HOW I LOST MY VIRGINITY AS A CHURCH GIRL: Episode 25

HOW I LOST MY VIRGINITY AS A CHURCH GIRL: Episode 25

EPISODE 25: THE RECKONING

I stared at Brother Samuel’s phone, my vision blurring.

The message from the church group chat burned into my eyes.

Pastor: Brethren, let us all pray for our dear Sister Adaeze. The devil is trying to take her away.

Pray for me?

No. This wasn’t prayer. This was a public execution in the name of holiness.

I wanted to scream.

I looked up at Brother Samuel, searching for something—pity, understanding, even anger. But his face was stiff.

“Shey you see what you’ve done now?” he asked. His voice was low, almost like he was struggling with his emotions. “You should have been more careful.”

I swallowed hard. “Samuel, you know I didn’t do anything—”

“It doesn’t matter.” He cut me off. “They believe what they’ve seen.”

I felt my legs weaken, so I leaned against the door.

“Did… did my father see it?” I whispered.

Samuel didn’t answer immediately.

That silence was enough.

I clutched my chest.

“Pastor wants to see you,” he finally said. “This evening.”

My stomach twisted.

This was it.

The moment I had always feared.

THE TRIAL

By 6 p.m., I was standing in Pastor’s office.

It felt smaller than usual. Or maybe it was just the shame sitting on my shoulders, making everything seem like it was closing in.

Pastor sat behind his desk, watching me. His Bible lay open, but his fingers were interlocked like he was deep in thought.

Beside him, my father sat, stiff and silent.

My mother wasn’t there. That scared me more than anything.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Pastor finally spoke.

I opened my mouth, then closed it.

Even if I spoke, would they believe me?

Would anyone believe me?

“I did not do what they are saying,” I said quietly.

Pastor sighed, shaking his head. “The devil is cunning. Very cunning.”

I frowned. “Sir, I am telling the truth.”

“Then why were you with that boy?” My father’s voice cut through the room like a blade.

I flinched. He hadn’t spoken since I entered, and now that he had, I wished he hadn’t.

I looked at him, hoping to see the same father who used to call me his ‘little angel.’ But his eyes were cold.

“Answer me,” he said.

I took a shaky breath. “Because… I liked him.”

Wrong answer.

My father exhaled sharply and looked away like I disgusted him.

Pastor leaned forward. “Adaeze, you have two options.”

I tensed. “What options?”

“One—leave the church and continue on this dangerous path you have chosen.”

I swallowed. “And the second?”

“You stand before the congregation on Sunday and confess your sins.”

My ears rang. “What?”

Pastor folded his hands. “Repent. Admit that you have been led astray, and the church will forgive you. We will cleanse you.”

Cleanse me?

I felt sick.

“Sir, I didn’t do anything,” I said again, this time louder.

“Then prove it,” my father snapped.

I clenched my fists. “How?”

He didn’t answer.

Because there was no way to prove innocence when everyone had already made up their minds.

My chest rose and fell.

I looked at Pastor. I looked at my father.

Then I took a deep breath and said the words that shocked even me.

“I will not confess to a sin I didn’t commit.”

Silence.

Then my father stood up.

“If that is your decision,” he said, his voice dangerously low, “then you are no longer my daughter.”

Something inside me shattered.

TO BE CONTINUED…