The news of the release of Mr Lucky Odefe had become the talk of the town and Lisa could see how dishonest it made her look. No one cared to listen Victor was the actual criminal, they only looked at her as evil because she was the benefactor of Victor’s stupid action.
The fear and respect people had for her in the office had disappeared. No one cared she was the one who opened up and exposed her long time best friend’s actions even though she could have kept quiet like he suggested. No one appreciated the fact she opened up, except for Dr Beatrice herself surprisingly. She could remember everything her mother in law said to her the day she confessed the truth to her. That was the very next day after Victor had resigned and disappeared. His phone number stopped being reachable and he had probably changed it. She didn’t care though as his actions where a total betrayal of the trust she had in him. He had provided the evidence and she could have investigated better, but that was Victor and he could not lie to her. She only wished she had known better.
“Why didn’t you tell me the evidence you had was from Victor?” Dr Beatrice had asked over dinner when Lisa had gone to break the news to her.
“I trusted Victor wouldn’t lie to me”, Lisa tried to explain. She was very lucky Itohan was not in the house at that moment because she wondered the kind of insults she would have gotten from her sister in law.
“But I don’t trust Victor”, Dr Beatrice had said rather too calmly. She didn’t even look angry and Lisa wondered why. “I trust you and that was why I acted without further investigation.”
Lisa was silent but why was Dr Beatrice not mad at her? She just ate calmly like she usually did ocassionally flashing Daniel a smile. That was when something hit Lisa! Miracle Odefe was right and Daniel was a big reason Dr Beatrice was so nice to her. Her intelligence and contribution to Clay World was obviously another but Lisa would be kidding herself if she thought her mother in law purely loved her. Take away Daniel, take away Clay world and would Dr Beatrice sincerely love her? Lisa doubted that.
“Lisa this is one big blunder”, she continued. “Mr Lucky has been my friend for over 36 years”, she stared at her daughter in law as Lisa tried to avoid her eyes. “Lisa you are beautiful, you are intelligent and I love you but I will not take a blunder like this again. Do you understand me?”
“Yes mother”, she nodded.
“You will visit the Odefe family”, she instructed, “you will apologize to Mr Lucky on my behalf and on behalf of Clay World and you will offer him his old position back”.
Her heart sank in her stomach.
“I know he will reject it because he is a proud man”, she chuckled. “But it is the right thing to do”.
Or the right thing to do was for Dr Beatrice to apologize to her friend of 35 years for wrongly throwing him in prison? She thought but she dared not say that out. Everyone owed Mr Lucky an apology especially Dr Beatrice but she was way too proud to do it herself.
Lisa had decided to obey her mother in law that Thursday and after work, she drove straight to pick Daniel from school and then to Mr Lucky’s house at Uselu. It was a big house and the cars in front made her realize she had come the very wrong time. He had visitors! Lots of them and from the music and laughter of children she could hear from the house, they were having a get together or a party. She seriously thought of leaving but she wanted to do this once and for all. As she got down she noticed Agnes car was also parked there and so was Kelly and Efosa and many of the directors. And finally she saw a Bike! That was Itohan’s Bike! And she suddenly decided she was going back home. As she took Daniel back into the passenger’s seat, Mr Lucky’s front door opened and two children ran out chasing each other. A boy and a girl and behind them was Miracle Odefe, the first son of Mr Lucky screaming at them to get back inside. Lisa was frozen to the spot as she and Miracles eyes met and he gave a sheepish smile. After sending the kids in, he walked towards her slowly and she suddenly wished she had gotten away faster.
“What are you doing here?” He asked.
“I came to see your father”, she stammered.
“So why are you leaving?” He wondered.
“I obviously came at a wrong time”.
“Says who?” He smiled. “We are having a celebration and we need more people to finish all the food we prepared. Come in”. He smiled.
Lisa couldn’t believe it. Did he actually mean this or was this a sought of trap? She opened the door again for her son to get down and he greeted Miracle like she had thought him to always greet his elders.
“Big boy”, Miracle smiled. “You will be playing with the children”, he said. “We have cakes and lots of candies”.
The smile on her son’s face at that moment brought joy to her heart.
“Are you scared cause IT is here?” He asked with a smile but she didn’t respond. “Don’t be. She’s in a very good mood and I have to admit she scares me sometimes too”, he laughed and she forced a smile. “For what it worth Lisa, I don’t hate you”, he said as they approached the door. “It is true your false testimony sent my father to prison, but your confession of the truth brought him back. You could have easily kept quiet about the truth but you spoke up even though you knew it might cost you your job and reputation. That is very commendable and not many Christians would do that”.
