Broken 3

I woke up very late the next morning. It was a Saturday so I wasn't worried at all. I rushed for my phone immediately after my morning devotion. Just like I suspected I had two messages. One was from Kevin but the second wasn't from Pablo but Daisy. Daisy wanted to know how the night went. Kevin's text was the surprising one. He invited me to come over to his place that afternoon to talk. That was all he said. He didn't even say what about. I told him I would be there. There was only one thing he was likely to say, that he wanted us to get back together. So all it took was a night out with a Spanish guy? I smiled and went to look for breakfast to eat.

Daisy called me that morning. She wanted to hear all the juicy details. I told her the story excluding Pablo's kiss. "Kevin almost caused a scene." She said. I shook my head. She wasn't getting the point. "He sent me a text today. He wants us to talk. I will be going there around 3."  I said. Daisy didn't like the idea at all. "What does he want to talk about? You shouldn't go. I mean now that you are moving on he wants you back? This guy is so annoying." She said. I wasn't happy with the way she was talking. "Daisy is there anything wrong with him wanting me back? We can make it work." I said. "Maggie, I'm just trying to remind you that he hurt you. He cheated on you..." She explained but I wasn't amused. "People work out their issues and go on. If Lawrence cheats on you will you leave him?" I said. There was a brief pause. "Wow, you know what? Do whatever you want." Daisy finally said. I could tell she was upset. She made an excuse and got off the line.

That afternoon when I got to Kevin's place I couldn't help reminiscing. His car was parked at his usual spot and dirty as hell. I was the one who always insisted he wash it. So much so that we had a car wash party every other Sunday afternoon. We would play loud music, wash the car and eat a heavy meal afterwards. It was fun. I called him when I got to his gate and he opened the door instead of picking my call. It startled me a bit. "Hey." I said. He signalled for me to come in.

His place had changed a little since I last visited. It was obviously a mess but not that bad a mess. I sat on the couch and looked at Kevin. He seemed a bit disoriented like he had just woken up from sleep. "If this is a bad time I can come another time." I said. He shook his head and told me it was fine, that he just dozed off a bit.

When I first met Kevin I was instantly attracted to him. It wasn't just his good looks that had me sprung, it was his way of life. He was very relaxed, took things a day at a time and really liked to have fun. That was the exact opposite of me but somehow I felt we could create the perfect balance together. He felt the exact same way, well at least that's what he told me. He said all his previous relationships with bad, free spirited women never lasted long. He wanted to commit to me because I was different and that was it for me. I fell for him. Surely it sounds foolish of me but when a person who doesn't care much for a lot of people shows that he cares about you there's something you feel inside. Daisy warned me not to date him and that guys like him came with lots of baggage but I didn't listen. I had found Romeo and that was all that mattered. It's hard to explain how special Kevin made me feel. I was smitten.

After our first few months of dating I could have sworn we would get married! The problems came after the 5th month. Kevin started going out more without me. He called me less. He was doing a course at the same time so I felt studying and working at the same time was taking a toll on him. Daisy one day suggested we pay him a surprise visit. Just to prove to her that Kevin was faithful I decided to do it. To be honest I also wanted answers myself. So we went to his place. He was surprised to see us.

That day he was awfully weird. He kept texting. Then there was a knock at the door. Kevin  quickly went to the door. All I could hear was whispering. Daisy turned to look at me. "Go and see who is there." She said. That my friend is such a spy. I nodded and walked towards the door. When I got close I heard a lady say "So who should take me? That wasn't what we planned Kev".

Kevin noticed me too late. "Hi!" I said to her. She looked like a student and was holding what looked like a weekend bag. It angered me that she was younger than me. She looked exactly like the type of girl Kevin said he didn't want anymore. "What's going on? Is this your girlfriend? Should I tell her everything?!" She asked Kevin angrily. He tried to close the door but I just shook my head. Kevin yelled at the girl and told her to leave. This made her even more angry. She wouldn't allow him to close the door. At this moment I had seen enough. I went for Daisy and told her we should leave. There were already tears in my eyes. As we left Kevin came to me asking me to stay and that it wasn't what I thought. He said if the other lady meant anything to him he wouldn't be begging me to stay. We left and I never came back until this day.


