TITLE: LEMONADES
WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI
pa-rt 13
Fahdi made sure Emmanuel came home for my wedding. The traditional marriage held in grand style. My grandmother from my father’s side tried to tou-chme and dance towards me, I rejected her touch. She was embarr@$$ed. I remembered clearly and in detail all she said to me about my mother and how I was following in her footsteps. I regretted allowing this wedding to hold. I wondered why I had to honour a man and his mother who didn’t even care about me.
I noticed there was no interaction between my father and my husband. It was like Fahdi couldn’t wait to get it over and done with. It started with me preparing from the hotel and not my father’s house (which was fine by me). Immediately after the event, we were off.
I told my mother I didn’t want my father or his family at my church wedding. I made it clear they were not invited.
“What did Fahdi tell you?” she asked.
“He didn’t tell me anything”
“Are you sure? The way you are angry now is a problem”
“What are you not telling me?”
“This between us; you must never mention it. Fahdi came with his father to see your father. His father met some of your father’s demands and paid for the traditional rites to be done in Lagos. It didn’t go down well with Fahdi; I saw his face, he wasn’t happy at all. I told your father he was being greedy but he wouldn’t listen. Fahdi’s father was gracious enough to ask me what I wanted and I told him I just wanted Fahdi to make my daughter happy. He @$$ured me he would. I can’t believe Fahdi didn’t tell you.”
“He didn’t. I don’t want him to be at the wedding and if he comes, he is a guest”
“You can’t do that. Is it not a wedding? After the event, you can decide not to speak with him again. After all, he abandoned you for nineteen years and it didn’t have an impact on you. You won’t miss the remaining years. I hate the fact he is taking advantage of the situation not that he genuinely loves you”
“I am not making any outfit for the wedding for him. I do not owe him anything. He collected all he can ever collect from me. I’m cutting all ties after the wedding”
I arrived at the church premises with my son and grandmother from the hotel. My mother had to be with my father. My grandmother had prayed a million times that morning. She blessed me and prophesied into my life. I love my granny. She proved herself in my life. She showed me what true love was all about. When she saw me in my off white beautiful wedding gown, she prayed even more. As she walked to the front of the church to seat with other family members, Fahdi walked up to her and hu-gged her. She prayed for him too.
I told my father to enter the church as he would not be walking me down the aisle. He asked me why, and I told him I wanted my son to do the honours. My father wasn’t happy but I insisted. My brother tried to convince me to reconsider my decision and not embarr@$$ my father, I warned him never to speak with me again. If he couldn’t call his father to order when he disowned me and left me to suffer and then when I came back he decided to ‘obtain’ money from my husband and family, then he had no right to talk to me. I made it clear, my father had received all the honour he can ever get from me. My father had no choice but to enter the church.
My son walked me down the aisle, ki$$ed me on my forehead and l-ips. He handed me to Fahdi. The church service went very well. We moved to the reception. It was at the reception I saw Alhaji Umar. I was so happy to see him. He tea-sed me.
“You forgot about your friend; that’s unfair” he announced when I was almost on my knees greeting him.
“You have always taught me to take up responsibilities. I didn’t have time to interact with you and the few times I called you seemed busy. What are you doing here?”
“Remember I told you my friend’s son was a pa-rtner in the hospital, it seems he is your groom”
“Wow! Interesting. I didn’t even know Fahdi was a pa-rt-owner of the hospital. It never occurred to me you were talking about him”
“I believe that. He had mentioned you to me and I asked him to go for it. I knew you wouldn’t disappoint me”
“Where is your friend? I mean Fahdi’s father”
“He couldn’t make it. I am standing in him. I hope you know his father is Hausa”
“I didn’t know; he never mentioned the tribe”
“Well, he is. Fahdi is a Sani. You are Mrs Sanii”
“We never discussed it. I didn’t know Sani is a Hausa name”
“It is. Let’s take pictures”
When we danced into the hall, I danced with so much joy and happiness. My son sat with my grandmother on the high time alongside my parents. I glanced and saw Alhaji Umar stand up from the high table spray me. My heart swelled with joy. I was glad he was sharing this moment with us. I danced because I was happy. I danced because I married a man who loved me. I danced because my struggle to find love had ended. I was happy. The mouths of my enemies had been silenced.