“Thank You”, Lisa smiled.
“No, thank you for bringing my father back”, He smiled warmly as he led her into the sitting room.
She would have been forgiven if she thought she was back at the office as lots of people from the office were present. As she stepped in, Miracle called a little girl who must be his daughter to take Daniel to the children’s room and she obliged pulling her son gently away from her. Daniel was a very shy boy, so he followed shyly. The room went quiet as they all saw her. They were all seated in the sitting room with drinks in their hands but she didn’t see Itohan, or even Agnes.
Then she saw him. Mr Lucky was the first to stand and he dropped his glass of wine on a stool beside him. He walked towards her with a smile on his face and her heart beat hard against her chest. He was noticeably thinner and looked really old and immediately her eyes got wet. She couldn’t imagine the horrible things that might have happened to him in prison and she was trying desperately not to cry.
“President Lisa”, he smiled with an outstretched hand.
“Sir”, she called with a cracked voice. “I want to say…”
“No no no”, he shook his head as he placed both hands on her shoulders. “This is not the time”, he said still with the smile on his face. “We are celebrating and we are just waiting for Itohan and the ladies to be done with dinner. After dinner, we will talk”.
She nodded as she fought to hold back the tears. Mr Lucky introduced her to the people she didn’t know in the room and they were mostly from the church. He also introduced her to his second son, Lucky Junior who they commonly called LJ who was just two years younger than Miracle.
They were all seated when Lisa heard a familiar voice, “the food is almost ready boys”, Mrs Osato Odefe came out to meet them in the sitting room. Lisa’s heart jumped as their eyes met.
They had met a lot of times previously. She was an imposing woman with a natural loud voice. But they had not seen eye to eye since her husband was arrested. She stared at Lisa for a while and then frowned. “Did you see any lady here?” She asked and for a moment Lisa wasn’t sure she was talking to her. “Monalisa Agbaje”, Osato called her full name and Lisa jumped to her feet. “Did you see any woman here?”
“Osato leave her alone”, Mr Lucky grumbled. “She just came in”
“Aunty, Lisa is our president oh”, Efosa cut in.
“In the office, she is president”, she joked, “but here, she’s a woman. Oya we need more hands in Kitchen. Follow me”.
“Excuse me”, Lisa smiled at Mr Lucky as she ran after Osato who was heading back to the kitchen.
She could see the shock in their eyes as she got into the kitchen, especially from Agnes and Itohan. But she was more shocked at Itohan’s new look. Her sister in law had removed the terrible Mohawk and was on a simple low cut which looked very good on her. She greeted everyone in the kitchen and saved Itohan for last. She walked up to her sister in law and was about to say something when she interrupted her.
“Grab a plate”, Itohan instructed her. “We are serving”.
They all served and it was a shock to Lisa how everyone treated her like she was a friend. Even Mrs Osato Ehiage teased her and laughed with her. In no time, food was set and the whole family sat together with friends including Lisa as they prayed and began to eat and for the first time, she found herself closing her eyes for prayers. There was rice, chicken, Moi moi and salad. There was also pounded yam and egusi for people like Mr Lucky who preferred local meals. Mr Lucky told his prison stories like it was an adventure and everyone laughed with him. Lisa tried as much as possible to escape Itohan's stare but most times their eyes met as they sat on opposite sides of the table. They all talked and laughed with each other except Lisa who felt like the odd one. When they were done, they all went back to the sitting room to continue talking and laughing. Lisa watched as everything panned out, she saw the children running around including her son who was having the moment of his life with other kids in the house. The little girl she saw outside ran to Lisa one time, she was probably six or seven, “aunty I love your hair” she smiled.
“Thank you darling”, Lisa replied with a smile. “And you are one very beautiful lady”.
Miracle Odefe later mentioned to her that that was his last daughter Sarah and she nodded impressed. After a while, Mr Lucky got up and signalled her to follow him. As she walked behind him, she glanced at the clock in the sitting room and it was already 8pm and she could hear the sound of rain outside. There was going to be hold up at ring road but she didn’t care. She had to finish her mission there. Mr Lucky led her to a room filled with lots of books on book shelves and a centre table. The centre table had a Bible and two chairs and he pointed to one of them for her to sit.
“I don’t understand”, she confessed as Mr Lucky sat down.
“Understand what?”
“I don’t understand why I am being treated this way”. She said confused. “I sent you to prison sir. I humiliated you and the whole family. Called you a thief repeatedly. Why are you all treating me this way?”
Mr Lucky laughed at her like she was ignorant of something.
