She Is Blind

Chapter Thirty-Five: Wedding Bells

It was a dream.

It was more like a dream.

But it was real.

I was going to be married on my twenty-fourth birthday, to my long time girlfriend who was disabled. Sometimes when I thought about it I could barely believe it was me. My story. And Gift was going to be my wife. As the days to the wedding drew closer, I fell deeper in love with her everyday. I was proud that I was going to be married to a woman who worked at the French Embassy, who could speak French almost as well as if she was bred in a Francophone country. And life seemed set for me. A career at a popular radio station, Blues FM. I did not know if bigger chances would come, but the ones I had taken seemed big enough to me.

Amina was one of the causes of my happiness. She had somehow made it in time for my surprise engagement party, was now very close to Gift, mentally preparing her for my wedding, trying to bring her own finances in when it seemed like we will lack, despite the wedding plans being small. Mr Moses was very supportive too, if I had lost my real father, I had him. I still had a few months to the end of my service year, before I would officially start working with them after my retainment, but somehow I had already gotten the official house, and I fully intended to move into it before my wedding day.

I planned that the wedding would be a small affair, the reason why we were going to do it in a court. I needed only about fifty persons in attendance, not wanting to scare my wife who would not see them. She had made compromise, my best friend Amina to be the Chief Bridesmaid, and her own best friend, Jean, to be my Best Man, although I would have loved Peter for the role.

I accepted, and left slots for Peter and AB in the groom's men. It didn't have to matter much if she would be uncomfortable, even though the irony was that I was not, and would probably never be, as close to Jean as she had become close to Amina. I still had not forgotten about what he made me go through because of a stupid act he agreed to, and I still did not know what to make of Amina now having more time with Gift than even I did, holding her hand and leading her around, and talking in low toned conversations.

When I registered at the registry, with passports of Gift and I, I was asked if she was blind and I nodded my head. The man who gave me the form to fill looked at me with admiration, while I saw pity in his friend's eyes. It was one of the first discouraging things I faced from someone who was not family, and I honestly did not care. I even felt a surge of pride when I went there the next day and saw it posted on the Registry notice board and in the Marriage notice book. I went there with Gift again so we could swear affidavits, and I felt the same surge of pride when the eyes of the man who looked at me with pity widened on seeing my beautiful wife-to-be.

I sent out invitation cards, as few as I could manage. One to Gift's father, who promised to be there, one to my family, that promptly came with no reply, one to her workplace that gave her a break and wished her the very best, one to my workplace, that to my greatest surprise, was announced on the radio, one that punctuated my next Love Blues programme so many times with callers wishing us a happy married life, and even more asking for my social media handles so that they could see my bride.

I had no choice but to, and so many comments erupted on the most recent photos of her, commenting on how beautiful she looked, even though some would have been discouraging to her had she seen them, and some even called back to give their pitiful comments, on how somebody so beautiful did not deserve to be punished with blindness.

I also emailed Peter, who called me and congratulated me, promising to be there, Jean, who called back his reply to Gift, congratulating her in very enthusiastic French, and sending his regards, and to Blessing. Blessing's reply came with a gleeful shout, a yelled and definite promise to be there, and an excited undertone when I told her Jean would be there. It stood to confirm that God had spoken to her, and his answer was yes, and I felt inferior. God obviously thought Jean was a better man for Blessing than me. And how could I forget Ayo, my first ever benefactor in Lagos. He was the only one who could not make it, but he promised to come see me sometime.