THE NIGHT AT THE HOTEL

part 21

I decided to give my all to God on that mountain, there were times I wept thinking about all my errors… There were days, I was not fasting but I just went hungry, as I refused to stand up from my prayer position… All I needed from God was MERCY…
Exactly, two months from the day I got to the prayer mountain, I had another dream. It was more like a trance.
I saw myself, with my bald head, but little by little, my hair was growing… I saw a stylist pulling the hair out to make it grow….
Oh my God! You should have seen me when I woke up, I started screaming that “My hair has grown back”
I started running , looking for Baba Prayer to tell him, God had restored ME, I kept shouting ” My hair has grown back”…I was telling anyone who cared to listen, when I bumped into that man again..
” I am.. Sor…ry” I said, before realizing it was Daniel’s lookalike…
“No problem ma”…He said, I looked at the woman beside him, I didn’t know her…His voice was slightly different from My Daniel’s voice, but I was sure this was Daniel…
“Daniel… It’s you…I knew it was you I saw… Daniel you are alive? “I said with a bit of excitement and gratitude to God… I felt God was Merciful, two miracles in one day, My Glory had been restored and two, I was seeing Daniel alive.
“Sorry?” He asked looking at me in a shocked way
“Daniel, you didn’t die “I asked again…
“No!”…He smiled, “Because I am not Daniel. Guess there is a mix up, my name is Tochukwu, and this is my wife Ada… ”
“Tochukwu, Yes… I know that is your name, I mean that is what Mama calls you…” I said still beaming in smiles, as the wife part did not register with me
The man and woman exchanged looks…
“Madam, I guess you are mixing my husband up with someone else” said the woman
I was confused, Daniel had a wife… Maybe he just married her… So fast under 6 months…
“Oh… Daniel…she is your wife? OK… I am happy you survived, and you have found yourself a new wife…I am sorry for everything I did to you, please find a place in your heart to forgive me…I wish you and your new wife a happy life together”.. I said
“Sorry, excuse me… I am not a new wife, my husband and I have been married for 12 years, and we have two kids… So please Stop mixing us up with someone else…” the woman pulled her husband away
Is it possible to be married to a man for 12 years and not recognize him again…? I asked myself as the couple walked away from me…
Suddenly, my excitement about my restored glory (Hair) waned…
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“I heard, you were jumping around and shouting that your hair has grown, what was that about?” Baba Prayer asked much later…
I was not in the mood to talk, because I was still baffled about the man who looked Just like Daniel.., but I had too much respect for Baba Prayer not to answer him… I narrated the dream to him…
“Congratulations…. God has restored you, Our God has been good and merciful to you, now I can release you to go back home.”
“Home?”…Where was home? I thought…
Two days later, I packed my stuffs and left for the city, I never saw Daniel’s Lookalike again, but to be at peace with myself as I was about to start a new life, I needed to know if Daniel was dead or alive. I went to see Doctor Jack, who told me, the man I saw must have been a Lookalike. He told me Daniel was dead…
I also went to our old home, where Daniel and I had stayed together as Husband and wife, I saw that it had been bought by a new family, probably, Daniel’s family sold the property.
It was high time I started living my life all over again…
With the money I had in my account, I rented a new apartment, a 3 bedroom flat. I opened a boutique where I sold baby clothes. I drew closer to God, I started writing new songs…. but guilt of the people I had killed never left me…
The case of Larry’s family death had not been closed by the police as they were still on the search for the killer
I had the urge that there was something I needed to do, I needed to confess my wrong deeds…I couldn’t just move on with life, living a cool life without owning up for my wrong deeds….I needed restitution
Just like my good Friend Pastor James said, we should not be afraid of death, but life after death. I needed to own up for the murder of Larry and Gbenga… I shot them.
However, some part of me was scared, if I owned up for the crime, I would be sentenced to death as well. I won’t fulfil destiny anymore…
Well, I told myself, it was better to be right, and die and at the end go to heaven…what I planned on doing was to write the story of my life as a book, so that after my death, generations unborn will learn from my story…
I made up my mind… I was going to the police to surrender for the crime of Larry and Gbenga Banjoko… Was this wise of me? The penalty for killing someone was death by hanging, now I was going to confess and own up for the death of two people and not just One…