To be continued... 
Don't forget to follow my blog :) 

The bed next to mine

The sound of talking woke me up. It came from the bed next to mine. The girl there was called Aku. She got more visitors than anyone else in our ward. Maybe it was because her case was the worst. I heard some nurses discuss her condition while she was asleep before. They said it couldn't be helped. Her cancer was detected pretty late. Someway somehow I preferred her situation, not the dying part obviously but the fact that they knew exactly what was wrong with her. Me on the other hand it seemed the doctors were not sure what I had. Several tests had proved negative. I didn't want to die but my hope of surviving seemed slimmer every single day.

"Let's pray. Fafa would you join us? "Aku's mother said looking at me." No thank you." I said. I noticed the disappointment in her face but I didn't care. She just nodded and turned to her daughter. Aku's older brother held her hand and they begun to pray. They did this everytime they visited her. I wondered why they even bothered. after that they showed her messages and presents from family and friends. Aku seemed to enjoy all of this. Even though she was in a lot of pain and other times a bit too high on morphine she managed to smile and giggle at most of them. That day for some reason she laughed more and even spoke more than she usually did. It was almost like she was getting better. Maybe the nurses gave her the perfect dose of morphine.
 
When visiting hours were over her family gave her their usual hugs and kisses and left. Then the room became normal again. I must say I preferred it like that. No one to blurb about unrealistic hope from God. Just the silence to allow a bunch of dying people count the remaining seconds they had left. That's what Aku had that night, a number of seconds left but she didn't spend it doing a countdown.

"Fafa, are you asleep?" Aku asked. I turned to look at her and told her I was awake. She smiled at me. She was one of the few people in our ward that actually smiled. For some reason I couldn't help but smile back. "What is it?" I asked her. She had a question for me. She wanted to know why I refused to pray with her family anytime they asked me to join them. I shrugged. It had happened 2 times. The first time I pretended to be asleep but today I didn't think there was a point pretending. "God doesn't listen to us." I said. I wasn't really in the mood to talk but then again I was curious as to where she was going with her questions. "Oh but he does." Abu said sharply. She went on further to talk about how God loved everyone. I stopped her by asking her why God would leave us here to die. She was silent for a moment and then said something I will never forget. "You know micro organisms right?" She asked. I nodded with the most confused look on my face. "Do you think bacteria understands algebra? That's how we are with God. There is no way we can understand him but if we trust him we will see his love for us." she said with the warmest smile. She was right. I never thought about it that way before but she was right.

Aku passed away that night in her sleep. Tears rolled down my cheeks when the nurses came for her body. She was such a lovely person and just when my hard heart was softening she left me. Her mother came to collect her things and walked over to my bed when she had packed everything. I had no idea why she would come to me. She stretched her hand and gave me an envelope. "Aku asked me to give this to you." She said. Her eyes were red from either lack of sleep or constant crying. It was probably both. She formed a weak smile and turned to leave. I called her back and said "Don't worry, we will see her again." She nodded and smiled again but this time with less pain in her eyes. I saw where Aku got her warm smile from.

When I opened the envelope with my wobbly hands I saw a little note in it that said, "God does everything for a good reason." It's like she read my mind. After her parting words the night before I had been asking God why he put us in such a situation. My eyes watered again. I closed my eyes and for the first time in a long while I prayed to God. If I was going to die I wanted to go peaceful like Aku did. Her mother said goodbye to me and immediately she left a bunch of doctors walked into the ward. They walked to Aku's bed and called a nurse when they say it was empty. There was one foreign doctor among them. A skinny white man. The Ghanaian doctor expressed some amount of anger towards one of the nurses. I heard him whisper "you should have told us that she had passed away. We've brought him all the way from the conference room for nothing" in Twi. Just before they turned to leave the Ghanaian doctor turned to me and to his fellows. "Doctor Bainbridge I'm sorry, the patient with Leukemia passed away last night, unfortunately. Perhaps you can take a look at this case we have been battling with?  I know this type of cancer is not your speilciality but how about we look at it?" He said. The white doctor nodded and they all turned to look at me.

