Welcome, dear reader!

So it’s been quite a while since we heard from Makafui, hasn’t it? Well, he’s back, and he’s got a pretty intense story for us. You can already tell by the title of this episode that it’s a tight one. I wonder what these sons of Ellis are like.

Well, let’s get into it!

The room was dark, except for the candle that burned at the centre of the pulpit, which was not unusual for this church. Bishop Calvin Ellis made that provision for the people who came to pray during non-service hours as a way to remind them that this was God’s altar, and whatever they prayed for was heard by Him. The two communion cups were on either side of the burning candle, which was also normal.

As Marcus inched closer in, he saw Bishop Ellis rise from behind the altar, dressed in his formal robe and cassock. He wanted to call out to the bishop, but then a hand covered his mouth and two more restrained him. Try as he did, his restrainers were too strong for him and their grip only tightened.

Then one of them said to him, “Watch.”

Marcus looked up, and saw that Bishop Ellis had taken what looked like the communion bread, and a cup of the communion wine, and was heartily eating and drinking in his chair.

Just as his feast was kicking into high gear, the cup cracked and the wine started to drip all over his clothes. He still tried to finish the wine like nothing happened, but then maggots started to come out of the bread. Soon, it looked like he was eating maggots instead of bread, but he was still eating and drinking like nothing happened. Marcus resumed his efforts to break free from the people restraining him, but their grip held him firmly in place without any effort.

Then the candle started to expand until it literally looked like a bowl of fire, and a cold breeze blew through the room. The pews in the sanctuary started to freeze, but the fire started spreading. First, it burned the table, then it started to burn the carpet and made a straight line for the Bishop. Marcus fought harder to try to save him, but then the bishop didn’t even seem bothered by anything that was going on.

Then the fire got to him, and instead of burning him, it seemed to rise like was following an invisible trail up, then it circled him and then a booming voice echoed, “You were warned.” And then the fire descended on him and ate him up.

Marcus yelled and yelled and then shot up, his eyes opening in a hurry.

He looked around at the white walls and the ceiling, and realized it was a dream. This was the fifth time this was happening. He’d told the bishop the first three times, but the dream only got more detailed each time.

As he started to calm down, he muttered, “Dear Lord, if there’s something you’re trying to say, say it clearly. This is too much to try to understand.” He then got up and started to pray.

*****

“I’LL KILL YOU! YOU WILL DIE TODAY! ALLAH!!!” were the words that followed Finn as he was chased through the corridor of the office building at the Temple of Believers’ Cathedral, wearing only his briefs.

The bulge in them was evidence of the action he was engaged in before being rudely interrupted by an attack on his life. Back in his office, where the chase had started, there was a woman in tears, dressing up. Finn’s secretary was helping her, but one of her shoes was missing. That missing shoe was now one of the weapons her husband held in his hand as he chased Finn, the other being a razor-sharp butcher knife.

Finn ran into his brother’s office and slammed the door locked just in time to keep his chaser out, and the irate man banged at the door like he meant to break it. Finn turned to face a perplexed Hans, who looked up and just stared at him. Finn saw the look and said, “Long story, bro. Do you still keep a stash of suits in here?”

The banging continued as the man yelled “Come out here, you godless man! Come out and meet your death! Open this door and come out!”

Hans kept the puzzled look on his face and just stared right at Finn, who was out of breath and a little impatient. “Suits, Hans. Do you still keep them here?”

Hans ignored him again and kept staring at him, clearly not interested in anything except what was going on.

Finn finally caved. “Alright. I slept with Mrs. Barnor. In my office. We’d just finished round three and were about to squeeze a bonus round in when Mr. Barnor walked in brandishing a massive knife.”

Hans’ eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Finn continued, “She’s been coming for counseling every Wednesday and Friday for the last eight weeks. We’d gotten the time down, but then we cut it too close today with the extra cos we got careless and sloppy, well, in more ways than one.”

Hans’ expression went from confused to “what the hell,” and then became full amusement as the banging got louder along with Mr. Barnor’s threats.

“Bro. Suits. I’m freezing here.”

Hans shook his head in laughter and pointed Finn to the closet in the inner office. Finn went in as Mr. Barnor’s threats from outside continued, “I will break this door down! I swear to God I will break it down! How can a man of God be so cruel! God will punish you in hell, and I will kill you here on earth! Come out if you’re a man, you coward! Come and face me, you infidel! Come out! Come out here!”

Hans shook his head in amusement and dialed security on his office phone. “Get me Jack, and tell him it’s a code red. Tell him three cups of tea, and one cup of cough syrup. He’ll know what to do.”

Finn came back out, sharply dressed in a mauve suit. Hans looked him up and down and shook his head yet again. “So you really came in here and wore my favorite suit like you didn’t know?”

