FOLA Episode 3

Episode 3.

Brother Biyi started driving slower so as to feed us on what he knows about without leaving any stone unturned.

The pastor has been having different attacks for the past seven years which is not known to church because there was a time when the congregation of our parish was less than 100 and out of this 100, the rich and well to do members are not even up to 20. Till one day that one of the elders in the church came around and advise the pastor on what to do.

"Wait, you mean... I am not getting the connection" mum didn't know when she interrupted brother Biyi but he continued.

Elder has an herbalist that helped him establish his wealth and every year, he has a method of renewal but today is not for the talk of the elder, so back to the pastor. Pastor followed his advise and follow the elder to the local village on the outskirt of our state. The baba instructed him to bring in a young single lady and every other thing to be used will be sorted by baba.

I noticed my mom was trying to look back to check if I'm listening or not but because I don't want to act like I'm listening, I had to quickly fake sleep.

To cut the story short, Pastor had taken a young lady to baba without letting anyone know not even his wife. He was instructed to never mention it to anyone unless he will run mad. He agreed to it and the main reason the pastor was doing this was that he wanted more members and most importantly rich members.

Days rolled by and the church started growing in 20s and 30s to 100s till the former church couldn't take us again. The advantage of the rich members hastened the building of this permanent site that we are using today.

After all said and heard, something still seemed unclear to me, or maybe my mother already connected the dot to what might have made the pastor slump from the stairs. 

The last attack the pastor had was on Friday and how I found out about everything is that I eavesdropped while trying to take the files to the pastor's office and I could hear how loud he was talking to the elder. 

"I am no longer interested in whatever your old man is doing, it's God that grows the church and not man" and many more words were all that was coming from the pastor's mouth. 

Elder tried reminding him of his renewal that he has been failing to abide by for a while now and how baba is angry that he could do such a thing after helping him breakthrough and making his church popular. 

I stood transfixed and in awe of what was coming out from the pastor's office. I couldn't believe my ears and I wouldn't even know if I want to be a part of the church again.

My mother was shocked hearing all of this and was rendered speechless all through the talk and the only thing my mom said was "we are going to drop after this junction".

I was still closing my eyes and acting like I was asleep. My little brain couldn't process the whole conversation but I know that the way it's all going, it might not end up well.

The last warning they gave the pastor was through the elder as that Friday and the main instruction is that if he doesn't come latest Saturday night, he will not live to see the next day. The pastor doesn't want to hear anything else as he sent the elder out of his office. As I heard the footstep, I quickly run faster to go back to the last step of the stairs and acted like I was just coming up.

"Good afternoon sir" I quickly greeted the elder as he walked past and didn't give any response. I already predicted that something terrible might happen but I don't know in which style it was going to take.

We got to our junction and mom tapped me. I stretched to make my sleeping look real. Mom led me into the house holding me with one hand and on the hand the food basket and her handbag.

We waited till evening and dad got back home around 5pm looking so tired and stressed out. 

"Welcome dear, what's now the latest about the pastor" the concern on my mother's face couldn't let her keep calm for dad to freshen up and settle down before asking for the update.

"It's very sad news to be honest. This is how people will be alive today and tomorrow they are gone." I can feel the pain in my dad's voice that evening as he walked into his room leaving half of my mom's question unanswered.

Did I tell you about the pastor's family? No right?

The pastor has a beautiful light-skinned average height wife called Folu and she gave birth to 2 kids. The first child is Ben while the sister is Brenda.

"My dear, please serve the dinner because I am totally famished," dad said walking into the living room that evening. We ate that night and no one really talked about the pastor again till the following morning when a call came in

"The burial has been scheduled for next weekend sir, which is Friday and Saturday," the caller said as dad's phone was on a loudspeaker. 

Dad drove me to school that morning while he dropped mom halfway because her store was not too far from my school. 

I forgot to tell you that mom was a businesswoman that was into the wholesaler of clothing materials such as Ankara, adire, and many other materials.

Oh, dad is not a full-time worker. He is the chairman of the Teacher's council and Supervisor in my state. He is also one of the top officials of Christian Ambassadors in town. 

Days moved faster than usual and finally, it was the weekend for the pastor's burial. The news had gone everywhere that the regional pastor of a parish slumped and died. Different bloggers with different storylines.

The occasion was graced by people from far and near but the unexpected happened when the undertaker were carrying the coffin out of the church.

What happened? Watch out for the next episode