In the Township of Arisia, the street lights go off at 6 a.m., serving as an alarm for the industrious wives. They prepare breakfast for their husbands and then await their rising to make the beds. As they make neat folds of the bedding, they tuck in their secrets. Sundays belong to Fruitful Vine Ministries, where Pastor Madoka testifies again about the years of his wife’s barrenness that the good Lord repaid with handsomely with twins. Miracles are prescribed while science takes a seat somewhere behind the pews, tolerated but never trusted.

The wives in the congregation applaud again with as much excitement as the previous hundred times that he’s told this story. Everyone smiles as the service ends. They pretend not to count the names of those missing from the birth announcements, but they know. These wives are always kneeling, waiting patiently for their turn, but they long accepted that there was no order in this queue. The powers that be picked them randomly-or so some thought.

On the outskirts of Arisia lies a little den of outcasts. It’s filled with women who fell short of the wife mark and men who escaped the illusion in Arisia. Yet, even in this den, the husbands’ shame is covered. Mama Lou has the final say in this den, but the inner circle knows her influence spreads to the heart of the Fruitful Vine Ministries.

Cherubu’s marriage to Mwansa elicited relief in Cherubu’s family. Having started her womanhood problematically, they worried that she might not find a respectable suitor. Of course, she had since changed her ways from a wild girl to a respectable woman, but she couldn’t totally get over her ‘sin’. She wondered if it might cause further problems in the future, but this was a secret between her and he parents. Mwansa had no idea.

Life in Arisia suited Cherubu. She communed with the women in their activities and was even friendly with Pastor Madoka’s wife. She, like the other wives in Arisia, listened to birth announcements excitedly with the hope that hers would feature soon, but also pitied those whose names never featured despite years of marriage.

A third year in marriage passed, yet it was just her and Mwansa. The whispers were getting louder. Mwansa’s family began sending delegations to Arisia. ‘Their wife’ was as welcoming and humble as she had been when they welcomed her into the family, so they began to speculate that there must be a serious issue.

Wives stayed on their knees in this town for many reasons. On this Sunday, Cherubu knelt once more. The service was long over. There was hardly anyone left in the church. Mwansa had been advised to ask for a refund on Cherubu’s bride price since she didn’t appear to be fertile ground. Words failed to capture Cherubu’s prayers, so she sobbed, confident that her Maker understood her.

Pastor Madoka’s wife watched her sympathetically. She had been in those shoes not so long ago. When she had finally sat down as though to put on her composure as she got back to the streets of Arisia, Pastor Madoka’s wife sat beside her.

“He is near to those who call Him,” said Pastor Madoka’s wife.

“If you knew what I’d done, you wouldn’t say that. This is my fault,” Cherubu cried.

“What did you do?” she asked.

“The doctor says everything is fine, but I know it’s because I did something sinful when I was fifteen. This has to be my punishment, but I can’t tell my husband,” Cherubu said.

“You would be wise not to tell him or anyone else around here. The glorious job of carrying life is divinely given to us, but creation requires another person. If the doctors say you have no problem, then the negative part of the equation might be elsewhere,” said Pastor Madoka’s wife gently.

Cherubu understood her.

“What can I do?” Cherubu asked.

“Some battles require more artillery, and it helps to be in the company of more soldiers. We have special meetings for these kinds of situations, but tell no one about this,” Pastor Madoka’s wife told her.

Over the next few weeks, the Club 100, as the group was called, was a source of strength for Cherubu. Its name reminded them of Abraham’s situation and when he began his fatherhood journey.  In there, she found women who shared in her predicament. There was the lady who lived across the street with four daughters, but her husband wanted a boy, never mind that he didn’t know where his daughters came from. Another woman desperately needed a second child to salvage her marriage again. Every woman in that room needed to solve a problem that should have been ideally someone else’s, but in Arisia, the wives keep the secrets and carry the shame.

The room they met in was poorly lit, and they spoke in whispers. In there, age and status didn’t matter. They were women praying for the swimmers, but created their own miracles. The meetings were tests that many of them didn’t know about. Club 100 worked because of its members’ ability to keep secrets. The option to ‘create’ miracles was only given to those who looked capable of carrying the heavy secret.

Cherubu passed the test. Pastor Madoka’s wife liked that she already had another dark secret, so she could use that to keep her in line. When the time was right, Cherubu was sent to Mama Lou to facilitate everything. The power of one’s pocket determined how one would get sorted. Mama Lou knew everybody in Arisia and went through a meticulous process of finding ‘donors’ who closely resembled these women’s husbands. Pastor Madoka’s wife had a hand in enforcing that part of the arrangement.

It wasn’t an exact science, but so far none of the women from Arisia had been caught. They didn’t speak again about the matter unless one was in need of the services again. Each time the women shared smiles with Pastor Madoka’s wife, they were grateful for the help.

It was finally time for Cherubu’s birth announcement. Mwansa threw a huge party to welcome his baby boy into the world. He was his in most of the ways that mattered. When with other men, Cherubu overheard him bragging, comparing himself to a stallion. She smiled because in Arisia, some women pray for the swimmers but create their own miracles.

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