His Only Wife

by Peace Adzo Medie

  “Lawyer?”

  “Yes, lawyer! Do you think I’m sitting in that flat waiting for Richard to stand up to his mother? Please. And the best part of it is that this one’s mother is dead,” she said and laughed some more, almost spilling her drink.

  “How can you say that?”

  “What? I didn’t kill the woman. She was dead before I ever met her son. And he doesn’t have any sisters, only one brother who lives in the UK. You have no idea how easy my life is. I don’t have an entire clan breathing down my neck over one man.”

  “Does he know about Richard?”

  “He knows that Richard is my ex and that the flat I live in is his flat.”

  “And does Richard know about him?”

  She laughed again. “It’s none of Richard’s business. You know, Richard is one of those men who doesn’t want to be serious with you but also doesn’t want anyone else to have you. All I can say is that I like living in his flat and I will stay there for as long as I can. When the time comes to move out, I’ll move out. The Ganyos are not the only ones who have put mortar between cement blocks in Accra. In the meantime, he and his mother can parade their doctor around as much as they want.”

  “But don’t you love him?”

  “Yes, but I love him with my head. I’m not going to waste my life on a man who lets his mother tell him who to marry. A grown man with a pot belly and receding hairline who is afraid to tell his mother what he wants. I deserve better than that. By the way, how are things with you and Eli?”

  I looked around to make sure that none of the workers were in earshot. “It’s fine,” I told her. Eli and I had settled into a comfortable truce since I fell and hit my belly on the steps. He was affectionate. We had been socializing more since Selorm’s birth. Last week we were at a reception at the American ambassador’s house; Eli was friends with the woman. The week before that, we saw a play at the Conference Centre. There were fewer late nights and he worked from home some weekends. When at home, he enjoyed playing with Selorm. He had begun teaching him how to swim, much to my alarm. Two weeks ago, my mother and I had stood at the edge of the pool, clutching each other in terror, as Eli submerged Selorm in the water. Selorm had cried out the first couple of times but after had moved his arms and legs as if he’d been swimming his whole life and Eli had laughed at my distress.

  We didn’t talk about the woman. I knew that he still saw her. He had to rush out of the house more than once because of an emergency with Ivy, and I understood that. He had to spend time with his daughter. In fact, he usually told me when he went to see her and I greatly appreciated that. I had asked him several times to bring her over to spend time with Selorm. I wanted them to get to know each other; they were brother and sister after all. Eli had promised that he would talk to the woman about it but nothing had happened yet. I suspected that the woman was being difficult, punishing the child to spite Eli and me. I planned to ask him again. It was Selorm’s birthday in a week and the whole family was coming, I wanted Ivy to be there. I knew he would agree with me; he was being very reasonable. He had agreed for the entire house to be redecorated. The ornate furniture, paintings of people, none of them black, on horseback and in various uncomfortable poses and the heavy damask curtains were gone, replaced by a modern look. At least now it looked like we lived in a house in Ghana and not in a palace in England. And the sex was better than it had ever been.

  “You actually did it,” Evelyn said after I told her all of this.

  “Did what?”

  “Got the man.”

  I smiled. I had long ago stopped thinking about this as some kind of task or challenge and had embraced it as my life. I didn’t get the man. I was with my husband and son in our home.

  “Congratulations!” We clinked our champagne flutes and laughed. But the irony of the situation was not lost on me. In her story, I was the doctor, the one Aunty approved of, and she was the other woman. But I didn’t dwell too much on Evelyn’s relationship. I had a party to plan. And hopefully, I would soon meet my stepdaughter, and Selorm, his sister.

  Twelve

  I would have been happy with a small party. A birthday cake, homemade food, some games for the children in our backyard, but Eli wanted a big party. He wanted an event planner, a caterer, a photographer, a DJ, a live band, a clown, a petting zoo, everything. He wanted to rent out the entire Efua Sutherland Children’s Park but I talked him out of it. We settled on Fred’s and Cecelia’s backyard, which was much bigger than ours.

  “I can only imagine what you people will do when he turns ten,” my mother said as she watched the organizers lug in the poles that would hold up the white canopies. She, Mawusi, Nancy, and I had arrived at Fred’s house at seven that Saturday morning to oversee the setup, although I quickly realized we didn’t have to do anything. The event planner, Grace, had arrived before we did and by ten had completed the entire setup. The canopies were up, the tables were set, a kiddie pool complete with fake palm trees was in place, and an ice cream stand was in one corner of the yard, while bouncy castles, a slide, two swing sets, and a jungle gym were installed in the other corner. A small fenced-in area with rabbits, tortoises, and two lambs was beside the playground. Only among rich people in Accra would rabbits and sheep be considered a novelty! There was a machine that dispensed toys to the children and a sandbox with treasures hidden in it. The chef and his servers arrived soon after and set up in the kitchen. There were four different birthday cakes and an assortment of food for the children and adults. There was a bar and a grill station. Yaya had brought one of her South African friends to man the grill.

  “They grill a lot, all kinds of meat,” she explained to me when I asked why we had to bring him instead of using the chef.

