‘Pastorrrr! My enemies have finally won’
‘I saw an elephant in my dream’ she continued
‘Ahh, Sister Elizabeth. You saw an elephant in your dream?’
‘Yes Pastor’
‘This is serious. The enemy’s plan shall not come to pass in our lives in Jesus name’
‘Amenn!’ she shouts over the phone, shooting her free hand into the air. The excess fat on her skin screaming with her, the only way they knew how to – by shaking like properly made akamu.
‘Tell me about the dream sister. Let us know how we should counter this enemy and what type of enemy we’re facing’
‘Pastor, I think this is an inside-enemy. A very big and strong one at that’
‘My God will never allow us to have an enemy that is strong’ Pastor interrupted.
‘Amennnnn!!!’ Sister Elizabeth shouted again.
‘I was sleeping peacefully last night. I knew it. I should not have gone to the village last month. That was a bad idea. Now my enemies have found their way into my life’
‘Calm down Sister Elizabeth. What is done is done’
‘God forbid Pastor. If they have done anything in my life, it must be undone. I was sleeping peacefully yesterday, and in my dream, Paul, my son, the one that is in boarding school, came back from where he had gone to play football. He came back with a big injury on his feet. I was dressing the wound and a big elephant appeared in front of us.’
‘The Devil is a liar. His plans shall fail’
‘Yess o. This elephant was walking towards us in the room. It was so big and huge. But pastor, it’s skin was black. A huge black elephant. I didn’t let this elephant harm me or my son. I picked up the knife I was using to treat my son's leg and pointed it in front of me. The elephant still kept coming closer. I flashed the knife in front of me. It didn’t run away. I now shouted ‘Blood of Jesus’ three times and immediately, it disappeared and I woke up’
‘God bless the name of Jesus. Sister Elizabeth, we have conquered the devil’
‘Amennn Pastor! Amen.’
‘Sister Elizabeth, I see something. There’s a black woman, she’s fat. She is sitting on your son’s destiny’
‘Ehnn Mama Jane?’
‘Yes. She has a daughter and a husband.’
‘It has to be her. She has always envied me and my three children. She’s the only one that can do this kind of thing. She has a daughter and a husband.’ Sister Elizabeth said, concluding hastily.
‘I’ll pray for you now but you must avoid talking to Mama Jane if you want your son to live’
‘God forbid. I will not talk to her again’
Few minutes into the prayer, Godson, her first son walks in.
‘Mummy it’s me’ came Godson’s voice as he stood in front of his mom, Sister Elizabeth
‘Who are you and why are you calling me mummy?’
‘It’s me Godson, your son. See mummy, I know you’re acting like this because I tinted my hair. But trust me, it’s the trend. And besides, I look sexier now, don’t i?’
‘The Devil has finally bought a house within my family.’ Sister Elizabeth cried out, standing up from the sofa where she sat, to sit on the floor and raised her hands towards the sky. Forgetting she was in the middle of a prayer session.
‘What is this on your head? Ehh Godson. My enemies have started using you to attack me right? What have they done to you?’
‘Nobody did anything mum. I’ve been looking forward to dyeing my hair since. And I decided to take that bold step today’. He said smiling at how his mum overreacted.
‘This child! I did not kill my mother before her time so you will not kill me too’
‘Mum, nobody is killing anybody here. I just changed my hair colour, that’s it’
‘If this is what you call fashion, it’s a lie. You just destroyed your handsome self to the devil. I can’t let all this happen. Mama Jane is the cause of all this. She has put her evil eye upon my family.’
Unable to bear his mother’s overdramatic outbursts anymore, Godson walked out.
Then she dialled pastor again and narrated what just happened, seasoning the story with her own inputs and dramatic outbursts every now and then.
LATER IN THE DAY
A car drives in and Sister Elizabeth who has been awaiting her first daughter’s arrival so she could report Godson’s behavior is shocked when she sees the person alighting from the car.
‘Mummy, good evening ma.’ The young lady greeted a stupefied sister Elizabeth.
‘Evening to you too. Precious!?’
‘Ma?’
‘What have you done to your beautiful self? Ehnn?’
‘Mummy, I just removed the excess fat in my waist and one rib. It’s nothing much. I have a perfect hourglass shape now.’ Precious said and bent down, trying to get her mom to stand up.
‘I did everything I could for all of you and this is how you want to repay me and your father? You have cut off all your stomach and your waist, Godson has changed the colour of his head. Who did I offend that has decided to use my children against me?’
'Mama you know it’s not like that. We are adults and we can make our own choices.’
‘Removing your stomach is your own choice? Gold hair is Godson’s decision? It is not my dear. It’s the devil. Tomorrow morning, all of us are going to church.’
With that, sister Elizabeth gathered herself and walked into her room. Shutting herself away from her other children and looking forward to her husband’s arrival from work. The only person she understands and who understands her.
The day couldn’t get any worse, could it?
Mr. Husband didn’t even get an opportunity to freshen up before his wife began reporting the events of the day. An urgent family meeting had to occur and the two kids were called out from their rooms for the meeting. Sister Elizabeth who sat next to her husband was a ticking time bomb.
‘My husband, I don’t know what we did to these children that they are repaying us like this.’ Sister Elizabeth spoke first when everybody had gathered,
‘My love, calm down. This is a matter we should treat with care’
‘I know my husband. I know. It’s just, just after everything-every---‘ She breaks into a sob, leaving her sentence hanging.
‘You shouldn’t cry. I promised you wouldn’t have to cry as long as we were married’ He said, taking her into his arms and showering her with kisses.
Godson and Precious were used to their parent’s way of showing affection for each other so they sat through the process.
When the two were done with all their display, they remembered that they were in the middle of a serious issue.
‘Precious, I see you have done something to your waist and Godson, to your hair. Why is it so? Where are our lovely children that always asked for our opinions before taking these kind of decisions?’ Their dad said to them.
‘Dad, I know you would have loved it if we had consulted you before doing this but I think its our lives we’re talking about here. I am 20 and Precious is 23. We’re adults’
‘You see what I’m saying? Godson now wants to leave because he is 20.’
‘He’s not leaving dear. Precious and Godson, is this really what you want?’
’Yes daddy. This is how I always wanted to look like.’
‘Godson?’
‘Yes daddy. I’m okay with my hair.’ If sister Elizabeth was a balloon, she definitely would have busted at this point.
‘So, you’re just going to let the devil have his way like that?’
‘My love. Its not the devil. It’s our children making decisions for themselves.’ He said as he wrapped his arms around her, just in case she decided to take the moment to explode.
Precious and Godson taking the opportunity to excuse themselves.
‘What about the elephant we have in the form of a relative? Pastor said we should avoid her’
‘Okay my love. I won’t talk to her or her husband’. And that was a lie because the next day when Mama Jane’s husband, his brother called, he answered cheerfully.
They both soon retired to their room and Mr. Husband did his night routine.
Soon, the elephants that lingered in the room earlier as issues were forgotten as their gentle whispers and soft laughters filled the evening air.
Images above were created using meta.ai