HEART OF GOLD Episode 12 - Final By Freeman Cj

HEART OF GOLD

Episode 12 - Final

 By; Freeman Cj

EPISODE 12

The day for the wedding came and it was successful with Sas serving as the groom’s man at the wedding. Liz had gotten a friend whom she met during her NYSC days to serve as her maid of honour.

Ann who had been following Liz on social media had advised her against marrying Frank without seeking the will of God concerning the marriage.

Liz had gone ahead to tell her to mind her own business and to get a husband for herself. To ensure that Ann stopped disturbing her, she had blocked her from all her social media accounts.

The couple returned home after the reception to continue their honeymoon which lasted for three weeks.

*Five Years Later*

“I am tired of you returning home at this time of the night with one excuse or the other. I am just tired” Liz said to Frank who was just returning home at some minutes past eleven. It was a habit that he had cultivated about a year ago and she was getting tired of it.

Frank: “I am sorry but I told you that we were having some meetings with some friends who want to help me secure another job after I lost the last and that has kept us in the office till now” she said.

Liz: “you know it hurts me when you lie to me like this. There was nothing like any meeting with your friends and you know that so just stop it”

Frank: “Okay, you are correct. There was no meeting, I actually went to hang out with some friends and we had a few drinks to celebrate his promotion. I didn’t want to tell you because you don’t like me taking alcohol” he said.

Liz: “you cannot be hanging out with your friends everyday and be drinking alcohol without thinking of how to get another job for yourself. You have lost more than three jobs ever since we got married and you are busy celebrating other people’s promotion. The next thing, they will introduce you into the world of women and you will start wallowing in adultery. A man who takes alcohol can do anything” she complained.

Frank: “oh please stop nagging and go and get me my food” he said, going to take a seat.

Liz: “that is what I am saying. You come back late and then you expect me to go back to the kitchen and warm your food for you because by now it would have gone cold and I know that you don’t like cold food. You should know that I also need rest. I go to work from morning to night to fend for this family and when I return, I cook for you. Don’t add to it, please” he said.

Frank: “just what exactly what is your problem? It’s been five years after our marriage and even though you have not been able to give me a child, I don’t complain but you will never cease to nag at any given opportunity. What exactly do you have against me hanging out with my friends?” he flared up.

Liz: “Fr..Frank, you now mock me with my childlessness? Has it gotten to that extent now”

Frank: “you know what, I am not eating again. You can keep the food to yourself” he said and staggered into the bedroom reeling of alcohol.

Liz sat on the chair and began to weep. That was the third time her husband was making reference to her childlessness that week and she was beginning to get worried.

After crying her eyes out that night, she went to bed, wondering if it was her fault that she had not been able to get pregnant.

The next morning was a Saturday and Liz was taking her time to clean the house. Frank was still in bed, struggling to do away with the hangover he was feeling.

Liz checked the time and it was some minutes past twelve.

“Wow, I have been working since morning and now its past twelve, time to rest” she said and went into the refrigerator where she picked a can of soft drink and some melted malt biscuits.

She came back to the sitting room, switched on her television and began to watch. After few minutes, she heard the door bell ring and she got up to open the door. Her mother in law was standing at the door, holding her traveling bag.

Liz: “ah, mama welcome ma. My husband didn’t inform me that you were coming. Please come inside ma” she said, while trying to collect the travelling bag from the woman who refused to give it to her.

Mama Frank: “my friend will you leave my bag? Imagine what you are saying, so I need to inform you before coming to my son’s house or what?”

“No, ma. That is not what I mean…” Liz started to say before she was interrupted.

Mama Frank: “just save your explanation, I am not interested. So, your stomach is still this flat?” she asked.

Liz: “ma?” she asked touching her stomach unconsciously.

Mama Frank: “what is ma? So, as a married woman, five years after your wedding, your stomach is still this flat? What have you been doing that you are still not pregnant yet?”

Liz: “mama, I am trying. I and your son are trying and we know that at His own time, God will give us our own children” she said, trying to force back the tears that was threatening to fall from her eyes.

Mama Frank: “shut up jare. Of course I know that you are not God who gives children but look at all the people that married years after you married my son, they all have their children, some even have twins and you are here saying you are not God who gives children. Shioor!”

Liz: “mama, what would you like to eat and drink? You must be very tired” she said trying to change the topic.

Mama Frank: “I am in my son’s house and if I want to eat, I will go to the kitchen and prepare something for myself. You are asking me what I want when you yourself are busy taking junks” she pointed at the malt and biscuits on the table.

“A woman who wants to get pregnant is busy taking sugary things, tell me, how will the baby stay in your womb when you take in? Instead of you to take herbs and vegetables that will help your womb. Who knows if you are the witch who doesn’t even want to have children for my son” she spewed.

Liz “mama…”

Mama Frank: “Ekwensu fire your mouth there if you call me mama again. If you don’t want to give me grandchildren, leave my son’s house so that another woman can come in now, ehn, ogini?”

Liz: “mama, I will just go in and inform my husband that you are around. I am sure you will be glad to see your son” she said and attempted to leave because she didn’t want the woman to see that she was crying.

Mama Frank: “will you come back here? What will I eat? Don’t you know that I need to eat after travelling from such a long distance?”

Liz: “I will go into the kitchen and make something for you to eat. That is why I was asking what you wanted to eat as soon as you came in” she explained.

Mama Frank: “what is this one saying? Is there no cooked food in this house or what? So you will not give my son children and you will also not give him food? What crime did we commit by marrying you?”

