"I got a man," she broke the news just like that. "I'm now a married woman, mum." the crying resumed.
Ruth never reacted to the news at first. She continued staring in her daughter's eyes to see if there was any truth in them. A few seconds later, she buried her lips in her palms.
"What!?" she shouted, unable to contain the big news in her ears. "Are you serious Elizabeth?" Elizabeth nodded in agreement. "Oh God thank you for healing my daughter of her suffering." The woman's sharp voice and gestures in the air caught attention of everyone around. "Why didn't you tell me earlier so that I prepare you my darling?"
"You had taught me everything I needed to know, before you came here, and if there was anything you missed, I surely learnt it along the way. Ruth squeezed her daughter's hands as both women cried. "There's only one problem." She ended the fine moment with the tensile statement.
"What is it my daughter?"
"I haven't opened to him intimately. It is still not easy for me, mummy." Ruth closed her eyes at the sound of that. It was obvious that she felt so useless because she wasn't able to protect her daughter from the ravages of the world.
"It takes time to heal dear."
"It's been so much time, mama. Am now scared."
"Don't be scared Elizabeth," she whispered.
"Father Saul has been telling me you've fully recovered from the past. You know, he is the only one that comes to see me.
"I too think so before entering the bed with my husband. I fear any other possibilities if I don't fulfil that duty as a wife."
"It's not prison, Liz," she refrained. "If you don't want sex, take your time. If he really loves you, he will understand and wait.
"For how long mama, Eh?"
"I don't know but I'm quite sure it won't be forever." Their hands were locked in each other like a zip. They paused and looked at the guard who was approaching their desk. Elizabeth glanced at her watch and knew what the guard was going to talk about.
"It's time up," she spat in midair, without any change of facial expression. She was a fat dark-skinned lady, probably in her late forties. Her neatly tucked in uniform betrayed her principled character she'd been hiding behind the unreadable facial expression of hers. She never moved a step away after informing them. She wanted the them to do the needful as soon as possible.
"Please stop avoiding Father Saul," Ruth begged. "He is now like your father. Let him guide you always."
"Okay mama, I should go." She concluded, wasting no minute to stand up.
"Okay dear, but please visit me more often."
Elizabeth didn't reply to that. She touched her mother's cheek and rushed outside as tears washed off the make-up she'd painted allover her face. The sun outside was on a rant. The burning rays could boil water. Elizabeth sat in the car and thought for a few minutes before setting off.
*
St Geraldine's Chapel appeared exactly the way it was two weeks back on the wedding day. Elizabeth stood outside and after seconds of consideration, ambled towards the entrance. The doors were widely open like on the day of the wedding before she matched along the aisle to make the vows with her husband.
Father Saul was kneeling at the altar, in his black priestly attire, kneeling, probably making a prayer. Elizabeth tiptoed to the front and sat on one of the benches of the first row. It was as though Father Saul heard, or sensed someone behind him because he immediately finished his prayeror meditation, or adorationand looked towards Elizabeth's direction. He sauntered towards and sat beside her.
"Good afternoon Elizabeth," he greeted.
"I need to make some confessions Father," she ignored the proper opening and jumped to the point.
"Anything you want," he obeyed and gestured to the confessions box. Elizabeth followed behind the man, and entered the other side of the box.
"Forgive me father for I have sinned before God and before man," she began.
"May God grant you the grace to repent your sins as you confess them," replied Father Saul.
"I still linger in the past, father. My heart is as hard as stone and it's not easy for me to forgive Elijah and my dad," she paused for a moment and continued, "I feel trapped in the memories they created in my head."
Father Saul listened to everything she had to say. The confession turned into an intimate conversation filled with emotions and laughter. It seemed that Father Saul knew how to awake the hidden smiles of Elizabeth.
After roughly two hours, Elizabeth cane out a very different person. She returned home and decorated the house with flowers and waited for her husband.
*
Seth returned a few minutes later from work. He was dumbstruck by the change in the house's environment and smiled.
"How did it go?" He asked, acting unmoved by the obvious change in the environment. A smile on his face betrayed him.
"Welcome back darling," Elizabeth was also interested in Seth's game. "How's your day been?" She drew closer and massaged the shoulders of the exhausted man. Seth smiled, impressed by his wife's tactics.
"You're sure you're not going to tell me about your meeting with your mother?" he continued playing.
"Not before you stop playing silly." Both smiled as he embraced the hands moving tactfully along his shoulders. He pulled her to his side and kissed him. Each shared the other's warmth in a series of cuddling and before they knew it, they were completely woven on the bed, searching for the unknown from each other's body. Despite the bumps and humps Elizabeth put as they drove to that place, they finally made love for the first time.