Chapter 12

Moments in time

“Mama, please don’t die…” Francis pleaded.

He stood outside the Intensive care Unit—ICU. He was not allowed inside. No one was allowed inside except authorized personnel.

His mother’s almost still body lay on the bed. The bed head unit was raised. She was asleep. She was breathing heavily through the mechanical ventilator. She had advanced breast cancer and lung infection. She was placed on induced coma. Her body had gone through series of shock.

Doctor Hannah Bello walked into the room. She was wearing a white overcoat. There was also a qualified escort nurse in the room. The patient required constant and close monitoring. Her health had rapidly deteriorated.

The patient moved for a moment and then was still again.

They looked in her direction. The nurse went up to her and positioned her head properly.

The doctor walked over to her. She checked the cardiac monitor. There was a web of intravenous lines, feeding tubes, and a mechanical ventilator in the unit.

She asked the nurse a question and the nurse gave her a reply. Her facial expression changed.

The doctor studied the cardiac monitor for a while and then

She made some notes on a small pad she was holding. When she was done, she handed it over to the nurse.

“Let’s go to my office.” Doctor Hannah said to Francis when she finally saw him.

“Is she ok?” He asked. He was apprehensive.

“For now I can say she’s stable.” She was trying to be unassuming. But he could sense it.

Francis followed her to her office.

“Please close the door.” She said to him after they got inside the well-furnished office. There were pictures of the human anatomy on two sides of the room wall. They were very detailed.

It looked like every internal organ was out on display. Far from been cryptic.

“Ok ma.” Francis closed the door.

“Please have your seat.”

He sat down on the black leather chair across the table.

“Mr. Francis, I must be very honest with you, we are going to need to operate on your mother. She has advanced breast cancer…”

“God! Breast Cancer? How?” Francis squealed.

“Yeah. The cancer has eaten her breasts and we might need surgical procedure to remove it… and her lung has been affected badly.”

“God!” Francis exclaimed again.

“Calm down Mr. Francis. I believe…”

Francis almost knew what she was going to say next. He cut her, “Doctor, I beg you in the name of God; that woman must not die… She and my younger sister are the only family I have in the world. She must not die…”

“She will not die if you do what we need to do quickly. Did she complain of pains on her breast at any time…?”

He nodded. “A lot of time.”

“Are you married?” She was looking at his fingers.

“No, why?”

“It is important you know the symptoms of this cancer. I’ve realized that if more men knew about this as well as women, maybe the death rate of wives and mothers will reduce.”

“No. I’m not married. How does knowing the symptoms help my mother?”

“She had regularly complained to you about chest pain in the past which was a sign. If you were well informed, you might have acted a lot differently.”

“I definitely would have.”

“So, this isn’t a bad time to know a little about it…” She kept her gaze on him. Studying him. She was wearing her glasses now.

He was not sure whether to listen or not but he said, “Ok.”

“Good. There are signs that could lead to breast cancer. It could be headache, chest pain, consistent dizziness, rash and swelling.  The first symptoms are usually an area of thickened tissue on the woman’s breast.”

She had his attention. He remembered his mother was often scratching her breast. Especially the left one.

“It is common with older women. They have a higher chance of developing breast cancer. Over 80% of all female breast cancers occur among women aged 50+ years. It could also be hereditary. Women with denser breast tissue have a greater chance of developing breast cancer…”

“Doctor, don’t you think all this information is too late now…?” He was becoming uneasy. The thought of his dying mother on a sick bed clouded his mind.

“Well… it’s not a hopeless condition. Medical advancement has gotten to a point where some cancerous cells can be pinpointed and destroyed using cutting edge technology. However, such procedures are very expensive and are not guaranteed to give the best results. I understand what you mean but I’m telling you these things so that you can advise friends and family members. This disease has claimed lots of women’s life this year.  Early detection cannot be overemphasized. If while it was detected early, she came to complain, we won’t be here where we are. ”

“How do one detect?”

“Checking the breast regularly is the first step. A woman should check her breast. Look for lumps and other possible abnormalities such as inverted nipples, nipple discharge or change in breast shape.  She would have to check by sitting or standing with her arms in different positions, such as above her head and by her sides…”

“That’s informative but doctor, I don’t mean to be rude, I am worried sick. Is she going to survive?”

