Six years, eleven month and three weeks (Part 3)

Taking time away from my usual routine was something I always longed for so when Derrick invited me to come to Ghana I was so relieved. He seemed so excited, well then again he was always like that. The way we met was kind of odd. He came to see my boss one day. My boss had given me strict instructions not to bother him and Derrick was all in my face wanting to see him immediately. His arrogance was amazing and I could tell from his accent he wasn’t Nigerian. That just angered me the most. “You think you can come into my country and behave the way you like abi?” I thought to myself. We had a little argument which finally turned into us being friends. He nicknamed me ‘super woman’. Then the gifts came, and the dinners followed and before I knew it we were seeing each other.

I never really liked him at first and dumped the gifts in my wardrobe but when life got tough for me with the death of my boyfriend, I felt just as vulnerable as a widow. Tolu was everything to me; even my parents didn’t love me as much as he did. I would know because I’m an orphan. Since the day I met him, my life was pretty simple. He catered for my every want and I think that was where he went wrong because he spoilt me. He knew several men hit on me every day so he made it a point to keep me satisfied. When he died I believed Derrick was a replacement but the thing about Derrick was that, he was married.

I didn’t have any feelings for Derrick at all, in fact there were times I actually pitied him. He had more to lose than I did and he couldn’t even see. One thing men fail to see is that, an affair is like a two edged nail file, as you file my nail off with it, yours is also reducing. But who was I to complain. He paid my bills, I owned the trendiest clothes and could afford to take my girls out...all five of them. Then again this money was probably just a slim fraction of what he made so he felt he was enjoying a lot while giving nothing failing to realize that this ‘nothing’ included his reputation, marriage and dignity. I guess the male mind and the female mind work very differently.

I honestly thought Adjoa had travelled so when she showed up at the hotel, I almost panicked. When Derrick came up with the Jamaican story I almost slapped him, but surprisingly Adjoa completely bought it. What a bimbo. Now I understood why he had been having an affair for all these years and she never found out. “Nice to finally meet you Adjoa. Ya hair look lov’ly.” I said to her. The Jamaican accent wasn’t hard to fake, I like dancehall music. I was just inspecting her arms. If she ever caught us, she would easily disfigure me! Don’t get me wrong, I did feel guilty but I was in too deep.

In the car with Derrick, I couldn’t help thinking about the size of his wife. Maybe she wasn’t that smart but it’s the dumbest people who are the strongest. I was deep in thought but finally spoke. “You know this game can destroy your marriage right?” He seemed to be rather offended. To think I was beginning to be concerned. Human beings are so strange. He went on and on about her never finding out. I just nodded and looked out the window till we got to their house.

Adjoa set up the guest room for me. That night was the longest I have ever seen. I barely slept. I woke up early but stayed in bed till about 10am. After all I was jet lagged. I only came out when I heard Adjoa drive off. Derrick was watching his sons play outside. He had genuine happiness in his face. I walked to him. “Good morning, I think we should talk.” I said. He turned to look at me and smiled. “Are you ready to go?” He asked. What was wrong with this man? “Auntie Denise, do you know how to play basketball?” One of the boys said, holding up the ball to me. I was startled. I didn’t know how to relate with children. I never even planned on having any. Derrick was smiling so I nodded and took the ball. “I haven’t played in years.” I said, forgetting my accent. They didn’t seem to notice. “Auntie Denise shoot!” They shouted and I did just that. Rimless! “Wow, I want Auntie on my team!” one said. “No, I gave her the ball. She’s on my team!” The other said. They were both holding on to me. I laughed my head off along with Derrick.

When we got to the hotel we had all sorts of decorations. I started to sort out the stuff immediately. Derrick hugged me from behind. “What are you doing? Leave that and come here.” He said. I gradually pushed him off. “Derrick, you have a beautiful family. You shouldn’t be doing this. Your sons are amazing; your wife is so nice.” I finally said. He wasn’t moved. “I know, that’s why I married her and had them. Denise, I didn’t fly you all the way here for nothing you know?” He replied. What was I to say to this? He kissed me and I moved away. “Ok, let’s just make this our last time ok? I promise.” He pleaded. What won’t a man say to get what he wants? The pity came in again and I refused to agree this time. He took off his shirt and pushed me onto the bed. “Derrick, what are you doing?” I asked alarmed. He had never been this forceful before.

