After the storm (42 page)

She
maintained eye contact with him. "No offence taken. But God is
real, very real."

He shot
her a mocking glance before changing the topic.

∞∞∞

"So
invite your friends, family, and even your enemies…" Pastor Ben was
saying as he rounded up his message with a reminder about the
programme they were having a few weeks later.

Enemies?
Yemi thought to herself as she popped her phone into her bag. How
could a Christian have enemies?

What would you call the Kadiris
? The
thought crept in so quietly that it startled her. She froze
momentarily as she tried to process the question. Where had that
even come from? The Kadiris were not her enemies. They were her
evil in-laws—or soon to be ex-in-laws. They hated her and had tried
to make life uncomfortable for her. Hating them back was only just
natural. She didn't start the fight. They had.

That makes them your enemies, then.
She shook her head. No, she didn't have enemies. She had
nothing to feel guilty about. They were wicked people, and they
deserved the way she felt about them.

But from
that moment onwards, her peace fled her again. She had managed to
push the disturbing thoughts away the last time they had plagued
her, but this time the uneasiness seemed like it had come to stay.
Worse still, she found it difficult to pray.

The next
day, Yemi had a thoroughly miserable day at the office. Not that
anything unusual happened—the battle was within her. Her peace was
gone, and she had no joy in her spirit.

She
Googled the meaning of the word "enemy" and read through it.
Someone who had ill feelings towards her and whom she also wished
ill. That was so apt. She wished the Kadiris ill. She constantly
hoped Nadia would experience problems in her marriage the way that
she had. The only person she really didn't wish any ill was Akeem,
and that was because of Aleena.

She got
home that evening and called Sesan. She felt she had to talk to
someone or she would burst.

"So what
do you think, Shez?" she asked him. "Are these feelings I'm having
just a figment of my imagination? Maybe just my emotions running
amok?"

"I think
God is trying to talk to you," Sesan replied quietly.

"Shez,
they hurt me too badly. I was just a young girl. My in-laws gave me
no chance, gave my marriage no chance to succeed. How can I forgive
them?"

"You
have to let go, Yemi," Sesan said gently. "It's for your own good
as well. The hatred you have towards the Kadiri family can't be
healthy."

"They
don't deserve it."

"No one
really deserves forgiveness. We all err, yet God forgives us. Let
go, honey, and let God heal your heart."

Yemi put
down the phone slowly after their conversation. So many emotions
were raging through her. It would have been easier if her in-laws
were repentant, but they were not. She had seen Nadia just a few
weeks earlier at a grocery store, and she had looked the other way,
pretending she had not seen Yemi. That had suited Yemi just fine,
and she had done likewise.

"They
hurt me too much, Lord. I can't let go," she kept repeating to
herself.

She
attended the midweek service the next day and found it difficult to
connect during the worship session. She felt so heavy within
herself. On getting home, she could not concentrate on any task she
tried to do, and she gave it up and decided to have an early
night.

As she
lay on the bed, tossing and turning, Sesan's words kept coming back
to her. "Let go and let God."

"Not
that easy," she thought to herself wearily. "I don't even know how
to."

∞∞∞

The next
few days went by slowly for her. She went about her work
mechanically. She missed the peace and joy that had been hers since
she gave her life to Christ, but despite all this, she still
struggled within herself.

She got
home the following Friday, helped Aleena with her homework,
and then went to her room. Akeem was travelling over that weekend,
so Aleena didn't have to go over to his place.

She went
to bed early but found herself awake a few hours later. She looked
at her bedside clock; it was a few minutes past midnight. She tried
to go back to sleep but could not and sat up in bed.

She
decided to study her Bible and hopefully fall asleep while doing
so. She had been studying the book of Acts, and she opened to it.
She flipped to chapter seven, which was the next chapter she was to
read, but instead of falling asleep as she had hoped, she became
wider awake as she read. It was the story of Stephen and how he was
martyred. She was struck by the last prayer he had prayed before he
died as he was being stoned: he had prayed that that God should
forgive those people stoning him. She could not comprehend
that.

The
people stoning Stephen had not repented. They had not asked him for
forgiveness. In fact, the last picture Stephen probably had before
he died would have been that of faces filled with hatred. What a
painful way to die.

Yemi
stood up from the bed and began to pace the room. And yet, Stephen
had prayed for his persecutors instead of cursing them. What gave
him that strength? she asked herself. It had to be God.

She
thought of her in-laws, of Akeem. Could she do the same? It seemed
so difficult. The tears flowed down her cheeks, and she wept with
all her heart.

"Lord, I
choose to forgive," she said brokenly. "I choose to forgive Akeem,
Nadia, my mother-in-law, and Adil. I choose to forgive them all,
but please help me!"

As she
prayed and wept before the Lord, she felt the comforting presence
of the Holy Spirit flooding her. It was as if God had wrapped her
in a warm embrace, and she gradually stopped crying. She just lay
on the floor and allowed the presence of God to bathe
her.

Over the
next few days, Yemi felt as if a heavy weight had rolled off her
heart. She knew something had definitely happened to her that
night. She still had the old memories, but she did not have the
bitterness or the desire for vengeance that she had held on to for
so long. She was able to pray, study the word, and worship again,
and she knew within herself that she had won a major
victory.

