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-TELL ME LIES-
Chapter 36
Rissa
‘’Talk, we don’t have the whole night,’’ I tell Cedrick.
He takes a de-ep breath and lets it out slowly, staring at him, I wonder why he looks so pale and so weak. Well, maybe he is having issues with his wife.
‘’Alice divorced me,’’ he begins. ‘’After she found out what I had done to you, she left without looking back, well she is seeing someone else now.’’
‘’I am sorry for you but I am sure that’s not what you are here for.’’
‘’I am unwell, I have cancer and it has progressed ra-pidly over the last couple of months, I might die any day,’’ his voice chokes and for a minute there I feel sorry for him.
‘’I am sorry for what I did to you Rissa, you didn’t deserve that kind of treatment from me, plea-se forgive me,’’ he pleads.
‘’I hold nothing against you Cedrick.’’
‘’Thank you so much.’’
‘’I nee-d a favour from you.’’
‘’I am all ears.’’
‘’I have left everything I own in Eloise’s name I would like you to her legal guardian when I pas-s on, I know this is a hvge task but that alre-ady adores you and I know in my heart that you will treat her like your own.’’
‘’Wow!’’ Iris exclaims.
‘’I don’t even know what to say, this is big.’’
‘’plea-se say yes, I have all the paperwork re-ady.’’
‘’I nee-d to think about it.’’
‘’I will be waiting plea-se get in t©uçh with me as soon as you can.’’
‘’I will.’’
He rises to his feet, ‘Thank you to the both of you for allowing me into your house.’’
‘’You are welcome.’’
GODFREY
Standing in front of the altar, my heart races as I wait to see my wife to be. Today is the start of something beautiful for Iris and I. It would be an un-derstatement to say I am happy, I am ecstatic, my heart is overflowing with joy. I can’t wait to marry the love of my life. For me, it’s always been Iris, no one else exists.
The bridesmaids are standing next to the groomsmen looking beautiful in their turquoise, full length dresses. When Maurette Brown Clark ‘’the one he kept for me starts pla-ying, I stare at the door. Iris’ smile is big and bright, her step confident as she walks down the aisle- she is wearing a custom maid fitted go-wn which to me is the most beautiful dress I have ever seen on her. As she gets close, I am suddenly overwhelmed with emotions and tears flood my eyes.
Before they get to the altar, the pastor ask them to pause and he begins—-
‘’To you Godfrey- the husband, scripture says, ’Husbands love your wives even as Christ also loves the church and gave himself up for it, that he might pres£nt it to himself, a glorious church not having sp©t or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish, so shall a man love their wives.’’
‘’To you Iris- the wife, scripture says, ‘Wives submit yourselves to your own husbands as to the lord, for the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is head of the church and he is the saviour of the b©dy therefore as the church is subject to Christ so let the wives be to their husbands in everything.’’
‘’And to both of you scripture says- submit yourselves one to another in the reverence of God. And to such a union you come to be joined. Who gives Iris C. Hadebe to be married to Godfrey Mbewe?’’
‘’We do! Her parents respond in unison.’’
‘’Godfrey, get your wife.’’
Blinking away the tears, I quic-kly walk towards her, her father then k!sses her cheek and hands her over to me- then we walk to where the pastor is standing.
Next the pastor silences the crowd and asks them to sit down.
‘’You may face each other,’’ he says to us. ‘’I would like to welcome everyone to this special occasion to celebr@te the union of Iris and Godfrey.’’
Then he prays over us and it’s time for the vows.
‘’Before God and the pres£nce of these witnesses, will you Godfrey take Iris to be your wedded wife, will you love, honour and keep her and preserve with her this bond, holy and unbroken until the coming of our lord Jesus Christ or death shall separate you.’’
‘’I do.’’
‘’Before God and in the pres£nce of these witnesses, will you Iris take Godfrey to be your wedded husband, will you love, honour and keep him and preserve with him this bond, holy and unbroken until the coming of our lord Jesus Christ or death shall separate you.’’
‘’I do,’’ she says and I allow the tears to fall down my cheeks.
‘’Babe! Iris whispers.
I sniff, ‘’I am just a little emotional.’’
‘’Be strong.’’
The pastor smiles, before he says ‘’repeat after me.’’
‘’I Godfrey Mbewe take you Iris C Hadebe to be my wedded wife to love you with all my heart, affection to endow with you all my early possessions and to share with you the Grace of my God. Amen.’’
‘’I Iris C Hadebe take you Godfrey Mbewe to be my wedded husband, where you go, I will go, where you live I will live, your people shall be my people and your God my God.’’
‘’And as a token of this covenant, you will now give and receive the marriage rings,’’ says the pastor before Iris walks towards him with the rings.