Liz: “I have been busy cleaning the house all morning, ma. If I knew that you were coming, I would have cooked something” he said.

Mama Frank: “so my son will not eat? What do you mean by if you knew that I was coming you would have cooked? What will somebody not see with these women of nowadays?”

Liz: “excuse me, ma” she said and ran to the bathroom to cry. Past experience had taught her that her home was usually hell anytime her mother in law visited and to worsen the case, her husband supported his mother. She was in for a bigger trouble this time around and she knew it.

HEART OF GOLD.

EPISODE 13

Five years after the kidney transplant, Mr Ogar’s health began to deteriorate. His inability to supervise his businesses like he always did caused him lots of contracts and coupled with the economic recession in the country, his business began to suffer.

His wife also contributed to the failure of his business by her elaborate lifestyle and love for material things. Her husband had made her signatory to his account and she had taken the opportunity to squander all that her husband had on her extended family and her sons who were also used to elaborate lifestyles. The last straw that broke the camel’s back was when her husband who had not had access to his phones for weeks while he was on hospital admission returned home and saw that the ten million naira he had left in his account was missing.

Mr Ogar: “my dear, did you by any chance withdraw any money from our joint account?”

Mrs Ogar: “What are you saying? Where do you think I have been seeing the money that I have been using to treat you?”

“But I sent some money into your account for my treatment even before I was admitted. I purposely left that money in my bank account because I wanted to use it to process this contract I am pursuing with the state government” He said.

Mrs Ogar: “Oh, you mean the ten million naira in the joint account? “

“yes” her husband replied anxiously.

Mrs Ogar: “Okay. I withdrew it while you were in the hospital” She said casually.

Mr Ogar: “You what? Okay. Where is the money?”

Mrs Ogar: “I used it for an important project”

Mr Ogar: “What project? What project is more important than the project we are pursuing?”

Mrs Ogar: “this one is sure to yield more profit, my dear”

Mr Ogar: “Okay, tell me about the business”

Mrs Ogar: “You know that our younger son plays football right? Well, he got in touch with this agent who wants to link him up with Chelsea football club so that he can play for the club. The agent needed fifteen million and after some pleading, he agreed to take ten million naira. So, I took the ten million in your account and gave it to my son to give to the agent “

“What! Are you out of your mind or something? You gave my hard earned ten million naira to an agent without my permission? What sort of football does your son play that he wants to play for Chelsea? Is that how people pay to get signed into clubs?”

Mrs Ogar: “Why are you talking like this? He is our son and it is our duty to help his career. Don’t you know that he will be earning millions of naira as a footballer? Look Neymar for instance, don’t you know how much they will be paying him every month? Besides, how could I have told you when the doctor said you shouldn’t be disturbed? Please understand with me “

Mr Ogar: “Just listen to yourself. Did Neymar pay any agent to get signed? That money is all the cash that I have left. If you know the agent you gave it to, you better go back and get my money”.

Mrs Ogar: “Sorry but it is too late my dear. The account number the agent sent to us is a foreign one and our son said he hasn’t been able to reach him since that time but I am sure the agent will get in touch soon”.

“what! It’s a scam. My ten million naira is gone” He screamed and fell down.

“My chest, help, I cannot breathe” He said.

His wife rushed to him and in a few minutes time, they were on the way to the hospital with Mrs Ogar shouting at the driver to speed up.

==========

Liz and her mother in law continued to have one problem after the other and as usual her husband supported his mother. Frank also became more daring with his staying out attitude all the while that his mother was in the house.

Liz decided to confront him that night after he returned home reeling of alcohol at almost 12 midnight.

Liz: “What has come over you? Why are you doing this to me, now tell me, why?”

Frank: “What is it? Will you allow me rest or do you want me to go back to where I am coming from?”

Liz: “Frank please, I need you now more than ever. I am going through a lot of pressure right now. Your mother is on my neck to give her a grandchild and you are keeping late nights, even doing worst than you were doing before your mother came in. Now you stay out longer than you used to and when you come back, you reel of alcohol and then sleep off as soon as your head touches the pillow. How am I supposed to get pregnant like this”

Frank: “So because you want to get pregnant I should not go to see my friends again or what are you saying?”

Liz: “I am saying that we need to spend more time with each other so that I can give your mother a grand child, that is all I ask for”

Frank: “You are very stupid!”

Liz: “What?” She asked surprisingly.

Frank: “Yes, you heard me right. How can you say we need more time just so you can give my mother a grandchild? Don’t you need a child too? Don’t I deserve a child as your own husband? What sort of a wife are you?”

Liz: “all I know is that I am tired of your mother’s constant naggings and your hanging out late even though you are jobless, I am tired” She said and walked into the room with him following her.

Frank: “It is not your fault. My friends warned me but I didn’t listen” He cursed.

Liz: “What did you just say?” She stopped.

Frank: “I said is it my fault that I married you despite the fact that you were raped? How many men marry women who have been raped? You better thank God instead of nagging”

Liz: “I cannot believe you are saying this” She said and collapsed on the bed with tears.

=======

After the heart attack that happened as a result of his money that was taken from his account, Mr Ogar’s condition became worse and he was confined to a wheelchair as a result of stroke that was triggered by the heart attack.

His wife became tired of taking care of him and decided to travel to visit her parents.

Mrs Ogar: “my husband, thank God that you are back from the hospital now. I want to inform you that I will be travelling to visit my parents in the village next tomorrow and I will be there for at least two weeks until the August meeting is over”

Mr Ogar: “That is okay but what about me, who would take care of me while you are away?”