“And the more you are good to me, the more terrible I feel.” She confessed. “Mr Lucky you have been good to me from the first day I stepped my foot in Clay World but all that good was blocked in my eyes simply because you are a Christian and you made Christian rules for the company. I am so sorry Mr Lucky for everything...”
“MonaLisa”, he interrupted her. She was almost in tears. He stretched his hand across the table and grabbed hers. His hand was thin and warm. “You made a mistake”, he said. “When I was in prison, I had no doubts you will find the truth. But I kept asking myself, would Lisa be brave enough to show Beatrice the truth? You have just proven to me that Christians are not the only good and honest people out there and for that I thank you.”
She nodded as she forced herself to hold back the tears. “My mother in-law wants me to offer you your old job back”.
He laughed. “My time with clay world is done”, he confessed. “This whole episode had made me realise I need to spend a lot more time with my family. Clay World is yours now President Lisa and I have no doubt you will take it to another level”.
Lisa was silent for a while and then asked. “Why are you good to me?” she wondered. “Why is your family good to me?”
“why shouldn’t we?” he asked back. “Lisa anytime we are confronted with situations like this, we ask ourselves, what would Jesus do? After all we are Christians and should act like him. Lisa I am a powerful man and my friendship with your mother in-law has connected me with lots and lots of powerful people. I could easily decide to come after you and punish you for everything”.
“why haven’t you?”
“Because that is not what Jesus would do”, he smiled. “Lisa I really do not understand why people are after Christianity when it is the only thing that can save this world. Jesus gave us a simple commandment. Love thy father and love thy neighbour as you love yourself. This means there are three people you need to love. God your father is number one. Love for Him makes you fear and reverence Him. Because you love Him, you don’t sin because you know He hates sin. So Christians are supposed to live sin free not because they are scared of hell but because they love God. Then you must love yourself because if you don’t love yourself you cannot love your neighbours. Love for yourself keeps you from hurting yourself. You take care of your body because you know it is the temple of God. You protect yourself from sicknesses and diseases and don’t engage in any act that can curse harm to your body. And then finally love your neighbours. Love for your neighbours stops you from hurting them even when they have wronged you. Love for your neighbours stops you from dropping bombs on your neighbour's doorstep. It stops you from swindling your business partner in a business deal. It stops you as a food producer from putting harmful ingredients in your products. It stops you from back biting and killing and stealing and doing all sought of vices”. He smiled. “MonaLisa do you agree with me that if the whole world followed this simple rule of Jesus, the world will be a so much better place to live?”
Lisa nodded slowly
“There will be no wars, no prisons, no starving children. No social vices, nothing bad would be in this world. So in a nutshell, if everyone were true Christians, this world will be perfect. In Colossians chapter 3, Paul explains what it means to be a new man in Christ. Listed things to put off and things to possess like meekness, kindness and humbleness for all to carry. But he said above all these things, put in love which is the bond of perfectness”.
That was when it struck Lisa that all what her network was tryng to achieve, being a Christian would actually achieve that faster. “This isn’t how I see Christianity”, she confessed. “I have read every passage of the Bible including that passage but I never saw it that way”.
“You read looking for loopholes.” He replied as he picked the Bible in front of him. “Without the spirit of God, this is a book of stories. But when you read this and ask Gods spirit to interpret everything to you, then you start to see the real word of God. Lisa I have to agree with you that not every Christian have represented Christ well. In fact pastors and priests have committed all sought of evil acts under the guise of Christianity. But when a basket of apples have bad ones in it, you don’t throw the whole basket away.”
Lisa wiped the tears rolling down her cheeks. “I can’t do this”, she confessed. “This goes against everything I believe in”.
“Then maybe it is time to believe new things”, he cut in. “Lisa there are atheists like you that I respect. Those who don’t believe in God and yet they strive to know the truth. But there are those who the devil has so hardened their hearts that they do not even want the truth. They live in sin and iniquity, calling Christians fools for taking a supposed myth too seriously. Ignorant but they do not want to learn. They judge Christianity by the bad ones they see, but the truth is that it is impossible to understand the inner decorations of a house by standing outside.” He squeezed Lisa's hand gently. “Come into the house Lisa”, he pleaded. “Feel the experience of God and if you don’t see God around your life, then you are free to go back and do whatever you need to do”.
Lisa sat there staring at the Bible in front of her as everything Phillip and Osas had told her began to replay in her head. Why was everyone interested in her being a Christian? It was not because they needed her offering or her tithe because none had even invited her to their church. They did it for Love. She thought of Victor and all that they believed and then her mentor Chinwe Nnadi. She thought of all the debates she had with Christians in her YouTube channel and gradually Lisa could spot the flaws in her argument. The words of Osas struck her immediately. “what the human brain can’t comprehend, they call fantasy”. Lisa found out she was left to make a decision. And then she heard the bomb blast in her head like it was happening again. Like she was 12 years old all over again.
