THE LOOPHOLE

Story by O'nezer

On a not-too-busy evening, Albert Ayanfe, the only son and last child of brother and sister Ayanfe picked up the assignment he was given from school and he started working on it.

He got bored and tired and few minutes later, he started dosing off. He was almost going deep into sleep when the poke from Emily woke him up.

"Albert, Albert, see how he is dosing, if it's play that they ask him to play now, he will play very well" Emily said.

She relaxed a bit into the cushion as she started calling out to Becky in order to confirm if she has finished washing the dishes. 

"Becky, Becky ooo" Emily shouting on top of her voice as Becky too was answering faintly from somewhere around the room to the passage and to the kitchen. 

"Are you........."

Door opening interrupted what Emily wanted to say.

"Welcome dad" both Becky and Albert greeted the dad in unison before Albert who loves junks so much asked the dad what he bought for them.

Mr Steve Ayanfe is a lecturer in one of the Colleges of Education in the state and he often times is more accessible and available than his wife. 

He is in his late 40's and he is also a minister of God in one of the Bible believing church around. 

"Check my bag, there is something there for you both but Emily, where is mummy?" he asked with the last breath in him but the reply he got was more heartbreaking for Steve.

"She said she will be away for another two weeks of ministerial assignment" Emily explained calmly but Mr Steve was too tired to even argue over the fact that the wife didn't inform him before now.

"Please boil me some water, I will like to have a warm bath" he said as he pulled off his shoe and reached to his pocket to get his cell phone to put a call through to his wife.

******** A MONTH LATER********

Mr Steve walked into his wife's room to have a chat with her. He was looking so tired and stressed out but he was left with no option than to interrupt whatever she might have been occupied with. 

Kate who happens to be the busy woman was also not having anyone's time as she buried her face into different books she was reading to research and pray on what to talk about in her next ministerial work.

"Good morning dear, how was your night" Steve said and the wife replied his greetings while still having her face fixed into the book she is reading. 

"I will love us to talk about something and please give it a good thought" he further stated but this time around the wife moved her eyes a bit off the book and now facing him.

"If you mean now, as you can see, I have this work here to finish and I can't even afford to stop for a minute" Kate responded.

He was disappointed with her reply but he pulled himself together that his wife shouldn't be that hard to talk to after all.

"Go ahead, I am listening anyways" Kate concluded as she turned back to the book.

"I want us to talk about how busy you have been, you don't have time for me, you don't have time for the children and...." before he could finish what he was about to say, Kate cuts in angrily. 

"And that is why I have Emily here"

"But Emily is not my wife, you are my wife" Steve said out loud with anger written all over him.

"I don't want anything to hinder my ministerial work, not even you dear" she said out louder so as to make her point clear and make her husband understand that the king's business requires haste.

"....still check and balance everything dear" Steve said as he walked out of the room. 

********2 WEEKS LATER ********

Kate was on a phone call, thanking the caller for the opportunity given her to come and minister in their church. She further stated the schedule of her next movement. 

"Yes sir, I really appreciate sir. My flight has been scheduled for 1PM" she kept on talking till she found the nearest seat to her in the living room and then she sat.

Immediately after the call, she observed that Emily was sleeping on the couch and this left Kate to wonder what could be wrong.

"Emily, Emily, so you are here sleeping" she tapped her. Emily jumped out of fear. 

"I have been observing you for a while with the excess sleeping, you will be sleeping here and there, up and down and I am wondering if there is nothing more" Kate said while adjusting herself.

"I hope it is not what I'm thinking sha?" Kate said out of curiosity.

"No ma, No ma" Emily quickly denied the imagination of what Kate might be thinking about.

"It better not be, it won't even be. I am preparing for a ministerial journey tomorrow" she said and further included  "You will need to go to the market now as I need to put things in place". 

She picked her phone up to make some other calls as Emily walked down to the kitchen.

"I just hope madam will not find out what is going on oh" Emily started talking to herself.

"Even if she finds out self, is it my fault? Is it my fault? My oga self don tire for her matter" she concluded as she made her way out to go to the market. 

******** INTERMISSION ********

One afternoon, Kate was looking for the invitation card that was given her for one of her next ministerial work. She wanted to use the details on the card.

