Woodway, Texas.
Mr Jonathan Parker perched on the edge of one of the sofas in his living room, anxiously waiting for the arrival of his daughter and her friend. He had been surprised at her tone of voice and the news she broke out to him. She had excitedly told him that she had found the solution to her mother's illness. Anxiety made him ask. "I will tell you everything when I arrive with my friend," was all she had said.
The doorbell chimed, pulling Mr Parker out of his thoughts. He stood, straightened his shirt and made for the door. He yanked the door open and his daughter jumped on his body, greeting him with a happy embrace, perplexing him the most. Dropping her back to her feet, he stepped aside, leaving the door open so she and her friend could move into the living room.
"Daddy, where's Mum?" Mandy asked as soon as Jonathan closed the door and whirled around to look at them.
"She's still in her room up stairs, still in the hospital bed that was arranged for her there." Mr Packer gestured to the staircase.
She looked at her dad and noticed the sorrowful expression on his face. She noticed her father had lost weight and his face was beginning to wrinkle and her brown eyes grew moist. She remembered what Ifes told her on their way coming to Texas then smiled at her Dad cheerfully.
"Dad, you know, my friend here told me that the Bible says there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, and she also said if we are in Christ Jesus we are a new creature and old things have passed away."
Mr Parker was taken aback as he studied his daughter wondering if those words were truly coming out of her mouth.
"I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and saviour. I have come to give you, Mum and Jason the good news."
Her father wondered silently if she had also started going crazy like her brother who was currently in the mental asylum. He gave her the look that read, "What is happening here?"
"I swear I'm not crazy. I know what I'm talking about, dad!"
His surprise turned to anger as he glared at Ifes. "You are the one who has been deluding her right?"
She wanted to speak but Mandy spoke for her instead.
"No Dad, we have been deluded all this while. She only helped me open my eyes to see the truth."
Mr Parker let out a bleak laugh. "So what is the truth?"
"The truth is that Jesus has already atoned for our sins. He died and rose from the dead to save us, he..."
"Enough!" Mr Parker bellowed. His voice rang out with such fervor that startled both Mandy and Ifes.
"If he has atoned for our sins, then why is your brother currently in a mental asylum? Why is your mum critically ill and all efforts to revive them have proven abortive!"
"All these things are just tricks of the devil to make you not see the truth, which is that our sins are forgiven," Ifes finally spoke up after Mandy remained speechless at her father's question. Being a new believer, Mandy kept quiet as she didn't know the right answers to her father's questions.
Mr Parker pointed at Ifes, glowering. "And who called you into this family discussion?"
"I did," Mandy said.
Mr Packer diverted his gaze to his daughter. "I wasn't talking to you. And you," he returned his gaze back to Ifes, "stay out of this, you hear?"
Mandy looked at her dad and saw exactly who she was in him. She had also acted quite stubborn, just as he was doing now.
"Alright Dad, if you will not accept the truth, I would like to speak to Mum about it. If she also refuses, I will go back to college, I promise."
Her father let out a sardonic laugh. "Your mother can't even utter a word again. She just lays like a wilted vegetable on her bed."
Mandy was perplexed and hurt at her father's words. "No, I'll go and talk to her and I know she will hear and talk back to me."
"Good luck with that." Her father whirled away, his back to them as they walked up the staircase
They got to the front of her mother's door and Mandy opened the door leading the way as they walked inside the room.
All her father had said about her mother was true. She couldn't move or speak a word. She didn't even notice their presence.
Mandy fell with her face to the ground, crying as her friend consoled her.
"It's over, Ifes, it's over. We came too late. My mum won't be able to make it again!"
"No, Mandy, it is not over. She's still alive and even if she was dead, Jesus still gives life!"
"But what can we do now?"
"Trust in the Lord and believe that nothing is impossible with him."
"I believe, Ifes, I believe."
"If you do, then go close to her, speak into her ears and call her name. She'll answer you."
Mandy stood and did what her friend asked her to do.
"Mother, Mother, can you hear me?"
"Ye– Yes, I, I, I can hear you."
Mandy looked between her mother and her friend with eyes as wide as saucers, dumbfounded at what was unveiling before her. She had seen and would keep on seeing how much Jesus loved and was willing to go all the way for her.
Ifes touched her on her shoulder. "Her eyes are still closed. Ask her to open her eyes and look at you."
She knelt down beside her mother's bed to do as she was told.
"Can you recognise my voice, Mother?"
"Yes, I know it's you, Amanda, my baby!"
"Yes, it's me. Can you open your eyes to look at me?"
Her mother struggled for a couple of minutes before she finally opened her eyes after a long time.
