Scum
Mother of the bride, Theodora Ahenful, marched purposefully towards the empty wedding car. The racket of feuding families dimmed with every step. A few meters away, guests loitered the church compound. At the mercy of the sweltering heat, they wiped sweat off their faces, glancing at their watches every now and then, and, intermittently, at the open gates that led into the church. Minutes earlier, the wedding mass had been halted, and guests escorted outside. Nobody had answers, only a question that lingered in the quiet chaos.
The humming of an engine approaching drew their attention now. They craned their necks as a red Sedan veered through the gates, convinced the morning’s drama was finally over.
The groom was here.
Ace Ahenful opened his door before the car came to a halt. He issued instructions to the driver and stepped out into the sea of faces that had eyes only for him. It was a good thing he had dark sunglasses on. Some guests looked away, in apparent disappointment. Ace scanned the crowd as the car pulled away. He was thirty minutes late to his sister’s wedding, no thanks to another canceled flight. He should have walked his sister down the aisle today, like he’d promised his father. But none of that mattered now.
“Kwabena!”
He turned. His mother waved from behind the SUV he had hired for the wedding. Ace covered the distance between them in long strides and drew her into his arms. She held on to him.
“I can’t believe this is happening.”
Ace pulled her closer. “I’m here now. Is Faith still inside?”
She nodded against his shoulder. “You know how stubborn she is.”
When she pulled away, Ace gave her shoulder a squeeze, the way his father would have if he were here. It was up to him to fix this. He had to be the man.
“What you said on the phone, is it true? Are you sure?”
He nodded. “Yes, Maa.”
Theodora sighed. “Your uncles are talking with his family in one of the classrooms.” She pointed to the church’s school building. “I just couldn’t take the shouting anymore.”
Ace looked up at the people whose attention was now drawn to them. This was his parents’ church. They had grown up here. Everyone knew who they were. He and his sister could go back to their lives after all this, but his mother would have to deal with the gossip and insinuation for the rest of her life.
“All these people.” She gestured. “They’re waiting with their camera phones to see what happens. If you’re right, I don’t want anyone taking videos of her and circulating it on WhatsApp. She doesn’t deserve to become a joke among strangers, Kwabena. Not my daughter.”
“I know.”
“I wish she had stayed in the car. It would have been so much easier to get her away from their prying eyes. But Father was going to start the mass without Paul, so one of his brothers stepped in to sit with her. They said he was on his way. I can’t believe this. Ah! I loved that boy like a son!”
Ace nodded, keeping his emotions in check. He was the one who introduced them to each other. His best friend’s brother dating his sister had seemed like a good idea. Safe. But he couldn’t think about that now. He had to focus on the only thing that mattered: getting his sister out of here unscathed.
“Do you have it?”
“Yes.” His mother picked up a plastic bag from the car seat. “It’s for Dora. They wear the same size. Of course, she’s a little taller but that shouldn’t matter now.”
He took the bag. “I’ll be right back.”
“What about the people? They’ll still know it’s her.”
“They won’t be there.”
“How? What are you going to do?”
Ace shrugged. He didn’t have to say it.
“But they’re still discussing. What if…”
He took her hand in hers.
“Maa, this is happening. I have to go.”
***
Three strapping men in suit stood guard at the church’s front entrance. Ace recognized one of them as his sister’s friend and colleague. Oteng met him halfway up the stairs.
“Ace-man.”
“Chale.” They shook hands. “I heard what happened.”
“Yeah. The priest wouldn’t listen to reason, so we had to get creative.” He laughed. “I made up a story about a threat to get everyone outside so we could do a “sweep” of the entire building. A bit iffy, but it was the best I could come up with on short notice.”
Ace nodded. “How is she?”
“Not happy. Is he on his way? Do you need more time? We can add another thirty minutes if you want. I have a few more tricks up my sleeve.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“Good. So, he’s almost here?”
“No.” Ace held his gaze. “He’s not.”
Oteng’s smile faded. He glanced at the doors, no doubt thinking about the ramifications of this information for his friend. “What now?”
“I have to make an announcement.”
Oteng nodded. Taking a stance facing the crowd, he slapped his massive palms together and bellowed:
“Can I have everyone’s attention, please?”
***
Faith Ahenful sat facing the altar, her eyes fixed on the bouquet clutched in her hands. Its red and white petals gave her soul a semblance of the peace she was grasping for. They had picked the colours together. Crimson red for the blood, white as wool, like the garment of the redeemed. They had prayed over this day. No destruction was going to come their way. This was only a setback. Before the day ended, she was going to become Faith Ahenful-Titriku. That was all that mattered.
She heard the door creak open and turned. The name of her beloved formed on her lips before she recognized her brother. Faith got up. She’d been waiting all morning for her brother to get back from his work trip, and yet, all she felt now was disappointment.
“Is he here?”
Ace smiled. “You look beautiful.”
“Thanks.” She forced a smile. Those were the words she was waiting to hear, but not from him. “Is he here?”
“He’s not.”
“Can I have your phone? I need to call him. No one will give me a phone.”
“Faith—”
“Maybe he’s trying to reach me right now and can’t because they took my phone and turned it off.”
“He has my number.”
“Well … he could be out of credit. And the network in this place can get very bad. We should have done this in Kumasi. It takes thirty minutes just to send a GIF in this town.”
