings attached so that it was easier walking away when he needed to. He didn’t do pet names or endearments; he didn’t ‘baby’ anyone and let no one ‘baby’ him either. The moment a girl started calling him ‘baby’, honey or whatever; he knew it was time to call it quits. Once, a girl he had been sleeping with started referring to him as ‘Poo-pooey’ in her text messages and Genesis had immediately screened her number. What the heck was poo-pooey?
‘Since when did names matter?’ Tango was saying.
‘I dunno…I just think it sounds…disrespectful especially since you’ve known her er…’ Genesis paused, uncomfortable. What was he getting at sef?
‘G-man, you well so?’ Sly asked. ‘We don’t care about her name. It’s just a freaking game! When he’s gotten what he wants, he’s out. So why use her name when she’s not even his girlfriend?’
The logic made perfect sense, or it would have on another day. But today, it just didn’t sit well with Genesis.
‘I just think…what if she was your sister and…some guy referred to her like…that?’ he pressed.
‘Dude, you did not think about that when we were agreeing to nail a spiri-koko sister o. Why is it important now? Wetin dey do you sef? You get belle?’ Sly snickered.
‘Ah…I think Genesis has a point,’ Chris spoke up in his quiet baritone. ‘Even if it is a game, the least we could do is remember that these girls are human beings…it’s not too much to ask to use their names in a conversation. They’re not inanimate objects.’
‘Biko, pause with that your grammar, Chris. This thing is not a big deal. Shebi na my babe she be? Then I will call her whatever the heck I want. O pari.’ Tango’s eyes flared briefly as he spoke.
Genesis sighed. He couldn’t understand what he had been fussing about but to him it suddenly mattered. He couldn’t picture himself calling Lola anything other than her name. Maybe it was because they had taken a more personal approach. It wasn’t just like the normal chase, this was different.
Their table went into an uncomfortable silence after the semi- brawl and Genesis found himself looking at his friends in a new light.
He had known Tango for five years now and he remembered when he’d first met him; at a club, charming the girls off their feet. He had liked the guy’s magnetic pull. There were always ladies around him and he oozed a type of confidence that was attractive. And yet when Genesis got closer to him, he saw that that was all he was- body, muscles and looks. His confidence came from his looks, and all he talked about was girls.
Whenever Genesis wanted to have an intelligent conversation, he went to Chris. Chris, the quiet intellectual one. Ordinarily, he wasn’t Genesis type; he preferred the boisterous outgoing guys as friends, but he was drawn to Chris’ ingenuity.
They had met at NYSC camp, they had been in the same platoon and had both represented their platoon in the debate competition. That was where Genesis had gotten interested in Chris and he had not known the relationship would last this long.
Sly was the oldest of Chris’ friends. They had gone to school together, studied the same course, but where Genesis was genuinely interested in engineering, Sly preferred clubbing.
It occurred to Genesis as he sat with them, gulping down drinks and exchanging small chit-chat, that something was going on in him that he could not explain. Whether he liked it or not, he was yet to find out.

Unholy

Here folks, a short story to compensate for the long break from our beloved Genesis.

Ada shifted uncomfortably in her seat as the Pastor spoke. She wondered why the man kept punctuating his sentences with fornication.
Forni-cation. Funny-cassion. Foni-cashun.
The word turned around in her head. This was her fourth Sunday attending the church and the man’s sermons seemed to revolve around that topic. Like it was the only sin that riddled the ‘body of Christ’.
“When you go to a brother’s house at night, don’t you know you’re inviting sin? Inviting forni-cation?” the Pastor yelled.
Ada wanted to tell him that even when you went in the afternoon, when the sun was at its peak, fornication was always invited. Sometimes it came uninvited, unbidden, unannounced.
She could testify to that. She let her eyes stray to the choir stand, it was somewhere she’d been avoiding since the Pastor started screaming funny-cassion. But now as she dared look, she moistened her lips as the memories bombarded her.
It was supposed to be an interview, an opportunity to know more about the choir, to know how well she could sing, to know how motivated she was to join the choir.
It was her friend Nene, who was in the choir who had suggested that she join. She had even introduced her to the Music Director.
“It would help you develop your voice and work for God,” Nene said with excitement.
Nene was very good at convincing people so she had stood no chance when the girl had embarked on a join-the-choir crusade.
He had invited her to his house;
“I normally interview prospective choir members,” he said with an easy smile which made his face look better.
He had told her to come by 2pm on Saturday because he had rehearsals by 5pm that evening.
As she looked at him now, sitting in the front row, eyes fixed intently on the Pastor, she wondered how someone could be so ugly and yet so beautiful.
She recalled the hardness; of his chest and in his groin and she felt her body tingle.
She had gone to his house that day with all intentions to join the choir. She’d met him fully clothed and welcoming and she remembered thinking how his eyes were too close together. How he was too lanky with a tiny waist. She remembered thinking that God had probably compensated him for his looks by giving him the voice of a nightingale.

