Click here to read the first two episodes of High Falling
Agatha and Nathan had a big ask for Ishi. They wanted his support in public and the church. The couple was banking on his massive influence to sway the hearts of those who had chosen to believe Chiomaâs allegations against Nathan.
One of such people was Pastor Meredith, wife of the general overseer of First Glory, the church where Ishi and Agatha worked as ministers. Agatha had never gotten along with Meredith behind the scenes, as Meredith had always questioned Agathaâs spirituality, alleging that the only reason she climbed the ranks was because she was a relative of Meredithâs husband. The general overseer himself hadnât hidden his favoritism toward Agatha, shielding her from Meredithâs projectiles at every turn. Now that he was out of the way temporarily and Meredith was in charge, she swung her axe at Agatha in full rancor. Nathanâs scandal couldnât have come at the worst time.
âShe suspended me for no reason, Ishi,â Agatha said in tears. Nathanâs arm was on her shoulder to comfort her. They were seated in Ishiâs most comfortable sofa, the one he and Oby loved to cuddle on during cold nights. It was the only piece of furniture he took from his bachelor life when he abandoned it six years ago. It had history that even Oby herself was oblivious of, and he hated how Nathan had tugged at a thread and loosened a seam.
âDid she ask you to see her or you went there yourself?â Ishi asked Agatha, concerning Meredith.
âShe asked to see me as early as 6am. I knew it was about Nathan, and I wonât lie, I was nervous. I prayed all the way to the church. I got there andâŚâ Agatha sighed.
âAggie, Iâm sorry, but this is a bit unlike Pastor Meredith.â
âShe never liked Aggie,â Nathan reminded him.
âI know, but⌠Itâs still not like her. Did youâŚ?â Ishi adjusted his glasses. âDid you get into any argument with her?â
Agathaâs eyes shifted. âYes, it got heated, but itâs not the first time nau, Ishi.â
âWhat did you say to her?â
Agatha sighed again.
âIt doesnât matter what she said, Ishi.â Nathan leaned forward. âShe had no right to suspend her for no reason. Iâm the one who is giving the church a bad name, abi? Then, suspend me alone. Why extend it to my wife? Agatha has done nothing but serve First Glory with all her heart. This is unacceptable!â
Agatha rested a hand on Nathanâs knee. âJust talk to her for me, Ishi. Please. Suspending me would send a wrong message. It makes Nate look guilty. Secondly, please⌠Please, stand by us publicly. A tweet, a post on Facebook, anything.â
It was Ishiâs turn to sigh, but he held back. Meredith was to Ishi a mentor and friend. Everyone knew that she doted on him like she would a younger sibling, but at the moment, their relationship was strained because of his decision to leave First Glory. He had tried to explain to her without success that it had nothing to do with her or even her husband who was presently under investigation by the EFCC for money laundering and fraud. She was on a short fuse, burning everything in her path that looked like an enemy, and Agatha topped that list.
Hence, Ishi wasnât sure that he could help them with Meredith. He wasnât sure of the second request either.
âThereâs one more thing,â Nathan said, shifting forward even more. âI got word that the reason Chioma is this brazen is because she has someone strong backing her.â
âWho?â Ishi asked.
âYour ex.â
âMy ex,â Ishi repeated. It wasnât a question. He knew who Nathan was talking about.
âWeâre not asking you to do anything,â Agatha said with a bit of a smile. âJust letting you know. Sheâs someone weâŚI respect. I donât want to cross hairs with her. Itâs just that her voice is formidable and thereâs no rape case sheâs gotten involved in that she has lost.â
âPlus,â Nathan added, âshe has a notoriety for pushing hard to discredit any man that is accused, wrongfully or not. She will push to tarnish my name online and dig up anything she and her followers consider dirty linen. She is the judge, jury and executioner in the court of public opinion.â
âOh God,â Agatha murmured, as if just realizing the gravity of Nathanâs situation. Ishi felt sorry for her.
