February 6, 2020, morning
“The crazy thing,” she started, “Is that after all those years, when I started to recover, I had not changed much from when I was well. I hadn’t deteriorated physically. I started to talk; I started to engage with people. Speaking of engagement, I had dinner with Leopold that night and the next.
“The third day, Mrs. Atkins said, ‘I think you two should get married. Today.’
“Neither of us argued. We had an immediate and intense attraction for each other. A strong attraction. I’m not talking about just a physical attraction. Why Kenneth, am I embarrassing you?”
“A little bit, yes, ma’am, but go on. I’m black. You won’t see me blush.”
“When people talk about soulmates, that was us. It’s like each of us was the half the other one was looking for. And it wasn’t that Mrs. Atkins wanted me out of the house; it’s just that she knew Leopold was the agent for my recovery. She knew that our relationship was right and that it would work.
“So that same day, Mrs. Atkins got us in her car, drove us to her church, and we walked into the minister’s office. It took him a moment to recognize Mrs. Atkins since she rarely attended. He was uncomfortable to see two Negros in his office. He said, ‘Now, Mrs. Atkins, if you brought them here for work, we already have custodians.’
“Leopold just laughed and said, ‘No, sir, we are not here for work. I have a job. I teach Latin at the university. The black university. Jasmine and I—Miss Jasmine to you, I believe—would like you to marry us, right now, if you would please, sir.’
“‘Well, I can’t just marry you right now because—’
“‘Because they’re black,’ said Mrs. Atkins.
“‘Well, no ma’am, of course black people should get married like everybody else, but this is a white church, and maybe—’
“‘Do you have a fee for the service?’ said Mrs. Atkins.
“‘Well, yes, ma’am, I do, but there are some other reasons—’
“‘How much is the fee?’
“‘It’s $10, ma’am. But—’
“‘I’ll give you $100. If that’s too much profit you can tithe. Or give it all to the church, I don’t care. If you don’t marry these nice people now, they might start copulating sinfully—fornicating— so they need to get married. Now!’
“Leopold was biting his lip to keep from laughing. I was blushing as much as a black girl can blush.
“‘But why did you come to this church? Why not a black church?’
“‘Pastor Davis, I am her ward. She is in love with this man—this nice, educated man. He is an atheist; he won’t set foot in a church unless he’s forced. If they don’t get married in front of you, it is unlikely they will get married and they are going to copulate sinfully. If they are married in a church, the union will be blessed by God. As for the church, the Jesus in this church is white, and the Jesus in the black church is white, so what is the difference between a white church and a black church?’”
“Oh, c’mon, Aunt Jasmine, you expect us to believe all of this stuff? You’re just making it up as you go,” said Kenneth.
“Kenneth, the marriage certificate is in that drawer that your classmate Sam was just rummaging through. It’s got the church and the pastor’s name on it.”
Kenneth did not get up to look and said, “You know I can’t read, Aunt Jasmine. How am I going to know it’s a marriage certificate?”
“May I continue?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“The minister hemmed and hawed and then agreed that in an emergency case like this and because Mrs. Atkins was a member of the church—”
“And because she was paying him a wad of money,” said Kenneth.
“Would you shut up and let your aunt tell the story?” said Larry.
Everybody was quiet. Miss Jasmine went on.
“We got married right then and there. Mrs. Atkins drove us back to her house so I could pick up some clothes and then drove us to Leopold’s house. He didn’t have a car; just had a bicycle and took buses.
“Leopold and I could not believe our new great life. Just a few days before I was a zombie. Now I was a normal person, married to a man with a sense of humor, a kind heart, and he was educated. Or you could just say he was Cupid and I was Psyche.”