“Hopefully.  The cancer is in its advance stage. However, advanced medical procedures have been performed successfully to get rid of cancerous cells in the past. Then for the lung infection… what kind of job did she do?”

“She managed a restaurant.” His face lightened up.

“I see. What kind of restaurant?”

“It’s more of a bucar. A local restaurant. You think that was the cause…?”

“Well… not conclusively, but it could have contributed immensely.”

Francis said nothing. He just looked at his trembling fingers. He tried to hold them still.

“We might have to fly her out of the country for treatment if our surgeon here thinks its best. And by the way, where is her husband? Your father? He should be the one hearing this.”

“It’s a long story. He left us a long time ago. It’s about seventeen years now. He called my mother a witch. He said she brought him a lot of misfortune.” There was pique in his voice.

“I’m sorry.” The doctor said calmly.

“It’s alright ma.”

“What about her family members?”

“I have contacted them. Her elder brother is coming over tomorrow. I don’t think he would be of much help.”

“He might be. We would need the consent of at least two family members to take any procedure. It’s a standard.”

“What about me?”

“We need more than one family member’s consent. It protects us against legal actions in the future.”

“I could call my younger sister.” He suggested.

“I would rather we get someone much older. Two of her relations or siblings around her age would suffice.”

“Ok, so what do we do now?”

“We would keep monitoring her until your uncle gets in…”

“Doctor, thank you so much. God will keep diseases away from your family.”

“Amen.” Doctor Hannah replied with a sympathetic look on her face.

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in” the doctor said.

A small nurse walked into the office. She was about 5’ 4” tall. Her hair was packed back. She was holding a file.

She smiled at Francis. “Hello.” She said

“What is it?” The doctor asked politely.

“These are Mr. Okonkwo’s files.”

“Oh ok. Thank you.”

The nurse gave the file to the doctor and turned to leave the office.

“Where is Nurse Abigail?” The doctor asked her.

“She is with Mrs. Iteru.” The nurse replied.

Francis looked up at the nurse.

“Ok. Thank you.  Do you know if doctor David is free?”

“I’m not sure but I could check.”

“Ok. That would be very helpful. I have called his intercom but it doesn’t look like he is in his office and his mobile line isn’t going either.”

“I will check and get back to you.”

“Thank you.”

The small nurse left the office.

The doctor opened the files and scanned through the pages.

After a few minutes, she looked up and said, “So Mr. Francis. I guess we would have to wait till your uncle comes.”

Francis nodded. She was trying to discharge him politely. He stood up, “Thanks doctor.”

“You are welcome.”

Francis walked out of the office unto the corridor. Two young women walked up the corridor. They looked at him.

He ignored them.

He went to sit at the visitor’s reception lounge.

If we have to fly her out of the country, where would we get that kind of money? No body, no family, no friend, no job. God, this woman must not die. You better take me with her. How am I supposed to live without her?  She must not die.

He was deep in thought. Tears were beginning to well up his eyes.

His phone rang.

His younger sister was the caller.

*   *   *

The massive white building sat on a vast expanse of land. It had the structure of a dome from a distance. The sunlight seemed to graze the wide windows that covered most of the sidewall. The wall of the church was covered with brown and pale white Italian synthetic fiber marbles. The building had two huge pillars that ran all the way up to the roof in the front porch. There were also matching pillars at every side of the building creating a fort.

The windows were long and wide with a chrome-silver finish at the lintels. The glass had a slightly brownish tint. There were short lawns of lush green carpet grass on both sides of the terraces that led up the front stairs. The short flight of stairs was laid in dark brown-black marble that matched the wide dark brown polished doors that led into the sanctuary. There were two big white flowers vases that sat across the two ends of the doors.

The parking space was filled to capacity. There were cars parked outside the parking space. There were so many of them, they spilled onto the highway. There were also men manning the traffic wearing their usual yellow and silver lined costumes. People were walking on the sidewalk that led into the sanctuary from the south wing. All dressed for the occasion—the Church was celebrating its fifteenth anniversary. There were smiles and pleasantries exchanged among friends. You could hear the music coming from the building 10meters away. There was a large white canopy outside the building to cater for the crowd that was expected. The Sanctuary could seat 3,000 people. But there were expectations for more people. There were two men and two women standing by the large door to receive members as they came in. Looking immaculate and flawless in their regalia. They were also well mannered. It was like they always had a good reason to smile. Such graceful smile they had.

