The Paddler

The very first time he cheated on 
his wife
He met the girl at a market
She was a tailor
His office needed some curtain 
materials and he was the one who 
was sent to the market to get the 
materials because the facility 
manager was on leave and he 
was the one standing in for the 
facility manager
As soon as he picked the materials 
he deemed appropriate, the 
curtain sellers told him they had 
tailors who could cut the materials 
and sew the curtains for him
He told them to get one of the tailors
The curtain seller made a phone call
A few minutes later, the 
lady arrived
He paid for the material and moved 
with the materials to the shop of 
the lady
While the lady sewed the curtains 
they got talking
Just a chat here and a chat there
They somehow exchanged numbers
By the time the lady was done, they 
had become friends of a sort
The lady 
was not in a relationship
He discovered that in the course of 
their chit chat
She was twenty-six and she was 
willing
When he got home later that night, 
he let it slip while catching up with 
his wife that he met a girl
Perhaps there was a pitch in his 
voice or a tone he used when 
he talked about the lady that 
alarmed his wife
His wife turned to him and said "Be 
careful, please, keep away from 
that girl"
He laughed and quickly masked his 
intention with a dismissal
"Oh, I am not going to the market 
anymore...
This was a once-in-a-lifetime 
occurrence!" 
His wife shrugged and left it be
He got to the office, the lady sent 
him a message saying "Thank you" 
for yesterday
He knew she was poking the bear 
to see if anything will come out of it
Their previous discussion was 
bordering on
"I like you and I want to do you"
It was a light discussion but that 
was basically the summary
He replied warmly and told her he 
would come to the market later 
that day to take her to lunch
After making the commitment, he 
began to ruminate upon the 
possibilities
He had noticed a hotel close to the 
market but the lady might 
consider that too close
He thought about it over and over 
again
He had been married for six years 
and he had two children
He had never strayed or cheated 
before but that was basically 
because the opportunity never 
presented itself
Sex with his wife was very good 
but it had fallen 
into a boring pattern
The thought of sleeping with 
someone else was already exciting 
and moving his body parts
He had enough money to get it done
He didn't see any reason he should 
pass up the opportunity
After about two hours, he got a call 
that the product they were waiting 
for at Mushin was ready
The driver had gone out with one 
of their staff members
He quickly grabbed his car keys and 
told the receptionist to tell whoever 
asked that he had gone to get the 
goods from the depot
His reaction was instinctive
It was the opening he was hoping for
The opportunity to make 
good his promise to the lady
As soon as he drove out of the office 
premises, he called the lady and 
asked her to wait for him on the main 
road as he didn't want to drive into 
the market so as to avoid traffic
The lady said okay
Twenty minutes later, he picked her up
When they 
got to Mushin, he was told that he 
had to wait an hour or two while the 
goods for his office was sorted out
It was exactly as he anticipated
He took the lady to the nearest hotel 
under the pretense of waiting for 
the supply to be sorted out
When they got to the hotel, they went 
to the restaurant
As soon as they made their orders, 
he told the lady he would prefer that 
they got a room and spend the time 
in private
He told her the hotel was close to 
the depot and he wouldn't want 
tongues to start wagging because 
he was technically still at work
The lady said okay
They got a room, the orders arrived 
and he made his move
They kissed and talked and kissed 
again
After about an hour, the lady went 
to the restroom to ease herself
When she emerged, she was technically 
naked
He took that as his cue
He put his canoe in the river and he 
began to row ferociously
The first thing he noticed was his paddles
They seem to be firmer and to cut deeper 
into the water as the canoe responded to 
the current of the river
Because they were still a bit unfamiliar 
with each other, the first few thrusts was 
somehow but rowing a 
boat is quite mechanical and really needs 
no feeling
In all. they spent four hours in that hotel 
room
After every hour, the intercom would 
buzz reminding them that their short rest 
time was up and he would book another 
hour
They were both spent by the time he got 
his canoe to the other side the third or 
fourth time
He called the depot
His supply was ready
He left her in the hotel to freshen up and 
drove to the depot to pick up the supply
He drove back to the hotel to pick her up 
and they drove back to the market
He dropped her off and got to the office 
around 4 pm
He expected some sort of query or trouble 
because of the time he spent away from 
his desk
Somehow, it went unnoticed
His boss was still out and the other staff 
members were caught in traffic on the 
airport road
He sat at his desk reliving his canoe 
rowing prowess
He felt so light-headed
He closed at six pm and found his way 
home
When he got home he took a long shower 
and dumped his clothes in the washing 
machine
His wife had a James Bond nose and a 
suspicious nature
He didn't want to answer questions
His wife got home at about 8pm
They saw 
a movie and put the children to bed
Then they began to prepare the canoe 
for another lunch into the deep
He noticed that his paddles were quite 
urgent, throbbing, rearing to go unlike 
before when they usually got a slow 
start due to familiarity
He told himself, "Wow, it seemed what 
I did was quite healthy for our marriage"
The launch was very good too
The river was happy and so was the canoe
He got to the office the next day at about 
9 am
The receptionist told him he had a guest 
at about 11 AM
He went to the reception to check who 
it was
He saw the tailor lady
He immediately walked her down the 
stairs towards the main gate
"What are you doing here?"