  “Are you paying him?” I asked her.

  “No! He’s a bank executive. He just likes to grill,” she said that morning, and sure enough he showed up in his chauffeured car, grilling tool set in hand. I’d never had a white person do anything for me before. What a day.

  Yaya wasn’t the only Ganyo on site. Cecelia and Fred were there, making sure things were running smoothly, and I suspected also keeping an eye on everyone who came into their beautiful house. Their daughters were also there, playing with Selorm in the sandbox. I worried that they would find and open all of the hidden treasures before the other children arrived but Eli wouldn’t let me take him out of the sandbox.

  “He’s enjoying himself, leave him there,” he said, tickled at his son’s antics. I left Selorm with Mawusi and Nancy and went inside. Aunty was in the kitchen with the catering team; she had come the day before and slept at Fred’s. When I entered, she was trying to tell the chef that the rice was undercooked but he was ignoring her, much to my delight. The man was chef at a five-star restaurant for goodness sake, but this woman wanted to teach him how to boil rice! She was now walking with a cane but could still make her children jump when she wanted. At least she was in the kitchen and not outside where the rest of us were. I went back outside.

  At about eleven, Eli and Richard were inspecting what the organizers had done and asking for some things to be moved around. They wanted the petting zoo farther away from the food. Yaya was with them for a while but then left to make sure that the DJ wasn’t going to block foot traffic into the house with his huge speakers, and Fred was out front making sure the extra security people who had been brought in knew where to direct guests to park and also to ensure that only people with invitations were allowed in.

  There wasn’t anything for me to do so I went upstairs to get Selorm dressed; we had asked people to come at noon.

  “Which one is he going to wear?” my mother asked. We were in one of the guest rooms and I had six outfits laid out on the bed. Mawusi and Nancy were already dressed and were outside with some of my relatives who had come from Ho. Tɔgã Pious was at the enstoolment of a new chief in Vakpo and couldn’t make it, thankfully.

  “Probably all of them. You know he will be dirty in thirty minutes and I will
have to come and change him.”

  We agreed on blue shorts, blue shoes, and a white T-shirt to begin. I also added a gold chain and bracelet that Eli had had made for him the week before. Once he was dressed, my mother took him downstairs while I showered and changed into a white knee-length dress with a boat neckline and short sleeves. It was simple but lovely, a gift from Evelyn. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be at the party; Richard had come with the doctor who I had spoken to briefly when I went into the kitchen. She was really sticking to Aunty’s side; she had obviously figured out that that was the only way she would end up with a ring on her finger.

  Evelyn laughed when I told her this over the phone. I was dressed and sitting on the bed.

  “I don’t care,” she said.

  “That’s good,” I told her, even though the dip in her voice told me that she did care. That she wanted to be here with Richard. But she was too proud to admit that to me.

  “Take lots of pictures—I want to see everything.”

  “Don’t worry, there’s a professional photographer and she has about five assistants, all taking pictures and shooting videos. You won’t have time to look through all of the pictures.”

  “Okay, good. And enjoy yourself. Remember that this is also your day, you are also celebrating you. You have gone through so much. Think about where you were two years ago, and where you are now. You’ve come so far; you came and showed these rich people that you’re not to be messed with and you have your husband and a happy home. How many women can say the same?”

  “I know, I’m blessed.”

  “Is Ivy coming?”

  “I don’t think so. Eli went to pick her up this morning but came back without her. He said we would talk about it later. I was really hoping that she would be here. I really want her and Selorm to get to know each other. Imagine if she could spend some weekends and vacations with us, then Eli wouldn’t have to be running back and forth between two homes. Even Aunty said this when she last visited. I think the whole family wants to have her near. You know the woman won’t even let them visit now. At least when she was in the house, she allowed them in every once in a while to see Ivy, but now Eli is the only one who sees her. It shouldn’t be that way.”

  “It’s a shame but I also don’t blame her. I mean, they did kick her out of the house and she hated them before all of this even happened. Can you imagine how she feels now?”

  “You’re right. But the child shouldn’t suffer because of it.”

  “Look, forget about this for now, go out there and have a good time. Today is your day!”

  And I did have a good time.

  There were so many people, some of whom I had never met before. Chris and Ade even flew in from Nigeria. There were way more adults than children, and without the decorations and play stuff one would have thought it was an adult’s party. Even the First Lady was there, invited by Fred. They had become good friends while on the campaign trail together. The gift table soon became the gift room; even people who had never met Selorm before came with gifts. I suspect that many were trying to curry favor with Eli and his brothers. The children also had fun. There was so much screaming and running around that it was a miracle no one got hurt. I left my mother to run after Selorm and took a seat at a table with Sarah, Mawusi, and some of my other cousins from Ho. I had barely begun to eat before Cecelia walked over to the table with the First Lady.

  “This is Eli’s wife, the mother of the celebrant,” Cecelia said as she introduced me.

  The First Lady shook my hand and we chatted for a few minutes. I mentioned that I owned a boutique in the tower.

  “Yes, I know it. My assistant has shopped there for me before and I just love the things you make. Your bags are exquisite,” she said.