The next thing that happened was so fast I almost couldn’t catch the details. The door flung open and Adjoa was there with two men. One was a house keeper and the other was Derrick’s younger brother. She had fury written all over her face. “Derrick so this is how you treat a relative eh?!” She thundered. If it wasn’t for the men she was with, she would have beaten me to death. I did receive a number of well deserved slaps from her just before I rushed out. I dared not go back for my bags. Unfortunately my passport and return ticket were in them. I decided not to wait an extra second in Ghana. I went to the nearest bus terminal and took the next bus to Lagos! I had lost my passport, a luxurious return and a lot of money but I had also gained my dignity and it felt good knowing I was on the right path now. I never heard from Derrick again and your guess is as good as mine.

Six years, eleven month and three weeks (Part 2)

Friday nights start the weekend and for a person who works as the nation's coordinator for an international telecommunication company it is much appreciated. This Friday wasn't the usual one with friends over at the house or sending my twin boys to the cinema. There was a very important event going to take place. My wife left the house at about 7pm for her choir practise. I gave her the impression that I was going to stay home that night.

I put my young ones to sleep and drove straight to the airport to pick Denise up. She had already arrived but I pleaded with her to wait for me. It wasn't easy convincing her to stay but it was worth it. I knew my wife closed from her practise at about 9pm but stayed to chat for about an hour more. I had approximately 2 hours. I was going to make it work. You see my wife doesn't really nag or complain but I believe the reason why she doesn't do that is because I don't give her cause to. I don'tthink I'm the best husband in the world though. No one is.

I drove Denise as fast as possible to the Valisinia Hotel. She was looking very attractive as always. When we got to the hotel, the receptionist asked if we had made reservations. I said we hadn't. He then explained that it would be almost impossible to get a room for us. I asked Denise if she wanted another hotel. 'Derrick I'm really tired. I can't be roaming around looking for a hotel. Besides you don't have all the time in the world.' She replied and I smiled. 'Look here, how about I give you a little something to make the impossible possible.' I said and handed over to the receptionist a 50 cedi note. He smiled almost immediately and quickly made a call. Before you know it we had a room. 'Someone just checked out but you must add your name to the reservations book.' He added. I took the book and wrote Mr. and Mrs. Damoah. Just then I saw my wife at the car park. My heart missed a beat. She was walking in our direction. It was clear from her facial expression that she had seen us. I drew Denise's attention and whispered to her as I slipped the hotel key into my pocket discreetly. 'My wife is here, just play along.' She nodded immediately.

'Derrick, what are you doing here?' Adjoa asked when she got to us. I turned to look at her and acted all surprised. She quickly accused me as I expected. I took my time to remember the story I planned in my head in case any such thing happened. You see, I like to plan for the worst. This story was for anyone I met at the hotel. Someone would ask, why did you select the hotel you had your honeymoon in? What other excuse would I have given to get her to believe me? Besides it seems too mean or stupid for a person to do. Exactly, when a person is half convinced, they are half deceived. Besides ignorance, the easiest way to get someone to believe something is to get them in an unsure state. Then you can capitalize on their insecurity.

After my Jamaican story I looked at Denise to see whether she was ok with it. She looked a bit irritated but concealed it neatly. My wife on the other hand was almost in tears. I don't like seeing her like this at all. I gave her a hug and put a smile on her face. She looked down at the reservations book and saw our names. She smiled even wider and suggested that we all go home and even invited Denise to spend the night at our house. She smiled and agreed. I could tell she was struggling with the Jamaican accent but this was nothing for her. As we all walked to the car,Denise started a conversation with Adjoa about the boys. They got along so well. Besides that, all I could think about was the money I spent on the hotel room along with the huge tip I made. You don't always win.