After a brief inspection, a few tests just like magic Doctor Bainbridge knew how to save me. It wasn't cheap but he gave my family contacts to a few NGOs in his country that he thought could help us. He was right and after 2 surgeries and some physiotherapy I was back to normal. The whole thing seemed completely surreal. Aku was right. God did listen to my prayer. I decided to set up and NGO in Ghana that would help the sick build their faith in God. Just like how God turned my life around, I wanted to share this with others too.There was just one name I had in my head and that's why I named it, The Aku Foundation.

A piece of Julz

It's funny how little we care about things till they happen to us. For a decent number of years before I was diagnosed I used to make jokes about scoliosis. I called and I still call chairs with curved back rests Scoliosis chairs. Back then I had no idea what was going on in my own back. All through high school and Senior high school I had some pains in my back but it was for short periods of time and not severe so I never paid attention to it. You see I was a very sporty person. I played basketball and swam a lot so the muscles in my back were pretty strong.

Having a swimming pool in my hostel during university and joining the basketball team there kept me on a relatively good path. The problem started when I graduated from University and joined the working class. No one ever prepares you enough for that. When I think about how 'stressed' I felt in school as compared to working a 9 to 5, I just laugh. Goodness I sometimes even wish I was back in school.

Moving on, I wasn't exactly carrying bags of cement or bending over to pick cotton, I was doing the usual office administration work but a lot had changed.

l  I was sitting for long hours.

l  I was standing a lot waiting for the bus to and from work

l  I wasn't getting enough time to play basketball

l  I rarely went for a swim because of proximity to the pool

l  I spent hours sitting at my desk on my computer even when I was working from home

Things had clearly changed. The pain in my back got worse until I went to the hospital. I had an x-ray done. Isn't it funny how the person doing the x-ray always hides when he's about to take your x-ray? Lol. A week later the results came and it said there was nothing wrong. I thought “hey, maybe it's my chair at work so I spoke with my boss and we had it changed. The pain also changed, it got worse. My neck also joined in. My mother who is a retired nurse told me to go and see a specialist, an orthopedic doctor so I did with recommendation from my brother-in-law.

I took my X-rays with me. The doctor studied them for a while, examined me and asked if I had certain pains. He was 100% spot on. You know how excited you get when someone describes an exact feeling? I was almost smiling. He diagnosed me with a mild case of thoracolumbular scoliosis. This simply means that between the thoracic and lumber portions of my spine it is curved slightly, in my case, to the left. He further went on to tell me that I didn't need surgery (woohoo!) but I would have to wear a brace :-( , a lumber support to be specific. He also advised regular swimming to strengthen my back muscles. “Why swimming?” I asked and he told me that because of the water it would put less strain on my spine itself while still strengthening my back muscles. Plus it was a cool (low temperature) way of getting a serious workout.

After that day I have had a completely new lifestyle. I wear a lumber support (which makes me a size bigger), I sleep on an orthopedic mattress, I take a decent amount of pain killers, I don't wear heels and try to swim as often as I can. So many things have changed. Scoliosis does that. There are times when the pain gets so overbearing it disturbs my mood and all my plans go out the window.

Rather than feel sorry for myself, I looked for ways to make my life cool and fun again. So I

l  Got a swimming partner :-)

l  Got a tablet to do all my computing needs while I lie down in bed

l  Altered my clothes so my lumber support doesn't look odd

l  Stopped my 9-5 and ran my own business. Check out zedighana.com 

l  Found a number of swimming pools close to me

Living with scoliosis is hard but the honest truth is that when you plan your lifestyle well, the pain will reduce drastically. I haven't gotten to the point where I go weeks/months without aches and pains but I'm constantly working hard to get there. God doesn't give us anything we can't handle :) 

Scoliosis :  a medical condition in which a person's spine is curved from side to side. 

Eli's wife 10

Eli opened his eyes. When he turned around and saw Sena sleeping he knew it wasn't a dream. He stared at her for a while. Just then his phone rang he quickly muted it but it was too late. Sena's eyes opened slowly. She smiled when she saw him. "Good morning." Eli said, smiling back at her. They went downstairs and had breakfast together and left for work.