After the reception, Alhaji Umar came back to Fahdi’s house with us. In the compound, I saw two br@nd new Honda Accord cars. “This is my small gift to you. I would have done more but your husband doesn’t want anything. I wanted to give him a house but he refused. He wants to take care of you from what he earns. He is an honourable man.”
“Thank you, Alhaji,” I said.
“I have to go now. If you nee-d anything don’t fail to call. You have made me proud Esther; you have always made me proud”
“Thank you, sir.”
Fahdi and I changed out of our wedding clothes. We decided we would spend our honeymoon in our home alone. I had expressed brea-st milk and I was going to extract extra to last the next day for our princess who was with her grandmother.
“Why didn’t your dad attend the wedding? I haven’t seen him since I met you”
“But he did. I thought you knew”
“Knew what?”
“Alhaji is my father”
‘Which Alhaji?”
“Alhaji Sani, the one who came home with us and gave us the cars”
I was confused. “Which Alhaji? Alhaji Umar? He is your father?”
“Yes. Alhaji Umar Sani is my father”
“He told me you are his friend’s son. He said he was represe-nting him at this event. How didn’t I know?”
“He didn’t want you to; that’s what I can deduce”
“But why?”
“Because he wanted me to fall in love naturally. He called me many years back and was talking about a girl he had met and how she was perfect for me. I shunned him. I was in Saudi then. When you had heartbreak and moved to Ijebu ode, he called me and told me this was my chance. He was the one that exp-osed everything about you to me. I discovered by myself who you truly were. I fell in love with you but I had to bid my time. Bode came along; I knew he wouldn’t last. Fate brou-ght us together and re-moved Bode. It had been you from day one. When I told him about the pregnancy, my father was excited. I un-derstand now why he didn’t come; he wanted to surprise you. He is my father and a good man”
I was teary when he finished talking. Alhaji had been at the centre of my life for the past thirteen years without making it obvious. I felt horrible not keeping close contact with him. I un-derstood the story; Fahdi’s mother’s family didn’t want his mother to marry a Hausa guy even though they were in love. My own father didn’t care as long as the man had money. My father isn’t poor but he is greedy. It was sad.
I called Alhaji and thanked him. He had a good laugh. “I told you my son would marry you; he has. You are a good girl. My son is humble and kind. He nee-ds someone who can match his personality. You are the best person for him. All I ask of you is to please make him always happy; I am confident you will. Don’t forget to pla-y the family politics. He loves his mother very much; she has control over him. Always be in her good books. I know you can handle it perfectly. God bless you child”
The customary escorting the girl child home wasn’t done by my father. He collected money and refused to spend a dime on me. I never spoke to my father again. We never visited him and he didn’t visit as he wasn’t invited. My mother and grandmother did it for me a few days after the wedding. They practically refurbished the entire kitchen including adding a dishwasher which I didn’t nee-d. I cried tears of joy when I saw the new kitchen. I felt loved.
Fahdi allowed me to practice my religion without hindrance. He also allowed me to take my daughter to church. I observed that he had embr@ced his religion as we formed a family. I learnt how to ‘marry’ the two religions. We were very happy together. We ha-rdly ever quarrelled or had misun-derstandings.
When our princess turned two years, I took in again and had a son. After the birth of Bamidele Ahmed, I travelled for a course. Fahdi stayed with his daughter and asked me to travel with his son and my mother for three months. My father wanted to come with us to America. This was a golden opportunity for him. I told my mother he should apply for his visa, get it, pay for his flight ticket and also pay for his accommodation as I will never be caught in the same house with him. My father was angry. He wanted to stop my mother from travelling but she told him he had collected his lifelong entitlement and wasn’t entitled to any settlement anymore. He tried to make peace with me but I refused and gladly moved on with the support of Fahdi and Emmanuel.
Emmanuel se-nior called me out of the blues when my marriage was five years old. He called while standing in front of my home. I was shocked when he introduced himself. I didn’t want to let him into my home but Fahdi insisted he comes into the house.
“I’m sorry for barging in like this. It is because it is important. I am happy for you Esther; you got all you’ve ever wanted.”