Inside the sanctuary, the layout was like the design of an opera. There was a gallery that ran almost round the whole building. It had supporting pillars skillfully cut into the building without tarnishing the design. The church lighting is akin to theatre lighting. The roof was adorned with Canister 3300 Lantern series. The body cylinder is metallic Bronze Tone paint finish with white concentric ring bottom baffle. Impeccable craftsmanship could be seen. It looked like the palace of a luxurious medieval Kingdom. It is often rumored as the biggest and most expensive church building in the State.

The event was already in full swing. You could hear music from all over the place. The sound engineers had put up a great deal of work into making sure the sound was perfect. And it was. 

The choir was harmoniously singing a hymn. The opus of the music could give any newcomer goose bumps. It was nothing but spectacular.

The lightings on the platform were small lights embedded on the dark navy blue background. The pulpit was made of glass; a small thick glass with a round flat top. It had the church’s logo embedded bold on the front.

The choir finished singing and a man walked up to the podium. Reverend Mobolaji Thompson was the senior pastor of the Covenant Life Bible Church often called COLIB. He was known to be a radical and non-conservative preacher. He was never daunted by the criticism that has rippled over the years on his teachings. He was popular for been blunt. Members of his church held him in high esteem and he was known to be a man of his words. One of his popular words was, “If God doesn’t have the final say in your life, every other opinion would take you no where.” It was such a popular saying that some of his members have stickers made for it on their cars.

The church had grown over the years as a result of his popularity as a man who was not intimidated by anybody. On many occasions, he had been at loggerheads with the Government. His church had been closed many times. But that had not deterred him.  It also brought more people into his church. His members were mixed breeds; elites and non-elites alike. It was known to be a church where everyone saw each other as equals as commonly acknowledged.

Susan sat at her usual third row, second seat. She loved that spot because it was close to the altar and also close to one of the doors incase she had to leave before the end of the service. She could also see the outside porch from the long wide window that was just a meter from her. 

She adjusted her Cloche hat. She loved to wear hats to church. It was a coral green Zinnia Parisisol Cloche. She was also wearing a Ruched Grecian shoulder gown with full skirt. She held a Clutch wallet Beige purse with matching shoes. Her husband and friend, Kenny sat beside her. Left and right respectively. It was their church. Members took pride in the church.

Kojo and Tadeke sat together at the fourth row just in front of the altar. Tadeke loved to seat close to the altar too. She had pride in her church. They were both dressed in white.

Paul and Patience sat together close to the second entrance on the far left. Patience was wearing a beautiful flowery Zara gown. Her husband was wearing a grey jacket and black pants. They were not very far from where Susan and her friend sat.

Victoria and Daniel were not far away. They were dressed in the same outfit. Victoria’s protruding stomach was obvious from the dress. They sat two rows behind Kojo and Tadeke.

Jennifer was just four seats away. She was wearing a light blue gown. Her eyes were hidden behind a Marc Jacobs glasses. One of her friends was sitting by her right side. He was a big dude. He looked very confident and polished.

The Reverend adjusted his wireless microphone. He was spotting a two-buttoned grey-black suit, a baby blue shirt with a silver and black-striped tie to match. He looked very polish and moved with grace.

“Praise God!” He spoke into the head worn microphone that poked out somewhere around his left chin.

The church responded, “Halleluyah”. It was almost a roar.

“I welcome everyone to our fifteenth year anniversary. Whether you are watching us on the television or you are streaming us live on the Internet, we welcome you too. This is simply a proof of the faithfulness of God to the Covenant Life Family…”

There was applause. Some people rose to their feet while some remained seated. But almost everyone was clapping.

The large screens had the face of the Reverend. It was zoomed on him. He had his hands raised.

“God bless you…”

“Amen,” came the loud response.
“Thank you. You may please be seated.”

Everyone standing sat down.