Eli walked into his father's office with Sena behind him. Sena looked around and saw her father passing with his hands folded at his back. She knew something was wrong. "Eli, I hope you are proud of yourself now." Her father said. Eli looked at his father-in-law and at Enyonam, Sena's sister, confused. She picked up a newspaper and gave it to him to read. "What is this? What's the matter?" He asked reading the article. Enyonam shook her head. "Since you haven't heard I'll tell you. He has been invited to be interviewed on Political Truths tomorrow night." She explained staring straight at Sena.

"You two caused this. Your fishing for the truth has created a perfect way to launch someone's career. People are interested in this guy and he says he has evidence." Enyonam shot at him. Sena took the paper and read it as well. Her sister was not overreacting as she thought. The person had information on Tina, Doctor Richard and was going on air to shed more light on the matter. This journalist shared her exact suspicions. Finally, she wasn't the only one who thought the President had something to do with Tina's death. Sena looked at her father, not sure of what to say. "How could he have found this information? Could the doctor who examined Tina be behind this?" She asked. "I was going to speak to the stupid journalist but Dad said no." Enyonam said. Sena explained to her father that it was best they spoke to the journalist. At least if they knew why he was doing this they could figure out a way to solve this. Her father told her he wanted to discuss the matter with President Tamakloe first but listening to Sena he finally agreed.

  Enyonam parked her car and looked around. Eli stepped out of the car first. "A parking lot? This is the most cliché meeting place I've ever heard of." Eli said. Enyonam was going to comment when Sena gave her the 'calm down he's not serious' look. They waited for a while and heard footsteps. Then Sena's heart missed a beat when she saw Charles walk to them.

"Hello, sorry I'm late. I just had to wear a bulletproof vest and let my work mates call the Police if I don't return in 5 minutes. Yes that's all you have got, 5 minutes." he said with a wide smile. Sena was frozen. Eli just stared at him. "We just have a few things to ask you." She said and turned to Sena. She didn't budge. She just stood there. Enyonam rolled her eyes but before she could ask anything Charles spoke again. "Sena, my baby are you alright?" He asked mockingly. Eli took a step forward and said, "What is wrong with you? Leave my wife out of this." Sena's head was down now. She could feel the tears forming. "Oh so your wife didn't tell you about... us? Such a shame." Charles said smiling. Enyonam looked at Sena and saw a tear drop. "Sena, what's he talking about?" Enyonam and Eli said at the same time. "All those nights she came home late, she was spending good quality time with me."  Charles said and walked away.


To be continued ...

Eli's wife 9

 

Eli folded his arms and watched his father. His father pulled the appropriate golf club and walked to his ball. "What is this I hear about you talking with Richard?" He said after his swing. Eli shook his head. "I knew this wasn't a father and son leisure activity. Why didn't you just call me to ask me about this?" Eli said. His father kept looking in the direction his ball went. He signalled to his cabby and they wtalked that way. Eli followed reluctantly. "It is very unfortunate that Tina passed away. You need to let it go." President Tamakloe said as they walked. Eli explained to his father that he would not rest until he found out the truth about his ex girlfriend. President Tamakloe pointed to Sena, who was on the other side of the golf course playing mini gulf with Afi, Eli's sister. They were both laughing. "That is one of the strongest and most influencial women in this whole country. Love her and she will get you straight to the top." He finally said. Eli knew how amazing Sena was. He had known that since they were little. There was even a time he felt she was out of his league but Tina's death left a hole in his heart.

  On their way back Sena asked Eli what the conversation with his father was about. Eli shrugged. She stared at him for a while. "I think your dad may have something to do with Tina's death." She finally said. Eli turned to look at her like she was mad. "What? Are you crazy? My dad is a lot of things but a murderer is not one of them." He shot at her. Sena expected this reaction. She told him to put the evidence together. Eli just shook his head as he parked inside their garage. He told Sena he was too tired to listen to her nonesene. Just before he went to his room he said, "My dad really likes you. You on the other hand...err goodnight." He said and slammed  his room door shut. Sena felt bad. She felt like talking to someone about it. She called Charles but he didn't answer. He hadn't returned any of her calls for two days. She sent him a text message.

  The next day Eli called Sena when she was at work and told her he spoke to the doctor who took care of Tina. The doctor said the unknown compound he found in her was confirmed to be fentanyl a strong pain killer and that amount couldn't kill her. Eli added that he knew Tina was self medicating because she had a  knee problem. He told her not to bring up his father taking part in Tina's death anymore. Sena politely apologized.  