In the process of searching, she found a letter in the Bible on the stool and this led to a big fight.

"Dear, I can't believe you can stoop so low to sleep with this useless thing here" Kate was angry and was beginning to raise her voice while Steve was just there on the couch listening and acting nonchalantly. 

"Madam, please don't call me names, don't call me names at all" Emily cuts in with pride.

"You now have the liver to talk in this house? Can you imagine? I remember how I brought you from nothing and tush you up, is this what you want to pay me with?" Kate was irritated by the mess the husband had gotten into. 

"That's not my concern, we now have same right, same respect and command in this house, let me go and check the rice I'm cooking for our husband" Emily said as she walked to the kitchen.

Kate followed her angrily and threw the pregnancy letter she found in the bible on the husband's face. 

"Hello Joy, my wife has found out everything that is happening, can you come around tomorrow morning" Steve had said.

******** THE FOLLOWING MORNING ********

Pastor and a brother from church showed up at Mr and Mrs Steve Ayanfe's house. Joy, the immediate younger sister to Steve too was around.

"Brother Steve, your wife gave me a call this morning, what exactly is the problem?" Kate didn't let her husband answer the pastor before she started talking. 

"I am highly disappointed in my husband and...." Steve interrupted his wife.

"Thank you for coming pastor, thank God you are here" he said as he adjusted his glasses. 

"I've tolerated this long enough, I am draining emotionally, physically and even spiritually" Steve said as Brother Jones, the brother that came with the pastor kept shouting "ha ha" in amusement. 

"Brother Steve, please shed more light, what exactly happened?" Pastor asked to clear his curiosity. 

"Pastor, how disgusting is it to hear that my husband slept with this idiot Emily" Kate interrupted. 

"It is not my fault, ask her sir, it is not my fault at all" Emily said.

"Pastor, there is limit to everyone's enduring spirit, help me ask her when last we prayed together as a family,  when last did she perform her duties as my wife in this house, today Abuja, tomorrow Lagos next tomorrow the small and big villages round Calabar here" Steve expresses his pain and anger. 

"But you said you understood my calling and spiritual assignment" Kate said amidst tears but Steve was not having any of her talks again as they were not adding up.

"You should also understand in this case too" Steve shut her up.

"Brother Steve! but how did it all happen?"

******** FLASHBACK********

About a month ago, Joy paid her brother a visit and she could feel the pain that was written all over her brother's face on how busy the wife has been.

"If your wife is this busy, there is something we should be able to do ooo" she said.

"But I can't divorce my wife, I love her very much" Steve said with much concern. 

"There is something I will suggest, I have a doctor friend who can help us with a fake pregnancy test, we will put it where your wife can easily see it" she suggested. 

"I hope this will work sha?" Steve asked and his sister assured him that they should give it a try and see how it all goes. 

"Where is Emily so we can explain the plan to her?" Joy said and Steve went inside to call Emily.

******** BACK TO PRESENT ********

"Haaaa haaaa" everyone said in unison. 

"You mean you are not pregnant? oh my Goodness!" Kate said with shame written all over her face. 

She fell on her knees and started apologising to her husband.

"My dear, I'm very sorry, please find a place in your heart to forgive me" she turned to Emily as well "Emily, please forgive me too"

"Sister Kate, this is an eye-opener for you" brother Jones said as Joy also added "My brother, find a place in your heart to forgive her, she has realised her mistakes too".

"Well, I have forgiven you my dear, I have... stand up, stand up" he assisted her up and drew her closer.

"Praise the Lord!" the pastor said as everyone responded with "Hallelujah".

"Many people today also have created a loophole for Satan to disrupt the peace and unity of their homes" the pastor said and continued...

"They will get so busy to the extent that they won't pay attention to the loopholes, remember that the family that prays together stays together and in this, there won't be room for the devil's interruption! We all should be mindful of this loopholes".

He rounded it off with "May God grant us the grace and the enabling!"

ALL CHORUSED AMEN!

And the pastor said 

"LET'S PRAY... IN JESUS NAME....."

THE END.