“He’s not trying to reach you.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“How?”
Ace looked away. What was he not telling her?
“Ace?”
He held out a bag. “The guests are leaving. You should change into this, and I’ll get you out of here. No one will see you.”
Faith snickered. “Are you kidding? I’m not taking off my dress. Not until I hear from Paul.”
“It’s been an hour. He’s not coming.”
“Fourty-five minutes. Besides, brides arrive late all the time. Why is it a big deal if a groom is late to his wedding for a change?”
“Because his family is here, and no one has seen him all morning.”
“No, they said he had stomach trouble. The guys were out last night. He’s better now, and is on his way.”
“They lied, Faith.”
“How do you know that?”
Behind them, the door creaked open.
***
Ace recognized the figure coming towards them. He’d been friends with Divine Titriku for over two decades. But it was his brother’s absence, and the lies they concocted, that was causing his family embarrassment. Today, he was the patriarch of his family, and there was only one way to handle this.
“You have some nerve showing your face here.”
Divine held up his hands. “Ace, calm down and let’s talk.”
“We have nothing to talk about.”
“Tell me, Divine.” Faith said. “What’s going on?”
“No! He needs to leave right now!”
“C’mon man. I understand you’re upset, but we’re all trying to figure out what’s going on.”
“What’s going on is that your brother broke off his wedding to my sister with a damn tweet!”
Faith blinked, reeling at the gut punch. “What?”
“It’s nothing.” Divine shrugged. “There’s a tweet, but there was no context and he’s been offline since.”
“When the groom says, ‘This was a mistake’, on his wedding day and then vanishes into thin air, I’d say that’s about all the context anyone needs!”
“Ace, he got cold feet. That’s it.. You know what that’s like. I was at your wedding, remember? We’re trying to track him down. I’m going out there myself right now.”
His phone rang and he glanced at the screen.
“I have to go. I will call as soon as we find him. There’s no reason to send guests away when there’s still a chance that they can work things out. Okay?”
With that, he sprinted out of the church.
Ace shook his head. “Unbelievable.”
“This makes no sense,” Faith whispered more to herself than her brother. “Did you see it yourself? Are you sure it was from him?”
“Yes.”
“How do you… how are you even sure that it’s him?”
Ace stared at her. What was she saying? Of course he was sure.
“So what does it mean? He got scared and just backed out? I mean…how do you just… “
Faith pressed her fingers to her temple where an ache was forming.
“A mistake?” She laughed maniacally.
“He asked me asked me to marry him! I didn’t force any of this down his throat. He said he wanted to marry me, to have children and build a home, with me! So he showed up for the traditional, but what, the thought of standing here and making promises freaked him out?”
She blinked back tears. No, he wasn’t going to get off this easily. He was going to have to say that to her himself.
“Give me your phone, please,” her voice was breaking.
Ace didn’t fight her this time. She held her veil over her head, and dialled Paul’s number.
The number you have dialled Is switched off.
She dialled the number again. And again. And again.
The number you have dialled is switched off.
Faith lowered herself onto a pew, weighed down by the heavy dose of reality she’d been resisting. Denial was pointless. She pulled the engagement ring off her finger and set it on the pew. She had to face the truth. Paul wasn’t coming. The wedding was off.
She picked up the bag and disappeared into the Vestry.
***
Ace waited twenty minutes before knocking on the door.
“Everything alright?”
Faith?”
His phone was ringing. It was Divine.
“Yes?” Ace walked up to a window.
“We found him.”
***
Faith stood before a mirror in the vestry, listening to the sound of cars and people outside. They knew. All of them. They knew that she was holed up in here, hiding, afraid that they would see her for what she was. What she was? No. She had nothing to be ashamed off. This was him. He was the coward who had chickened out of making a commitment. She pulled the veil comb out of her perfectly coiffed hair, and wiped the tears. She was done hiding, being his victim. Wherever Paul was, she had to make sure he knew that.
When Faith opened the door, Ace was waiting. She stood akimbo, waiting for him to comment on the fact that she was still wearing her wedding dress.
“They found Paul,” he said.
Faith shrugged off the sprouting bud of hope, lifting her chin.
“I don’t care.”
“He went for a run. He must have passed out or something. They’re not sure. It’s just that where they found him—”
“Wait, hold on…Paul is hurt?”
“They got him to the hospital.”
“Oh my god,” she gasped, a flurry of emotions swallowing her whole. “Which hospital? Is he… is he okay?”
It was only then that her brother’s deadpan expression faltered.
“No, he’s not okay.”
Faith stood frozen, her mouth hanging open, dark eyes unblinking. When her hands started shaking, Ace stepped forward, grabbing his sister just as her legs gave way.
Faith collapsed into his arms, screaming out his name.
©2021 AMA POMAA
Photo by Houcine Ncib on Unsplash
Hola! Thanks for visiting. I hope you it was a good read. If it was, let me know with a like or a comment.
Also, this was supposed to be a short story. Faith, however made a strong case for going the distance and making it a murder mystery. I agreed with her, which is what delayed the story’s progress because I had to set it up to work both ways. But, it’s all good now. I have suspects and I have a motive. I even have a final scene (got that yesterday). If you think I should go ahead with the murder route, let me know. If not, I think this works as a standalone.
Happy weekend!