He had offered her a drink- Coke, if you please. Just to relax, before we get into business.
One hour went by and they had still not ventured into talking ‘business ‘, the more Ada tried to steer the conversation towards the choir, the more he pretended not to notice.
“Tell me about your family. How many siblings do you have?”
She wondered what her family had to do with her singing capacity.
And then he had gotten up at a point and turned on the stereo.
“Music, good for the soul.” he said.
He forgot to add for the body too.
It had happened in a flash, like she saw in the movies; one moment they had been sitting on the rugged floor, talking about mundane things, non-sexual or romantic things, and then the next his mouth had covered hers. Abruptly silencing her.
That was what thrilled her, the fact that he didn’t ask permission, that he took without asking.
The Pastor was right; stolen bread was indeed sweet.
At first she didn’t think, she couldn’t. He was kissing her senseless. His tongue playing with hers in a way she had never, never imagined.
And when she eventually began to gather her wits, he stopped.
She was breathless. His kiss had done that to her. She shut her eyes like a virgin, unsure and ashamed of herself. Ashamed that she had let him. And yet not wanting the moment to end.
And like he’d read her thoughts, he leaned in for another kiss. This time she welcomed him.
By the time his hands strolled to her green blouse and fumbled with her buttons, she knew she had no willpower to stop him.
And when he entered her, she screamed Jesus first, then his name, all in one breath.
Odogwu!
Thankfully the stereo was loudly blasting Frank Edwards ‘Thank God I Made It’.
Ada remembered thinking how ironic it was that they’d made love with that song playing in the background.
By the time they lay spent on the red rug, Ada imagined that the rug smelled of sex, of sin.
The next time she really looked at him, she saw not his ugliness, but a certain beauty. A beauty that came from giving pleasure.
And she wondered again, whether this was how the Spirit led people.
After having mind-blowing sex with the man and screaming his name in ecstasy, they would conclude that they were being led to marry him.
It had to be blasphemy; it had to be sin to get such fulfilment from sex. No wonder God had restricted it to marriage.

“So, did I pass the interview?” she turned to him, hoping he had enjoyed it as much as she had. She wasn’t an expert, not like him anyway considering that the number of lovers she’d had could be counted on just one hand.
He nuzzled her earlobe, tickling her.
By the time they went for the second round, Ada was convinced she would marry him. After all, a good marriage was sustained by a great sex life. If only she could have this for the rest of her life; she knew she would worship him. Worship at the altar of his little god- which was actually quite big.
And every night – and day maybe – he would take her to heaven.

“So what are we now?” she whispered, her feet curling into his.

“One,” he replied, kissing her again.
She chuckled to herself as she looked at him with his bushy eyebrows, looking so prim, proper and holy in his white plaid shirt.
She planned to visit him after service today, later this evening. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since their encounter a week ago.
She had to convince him that they were just right together.
Her attention was jerked back to the service as the Pastor said he had an announcement to make.
“There’s a wedding in our church. Pra-ise da Lord!”

She joined in the resounding hallelujah.
“Two of our members are tying the knot in a few months. They just informed me. Let us rejoice with Brother Odogwu, our able Music director, a man after my heart. He will be getting married to Sister Mariam. Please step forward both of you.”

As both parties approached the altar, Brother Odogwu beaming with pride and Sister Mariam, a shy petite woman clad in a sweeping skirt; there was a commotion at the back of the church.
It seemed a sister had just fainted or fallen under the anointing; no one could tell for sure.