‘’With these rings- you do each other wed and these marriage vows you do here forever seal,’’ I place my ring on his f!nger and then he does the same with mine
‘’By virtue and the authority that is invested in me as a minister of the gospel and by the laws of the nation of Zambia, I do hereby pronounce you as husband and wife, you may k!ssyour bride.’’
The crowd cheers as I draw her to me, I k!ssmy wife gently, savoring the feel of herl-ips un-der his. She is mine forever, to have and to hold, till death separates us, there’s nothing that can come close to how she makes me feel.
‘’The lord will bless you and keep you, the lord will make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you, the lord will lift up the light of his countenance upon you and grant you his peace in the name of our lord Jesus Christ. Amen. I want to be the first to pres£nt to you Mr. and Mrs. Mbewe,’’ the pastor says and the crowd cheers and cl@ps for us again.
-TELL ME LIES-
Chapter 37
EPILOGUE
Two years later,
RISSA
‘’Eloise! Hurry up baby girl, we nee-d to leave now or else we will be late because of the evening traffic,’’ I call out and she comes running a minute later, all dressed up looking as beautiful and elegant as she always does.
‘’Shall we?’’ she says, picking up my purse and I can’t help but smile, this child has been my best friend over the last two years, I took over custody of her when Cedrick lost his battle to cancer. She is now my child- she actually calls me mummy which makes me very happy, even if I get to have my own children, Eloise will always be my first born- we have bonded well over the last couple of months. I once took her to Gina’s place so the two could meet but Gina kicked us out. She wants nothing to do with Eloise, Cedrick told her, he was the reason Gabby was killed and she got bitter.
kindly hi novelsrepublic on WhatsApp on plus two three four eight zero five five eight eight nine one right three to get added to the novels group
And speaking of Gina, she has lost so much weight and looks different, her husband married a second wife and they treat her like trash, she can’t leave because she and her child have no place to go. There was a time I wanted to help her out but she is too proud. I know I shouldn’t say this but she deserves what she is going throu-gh.
Walking out of the house, we get into the car and I instantly drive off, we are heading to Iris’s house, she and her husband have invited us over for dinner tonight.
‘’I am hungry!’’ Eloise yawns and I shoot her a serious look. I told her to eat before bathing but she said she would eat at Iris’ place.
She shrugs, ‘’I wasn’t hungry when you told me too.’’
‘’Then don’t complain about it.’’
‘’Mummy! We can’t get pizza on our—.’’
‘’Oh so that was your plan? You just wanted pizza.’’
‘’Well,’’ she smiles.
‘’I am sorry child, no pizza for you this evening.’’
‘’But mummy,’’ she whines.
‘’We will be getting to Auntie Iris’ home soon.’’
‘’Okay,’’ she says.
The rest of the ride is quiet, I am focused on the road while Eloise pla-ys with her phone. Over an hour later, we get to Iris’s house and step out of the car before heading into the house.
‘’Auntie Iris!’’ Eloise exclaims when we enter the living room.
‘’Hey child, how are you?’’
‘’I am fine, can I hold him?’’ she asks, pointing at Jeffery, Iris’ son.
‘’Yes you can sweetheart but you will have to sit down first.’’
‘’Okay,’’ she places my purse on the table and settles down, then Iris hands the baby to her. Iris’ son is just three months old, she and Godfrey are my inspirational couple even though I am not seeing anyone at the moment. I have not given up on love, I am just focused on other stuff, if love comes then it will find me, I am not in a hurry.
‘’Sister Girl!’’ Iris exclaims.
‘’My father’s child.’’
‘’You look beautiful.’’
‘’So do you.’’
‘’Yummy mummy things.’’
‘’Give us,’’ I laugh.
‘’He is getting re-ady, he just got out of the shower, he is getting dressed, dinner is re-ady and the table is set, can I get you anything to drink?’’
‘’I am fine.’’
The baby chooses that moment to start crying and she gets him from Eloise.
‘’He is a little fussy tonight, I think his tummy is aching.’’
‘’He will get better,’’ Eloise says.
‘’Thank you kiddo.’’
We spend a few minutes talking until Godfrey walks out, after exchanging greetings with him, we head to the dining table and get started with the food.
We eat while talking about random stuff and laughing at the jokes that Iris keeps pas-sing. My sister is very fun, she would make a good comedian.
‘’Can we make a toast?’’ I ask when we finish eating.
‘’Yes plea-se.’’
‘’To happiness!’’ I say lifting my glas-s.
‘’To happiness,’’ they say and we clink our glas-ses together before taking a sip of our drink each. I am at a place where my heart is filled with endless happiness, I have a family that supports me and a sister that looks out for me. This is all I have ever longed for. Hi Sophia on +21891to add you to story group..A peaceful life without drama.
The End