Mrs Ogar: “So because my husband is sick I should not live my life again abi what?”

Mr Ogar: “That is not what I mean. Look at my condition, I can’t help myself, I need you now more than ever”

Mrs Ogar: “Listen, you know that I don’t joke with our August meeting and so I have to go. You can go and stay with your son so that his wife will take care of you after all you once bought a car for her”

Mr Ogar: “How can you even suggest that? You want me to go and expose my nakedness to my daughter in law? Is that right?”

Mr Ogar: “I have said my own. You better make up your mind by tomorrow so that I can drop you off else, you are on your own” She said and walked out on him, leaving him in grave emotional pains.

HEART OF GOLD.

EPISODE 14

The next day, against her husband’s wish, Mrs Ogar drove him to Declan’s house. His wife was in the kitchen when she heard them drive in and she came out to greet them.

Stacey: “good afternoon, dad. Good afternoon, mum” she said kneeling down.

Declan: “what a surprise, dad. I didn’t know that you would be visiting us today” he said.

Mr Ogar: “I am here against my wish. No wonder the holy Bible says that when you are young you go wherever you want with your legs but when you are old, you are led by arm to a place you would rather not go”

Declan: “I don’t understand you, sir” he said, wondering what his father was musing about.

Mr Ogar: “your mother here wants to travel for her August meeting and she had to bring me here so that…”

Mrs Ogar: “erm, I think I have to take my leave now. I am travelling tomorrow and I have lots of things to do back home. I have brought your father to you Declan, I want you and your wife to take care of him while I am away after all he is your father” she said and turned to leave.

Declan: “but ma…”

Mrs Ogar: “what is it? Can’t you and your wife take care of your sick father? What is wrong with that? Haven’t I been single handedly taking care of him all these while?”

Declan: “of course I can take care of my father and indeed I consider it a privilege to be able to take care of my own father at his old age because I know that someday my own child will take care of me when I am old. But you know that I am very busy and only return home at night. Dad is confined to a chair and needs someone to help him do everything. I just think that it will not be right to have my wife see my father’s nakedness which is inevitable if she has to be the one to bath and clean him up”

Mrs Ogar: “I don’t know what you are talking about. All I know is that I have brought your father and I am travelling. Oh, so you mean your wife cannot bath and clean up your father but she can accept a car from him as a gift right? Why didn’t you ask her to reject the car when your father gave it to her? Mtcheww, bunch of pretenders” she said and left the house.

Stacey: “it’s okay sweetheart” turning to her father in law she said.

“Don’t worry dad, all will be fine okay? I promise to make your stay with us worth the while” she said and the old man smiled and blessed her in his heart.

Weeks after his wife travelled, Mr Ogar’s health began to deteriorate and Declan and his wife did their best to make sure that he was comfortable.

Because of Declan’s busy schedule at work, his wife had to resign her post as a school teacher so that she could take care of her father in law who was bedridden.

Declan on discovering that his father’s condition was getting worse got in touch with his step mother so that she could return and help in taking care of her husband but she refused and said there was no way she could return back home until she had attended the August meeting of that year.

Declan had no choice than to travel outside the country with his father and this ate deep into his pockets and coupled with the fact that there was recession in the country, things were no longer rosy for them.

The medical trip to India was futile and they returned home and there his father was admitted again in the hospital.

Declan and his wife took turns to stay with his father in the hospital and all appeal by him to get his younger ones to come and help take care of their father proved abortive.

That day, after Stacey had taken the food her father in law asked her to cook for him to his hospital, the old man called her and his son to his side.

Mr Ogar: “my son, I want to specially thank you and your wife for staying with me all this period that I have been having health challenges. May God bless you abundantly” he said, trying hard to breathe.

Declan: “father, why are you thanking me for doing what I am supposed to do for you? You are my father and it is my duty as a son to take care of you”

“I know my son but not many young people of this your generation knows that. For instance, I have other sons, where are there? Why are they not here to take care of me as their father?” he asked rhetorically.

There was no response from Declan and so he continued.

Mr Ogar: “that is what I am saying. It is not everybody that knows that it is their duty to take care of their ailing father. My God will bless you and bless your wife too. My daughter, I bless God the day we went to marry you for my son. In you I have found the daughter that I didn’t have and so it shall be well with you” he said.

Stacey: “thank you very much dad, it is an honour to be your daughter in law”

Mr Ogar: “my children, I feel myself joining my ancestors soon and so I advise that you live with peace with your step mother and siblings after I am no more. Right now, I have almost nothing in my account and that is because I have used up my money treating myself and funding my wife’s elaborate lifestyle. She made me make her a signatory to my account and only God knows how much she has been withdrawing to spend on frivolities. As if that is enough, she has been making a ridicule of my condition ever since I got sick and so I declare today that all that I have left is yours. My house, cars, companies and other investments are yours alone to do with as you please. Use it to take care of your wife and children, they deserve it”

Declan: “but father, what about my siblings and step mother? You should also leave something for them:

Mr Ogar: “all that I have, I worked for them with my strength and sweat and I give them to you and you alone, it is final” he said and asked his son to feed him. After he ate to his satisfaction, he fell asleep and died in his sleep.

==========

Two days after their father’s burial, the lawyer of late Mr Ogar summoned Mrs Ogar and her two children as well as Declan and his wife to the sitting room where he brought out a copy of Mr Ogar’s will and showed it to them.