  “Thank you.”

  “No, thank you for such excellent work. I’m always happy to see young women doing so well, and all while balancing a home and children. Your husband must be proud.”

  “He is,” Cecelia said. “We all are.”

  I beamed. The First Lady promised to be in touch; she wanted to order some dresses for an official trip she would soon be making. I gave her my card.

  “The student has passed the teacher,” Sarah said when I sat down.

  “Oh, please, you started sewing for important people before I even knew how to sew,” I told her and we both laughed. I think she was happy for me.

  After eating, Mawusi and I walked to the ice cream stand.

  “Can you believe all of this?” I whispered to her, even though it was so loud around us that no one else could have overheard our conversation. We were standing beside the ice cream stand. Aunty, my mother, and a couple of women from the Women’s Guild were hovering over Selorm, ready to pick him up if he even wobbled. Eli, Richard, Chris, and others were sitting around a table, deep in conversation; I knew they were talking about work. Yaya was dancing with her nieces, Fred’s daughters, and Fred and Cecelia were seated at a table with the First Lady and some big people from the government.

  “Can you believe this?” I said again to Mawusi.

  “Yes, I can. If anyone could do this, it was you. But let me confess that there were times when I thought you wouldn’t make it. Remember when you first moved to Accra and he wasn’t coming to see you, and then you moved back to Ho. Those were times when I thought everything was going to come to an end, that you were going to lose him.”

  “But you didn’t tell me.”

  “Of course not! What good would it have done to tell you these things, as if you weren’t worried enough? But what is important is that you made it through. Now they are all benefiting because of you. Free to come into your house, to see Eli whenever they want. Look at how many times he has visited Ho this year alone. Remember they said he stopped coming because of the woman?”

  “Hmmm.”

  “In fact, they should throw a separate party for you, to thank you for saving their family.”

  “I agree,” I said and laughed. “Have you and Yao decided on the wedding date?”

  Yao’s family had performed the knocking ceremony in January and they were trying to decide on the date for the wedding.

  “I want to do it around Christmas.”

  “Why Christmas?”

  “You know I love Christmastime. And by then I will have graduated and hopefully begun working.” Yao already had a job with one of the telecommunications companies. Eli had helped him get it.

  “A Christmas wedding would be nice.”

  “But when are you having your wedding?”

  “My wedding?”

  “Yes, your church wedding.”

  “Ah, I haven’t thought about that in a long time. And who has the time for a wedding now? Between work and Selorm, I have no time for myself, and you know we’re expanding the business.”

  “But it doesn’t have to be a big wedding. You can just have a simple ceremony and have lunch with a few relatives and friends after. A lot of people are doing that now, mainly to save money, but it also makes sense for someone like you. It’s really just a formality, but it’s important.”

  “I remember you thinking that this wasn’t a big deal before. What’s happened?”

  “Nothing really. It’s just that I’ve been thinking a lot about my own wedding and the importance of formalizing things and of having the proper paperwork for everything. And with the church wedding, there can be only one official wife. All the traditional marriage does is recognize you as the first wife, but not the only wife.”

  “But what stops a man from marrying a second woman traditionally even if he already has done the church thing?”

  “Ah! You can’t marry someone in church and then go and marry another person outside. It’s not done! I don’t think you have anything to worry about with Eli, but still, why not go ahead and do it? You have nothing to lose.”

  “That’s true, even though I haven’t thought much about this recently.”

  “Because things are going so well?”

&n
bsp; “Yes. But you’re right, I should make it official. I will discuss this with Eli.”

  “Good.”

  The party went on until midnight. Some guests took their children home and came back. My mother went home with Selorm, and Aunty retired upstairs. Those who had come from Ho reluctantly boarded the bus that Eli had hired to bring them; they were the last to leave.

  “Did you enjoy yourself?” he asked me as we drove home. I could barely keep my eyes open.

  “I did. Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For organizing everything.”

  “I didn’t do anything,” he said and reached for my hand.

  At that moment, I felt my heart would burst with joy.

  Thirteen

  Eli and I were scheduled to travel to Paris in two weeks. Joanna, his assistant, had braved the chaos, inefficiency, and corruption at the passport office to get my first passport about a year before. Getting a French visa had been easy; all I had to do was attach bank statements from one of Eli’s accounts to my application. We had done all of this while I was pregnant, but of course traveling during that time was out of the question. Not when I could barely make it down the stairs on most days. And after Selorm was born, I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving him for more than a day and was too busy getting the boutique ready for our grand opening to travel for leisure. But now that Selorm was a bit older and I could depend on Ellen and Nancy to manage the boutique and workshop while I was away, Eli and I had agreed to take a one-week vacation to Paris. I would be a liar if I said I wasn’t excited. It would be my first time on a plane and we would be going to Paris of all places. I’d seen movies set in Paris, the glamorous people and the fabulous clothes. I planned to visit as many boutiques as I could to see how mine compared and what new ideas I could get. Joanna had booked a suite in a small hotel close to the Louvre and in addition to visiting boutiques in the shopping districts, we were going to see all of the sites that I’d only ever before read about and seen on TV.