The Rain in April

Invitation to a wedding

Chapter 10

DAY 1

Looking into the gardens from the roof top, Chief Obichukwu sat; close to him on a small stool was a glass of juice. The morning was warm in the northern province of Byumba as the sun was high up in the sky. Chief Obichukwu loved the weather, to him; the day was going to be a perfect one, his only son, Alex, was getting married to Akaliza, the daughter of Chief Runihura, a politician in the Northern Province. He stood up and walked over to the rail that lined around the roof and leaned on it. He looked up towards the west, at the horizon; he was far, very far from home,he brushed his white beards with his left hand and carved a smile. How fortunate he had been, he had spent more than two decades in Rwanda and it had all been like yesterday. He remembered how it all happened; at the peak of the civil war he had fled the country of his birth. At first, he had seen himself as a coward but after a while, he had come to realize that his every step since he fled Nigeria had proven him wrong. He looked around the garden below in his wide compound from the roof top; the gardener seemed to be harvesting some pearls. He had called the attention of the gardener to the pearls only yesterday, they were ready for harvest and if not harvested on time, the pearl could contact a disease. The garner stopped and looked up at Chief Obichukwu who waved to him to carry on. Obichukwu wondered if he would have got this far in life assuming he had not fled, his wealth, his fame, but he had no choice. He straightened up before walking back to the chair where he had earlier sat. He sat down before dipping his left hand into his inner jacket; he took out an old rusty diary and ran his fingers through the black front cover of the diary. Obichukwu smiled as he opened the diary, on the first page was an old black and white picture of him and his family many years ago in Lagos, Nigeria. His father was a wealthy man who was based in Lagos. Living in the shadows of his flamboyant father, Obichukwu had actively participated in politics till the outbreak of the civil war. He had fled Lagos for the eastern part of the country where he had joined the Biafra army. His reason for joining the army against the wishes of his mother was very strong; he wanted to fight for what he believed in, a free nation for his people. He was made a Captain and given a unit to command. He remembered how his unit was then, they had few guns and bullets, always sneaking into the enemy’s camp or laying ambush for them. On countless occasions, he and his units succeeded and brought back lots of spoils including weapons but on few occasions, they had failed, loosing lives in the process. This had continued until the last one, the one which brought him here, to Rwanda, the one that had almost all the men in his unit killed. They were ambushed on their way to Benin. He watched as his men were killed before he escaped miraculously. He had got lost in a land he knew nothing about and had wandered through the forest he found a little settlement along the border. They had been kind to him and had helped him escape into Ghana and from there he had started his journey seeking a place far from home where he could settle and build a new life, a life that now seemed threatened by the present situation in the country. He dropped the diary on the stool and shook his head fumbling some words as he expressed his bitterness. He could not still believe the news, even after Chief Runihura, his soon to-be in-law had confirmed the news, he had been afraid that the wedding would be called off.

“It’s true Chief Obichukwu, the President had been blown into pieces.”

“God, this is a great problem, do we know those behind this attack?” Chief Obichukwu asked, griping the receiver tightly.

“No, but assumptions are being made, I think before the end of the day, we would be able to ascertain those behind the attack,” Chief Runihura had explained at the other end.

“Does this mean everything would be put on hold?”

“No,” Chief Runihura had answered immediately, sounding tensed on the telephone.

“The wedding would go on as planned, I won’t want anything interfering with my family affairs,” he had continued.

“What of the erroneous reaction of people?” Obichukwu asked, sounding worried.

“I don’t care what people would say, I didn’t blow up the President nor am I in his inner circle. The wedding must go on.”

Obichukwu took another sip of the juice before placing the glass cup on the stool; it had been a day since he last spoke to Chief Runihura, a day since his last fear was calmed. Finally, the wedding was going to pull through.

“Sir, the car is ready.” A man dressed in a white T-shirt and black trousers announced. Obichukwu nodded, he lifted his 75kg dark, slender and tall body off the chair and made for the door, taking the old rusty diary with him.