Lawyer: “ladies and gentlemen, here is my client’s will as sealed. He instructed while he was alive that I read it to you all after his burial. Since he has been buried now, I think we can get done with it so that you all can go back to your businesses” He said and they all nodded in agreement.

The will read thus:

“I Mr Ogar appreciate God for everything that he has done for me while I was on earth.

I thank my wife, who gave me two children and for all that we went through together.

I thank my sons, Iyke and Jim, who have been too busy to acknowledge me as their father.

I thank my daughter in law, Stacey for taking care of me and even quitting her job so that she can help her husband to take care of me while I was confined to a wheelchair. Because of me and my son, she lost a pregnancy in India. May God bless you richly.

I want to specially thank my first son, the Apple of my eyes, my pride and the strength of my youth, Declan. As I write this, words cannot explain how much I love and appreciate you. I couldn’t have asked for a better son. Thank you for filling in the great vacuum that the death of your mother created in my life and heart. How do I even begin to appreciate you? Is it by thanking you for giving me one of your kidneys so that I can have life again? Or is it the pain you went through at the hospital in India after the surgery where you almost lost your life for me? Is it how you stood by me and took care of me in my confinement or how you used up your life savings to take me twice to India for medical checkups? May God bless you and keep you for your wife and children.

As at the time I am writing this ,I have no money in my account, thanks to my exorbitant hospital bill. Therefore, all my landed property belongs to my son, Declan. The house I have in the city and in the village belongs to him and so do my cars and every other investment. He is to take over the affairs of my company after my death. Everything down to a single kobo that I have goes to my son Declan.

As for my wife and her children, let me shock you by informing you that I know that you have been stealing from me all these while. I spent a lot on my sons to train them abroad and only God knows if they graduated or not. I have opened several businesses for my wife but she is always coming up with one excuse or the other on why it failed. The ten million naira you took from my account recently is what I would have given to you and your children as inheritance.

I pray that you all will live together after my death. Until we meet to part no more.

Signed. Mr Ogar.

Lawyer: “That is the will as written by the deceased”.

Jim: “Excuse me but did you just call the rubbish you read will?”

Lawyer: “I beg your pardon? “

Iyke: “Oga charge and bail lawyer, wetin my brother talk be say that thing wey you read now, na him you dey call will?”

Lawyer: “ I take exception to the insult on my profession by calling me a charge and bail lawyer. However, the so called rubbish is your father’s will and we all have to accept that”

Mrs Ogar: “You are not serious, barrister”

Lawyer: “What?”

Mrs Ogar: “Yes, I said you are a joker. That thing you just read now is not my husband’s will. You better go back to the office and get my husband’s original will wherever you kept it. I will not accept this fabricated nonsense”

HEART OF GOLD.

EPISODE 15

Mama Frank: “you people should wait first. What is going on here? Is it that I didn’t hear you well or what? Wise one, what did you say my son did?” she asked.

Dibia: “your son knows what I am talking about so you will do well to ask him. Sometime ago, he raped the same woman he married and took away her virginity. That lady has sworn that the man who raped her will never find peace and that he will not live to set eyes on his children” he explained in one breath.

Mama Frank: “somebody help me o. No, this is not true. Frank, tell me it is not true, there must be a mistake somewhere. Dibia, you need to consult with the gods again. My son has never raped any woman in his life” she defended him.

Dibia: “hahahahaha….the gods never lie. It is right here, I see how he organized with his friends and raped her and then kept it away from her” he said.

Mama Frank peeped into the calabash, with the hope that she could see what he was seeing.

Dibia: “you cannot see it with your physical eyes. To see things beyond the physical realm, you need to see with your spiritual eyes for where the eyes stop to see, the mind starts to see” he said to her.

Mama Frank: “my son, you didn’t do it right? Tell me it is not true” she said to Frank who was sitting with his head bowed low.

Frank: “mama…I…er…”

“Say something, when did you begin to stammer?” she interrupted him.

Frank: “it is true, the dibia is saying the truth”

Mama Frank: “yaay! I am finished. Where do I go from here? You are my only son, Frank. Why have you done this to me?” she asked him.

Frank: “mother…”

Mama Frank: “don’t mother me o, how can you even rape your own fiancée? Where is that done for Christ’s sake?”

Dibia: “ehn-ehn, hold it there woman. Don’t you ever call that name of the son of God in this shrine again” he asked, obviously terrified.

Mama Frank: “I am sorry, wise one. It was a slip of tongue, please pardon me”

Frank: “mother, when it happened, we were not even engaged yet. We were only dating” he said.

Mama Frank: “is that an excuse? How can you rape a girl you were dating?”

Frank: “my friends deceived me. They made me do it, I am sorry”

Mama Frank: “Frank, this is so unbelievable. And to think that I thought I know you as much as I know myself? How can you keep such a thing from your own mother who gave birth to you? Why didn’t you confide in me? How can you be this stupid as to marry a woman you raped and expect to live in peace with her afterwards?”

Frank: “I was afraid of what you will say. I just didn’t know what to do. After raping her, I fell helplessly in love with her and I couldn’t help until I had married her” he said.

Mama Frank: “wise one, you have to help me. This boy is my only child and I am a widow. If we allow him to die then I am doomed in this my old age. Please help us” she said squatting before the dibia.