The hotel key was still in my pocket.Denise was staying for only two nights. Just for the record we are not related in any way. She lives in Nigeria. I met her on one of my trips there. That was about 4 years ago when she was doing her internship at my company's branch in Nigeria. We got together and spent a number of nights together. Ever since then she became my mistress, if you want to put it that way. Every time I travel irrespective of where I go I take a flight to Nigeria before I come back to Ghana. My wife had no idea what was going on and I intended to keep it that way. It had been a while since I travelled so I invited her to spend the weekend in Ghana.

She sat in my car as we drove home while my wife drove alone. 'What do you want us to do? The hotel keys are still with me.' I asked as we were going. She didn't say a thing, she just looked out the window. I could tell she wasn't very happy about the situation either. I thought fast on my own. 'Spend the night here with us to clear all suspicion then tomorrow morning we will go to the hotel. We'll tell Adjoa we are preparing the room for the honeymoon.' I said finally. This got her to turn away from the window. 'You know this game can destroy your marriage right?' She asked. Even though I was glad she was now speaking, I didn't like what she was saying. 'Where did that come from? You have never complained before. Is it too much for you now?' I asked offended. 'Derrick, I'm not complaining. I am cool with this. Trust me, I don't mind. I just don't want to be blamed for anything, besides it's safer in Nigeria. Adjoa might...' She nagged but before she could land I but in. 'Adjoa is not going to know anything. We are just having fun. Relax and enjoy it.' She smiled and nodded.

That night I couldn't help thinking about the first time I met Denise. Besides her extremely good looks she resembled an ex girlfriend of mine. One my wife has seen several photos of but to her was a cousin. This 'cousin', Naana dated me for 2 years when I was young. She was the oldest child in her family and the strongest. Our break-up was my hardest. There was nothing I wouldn't do for her. Everybody said she was too good for me because she was more popular,richer and finer than me. It gradually got into her head and she left me. She travelled to the UK and we lost contact. When I saw Denise I admired her so much because just like Naana, she was very confident, outspoken and beautiful. She had some 'I don't care' attitude that excited me. Don't get me wrong, my wife is very interesting, caring, loving and ideal. That's why she is my wife and the one I have children with. I do love her just that she lacks the'attitude' Denise has.

He trys

Friday, 7:30pm…
His fingers are busy typing. He turns to look at a picture of them together.
He turns away fast and types faster than before.
Boss walks into the office. “Mark, this is good work. Your raise is on its way.
He smiles broadly and looked at her in the picture again, this time a little longer.

She is lying on her bed. She reads a beautiful text he sent on her phone.
Her girls have called and asked when she will arrive.
Little black dress is hanged not far away from her and glitters in the light.
She sits up and dials his number but she can’t reach him coz his phone is not on.

Friday, 8:24pm…
He is about to take a taxi home. He is late so he calls her to let her know.
She is fuming, she is angry. “Everybody has already left, where are you?”
“I just closed I will be home in thirty minutes then I’ll come, sorry” he says.
His eyes hurt, he still has more work to do but he doesn’t want to let her go.

Friday, 9:07pm…
His father is out, his mother‘s car tyre is loose so he changes it quickly.
She calls, “Mark where are you? If you don’t want to go just tell me.”
He is beginning to get angry. He is doing all he can.
He sparks the car. He’s out of the gate. He gets a text,
‘forget it, I’m going to bed.’ She says rudely.

Six years, eleven month and three weeks

There is a clear difference between confused and acting confused. For six year of marriage I couldn’t believe it was coming to an end on such a note. It was a cold Friday evening just a week to our wedding anniversary. I was planning to surprise him by booking a weekend stay at the exact hotel we spent our honeymoon in. The very room I lost my innocence after so many years. It wasn’t the best honeymoon because I was promised we would travel to Jamaica but being with him was good enough.

Just before I went for my usual Friday night choir practice I passed by the hotel to make reservations and saw my husband holding hands with his mistress, checking into a room. My heart was pounding and my eyes begun to water. I was torn between two things, to run out and avoid reacting in a disgraceful manner or confront him immediately and what ever happens will happen. To many people the latter is the undoubtedly best option but I’m different.

