Paul H. Williams, Contributor

Claris Wagerhood was young, and in love with Mervin Campbell, who was 'in love' with everybody.

He used to play the big drum and she would lead the chorus in the Pleasant Valley AME Zion Church.

She was small in size, but had a big voice. And in that thunderous voice, she rebuked Mervin on their wedding day, just as she was expected to say 'I do'.

"You were with her last night, infidel!" she bellowed.

"But, I can tell you why ..."

"There is no but to it. I should have followed my mind."

"Miss Claris ..." Pastor Bembridge interjected.

"Don't Miss Claris me, you all know Mervin was a womaniser, yet you pressured me ..."

Her mother, Miss B, rushed from her front seat towards them, held Claris and shook her by the shoulders.

"Yuh out of yuh mind, chile, are you mad!?" she asked. "Mervin is a good man!"

"Claris, let me explain ..."

"What, Mervin? You were in her bedroom last night," Claris declared.

Making a mistake

The befuddled pastor and audience gasped.

"Is that true, Mervin?" Miss Bee asked sternly.

"Yes, but ..."

"But what? If you think that wedding cake is going to waste, yuh making a sad mistake. Pastor, please carry on," Miss Bee instructed.

"Carry on what?" Claris shouted angrily. "I will not marry this infidel!"

"Chile, chile, chile of God!" Claris mother shouted, "Forget that and get over it. Pastor, how can you stand there saying nothing. There must be a wedding today."

"Well, you marry him," Claris retorted.

"What is it chile, what is wrong with you?"

"Ask him!"

"Let me explain ..., " a nervous Joycie shouted from the pews.

Claris, who had now removed the long white gloves from her hands, turned to see Joycie moving towards the aisle.

Claris pushed Pastor Bembridge and fiancé apart and turned down the aisle towards Joycie, who stopped in her track, looking very bewildered.

"Claris!" she exclaimed.

"Don't call mi name, man tief!" Claris thundered, and struck Joycie in the face with her bouquet and then tossed it into the audience.

"Friend indeed you are," she sneered at Joycie, and headed towards the door.

As Claris stormed out of the church shouting "man tief, man tief, man tief!" all eyes were now on the transfixed Joycie, who stood with her head hung low.

The night before the wedding, Claris waited in bed for Mervin.

She couldn't sleep, having been busy during the day with the preparations. When the wait became unbearable she went to see where Mervin could be.

She had always suspected Mervin was fooling around with her friend, Joycie. When she reached Joycie's gate, she stopped and wondered whether she should have gone in. Yes, she decided, and went in on tiptoe.

Mind made up

Claris circled the house. She heard voices inside, and stopped at a bedroom window. She stooped beneath the window and listened.

She couldn't hear clearly what was being said, but it was without a doubt Mervin's and Joycie's voices. After a few minutes, she slowly got up, stared at the dimly lit window, sighed heavily, and walked out of Joycie's yard.

Along the way, in the cold night, tears cascaded down her face. She was right; he would never change, the girls would not let him be, and he was a slave to their every whim and fancy.

Anger stabbed her every step she took, and her mind was made up.

At home, in her dark bedroom, she waited for him, for the lies, the excuses, the promise to change. If only she hadn't listened to Pastor Bembridge, who kept warning her about her 'sweetheart' relationship with Mervin.

If only she had not listened to her mother, who was only interested in eating wedding cake. And she was going to eat a lot of it!

Bittersweet bliss

She heard him open the door, and dried her tears with the sheet. He went back through the door.

The shower in the outside bathroom started to run, and so did her tears, gushing as she cried and shook in the bed. He was washing away his sin. She was cleansing her grief with her tears.

About 10 minutes later, he was back inside, paused, and then headed for the bed. Claris made space for him; her back turned. The bed sank as he lay down behind her and held her around the waist.

The warmth of his body felt so good, and she took it all in. What a man, she thought, if only.

Not a word was spoken between them, as she curled in a ball with him. Soon, he drifted off to sleep.

But Claris' eyes were wide open as if she were looking at the bittersweet bliss in which she was engulfed.

Yet, before he fell asleep, Mervin was a relieved man.

The burden he had been carrying since he was engaged to Claris was lifted, and he was now ready, ready to love her and commit himself only to her.

This was after the long chat he had with Joycie, about changing his womanising ways.