**********

Alex looked out through the window for the third time, their car had been parked outside the church for almost an hour, and his father had insisted he should go early to prevent delay in the service. There had been a sign of uncertainty in him when the car first pulled over an hour ago outside the St. Anthony Catholic Church,Byumba. The car booth had been empty except for an old rusty jeep belonging to the priest. The effect of the attack on the President had taken a large toll on the people. He had insisted on staying put in the car despite the driver’s suggestion that he should stay inside the church.

“Sir, it’s not a good idea for you to sit inside the car,” His driver, a short dark-skinned bald man advised.

“You don’t understand, George, what if no one turns up for the wedding; I would be a laughing stock,” Alex said, his eyes still fixed on the window.

“Why do you say that?” George asked, trying to observe Alex’s face from the rare mirror.

Alex had been disappointed by that question, he had already worked the math out, generally, all fingers would be pointing towards one group concerning the issue of the bombing. He had been surprised that George being a Tutsi had not realized that the Tutsis were the centre of concentration nor was he worried of what might happen to him. He kept quiet and said nothing to George.

Now the church was almost filled up as people had put aside the catastrophic event of the bombing to grace his wedding.

“Come on, Alex, everyone is waiting,” Fred, his best man said, opening the door from the outside.

“Your father is already getting worried.”

Alex lit his face up with a smile before stepping out of the car.

“How do I look?” he asked, buttoning up his black suit.

Fred took a step backwards before setting his gaze on Alex. Since they were kids, he had always compared himself with Alex, even though he was taller and bigger than Alex, he had found himself admiring Alex's light-skinned complexion, dark hair with a patch of grey close to his left ear and the neat moustache that circled round Alex’s mouth.

“You look good, as usual.”

They both laughed and walked up into the church.

“Where is he?” Alex asked, walking up and down the walkway behind the church hall.

Akaliza walked towards the arch way leading to the inside of the church, she paused by the arch and peeped inside the church, the church was already filled up and the congregations were beginning to murmur among each other. She turned and looked at Alex who also realized that she was as confused as he was.

“This service was supposed to start by eight, it’s ten already and your father is yet to arrive,” Alex complained, walking up to her.

“I don’t know where he is, I am as confused as you are,” she said with some sort of disappointment in her voice.

“Calm down, Alex,” Chief Obichukwu said, coming from behind.

Alex turned to see his father along the walkway.

“You need to calm down, son, these things are meant to happen, recall the current situation of the country,” Chief Obichukwu said, placing his left hand on Alex’s shoulder.

“Chief Runihura might have been called for an urgent matter of national security.” Obichukwu himself was afraid; he found it hard to believe what he had just said. This was a time of uncertainty and generally, no one was safe. Alex walked towards the parking garage but stopped at the end of the walkway. Just the other day he had thought things would not work as planned, he had just returned from where he made the final arrangements for his wedding with the priest when he heard the news over the radio, he had been greatly disturbed and thought of nothing but the wedding. He was afraid the wedding would be canceled. It wasn’t until his father had told him about the telephone call to Chief Runihura that he calmed down.

“The wedding should go on.” That came as a surprise to everyone as they all turned to look at Akaliza.

“Why? I mean this wedding can’t go on without your father,” Alex said, walking up to Akaliza. He held her hands and looked into her eyes because it’s the happiest day of his life, but not for it to turn out like this.

“This is what my father wants, for this wedding to go on. He might have been called for an emergency meeting, but he wouldn’t want us to stop or hold the wedding till he comes.”

“I think she is right, this is what Chief Runihura would have done,” Obichukwu said.

Alex watched as everyone walked back into the church, he turned and looked at the garage for the second time, something wasn’t right and the feeling was obvious. He was so carried away with a false imagination of something bad happening that he didn’t realize the service had started. It took the husky voice of the priest who was announcing the opening hymn to knock him back into reality.

He that finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favour from the Lord