Salvation Colony

Chapter Fifteen

83 Salvation Colony: Sequel to No Way to Die Chapter Fifteen Madam Gertrude T his world is not our home. We are just passing through. It is such a small place. So small that you should be making friends, not enemies, because you do not know who will save you tomorrow. When you are doing something you should know that one day you will have to answer for it. I don’t mean during the last judgment. I mean on earth here. If I knew that I would ever meet Mr. Dennis again on this earth, I would have behaved differently towards him. On the 18th of August, it might have been about six months after I parted from Mr. Dennis, I parked my things from my parents’ compound and decided that I would go and join a few of my friends who, having separated from their husbands were living there happily. I took a taxi to the Colony. It was about 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Even before the taxi stopped outside the gate I could see a thin man walking up and down, reading a paper book or something of the sort. As soon as the taxi halted and I came out at the entrance, the taxi driver opened his own door and went to the boot and took down my large valise. I straightened my down-reaching green gown which I was wearing, adjusted my white head scarf and clasped my handbag under my armpit in readiness to carry my bag myself. Apparently the thin man reading his book noticed that I was coming to stay there and, interrupting his reading, 84 Linus T. Asong came up and offered to help me. Without paying too much attention to him I let him carry the bag with thanks. I did not ask him any questions. I was still thinking of how I was going to start talking. He had barely taken three steps ahead of me when something struck me. “Mr. Dennis Nunqam!” I exclaimed. “What are you doing here?” I asked. I told myself that I had walked into my own trap. He let the heavy bag rest slowly on the ground, turned round, looked at me and also exclaimed: “Madam Gertrude! Madam Essemo! Madam Max! I should be the one to ask you why you are here. I have been here, madam, since...” My blood ran cold. I was sure that he was going to say he had been living there since I drove him from my house. He did not say so, which made me feel relieved. I looked nervously at him for a whole tense minute and then said: “I can carry that bag myself.” I was very ashamed of myself, knowing what I had done to this man before. In fact, if the taxi had not driven off immediately I took down my bag, I would have fled back rather than confront Mr. Dennis. He seemed to have read my thoughts because he told me at once: “Don’t worry, madam, let me help you.” *** He led me through the Salvation Colony main gate into the waiting area. There he very respectfully showed me where to sit and personally went in to talk to Pastor Shrapnell. As I sat there I was wondering what he would be telling the Pastor. I could imagine him telling the Pastor how I used to laugh at him, how I used to give him my inner wears to wash, and things of the sort. 85 Salvation Colony: Sequel to No Way to Die Luckily for me there was somebody sitting with me who kept reassuring me that I would be well received. He kept asking me all sorts of questions about my life. When Mr. Dennis came out the man went in and was with the Pastor for some time before I was called in. I was not anxious to talk to Mr. Dennis until I had known what he had told the Pastor about me. He too, when he noticed that I was not anxious to talk to him he simply kept quiet, which reminded me of the bad old days. That was how he used to sit. I remember Dr. Eshuonti describing him as a pond, one unmoved by excitement of any sort. When I was shown the way into the Pastor’s office, I was unsure of many things. I had...