“Hello Ranti.”
No response. She was breathing hard.
“Mr Kayode, please pray for me. Something is pressing my stomach. I don’t want to lose this child. Please!”
Pregnant? I hadn’t even noticed she was pregnant.
“In the name of Jesus, I command you, stop oppressing her!” I heard my wife shout from the other room. My eyes widened I rushed out to the living room and saw my wife singing and dancing.
“Ranti, are you there? Ranti!”
“I’m fine. I fell on the floor.” she was panting hard. “I feel better. Thank you.”
When I ended the call, Bimbo wrapped her hand around my shoulders. “Let’s go to bed. She pulled my hand and led me back to the room. What kind of woman did I marry? In a few minutes, she was fast asleep. I lay beside her staring at her for a long time.
That night in a dream, I was in the office with my wife. She was trying to fill a form and I was helping her out when she pointed my attention to an old woman walking towards the safe box. She tapped it thrice and the box opened. Then she began to count money.
“So it is you who steals the money of the company.” I stood up, angry. Bimbo grabbed my hands.
She stood straight, shocked while her weak eyes bored into mine. Her face looked familiar. As I was wondering where I had seen the face, the winkles began to disappear and was replaced with glowing fair skin. Right before me stood Kemi. I almost jumped at the sight, my mouth agape. The money fell from her hand.
“There is no hiding place for you. In the name of Jesus, I command you to lose your hold over every staff in the company..”
She cried, and turned back into an old woman before disappearing out of sight.
I woke up with a start, beads of sweat covering my face. I couldn’t sleep till the day broke.
The next day when I got to work, Ranti hurried to my side.
“Thank you. My husband and I are hoping to pay you a visit soon.
I smiled. The secretary walked towards me as I spoke with some other colleagues who were waiting at the reception. They wanted to know what the M.D said about the missing money.
“The M.D wants to see you.” the secretary said and hurried back to the office. As I followed her, Dayo called out to me. I turned.
“We have your back. This time, we will defend you to the last. ”
I smiled and continued walking to the office. When I entered, she was already seated. She leaned forward, her hands on the table.
“I’m sorry about the way I lashed out at you yesterday. So many things have been wrong with this company. I have lost deals that I would normally have won and I had to deal with my son’s mental illness. It has been so frustrating. I work hard every day but I don’t see results. Money get missing in this company, I have called prophets and spiritualists for prayers but nothing changed and just last week, I was telling my husband that we should close the company but he insisted we gave it some more time. It was with all of that that I responded harshly to you.”
“I didn’t steal that money.” I said, when I didn’t know what else to say.
The MD sighed. “Let’s forget about that incident. Just be careful next time.”
I nodded.
” I’ll call you later today. There is something I want us to look into. A follow up on the deal we had with that client I spoke to you about. Lest I forget, the deal clicked. The client called me this morning to seal the agreement. Thank God I listened to you.”
I nodded and left her office. Almost all the 20 staff members of the company were waiting to hear the outcome of the meeting. They shouted in excitement when I informed them that I had not been fired. That was the beginning of a new kind of friendship. I looked around for Kemi but she was nowhere to be found. She didn’t come the following day and the day after. Her lines were switched off and till date, I have not set my eyes on her.
It’s been five years and Jabs Consult has seen better days. I head a department and Ranti’s babies are doing fine. But this incident, I will never forget. When I look at the woman I married, these words just run through my lips:
Don’t mess with a righteous wife/woman who knows her authority in Christ. You can’t mess with her home, with her husband and with her kids. I’m learning to be that man who realises that the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runs into it and is safe….
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