It had been a whole week since Sena heard from Charles. She drove over to his apartment to see if he was ok. When she got there she knocked on his door. He came out  and stood at the door staring at her. He wouldn't let her in. "Why what's wrong?" Sena asked taking a step back. Several thoughts went through her mind. Is there another woman in his room? Did he finally find out she was married? He looked at her sternly. "Sena I'm sorry but this, what we have, is not working so let's just end it here." Charles said. Sena looked into his eyes. For a moment she didn't know what to say. Then it hit her. She asked him if it was because she wasn't ready to sleep with him. He shook his head and later told her to leave. He had the courtesy to say he was sorry and closed the door. Sena stood there without words for a few minutes. Slowly tears fell from her face. She wiped them quickly and rushed off.

  Sena met Eli sitting in the living room with a glass of Vodka. She sat next to him. Before he could say a word she collected his glass and drunk everything in it. Eli turned and looked at her. She signalled for him to pour some more into the glass. "Whoa, are you sure? Someone had a crazy day today." he teased. Sena put her hand in her pocket and brought out her wedding ring. She put it back on and stared at it.

  Eli watched her as she drunk some more alcohol. He cheered her on and Sena laughed. He had clearly never seen this side of her before and neither had she. "Eli is there something wrong with me?" She asked. Eli looked at her in surprise. "Of cause not. What's wrong? Everyone loves you. You are amazing." Eli said. "You think I'm amazing?" She asked. Eli nodded. "Yea, why do you think I married you?" He said. "You were forced to marry me, silly." Sena said hitting Eli with a pillow and they both laughed. After a moment of awkward silence Sena leaned over and kissed Eli. For the first time in a long while Sena felt no guilt at all. She was making out with husband and it felt amazing.

 To be continued...

Eli's wife 3

Breaking the news to their parents that they intended to postpone their honey moon was hard for both Eli and Sena. Eli lied about work he had to do and Sena blamed it on bad health. At least they had their way in this one. The couple left the hotel to their own house. The presents from the wedding filled a whole guest room. The house was big, modern and very beautiful. It had a big backyard and a nice little swimming pool. When the movers came with some of Sena's stuff she put them in another room. She wasn't planning on sharing a room with Eli. He understood. The house was easy to live in. There was a maid who did the laundry and cleaning, a cook and 24-hour security man. Eli introduced Sena to the staff. He wasn't sure how things would go with Sena in the house but he could only find out.

The very next day she went to work. She had plans to meet Charles for lunch and she did. Just before she got out of her car she noticed her wedding ring on her finger. Her heart missed a beat. She took it off immediately and put it in her pocket. Charles looked more charming to her for some reason. They ordered food from her favorite restaurant and talked. She never got tired of talking to him. He loved talking to her too. She was the most straight forward and honest person he had ever known, or was she? Sena was glad Charles didn't pay much attention to local media or else her little secret would have been out. As she listened to Charles talk and laugh she realized her life wasn't that bad after all at least that moment wasn't.

In Eli and Sena's matrimonial home, both of them lived their separate lives. They could go for days without a conversation. Each one had their own room and Sena eat in her room when Eli was sitting at the dining hall. One evening, about 10 minutes after Sena came back from work she heard a knock at her room door. It was Eli. She asked him to come in for the first time since she moved in. "There's a fundraiser we are to attend. The Charity ball. It's on Friday at 7." he said noticing the changes in the room. He dropped the invitation card on her bed and turned to leave. Sena didn't want to go. It was just an event for wealthy people to show off. Her father made it a point to always attend and his donations were always among the biggest. She knew she couldn't get out of this one.

On the day of the Charity ball, Sena wore a beautiful gown and her husband, a lovely suit. Just before they entered the hall Eli grabbed Sena's arm. "Everyone is going to ask plenty questions. Act like we are the happiest couple in the world so they don't need to ok?" Sena was caught off guard but she nodded in agreement. Eli was right. She put on a fake smile and they walked in. It was just as always, expensive suits, rich kente and evening gowns that cost a lot of money. There was a jazz band playing and a performance by a renowned highlife artist. In no time at all Sena and Eli were surrounded by people congratulating them. "We were surprised you two got married. Your fathers are so close you would think they cooked this up." The Minister of Finance said to Eli. He smiled and nodded almost unsure what to say. "Technically they did. Eli and I grew up together and just fell in love." Sena said quickly and held his hand. He nodded relieved. The man seemed convinced. Sena and Eli pretended to love each other the whole night and their parents were so pleased. When they got back home, Sena went to her room and Eli his without saying goodnight.