âBut as Aggie said, weâre not asking you to do anythingâyet. Just letting you know.â
âOkay.â
Agathaâs eyes were with tears again. âBut you know he didnât do it, right? Nate didnât touch Chioma.â
âAggie⌠Stay strong. This will pass.â
Ishi didnât know what else to say. He didnât even want to think about it. Nathan was a decent man, a devout Christian. He headed the media department at First Glory, and his daytime job was a movie director. He wasnât one of the best, but he was well-known and respected. Associating his name with rape wasnât something Ishi saw himself doing.
âThank you, Ishi. We have to go.â
Ishi gave Agatha a hug and promised to get in touch with her once he spoke to Meredith on his behalf.
âBut are you really leaving us?â Agatha asked. Ishi nodded. âAnd Pastor Oby?â
âShe goes where I go.â
âAs it should be,â Nathan commented.
âWeâll miss you. Iâll miss you.â
âI know.â
They were friends, had been so for twelve years. He felt a little guilty that he had not reached out first to ask how she and Nathan were doing since Chiomaâs article hit the web four days ago.
He walked them to the door and returned to the living room after they left. His hand ran over the loose sim of his favorite sofa as he walked toward his study.
His ex. It had been her favorite sofa too.
To call her or not to call her on this Chioma issue? He entered his study and shut the world out.
__________
Ishi glanced at his beeping phone. He wasnât ready to leave his workspace, but he had daddy duties, which included bathing his younger daughter and putting her and elder her sister to bed.
He looked out the window of his study, his eyes to the sky. It would rain again tonight. He wondered if it was too late to revisit his plans to take Oby and his daughters to some faraway country to spend Christmas.
He reached for his tea flask and stood, as his eight-year-old daughter barged into his office. She brought along her art tablet and a face bathed with tears. The soles of her crocs were covered in mud, yet she smelled of bubblegum.
âWhatâs wrong?â he asked. She thrust the tablet at him. He didnât need to look at the device to know that something was wrong with it. He took it from her and inspected it.
âWhat happened?â
âSochi threw it down the stairs.â
Ishi sighed and took off his glasses. His four-year-old daughter was a nonstop wrecking ball.
âWhere were you when she threw it down the stairs? I thought I always told you to never let it leave your sight.â
âI went outside toâŚâ She stopped, eyes in guilt.
âTo do what, Eliana?â
âPlay?â
He stared at her mud-stained crocs.
âYou were in your momâs garden again?â
Eliana lowered her head. âI only wanted to look at the sunflowers. There was a bee in one of them and I wanted to catch it.â
âBees sting, Ellie.â
âDaddy, thatâs not the point here! Sochi spoilt my tab and she has to be punished!â
âDo you know why she did that?â
âShe likes to throw things all the time!â Eliana answered in frustration.
Ishi put the tablet away. Eliana moved closer.
âAre you going to spank her, Daddy? You must. She always gets me very angry.â
Spanking was not on the schedule for the evening, neither was any form of discipline, but Sochi would be punished. âI will handle her.â Ishi lowered his body and wiped Elianaâs tears. âThen, Iâll get you another one.â
âWhen?â
âSoon.â
âOr just call Mommy to bring the one I have in her house.â
Ishi smiled. He wasnât going to do that. The last thing he wanted was informing her mother about the damaged tab and her stepfather finding out. The man would replace the device in a wink with a more expensive one. He was always trying to outdo Ishi in the daddy department.
âIâll get you another one. Just chill, okay?â
âBut I need to finish my Christmas art project and submit it on Saturday. Please, Daddy.â Eliana held Ishiâs hand. âPlease?â
âOkay, Iâll get it tomorrow.â
She grinned and hugged him. âThank you, Daddy. Youâre the best. Letâs go and punish Sochikaima for being a bad girl.â
Eliana dragged Ishi out of the office.
Two hours later, both children were in bed, and Ishi was in the living room, watching a live football game. His housekeeper walked in with a potato salad and asked if he needed anything else.
âNothing, thank you.â
He had his dinner and watched the game till the end. Then, he made his way to his bedroom upstairs. He turned off the air conditioner, threw the windows open, and sat to read a book.
