Hypnotized

She said:

I was 14 when I met him

We weren’t supposed to fall in love

I didn’t even think I know what love was

I just liked him and he liked me too

We met at the recreation club

He was taking swimming lessons

I was by then a very good swimmer

Many young men and young women came to the swimming class

Most of them saw swimming as fun and took it with a pinch of salt

But he was different

He took the swimming lessons very seriously

I was surprised when I saw that he had already gone off floaters within two weeks and was navigating the deep end of the pool with confidence

I walked up to him one day and asked him if he would like to be my relay partner

He told me he was still learning how to swim and didn’t know if he could participate in a swimming competition yet

I asked him to give it a try

It wasn’t really a competition, just a mock race

There was a young lady and a young man willing to do a mock race with me and I needed a partner badly

I told him the rules

We had the mock race

We lost

But I gained a good friend

We started meeting at the swimming pool every Saturday morning and Sunday evening

He didn’t ask if I would like to meet anywhere outside of the pool side

I also didn’t take the friendship any further

We were both in high school at the time

My parents eventually came to know him

They didn’t pass any comment either way

Swimming and his company kept me out of trouble

i think we met like this every weekend for two years or more

One evening he came and announced to me that he would not be coming to the pool the following weekend

He had gained admission into the University and would be resuming the following weekend

I didn’t know if it was the sudden nature of the news or the sudden dread of spending a weekend without him

His announcement broke my heart

As we walked side by side towards the car park that evening

I asked him

“Why am I feeling this way? I should be happy that my friend is going to school but I am not. I feel very sad. As if a knife is in my heart. As if breathe is being taken away from me!

He stopped and looked deep into my eyes

I started shivering

Some of my friends had teased me over the years that I was his girlfriend

I always denied it

Sometimes I wished it was so

I wished he would ask me to be his girlfriend

I would easily follow him anywhere

He kissed me

Oh God!

The kiss felt like a healing touch

Like I had a wound that had been tormenting me for so long and he cured it!

I didn’t know how much I had been longing to kiss him until that moment

I never ever thought or fantasize about it, but as soon as lips touched mine

It identified and diagnosed my condition

And also provided succor

Just like that!

I didn’t know how or why

I kissed him back

I was 16

Kissing in public!

At 6pm

In a recreation center my family had used for over ten years

I didn’t know what came over me

He left afterwards, reluctantly, almost in tears

As soon as I got home, my parents were waiting

They were enlightened and very understanding by nature

They were one of the reasons I had always kept myself away from scandal

They didn’t tell me not to talk to this or move with that

They knew I was close to him for over two years

They knew emotions would eventually get into the mix

They just watched me as if they weren’t watching

“So how was the kiss?” my mother asked

“He is going away Mum, he is going off to school” I sobbed

My father opened his arms, I ran into them

They got it

They understood!

That evening my parents told me how love works

“It is like the pillar of fire and the cloud of glory! The fire would keep you warm in the present while the glory keeps you moving towards the future”

I didn’t understand what they were saying fully

But somehow it made sense

I spent many a lonely night at that pool side after her left for school

I masked my pain and longing very well

I even made new friends

The following august I gained admission into the University

Two weeks after I resumed in school, an announcement was made at my hostel that I had a visitor

I rushed to the visitor’s lounge

He was the one

He didn’t tell me he was coming

He just came

It was a glorious day

We had exchanged letters throughout the period

I told him all about my admission in my last letter to him

I told him my hostel’s name, room number, everything

I was expecting his reply but he brought himself

We needn’t tell each other anything

We were in a relationship

His visit was also very therapeutic

I had been feeling ill due to the change of environment

The illness vanished as soon as I saw him

Our relationship was special

I visited him in school several times

He also visited me

We were both determined to steer clear of sex

We kissed often and sometimes his hand would press some buttons

We called it “testing chemistry”

But he was determined to keep my honour and he did

He graduated

I got to final year

Right before he went for NYSC, he took me home to meet his parents

His parents were very warm and welcoming

His mother insisted that I must sleep in her room

Our story felt like one written by angels

The weavers of fate were very kind to us

He said:

She went for NYSC

I got a job at an auditing firm

I started working towards our wedding

My father told me I had to save a certain amount before the end of my first year as a salary earner, he promised me he would double whatever amount I saved as his contribution towards my wedding.