MAY GOD HELP US ALL TO BE MINDFUL OF THE LOOPHOLES THAT THE DEVIL CAN USE IN DISRUPTING THE PEACE AND UNITY IN OUR HOMES AND AMIDST BRETHREN.

AMEN!

Text: Ephesians 5:21 "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God."

THE LOOPHOLE. 

By Osunniran Ebenezer.

JOURNEY ON BIKE

JOURNEY ON A BIKE

Story by O'nezer

"Essss, shey oun lo ni? (Are you going?)" A young dark bike man said. 

I checked my time and realised that it was few minutes past 6pm that Saturday evening. 

If you are familiar with Ibadan very well, you will understand this lifestyle better. 

Life is simple in Ibadan, Oyo state as there are many means of transportation, you go with the one that you can afford or the one that can save you time and stress. 

I am not a fan of cab as cheap as they are, I would rather take bike because it saves me lots of "drop and pick" as cabs will always do.

Many times, the cab may not leave their park until the cab is filled to the brim except on few occasions when the driver might be either in a hurry or there is someone in the cab that they don't want to loose to other drivers. 

Keke napep also would have been another alternative but they also do "drop and pick" which will make my journey slower than I planned. 

As for bike, bike can take you faster to anywhere within the axis that those bike men work or if you have enough money to pay them, they can take you round anywhere as much as you want.

The only 'but' with the bike is that they must always carry someone with you. When I first moved to Ibadan, it was one of my major turn off because at ilorin where I used to live before, bike will carry only you to anywhere with almost same amount that they will take you in Ibadan with someone else.

Immediately that bike man called me, I had no option than to follow him since all other ones I've been calling from Molete to Iwo road doesn't want to go.

"Can we go now because I'm in a hurry" I tried to hurry the guy so he may not necessarily carry someone else with me. I already know I'm working with time and I have to be where I'm going on time.

"Iwo road kan (one more person)" he said as he was shouting on top of his voice to every one passing by.

Finally, a man walked closely to us

"Iwo road abi? (Right)" the man said with his deep Baritone voice. 

This man should be in his late 50's though you can't judge a book from its cover but at least my guess may be as close.

"Uncle, shift for me a bit" the man pleaded. This man isn't as slim as I am. He has pot belly that was pushing my own flat belly to the back of the bike man. 

"Shey change wa? (Is there change?)" The bike man interrupted and the man affirmed that there is.

The journey began and we started moving gradually. I checked my time and we were 5 minutes away from 6:30 PM.

It was the time where we have a longer day and shorter night. It made it a bit easier for places to still be bright at that time but the bike man was already pacing faster than we initially started.

"Gently oh, gen..." the man behind me hasn't finished saying gently the second time before our bike man abruptly held the bike's brake to avoid a pothole and that was what promoted the talk that day. 

The man was supposed to be angry based on my assumption as the bike man couldn't apologize for falling into the pothole. 

"My boy, this life isn't a bed of roses at all" deep down inside me I didn't want to answer because I had a mixed feeling of anger and happiness at that moment.

I was angry that the bike styles here is always taking more than one peson but I'm happy that I'm getting closer to where I was going. 

"Many years ago, when I was in Ondo state, the man started. I remembered how life was then, somewhat better and I could afford to go anywhere at anytime to get anything anyhow" I paid attention keenly to the man's story. 

"But that's not even where I'm going, let me take it back from my primary and secondary school days"

"I used to be that chubby boy that no one wants to associate with, if that word chubby was enough, it would have still been managed, I could even laugh at myself and make fun out of the mockery" the man said as the breeze on the bike was accompanying the story. 

"I wasn't the brilliant student despite that my parents are into academic, how will their reputation not get ruined if they have a child who is as dull as I am, I know how many times teachers called me failure" I sighed and I was wondering why he was even telling me his story.

"As expensive as studying could be that time, my father was in his professor class when I was just in primary 2 or thereabouts but because my mom doesn't want to get more than PhD, for years she was just doing masters from one department to another. All this signs and symbols already show that my parents are the brilliant set of people. The man said 

"I have two younger sisters and they took after my parents, they all finished secondary school before me. 

"I failed severally that I started calling my classmates senior when they always leave me in a class and move to the next one"

"Yes sir, are you sure your child is not under any family attack or something else because with the rate in which he doesn't assimilate, I don't even know" the head master explained to my parents one afternoon. 