Dibia: “woman, the solution lies in shedding the blood of his wife. That is the only way he can be free from the curse that she has placed on her assaulters”

Mama Frank: “please, there must be some other way. Help us plead with the gods”

Frank: “please old one, I don’t want to kill my wife. No matter what has happened, I still love her. please look for some other way”

Mama Frank: “will you shut up your filthy mouth there? We are talking about your life and you are here talking about love, which stupid love? Is love enough to keep you alive?” she asked rhetorically.

Dibia: “it is okay. Drop some money and let me plead with the gods on your behalf” he said interrupting them.

Frank quickly dipped his hand into his pocket and brought out a bundle of N1000 notes that his wife had given him and dropped it in the calabash without counting.

The dibia started another round of incantations and chants that took longer than the one that he had done the first time. At some point, his facial expressions changed and mother and son thought they could see that he was arguing with someone or something.

After he finished, he sighed.

Mama Frank: “is there another solution?” she asked anxiously.

Frank: “wise one, please talk to us, this suspense is killing me”

Dibia: “you are lucky my son, you have found favour with the gods. There is another way out”

Mama Frank: “the gods be praised” she said rubbing her palms together in supplication.

Frank: “what is the way out and how much will It cost me? I will provide all the money right away”

Dibia: “it is not about money. That is the problem with this generation. You people think that money can solve all problems and that is why most people go out of their way to make money. You have to do the second option yourself. Remember that you are the one who committed the crime so nobody will help you solve it” he said sternly.

Frank: “how? He said, his heart beating wildly.

Dibia: “you have to organize an elaborate reception where you will invite all the people that you invited when you wedded your wife. At that reception, you will kneel down before the presence of everyone and narrate to your wife how you organized with the help of your friends and raped her. Then you will ask her to forgive you and remove the curse she placed on the person who raped her. That is the only way you can be free” he said. 

Frank: “what! This is ridiculous. How can the gods say a thing like that? Who does that? How can I even start telling Liz that I raped her in the presence of everyone? Do you want my marriage to crash? I can never do it”

Mama Frank: “ah, wise one. This is not as easy as it sounds. There is a penalty for rape and my son may even go to jail after confessing. Is there no other way round?”

Dibia: “there is no other way round. It is either he does it, or he kills her in a way that the gods will suggest else, be prepared to bury him soon” he said and disappeared, his voice still echoing in the shrine.

Liz tried to find out what had transpired between mother and son and dibia but they refused to tell her and assured her that all would be well soon. A glance at her husband’s face and she knew that all was not well.

“well, whatever it is,, I shall find out soon” she thought.

======= = 

Declan was in his father’s office going through some papers when he heard a mysterious voice call his name. He looked around and was surprised to find out that he was alone in the office. He called his father’s secretary and she informed him that she had not called him. He dismissed her and as soon as he was back alone, he heard someone call his name and when he answered, a mysterious hand appeared from nowhere and slapped him.

Declan screamed and fell down on his face and went limb.

HEART OF GOLD.

EPISODE 16

Declan was rushed to the hospital by the staff on duty and his wife was contacted. Stacey was on her way back from the market when she received an anonymous call informing her that her attention was needed in the hospital. She was surprised when she saw the condition her husband was in when she got to the hospital. Declan was looking disfigured like one who had been ill for days; his mouth was twisted to the sides and could not talk.

He remained in the hospital for weeks after which he was referred to another hospital. His wife took him to different hospitals all to no avail. Instead of his condition to improve it kept on deteriorating with him losing his speech. The doctor called her to his office to speak with her on the day he was discharged.

Doctor: “I know it is against the ethics of our profession to say this but I just have to say it never the less because you see, even as a doctor, I still know that God is the greatest of all doctors. I advise that you seek help from a man of God because his ailment is defying medical science”

Stacey: “hmmn…help from a man of God?”

Doctor: “yes. The reports that you brought from different hospitals and all that we have done here have shown that medically, there is nothing wrong with your husband. What he is experiencing may be spiritual and only God can help in that situation” he said.

Stacey: “doctor, I have been thinking of reaching out to his family so that they can help me with funds to take him abroad. I want us to take him to the hospital in India where his kidney was harvested. I am sure that they will be able to treat him since the hospitals here cannot ascertain what is wrong with him”

Doctor: “I will not deceive you madam, his ailment is not kidney related. Even if you take him to all the hospitals in the world, they will still tell you the same thing that I am telling you now”

Stacey: “okay, doctor, thank you very much” she said wiping the tears from her eyes.

The following months were the worst for Stacey who had to empty her husband’s account and sell off some of his properties in other to raise money to take him abroad for treatment despite the doctor’s advice.

The trip to India was futile as the doctors could not diagnose Declan’s ailment. At the end, after they had expended all the money they had, they returned to the country, with his condition worse than it was before they travelled out.

Stacey went with her husband from one hospital to another, from one solution center to the other and she even went as far as taking him to spiritual homes where they left worst and poorer than they had been before they went there.

Having exhausted all that they had, she decided to go back to his family for assistance.

Mrs Ogar: “yes, what are you doing here? Haven’t I warned you never to set your foot in this house again?”

Stacey: “I am sorry to disobey your orders ma, but I came here for something very important” she said.

Mrs Ogar: “and what is it?” she asked casually, indicating lack of interest.

Stacey: “it is about my husband Declan, we have spent all that we have on hospital bills and medication. Even after we came back from India, his condition has continued to worsen. Please help me” she said with tears in her eyes.