"It's good to see you again, Amanda!"
Mandy embraced her mother crying. "I am so happy to see you are awake. I thought I had lost you!"
"Ifes, pray the prayer of salvation with her. She's coming home to be with me."
Ifesinachi's pulse skyrocketed. "Coming home! Coming home, kwa? But Lord, this will not go down well with Mandy. You have to keep her here on earth."
"My grace is sufficient."
"All things work together for good to those that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose."
"But how is taking someone's mother away working for her good?" Ifes began to question God.
She continued crying in her heart as Mandy kept embracing her Mum.
"Mother, did you know that it was Jesus that made you hear and recognise my voice and also made you open your eyes?"
Her mother was dumbfounded to hear those words. But she believed. The doctor could not help her. It had to be this Jesus that made this happen.
It wasn't difficult to convince Mandy's mother and get her to give her life to Christ.
"Congratulations, Mother. I'm so happy for you!"
Her mother took her hand and kissed it. "I'm also happy. Thank you for unveiling this truth to me!"
"You have to baptise Mandy and her mother, Ifes," the still small voice spoke.
"Baptise? But Lord, you know I don't know how to do it."
"You can call any of your pastors."
"As you can see, her mother is still recuperating, she can't even walk on her own as it stands," Ifes argued.
Ifes waited to hear the still small voice reply to her, but felt ashamed of her unbelief when she didn't. She decided to move on with the instruction.
She tilted her head to look at mother and daughter who were engrossed in their chat and barely noticed her presence.
"Umm! Mandy, I think it's time you and your mother get baptised."
"Baptised?" they asked simultaneously.
It's not like they haven't heard the word baptism or didn't know what it meant, but they didn't know how it applied to Christianity.
"Yes," She replied, giving further elucidation.
"Oh, wow! Alright then, let's have it done, we have a pool adjacent to the garden at the east wing of the compound," Mrs Oretha, Mandy's mother said after Ifes asked if they could use the pool.
"Mother, my friend and I will help take you to the poolside." Mandy stroked her mother's hands gently.
Oretha smiled bleakly. "I remember how I used to scoop you up in my arms when you were still a toddler, but today, the reverse is..."
"Hush, Mother, I don't want to see that sad look on your face or I will cry."
Her mother touched her beautiful soft cheek. "You know how much I hate seeing you crying, my angel?"
Mandy blushed.
Ifes glanced at mother and daughter then winced inwardly.
Are you sure you are the one doing this? She wanted to ask God.
She called one of the pastors back in her church in Nigeria and got instructions on how to carry out the baptism before thanking him and disconnecting the call.
Oretha was made to put her arms around Ifes and Mandy's shoulders as they helped her out of her room to the poolside.
As they walked down the stairs, Ifes glanced at the living room and saw Mr Parker gazing at them, eyes and mouth agape in fright and shock.
Mandy didn't notice her father's presence as she was carried away with whatever she and her mother were discussing. They entered the living room and walked past Mr Parker as they made for the door leading to the garden.
"I am just so excited about this and I really can't say why!"
"Oh yeah! Me too, Mother. You can say that again."
This was the only sentence he could grasp as his wife and daughter walked past him without noticing his presence.
"Why should I be perplexed about this whole thing?" He frowned.
Whatever Mandy's crazy friend was doing to his wife and daughter, she was really succeeding at it. As far as he was concerned, he would always believe what his friend's priest told him. Nothing more, nothing less. If Mandy's friend was right, they wouldn't have gone through the difficulties they had.
It would cost him nothing to walk out that door and asked the girl to leave his house right away but he was afraid of hurting his daughter's feelings, so decided to sit back and watch how this soap opera would end.
He placed both of his hands on his head as he leaned back on his seat gazing and frowning at the door which the trio had walked out of.
Ridiculous! This was totally ludicrous!
He muttered a foul word under his breath as the door yanked open with Ifes leading the way as they walked back inside. He gave her a cursory glance that she didn't notice then diverted his gaze to his wife and daughter to see if they would notice him this time around. He couldn't stifle his disappointment as they walked past him to the stairs.
The duo helped Oretha lie down on her bed.
Mandy and her mother had felt an inexplicable joy as soon as they were baptised, joy that no words could elucidate, joy that could only come from one source, joy they had never felt before in their lives.
But Ifesinachi's joy was short-lived as she saw the change in Oretha's facial expression.
"Is it time Lord?" she groaned in her heart.
"Be still and know that I am God, beloved. My grace is sufficient!"
She tilted her head to look at Mandy who didn't notice what was happening to her mother as she was still basking in the euphoria of her mother's and her salvation and baptism. She looked away and shook her head in consternation.
