Stepping Into Maggie's Shoes (S.I.M.S)

PART 20

PART 20
S.I.M.S
(STEPPING INTO MAGGIE'S SHOE)
©️Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde

I sat in the living room close to twenty minutes listening to the moaning sound and screaming of Mrs Beecroft and my husband. I shut my ears most of the time, trying to tell myself I was probably hallucinating or hearing voices. I kept walking around in circles, I went into the kitchen to take a cup of coffee, but it did not drown the voices  coming from Ray's room...

I wanted to be sure if What I was suspecting was real, I walked cautiously to Apostle's room. I saw the door was not locked. I peeped through the open door and met Apostle and Mrs Beecroft in the very act...

" Jesus!" I screamed...

I ran down the stairs...

I stayed in the living room for another 5 mins before Mrs Beecroft came down..

" I can't believe you, Mrs Beecroft, to think you are one of the executives of the Women of virtue, this is crazy... I can't believe this... Oh my Goodness!  How I am so sure Pastor Maggie was not murdered by you and Him..." I stood in her way

" Get away from me, I wasn't doing anything with the apostle, we were only discussing something really personal" Mrs Beecroft said

I felt I was going to run mad in the real sense of it...

" You said what?" I asked

" We were not doing anything out of the ordinary "

" So you are telling me I am crazy or I don't know what I saw!"

" Exactly, we all know you have bipolar and psychosis , this is probably one of your hallucinations, Don't you think so?" Mrs Beecroft said sarcastically

" I am not CRAZY..., Oh! I get it" I clapped my hands in applause to Apostle and Mrs Beecroft. Apostle was sitting on the floor of the last stairs bare chested

" Happy, I think you need to take your pills, you are imagining things"
Apostle  said with a sarcastic smile...

" Really Ray?" I said clapping " I give it to you, you are one hell of a smart guy, so I get the plan, you knew I had psychosis and you saw that as a way of blackmailing me... I get this....Tell me I am right... You married me because you know if I try to talk about your private life, you and everyone will say it's not real and just a figment of my imagination"

Apostle gave a knowing wink instead of answering me... With that, Mrs Beecroft pushed me away from her front... I was so weak by the realization that I was tricked into the Marriage.

My Weakness was being used against me...

" But I am not mad, I am not mad" I said repeatedly to myself as I saw Apostle walking her to the door

I picked up my phone and called my mother. I narrated in a rush , all that had happened in a week, but my mother didn't believe me either.

" Happiness, are you planning to walk out of that marriage? If  you do, I will disown you...Your Husband has called me to inform me on how you have been acting strangely of recent to the point that you do not allow him to have sexual inter course with you..."

I hung up, because it was plain to me that Apostle was smarter than I thought. He had played a smart one on me. He had called the only person who could fight for me.

I sat down in the living room, expecting him to come in. He had escorted Mrs Beecroft to her car and stayed another 10 minutes in her car.

When he came in, I calmed myself down as I needed to ask him some questions...

" Why did you marry me?, Honestly" I asked

" I needed a wife for public reasons"

" Are you a man of God? "

" Surprisingly, Yes!"

" And you feel God is not angry at what you are doing?"

" I know He is, but there is nothing I can do about it, it hurts me that I am doing this, but I can't help myself"

I didn't know what else to ask, but I had a request...

" I can't stay here and watch this sin, can I relocate to another country?"

He was quiet...

" I like you happy, it's just that I am not content with you, you can still stay here and if you accept me the way I am, I will be the best friend and Husband you will have..."

" What are you proposing?, So you expect me not to have sex again?" I asked since he said he was no more attracted to me in that regard

" You can have a boyfriend, who I will pretend I don't know!, we can keep this our little secret and continue the work of God" he said

Words to express my emotions at that point may not  be found in the dictionary, then just like a whisper from behind my ear, I heard

" Greed..."

I looked back and saw no one...

"Was this a show of Greed or something spiritual?" I asked myself

Out of the blues, I saw Apostle prostrating and pleading...

"PLEASE! Happy don't leave me and don't take away my women from me!"

I had never been that shocked in my life... But what made me more confused was why God had not punished him for this act of His... Apostle was highly anointed and God was proving Himself in his ministry...

I stood up and found my way to my room, I had no answer to his request, I had to think about it....

**********

In the course of 3 months after the wedding, I had seen about 7 married women in our home, and each time we saw in church, we pretended all was well. Annoyingly, each of the women thought she was the only woman Apostle Ray was sleeping with...He was that smart...

I started getting used to the system as I couldn't say a word to anyone for fear of being tagged Insane...

At some point I came to the conclusion that it was his problem and I was going to give him 6 months to one year, before relocating to somewhere else, probably Kenya...

It dawned on me, why Pastor Maggie was not friendly with all the women in the church, I believed she felt betrayed by them as they were sleeping with her Husband. No wonder, people didn't respect her, No wonder, her messages were always watery. No woman in that shoe will be mentally okay to prepare a sermon...

I told myself unlike Pastor Maggie, I was going to enjoy my life to the fullest. I was going to dress to kill, I was going to make the stupid married women look like fools.

I started exploiting Apostle Ray for money, which I was pumping into my business.

Anytime any of the women came around and were on their way out, I will give comments like...

" Thanks for doing my job for me, please make sure you take some pain relievers when you get home and some anti aging pills"

Most of the ladies will just leave without saying anything, but Mrs Beecroft was high audacious. She was the only one who would give smirk remarks like

" I like it that way, I know you are just talking out jealousy, I know he hasn't touched you since you got married, so pathetic..."

I always felt like throwing something at her, but I had a joker up my sleeve...

Apostle had told me I could have a boyfriend, Guess who I had my eyes on, Mrs Beecroft's only son... He was 30 years old, single and Handsome.

Apostle and Mrs Beecroft were about to get the shock of their lives. They thought I was crazy! I was about to show them crazy in capital letters...