THE EXCHANGE
Episode 20
In conclusion, my uncle said to Tunji, “someday, you will look back at today & thank God that it happened. Don’t ever cry because a woman rejected you; get up, dust yourself & move on”.
After about an hour of listening to my uncle, Tunji got up, thanked him…thanked my mum & asked to take his leave. He looked at me & said he wished me the best…I still couldn’t say anything.
My uncle & Brother Dipo saw him off; they must have spent another half hour outside. That was the last time I saw Tunji until yesterday, but I’ll get back to that.
My uncle came back in & talked to me as well…he said nobody had the right to choose a husband for me & all they could do was pray that God would go with me & make the place comfortable for me. He asked some questions about Baba T & his family & I told him the little I had learnt from my interaction with BabaT’s family & the much Laide has told me. “Looks like you chose to marry a stranger over someone you know” He said & I told him that I did not really choose to marry Baba T but the pregnancy kinda tied my hands. “Well, you chose him when you decided to do things that could get you pregnant; anyway, you really don’t know anyone until you are married to them. I just pray that God will make the place your home” my uncle continued.
He discussed with my mum for a while & scheduled for a later family meeting. He said he would reach out to all the people that should be at the scheduled meeting, where they would choose a date for Baba T’s parents to come for a formal introduction to the family.
After my uncle left, our family meeting continued…my mum blamed Brother Dipo for how things turned out. He refused to take the blame & stormed out of the house. Brother Kola said we shouldn’t apportion blames but accept it as God’s Will. My mum got up & said she had to inform members of her family too so that it wouldn’t be a surprise for them on the chosen day.
I felt bad for Tunji but I couldn’t cry anymore; I couldn’t sleep all night & even prayed to God to forgive me…I just couldn’t get the picture of his reaction out of my head.
Tunji was not in Church on Sunday & I found out later that he had gone back to Ibadan where he was having an interview on Monday. That afternoon, after Church Service, my mum’s elder sister(Laide’s mother), came to see us. She said she had been in the US, taking care of her grandchild & she arrived yesterday to be informed about all that had happened from Laide. She told my mum that BabaT is from a good & responsible family & they had been family friends for over 10yrs. She told my mum how BabaT’s mum had fallen in love with Toun from the day she had met her & had begged her to talk to my mum, so she’s happy everything had worked out. This put my mother’s heart to rest & she stayed with my mum until 5pm, planning the wedding.
Baba T came back the following Sunday… with Bola but Laide couldn’t make it this time because her pregnancy was far gone & her mom wouldn’t hear of it.
Bola & Baba T discussed with my mum & 3 brothers (Brother Dipo did not even come out to greet our visitors) while I was in the kitchen with our neighbor who came to assist me. She knew about what had happened & she was encouraging me to put my mind at rest & told me to be thankful because some ladies don’t have it this easy & it wasn’t long before she got me back in a good mood.
She told me not to worry because based on what she had gathered, I was marrying into a wealthy family where I would be well taken care of.
We made amala lafu, with ewedu & goat meat stew for our guests & my brothers & they all ate together in the parlour. My mother was also a bit relaxed with BabaT. Then it was time for Bola & Baba T to go to their hotel because they would be staying in Abeokuta for the night as BabaT wanted us to see the Doctor together the following day.
He had booked a hotel rooms before they came to our place & asked my mum if I could go with them to the Hotel so we could talk.
“Why not? Kò s’áwo kan l’áwo ?wà m? (what’s the point of holding her back?)” my mum responded…so I went with them.
I had lots of questions but they had to wait until we retired to his room after dinner with Bola in the classy hotel restaurant, so that we can get to know each other after it was obvious we would be getting married. We
talked about a lot of things & Baba T answered my questions. In a nutshell, I would move to Lagos after the wedding & we would move to our own place. We would open the Salon & I would start that business immediately & everything should be fine from there on.
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We got married about 3 months later, it was beautiful, I’m not even sure the word beautiful does justice to the event. It was more glamorous than what I had pictured…as a matter of fact; it was bigger & more well attended than Laide’s wedding. We had the engagement|traditional marriage in Abeokuta where we shut down the whole town. Between Laide’s mom & Baba T’s family, everything was taken care; but the Church wedding was done in Lagos & it was every girl’s dream wedding. Baba T’s mum took me to Italy & Switzerland to shop for the wedding like she said the first time I met her; everything was perfect. Brother Dipo did not attend the wedding like he had threatened; not even my uncle could get him to come, so I decided to never talk to him again. My mum begged me not to do that but my mind was made up & I promised myself that he could make Tunji his brother for all I cared. Let me also add that my marriage ended my mum’s friendship with Aunty Betty. She felt my mum betrayed her & I made sure I didn’t see her until I moved to Lagos but before the engagement, I called my assistant & we took stock of everything in the Salon, including the dryers, steamer & other Salon equipments. I told her she could have it for the cost but pay in instalments every week to my mum & we signed an agreement.
After the wedding, the pampering was so much I completely forgot about Tunji. We also got a house as a wedding present, it was bought & renovated to our taste (Baba T’s dad said there wasn’t enough time to build a new one). It was in the same area as Laide’s. We got cars as wedding presents too & Baba T gave the car he had bought for me to my mum.
I got registered in another Hospital in Lagos & my husband would attend every appointment with me. He was so caring and supportive all through the pregnancy.
We couldn’t travel for honeymoon but Baba T promised to ‘fix’ that as soon as I had the baby. The second trimester of my pregnancy was physically and emotionally hard. It was as if the baby did not want to stay, there was always a reason to be admitted into the hospital..
To be continued
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