THE END

Mimi. A ( C) 2014

The Club Of God-Fearing Men- 12

Genesis had been propositioned a number of times in his not-so-long life; when he was seventeen, their twenty-three year old next door neighbor had offered her ‘services’ if he wanted experience with a ‘real woman’.
His first blow job had been in his third year in the University, when his study-partner had followed him to the back of the classroom and in the darkness had begged to ‘do’ things to him with her mouth.
And so many other times he could not begin to recall, and yet when Abbey asked him to spend the night, the excitement that pulsed through his body wasn’t the usual kind.
His first thought wasn’t about her in bed with him, no, that came later. His first thought was about how good it felt to be that trusted. He knew she couldn’t ask it of just anyone even if the person had just spent two hours babysitting her kids; it was no delusion the kind of world they lived in.
“Are…you sure?” he asked.
“Yes. It’s…uh…been a while I had anyone to talk to…and…I know there’s no guest room but…I promise; the couch is quite comfortable.” Her smile was nervous.
He hadn’t been expecting her to offer her bedroom to him of course, but he also hadn’t expected her to mention the couch idea so unabashedly.
“I think I prefer my soft, wide bed,” he replied, a playful lilt in his words.
“Genesis, seriously. Are you gonna make me beg?”
And just like that, he was back to thinking how incredibly sexy she was standing there, arms akimbo, hair askance.
He blinked then. How could he possibly spend the night in the same house as this woman without going crazy?
“I’m…not sure …that’s a good idea,” he muttered, averting his eyes so she wouldn’t see his thoughts through them.
“What? Brother Genesis can’t handle spending the night in the house of a woman without thinking carnal thoughts?” there was a light in her eyes as she teased.
It was then it dawned on him that he was still supposed to be in character! He was supposed to be the spirikoko brother from Grace Assembly, the sort of man who did not get moved by such things as beautiful sisters-in-the-Lord.
“Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God…” he responded, enjoying the light banter.
“Well, Jesus said in this world…ye shall have trials…but be of good cheer I have overcome. Don’t you believe that through Jesus, you can overcome all temptations, brother Genesis?”
His eyes searched her face, wanting to know whether she was being serious or if she was just baiting him. Did she have any idea how much she affected him even in her ‘unsophisticated’ state?
“Okay, okay. I give up. I’ll stay tonight. On the couch. Satisfied, madam?” he had to change the direction the conversation was taking. He didn’t know how long he could pretend he was not affected by her especially with Little Johnny beginning to rear its head.
“I’m sorry. I know you didn’t plan this at all. And today being Monday, you have to go to work and all that…please no vex. I have asked too much of you already, but be sure that for coming to the rescue of a widow…God is definitely gonna reward you.”
It was when she said the W word that he remembered that she had lost her husband, that he was about to spend the night in the house of a dead man’s wife. It was then he noticed the small framed picture hanging from the wall and suddenly he wanted to know more about the man whom she had pledged her life to, who had fathered her daughters.
“Will you tell me how he…” he began, not sure of the words to use.
She shook her head, “not today, Genesis.”
“When?”
“Some other time but…not today, please.” She yawned. “I’m so tired right now; all I wanna do is sleep.”
“You can’t go to work today, you know?”
