The Wedding

I was never the type of person to worry about how I looked; I mean, my physique, but that morning, I realized though, as I was looking at myself at the bathroom mirror, that, I looked shorter than usual. A cigarette butt was taller than I was. Maybe, the mirror had a problem with me that morning. It seemed that, everything in this flat was picking on me these days. Why would I look so short this morning? A week ago, I looked fine, not an inch taller, but still, I looked fine. I then, moved further away from the mirror, dropped the towel that was around my waist, and did an Arnold Schwarzenegger impression, when he won the Mr. Universe in 1970, and that actually dampened my spirit more, because, I looked very funny, ridiculous is the correct word. And then, it dawn on me, that the mirror hated me this morning. Of course I could understand all this, why my mirror was hating me, my air conditioner seemed to be getting hotter per minute that morning, my flat looking gloomier; the thing is, with my flat, I had been living there for the past six years. And today, I was moving out, for good. It was my wedding day...I was getting married!

The funny thing about getting married is, everyone, tells you, it is one of the best days in your life. Just like your first day at school, or realizing that you have failed matriculation and had to redo another year in school, where every teacher was celebrating that you will never come back! Well, apparently, I was solely mistaken, as I was about to discover a few moments later.
I looked at myself again, and then started dressing up as the church service would start in an hour's time. The tuxedo looked good on me. I smiled at myself. Sure, I was looking good.

"Knock, knock, knock!
"Knock, knock, knock!
I quickly moved from the bedroom to the kitchen.
"I'm coming" said I.
"Knock, knock, knock!
"Okay, okay! I said I'm coming! I screamed out.
I looked at my wrist watch; it was still early for my ride to the church. I opened the kitchen door. I couldn't believe who it was. She looked radiant, beautiful, ravishing. She stood at the door, for a minute, I forgot my manners, I just stared at her. My heart was pounding furiously in my chest as if it wanted to come out. Her beauty was amazing. I could smell her perfume, which was like thousands of wild flowers and roses. She smelled good. One would have easily mistaken her for a famous celebrity or a beauty queen.
"Aren't you going to ask me to come in", she asked. I just stared. No words could come out from my mouth.

"If you want me to go, I will," she spoke again.
"Oh, excuse me, for staring, it's just...it's just, that you look beautiful!, I said, with a smile.
"Thank you," she replied.
"Please, please! Come in, I'm sorry," I said apologetically. I opened the door wide, for her to enter, and I moved to the side.
"Please, let's go to the lounge," I said to her.
"You looked handsome," she said to me.
"Oh Thanks," I replied.
"Is it me or you look taller the usual? She asked. Then, I knew, that, that mirror hated me.
"You think so," I said, with a grin in my face, thinking that when she leaves, I'm going to break that mirror. We sat across each other in the lounge room.

"Can I get you something to drink? I asked her.
"No thank you," she replied. She looked as though she had something very serious she wanted to tell me. I shifted with discomfort in my chair. I sat there, waiting for her to tell me; that, she loved me with all of her life; and that today, was the best day of her life. And that, we were going to spend the rest of our lives together, and she did not want any disappointments, especially from, me.
"What's up?' I asked concerned.
"There is something I want to tell you," she said, looking at me guardedly, as though, she secretly knew that I was wired with explosives, and she was waiting for me to blow in thousands of pieces.
"What's up Baby?', I asked again, nervously. I stretched my right arm towards her, longing for her touch, but she did not let me touch her. She was acting as if, she was about to go to jail for failing to stick to her diet, and was embarrassed to tell me. This, was the woman I was going to spend the rest of my life with, in just a few hours from now! Bongi was here name.

"What could be so difficult that she cannot say to me?' I thought to myself.
My mind began to race again.
"Is Bongi having pre-wedding jitters?", "Is she going to call off the wedding?" " Is Bongi doubting my commitment to her, after all this time?' all these questions raced through my mind. " Maybe the mirror was right, she didn't want to say it, and she did not want to marry an exceptionally short man! "Why would she comment about my height after all these years? I started having a panic attack. As a child, when I had a panic attack, my family doctor taught me a way to control these attacks, because when a person had them, some people will go unconscious, just imagine having them while driving or making an omelet! They will just fall face on the steering wheel or on the frying pan!

