Written By Knight Fredel Ijere
Episode 98 | Africa Today | Special Feature | 2026
AND LET THE TRUTH SET YOU FREE...
This is an old story.
One I once lived.
One I forgot; until life, in its irritating habit of repetition, decided to rehearse it again in a different costume.
So here we are.
A man enters a town.
Not on a donkey. Not with angels. Just shoes, books, and a brain that worked quietly but dangerously well.
He is young. Thirty.
A new high-school teacher.
We will call him Mr. Strange, because that is what the town decided he was, long before he ever made a sound.
One of his students; eighteen years old, fifth child of seven, a boy raised in obedience but starving for sense; we’ll call him David. David hires him as a private tutor. Their student/teacher relationship which began professionally over the coming months quietly evolved inevitably into something far more scandalous.
"Friendship".
And Mr. Strange? He did a very terrible thing... He believed in David.
Do you know that David was almost a statistic; another “almost brilliant,” kind of guy with another failed admission story to be retold at family gatherings as a warning. Mathematics terrified him. Numbers mocked him. Logic fled at the sight of exams. The only thing he ever truly excelled at was dominating chessboards and conquering puzzles; yet somehow, mathematical equations treated him like an unsolvable riddle.
But... Mr. Strange changed the language. He changed his story...
He turned equations into puzzles.
Converted algebra into chess.
Made mathematical problems behave like games that could be beaten if you stayed calm and thought three moves ahead.
Now, David at this point proved something; which is what happens when someone finally understands you; he rose.
His IQ stretched its legs.
His confidence stood upright.
His admission letter arrived like a quiet miracle.
And so David did what grateful people do: he introduced his savior to his family.
Mistake...
The family took one look at Mr. Strange and reached a verdict faster than a religious court with no appeal process.
“Look at his beard.”
“Look at his hair, he curls it like a lady.”
“He doesn’t look… normal.”
“He must be gay.”
Case closed.
Mr. Strange was not allowed to speak. Not even to say his name. Silence was mandatory for the accused. He had already failed the audition long before it even started... his crime? He failed by existing incorrectly.
They advised David to return to “good friends.”
Men who “fear the Lord.”
Men like Micah.
Micah, who smoked weed in secret.
Micah, who fornicated publicly but repented loudly.
Micah, who left pregnancies behind like unfinished homework and cleaned them up with forced abortion pills.
But Micah went to church.
Mr. Strange did not.
He didn’t smoke.
Didn’t drink.
Was engaged to a woman who visited every weekend, very visibly female, very much alive.
But he didn’t kneel in their building. In their church.
He didn't confess his sins and give his life to Christ on every Sunday right before committing another one.
So he was dangerous.
David defended him. Passionately. Foolishly. Honestly.
And the more he spoke, the angrier his father became.
Truth, you see, sounds like rebellion when it refuses to bow.
Warnings followed.
Threats arrived.
Tuition fee withheld.
“Choose,” the family said.
“Hate him or forget your education.”
David chose integrity.
Which is a very expensive choice.
Mr. Strange begged him to lie.
“Just agree with them,” he said. “Go to school.”
David refused.
“I would be lying to myself,” he replied.
“And hatred is a poor curriculum.”
So, the family went hunting for evidence.
They found none.
So, they manufactured some.
They accused Mr. Strange of cultism.
Then secret smoking.
Then charms.
Then homosexuality.
When reality refused to cooperate, they edited it.
They photoshopped lies into images.
They took them to his fiancée.
They took them to the school.
They took them to the church, because lies travel faster when they wear holy garments.
His engagement broke.
His reputation collapsed.
He was suspended.
David confessed everything to the principal, saving his job. The principal wanted lawsuits. Mr. Strange declined.
“They are learning,” he said calmly.
“Life teaches us all.”
But the town had already chosen its scripture.
Parents threatened withdrawal.
Students vanished.
So, Mr. Strange resigned; quietly.
And when he left, the students returned.
Family: Who is Family?
Blood Is a Receipt, not a Relationship
One of the most successful PR campaigns ever sold to humanity came wrapped in a comforting lie: “Blood makes us family.” A warm sentence, yet a very dangerous one. This is the kind of slogan that sounds profound until life introduces you to relatives and siblings who drain your peace like a leaking generator and call it destiny.
Let’s all be precise and truthful to ourselves. Blood does not make us family. Blood makes us related. Right? Relationship by blood is only biology doing its paperwork, not love doing its job.
Blood is a shared ancestry, not a shared conscience. It is DNA, not devotion. It explains how you are connected, not why you should stay.
Family: I mean a real family, is not manufactured in a womb alone. It is forged in our choices. In consistency. In the daily decision to show up for one another, stay true to ourselves, and not to become a liability disguised as kin, a brother, a sister or an uncle.
This is why two complete strangers can meet, fall in love, commit, and almost magically created a family. No shared surname. No ancestral shrine. No genetic receipts. Just love, loyalty, and trust sitting at the table like founding members of a new republic.
Marriage does not create family because of blood. It creates family because two people agree, consciously—to protect each other’s spirit, dignity, and sanity. That agreement is sacred. Blood never signed it.
Blood can connect you to people who envy you, sabotage you, gossip about you, and smile while doing it. Love, on the other hand, does not compete with you. Loyalty does not betray you for money or entertainment. Trust does not need a reminder. It just "trusts"...
Blood may introduce you. But it is love that stays.
Blood may claim you. But it is loyalty that defends you.
Blood may recognize you. But it is trust that chooses you.
And choice is everything.
Anyone can share your blood. Not everyone deserves your heart, your time, or your inner room. Some relatives are simply strangers who happen to know your childhood nickname.
So let us retire the lie politely and with dignity.
Always remember: Blood relates us. But Love, Loyalty and Trust define, secures, and seals us.
That is all there is. Nothing more, nothing less!
Otherwise, everything else is just genetics trying to take credit for emotional labor it never performed.
What Happens Next?
At the end-of-term party, David and Mr. Strange strolled into the hall side by side like two shady characters sneaking out of a midnight mystery novel. They made a beeline for the stage as parents and students, including David’s own family among them—looked on. Without hesitation, they swiped the microphone from the MC who was telling a mid-boring joke, leaving him frozen like a deer in headlights. Clearly, he was shocked and afraid, dreading what might follow. Although, to his immense relief, they merely told their story.
Not that of a sinner.
But of saints who committed crimes to protect their righteousness.
Of a family who destroyed a man to preserve a rumor.
Of people who denied their son education while preaching salvation.
Of believers who forged evil so they could condemn it.
Then David asked the final question; slowly, clearly, and without anger:
“So, tell me…", He said...
"Who is the sinner now?”
Mr. Strange?
Or the father, the mother, the siblings; who lied, blackmailed, destroyed, and crucified a man simply because he didn’t resemble their idea of holiness?
Everyone knew the answer.
But no one dared to speak.
Because truth, when it stands naked, is far more frightening than sin.
And that—
That is the real gospel of the town.
Written by Knight Fredel Ijere.
From The Book: DIRTY SAINTS AND SWEET SINNERS - PART TWO: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MR. STRANGE
Please Note Here That: Although, this is the actual contents from the second part of the book; Dirty Sanits and Sweet Sinners, yet, for professional reasons, this edition has been retouched and abridged specially for Magazine Publishing; Read the Full eBook Now... The Magazine version of the first part of this book is published on our sister-magazine platform: Astra Planet Magazine.. Click Here.
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