UNWITTING VESSELS (sequel To Vessels Unknown)

THIRTEEN

            "Say it again!" I roared.

He screamed, covering his eyes with his palms. "Don't! Please don't kill me!"

          "Kill?" I heard my self say. "Who wants to kill you?" He whimpered as I tried to reach out to him. Then I caught my face in the mirror and my world went still.

          "It wasn't me. Its not me! Can't be!" I cried as I saw another shade of something took over my face.

I blinked, and there I was again, the real me. My hands found my face and wiped it over and over. It was still me.
Then I turned to Dr Wes. "Please come." He shriveled away from me.
            "Please, go away!" He screamed.

           "Pastor? Is everything alright?" I turned around to see the other men and my PA and secretary staring at me.

I nodded and apologized to the men of God. Slowly, I walked out of the bathroom and went straight to my private lounge in the room. Isaiah was first to follow me.

          "Pastor?" He called, waiting for me to say something. I nodded and waved him off. "I'm fine."
He turned and followed Joy who was already on her way out.

          Bishop Abraham who seemed to be the oldest amongst us walked into the separate room I had in my office and sat down. Others did the same, even Dr Wes.
Flood of tears rushed to my eyes and I let them fall. There was nothing I could hide from these men. They were my partners in crime and everything else.
        "Adrian, what is going on with you?"

My head shook repeatedly. I couldn't bring myself to tell them. Problem was that I didn't even know what was wrong with me.
If not for the murderous nightmares I'd been having, I'd never think something was wrong at all.

The baba lifted his hands and sighed. "So you can't tell us? You also know that none of here is clean, so no one can use what you say here against you."
Tears poured out of my eyes hopelessly.

          "I knew something was wrong with him when he had that serious manifestation in one of his son's worship meetings." Reverend Ambrose accused, snapping his fingers.

I glared at him disdainfully. He simply shrugged and gently slapped his laps. "It's true. Even you can't deny it!" His Yoruba accent flooded my heart with dangerous rage.

            "Don't speak like that. You'll end up escalating the issue." Pastor Dada cautioned.

Bishop Abraham nodded. "Speak son. There's nothing to be afraid of."
I opened my mouth to speak but something got stuck in my throat. My eyes bulged and my hands went round my neck to stop whatever from strangling me.

          "See, I told you, this man is possessed!" Reverend Ambrose declared, standing to his feet.

        Bishop Abraham gestured to him to shut up, but he kept moving around and murmuring. My eyes could see and hear them, but what they didn't know was that I was also fighting for my life right there.

            "Leave him now in Jesus name!" I heard Dr Wes speak forcefully.

His hands were suddenly on my chest. Then it flew out of my mouth. An egg. Air rushed into my lungs and I whizzed before I let it out slowly.
He pulled me to a sitting position before wiping off the white foam on my mouth and tears from my eyes. His hands went on my wrist as he checked my pulse. The egg he squashed it and flushed it down the toilet.

          "He'll be fine." Dr Wes declared when he emerged from the bathroom.

Hands clapped and low grade whistles filled the room. "Who knew you were a deliverance minister?" Rev Ambrose joked.

Dr Wes winked him a smile. "I see those pastors of mine do it all the time. But remember" his finger lifted to stop the silent stares. "The gift of God is without repentance."
Slowly, he turned to me. "I believe you know what's going on. But it will be life saving if you tell someone what you are battling with."

I forced a smile, knowing that what was ailing me was still there rooted deep in my consciousness. 

After I rinsed my mouth and washed my face, I rejoined the men. We talked about our side businesses, our escrow accounts, betting shacks, stocks and illegal arms trading.
Yes, we sold the guns but never shot a bullet. I never realized there was so much money in the business.
Over couple of years, it had yielded so much  profit and we laundered it through real estate, prison ministries, orphanages and everything humanitarian.

        The meeting prolonged into the deep ends of the night before we called it a day. As the men left my office, Dr Wes turned to me. " I forgive you, but I also know you are not the one doing this."  

I nodded and gave him a grateful look. "Thank you." 

His index finger flew into my face and I almost walked backwards. "Oh no, come off it." He laughed. "I just wanted to to remind you that the meeting still stands. That is if you will do it?" 

My face lit up. "Yes.Yes, I will be there."

             "Good. Good. Then see you tomorrow."

We shook hands and even hugged before shaking the other men. We walked to their very expensive cars while I stood there watching them till they disappeared into the night.