“Fortunately, I’m a semi-boss so I am not obliged to. I’ll just stay home with the girls.”
“You know…I don’t know…enough about you.”
“Enough? I don’t know anything about you,” she yawned again, moving towards the corridor. “But that would be for another day. Let me get you a blanket and pillow. If you wanna take a shower, you can use the guest bathroom.”
“Er…I’ll pass on that. I just need to sleep too.” The mention of shower brought pictures to his head that he didn’t want to entertain.
As he settled in for the night, he wondered if he was going to get any sleep because all he could picture was her, lying in bed naked. Without him.
*****
“Genesis, are you okay?”
“Huh?”
“Oya, talk to me,” it was Lola. “Something has been taking your attention away from me and I want to know what it is.”
Genesis sighed. It was their second week of Salvation classes and he had already recognized Lola’s powerful intuition. She reminded him of his mother, who could take one look at him and know something was up.
“Nothing is wrong na. I’m listening to you,” he feigned interest.
“Eh…and I was born yesterday. Okay, what’s the last thing I said?”
“Uh…you said something about uh…how Jesus promised us the Comforter when…”
Lola burst into laughter, interrupting him.
“What’s funny?” he asked.
“What’s funny is that, that’s what I taught yesterday! You haven’t listened at all to anything I’ve said these past ten minutes!”
“Seriously?” he was flummoxed.
“Yes. So, now you owe me. Talk…what’s on your mind. Maybe I can help. Woman troubles?”
Genesis sighed. He couldn’t tell her that it was indeed a woman on his mind, that since he had spent time with Abbey that night, two weeks ago, he could not stop thinking about her.
Sleep had fled him for another hour when she left him to go to bed; because he kept wondering what she would do if he invited himself to her bedroom. Would she a) kick him out, b) welcome him and tell him she had been waiting for him to take the step, c)slap him, then kiss him.
The only option he saw was a). This was no American sitcom where he would be cheered a hero for taking advantage of a woman’s vulnerability like that.
He left her house at 5 a.m. that morning so he could make it to work. He checked on the girls before leaving, to make sure there was no immediate danger and then he had written Abbey a note.
He left that house that morning with a promise to himself never to come back. There was something about her that made him uncomfortable. He wanted her and yet, he didn’t. He hated that he wanted her. He didn’t want to want her.
He hadn’t called her since then and the salvation classes with Lola had kept him preoccupied. When he met Lola for his first salvation class, he had been distracted by how good she looked. The distraction had expired a few minutes after they parted ways and Abbey was back in his thoughts.
As he sat across from Lola now, he realised he was being stupid. He remembered his bet with the guys and mentally kicked himself for ignoring a potential prey sitting right in front of him.
“Genesis, I’ll walk out of here, if you keep giving me that spacey look! You want us to postpone our classes today?” she was frowning now.
“Okay, I’m sorry. I just…well, you’re right, I’ve got other things on my mind.” He began to spin his lines mentally.
“Mind sharing?”
“I…didn’t want to say anything before. I didn’t want to spoil anything…but…uh…spending time with you has uh…I have come to admire you, Lola. Your zeal for God makes you attractive in a way I never knew was possible. I’m not trying to sweet talk you or anything…and you don’t have to do anything about it now…but I just want you to know…you’ve got a fan in me.” He paused for effect, letting his eyes speak. “You asked what was on my mind? Well, you are.”