Resigning from his job as a senior pastor at First Glory and taking on the role that BCC offered had to be the scariest move he would make carrier-wise. His decision was already met with mixed reactions from his colleagues. Some of them believed that it was right for him to leave while others held that it would be a move he would regret. Agatha was of the former. Always a fan of his work, she had been the first to tell him to leave.
Ishi didnât have doubts over his next steps, save for the fact that he was the Omotoshosâ prime candidate for general overseer.
He wasnât so sure he was ready for the drama that awaited him.
The bedroom door creaked and he turned. Oby walked in. She leaned against the door, letting out the stress of the day in a long moan.
âA warm shower would bang right now,â she said.
Ishi smiled. One of the best parts of each day was seeing her after hours of being away from each other. No matter what state their relationship was in, she always uplifted his mood. Presently, things were not so good between them, because of the Omotoshos. Oby believed that God wanted them to be missionaries, visiting the poorest regions of the world to spread the gospel via charitable works.
Ishi was not sold on that. They had a growing family and were already involved in humanitarian work via a philanthropic organization, which he oversaw as a parttime job. He was convinced that God wanted him in a stable environment, and Oby was to support that calling.
âHow was your day?â she asked, taking off her denim jacket.
âGood.â
âIâm sorry Iâm late.â
âYeah,â Ishi murmured.
âI really am.â
She kicked out of her shoes, then, took off her earrings and walked to the dressing mirror.
âYouâre mad at me,â she said, looking at him through the mirror.
âSochi asked if you had traveled again.â Ishi picked a speck of tissue paper from the floor. âI told her youâd wake her up in the morning and take them to school. I hope you remember that theyâre closing on Friday, right?â
Oby stepped out of her jeans.
Ishi looked at her as she walked to the closet.
âObialunanma?â
She turned. âHoney, you know I canât take them to school. I have to be out of here before five, so that I donât get caught in traffic. I told you Iâd be busy for two weeks.â
âWell, two weeks is too long.â
âSince when? We already talked about this, Dozieââ
âAnd I donât recall agreeing to it. You have two young children who need you, Oby. You donât have to be early for those prayers tomorrow.â
âBut I made a commitment to those women.â
âHow about to your children?â
Ishi picked her clothes off the floor and walked past her to the bathroom, just as it began to rain. He took off his clothes and dumped them and hers into the laundry basket.
When he got into the shower cubicle, he scolded himself for resurrecting an issue they had already fought over and squashed. He felt like an ass for changing his mind about being fine with her administrating a two-week fasting and prayer retreat for women from different denominations. But she had broken her promise to him too. She was supposed to come home after every three days. Returning late an extra day later and not seeing the children, only to leave before they got up the following morning was not acceptable to him.
One of the things Ishi had loved about Oby when they first met was her absolute devotion to God. He had not seen anyone so passionate about their calling and ministry as she had been. He was certain then that it was the major confirmation from God that she was to be his wife. It hadnât been love at first sight or the consecutive times they spent knowing each other. Love took its timeâand when it finally came, Ishi was drawn in so deeply, he became lost.
Now, he wasnât so sure if her piety was still an object of desirability to him. Oby was already making plans to go on an extended music tour with a couple of fellow gospel musicians. Ishi didnât like the idea, but music ministry was her first calling and he was all for her doing what she loved. However, she had already spent most of the year outside their home, doing the Lordâs work.
Was there such a thing as loving God too much?
âIâm sorry.â
She was standing by the bathroom door in the nude. Ishi ignored her and turned on the shower. The first spurt of water was chilly, but he remained underneath it until he adjusted the temperature.
He felt Obyâs lithe body against his from behind. She kissed his back and put her arms around him.
âIâll leave at seven in the morning. Is that okay?â
Ishi was silent. She disengaged from him and made a half-circle to stand in front of him. The pouring shower separated them for a second. Then, she crossed the barrier and attached her body to his, seeking his lips.
Her touch was soothing, and he stepped away from the water, pulling her to him. He was not a big fan of bathroom sex because of the likely risks that came with slippery tiles. But Oby had a talent for making him do things that were against his nature. She was madly erotic as she was spiritual.
But he soon discovered, from the moment his body touched hers, that God had already answered him before he asked.
