Know Thy Man Ep06: Dear Diary

Hi there! The days seem to be going by rather quickly, don’t they? Yes, like some of you have guessed by now, no character is safe with me. I want to dispel the notion that any of the people are ‘perfect’, because that is the truth- even with us. We all have secrets and skeletons beneath the perfect picture we present to the world, and I hope that the lives of these characters will make us brave enough to confront them. This is where we left off. Special shoutouts to those who had been hoarding the episodes until this week. I see you! 😉

Peter meant to tell her. He honestly did. The whole story.

It was an accident, he told himself. Or was it?

But that night when he got home to find Ewuraefua beaming with smiles, he could not find the courage to open his mouth. He owed her that much. So, he held her in his arms until she fell asleep and then went downstairs to the garage to deal with his demons. Almost as though he was afraid that someone would read his mind if he thought about it, he waited until he was seated in his trusted Mercedes S63 AMG 4Matic car, with the doors locked, before he allowed himself to think about what had happened.

That week, he and Ewuraefua had been fighting every other day. He was so frustrated that he had moved to the guest room so that at least he could sleep in peace. Of course, Ewuraefua played the ‘you are abandoning our marital bed’ card but he could care less. He wasn’t reading his Bible or praying  either, because he knew his conscience would move him to make peace with Ewuraefua and he wasn’t ready for that just yet. He needed to prove a point.

So with his prayer and the Word- starved angry self, he walked into the kitchen, just to pick up a knife to slice some bread, when he saw Tonia. Her back was turned to him so she did not see him. It was impossible to ignore her dress- it was hugging her body in all the right places. His eyes followed the ‘border lines’ the dress had drawn. He knew that that was the time to walk away or flee, like his Men of Valour President advised the day they spoke about temptation.  Everything else was just a big mistake after that. Even remembering it right now made him think of her perfume-it was a mixture of sandalwood, bergamot and berries. at least it smelled like that. He scowled down at the bulge in his pants like it was a traitor.

This never happened. 

And that was how he had lived with it for the last 3 months- by convincing himself that it had never happened.

What he didn’t know was that Ewuraefua had confided in Tonia about his behaviour. The pit in her tummy widened as she reassured her friend that her husband loved her.

‘Ewuraefua paa? How can you think like that? You know Peter loves you. He is probably just stressed out from work. Don’t go looking for issues where there are none. He will come around. Besides, are you not the one who told me to pray about issues rather than fret about them.’

She watched her friend bow her head in prayer. Her throat suddenly felt dry. She swallowed and blinked the tears of guilt away just in time to chime an Amen to her friend’s prayer. She hated lying to her, but she was more afraid of what the truth could do to her.

---

‘Oh no Guen Jam-Di!’

‘Are you kidding me, Adjeley? It is bad enough that you stay holed up in your pyjamas all day watching these Korean drama shows, but tears? Come on!’

Adjeley cocked her head and looked at her cousin.

‘You don’t understand. You see, Gu Jun Pyo has finally-‘

‘Trust me, I am not even remotely interested.’

‘Fine, suit yourself. You are missing out on some good stuff. Boys over flowers is lit mehn!’

Tonia knew that Adjeley’s addiction to the Korean series was just a way to while away time when she was waiting for Nii to call back. She didn’t want to seem clingy or overly dependent on him. She was afraid to need him any more than she already did.

A buzz from her phone made her stop midway pouring a glass of water.

‘It is Mr Gym Instructor, isn’t it? I can tell from the way you are smiling.’

Tonia ignored her and walked out of the room.

Paa Kow had surprised her. He was sweet and possessive at the same time, without being overbearing. He could drop by her office with food every now and then. He wasn’t a cook but he knew where all the good stuff was. He had showed her where to get the best waakye, fried yam, bambara beans and banku in Accra. He was surprisingly good with children. She discovered that the day she met Zainab.

It was the day she had decided to spend her Saturday in the gym. That was the first time she was seeing another 4c lady there. Most of the other ladies had weaves or permed hair. Zainab had twisted hers and Tonia could see from where she was seated that she made time to moisturize her hair. The strands looked full and rich. She had also dyed the ends a brown hue, giving everything a nice blend.

Zainab was the one who spoke first.

‘I bet people also ask you if they can touch your hair.’

Tonia laughed.

‘Aaaaall the time! Hi, I am Tonia. Never seen you around here.’

‘Zainab. You are right. I am new here.’

They smiled at each other, a new friendship based on the woes of natural hair forming.

Tonia walked her to the reception, all the time trading hair product secrets. They found Paa Kow playing with her daughters Sadiyah and Sherifah there. They were such polite girls- two years apart. Tonia would later discover that she was a single mum and that the man she thought was her husband was actually married to someone else, with five children. Upon discovering this, she asked for a dissolution of their traditional marriage and changed her children’s names to her maiden name. Finally, they had moved from Takoradi to Accra for a fresh start.

‘You are in the right hands. We’ll show where to find the best food Accra has to offer.’, Tonia said before turning to wink at Paa Kow.

---

Kafui had a throbbing headache. Her mother was coming to visit. She could already hear the complaints.

You don’t feed him often enough. Look how small he is!

Let sunlight into your rooms. The house looks dark and gloomy.

I have told you that cloth diapers are better than disposable ones.

Stop stirring the stew so often.

Why have you lost so much weight?

The weight loss campaign was working. She was making strides rapidly, probably because Tonia was such a taskmaster. They had struck a friendship- the two of them. She liked that she could count on Ewuraefua for godly advice but Tonia also had a uniqueness to her. It was easy to tell her the most scandalous things- nothing could shock Tonia. She had ended up telling her about the anal sex. As expected, Tonia was ready to match up to Prosper and give him a piece of her mind. Kafui liked that there was someone she could tell about these things because sometimes it felt like the burden was eating away at her very soul.

---

Kuuku was fretting again. Even after singing to him and reading to him, he still refused to sleep. His mother was at her wit’s ends. After an hour, she finally succeeded in getting him to fall asleep. She was heading downstairs when she noticed that the light in Esowba’s room was on. She found her sprawled on the bed with her books around her. Ewuraefua started packing the books away. Her eyes involuntarily fell on her daughter’s familiar scrawl in one of the books. Her breath caught in her throat by the time she was done.

Dear Diary, today I met my real mother…

See you next week!