YEJIDE (episode 8)

When Yejide returned from the washroom, she and Eric continued with their conversation until it was time for them to retire for the day. Eric took Yejide back home though it was a quiet ride home. As he stopped by the gate, Yejide got out of his car and waved him goodnight. She was about entering the compound when she bumped into mama ejima who looked like she was dressed for church. Just seeing mama ejima reminded Yejide of the church program she had been invited to by her. They greeted each other but didn’t converse for long since mama ejima had to hurry for her weekly prayer meetings.

“We go see later my dear, I’m off.” mama ejima said before leaving.

Yejide got into her house and met no one at home. She settled down and her eyes went straight to the flyer that she had earlier left on the table. She couldn’t tell why she suddenly had strange feelings ever since she got the flyer from mama ejima. Although, she could tell that something was pushing her to attend the church program. She shook the thought out of her head anyway and got around to doing other things until hours later when Dupe was back. The friends talked about their day. From Dupe’s partying story to Yejide’s weird conversations with Eric. They talked about their whole day without leaving out any detail. When their eyes were heavy with sleep, they decided to retire for the night. They manage to take a shower before going to bed.

The next morning, Yejide woke up very early, not that she wanted to but she was no longer feeling sleepy. As she laid on the bed, she picked up her phone and stared at the phone that read seven o’ clock, she looked at the side table right beside her where the flyer had been lying. She turned and face the other side while trying to force herself back to sleep but when she couldn’t, she stood up from the bed. Picking up her buckets, she left her room for the compound’s well to fetch some water to take a bath. As soon as the bathroom was vacant, she got in. On getting out, she met one of mama ejima’s children, a girl of about thirteen years old. She was holding a bucket of water and approaching the bathroom where Yejide stood at the entrance. Amara, mama ejima’s child greeted Yejide as she got out of the bathroom. Yejide must have guessed that she the water was fetched for her mother. She got back to her room and decided to go for the church program. After all, she couldn’t sleep and mama ejima had really insisted that she came. She knew Dupe wasn’t going to listen to her in situations like this so she didn’t bother waking her up. Instead, she did a little house cleaning and got dressed before going to knock on mama ejima’s door. When the door was opened to her, she saw mama ejima who was already dressed and seemed like she was about to leave the house. She told mama ejima that it would be better if she went with her so they both set out for the church.

When they got to the church, Yejide entered the big hall and met just a few people there. She was indeed very early because some of them were still cleaning the seats and setting the stage. She went to a corner and sat down quietly, hoping that she would not be approached. Just after about six minutes, mama ejima came to her and told her that the program was going to start soon. Yejide only nodded her head as she watched her walking about and trying to get everything set since she was part of the coordinators. As soon as it was time for the program to start, a few others began to gush in. It was like someone told them exactly when to enter. They all settled down and Yejide was asked to move to a seat closer to the front of the small hall. She did as she was told and the program started. It was started off with a little prayer session headed by mama ejima, followed by praise and worship before the main host came on stage. Different topics were discussed, ranging from sex, relationships, marriage, and what not. Topics relating to Yejide in so many ways, it was almost like the program was made for her. At first, Yejide had been texting during the session but something the speaker said caught her attention and that was when her ears surrendered and listened. After a brief discussion, they were all divided into groups for an activity. This part, Yejide did not really like. She hated meeting new people and having conversations with them. How she became really close with Dupe is still surprising because she wasn’t very friendly and opened either. The groups were told to discuss on certain issues and so when every other person was talking, Yejide was quiet. When the group leader, Kelechi noticed this, he asked Yejide if she was okay and wanted to contribute to what they were saying. She only shook her head and watched as they went on and on, talking and laughing. She felt like an outcast who didn’t belong there. These were ministers and people who kept sharing their wonderful experience about God when she had nothing to say. She didn’t know God neither did she think she had experienced his presence. She wanted to stand up and leave the church so bad but she didn’t want to be rude either so she sat and waited for the program to end.

To be continued…..