Chapter 59 CONSPIRACY 101
Sobrina's new roommate - the mole - had cunningly informed her during a conversation earlier in the day, that Pastor Melvin was now employed by the University of Science.
Sobrina had no idea. She had prayed for such a miracle for months. Matter of fact, the prayer point was still pasted on the wall by her bed where she posted written testimonies and other stuff. She had owned a "Black diary" as a Devil worshipper, where she recorded her experiences and occurrences. The diary helped her keep track of her progress and achievements as advised by a High Priestess. Therefore, documenting her experiences as a Christian came naturally to her, to remind her how good God had been.
She texted Pastor Melvin later in the evening, questioning him about the news she had heard. He confirmed that it was true, and she expressed her disappointment as to his unchanging attitude. Such a good thing had happened, and he never told her. She had thought his joblessness had been the reason he had delayed their getting married. She told him she was no longer interested in the meeting they had agreed - few weeks ago - to have.
"What do you want Soby", he texted back.
"I want a fight", she responded angrily.
"Not here on the phone, come to my place", he texted back.
Sobrina went offline. He called and insisted that she came to his place immediately. It was almost 8pm, but he had gotten an apartment in an expensive building close to her area few months ago.
Even though she wasn't used to disobeying him, she felt reluctant to go. Therefore, she spoke with her new roommate.
"Pastor Melvin just invited me to his house", he was never her topic of discussion. She rarely spoke of him to anyone since after her marriage. She treated his name like a healing wound, better left alone. But her roommate always talked about him as she had been instructed, and regularly tried to plant doubts in Sobrina's mind, concerning her marriage.
"You should go see him", she instructed.
"My mind is not strong enough to go", Sobrina responded. "I'm afraid. I have this feeling that something might happen".
"Let me tell you Sobrina, traditional marriage is not a permanent thing, you should make your choice carefully", her new roommate defiantly advised.
"That is true", Sobrina agreed. Her mind was made up, and quickly dressed up.
It was not unusual for Sobrina to visit Pastor Melvin at night, she had visited him so, so many times in the past.
She decided to put on a tight black three quarter trousers, on a pink long sleeved outsized sweater, even though it wasn't cold. She always dressed decent whenever she was visiting a man. Pastor Melvin had taught her so.
She used to visit him dressed in skirt and blouse or a gown, but since joining Gracedome, she had learned to be more confident in trousers.
It was the first time she was visiting the building where he now lived. He directed her to his one room self-contained apartment using the phone.
When she got there, she couldn't sit by the door as befitting a girl in a man's house - as she had been taught - because a huge bulb was hung close to the only chair in the room, and it was blazing hot.
She confidently took the chair to the inner end of the room and sat down. She was putting on her glittering diamond ring - showing she was married - not in the least expecting him to misbehave, not now of all the times she had known him.
He was seated on his bed, leaning on the wall with a pillow on his outstretched thighs. He rested his hands on the pillow keeping busy with his phone.
"It's been a while", Sobrina said, opening the conversation after they'd exchanged pleasantries.
"Yes, like forever", Pastor Melvin responded, not looking up from the screen.
"How many years has it been? 8? Eight years?", Sobrina questioned.
"Yeah, eight years this year", he responded, while still busy with his cell phone.
"What a pity", Sobrina said, observing her surrounding, "you have a lot of inspirational books. Can I borrow one?", Sobrina changed the topic and stood, she walked across the room, to his mini bookshelf, and began to search for an interesting title.
"Yes, I will find you one before you leave",
"So you got a job here in school?", she questioned, while returning to her seat.
"Yes",
"Academic or non Academic?",
"Academic",
"Wow, in your department?",
"Yes, in my department at faculty of Education",
"And you didn't tell me",
"I thought you knew. Everyone knows",
"Yes, it is pasted on the church's billboard", Sobrina responded sarcastically, trying to mask her displeasure with a fake smile.
"Quit the Sarcasm Sobrina",
"When did this happen?",
"Well over six months ago", he responded. That was last year - back in August of 2017 - after Sobrina's engagement, but before her traditional marriage. She understood that he could have stopped her from getting married if he had wanted to.
"Do you know I fasted for months for such a miracle?", Sobrina questioned, unaware that the unifying cult - with the power of Pastor Davies - had gotten Pastor Melvin the job, and not God. And therefore, he was extremely indebted to the cult, and Pastor Davies as a result. He was bound by an oath not to displease them, or he could lose everything, including his life.
Pastor Melvin had gotten desperate after Sobrina's decision to leave him, and needed every weapon to get back at her. Getting a job was the number one bullet, he had expected her to come back begging months ago, and had moved to "plan B", when it didn't happen.
"You know? Pastor Melvin, they say 'you can take a horse to the river but you can't force it to drink'", Sobrina had retaken her seat moments ago, and her emotions flashed through her eyes, and she struggled to hold back tears, quickly looking aside. He was no longer busy with his phone, he paid attention.
"What do you mean, Soby?",
"I could never force you to do what you didn't want to. It's now evident that we were never meant to be. Our relationship was even extremely toxic", she said.
"No Soby, you misunderstood me every time", Pastor Melvin protested. He got out of the bed, bent low by the door as if to pick up something, and began to gently walk towards her.
"No I didn't and I can prove it with all our text messages over the years", Sobrina argued, while scrolling through her cell phone, trying to retrieve their conversations.