As I stood there, all the good and bad times of the six years floated into my mind like the preview of a movie. We have twin boys. The most adorable in the world. The only times we ever fought was about issues that were inevitable and we made up soon after. There was never a time where we didn’t trust each other to the extent of suspecting each other of cheating. Where did I go wrong?

All of a sudden I started looking on some unknown bright side. ‘God doesn’t give us anything we can’t handle.’ I said to myself. There was probably a perfect explanation for all this. Maybe the slim, sexy lady my husband was with is his co-worker who needed a place to stay and was shy to go into a hotel so he offered to escort her and hold her hand so that it would seem like they were married. When I realized how stupid that sounded I cried even harder.

All this while, my husband and his lady were still at the front desk. I immediately felt that God was giving me a sign to approach and confront him. The clock was ticking; I had to make my move. I thought about my two boys and decided to do this. I was filled with confidence and strength. I wiped away my tears and dashed to them. ‘Derrick, what are you doing here?’ I asked boldly. He turned around and looked at me in surprise.

‘Adjoa, I didn’t expect to see you here.’ He said looking confused. I took a closer look at the lady. She didn’t look guilty at all but she looked quiet familiar. I wasn’t in the mood to crack my brains to know where I had seen her before. To make matters worse she had a little smile on her face. She must have known we were married. We were both wearing our rings. I suddenly lost my cool. ‘What are you doing checking into a room with her?’ I asked. Their expressions changed at once. ‘No Len I’m not doing that. Why would you....’ Derrick started and just paused. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He always did that when he was trying to comfort me and failed. He did that when I was having our sons, when I lost my first job and when my twin sister died. I started crying again. The thought of what he was going to say made me sad. ‘This is my sister Denise, the one in Jamaica. Don’t you recognise her? We came to book our honey moon room for our anniversary. We wanted to know if the hotel would allow us to redecorate the room. When I learnt Denise was coming town I suggested she do the decorations because she’s practically a Jamaican now. She just arrived even.’ He held my hands, looked into my eyes and said, ‘Even though we couldn’t afford to go to Jamaica for our honeymoon I hoped I could bring it to you.’ He said passionately. ‘There goes the surprise.’ Denise added with a warm smile. I was filled with mixed feelings. Was I happy and relieved or was I shy for misjudging my husband. I saw our names in the reservations book. Just then Derrick read my mind. ‘It’s ok. I’m not mad at you for thinking otherwise. I just want you to know that I love you.’ He said and gave me a hug. It felt like the first day he said those words to me. I just felt safe in his arms.

Denise’s bags were still in the car. We all drove home and I learnt not the doubt my husband again.

Me or her?

She told him all sorts of stories about me

She said I was worthless and he was stupid not to see

She couldn't understand why he preferred a simple lady

While she was a popular girl on the lips of many

"My hair is longer, my lips are wider, it's just her eyes that make her pretty"

She said behind my back but gave smiled when she saw me

She wanted him back and thought this was the key

 

I was told about his history with her

I was his girl and he wanted me to know they were a pair

I loved his honesty and knew his feelings were very clear

I noticed she wanted him back, the evidence was there

I was a bit insecure because he got closer to her

"Why don't you tell her you are with me and you don't want an affair?!"

I realized he couldn't man-up coz he had been through a lot with her

I'm hurt, I'm sad and this is just too much for my heart to bare

Last minute

You know how sometimes you get the feeling that something isn't right? I was having that feeling and it was extremely strong. As we walked through the bush, several images flashed before my eyes. Kwasi turned to look at me. "Ma guy, hurry up eh?" He said. I increased my pace. We got to the shrine sooner than I expected. If I anyone had told me that I would go see a 'prophet' in my life time I would have laughed and walked away but here I was live and coloured.

