I woke up that morning at exactly five o’clock feeling totally refreshed even though the sleep I had, lasted only for a couple of hours. I guess I was just too excited, even my body refused to take in any further rest. History was about to happen; one whose story would be told over and over again to my friends, family members, children, grandchildren (if the Lord tarries), and to whoever else in the world that cared to listen. It was the one-of-a-kind lifetime experiences that happens to a handful of persons in the entire world; too beautiful and complex for words to describe or minds to comprehend, but I will just try my best to give words to this event with as much details as I can recollect.
It was on a Friday; exactly one week to my traditional wedding. By that day, all the paper-
plans made for my mega wedding had materialized except for a few details and for the
perishables. The marriage committee of the church I was attending at the time were so kind to me, they helped make sure a very important church program was rescheduled just so I could get married on the date I had chosen which was a very special date to me. They even accepted a few alterations I requested for, in terms of how I wanted the wedding to be officiated as opposed to the regular standard. Everything was more or less ready. The wedding invitation cards, emails and bulk SMS had even gone out. There was just one more detail left – the man I was getting married to.
It wasn’t that I had not met the actual person I wanted to marry; definitely not. I had known
‘Sunshine’ for almost a decade now and as a matter of fact, he was my first and only love.
Every other shallow fling I had before or during that period I knew him was simply as I termed it – a very shallow fling. From the moment I tasted what salvation was and got genuinely converted in the heart, old things past away and ‘flings’ was one of them – Thank Jesus.
Somehow our relationship happened to have weathered every sort of storm that came against it over the nine-year period we had known each other and just like any other relationship, it was characterized by ups and downs every now and then, or maybe just a bit more often than not since ours was a very peculiar kind of relationship and that peculiarity was the reason why that day was pretty special. I was about to meet a man I had known for nine years, courted for nine months, was getting married to in a week, and yet had not seen face-to-face. I mean, yes; we had never met flesh, blood and bones.
As I stretched out on the bed, I tried to recollect if I had any dream. Funny enough, even If I dreamt, it probably would have been about meeting my husband-to-be, because it seemed like that was all I kept dreaming about that week.
The time was five minutes past five when I put on the heater and entered the bathroom to wash my face. It had become a routine every morning; wake up, put on the heater, have my quiet time, do any necessary cleaning, have my bathe, get dressed, and leave the house at 7am, to wherever - except on few occasions when the routine gets a twist.
So by seven o'clock, I was dressed and ready to hit the road. Pamela Manzir Mike, my bosom friend, had promised to pick me up and assist me in tiding loose ends in our preparations for the day before taking me to the airport at noon, so I was now sitting in the living room, waiting for her call.
My house was crowded I must confess. We had visitors and family members from all over. My siblings were also around and I was far from able to choose to be alone even in the morning - one of the things I couldn't wait to be rid of.
My brother, Sean, and I were chatting there in the living room. He was also to join me to the airport and typical of him, he was teasing me already with all the "what ifs" conceivable, and then my cousin joined us. All these while, inside me, I was exploding with different thoughts, mostly anxiety related. I called up my Dad and talked with him for a long time just to keep myself preoccupied - that didn't help. I called Pamela to know how long it'll take her to get to my house. She said she was on her way already but was stuck in the early morning traffic. I decided to sneak out of the house and take a short walk.
Once I was out of the house, I started at a very slow pace, strolling to the junction. I was dressed in a plain sky-blue short-sleeve turtle-neck top that has a large fold at the neck, a knee-length pleated skirt made from a print material with a touch of sky-blue in it, and a pair of dark blue low pump slippers, closely similar to the shoe I intended to wear out that day. I also had a week old braid on my head with matching hair-ruffle made from the same print material, a pair of simple earnings and necklace that went on-top the turtleneck, a wrist watch and very light makeup. Okay, I had also lost fifty pounds over the past nine months before that time (don't ask how) just to look good for my wedding, and I did look good.
So I walked by the Salvation Ministry Church adjacent to my house and headed for the junction by Ada George Road. It was my legs doing the walking with my brain directing the movement because truly speaking, I had no idea where I was strolling to and I was totally absorbed in my thoughts, thinking about all the "what ifs", thinking about how I'll react when I met this man, thinking about the many times we tried to plan a meeting like this one, but to no avail, trying to imagine what he was thinking about at the moment and where he could be, and also trying not to imagine any mishap that will hinder us from meeting especially with our wedding a week away. I was still thinking and walking when I heard someone shout my name and then I came out to reality and turned. It was Pamela.
"Ah! Pami," I exclaimed, looking around. "So fast. I didn't even see you." She had parked by the road and I was walking back to meet her. I just realized then that these two legs had carried me all the way to location road, close to the mgbuoba junction without my conscious observation.