Chapter
23

Yemi bit
into a strawberry, relishing the sour and sweet taste as she
thought about the styles she had seen at the London fashion week.
Purple was the colour of the season, and many of the fashion houses
had paraded models wearing the colour.

She was
in England for two weeks. She had flown in to attend the fashion
show and tied it in with a little holiday. So far, she had been
enjoying herself. She planned on going to central London the next
day. She would leave the Bluewater shopping until the
weekend.

She
heard her phone ringing and fished it out of her bag. It was
Sara.

"Hi
girl, how're you doing?" she sang into the phone when Yemi
connected the call. "How is it going over there?"

"Great!
The fashion week was so very inspiring!"

"You've
got to put that inspiration to good use for me when you get back,"
Sara replied. "I got so many compliments about the dress you made
for me for Fayona's birthday, and I want more of those!"

Yemi had
deliberately avoided the party. There would have been too much
attention directed at her. They talked some more. Sara wanted Yemi
to get shoes and some other little bits for her.

"You
know your mother-in-law is in the hospital, right?" Sara asked Yemi
towards the end of their conversation. "She had to fly in to the UK
for treatment three days ago."

Yemi's
default response was to say that she didn't have a mother-in-law,
but she pushed the thought away. She was a changed person, and she
didn't have enemies.

She bit
into another strawberry. "Aleena told me yesterday."

"I
learnt it's quite serious. They're even thinking of doing surgery,
a quadruple bypass or something like that. Fadel was talking with
Akeem about it yesterday."

"Oh,
that's a major heart surgery."

"Sounds
like it is. Akeem was sounding so frustrated because they couldn't
get a flight out of Asia yesterday. That ash cloud
stuff."

Yemi had
heard about it. Akeem and Adil were in China. She had planned her
trip before his and could not cancel, so she had taken Aleena to
Ayo's place for the period that she would be away.

"I'm
sure everything will clear up soon. Anyway, they have a lot of
relatives in England that can look in on her."

Yemi
forgot about the conversation until later that evening when she was
talking with Tola.

"No
doubt she's suffering for all her evil ways," Tola said
unsympathetically when Yemi told her about Akeem's mother. "But
anyway, she's rich, so she can afford the best medical care
possible."

"I've
forgiven her though," Yemi said. The words still sounded like a
wonder even to her own ears. "I can hardly believe it, but I've
truly forgiven her."

Tola
made a face. "You're something else these days."

Yemi
smiled. She knew Tola was still trying to get her head around her
newfound "born againism," as Tola called it.

Yemi
watched the news that night. There were still problems with flights
in and out of Asia. There had been a volcanic eruption, and it had
spread to form an ash cloud. The cloud was considered damaging to
the engines of the jets, causing most airlines to pull their
flights in and out of that region.

Yemi
knew that Akeem would be feeling really bad about not being able to
get to his mum. As rocky as their relationship was, he still took
her health concerns very seriously. He said his dad had always
emphasised that responsibility to him while he was still
alive.

She
found herself praying for her mother-in-law that evening when she
had a bit of time to herself.

Why don't you go and see her in hospital
? The thought came to her quietly.

She was
already shaking her head before the idea could take root. It was
ludicrous. She, Yemi, go see the matriarch of the Kadiri family?
That could not happen because, ill or not, Mrs. Kadiri would very
likely walk her out of the room.

That would show her that you truly hold nothing against
her
. The thought came again, quietly and
unobtrusively.

But I have forgiven her
, Yemi
argued
. I don't have to go and see her to
prove it. She is ill. She will not want me to see her like
that
.

She
shook the thoughts away. This couldn't be God. She had listened the
first time, and she had forgiven them, but this was outright
ridiculous. Akeem might not be around, but he had people he could
ask to look in on his mum for him.

She
pushed the thoughts out of her mind, spent the evening playing with
Tola's kids, and then watched a late-night movie with Tola and her
husband.

The next
morning, she woke up early and helped Tola's kids get ready for
school.

"What do
you have planned for today?" Tobi asked Yemi as he prepared to drop
Tola off at the train station. He worked in Kent and drove to
work.

"Going
to central London for some shopping," Yemi said.

"Wish I
could come along," Tola said wistfully, and her husband playfully
tweaked her ear.

They
left a few minutes later, and Yemi went back upstairs to have her
morning devotion. She prayed again for Akeem's mother, asking God
to heal her.

What if she died today
?

But I'm no longer in enmity with her
, Yemi began to argue again, wondering where these
troublesome thoughts were coming from.
And
anyway, she may not even agree to see me.
I may have forgiven her, but she still hates me for thwarting
the plans she had for her son
. She didn't
know whom she was actually talking to, God or her conscience, but
she was not letting up. She was going to argue this one
through.

What have you got to lose by seeing her
? Another thought came in quietly, as she ironed her
clothes.

Being humiliated? Labelled a hypocrite? That I've possibly
come to gloat in her moment of weakness? No, I can't do it. The
stakes are too high
.

She
didn't get any response this time, and she felt like she had made
her case. She took her bath and went back downstairs for breakfast.
Being away from home had given her a healthier appetite, and she
found herself enjoying the buttery scones, bacon, and
eggs.

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one
will see the Lord
.

Yemi
almost jumped. That particular thought had come like it was from
within her, and yet it was as if it was external too. This time
around, she didn't argue. She was 90 percent certain that it was
God talking to her. She only had her pride to lose, after all, and
she loved God enough to do that for Him.