So my doctor taught me that every time I felt an attack was coming I should... bark. Yes! Bark like a dog! "Woof, "woof". For a young child, it was okay. I used to enjoy it, especially during exams! All the other kids would laugh at me, but it made me popular at school, and they gave me a nickname "Woof Boy". But for a grown man like me, it was the funniest sight! And I always avoided situations that would lead me to these attacks. Unfortunately, today was not one of these days. One time I was in a bus, traveling from Nelspruit to Barberton. The road to Barberton is very beautiful, with sharp bends, with magnificent scenery of the mountains and the Hilltop valley. The bus driver happened to mention that the brakes of the bus were not working! Everyone in the bus panicked! "How could he drive for such a distance without knowing that his brakes were not working?" I asked myself feeling angry. Of course, that was the same question many had in their mind. That's when the problem started. I began to have a panic attack. Again, the only way I knew to deal with it, was to bark!

"Woof, "woof"
"Woof, "woof," I barked again. Passengers in the bus started looking towards me with surprise. They... were screaming to the driver, and I was barking. The more they screamed, the louder I barked. They thought I was going mad.
"Woof, woof," I continued to bark. People started laughing in the bus when they realized I was serious with my barking. They all forgot about the bus not braking, they laughed so hard, that no one knew when the driver managed to stop the bus. I was never so embarrassed in my entire life.

So when Bongi saw that I was about to have my panic attack, she quickly rushed to me, from her chair, and knelt right before me as if she was proposing marriage. I was already trembling, and preparing myself to bark. But then her smooth, soft hands, when they touched mine, I felt a great relief.
"Baby, she said; "I don't think I want to marry you!" She said. She stared me right in the eyes, as though she were looking for an alien hidden in there somewhere, and was talking to that thing instead of me.
"What?' I asked, the words shot out of me like a bullet.
"I said, "I don't' want to marry you anymore", she repeated.
"Yeah, yeah, I heard that, but why???' I asked her.
"You said you don't' think you want to marry me, not you don't want to marry me." There is a difference you know, I lamented.

"What happened?" I asked her again. My fiancee has just told me that she "didn't' think that she can marry me. How did that fit into the scheme of all things?
"I don't know, Bongi said.
"Well, I realized that we did not belong together" she continued.
"We don't belong together?" I asked her, sliding further into the sofa I was sitting in. It seemed I was getting smaller and smaller, every time she spoke.
She looked like an enormous giant, while kneeling in front of me, and me sliding deeper and deeper into the sofa.
"Bongi," we are about to get married in less than an hour, and you are telling me that we don't' belong together? I said to her. Then suddenly I wondered.
"Are you feeling sick?"
Or are you drunk?
Or are you testing me?

"Come on babes; tell me what the problem is." I said again to her.
"I Deserve the truth, at least!, said I , looking straight at her eyes.
She had beautiful eyes. And this morning, they looked even more beautiful. They were gleaming like a bright star!
"What is wrong with me", I thought to myself, "this woman is dumping me on my wedding day and I'm thinking about her eyes!
"The truth Baby, is, its' your Father! She said.
"My dad!, I asked her; What does he have to do with anything?" then a thought race through my mind. He must have had said something that had hurt her, and that is why she did not want to marry me anymore!
Oh, what a relief I had in that thought. For a moment, I thought, she was seriously dumping me on my wedding day.

"Honey", Bongi, Sweetheart", I said to her; "If it has to do with my father, we will solved it after the wedding."
He is no problem to our marriage, after all you love me, not him, and you are marrying me, not him", I said confidently, assuring her all will be alright.
"No, you don't understand", she said.
"Don't worry about him", I will sort him out, when we return from our honeymoon", I told her.
And them it came. Bongi's Big Announcement.
"Baby, the reason I'm not marrying you is, I'm in love with someone else, and I'm in love... with your Father, and have, for some time now." Bongi said to me.
"What?" I asked her, fighting a wave of panic attack that was rising in me.
I wanted to scream at her, "you can't do this to me, we are getting married today," You are my fiancee! But in a blink of an eye, she longer was. In a matter of moments, she had become a stranger to me. My heart was as though it had been hit with a battering ram, which had not only shattered it to bits, but driven through it.