"Debby. Are you okay? Where were you even going to?" she asked, looking really concerned, like I was that bad. I had entered the car already.
I just smiled and responded in the affirmative with a nod, unable to utter a word. After a few seconds I realized she hadn't moved the car, then I turned to see why, and she was just staring at me.
"Haba Pami, is it that obvious?" I asked, knowing I couldn't escape her reading my expression. She has been my friend for over ten years so, well, what did I expect?
"My friend, you look really good in this attire. I almost didn't recognize you." She finally spoke and from the sound of her voice, I knew what next was to follow, "All will be well okay? You shouldn't get consumed with anxiety for nothing. We prayed yesterday about it and so your heart should be at rest. God is in control. Okay?"
"Okay. Thanks dear. I'm glad you're such a miserable comforter." I said, shaking my head.
We both burst out laughing and that was it - the atmosphere had suddenly changed and I really stopped worrying after that moment. I was just ready to see how God was going to spread out His plans for us that day. I really was glad I had such a wonderful friend around.
She put on the ignition and we hit the road. There was still a lot to be done before twelve noon and it was eight-fifteen already.
*********************************************
"Hotel arrangements?"
"Check."
"Popsi's end?"
"Check."
"Your car?"
"Abiye will bring it to the airport. I also asked him to top-up fuel."
We had just left Pamela's house, heading to the airport and she was calling out the items on my checklist while I gave her feedback. She'd been driving us around so just to give her a break; I took the wheels on this trip. It was a long morning, or maybe a short one. It felt like both to me anyways.
I had managed to treat the day like business-as-usual, tricking my mind into believing this meeting wasn't such a big deal. It worked.
Now as I drove the car heading to the airport, I knew I had to remain in that mindset and keep my mind in the moment, before my hands conspire with my legs this time and I find myself and my friend at the hospital. I decided to engage myself in a discussion with her.
"Ha ha ha ha ha," I said out of the blues, expecting to get her attention and make her laugh.
"Wetin dey make you laugh that type of laugh?" she enquired, not looking puzzled or even looking up.
I looked at her, frustrated by her not catching the humour. But again, that had been her style. Sometimes, she could spot humour even before you sensed it and make you laugh silly. Right now, her phone was the distraction.
"Could you just drop that piece of metal and stay with me, your friend. I'll appreciate that at this critical moment."
"Abeg no vex. I was just... I'm so sorry. Metal dropped." she responded, dropping her phone and looking at me.
"I no vex. I thought you'd repented, though. I was trying to get your attention to keep my own mind from drifting away. I'm sorry if I was counter-rude." I replied, knowing she was most probably chatting. But that was such a wrong time as far as circumstances was concerned.
"'Counter-Rude' Debby? This your vocabulary dem need official Dictionary approval o'" she answered, trying to ease the tensed mood.
"That's part of my charm, madame. Was the vocab grammatically or logically wrong?" I fired back using a gentle cover-up tone.
"Babe, you're talking to a married woman that's about to become a mother." she retorted.
This was news to me.
"Pami! You're pregnant! I mean, are you pregnant?" I marched the brakes and parked the car as I exclaimed. We were somewhere after Igirita about fifteen minutes away from the airport entrance.
"Yes, I am. I got the news just yesterday."
I didn't wait for her to reply and landed her a big embrace. I was so happy at this news. I just couldn't contain myself. My own friend was now carrying a live human being in her very own stomach - it was indeed a mixture of joyous and creepy feelings. I lost some tears to that occasion.
After that we got into more gist as I drove to the airport. We arrived at about twenty minutes past twelve noon and the flight coming in from Lagos was due to land by one o'clock. I had called my brother and he was also on his way to the airport. The moment was fast approaching.
We spent another thirty minutes talking about the upcoming wedding, my plans, the baby, and church activities. From the moment I heard that news about Pamela carrying a baby, I just saw her in a new light. Everything and everyone suddenly felt different. A lot dawned on me at one go, and that included the fact that we were no longer as young and carefree as before. I became conscious of a new level of maturity all around me. I was about getting married; my friend was one step ahead of me in that institution; I was now heading a corporation; my friend was working with one of the big oil firms. In such a short period a lot had happened and changed.
"Deb!"
I turned and saw my brother drive into the parking lot where we were.
"You took so long getting here since that time you told me you were close by," I was heading his direction, "what happened?"
"Police stopped me, asking for drivers licence, papers and all that. I don't know whether they thought I was too young to drive this car." He answered, closing the door.
I laughed. He too didn't look that young anymore, at twenty-three, he looked mature and the voice was also sounding mature.