“Don’t worry bro, I’ll take it to the laundry once I get home and change. They’ll remove every trace of sex and infidelity; you’ll be good to go.”

“Ugh. Just keep it. I’ll get another one made. Mrs. Barnor though?”

“Bro, I know. It was unexpected.”

“You couldn’t just go with the single ones? You had to go for a decorated army man’s wife?”

“She asked for it, man. Apparently, his weapon of pleasure was a weapon without the pleasure part, and she wanted prayer. Who comes in asking for prayers for pleasure? I tried to send her away, but she kept begging and next thing you know, her hands are all on me. What was I meant to do, say no?”

“Yes, you moron! That exactly what the heck you were meant to do!”

“Like you said no when that Barbara girl came onto you in the prayer room? She sef was delivered from witchcraft two weeks later and you had chopped her at least five times before. Yours was more dangerous.”

“Ay, she was single and her box of berries was irresistible. I went for quiet deliverance with our guy the very next day. This woman is married.”

Mr. Barnor’s screaming and banging got louder, and the door was starting to sound like it was getting weaker. Finn commented, “That ‘is’ might turn into a ‘was’ in short order.”

Security finally arrived, and it sounded like Mr. Barnor was getting into a fight with them, but then shortly after there was a loud thud and a yelp, and then the sound of handcuffs, and then footsteps that sounded further as Mr. Barnor’s voice faded into the distance, still yelling threats.

Hans made a call on his cell phone and put it on speaker. “Jack. Will there be any problem? … Good. Make sure he’s taken care of. As much as it’s not his fault, we don’t need this getting out. The bishop’s expansion plans are almost complete and this could ruin everything … Yeah, just let me know … Alright Jack, thanks. God bless you. Bye.”

Once he ended the call, he turned to Finn. “You’re good now, bro. But please, no more married women. There’s enough single fish to go around.”

Finn got up and as he got to the door, Hans said, “Go and sin no more.” To which Finn replied, “Repent before it’s too late,” and left.

Hans shook his head and muttered to himself, “If only we knew the day, brother.”

*****

Bishop Calvin had called six of his prayer warriors into his basement for a twelve-hour prayer session, and by the twelfth hour, each one of them was worn out. They usually got a small break about six hours in, but then one of the guys received a revelation about a serious demonic attack on the church, one strong enough to collapse the church for good. So, naturally, intense prayer was fired against this attack through to the end. The revelation included a warning about misdeeds among the leadership, particularly the sons of the bishop, and he’d asked the warriors to keep praying about that once they got to their homes.

As they began to disperse, the bishop asked Marcus to stay back. They waited in the lounging chairs for the rest to leave, and then the bishop spoke. “My son, how’s everything with your mother?”

“She wants me to come home more often, but she understands what we’re doing here.”

“You really should see her more often. She went through a lot trying to conceive you.”

“So you both keep telling me. I’ll try, sir. But, speaking of seeing, I had that dream again three nights ago.”

“I was at the altar, and then I was eating maggots as a fire consumed me?”

“Yes sir. Same dream. But this time, before the fire consumed you, someone said that you were warned.”

The bishop mood became a pensive one. He sat quietly for a while. Then he spoke up again. “I have received some very unsavory reports about your two brothers in the Lord, my sons. The things I hear, they break my heart. Frankly, I will understand it if God literally sets this whole church campus ablaze. All that we worked for, gone down the drain.”

“Not so, sir. This church is needed in this country.”

“What good would it be to pass this on to either of those two? Wouldn’t it be the same as setting it all on fire? Wouldn’t it be the same amount of work wasted?”

Marcus went quiet after that one. He didn’t want to get too involved with anything that had to do with Finn or Hans Ellis; he’d already heard his fair share of complaints about them. But, he was in no position to do anything about it because they were the heirs; he was just a guy sent here to serve God. He wasn’t even sure if he’d remain here all his life.

“Marcus, I have a proposition for you. As you know, we’ve been trying to expand our reach and our network of branches and sister churches for a long time now. We’d come very close, but then one church in a prime location which is central to the plan had refused to budge. I hear they are now willing to sit down with us. The first set of negotiations is next Tuesday in Finn’s office. I need you to be in that meeting.”

Marcus was truly surprised. He’d always been a prayer warrior and had not asked to be anything more. Also, these types of things were not things he was normally invited for. “Bishop, I know nothing about negotiations. All I know is prayer and bible. I may not be of much use to that meeting at all.”

“Marcus, soon you’ll become a pastor. It’s time for you to know how all this works. And I’m not asking. Make sure you’re there by two, and come in a pristine suit. I can’t have you looking like a pauper while representing this church and myself.”

Well, one thing is made clear about these sons of Ellis, at least: they’re shameless! Sleeping with a married man’s wife? Ugh! And Marcus is definitely getting a message from God. They better be careful…