His words hung in the air.
To Be Continued….
Mimi A.

The Club Of God-Fearing Men – 11

He had taken about five paces into the night when he realised what he had done.
The woman he had met earlier had been shaking, almost unstable on her feet. Her skin felt like hot coal when he touched it and despite her stubbornness he knew she wasn’t fine.
No matter how he felt about being used, he could not blindly walk away from a possibly sick woman and her equally sick daughters; his ego was not that inflated.
With a sigh, he turned back to the house, hating himself for giving in yet unable to not.
He knocked lightly.
“Abbey, it’s me.” He spoke, against the door.
When the door opened, she was standing there, looking smaller than he remembered.
He didn’t say a word as he stepped across the threshold and took her n his arms. She didn’t resist, instead she folded into him, like it was meant to be.
They stood that way for some minutes; he, listening to the slow beats of her heart against his chest, she, so still it was almost like she had fallen asleep against him. He couldn’t recall the last time he had held a woman that way without other intentions.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, wondering even as the words left his mouth, why he was sorry.
She didn’t respond and he pulled back, wanting to see her face.
“Don’t look at me,” she protested, twisting away her face.
“Why not?”
“I…er…” she retreated from him then, turning to the living room.
“You’re crying?” it was a question because he couldn’t tell whether the wetness he glimpsed in her eyes were truly tears.
“Of course not. I just…washed my face,” she was out of his reach now and he found he missed the warmth of her body against his.
“Prove it. Look at me.”
“Look Genesis, this is not a game…I said I am not…argh!” she groaned in surprise as he spun her to face him. “Are…you crazy? You almost broke my neck!”
“You are crying,” he ignored her protests. “Why?”
“Why? Because that’s what women know how to do best!” her voice was hoarse. “Their stupid eyes betray them even when they don’t want to cry!” she stormed away from him, heading for the dining table.
“Or maybe they need to cry because there’s so much bottled up inside,” he said, following closely behind her.
“Ha. Psychologist Genesis,” her face was streaming with tears now as she gripped the back of one of the leather dining chairs.
“Stop it. Tell me what’s eating you.”
“You wanna know?” she sat now, her chin in her hand.
“Yes, I do,” he replied, even though he heard the sarcasm in her voice.
She sighed. “Tonight made me realise…I don’t have anybody. Do you know how many options I had to call tonight? One, my parents and they are in Akure, two, my mother-in-law who doesn’t speak to me even though she stays right here in Lagos. Three, my only real friend who has her life, her husband and kids…they’re all on vacation in some stupid island. Four, my neighbor…travelled for a burial. Five, my pastor, lives on the Island. See, that’s about how many people I know to call on short notice. If I was dying…there’d be no one to be there…”
“Abbey don’t…”
“Shut up. You wanted to know what was wrong with me, yeah? Don’t interrupt me with Nigerian clichés. Just listen.”
“Yes ma,” a smile tugged at the side of his lips.
“Do you know why you’re here?” she continued without waiting for him to respond, “I prayed you here. I was scared…I was desperate when I realised there was no one. Then I said a small prayer, asking God to send someone, anyone. Just a phone call was all I needed…that’s what I told God. And barely five minutes later, you called. That’s why I didn’t care who was calling, I just knew whoever it was, was the answer to my prayer. See…my babies, they’re all I’ve got. I can’t…lose any more loved ones. Not my daughters. It would kill me. When Star said she was afraid she wouldn’t wake up, it was the exact way I felt when I saw how hot she was. She was crying, complaining about pains everywhere and I wished I could take her anguish and make it mine. And then this crazy thought dropped in my mind. What if this was it? What if she just died?” there was a small pause then she looked up. “Know what’s funny? I couldn’t even think up any scripture to counter that devilish thought. Me, the Bible guru, the counselor, couldn’t begin to counsel herself when challenges stared her in the face.”
Genesis had never been so taken in by a story like this. At the mention of ‘I prayed you here’, he was supposed to flee because he didn’t believe things like that. Because it wasn’t logical. Because God, whoever He was, didn’t answer prayers until it was too late, until something bad had happened.
Perhaps he was losing it. To sit and listen to this woman talk about scripture and prayer and challenges, without protesting. Worse, he believed her. Something deep in him could not refute, no matter how hard he tried the fact that things had happened as she said they had, that God had used him as the errand boy, that he was the answer to her prayers. His mind rebelled at the possibility of that, but something stronger than his mind embraced the thought.
“It was Amber who gave me strength, you know. She came to us and said, ‘Star, Jesus said we are healed by the strokes of cane He was flogged. Don’t worry, you are healed’ and then I began to laugh at myself. I taught her that. Once I was teaching them something and she asked what stripes meant and the only thing that came to mind at the moment was strokes of cane. Then a scripture popped up in my head right then, how God uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. You know it, yeah?”
He nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He knew it, not because he had read it in the Bible himself but because his mother had quoted it a dozen times whenever he tried to logically dissect her faith.
“That’s when I got the idea to ask God for help. I asked him to send someone to help me,” she smiled at him now. “And here you are.”
He was involuntarily silent. His mouth could not form the words that rang in his head. He wanted to tell her that he had made the call, that he had been thinking about her and called her. That God had absolutely nothing to do with that. That it was natural for human beings to attribute every single thing to a higher being but what if it was not? What if things happened just because?
What if he hadn’t been thinking about her? Then he wouldn’t have called her. And then would she be telling this story now? Would she be thanking God for…nothing?
“I think…” she continued, “even if it wasn’t you, it would have been someone else. I don’t know…that’s just how God works. He wouldn’t leave me stranded.”
He glanced sharply at her, wondering if she had read his mind.
“So, thank you. Again. Thank God for you.”
This time he stood, uncomfortable. He felt like his butt was on fire.
“It’s late…maybe I should leave. The girls are sleeping, they would be…”
“Genesis,” there was a pleading in her voice as she stood with him. She was tall enough; the top of her head was above his chin. “Can you…uh…do me one more favour, please.”
Mentally, he rolled his eyes. “What now?”
“I…really don’t…want to bealonetonightpleasestay,” she said the words in a rush that they came out sounding like mashed potatoes.
And yet, he heard every word.
To Be Continued…
Mimi A.