I already had a car but I needed to get an apartment

At first, she wrote to me at least once every two weeks

Then she stopped writing

I wrote to her over and over again

I desperately wanted to travel to the north to see her but I couldn’t take any leave until I had completed my first year in my office

Her sister travelled to the state where she was posted

Her sister came back in tears

Her sister claimed one spiritualist had married my own beloved!

I didn’t get it

How!

How!!

Her parents travelled to the state too

They returned with their heads in between their thighs

"She had been charmed" said her father

"She had been brainwashed" said her mother

"She saw us and recognized us but she was not the same person!" 

What they were saying was strange in my ears

My own heartbeat! My own umero uno! My own sunshine

How did she meet the spiritualist?

Who could such a spiritualist be?

One of her neighbours had explained to her parents that the spiritualist was passing by one morning, stumbled and fell down right in front of their daughter

Their daughter reacted with a plain heart

Helped the spiritualist to pick some of his scattered belongings while he gathered himself

As soon as he collected the belongings from her hand

She became somehow hypnotized

The next day, she moved to the spiritualist’s house

Her parents said they went to the police station but the police claimed no crime had been committed

Their daughter was an adult and she was old enough to choose and marry anybody she wanted

They should either convince their daughter to unmarry the spiritualist or find an alternative means to separate the two of them

I heard all their stories

I told myself she wouldn’t dare see me and remain with the spiritualist

I travelled to the state

I got there early in the morning

I went straight to the spiritualist's temple

She came out

I stood up

She saw me

She screamed!

I started praying, speaking in tongues!

The atmosphere must be mine, the fog must lift!

"Kabayandaraba!"

The atmosphere tensed up

The spiritualist rushed out of his room into the temple

Who are you! Who are you!! Who are you!!! The spiritualist screamed

What do you want? What are you doing here? The spiritualist shouted

The spiritualist stood far away from me

I ignored the spiritualist

I walked up to my beloved, she looked older, bloated, uncomely 

I poured anointing oil on her head

“I set you free in Jesus name”

The spiritualist ran inside the room, emerged a few minutes later with her clothes

"Take her and go away!

I don’t want you here!

Take her and get out of here!!!"

She kept screaming and rolling on the floor

I held her hand

"In Jesus name, I command the torment to cease right now

Come back to your senses!

Regain your consciousness!

Be totally restored in Jesus name!

Let the enchantment lift

I command the spell be broken by the power of the Holy Ghost

I command a flushing of your system

In Jesus name!!"

She vomited all sorts

I laughed in the Holy Ghost, by this time, the power surging through me was beyond electric

I looked at the spiritualist “You have taken unlawfully from me, within seven days, judgment shall visit you”

She came to herself

she looked relieved

She looked better, calmer and life returned to her face

We returned home together

She couldn’t piece together what happened to her or how it happened

It was as if she was in a perpetual fog

Her parents couldn’t believe it!

"How did you do it?"

I told them about Jesus and the power he gave his children

They were Christians but they didn’t have such a power

I told them they needed to be filled with the Holy Ghost

They fell on their knees!

The Holy Spirit took over

Seven days later, the spiritualist was arrested by the state security service for a fraud he perpetrated along with some other criminals

He had terrorised many and gotten away with it for many years

He met his waterloo when he took what belonged to me!

One year after the incident

We got married

PS: The couple lives in Akure, Ondo State

The incident happened in Kwara State (Spiritualist confrontation)

Christians who do not pray in the spirit can become victims at anytime

You don’t have to learn the hard way

Pray in the Holy Ghost today

Pray in understanding

Pray without ceasing

Be empowered with might by His Spirit  in your inner man