“I recognize the presence of great men and women of God who have come to share this great milestone with us. We appreciate everyone of you. Reverend Femi Jacobs, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Life Covenant Church and my father in the Lord. He is here with his wonderful wife and my mother. You are welcome mummy and daddy. ”

There was a roar from the crowd.

“I also appreciate the presence of Bishop Patrick Nnamdi and his wife. I appreciate you sir and ma.”

The clap and roar went up again.

“There are so many great men and women of God. I wish I could mention all your names but God will remember you as you have remembered us...”

*   *   *

“God is not a respecter of persons. If you expect to continue in sin and expect God to come through for you, you’re only fooling yourself. You need to decide where you stand; for God or for the devil...” The Reverend said.

He waited for a moment. The whole place was quiet.

He continued, “Husband love and respect your wife. Wife respect and love your husband. I know many families might be going through different challenges but if you stay with God and you do His will together, you will not be disappointed. We are one big happy family and we live by His word. Our celebration today is a testimony. We have been through a lot in the past couple of years. But you know what…? Here we are, stronger. Any family that stays together in hard times gets much stronger and better when the tide clears. Everyone would go through test in life. No one is exempted. But God’s children have the assurance that they will overcome eventually...”

Susan held her husband’s hand and squeezed gently. He squeezed back.

Kenny noticed and smiled.

Victoria looked at her husband. He was looking at his phone. He wasn’t listening. She said and did nothing.

The Reverend continued, “I am confident that if you have faith in God and in His word, anything is possible. Praise God.”

“Halleluyah.” The congregation responded.

“Our celebration today is a testimony predicated on faith. Faith, through works. Faith, through love. Faith, through righteousness. Faith, through perseverance. Faith through unity. Faith through the Word of God.  Nothing works without faith. Most especially, if you are a covenant child, you should breathe, eat and sleep with and by faith. The bible says in Hebrews chapter eleven verse one… ”

The big screen had the verse of the Bible displayed on it.

“It says, Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.  Faith brings the expected future into the experienced present. And you know what is also interesting; faith is the only connection between a timed world where we are and the timeless existence of the Almighty God. Faith brings you into your position of authority and command where you can exercise your ability to bring to pass in your physical world what is set and done in the spiritual…”

Victoria scribbled the words on her iPad. She looked at her husband, he was playing with his phone again.

She whispered in his ear. “Daniel, shouldn’t you be listening…?”

He adjusted himself. He slid the phone into his left pocket.  

He looked at his wife. She was already glued to what the Reverend was saying. She wasn’t looking at him.

The Reverend continued, “Now, I sense someone might be amongst us who is wondering, ‘this whole talk of faith is a little exaggerated.’ But let me tell you this, the Word of God is not common sense. It’s not logical. It’s not intelligent. It would not win you a noble laureate. It however is the only superior instructions that from this side of eternity, we can bring to life the things on God’s side of eternity. That doesn’t sound intelligent. There’s no scientific experiment to bring this to bear. It’s not the agreement of professors of astrology, or quantum physics or of that sort. It is the Word of God. I said it is the Word of God. Faith is your identity as a child of God. You have to believe God that inspite of whatever it is you are currently passing through, you will come out victorious…”

“Amen.” The audience reverberated.

There was excitement from the people. The words from the Reverend were getting through to them.

“If God has said He will do it, it might take some time but He will. And that’s because God does not work within our time frame. A thousand years is like a day before Him the bible says. He does not come before time. No, he doesn’t come after time. He comes right on time. You just keep your confession. Test and trials are only here to grow our faith. In the school of the kingdom, you don’t go to the next level with God until you have passed the exam of your current level. Now don’t get discouraged. Weeping may endure for a night, but…”

The audience was now on their feet. The whole place was in frenzy. They were excited.

He continued, “Joy comes in the morning. Today is a testimony of our morning. We have been locked up. They have lied about us to bring us down. They have said all sort things to reproach us. But, here we are by the grace of our heavenly Father standing and rejoicing. Hahahaha! Tell them we are in this world but not of this world. We belong to the Maker and Creator of everything. What can move us? What can shake us? Who can destroy our testimony? Who can change His promises? Nobody. Nobody anywhere.”

