Wedding bells were ringing, everyone was so happy, except Lydia, she wasn't sure how all this happened. Date was set to be on her birthday, her birthday? Come on.
"No, no, no, this can't be right, not on my birthday, please Jesus, this can't be right," Lydia cried.
Knowing of pass issues, Lydia knows better of course, than to cry for her mom to see. Her heart was crying out for help, her head spinning in circles, there's no way out, it seems.
Preparations went on as Lydia thought of how she can get some help.
"How do I get out of this Mess?" thought Lydia.
Lydia had no one on her side except her two sisters, Ruth and Rose. They grew closer together as they grow older. Their mom got angry when ever she saw them hanging out together.
As they continued on with the preparations, Lydia thought of seeking the advice of an old family friend, Margaret Hampton. She visited the family ever so often, when ever she had spare time. She was the principal of a nearby school in the area.
Lydia's parents entertained the first wedding ceremony of their third child. Lydia the third of ten children, was about to get married. Her uncle, her dad's brother, pleaded with him, not to get their daughter married to this guy Ronald, they are not nice people, he told them. He claimed that he personally checked out this guy and he's bad news. Lydia's dad ignored what his brother was saying to him and carried on with the preparations.
Lydia got a message sent to Margaret, letting her know that she would like to have a word with her, concerning the wedding and that her mom should not come to know of their talk.
Margaret called her out one day as she came to visit and asked if they could go for a walk. This is the chance Lydia was waiting on, Margaret was highly educated, smart and hopefully full of advice. So we thought. Lydia had hope, that all is not lost.
Margaret got straight to the point of the walk, she turned to Lydia and asked her, if something was wrong. Lydia spilled, told her everything, from beginning to end. She explained how this marriage was a setup and she didn't agree to it. Margaret listened intentively and patiently, the told Lydia, if she knew this is not what she wanted, she should have spoken up.
"Why did you make your parents spend all that money, what are they going to do now?" Margaret asked Lydia.
"You'll have to try and make it through this marriage for your parents sake," She said.
"What?" Lydia could not believe what she was hearing, this woman, who Lydia thought off as so much of a person, just told her to get married for her parents sake. Margaret gaved her hope, but suddenly dragged it out of her in one tug.
"Probably they're all right, how could they all be wrong about this, it's for the best, I'll do this for them." Lydia thought.
Lydia was strong as always, obedient, full of heart and loved her parents. They meant a lot to her, she always try to do her best for them, they had a hard life, worked hard to support them, they were a large family. She convinced herself that this was going to happen and that she would use this marriage to better herself and also to remove herself from her parents hold on her. What made it more convincing was that she heard her parents speaking about her.
Her dad was saying to her mom that, "This was a good thing, that by getting Lydia married off, would be one mouth less to feed."
Lydia couldn't believe what she just heard her dad saying to her mom. She cried silently to herself, no one ever heard or saw her cry.
Whenever she was hurt or felt like crying,, she would either cry in the shower, while cleaning, washing or sometimes while sleeping. Lydia prayed a lot in her mind, her parents were critics against Christians, but Lydia had Jesus in her heart. Ever since she was a little child, Lydia started to pray to Jesus, quietly so no one could hear her, she used to hide her testament under her pillow, used a small battery operated torch light to read after everyone went to bed. She had complete faith in Jesus, believed that he knew what he was doing.
When Bob heard of the wedding he came to find out what was happening. He spoke to Lydia's mom, then spoke to Lydia. Lydia told him what had happened, he seemed to understand the situation. He said Lydia's mom explained things to him. He tried to come around everyday, not to anger Lydia's dad, but to be there for Lydia. He often told her not to worry, that everything is going to work out, they would always be friends.
Come to think of it, I feel Lydia's mom didn't tell him the whole truth, or that she told him something else.
Her birthday, today, Lydia and Ronald got married at the warden's office, it was a Monday. Even though this is not what she wanted, Lydia was very thankful for being alive and well, also that she got married under christian rights. When the warden said "You may kiss your bride," Ronald turned to kiss Lydia, but she turned her face, so that he did not kiss her on the lips, but on the cheeks.
Lydia was not a public person, she do not like crowd, especially being the center of attention, that wasn't her. On everyone's wedding night, the usual would be that the couple would consummate their marriage. Well this marriage didn't happen the usual way, Lydia was not ready to give herself to someone she didn't know, even though they were married. She hoped Ronald understands.
First two weeks of marriage things was going fine, they carried her almost everywhere, just to show off their sister-in-law, the "queen" of the village, as they referred to her. Everyone knew how beautiful Lydia was and is, not just because of her looks but she had lovely ways about her.
Two weeks after the wedding, Ronald relatives wanted a religious commitment made, they wanted her to be married over under Hindu rights.
This was all too much for Lydia, she didn't like the idea at all. When they asked the priest about it, he said they would not be able to marry over, but they can do the rituals. Well she had to agree to it, even though she don't like certain parts of the rituals. These rituals meant nothing to Lydia, but did her best in putting a sweet smile on her face.
Ruth, Lydia's sister and her boyfriend, had made a plan to run her away from those people. but that also was a failure. Ronald's relative, watched her like a hawk, they eavesdropped on her phone call and they heard of the plan and called her out on it. That wasn't such a big deal, as they heard Lydia said that she could not do that, as she was afraid.
Lydia was never one to take risks, unlike her siblings. They knew how to be out there in the world, they wasn't afraid to take risks. They wasn't always obedient to their parents, their tongues were harsh and bitter.
One week after the wedding Ronald's eldest sister came to talk with Lydia and brought with her some 'porn' magazines. While talking, Lydia had the notion that they thought she did not know anything about 'sex', so the magazines were brought to teach her.
Those people were ridiculously stupid to think that Lydia went five years in high school and not know anything about sex? Lydia was young and naive, but she was not wild.
Lydia had no choice, it was tough for her to face that man she married, but she decided to give in, try to make the best of this marriage as she possible can. She can also hold Ronald to his words of letting her finish her studies, get herself a job and be independent.