Eli waited for Sena to leave the next morning and drove to Tina's house. She had started talking to him again but the conversations were never the same. She was not the same. He managed to convince her to take a ride with him so he shows her something. Tina agreed and they drove to his house. "You want to show me your wife? Really, Eli?" Tina said when they got there. Eli shook his head and told her that Sena was not at home. He just wanted to show her something. She got out of the car and they walked upstairs. He showed her Sena's room. He explained to her once again the nature of their marriage. "We are just together on paper." Eli said. He took Tina to his own room and pulled open the wardrobe. Tina saw some of her clothes neatly arranged. She even saw her toothbrush in his bathroom. Tina smiled. Eli held her close and kissed her. She kissed him back. Then she felt his cold wedding ring on her face. "Eli I can't do this. You are married." She said and rushed out of the room.

To be continued...

My demons

I sit alone in the corner of my room

Through the window I can see the moon

When it gets darkest they all come, one by one

I'm in a dark room waiting for my demons to come

I always get startled, never see them arrive

Then again they don't knock or ask to join me

They just come, sit with me and we talk about me

I'm in a dark room and my first demon just came

"We should be drinking our head off so we dont have to think"

My first demon said. It's all about pleasure for him

Sometimes he makes sense so I grab a bottle

I'm in a dark room drinking with my demon

  Another came making noise so I told him to hush

"Oh come on, don't worry about other people"

That's what the selfish demon said. He had a point so I didn't

I'm in a dark room having fun with my demons

My demon of lies came when I was exhausted

"You guys I have work tomorrow", I said

"Call in sick. You worked hard last week", my demon said

I'm in a dark room listening to all 3 demons

When sunlight comes my demons will be gone

My head aches from the drinking.

My neighbour comes to warn me about my night noise

I was in a dark room but now I'm not so my demons are gone

I'm at work with a headache. I couldn't call in sick

Why do I entertain my demons? They hurt me

Maybe I should get rid of them...with the Light

No more dark rooms. I'm sending my demons away for good

If you meet my boyfriend

If you meet my boyfriend tell him I tried

I put up with so much and yet he still lied

Every time he hurt me, a bit of me died

So please, if you meet my boyfriend tell him I’m tired

If you meet my boyfriend tell him I’m in pain

It was always about him, always what he would gain

Never considering my heart and it drove me insane

If you meet my boyfriend tell him my tears are pouring like rain

If you meet my boyfriend tell him we just don’t belong

He is an amazing person but works much better alone

Even though I want to stay, my heart knows I have to move on

If you meet my boyfriend please tell him I’m gone



Painting by Thomas Saliot

Where were you?

This was taking longer than I ever thought

People just kept coming, even more than a lot

Old faces, young faces, familiar faces and new faces

All dressed in black trousers, shirts, kaba and dresses

I looked around and saw some particular ones crying

All I could think in my casket was where were you when I was dying?



All I needed was 500 Cedis for an operation

No necessarily in full, could have even been a little donation

But all I heard was 'I don't have money, ask this person or that person'

I must say learning about the cruelty of man is the hardest lesson

A lady cried out and said, "We know his soul is going to heaven"

I wish I could ask her, where were you when I was dying?



When I looked at my little brother I wished I could talk

To tell him not to be like these hypocrites but to be strong as a rock

To care for people when they truly needed a hand


And trust in the Lord way more than the people all around

If you meet my brother, please tell him that I'm trying

To give him this message and that I'm happy he was beside me when i was dying

OMG he's cheating! (part 8)

“Errr I mean if there ever was, you shouldn’t be worried.” I replied sweating in her air-conditioned car. She slowly parked by the side of the road. She seemed strangely calm.“Adoley I know you know something about Sesi seeing somebody else so please tell me.” She said, ever so politely. There was no way out for me. “Naa I would have told you about it but I wasn’t sure myself, you know. I was just checking to make sure, you can never be too sure…” I stuttered. “What’s her name?!” Naa screamed. “It’s Zeba.” I answered to save my life. She turned away and sat up straight in her seat. “It’s good you told me. Here I was mad at him because he was invited to go golfing with my dad this afternoon and he forgot. You know my dad doesn’t like him, right? I had to force my dad to give this guy a chance and he foolishly blew it. In fact, I’m fine and I don’t want to talk about that jerk again.” She said sadly. I decided not to probe any further because she had started to drive into the road again.  