Mrs Ogar: “I don’t know how your husband’s ailment is any of my business”

“Please ma, we have spent all that we have and right now, my children are hungry with nothing to eat. We cannot even afford to pay their school fees”

Mrs Ogar: “I warned you, didn’t I? I warned you not to waste money to fly him abroad for treatment but you wouldn’t listen. You even went ahead to sell some of my late husband’s properties just to treat your husband and now you are here shedding crocodile tears”

Stacey: “Ma, please forgive us. I thought they would be able to help him there. I couldn’t bear to see him in so much pain when there is something that I could have done, that is why I decided to try out that option. He is your son and you should please for his sake help us”

Mrs Ogar: “I have only two children and trust me none of them bears the name Declan. Now pick your miserable self and get out of my house before I set the dogs after you” she threatened.

Stacey: “ma?”

Mrs Ogar: “you heard me right. Go and tell your husband that he had better confessed his sins so that he can live. If he thinks he can kill my husband and then live to inherit his properties then he is not only sick, he is mad as well”

Stacey: “but ma, my husband is not a murderer. He cannot even hurt a file” she said.

Mrs Ogar: “I have had enough of you in my house. Get out!” she barked and Stacey ran out.

Stacey: “my husband, I know that you can hear me even though you cannot talk. I have gone to your immediate and extended family and they have all refused to help me. As a matter of fact, your step mother chased me out of your family house as if I am a dog. As it is, we have nobody to run to and so I have decided to do what the doctors advised, that is prayer. I want to start attending a Bible believing Church and I will pray and cry to God until he restores your health. Don’t worry ehn, even though everyone has abandoned you, I will never abandon you. We signed for better and worse and I will stick with you through the thick and thin and together we shall come out of this stronger” she assured him after she had finished cleaning the sores on his body with towel socked in warm water mixed with antiseptic.

Declan nodded after trying to speak to no avail. In his heart, he blessed his wife and prayed for death to take him away so that she could be free from all the sufferings that she was going through for his sake.

=========

Frank, afraid of what would happen to him if he didn’t do what the dibia said decided to play on his wife’s intelligence so that he could see her reaction. After they had retired to bed after dinner that day, he held her hands in his own.

Frank: “baby, you know I love you very much right?” he said staring into her eyes.

Liz: “I know that even though sometimes, your attitude speaks otherwise” she said and touched his nose fondly.

Frank: “I am so sorry sweetie, don’t mind me okay. I love you even more than you can imagine. So tell me, have you forgiven the person who raped you? What if the person walks up to you and confesses and asks for your forgiveness, will you let it go?”

Liz: “ah, forgive? How can you even say a thing like that? Somebody raped me and took away my virginity that I had been preserving for you and you are here talking about forgiveness? No, I will not. If the rapist comes to me and asks for forgiveness, I will have him arrested and persecuted accordingly, he can never go free, not while I am alive, never! Even if the person is my blood, he will pay with his blood” she sparked.

Frank: “hmmm…” he sighed at a loss on what to say.

Liz: “baby what is it? Do you have an idea who the person is or did the person get in touch with you to help talk to me on his behalf?”

Frank: “trust me love, if I know who the person is, I will strangle him to death with my bare hands” he lied.

“I trust you my husband” she said and planted a kiss on his forehead.

Frank: “she said over her dead body will she ever forgive the person. Hmmmn, over her dead body…” Frank kept on repeating until he fell asleep.

The next day, Frank returned to the herbalist and told him he was ready to kill his wife if that was what it would take for him to escape the impending doom. The herbalist gave him a white substance and told him to use it in cooking for her.

“Once she eats the food that you cook with this substance, she will die peacefully in her sleep and nobody will ever suspect you. That way, you will be free forever but you have to make sure that you use it today” the herbalist said while handling him the substance.

From the shrine, he returned to Abuja and branched to the market where he got ingredients for the rice and chicken curry sauce that he wanted to prepare for her. He had opted for chicken and curry sauce because it was one of her favourite meals and he knew that the substance would bled well with the curry sauce.

Liz was surprised when she saw her husband with ingredients after he got back home.

Liz: “what’s up, sweetheart. You didn’t tell me that you were going to the market when you left the house this morning” she said to him.

Frank: “well, I decided to surprise my wife. Guess what, I am making dinner tonight” he said.

Liz: “you, make dinner? When did that one start? Anyway, you can’t do that today, I already made dinner and I have served it on the dining table. I was waiting for you to return so that we can eat” she said to him.

Frank: “you already made dinner? Why?” he asked getting worked up.

Liz: “why what? I mean its past six and usually dinner ought to be served by now. This is not the first time I am doing it” she said to him.

Frank: “but you should have called to ask if I wanted you to make dinner for me”

Liz: “is that a new rule? I never call to ask if I should make dinner for you. It is my responsibility and until today, you didn’t have a problem with me doing so. You are the one who ought to have called to notify me against making dinner since you want to cook today”

Frank: “yeah, you are right. I actually forgot. Anyway, you have to clear your table o, I am going to the kitchen to cook for you and you have to eat mine. Guess what I will be cooking for you, white rice and chicken with curry sauce”

Liz smiled. “We think so much alike. That is the same thing I made. So, no need cooking yours tonight. Just preserve the perishable ingredients in the refrigerator, then go shower and let us eat. You can cook for me any other day”

Frank was confused and agreed to what she said but then he recalled the warning by the herbalist that the substance must be used that same day.

Frank: “baby, I have to cook for you today. I have decided to do it, please don’t discourage me, who knows if today will be my last day on earth and that is why I am in the mood to cook for you” he said.