I'm sure you judgemental people are already accused me of 'sakawa' but wait till I finish eh? I'm not saying your wrong ooh, just be patient. Before I could change my mind the man came out of his shrine. To my surprise he was in a pair of jeans and a fake Nike t-shirt. I didn't imagine him like that kwraa ooh. I expected to see him in some form of rafia skirt and preferably shirtless, the kind of 'accessories' that would go with the HUT he lived in. He seemed to read my mind (or was it my expression?) and he asked "You doubt my power don't you?" I looked at Kwesi as if the question was addressed to him. This was scary, if I told the truth he might get offended but if I lied and he was indeed powerful, lightening could strike me chale so I just smiled like a fool. He grabbed an egg and threw it into a pot of water and what happened changed my state of mind immediately.

As much as my life was about to change drastically I couldn't forget how far I had gone. I had to do this because I was going to die anyway. A few weeks ago, I was in a bus on my way to Takoradi in search of a job. The foolish bus driver tried to overtake a timber truck and collided with another saloon car. Two people died and there were several injuries. I was on the side of the driver in the middle seat so I only had a few scratches or so I thought. After a couple of days I started feeling weak, had blurry vision and was sent to the hospital. I was expected to be given my malaria shots and discharged but when I saw the look on the Doctor's face I knew it was more serious than that. I was bleeding internally and it was too late to be saved. I had just 3 days to live!

It was Kwesi's idea to go to the prophet. You see, I've never known my father and my mother worked so hard to take care of my little brother and I. She used all the money she had saved to send me all the way through to the university but I couldn't pay her back properly because I didn't have a job. I was her only hope, I didn't want her money to be wasted. Besides Kwesi nobody else knew I was going to kick the bucket soon.

With a bottle of water in my hand, I was about to live the last hours of my life with a difference. That was if it worked. When I got to Kwesi's house, I drunk the water, followed the rest of his instructions and when I opened my eyes, there was so much money on the floor. I couldn't believe it! I had my whole life planned (all 24 hours of it), I would win a lottery, give half of the money to my mum, invest it in some business in the name of my brother oh and of course...party hard!!!

Everything was going on smoothly: mum was so excited, she didn't have to work so hard anymore, my brother was finally going to get his dream video game. I loved the looks on their faces. They had suffered enough and finally they were happy but I couldn't help feeling guilty. In less than 20 hours they would be crying and wont know what I had done. Kwesi seemed to know what I was going through so he put his hand on my shoulder and set up a night out with some friends. We were to have drinks and later go clubbing.

We went out shopping and bought fresh clothes, a car and went to all the hot spots in Accra. For a moment I forgot the clock was ticking. We spent so much money, money I had never handled before, made friends too.(Spend money, get friends free) Reality hit me when I realized how fake some of my friends were. People who would never look at me twice were being all nice and friendly. I sort of liked the idea that I was leaving all these fools behind. I'm sure the alcohol in my system also played a part.

Then it happened, it was about 3:20am. We were driving to another club, I was behind the wheel with Kwesi and two other girls in the car. I don't know where she came from. I happened so quickly. I slammed the breaks as fast as I could but it was too late. I rushed her to the nearest hospital. It was so scary how it happened because I wasn't driving fast. The doctor told us the girl was bleeding internally and little could be done for her. All of a sudden I remembered something the 'prophet' said, "your tragedy would be replicated by the wealth you are about to acquire". Was she paying for the money I had got? This was stupid.I started feeling weak, I guess my time was running out. The nurse noticed and put to me for screening. I was in my dying bed and all I could think about was my family and this girl I had hit.

I told Kwesi to call my family, I had to confess. My soul wouldn't rest that way. He said it was a stupid idea and my mother would die heart broken but I dissagreed. We argued and he walked away. Everytime I closed my eyes to pray I saw terrifing images and a tall man in a red hooded gown stretching out his cold, skinny arm to me. I tried to keep my eyes open as much as I could. Instead I took a pen and paper to write everything down. My state was critical now and when the nurse came and saw me writing she tried to stop me but I insisted and asked her to call my mother for me. My legs felt like they were on fire and I could hear disturbing screams and sounds. That was when I knew God was the only one who could save me but some how I just couldn't call on Hi.....

DON'T WAIT TILL THE LAST MINUTE!