Chapter One

"O-oh God!, why all these,why is all these stuff happening to my household,why this ailment,what?!,what have I and my family done to deserve this...this everlasting curse? What have done to deserve this kind of punishment,which is planning to devour us to bits.

God please help us out,look upon us with your eyes of mercy and deliver us from all this trouble" Mr. Chude prayed as tears trickled down his cheeks and for his immediate predicament.

"But what sense can be made from this ,this suffering which has been plaguing my fily.My great grandfather's wife suffered the same thing, so did my grandfather's and father's wife and now my sweet Sandra .Noo! this has to end " Mr. Chude shouted almost waking his sleeping kids

"I must visit pastor Ray tomorrow and see what he has come up with this time around,that man thinks he can dupe me easily,everytime he has say 'be patient for the lord is planning something big for you' how long does it take the lord to plan something " he said trying to mimick the pastor's tone of voice.

He promised himself that he must visit that "as sham" pastor the next day and left for his bedroom to rest for the night.

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At the hospital,Sandra,Mr.Chude's wife was sobbing as she thought about her loving children and her caring husband and how they will be fairing if she was to leave the world,what they will be doing,as she thought about her children again tears rolled down her cheeks,this time around,the tears caused more pain than usual.

She was still in deep thoughts when sleep caught her eyes and she dozed off.A few minutes after she shut her eyes,she woke with a fast beating heart and let out a shrieked "Jesus!" and just in a few seconds the temperature of her body increased tremendously.

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As early as six the next morning,Mr. Chude was dressding up in his room when all of a sudden a thought hit him and he called out for his first daughter,Adaobi.

" Adaobi! Adaobi!! Ady!!!?,nne come oo"

" yes daddy,I am coming " Adaobi replied for the kitchen where she was boiling water for the morning bath.

"Ady please make sure you and your siblings are done with the house chores before I return,i want to go and meet pastor Ray at his home,I will return soon,I can't see Ebube and Mmeso anywhere,where are they?"

"Daddy are in bed,they went back to sleep after the morning prayers"

"E-eh,they went back to bed?, just ignore them and when they wake assign them their morning chores so when I return and see undone chores I know those to hold responsible then I will know if there is a hard nut on their head " Mr. Chude said as he turned to leave.

" okay daddy,but dad remember the promise u made" Adaobi said reluctanctly

" which promise?"

" you said we would go and see mummy this afternoon, you also promised to give me some money after service on Sunday. I hope you still remember "

" Oh oh that, don't worry I still remember and as I said earlier I will give you the money tomorrow after church service on Sunday and as for the visit to your mother that should be when I am back from pastor's house" Mr. Chude said looking very certain

"okay bye" Adaobi said feeling satisfied

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At the pastor's house,Mr. Chude parked his car under the mango tree in the large compound of the pastor's house.