Liz: “God forbid. Today cannot be your last day on earth o. if you insist on cooking for me, fine even though I don’t see what difference it will make since you will be preparing the same dish I made”

Frank: “it will make a lot of difference. Remember how you used to enjoy my cooking back then in school” he said and made his way into the kitchen.

Liz: “I will join you in the kitchen so that I can help out” she said but her husband declined and told her to sit and relax while he gets everything done.

After what seemed like eternity, Frank came out of the kitchen with a bowl of steaming hot white rice and chicken sauce.

Liz: “why, the aroma is killing me” she said getting up to join him on the dining table.

Frank: “yah, you married a great cook, you know” he said setting the dish before her.

Liz: “why is it this small? Where is yours?”

Frank: “I actually cooked a little just for you and you alone. You know what they say that if you stay in the kitchen and cook, you won’t be able to eat the food. That is happening to me. I feel so full right now”

Liz: “ah no, we have to eat together, we have always done it like that” she said.

Frank: “don’t worry, you just go ahead, I may join you before you finish eating. Right now I need to watch a Champions league match” he said and left the dining area for fear that she may force him to eat out of her dish.

Liz got up from the dining table without tasting the food and decided to join her husband on the settee so that she could watch television while eating. Few steps away from her husband and she slipped and fell, pouring all the food on the floor. Her husband screamed and jumped up.

HEART OF GOLD.

EPISODE 17 (final) 

Liz got up from the dining table without tasting the food and decided to join her husband on the settee so that she could watch television while eating. Few steps away from her husband and she slipped and fell, pouring all the food on the floor. Her husband screamed and jumped up.

Frank: “Why did you leave the dining table for? You were supposed to eat there” he said getting worked up.

Liz: “I am sorry; I wanted to join you on the chair so that I can eat there while watching TV”

Frank ignored her and went out of the sitting room in annoyance, leaving her surprised. If only he had the means, he would have forced her to eat the food she had thrown on the floor.

Frank returned to the shrine the next day and after explaining everything to the herbalist, the man gave him another substance to pour in her food that same day or face grievous consequences.

He returned home to discover that his wife was not home yet and so he ran to the kitchen to prepare another meal. When it was time to pour the substance, he searched his pocket for it all to no avail. There was one explanation and that was that the substance had fallen off from his pocket while he was sitting on the bike that took him from the herbalist’s shrine to where he had packed his wife’s car since he couldn’t drive his car to the shrine because of the bad road. His legs began to quiver when he thought of the warning that the herbalist had given him.

The dawn of the next day and Frank was back at the shrine. This time around the man was furious and told Frank that he had only one chance to kill her himself and that was by stabbing her that night.

Herbalist: “this is your last chance. If you don’t kill her tonight, you will be in big trouble” he said and ordered Frank out of his shrine.

Liz returned home tired that day because she was on dry fasting and prayers. She was praying for God to grant her a child, protect her and her husband and help him secure a permanent job. That night Frank waited for his wife to fall asleep but she stayed up late into the night, reading her Bible, praying and singing hymns to God. By the time she finished praying around 3am, Frank had already fallen fast asleep. She woke him up the next morning at about 7am so that they could have their morning devotion. Frank knew that there was no way he could kill her that morning in the manner the herbalist had instructed him to without attracting the attention of the neighbours and so he knew that he was doomed. For fear of what the herbalist will say to him about his carelessness, he refused to go back to the shrine and after three days, he was struck with a strange ailment that defied all medications.

====

The hospital had no option but to discharge Frank when his wife could no longer afford to pay his medical bills and also the fact that his decomposing body parts was omitting an offensive odour that was a threat to the health workers as well as patients and their relatives.

Liz worked her hands off taking care of her husband at home and cleaning up his mess. At the same time, she did not relent in praying.

During the course of their going to Church for prayers and night vigils, Stacey and Liz became good friends as the two women had similar plights and that was their husbands whose ailments had defiled all medical explanations. Seeing how devout and steadfast the faith of the two women were, their Church organized a vigil and declared a seven days fasting and prayers by all its members for the recovery of their husbands.

Even though Stacey’s husband was confined to a wheel chair, he would follow his wife to Church and the two of them would pray and declare healing with their mouth.

The reverse was however the case with Frank as he refused all entreaties by his wife to follow her to Church. His condition was deteriorating, his manhood was decaying with pus and maggots coming out of it and at the same time he could not control his urine and feaces and so he was always defecating on himself.

His mother who was heartbroken by her son’s condition died of high blood pressure few months after her only son was struck with the mysterious ailment.

Liz: “baby, it has been over a month since you were discharged from the hospital and right now I have exhausted all my savings on your medical bills. I have also resigned my job because I have to be around to clean you up always. Please allow me to take you to Church. Today is the end of our 7 days fasting and prayers and God will heal you if only you will believe in Him” she said to her husband whose facial expression had been altered by the ailment.

Frank: “leave me alone to die. I said that I do not believe in any God. God cannot heal me because I brought what I am going through upon myself, I just want to die so that this pain will cease”

Liz: “don’t give in to despair, my husband. How can you say that you brought this ailment upon yourself, what did you do, please tell me. I am your wife and we are not supposed to keep anything away from each other” she said.

Frank: “I cannot tell you. I will rather commit suicide than say it out”

Liz: “okay, if you will not tell me, then confess to God and repent of your sins in your heart and He will forgive you and welcome you with open arms because His word makes us to understand that His mercy is endless. Confess to God in your heart and accept Jesus as your Lord and personal savior and I am sure that your healing would come”

“I said I don’t believe that any God can forgive me because I did not offend him. Just let me be” he said getting irritated.