I was to spend my Saturday writing a list of the things I needed for my exhibition and go shopping on Monday but all I could think about now was my cousin and her jollof and big boob loving boyfriend! Soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend. I felt so bad about it. Me and my big mouth! I spent a whole hour in my studio without doing anything. The guilt was just eating me up. When I saw Sesi calling I knew I was finished. 

Sesi: Your cousin dumped me. I hope you are happy now! You just had to tell her.

Me: Sesi I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to tell her. When I saw her angry I thought she already knew. Why would I do anything to hurt her?

Sesi: You know what? I’m going to send a complaint to your workplace. You broke the confidentiality rule. If I’m going down, you are going down with me!

Me: What? Has it come to this? Hello?...

He hung up on me! Eii this boy, was he serious? This wasn’t good kwraa. I tried calling him back but he wouldn’t answer. I rushed up to the kitchen and met my mother cooking. I walked over to her and asked. “Mum, I’m in a bit of trouble. Well not yet but it’s on its way.” I said. “That kind of reminds me of how I felt after saying I do.” She replied and giggled. My mum is so dry! Well maybe it was funny but not at that very moment. She noticed she was the only one laughing and stopped. “Ok, what is it?” She asked. I took a deep breath and replied. “I found out a caller from work was cheating on someone I knew and I sort of told the person by mistake.” My mum stopped stirring her soup and looked at me. “She dumped him and now he is threatening to report me to my work people.” I added. “Oh Adoley, maa aba? (why) You told me you wouldn’t discuss these things with anyone.” She said. “When did you tell her?” She asked after thinking for a while. “Last night.” I answered feeling worse than before. “Well that’s not too bad. The secrecy can only be used against you if you are an employee but your contract ended before. The charges won’t be major. They just not hire you again. You just lost a great opportunity for your art work.” My mum explained. Now she cared about my art work. I felt like disappearing. 

My mum convinced me to sort things out with Sesi or else I would lose everything so I went to Naa. Yes, that was my plan. “Naa, please just talk to him. If he chooks me I’m finished. I need this job.” I begged. She was at a salon near her house having her hair done. I wasn’t a bit shy of the people eavesdropping. I was wild like a tiger! Naa was just not minding me. How selfish could she be? Unfortunately this didn’t just remain a thought. I actually asked, “How selfish can you be?” Naa turned and looked at me, disturbing the hair dresser. “What do you mean? I’m sorry but I’m the one who has been cheated on here.” She shot back at me. Ok fine I deserved it. “Naa I’m sorry.” I said and decided to shut up for a while. She noticed I was silent and pulled up a phone from her bag. “Hello, no we are not going to talk about anything. I heard you want to sue my cousin for telling me the truth. Is this true? Ok, good. Listen I’m really hurt now. I have to go.” She said and hung up. “He just used you to get to me. He wasn’t serious about what he said. You can go get your dream job now.” She said in a very dull tone. Wow, that was good news with just a 3 minute call but I didn’t feel as happy as I should. Naa was hurting and here I was thinking about myself. “Thank you.” I said and she nodded. “Won’t you go? All is fine now.” She said to me. “Naa I’ll just stay here and hang out with you. Where are you going from here?” I responded. She turned and looked at me with a smile…the first I had seen in two days.

I spent the whole weekend with my cousin. At least it was the least I could do. We went out shopping, watched movies and ignored Sesi’s calls. I didn’t though. Eii who was I to do that? He kept calling me and telling me to talk to Naa for him. He literally sent her 22 apology texts (approximately 88 Pesewas, oh but that isn’t much, ahiaa) and called every hour. I could tell he wanted her back real bad but did she want him?

To be continued...