They had sex a second time on their bed, fiercer than the first in the bathroom. Oby was on top, of course, riding him in that manner she always did like he had paid her to fulfil his wildest fantasies. The bedroom lights were off, and the occasional flash of lightning from the rainstorm illuminated her feral form as it bounced up-and-down his body.
She lay wasted, afterwards, with her legs spread apart. Ishi lay on his side, making circles around her nipples. Her breasts had not been this intriguing to him in the early days of their marriage. In fact, on their first night together, he had been disappointed by her nudity, which was nothing compared to the sheer exoticness he had enjoyed from Elianaâs biological mother. That night, he asked God to help keep his mind on Oby and to deliver him from any thought that might resurrect memories of his past. But he soon discovered, from the moment his body touched hers, that God had already answered him before he asked.
Even before he went into her, he sensed that Oby would become a lifelong addiction. She had come to him with blessings from her past, employing on him, her knowledge with men and sex. And this was a good thing to Ishi who had never been infatuated with the idea of a pristine woman. He liked them wild.
âSo, weâre not going to talk about the elephant in the room?â Oby asked.
âWhat elephant in what room?â
âThe Omotoshos.â
âOh.â
âAnd the fact that they covered up a murder.â
âObialunanma, we already talked about this,â Ishi answered, referring to their phone chats over the past few days, concerning the Obinna incident and how the Omotoshos handled it.
The day after the dinner, news hit the internet that Blessing Kanayo had been murdered by her sister, Glory; and her husband, Obinna, in a bit to protect his wife and himself, took Gloryâs life. It was still the trending gist across social media, with people having mixed reactions to the story. The press dug up a past scandal in which Obinna had admitted to erroneously sleeping with Glory, which led to Glory blackmailing the Kanayos and taking over Blessing position as Obinnaâs wife for some time. Obinna, himself, had exposed her to the public after she made him resign from BCC to join her with another defector who was then starting a new ministry.
Armed with that information from the past, the public ran with the narrative that Gloryâs death might not have been a manslaughter. A notorious blogger even went ahead to paint a version in which they suspected that the Kanayos invited Glory over to end her life. Blessing was to do the killing and blame it on a fight between both sisters. But Glory fought back and Obinna had to step in to finish her off himself. They had not envisioned that Blessing would die as well.
 âDozie, they have not made any mention of that security cam that Pastor Love asked Pastor Obinna about.â
Ishi sighed. âThe Omotoshos had to do what they had to do.â
âBy covering a murder and making us accomplices to it?â
Ishi didnât respond.
âPastor Love called me today,â she said. Ishi waited for a series of thunder to roll by before he responded.
âWhat did she want?â
âJust to say hi.â
âIs that all?â
âAnd to apologize over Sundayâs incident. She also wanted to remind me that she would be grateful if I didnât breathe a word of what happened to anybody.â
âOkay.â
âOkay? Thatâs all youâre going to say? She was basically calling me to threaten meââ
âOby, thatâs a stretch.â
âA stretch? That woman is cold. Did you see how unmoved she was when Pastor Obinna came in and told us that he killed his wifeâs sister? So unbothered. Just kept on eating!â
âSheâs pregnant, Oby.â
âAnd Pastor Blessing was supposed to be her friend. She showed no sign of grief.â
âPeople grieve differently, Oby. And Pastor Love was probably just thinking about clearing Obinnaâs name. You know she basically runs BCC. She is the chief operating officer.â
âShe was also born to a militant father. A man who killed people like flies. Everyone knows about Spiff Ebifa from Nembe.â
Ishi hung his head, tired of the conversation.
âBy the way, if she runs the church, whatâs the job of the general overseer?â
âA spiritual leader. She handles management and money. They have a very organized system at BCC because of her. Oby, cut her some slack.â
âI know I should, butâŚâ Oby sighed, pulling her body into a sitting position. âDozie, that video theyâre hiding is wrong.â
âTheyâre not covering up a murderââ
âBut that is what it is.â Oby sprang up on her knees. âI have kept calm for three days because of my retreat and because of you. But I canât do this, Ishi. I canât be a part of this.â
âSo, you want Pastor Obinna to go to prison for defending himself and his wife?â
âAnd youâre supporting them for covering up a murder? Well, Iâm not surprised. Youâre from a mafia family.â
âOuch,â Ishi responded, unbothered. But he had nothing further to say. He got off the bed, shut the windows, and turned on the air conditioners.