Liz: “okay, who did you offend? Tell me the person and I will go and help you plead with the person even if it means me rolling on the floor until the person forgives you” she suggested.

Frank: “I said I will rather die than say anything about what I have done, is that too big for you to understand? What is it seff, if you are tired of staying married to me because of my condition, just say so instead of beating about the bush” he said and she began to weep.

Liz: “I am sorry for upsetting you, I only wish that you can regain your healing once again” she said and hugged him not minding the fact that he was all messed up and smelly.

====

Liz helped her husband retire to bed and then she got ready and ran off for the all night crusade. It was an intensive and praise filled prayer session that saw many miracles being performed by their pastor and the invited ministers of God.

After hours of prayers and praise, a call was made for the anointing of the sick and because of Declan’s faith in the power of God to heal him, he received his healing and jumped up from the wheel chair, completely healed and began to sing praises to God.

The resident pastor continued to pray in different tongues and then suddenly he went quiet after seeing some revelation about Frank.

He called Liz and asked where her husband was and she told him that he was at home because he had refused to follow her to Church.

Pastor: “I just received a revelation that his healing is here if only he will have faith, confess whatever wrong he may have done and believe in the supremacy of God.

Liz: “I tried my best to bring him here all to no avail”

The pastor instructed his driver and some Church members to drive home with Liz and help her bring her husband to Church.

After several minutes of persuasion, Frank agreed to follow them to Church and the driver and Church members helped carry him into the car since he was too weak to walk to the car.

At the Church the pastor tried to preach to Frank to make him give his life to God but he refused and remained adamant.

Pastor: “Mr. Frank, God is willing to forgive, heal and accept you back if only you will believe and confess your sins. I urge you to do so please”

“Well, tell your God to keep his healing and every other thing to himself because I am not interested. I will rather die than confess. By the way, if truly you had seen a revelation about me, why don’t you tell the world my sins then and save me the stress of confessing by myself?” he asked.

Pastor: “I saw a revelation that there is an un-confessed sin responsible for your plight. God did not show me what the sin is because he is not one to tell on His creature. As a matter of fact, you don’t have to confess it out for us to hear. Just confess in your heart to God, ask for his forgiveness and mercy, accept him as your Lord and I am sure you will receive your healing. Afterwards you can go and make amends with those you have offended, please Brother Frank, give the angels in heaven the opportunity to rejoice over your soul today”

Frank became violent and commanded his wife to take him back home if she didn’t want him to place a curse on her.

She complied when he began to scream at the top of his voice and the driver that brought them helped take them back home.

Frank left the Church the way he had entered because of lack of faith whereas Declan and other people left completely healed because they believed in God.

Few weeks later, Liz and Frank were back to the hospital after his condition began to deteriorate and when he saw that he had no hope of survival, he called his wife to his bedside and confessed to her, starting from how he had raped her to how he had attempted to kill her to escape the punishment.

Liz: “how could you do this to me? I loved you so much and yet you betrayed me. It is okay, I have forgiven you but you need to give your life to God so that He can heal you. There is nothing that is too difficult for Him to do”

Frank: “it is too late. God cannot forgive me, in fact I don’t deserve and I don’t need His forgiveness because you have a golden heart and gave me the purest of all love and yet I betrayed you. Promise me something” he said looking up to her.

Liz: “Anything for you, my husband”

Frank: “promise me that you will not mourn me for long and that you will remarry after I am gone because you deserve a better man than I. Promise me that you will love again and get married and have all the children that what I did in the past prevented us from having” he said.

Liz: “you will not die, Frank. I believe that you will not die. I am going to call the pastor to pray for you” she said and stood up.

Frank: “if you have ever loved me, then make this promise. It is my dying wish, Liz please grant it and then you can go and call the pastor even though I don’t need his prayers”

Liz: “Okay, if that is what I need to do before you give your life to God, then I promise. Even if you must die, I want you to die at peace with God so that your soul will not be sentenced to eternal damnation…” she was saying and heard him let out a heavy and long breathe.

Liz: “Frank? Frank Answer me” she said and ran to shake him. When he didn’t respond, she ran to call the doctor who confirmed him dead and gone forever.

====

After they returned home from the crusade, Mrs Ogar called Declan and confessed to him how she had used fetish means to cast a spell on her husband so that he could ask his son to donate his kidney to him. She had hoped that Declan would die during the transplant so that her sons could inherit all of her husband’s properties. She also confessed to striking Declan with the strange ailment after his father willed all his properties to him. The strange ailment was to make him spend all that he had inherited from his father on medical bills and then make him useless afterwards.

Fortunes changed for Declan who began to succeed in all his endeavors after his healing. His wife also got a better job and soon, they were smiling to the bank with millions of naira in their account.

Liz became a close friend of the family and remarried a medical doctor after mourning Frank for three years. She also got in touch with her friend Ann and apologized to her.

Mrs Ogar developed kidney issues few months after her confession and because she didn’t have enough money to buy another kidney from a donor, she died after her sons refused to donate one of their kidneys to her even though the tests carried out on them proved that their kidney matched hers.

Sas, Tam and the other friends who helped to organize the rape repented, visited Liz and apologized to her after they heard what had happened to their friend.

Years later, Liz relocated to London with her husband and three children and they lived happily ever after, the memory of her first marriage completely erased from her heart.

 THE END!

I hope you have learnt some lessons from this story. Kindly drop your comments on lessons learnt