“Why are you here Emmanuel? I know you; you are up to something”
“Well, let me cut throu-ghthe chase. I came for my son. I have three daughters and it is time for the boy to know his father and have a relationship with me”
“Which son? The one you abandoned? The one you refused to see for years? Ah, Emmanuel, you are wicked. Why now? After how many years you now realise you have a son.”
“You kept me away from my son; you can’t deny that. After what happened, I never saw my son again. You can’t stop me from seeing him”
“Did you see him before the issue? When was the last time you saw him? He must have been a toddler. He will walk past you and you wouldn’t know him. What nonse-nse are you saying?”
Fahdi stepped in at this juncture. “There is no issue here. You want to see your son, he is at Iowa State University. You can go there to see him.”
“I want to have his contact so I can talk to him”
“I can’t give you his contact without his permission. He is an adult now and would appreciate being accorded the respect he deserves. I will call him right away and you can speak with him. If he permits me to give you his number, I will”
Fahdi called Emmanuel. When Emmanuel answered he informed him the call was on speaker. “Emmanuel, your biological father is here and he would like to speak with you”
Emmanuel asked, “who is that? I don’t know who you are talking about”
“Your biological father; he wants to talk to you”
“I am not interested in a conversation with him. I don’t know who he is and I never want to have anything to do with him. Please tell him that”
“Can I at least give him your number so he can communicate with you”
“I’m going to change my number after this call. I don’t want to have anything to do with him now or ever. Kindly inform him he has no son and I do not bear his surname so I have no relationship with him. Thank you, dad. We will talk later” and he ended the call.
Emmanuel se-nior couldn’t say anything. He stood there defeated. I was happy. I looked at Emmanuel, he had aged terribly. I wondered if this was the man I was killing myself over. This was the man my years were wasted for. I felt stupid. How could this be? What was the attra-ction?
He couldn’t be compared with Fahdi. Keeping looks aside, in every other way, Fahdi was far better. He was kind, loving, caring, ha-rdworking, focused, dedicated, and faithful. I had never had cause to complain in five years. I was happy with all Fahdi and I had achieved in this short time. We were the envy of many; from work and even from family. We had a rock-solid relationship. Our children were blessed and a blessing to us.
“Esther, I know I wronged you and my son, please forgive me. Allow me to have a relationship with this boy. Just give me his contact so I can talk to him to make him un-derstand. I was young and stupid when these things happened. Be the bigger person and give me the opportunity to mend my ways with my son”
“Esther will never give you his number; if she does, the marriage is over. I can tell you where he schools and he is doing an MBA right now. You can go to the school and meet him face to face, it will show you have put in the effort to get his attention. You have all you nee-d to get your son. And by the way, he is a man now and can take decisions himself. I’m sure you don’t have an idea how old he is; go home and do the maths. He can’t be for-ced to do anything again his will”
After Emmanuel se-nior left, Fahdi warned me sternly. “Don’t get emotional or try to convince Emmanuel to reconcile with his father. He will eventually but let the man do the work if he is serious. I am going to warn your mother and grandmother otherwise I will ask Emmanuel to change his number. You made it easy for your father and later regretted it. Don’t make Emmanuel regret making the same mistake you made. Let him decide when he is ready to deal with the emotions”
I agreed. My mother and grandmother were in full support. They felt Emmanuel se-nior was bad news and if his son doesn’t want to talk to him, it wasn’t in our position to for-ce him. Emmanuel se-nior had to make the effort to win his son over.
I looked back at my life. I was the young fifteen years old girl who got pregnant for a boy she believed she loved. She was rejected by her father and made to face the hurdle of having a child without acceptance. She earned herself a degree, a Master’s degree and many professional qualifications. The child she birthed out of shame was doing very well. He got fully into IT and was making serious waves. Whenever he told his story, I was the main focus. He tells his audience and interviewers how I was rejected because of him and how I worked ha-rd to make sure he succeeds. Emmanuel made me never regret what I went throu-gh; I would go throu-ghit all over again just to get to this point where I am happy and he is fulfilled.
This is my story; I made lemonades. What are you doing with your lemons?
The end.