WITH THIS RING – a novel – will be posted all through this month
By: Pastor Taiwo Iredele Odubiyi
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(Day 7)
Grace introduced him to her mother, “Albert, this is my mother, Pastor Ibie. Mum, this is Albert Asika. He works with Reflections.”
Ibie looked at him. He was about five feet-ten inches tall, a little light-skinned, handsome with a well-set teeth and a smile that would make any man proud.
As he greeted Ibie respectfully, Grace was proud of him. He was smooth and had a way about him that she had noticed and fallen for the first time she met him. She hoped her mother would not ask him questions that could embarrass him.
“I do read your column.” Ibie told him.
“Thank you. I’m happy to hear that.” He responded with a smile.
“Please sit down.” Grace said.
“Thanks.” Out of the corner of his eye, Albert noticed Ibie looking at him, probably sizing him up.
She was. Physically speaking, he was okay. But was he truly a Christian as Grace had told her? Ibie wondered. Did he love the Lord and her daughter? Those questions were the most important to her.
When Grace left for the kitchen to get him something to drink, Ibie tackled him.
“So Albert, where do you worship?”
He told her.
“Are you born again?”
“Er, I’m a Christian.”
“Born again?” She repeated, not sparing him.
“Er, it depends on what you mean, Ms. James.”
Ms. James? Ibie wondered. She wasn’t sure of what she would have wanted him to call her but Ms. James wasn’t what she expected to hear.
Ignoring that, she told him, “There’s only one meaning to it.”
“Yes, I guess you’re right. It’s just that I don’t really like being labeled ‘born again’. A Christian is a Christian.”
Ibie pressed her lips together. He wasn’t a Christian, she concluded.
Just then, Grace returned, carrying a cup and a jug of juice in a tray. She poured juice in the cup and set it before him.
“But did Grace tell you that she’s born again?” Ibie went on.
“Er, yes.”
Grace sat across from Albert.
“What do you think of it?” Ibie asked him.
He smiled. “It’s okay. That’s fine. I don’t have any problem with it. I’m also a Christian.”
“Do you speak in tongues?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Well, I joined the church not quite long.”
“Oh, I see.” Ibie said. She was certain he wasn’t a Christian.
She got up, excused herself and went into her bedroom with the laptop.
Grace asked Albert, “How was work today?”
“It was hectic as usual.” He answered.
“Did you travel to Badagry to interview that woman you talked about?”
“Yes, I did. It was a good thing I set out early. It took me almost three hours to get there. There was traffic.”
“How did it go?”
“It went well. I’ve submitted my report to the editor.”
Grace got up. As she came to sit beside him, he looked at her. She was slender with soft curves, and was a couple of inches shorter than him.
Albert reached out for the glass cup on the table in front of him and had a sip. He told Grace more about his day.
When he stopped, Grace took his right hand in hers and said quietly, “I’m pregnant, Albert.”
He put the cup in his hand down carefully and looked at her. “You’re wha-t?!”
She glanced sharply toward her mother’s bedroom as she told him, “Lower your voice!”
He did, staring at her. “You’re pregnant?”
“Yes.” She said, staring back at him, studying his face. He didn’t seem pleased.
Pregnant? “How did you know?” He asked as his gaze went from her face to her flat stomach.
“I bought the pregnancy test kit and tested this morning. It was positive.”
His eyes went back to her face. “Do you think the kit is reliable?”
“Yes, I think so. Besides, I’ve missed my period.”
“But … how could you be pregnant?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean why should you allow that to happen?” He told her. As another thought occurred to him, he added, “It’s a joke, right?”
“I wish it were.”
“Well, you have to get rid of it.”
She glared at him even though she had already thought of the option.
He didn’t flinch. “Are you ready to be a mother now? I mean, that was not supposed to happen.”
“I know it wasn’t planned but you could at least have shown some feeling. We are talking about a life here.”
He shrugged. “Well, I guess I was taken by surprise. I mean … it was the last thing I was expecting to hear you say. What’s on your mind?”
She looked away. “I don’t know.”
“Well, you have only two options: get rid of it or keep it and I don’t think you should go for the second option.”
He did not mention the option of marriage, she realised. “Why not? Why can’t we keep it?” She ventured to ask.
He gave a look that said have-you-lost-mind? “You want to keep it?”
“We could keep it?” She flicked her right index finger between them.
“We?” He asked then shook his head. “No. I am not ready for that. Are you?”
She didn’t talk.
He took her hand. “Abort it. It happens every day. It’s one of those things that happen. We’ll be more careful, okay?”
She took a deep breath.
“How much will you need to get it done?”
“I don’t know. It shouldn’t be much.” She forced herself to say.
“I don’t have much cash on me here. Get it done, and let me know how much it cost. Alright?”
She nodded.
“The earlier the better. Get it done tomorrow.”
“Okay.” She agreed. She didn’t think she had much choice, anyway.
“And if I may ask, are you certain it’s mine?”
“Of course. Do I look like a lady who sleeps around?”
“We can’t determine who can or cannot do such a thing by looks these days.”
“I’m not that type. I’m a Christian.” She had said it before she realised that such a statement would not mean much to him. She had not behaved like a Christian.
His phone began to ring and he picked it. It was a man from his church who wanted to know why Albert was not in church on Sunday.
“I returned home on Saturday at about midnight and woke up late in the morning at around ten.” Albert explained.
“Sunday service ends around one. You would have made it still.”
“I was very tired. I’ll come this Sunday.” Albert promised.
Shortly after the call, he got up to leave and Grace saw him off.
As he drove out of the compound, he gave the smiling security man some money as he did the other times he came to the house. Very happy, the man thanked him. Albert chuckled. He had come to realise that money could achieve a lot of things. When he arrived at the house and the man saw that it was him, he threw the gate wide open without asking questions.
Albert soon pushed thoughts of the man out of his mind to think about Grace. He knew pregnancy could happen at any time, it comes with sex. It was just that he wasn’t expecting it. When the girl he was going out with three years ago told him she was pregnant, she asked for ten thousand naira to terminate it.
He decided to double that amount for Grace and get it transferred into her bank account tomorrow morning. That would take care of the silly mess, he thought.
Somehow, he liked Grace. He had liked her from the day she walked into his office that first time. She also had a cute laugh and slight dimples which he liked. The dimples were obviously inherited from her mother.
When he reached a red traffic light, he stopped and quickly searched his CD collections. He chose Brenda Fassie, slotted the CD in the CD player and soon, the late South African singer’s strong voice filled the car as she sang Vuli ndlela. He didn’t understand what she was singing about but he moved his head to the rhythm of the music.
When the light turned green, he moved on.
To be continued.
You will learn about the mercy of God and that there is hope for you, in this novel.
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