"When did this happen? I asked her.
"Last year", she said calmly.
"It was Valentine's day", she added with absolute precision.
"What had I done wrong on Valentine's day? I asked myself. " I hadn't' slept with any of her friends; I remember well, I bought her a Valentine's day gift. It was expensive, I was broke for three months after I bought her that gift, I took her out for dinner that day', except, when, on that very same day, I fell sick because I have had too much to drink and my father offered to provide company to Bongi! Could it be that moment when they fell in love? "I asked myself.
"Why Valentine's Day?" I asked her,
It was our special day", I continued her.
"When I return from the park with your father, I just knew when I looked at you, that it was over! She said with certainty. I couldn't' understand this.

"Why my father, why not any of my friends", I asked her out of desperation.
"What did you see in him? The man is 68 years old for God's sake! What is wrong with you woman!' I continued.
"He is funny, he is intelligent, he has a lot of experience, especially in bed", she said.
"That's too much information for me", I told her. Though, I wondered, how could she compare me with my father? He is an old crow for all I care.
"Where is he now? I asked her.
"He's waiting in the car, outside", she replied.
"Themba and I, thought, it was best if I spoke to you." She told me.

Themba was father's name. No one called him by that name. Not even my mother when she was still alive. And now, she, Bongi, my fiancee, was calling him with his first name. If I were to go outside now, and say" Hey Themba, please come in and let's talk man to man". Of course, he would beat me up to a pulp, not because I invited him to come in, but because I called him by his first name, that's how strict the man was. So Bongi must have been pretty special to him to be calling him by his first name.
"So this is it? I asked her.
I had realized that it would be futile to fight for her now, although, she should have warned me about this before. I had already spent money on clothing, invitations, food and other things. A church is packed, right now, waiting for us to come. That was never going to happen.

"Yes, this is it, it's Good-bye, Mandla! She said, with a tear on her left eye;
"I will always love you".
"You love my father now", I said to myself. Then, a car horn sounded outside. "Bonk, bonk!" It was Themba calling her. It was time to go. I guess, my father was feeling that she has spent too much time with me already. She was his now. My Bongi.
As she stood up to go, I couldn't' help notice that, she was crying with only one eye, I felt bitter, that, my Bongi, my precious Bongi, could not even shed more tears for me. "Bang", only one tear and she wiped it quick and it was all finish.
She walked slowly out from the lounge room. I followed her. She stopped.
"Please, don't', she said. "Don't' make it difficult for yourself, I will find my own way out" she told me.

"What a nerve this woman had, I thought to myself; "coming into my house, dumping me on my wedding day, and now instructing me not to move outside my own house". Nevertheless, I stopped following her. She went out the kitchen door. She stopped. She looked back once, and then closed the door behind her. Then a few minutes later, a car door slammed outside. I could just imagine her telling Themba that it was done, it was all over, they can continue with their lives without fear. And the engine started running. I knew it was over. I went back to the lounge, sat there and closed my eyes, and wept like a baby for my lost love!

"Mandla"
"Mandla"
"Open up Mandla". Someone was calling my name.
"Open the door Mandla", it's getting late", the voice shouted to me.
What had happened? I looked at myself. I was smartly dressed; I had my rented tuxedo on. As I was about to go and open the door, suddenly, my cell phone rang.
"Hi Baby, I can't' wait for us to get married today", I hope you are ready, your friends should already be there to pick you up", said the voice. It was Bongi. My Bongi!

Then like a lightning bolt, it hit me, what had just happened. While I was waiting for my ride, I fell asleep on the sofa and had a dream!!! All of what had just happened was a dream!

Like I said before, getting married was the best day for any bride and groom, and now I'm off to my own wedding...