The Club Of God-Fearing Men- 10

She picked on the first ring, like she had been waiting for the call.
For an instant, Genesis was caught off-guard.
“Finally!” she spoke, almost breathless. “Hello, who’s this?”
“I…um…this is Genesis from…”
“Ah, Genesis! I need a favour from you immediately, please! Do you stay anywhere around Opebi?”
He didn’t understand what was going on, but he replied, “Erm…yeah. I stay somewhere around Berger.”
Her sigh of relief was audible. “Good. Please, I need you.”
“Excuse me, but do you know who you’re speaking with?” He asked, befuddled.
“Genesis, yeah? Stalker dude with the weird name from Grace Assembly and then the club?” her words came out sounding like full-stops. Like she was fighting to be cordial yet abrupt; like she was talking to a 911 operative.
“Well, yes…no. I mean…”
He was no stalker dammit.
“Which is it please?”
“Yes, I am that Genesis.”
“Please I need your help…just…come over, please. Here’s my address.”
She didn’t wait for him to respond as she rattled off the address.
“When you get to the gate, just call me,” she said, with a finality that he could not argue.
Genesis wanted to ask if she was crazy, if she knew what time of the night it was. He wanted to tell her he wasn’t coming.
Instead, he said okay and hung up.
He did not think about it as he hurried into his clothes. There was nothing to think about, his brain wasn’t going to process anything about the situation at this moment so he figured his best bet was to get to her place and figure this whole thing out.
As he drove out of his compound, it occurred to him that she hadn’t bothered to know how he would find his way to her place. What if he didn’t own a car?
It was Sunday night, the roads were free and in ten minutes, he arrived at her gate.
As soon as he called to inform her of his presence, he saw the gate parting to let him in. In the dimness of his car lights, he saw her. She was carrying something.
He watched her struggle with the gate with one hand, while using the other to support the bundle she was carrying.
He stepped out of the car towards her.
“Leave it. I’ll open it,” he said, taking over.
She nodded and he noticed she was perspiring. Her feet were bare, like she had rushed out not caring.
What was going on?
He drove in and closed the gate behind him. By the time he was out of the car, she was standing on the porch.
“What’s happening?” he asked.
“Come in. I need you to help me with the girls.”
She turned to enter the house and Genesis saw her stumble, instinctively he reached out to steady her and his hand brushed against her skin. He recoiled.
She was burning hot.
“Jesus! You’re burning up!” he exclaimed, stretching his hand to take the bundle, which turned out to be one of the girls, from her.
“I’ll be fine. She’s worse.”
And yes she was; the little girl’s body seemed to be prickling with heat.
“You’re all sick?” he asked, following her into the house.
“Talk later. I need to get a wet towel to calm her temperature down. Would you do that for me, please?”
Genesis thought she looked terrible, she was almost swaying on her feet and there were bags under her eyes.
“Sure. Where do I get water and the towel?”
She pushed a small pink towel into his free hand and pointed him in the direction of what he surmised was the guest bathroom.
“Just keep dabbing her body with it. I have to attend to Amber.”
He didn’t ask questions; instead, cradling the whimpering girl in his arms, he set to work.
He didn’t see her again for another thirty minutes, mostly because he was busy with the girl and he didn’t bother looking up to know her mother’s whereabouts.
“You’d be fine, honey,” he whispered, over again to the child. Sometimes he found himself muttering soothing words he couldn’t remember, words whose origin he couldn’t fathom.
“Hey, how’s it going?” Abbey’s voice startled him from behind.
“It’s better than before,” he replied, touching the girl’s neck.
“Okay. I need to give her Paracetamol. Give her to me.”
“You can’t handle any more tonight. Don’t worry, I’ll carry her.” With that he lifted the child and carried her back to the living room.
He laid her on the couch, placing the damp towel on her forehead.
“Which one are you?” he asked, hoping to get her to talk.
She sniffed, blinking. “Augusta,” her voice cracked with unshed tears.
“Beautiful name for a princess. Augusta, you will stop crying now, okay? By tomorrow morning, you would be up and running, promise.”
Her nod was barely visible.
Abbey knelt beside him, touching her fingertips to her daughter’s face.
“Star baby, mummy’s gonna give you your drugs now and then pray for you. And then you’re gonna sleep and wake up tomorrow, good as new, okay?”
Genesis glanced at her, admiring the cheerfulness and hope in her voice. One he was sure she didn’t feel.
“Mummy…I’m afraid,” her voice was small as she spoke.
“Oh my baby, afraid of what?” Abbey was sitting now, a tremor in her voice.
“What if…what if…I don’t wake up tomorrow?”
The sheer simplicity of her question tore at Genesis heart and without thinking he said;
“Of course you will wake up tomorrow. Or don’t you want to see my handsome face again? Remember I promised you a treat when you get well?”
His heart warmed at the semi-smile that formed at the corner of her mouth.
“Okay…but my sister will come with us too.” She said, still in her soft voice.
“Deal.” He gave her a small tap on her hand.
*******