"For many years, I was tagged "orobo olodo (fat dullard)" I wanted to laugh but I remember that he is an elderly person and i don't know him or how harmful it could be if I should laugh at him.

The journey kept on going and what interested me most was when he started talking about his secondary school days.

"It was a big struggle, Junior secondary school was still better but you see when I entered senior secondary school, 90% of my classmates moved to science class and the remaining 10% was shared into art and commercial classes" he said as the bike man kept his pace on a high level"

"I went to commercial class, not because I know what they do or have a clue what the department was about, I did follow follow down there". I chucked the moment I heard follow follow. 

There are days when teachers will join the class to laugh at the mistakes I make tho I wasn't the last in class I am not the best as well. I am that below the average kinda student. My grades always fall between C downwards" I was shaking my head as he was saying all that. 

"Teachers also empowered the brilliant students as he will ask the class questions and they expected us to know it but we don't, cane will be handed over to the Brilliant students to flog us. It's always a shameful moment that I couldn't even put them in words back then"

I was wondering why will a teacher do all this as if he didn't undergo the teacher's training and many more of it. 

"I was depressed although that didn't stop me from being called fat, chubby and dull. There were days that I wanted to commit suicide but I don't know what kept stopping me it could be the prayers of my parents or something else"

I was so shocked that I didn't know what to say again but I wanted to ask how he then scaled through it. Just as i was about to ask, he rounded the story off.

"God gave me a bible reference one night when I had a knife to my belly, I was going to kill myself I couldn't take it anymore and that's in Jeremiah 1:5, check it out when you get home" the man said but I didn't even know what's in that verse by heart. 

"O wa oh, I will be stopping here" the man said and handed over a 200 naira note to the bike man. The bike man zoomed off.

I was feeling restless after the man had left me, I couldn't understand why. I wasn't far from my destination any longer. Soon I got to where I would stop, I paid the bike man and I alighted.

Oh! I didn't tell you the meeting I was going for. My dad had called me in the afternoon to inform me of a meeting with my grandpa by 7:00pm. It was 06:55pm and I was already at my family house at Iwo road. The meeting started and as expected after the whole issue to be discussed I was brought to the table again. My dad's elder brother was so furious that he threatened to take me away from school if I should repeat another class. Thank God my mom wasn't in the meeting I couldn't have imagined how broken and depressed she would've been. She was accused of given birth to a good-for-nothing, useless child. As if she gave birth to me and sold my brains out.

This wasn't the first time having such meetings but this one was entirely different. Coupled with the stranger's story. I couldn't even say anything all through the meeting. I was confused, restless. I couldn't wait to get back home. 

I'm my father's only son, much was expected from me but I wasn't given half yet. I couldn't even give a standard to my younger siblings infact they are better than I am. I was beginning to become a reproach to my family. 

Thank God the meeting came to an end finally I rushed back home. Getting a bike at that time wasn't difficult I got one immediately I stepped out of the house. And the journey was even faster this time because automobiles on the road had reduced. It was already past 8pm.

I got to molete and immediately I dropped, I started feeling more restless. I opened the door and rushed down to my reading table where I kept my bible.

I opened the bible to where the man had mentioned earlier.

 "Jeremiah 1:5  Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations"

The man's story wasn't what got me restless, but the fact that I've been bullied severally in school and my parents had changed my school more than 5 times in 3 years.

My story is almost same with that of the man, I was in commercial class too, I wasn't brilliant,  the difference is that he was mocked for being fat but I was mocked for being thin...

Teachers don't allow student beat me but they laugh at me because I don't know anything. 

I started crying and praying for God to help me. I held on to that assurance in Jeremiah 1:5 and I finally moved past the bully and shame. 

Today, I can tell you that God used the "journey on a bike" to change my life and turn my story around.

I am Oluwafemi Beyioku, I am the C.E.O of OB Multimedia Company with 13 branches in Ibadan, Oyo state.

Don't ever forget who you are in Christ and he will give you victory at last.

JOURNEY ON A BIKE

Story by O'nezer 

Osunniran Ebenezer