His Only Wife
Page 24
I smiled knowingly.
“Why are you smiling? I’m serious.”
“I know and I will think about it.”
“There’s nothing to think about, just do it.”
“You know, I wish I was strong like you. Then I would have been able to accept him being with another woman, then I would still have him. I mean, a lot of women are co-wives and they are happy.”
“Afi, you are not weak, there is nothing weak about you. Do you hear me? Don’t even think that. It takes strength to walk away from someone you love. You were brave to say that you didn’t want to be miserable, to have your heart break every time he walks out the door. I know I said to love with your head but I’m also the first person to tell you that it is hard to live like that. It is brutal and it eats at you every day and leaves you empty. Don’t beat yourself up for not choosing that life; you did the right thing. You deserve to be happy, to be with a man who wants to be only yours.
I nodded as my friend spoke. Deep inside, I knew she was right. But my heart still needed to be persuaded.
It’s been five weeks since I moved out of Eli’s house and into my workshop. I had to fight with him over my decision. He didn’t want Selorm living in the workshop, he wanted us to move into one of his houses, but I wasn’t willing to go back to that. I wanted to live in a house where my name was on the title or where I paid rent, even if my landlord was his brother. While we went back and forth about this, we reached a compromise on where Selorm and I would live in the interim; he brought in workers to extend the boys’ quarters behind the workshop so that all of the production moved there. Mawusi helped me shop for furniture for the house while Nancy and my mother did most of the setting up. It doesn’t seem like my mother will be going back to Ho for a while. She recently joined the Women’s Guild here and has started baking pastries, which I serve in the boutique alongside the fruit juices. Customers have even begun buying them to take away. I’m opening up a second boutique in Cantonments, a few minutes away from Fred’s house. I plan to slowly transition from the tower to this second boutique because the rent is more affordable. I want to clear out of the tower and give the space back to Eli. Evelyn’s ad campaign generated so much business that I’m confident I will be able to expand to a third location soon, and maybe overseas. I’m thinking about a branch in Lagos. I’m also thinking seriously about opening an accessories-only store. I now have more than three people supplying me with all variety of beads and there isn’t enough space for all of the trendy bags and shoes that artisans are making and trying to get me to stock in the boutiques. I even have a few of Sarah’s bags on display. We still talk every once in a while, although I’m sure Yaya doesn’t know this. In fact, we’ve never brought up my ex-sister-in-law in our conversations. Richard has been to the house a few times, always on landlord business. I was nervous the first time he came but I was relieved to see that he didn’t treat me differently. But he didn’t bring up his brother either. Evelyn asked me last week if I’m angry with Richard and I told her no. Yes, he lied to me about the woman, but I no longer have regrets, not when I have Selorm.
Eli comes by several times a week. I haven’t tried to stop him from seeing Selorm; we’ve agreed that he can come by as often as he wants, he just has to tell me beforehand. I’ve also asked that he keep my son away from his woman. I heard from Evelyn that she has not moved back into the house. But how can she, when Aunty has instructed Yaya to move in and take care of her brother, as though the houseful of servants is not enough, as though Eli is a baby who can’t take care of himself. He usually doesn’t stay long when he comes here and he’s mostly in the bedroom with Selorm or in the front yard. I try to stay away from the house when he gives me enough warning of his visits. I have to do this because my heart still beats wildly when I see him. I still wish that he had been at our wedding, that he, instead of Richard, had given me the ring and the Bible, that he had married me, that he’d wanted me to be his wife, his only wife.
Acknowledgments
Chuck Adams, for being a thoughtful editor, and the entire team at Algonquin for giving Afi a chance.
Kiele Raymond, my agent—for believing and sharing my vision for Afi.
Kuukuwa, Nana Ama, and Teki—hype women extraordinaire.
Adobia—for the support, for always listening.
Erica, my first reader—for giving me hope, for laughing with me.
This book is dedicated to my grandmother, who created a space where I could write.
Akpe na mi.
About the Author
Peace Adzo Medie is a Ghanaian writer and Senior Lecturer in Gender and International Politics at the University of Bristol in England. Prior to that she was a Research Fellow at the University of Ghana. She has published several short stories, and her book, Global Norms and Local Action: The Campaigns to End Violence Against Women in Africa will be published by Oxford University Press in 2020. She is an award-winning scholar and has been awarded several fellowships. She holds a PhD in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh and a BA in Geography from the University of Ghana. She was born in Liberia.
Published by
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Post Office Box 2225
Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27515-2225
a division of
Workman Publishing
225 Varick Street
New York, New York 10014
© 2020 by Peace Adzo Medie.
This is a work of fiction. While, as in all fiction, the literary perceptions and insights are based on experience, all names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020009732]
eISBN: 978-1-64375-111-5