The next time he checked the clock, it was half past midnight and that was when he had the opportunity to actually settle down with Abbey.
After administering her meds, Star had drifted to sleep almost immediately but Amber had needed more attention because she had been having difficulty breathing all night as a result of her asthma.
After some struggle, she had finally drifted to sleep and Genesis had helped tuck both girls in.
It was when he and Abbey both slumped on the couch in the living room that he realised how much time had gone by.
“You don’t know what you’ve done for me, Genesis,” Abbey began, running her fingers through her weave. “I owe you big.”
She looked tired, like she had just been through a marathon. Despite the chilly air in the living room, she still had beads of sweat formed on her nose. It was then he noticed she was still fully dressed in one of her customary turtle necks.
“You should take a cold bathe. Your temperature was a bit on the high side when I came in,” he said. It occurred to him that there was nothing suggestive about his suggestion. It was something he would say to an old friend. The thought of it made him smile inwardly.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me,” she said.
“At least get rid of the turtleneck,” he said. “We don’t want you sick too.”
“Genesis, I said I’m fine, okay?” she snapped.
He nodded, standing. “I think I’ll take my leave now, ma’am.”
She shuffled to her feet too, her hand reaching out to touch him. “I’m sorry. I’m just a bit strung out. You’ve really been a God-send. It’s late, you should stay…”
Under different circumstances, Genesis would not have hesitated to take her up on her offer, but it crossed his mind that she was probably asking out of courtesy, not because she really wanted him there. After all, she had used him, what more did she need him for?

And so he shook his head.
“I should leave.” He didn’t wait for her to protest; instead he took long strides to the door, closing it softly behind him, he let the darkness embrace him.
To Be Continued…
Mimi A.