We walked into the waiting area at exactly the time they were announcing the arrival of a Dana flight from Lagos.
I felt a cold chill run through my head and the nerves must have been throbbing. Pamela held my hand for comfort and my brother was at my side as well. Then after what took like forever, my phone rang. It was Sunshine.
"Hello?" It was me answering.
"Mama, I'm at the airport. I've been checked out. Where are you?" he responded.
I fought back the huge wave of emotion that was about to translate to tears. I tried to reply, but the words lost voice when they came out.
My friend who was standing next to me, probably sensed the emotional gag choking me, she just took the phone from me and was going to answer when my brother said, "Deb, See! That's him," pointing yards away, across us behind the counter.
I turned and looked towards the direction he was pointing. There, walking towards the waiting area, dressed in a fitted gold-colored shirt with a matching gold-patterned black tie on a black trouser, was the man of my dreams in flesh and bones. He looked like he dropped out of a movie. In fact the whole scene at the airport afterwards looked like something from a Bollywood movie.
I stood transfixed. I just kept staring. As soon as he was out to the waiting area which was yards away from where we stood, he looked around and then he saw me. I could tell he had seen me because he slowly dropped the suitcase in his hand.
The moment our eyes met, while I was still transfixed to the spot, my legs, of their own volition took initiative, my hands gently pushed the person that was in front of me and I was walking towards his direction, then walking turned to semi-running. To me, nothing else mattered at that moment, except closing the gap between us.
He started making his way towards me. Our eyes didn't lose contact. We were only about ten feet apart when for whatever reason, those legs that ran off on their own at the beginning, slowly came to a stop. By this time tears were streaming down my face. I could see his eyes searching my face, desperate for a hint of approval. Some people around were probably watching, but I was oblivious of their presence.
"Mama.." He called out softly. It was the first time he'll address me by that name face-to-face and I wasn't at the other end of a phone call - I was right in front of him.
If I was the kind of person susceptible to fainting spells, I probably would have fainted there and then. But even fainting couldn't steal that moment from me.
I opened my mouth to speak again. This time I heard myself answer in response to what came as a question to me, "Sunshine."
Then he lunged forward and threw his arms around me. I just embraced him and embraced him tightly. Then it all started coming back to me; the memories, the flashback of past events, the moments we shared, the moments I almost gave up pursuing this dream, the moments I thought I heard wrong from God about him. I don't know how long we were locked in that embrace: we weren't in a hurry to break the bond.
I remembered the day my mother beat the lights out of me when she found out I was "in love" with a boy I met online and I was only sixteen then.I remembered the first time he told me he was leaving Nigeria to South Africa and then from there he'll be going to Spain to find a future in football with one of the football clubs over there. How could I have forgotten when I even made a song out of it? Or was it his impromptu return to Nigeria a month after (which was a shocking surprise to me) and his re-travelling to Cyprus, this time for studies. And all these while he had been in Lagos before his travel, we couldn't meet and didn't meet. I remembered when I finally was able to choose to travel to Lagos, but lost interest because the subject of my interest in going to Lagos had migrated to another part of the world. There was just so many flashbacks that came to me and the tears were flowing freely and helplessly.
It was somewhere at this point that a man started walking towards us and I noticed it was his Pastor. He had been standing there all the while, watching. He walked up to us and placed a hand on the shoulders of the man I was embracing. We finally released each other even though we were still holding hands. I really felt like I was dreaming one of those classical dreams that keeps you hugging your pillow and even wishing nobody disturbs your sleep.
He then smiled, exposing those shining white set of teeth. I smiled back. In fact I forgot I came with two people. When I turned, I couldn't believe my eyes. There wasn't just Pamela and Abiye standing behind me; my grand parents, my mum, my siblings, even my Pastor's wife were all there. I had no idea when they came or how long they had been there. I was just overwhelmed. My brother was with a camera. I later found out he covered the entire scenario with the help of a friend of his.
After the exchange of pleasantries and formal introductions, Pamela and I took him and the Pastor to the Hotel while every other person dispersed. The time was about two-thirty after noon. Never had the journey from the airport to Ada george Road felt so short, as that day. We both sat at the back of the car while the Pastor insisted he sits in front with Pamela, for our benefit. I'm not sure we spoke much. We were just feasting on each other's presence until we got to the Hotel.
We booked them in and spent a couple of hours more with them talking about many things. Because I had to release my friend who had been with me all day, and they had to rest and prepare for the following day's activities, I reluctantly left the Hotel about seven o'clock in the evening.
I remember Pamela teasing me on our way home about the airport drama and how, what was missing out from the action was one of those Indian love songs playing at the background with slow motion and all that stuff.
It was indeed an unforgettable day for me.
THE END.
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