Edwin "Caesar" Clark let the knock go unanswered for a full minute before he went to the door, his hand clutching on to his Browning 9mm Automatic pistol. He couldn"t be too careful these days. Journalists of his breed had a short life expectancy. His last major story had gotten a senator killed and the price on his head had increased significantly. He had shrugged it off as an occupational hazard but that didn"t stop the guilt eating slowly away at his heart. Sometimes he wished an ambitious a.s.sa.s.sin would do his homework well and make his day for him. The shadow of death lurked around every corner and a good night"s sleep was now a foregone luxury.He was surprised when he saw who his visitor was. He hadn"t seen Chinenye in eight years and here she was at his doorstep and it was like he was back in college again.
She hadn"t changed much. Her eyes still had that gla.s.sy, soulless look that made him shiver anytime he saw her and her slim, mannequin body was as trim as ever. They were a few lines on her face but they could easily be covered by makeup if she ever decided to wear any. But there was something different about her. She looked like someone whose composure was coming apart at the seams.
"Chinenye" he greeted in surprise and gave her a hug. She held on to him a little longer than necessary. Caesar knew her as someone who was bereft of normal human emotion so he was slightly perturbed at her apparent vulnerability.
"Hi, Caesar" She smiled stiffly and appraised him curiously, "You look well… considering."
"Yeah" he said, shrugging, "How did you know I was an endangered species?"
"I"m a policewoman remember? I get wind of such things."
Caesar held her round the waist and guided her to a sofa.
"So to what do I owe this pleasure? I"ve never known you to be the visiting kind."
"Aw, Caesar, you"re making feel bad. You are one of my closest friends."
"I"m your only male friend if I remember correctly."
"Yeah, well, your gender can be really disappointing."
"Huh."
"Did you see the news?"
"Yeah… really bizarre. Something about 800 worshipers dying mysteriously inside The Church of Lost Souls."
"822 worshipers including Pastor Deji and…" She paused and her voice broke "Ejiro."
Caesar looked at her shocked. "Our Ejiro?"
"Yes." Her eyes welled up.
The three of them had all been close as undergraduates. It had taken Caesar a while to realize that they were both gay. Chinenye once told him that she hoped they could get married one day. Considering the position of most Africans on the issue of h.o.m.os.e.xuality Caesar knew that was a pipe dream.
"What happened?"
"Ejiro had been attending this church for quite a while now. She used to be a Catholic but she left because of the Church"s views on h.o.m.os.e.xuality. The Church of Lost Souls started just a decade ago with the ambition to "bring back the lost sheep", people who were disillusioned by their failures in life and had lost their faith, criminals who were looking for redemption and others dissatisfied by the other Christian denominations out there.
"The church was started by two brothers Deji and Kola Benjamin. The elder one Deji was a former oil tyc.o.o.n while Kola used to be a very successful architect. He was the one who designed the famous cube shape of the church building. They both became pastors and started to preach about redemption. The number of worshipers increased daily. It"s rumoured they have close to 200,000 registered members already. Then the rift started.
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"Deji became more liberal while Kola became a fundamentalist. Pastor Kola could not tolerate Muslims and even other Christian denominations and he despised prost.i.tutes and gay people. A row started between them and the church"s members split into two camps. However no one wants to vacate the building because both are claiming the right to ownership: Deji provided the funds while Kola designed it. They now hold sermons on separate days.
"Things came to a head when Pastor Deji started to openly invite gays to sermons so he could preach directly to them. Many of them started to become bold enough to attend and to testify about their orientation. These "coming out" sermons have become increasingly popular and hundreds now attend. Pastor Kola however was outraged and openly cursed them to d.a.m.nation in his own sermons. Other denominations joined in especially the Catholic Church. You"re a Catholic, aren"t you?"
"Yeah."
"What are your views on gays?"
Caesar grinned.
"The more gay guys they are, the more hot women for me to sleep with."
"I"m sorry I asked. I should have known you would never give me a serious answer. Anyway, this last coming out sermon was supposed to some sort of ma.s.s wedding. Gay couples were invited to come and have their unions blessed by Pastor Deji. Of course society would never accept it. The ceremony was mostly to make a statement. The government actually threatened the Pastor with jail time and you know in this country that anyone who is found to be gay will get three years imprisonment. Also the public was outraged and people are screaming for the church to be closed down before Lagos is turned to Sodom and Gomorrah. Pastor Kola warned that if the ceremony went ahead that everyone inside the church would not leave the building alive. He said they would all die inside and their souls would descend into h.e.l.l.
"Of course, this was going to be the showdown between the two brothers. Pastor Deji poo pooed his brother"s ominous warning and said the ceremony will hold. It took place yesterday evening around four o" clock. Deji managed to get policemen to search inside the church for bombs or gas and I also partic.i.p.ated. There was nothing unusual. After that we had our boys guarding the entire perimeter. The ceremony went on as planned and the doors were shut from inside.
"It was around eight that we realized something was wrong. The building is sound proof but there is a loudspeaker on the roof which lets people outside hear the Pastor"s sermon. Around Seven Pastor Deji"s voice started to slur as if he was feeling sleepy and later there was silence. An hour later we got worried and broke open the doors."
Chinenye shuddered.
"Everyone inside was dead. They looked like they had all dozed off but you knew they were dead. Pastor Deji was on the floor next to the pulpit and he was unresponsive. So was Ejiro when I found her."
"Jesus Christ" said Caesar.
"We questioned Pastor Kola but he was at home at the time and of course he claimed that his curse came through. He is going to give a press conference tomorrow at 10am and he"ll probably gloat about what happened. The general mood of the public is that Pastor Deji and his followers got what they deserved and the Inspector General of the Police called off the investigation.
"That"s terrible, I"m so sorry, Chinenye."
"That"s why I need your help."
"Me? What can I do?"
"You know we Africans are so superst.i.tious and everyone believes that Pastor Kola"s curse came though. But you, Caesar, are a reasonable man; you like to look at all angles when investigating a story. I"ve followed all your work. I need your help."
Caesar groaned.
Not again.