The Club Of God-Fearing Men – 9

If she found his suggestion strange, her face didn’t give it away. In fact she glossed over it in a manner that suggested she had warded off many an unwanted proposition without blinking an eye.
She chuckled lightly, saying; ‘I know this new place in Ikeja. Because it’s new, there aren’t so many people flooding it yet, so I think it’d be great if we take advantage of the serenity for this week at least. We can come up with something better later, yeah?”
Genesis was also an expert at hiding disappointment, so his response was a cross between cheerful and reserved. Too much of everything was no good; if he responded in an overly cheerful manner, she would know he was faking it.
He felt he had underestimated her. Just because she was small and playful didn’t mean she was stupid, he decided.
And when have you ever settled for stupid? A voice reminded him at the back of his mind. What he loved, was a challenge. So, dear Lola, be it inside the church or on the top of Mount Everest while fasting sef, I shall have my way when I’m ready.
Their plans were final. Friday by five-thirty, they would meet for their first Salvation class.
It was odd that by the time Genesis was waving her goodbye, he realised he was strangely looking forward to it.
That night, while he prepared for the new week; he found himself thinking about Abbey. It was unexpected because he hadn’t seen her since that night at the club and apart from the brief nostalgia he felt when he was in Grace Assembly earlier that day; she hadn’t entered his thoughts again.
What was it about her that made her pop up in his thoughts now and again? It couldn’t be physical beauty, because he had met many gorgeous women in his day.
In fact, he had once been literally blinded by a particular lady’s beauty. He could hardly look at her without blinking. Staring at her was difficult for him because hers was the kind of beauty that made you question everything, that made you wonder how God could claim to love everyone equally and end up bringing out the ‘fearfully made’ in some people and the ‘wonderfully made’ in others.
So no, it definitely wasn’t beauty that drew him to Abbey.
In his short playboy life, he had come to accept the fact that on some counts the Bible is right. Physical beauty is indeed vain. It is unnecessary in some cases. Only a shallow man, one who didn’t really understand life, would place physical beauty above all else when looking for a woman or a wife.
He had seen many ‘ugly’ of women end up with the most unexpected caliber of men. One time, a classmate of his had introduced him to his fiancée, a lady who had lost her left leg in an accident and had a metal prosthesis in its place.
When she walked, there was clumsiness in her steps that put Genesis off when he first met her. He avoided looking at her legs or in her face, afraid that she would see the irritation in his eyes or the question – why had his friend not picked someone better?
He didn’t really get to know her until his friend married her and moved to Oyo State for his new job. Something happened later that year that caused Genesis to bunk with them for a week. By the time he was leaving their house; he had nothing but praises for Nnedinma. Whenever he looked at her, he forgot about her disability and saw the beauty his friend had seen. And it shamed him that he hadn’t looked beyond the metal to see the human being with a beautiful heart.
Maybe he was doing the same with Abbey. He was refusing to see beyond the fact that she was a widow and had children. He was refusing to see that beyond that, she was human and could have something more to offer.
He sighed, turning in bed.
His friends usually accused him of overthinking things.
If they saw him now and heard his thoughts, they would remind him that this was all a game. Get in, get out and it was over. Besides who wants a woman with baggage? They were not supposed to get emotionally attached with their spirikoko conquests; they were not supposed to look at them as human beings with feelings. No, they were just conquests, pawns. And this was a game.
Just a game, Gen.
He needed to remind himself that. He needed to get his head straight and focus on nailing the smart, sexy Lola Ajibade.
But before then, he had to figure out what it was about Abbey that he couldn’t get out of his head. And maybe when he did, he could get her out of his head and focus on giving sweet Lola some salvation classes.
He roused himself from bed and began to search his trouser pockets, sure he would stumble across her card.
It was 10:54pm when he found it. Tucked somewhere between the pages of a newspaper. He must have slipped it there for safekeeping.
Way to go Gen.
And he thought he had disposed of it long ago.
He hadn’t looked at the card very well when she gave it to him because he hadn’t cared, after discovering she was a mother. But now he looked.
The card was a deep blue colour with her name embossed on it.
Abigael Olaitan.

Manager
Her number was written in small block letters at the edge.
Genesis glanced at the pearl-shaped clock hanging from his wall. It was exactly eleven o clock. It was too late to call anybody, especially someone who was practically a stranger to you.
Maybe it was the pressing need to get her off his mind that overshadowed all reasoning, or maybe it was something more profound that caused him to disregard his rational mind and make the call.
He dialed.

To Be Continued…

MIMI. A

More Than An Apology

Sigh.

Dear Hourglass reader, I enter with my knees bowed. I have been away too long. Five weeks of radio silence is totally unacceptable on the Hourglass no matter what the excuse is, yeah? I can see the inter-webs(internet cobwebs, just in case you’re wondering) and there is a musty smell coming from this space. I know that smell, it’s one of neglect, distance. The smell that welcomes you to your home after you’ve been gone awhile.

Sigh.
This post is dedicated to you, dear reader; because I care, because I appreciate you, because I am grateful to you. I am posting here strictly to say I am sorry.
I have been underground for a while, away from internet connection, cut off from y’all and it has been like a bad case of withdrawal. I missed this space, I missed y’all, I missed the delightful comments.
I have been trying to post this apology for days now, but a certain internet demon has kept me from doing it, it has been extremely difficult to open the web page. But alas, I persisted and here I am!
I would have put up a post to compensate but due to some circumstances beyond my control blah blah blah…(I’m beginning to sound like a politician.)
Basically sha, I’d have to take a raincheck on putting up a story today but I am sure that would change soon! I am so hopeful that things would get back to normal around here and I would have the blog up and running in no time.
Meanwhile, thank you all, for being here, for reading and for following. I do not take any of you for granted.

LOADS AND LOADS OF LOVE.

MIMI .A.