âI donât want you to have anything to do with them,â Obialunanma said.
âWow, sweetheart.â Ishi faced her. âWhy donât you write a constitution while youâre at it, so that I know that Iâm living under your rule.â
âI didnât meanââ
âGood night, darling.â
Ishi lay on his side of the bed, backing her.
Hours later, she woke up before him. He heard her praying and opened his eyes. She was seated on a couch by one of the windows, knees drawn up and her head bowed over them. He went back to sleep, opening his eyes again at daylight.
Oby was downstairs, dressed to leave for her retreat but fixing a loose plait in Elianaâs hair. Sochi, ever energetic, was doing jumps from one furniture piece to another. The loose seam on Ishiâs favorite sofa was wider now, revealing the cushion underneath.
The childrenâs chauffeur walked into the living room and greeted both adults.
âTime for school!â Sochi yelled. She abandoned her jumps and dashed out of the house. âFirst to enter the car!â
Obialunanma stood and planted a couple of kisses on Elianaâs forehead. âIâll see you in church on Sunday, okay?â
Eliana nodded and they hugged.
âBye, Daddy!â
âNo hug for me?â
Eliana giggled and hurried out. Ishi looked at his wife who came to him without her usual smile.
âIâm sorry about last night. The mafia thingâŚâ
âItâs fine.â
âDo something for me.â
âWhat?â
âStill pray about it.â
She didnât allow him respond to her request. She kissed him and left the house. He looked at the time. It was almost seven-thirty and he needed to be on his way to work. First, he had to pray. He never joked with his morning devotions. Healthy or sick, in the mood or not, he always started his day with God.
Ishi entered his office, shut the door, and went on his knees.
ŠSally Kenneth Dadzie @moskedapages
Drama here and there
Yeah right, back to looking forward to a Saturday tonic.
Thank you Sally.
Eliana’s Motherđđ𤊅.let’s get a peak into what has happened between her and Leonel, Maksy and Oga Haliru, this yoruba girl, her name eludes me now.
Once again Sally, thank you. Your writings are a work of art….intriguing snd drawing.
Can we be Oliver Twist and ask for a marathon?
Thank You Sally.
Have also admired someone for their passion for God but after a while of being together, you start wondering if their mind is piety is still an object of affection.
Sally, Iâm so glad you are back and this story hmmmm, I canât wait for whatâs next.
Oby, you are married to the MAFIA!!! đ¤Łđ¤Łđ¤Ł
Oby is going to be a problem!!!!! I can feel it.
Well I stand with Oby on this one. The Omotoshos will stain Ishi’s white.
My favourotes are back,welcome back Sally,my saturdays are about to be lit
It feels like my long lost relatives are back! Lol! Oby shouldnât rain in Ishiâs parade biko.
Welcome back Sally! Thank you for this.
So glad to have you back dear Sally. Thank you.
Thank you Sally
A good read i must say, and we are in for a loooong rider coz character plenty
Thank Sally.
Thrama is just unfolding…Thanks Sally
Every time the Omotoshoâs pop up, so does tension. Pastor Ishi please pray again. Elianaâs mother uhhhh lala. Iâm crossing my fingers throughout this series
I donât think the bond between Ishi and Elianaâs mom will ever go away, I canât wait for the next episode đĽš
Ishi reminds me so much of Jeri
Pastor Oby should cut BCC some slack, atleast they admitted that pastor Obinna killed her
The loves of these characters are a web, always linked together in ways than one.
This ministry work Oby carry for head needs balance sha. I’ve seen quite some people in ministry who have been unable to balance things and have left the home front to suffer as a result.
Love already has made an impression on Oby, letting the latter know BCC as it is does not allow ‘nonsense’.
I’m playing catch up with this series but ill do a marathon as I feel I’ve missed a lot.
Big ups Sally.