"How do you know this place" He asked
She said she saw his details and that of 
the company on his ID card the previous 
day and decided to check him out
He told her she should have 
called ahead
She told him it was just a familiarity visit, 
she meant no harm
He thanked her and told her to wait 
for his call
She said "I forgot to inform you 
yesterday that I am a priestess where 
I came from and once you sleep 
with me you cannot be intimate with 
another woman for at least seven days
If you sleep with another woman she 
could be sick and she might die
I assumed you know this by the bead 
on my left hand
He shook his head
He really didn't understand what she 
was saying
He just wanted her to leave his office 
before somebody started asking 
questions
At about 2 PM, he got a call that his 
wife had fainted at work and had 
been rushed to the hospital
When he got to the hospital, he was 
told that his wife was short of blood
In fact, he found her being transfused 
when he got to the hospital
He called his wife's mother 
He called his younger sister too
He needed someone at home to take 
delivery of the children when the 
school bus brings them home
He rushed to the bank and emptied 
his bank account
The hospital had given him a list of 
drugs to buy
He ran around till 10 pm
When he got home, his 
phone rang
It was the tailor lady
He ignored her call totally
He was not in the mood to talk to 
her plus he didn't have any money 
to spend on her entertainment
When he got to the hospital the 
next day, his wife looked worse
The doctor said they had to transfer 
to another hospital 
because she was not responding to 
treatment
The ambulance picked her up at noon, 
he drove in his own car
They were transferred to the general 
hospital, Gbagada
When they got to the hospital, his direct 
boss came to the hospital to check up 
on them
One look at his wife, his direct 
boss said "This is not ordinary! 
How can somebody be sick for only 
two days and look this way?"
It was shocking, really!
His wife looked like life was being 
drained out of her by extra-mundane 
forces
His boss told him to call the brother in 
Jeans and T-shirt
He did so immediately 
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt asked 
him why he was pretending to care 
when he was the one afflicting his wife
He denied afflicting his wife
He told the brother in Jeans and T-shirt 
that he didn't do anything to hurt or 
jeopardize his wife's health in any way
They met the next 
day at the hospital
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt prayed 
for his wife and asked the doctors to 
stop all treatment for some time until 
they know what exactly was wrong 
with her
A saline line was the only thing set up 
for her
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt took 
him aside and 
asked him if he was dating anybody 
apart from his wife
He confessed
He said he didn't know it had anything 
to do with his wife's health challenge
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt told 
him to go and bring the lady
Two hours later he arrived with her
When the brother in Jeans and 
T-shirt saw her, he held her left hand 
and smiled
She became uncomfortable
She said "Sorry sir, I don't feel 
comfortable when my bead is 
touched. 
I am a shrine priestess"
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt 
said "Not anymore"
Your status as a priestess has been
revoked
She started laughing
She found it funny that someone 
that is not from her village or tribe was 
talking to her like he knew who she was
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt told 
him he was sone with her
He took her back to her shop
By the time he returned to the office, 
his wife was looking better 
The doctors said she was merely 
exhausted and was misdiagnosed by 
the previous clinic where she was 
referred from
There was no evidence of a shortage 
of blood or anything serious
His wife was placed on a bed rest
She recovered within three days and 
was discharged
One month later Priestess C 
(Her initials) arrived at the office of 
the brother in Jeans and T-shirt in 
tears
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt had 
received a call earlier from her 
"boyfriend" that she had been calling 
persistently and he didn't know what 
to do
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt 
told him to bring her
When she arrived, she came with a 
black bag in which there was a white 
wrapper and ten cowries
She said it was sent to her by her mother
She had been expelled from their order 
of priestesses
She didn't know what she did wrong and 
there was no explanation 
again she had started having nightmares 
and could barely sleep all night
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt told her 
she needed to be expelled so that she 
can fulfill her destiny
He led her to Christ and got her filled 
with the Holy Spirit
She became his student and an 
evangelist 

PS: This event happened in Lagos, Nigeria
Cheating is very costly
It costs so much that many do not finish 
paying for it in one lifetime
I have so much to say and so little space
Learn to be prayerful and watchful as couples
There is no easy lay
There is cause and there is consequences
In Christ, we rule and reign