The Reverend was looking directly into one of the cameras now.

“Whatever God has declared to stand, no man, no lawyer, no coalitions and cooperation can stop it. Faith brought us this far..,”

“Faith will take us there.” The church responded. It is one the Reverend’s popular words.

“So anytime you get to that point in your life when it seems like you can’t move on anymore, let God’s Word be your consolation. I tell you, it has and will always be our testimony in Christ Jesus. Jesus said the words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life. In otherwords, the words of Christ are living and active. So you can trust your life with it.”

The Reverend looked at his wristwatch.

“This is not a service for long sermon. I believe this very little time we have shared have blessed you… we will continue next Sunday.”

                                             *         *         *

The celebration was over two hours later.

“I enjoyed today’s service.” Susan said to her husband as they drove back home.

“Yeah. He was on fire today. I feel lifted.”

“Yeah. Reverend Thompson is always on fire. He often reminds me of TD Jakes.”

“Yeah. I bought today’s sermon.”

“That’s cool. Very refreshing. I needed to hear that darling. I needed to hear today’s sermon.”

Uche looked at his wife. She was obviously excited.

“Good.” He said.

“Is your sister still coming through today?” she asked.

“Yeah. As a matter of fact, she had planned to come in for today’s service. Her flight was delayed.”

“Eyah…”

“But she’s in the country now. She sent me a text during the service. She’s at her friend’s place.”

“Ok. We might need to pick up some groceries.”

“I was having the same exact thought.”

“How long will she be staying?”

“She said she will be in for two weeks.”

“She doesn’t want to come back and settle down here at all.”

“Don’t mind her.”

“She needs to settle down you know…”

“She will.”

“I pray so.”

“Why?” Uche asked. He looked surprised.

“Well… I just thought time is ticking…”

“Yeah. But don’t mind her. I told her the kind of man she is looking for exists only in novels. She has a very interesting definition of the right man. I am…”

“I don’t blame her at all. I think its high time women increased the stake. Good men are getting hard to find these days…”

Uche raised his right eyebrow.

“That doesn’t sound logical. Raise the stakes for very few options? I think they should drop it on the contrary.”

“Let me explain why I said so. It seems that women are getting married because they have to and not because they are happy to. Many do so out of pressure and not because it’s the right time and right man.”

“Sweetheart, I’m so confused. You were the one just asking that my sister gets married soon and now you are saying they should not marry under pressure.”

“I’m not putting any pressure. I’m just saying she should keep it in focus.”

“You know what, this is my take; I think young ladies should drop the fictions and focus on verities. Perfect men don’t exist. You want a man who is Godfearing, caring and loving, gives you attention, gentle and patient, tall and handsome, lean muscles and very rich, intelligent and a boss, hardworking and generous, a one woman guy etc. All that quality on one man? Common… ”

“Is that too much to ask for? It’s just basic… you for example have all that attributes and more.”

“Are you sure? I’m not a boss and of course not very rich.”

“very rich is relative you know…”

“Enlighten me my cheri amor…”

Susan smiled.

“A guy who can take care of a woman’s need doesn’t necessarily have to be very rich. As long as she can get her hair done when she wants to, she can change her outfits at a whim, she can move around the world, her kids goes to the best schools, they stay in a good neighborhood, the woman don’t have to use her money for the family, that’s sufficient.”

“Oh really? How many men can afford that…?”

The traffic light turned red.

Uche stepped on the brakes.

The car jerked a little. Startling Susan who was looking at her phone.

“What happened?” She asked surprised.

“So sorry. I almost ran over the line when the light turned red. We would have been in Lastma’s soup this blessed afternoon.”

“So you were saying earlier…?”

“Where did I stop again sef…? Ok I remember. How many men can afford all of the things you mentioned?”

“Any hardworking guy can.”

“Ok. You know not all fingers are equal.”

“All fingers don’t have to be equal as long as each finger is doing its own job, it will succeed.”

“It’s not always the case oo my dear.”

“So should we go to the supermarket in the estate or should we go to Shoprite?” she asked.

“Let’s go to Shoprite.”

“Ok.”

The traffic light turned amber, and then it went green.

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CHAPTER 13 Coming Soon

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