"May I go make you something to eat now, Mother?" Mandy finally noticed the look on her mother's face and concluded she was famished.
"No dear, food is not what I need right now."
"Do you need anything now?"
Ifes and Mandy's eyes were fascinated by Oretha as her breath increased rapidly like someone who was excited about something.
Mr Packer watched impatiently and could no longer sit back and take the nonsense that was going on in his house. He stood in anger, straightened his shirt as he walked up the stairs, he swore. "This nonsense must stop!"
"What is it, Mother?" Mandy asked with the look of consternation.
"Oh, Amanda! Can't you see how beautiful this place looks?"
"Which place are you talking about?" Mandy held her mother's hands.
"I've never seen a place as beautiful as this! Oh! Look at these people singing, so melodious!"
"What are you talking about, Mother?"
"Amanda, Amanda, get your brother and father to come join me here. This place is great I tell you!"
Oretha heaved a long sigh and her body relaxed.
"You are now resting in peace." Ifes looked straight at Oretha's peaceful face.
Mandy called out to her friend. "What's wrong with my Mum? She ain't talking to me anymore."
Seeing that her friend did not answer, she continued asking more questions. "Did you understand anything she said a while back? Do you know the place and the people she was talking about?"
She averted her gaze from her friend to her mother who lay sprawled in her bed. "It looks like she is sleeping. If so, why are her eyes opened?"
"She was talking of heaven."
Mandy's body jerked upon hearing those words. "And what of the people she said were singing?"
"They might be other saints like her or angels."
What a way to pass a message of death about the person you cherish most in the world! Ifes couldn't find an easier way to send the news to her friend.
Saints like her! Those words sent a cold chill down Mandy's spine. "Are you saying...?" Her throat burned.
"No, No, Mandy. Your Mother is in a better place now. Didn't you hear how happy she sounded when she spoke to you? She's resting now."
Mandy's eyes grew moist but Ifes spoke comforting words to her. It was as if the Holy Spirit took over her as she said words which made Mandy praise God instead of weeping and regretting her mother's death.
"Oh! Praise the Lord, my mother is saved! Thank you, Lord, for not letting her die and go to hell! Your goodness and mercies are new every morning. Your compassion never fails."
"You give hope to the hopeless, help to the helpless, and life to the lifeless. Who can be compared to you? Is there any God like you? Could there be any God like you?"
Ifes lifted up her hands to the heavens as she joined her friend to praise the name of the Lord for his loving-kindness and tender mercies.
"Why don't you close her eyes, Mandy." Ifes said after they were done praising God.
Mandy glanced at her mother's peaceful figure and shook her head. "No, I'll let my dad do her the honors. You know, they both loved each other so much. This will be a terrible heart ache for my dad."
She glanced up to her friend. "But do you think my dad will believe us when I tell him what my mother said?"
"It is the Holy Spirit that convicts the world of their sins and I believe he would do the same with him."
Mandy smiled bleakly. "Alright then, let's go and see him now."
They whirled around and gasped as they drew back in fright on seeing Mr Parker at the door which was half ajar.
"D–Dad!" Mandy stammered.
"Yes, it's me, and I heard everything your mother said. If I had not heard it straight from her, I wouldn't have believed."
Mr Jonathan Parker gave his life to Christ and was baptized the same day. It was both a mournful and joyful day for the Parker family, a bitter-sweet day.
Mandy called her friends in Pennsylvania to inform them of her mother's demise, but didn't speak about the secrets she had kept from them. They came over for the funeral to support their friend.
All Ryan could do was to glower at innocent Ifes, like she was the one responsible for Oretha's death. Ifes chose to ignore him.
Two weeks later.
Ifes went with Mandy and Mr Parker to the mental asylum to visit Jason. Moved to compassion, she felt led to call her pastor, who prayed for him and he got his normal mind back, to the stiff surprise of the psychiatrists, rehab therapists and nurses who had known Jason as one of the worst and most violent mental patients they had.
Jason accepted Jesus, after a huge, teary reconciliation with his family.
Unfortunately, he had gotten an infection in an injury he incurred during one of his violent seizures. The doctors battled with the infection with strong antibiotics for days, without any sign of improvement. Jason was peaceful, content, despite the pain he felt, to be in the company of his sister and father.
Three days after his conversion, he went to meet the Lord and his mother in heaven.
The doctors attested that such a peaceful death was rare in that kind of case of infection he had.
Mandy and Ifes went back to college three weeks later after mourning the demise of Mandy's mother and brother.
CHAPTER TWELVE