“I can’t do this”, she confessed as she jumped off from the chair. “thank you sir for your hospitality but I need to go home”.
She rushed out of the room leaving her former boss sat on the chair wondering what was up with her. She saw Daniel in the sitting room and told him they had to leave. “Good bye everyone”, she waved as she dragged her son with her out of the door. Attempts to stop her by Miracle, Agnes and Itohan proved futile. She put her son in the passenger’s seat as the rain poured on her and agnes and Itohan. The two of them had followed her outside.
“What is wrong?” Itohan wondered.
“I am sorry sister”, she pleaded. “but it is getting late and I have to leave”.
“I found an answer to your question” Agnes chipped in.
“What question?”
“The omnipotence paradox”, she replied with a smile.
Lisa stood under the rain for a while staring at Agnes and Itohan. “i don’t need it”, she finally said, got into her car and drove off leaving them in the rain.
As she drove through the dark, wet uselu market, she could not stop thinking of Osas and everything she said to her. And then Mr Lucky and finally Philip. Their words replayed in her head over and over again. What if they were right? It wasn’t possible. Common sense would tell you these things were not real. But again, David in the Bible called people like her fools for not believing.
The movement in Uselu was slow but it wasn’t total hold up and she drove as slowly as she could.
“Mummy”, Daniel got her attention. “Look”, he pointed outside his window and she saw a woman like her with a small daughter probably of Daniel's age standing under the rain waiting for a cab or a bus. Immediately, Mr Lucky’s teaching of love flashed in her head and she saw herself pulling over. She rolled down Daniel's glass and called for them to get in. The lady and her daughter happily opened the back door of the car and got in.
“Thank you very much” the lady greeted. They were dripping wet. But Lisa didn’t care. It was better for them to wet her car than for the poor lady and her daughter to remain under the rain.
“Where are you headed?” Lisa inquired.
“wire road” the lady replied and she nodded.
Lisa drove in silence as she listened to the adorable small girl first accuse her mother of not listening to her when she predicted it was going to rain. She then switched to a story of how she beat all her class mates in a race during P.E in school. Her story was funny and the girl sounded really brilliant. She was no way like her very quiet Daniel and occasionally, Lisa found herself smiling to the girl’s story and almost perfect use of the English language.
Finally they were in wire road and the lady pleaded for Lisa to stop and she pulled over. “thank you very much ma”, she said as she got down. “God bless you”.
“There is no such thing as God”, Lisa said to her self but didn’t know the little girl had heard her. Lisa was waiting for the girl to get down with her mother but she didn’t and when she turned to the back seat, she saw the girl staring at her. Then the girl gave a smile and opened her side of the car.
“Then who do you think sent you to help us?” the girl asked as she got down. “Bye”, she greeted Daniel and slammed her door shut.
Lisa's heart started to beat fast as she drove on. God sent her to them? It wasn’t possible. But she asked herself. What if God had been directing her all these while? From her making Mr Lucky go into prison to her being president and meeting Phillip and Osas and then to her finding the truth. She wouldn’t have known everything she knew now about Christianity if all these had not happened. Was God directing her? How could He when He didn’t even exist?
Then they got to the inevitable Ring Road hold up and she heard that chant she hated so much. Was it not too late?
“Buy your Bible here! Just 200 naira!” The chant went on and on and on as she was stuck in the hold up. She even realised she had started to know it word for word. Woman with the red blowse, man with the white cap and so on. Then she heard something she had never heard before.
“Lady with the green shirt, you need this Bible. Buy your Bible. Woman in the Benz, buy for your child. Boy in the white shirt, buy for yourself. Buy your Bible! Just two hundred naira!”
“Mummy they are talking to us” Daniel called her attention.
“No baby”, she disagreed. “it’s a recording”.
“You are wearing a green shirt”, he pointed out. “my uniform is white and our car is a Benz”.
Lisa looked at her shirt and her son was right! She had never ever heard that line before! She looked through the window and she could see the store. Next thing, she saw herself pulling over, getting down from her car and heading into the store to get herself a new Bible. She had burnt the last one she had.
This Chapter was edited by Glory Uwanna Kenneth (Happy birthday by the way)
Note: The next chapter "struggling in faith" will be out in the 4th of November. We apologise the last two episodes have come very late. Blame Emmanuel who never gets the picture art ready in time 😜😜
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