Moses and I made much effort to make sure the sign language and the Braille writing style got into the school curriculum of the normal people. It was all joy for us. My
books were launched and sold all over
the nation. I
became a celebrity, but a shy one.
Journalists all wanted
to speak with me—they would have to
learn the sign
language first, or else they should forget
it all. Now people
began to see reasons why they should
learn the sign
language—James my uncle was a living
example. He had
eventually gotten married to Mrs.
Omotayo. When I asked
my aunty the reason why my uncle had
to remarry, she
enlightened me so well.
“Rose, indeed it is supposed to be till
death do us part, but
in a situation whereby the other partner
is discovered to
have fornicated, then divorce and remarry
is allowed. She
took me through the scripture and I read
it myself; it was
shocking to me.
Within two years of their marriage, they
gave birth to a
baby boy. My aunty, Rachael also gave
birth to a baby
girl. It was all joy.
In the prison, Toyosi took ill. Her
stomach hurt her so
much that she had to be rushed to the
hospital. Her womb
was discovered to have been damaged
due to the abortion
she had in the past. For the first time, I
felt pity for her
because no matter how long she lived,
she would not be
able to have a child.
I had left Secondary school and I had
proceeded with the
tertiary institution. The college was also
a private one
owned by the same person who had the
secondary school
I attended.
I was only a young graduate, just twenty-
three years
when Moses proposed to me. It was a
great shocker.
“You want to marry a disabled?” I said in
amazement.
“A disabled? Never!” Moses said. “How
will I marry a
disabled? Rose, it is you I want to marry,
Rose the
celebrity, Rose the Able sign language
maestro, Rose the
Medical Practitioner. Can you let me into
your life?”
I wept as I remembered my father’s bad-
mouthed talks
back then. Did he not say that I can
never have a good
husband, if at all I would have any?
It was like a dream when everything
began to set. I would
now walk down the aisle with
Immaculate Moses. His
father didn’t object to our marriage at all
because he
loved me dearly. I thought Biodun would
get angry
whenever he heard of our wedding
proposal, but
shockingly he was the happiest person
on earth that day.
Now I knew youthful lust shouldn’t have
anything to do
with the future—Biodun had just
exemplified that. I prayed
he had his own partner soon.
Moses was twenty-nine, but already a
very established
lawyer. He was ever grateful to me for
providing the
platform through which he met the
justice, Mr. Joe. If it
hadn’t been for our court case, he
wouldn’t have come
across the man who made him have an
easy ride through
his profession.
My father would have to bless the
wedding, no matter
what, so we went to the prison to receive
his blessing. I
knew he would detest the idea, being the
same man who
said that I would never get married in
life. I thought he
would shout at us, having stayed over
four years in the
prison, but to my amazement, the man
was sorry for what
he did:
“Nobody is useless; nobody is disabled;
everything is
about mentality,” John wrote to me. “If I
come out of here
alive, I will let the whole world know that
everybody is
able!”
To Be Continue
