by Boadi, Lilly
“Shhh” interjected Kelly, putting a finger on his lips “don’t tell me now. I cannot take too much excitement at once. You know my answer will always be ‘yes’. Yes, I’ll marry you Mellis, you don’t have to ask” and with that, she rushed to the washroom, giggling.
He expected her to behave the way she did; for after a week of a gleeful co-habitation, and a few minutes of a terrific lovemaking, the only thing she could possibly imagine him being that serious to talk about with her was probably something about their marriage.
Kelly came back to the room and found Mellis in serious thought “What is it baby?” she asked scrambling into bed and holding his cheek in her palm softly.
Slowly, Mellis took her hand away and got on his feet. He paced back and forth and that got Kelly more confused
“Mellis, sweetheart, what is it?” she asked scrambling and sitting at the edge of the bed Mellis squatted in front of her and took her hands in his “Kelly” he said softly looking into her eyes “you have been a wonderful companion, and I appreciate all your efforts to make this relationship what it is today…but…” he paused
“But what?” asked Kelly apprehensively
“Kelly I cannot go on with you anymore. I think it will be better we quit this relationship” he said softly
“What?” whispered an overwhelmed Kelly, pulling her hands out of Mellis’. She stood on her feet and walked some distance away “What…what are you saying?” Kelly fumbled “What have I done? Why are you telling me this? What did I do wrong?” tears filled her eyes
“Nothing Kelly. You did nothing. It isn’t about you but me…”
“What about you Mellis?!” she snapped through gritted teeth
“Kelly don’t you see things have changed between us? I haven’t been treating you well of late and it is only because I’m not in love anymore. I can’t be wasting anymore of your time by pretending to love you and that all is ok. You don’t deserve that…”
“Tell me what I deserve then!” she burst “To be disposed of your life like some filthy garbage after all these times with you? You are selfish!” she said bitterly through gritted teeth “After all the dedication and commitment even in difficult times, after all the efforts I have put into this relationship within the past two years to make this relationship what it is, you stand shamelessly in front of me here and from nowhere declare we break up just because you don’t seem to be in love anymore…?!”
Mellis watched her silently as she raved
“You are so selfish Mellis, and I am not going to watch you have your way!” Kelly was shouting on top of her voice
“Kelly you’ve got to let it go. This relationship isn’t going to work since I’m not in love anymore…”
“Oh just shut up! Shut up Mellis!” she yelled “You are so ungrateful! I don’t know where this is coming from all of a sudden but let me tell you that you aren’t going to get away with this!”
“What is going on here?” asked Mrs. Hansen, appearing in their midst
“It is your son here! He is so ungrateful and selfish!” said Kelly, raging with tears
“Mother, you need to have some sleep, please” said Mellis, walking towards his mother “It is our own personal problems and we will solve it…”
“You know there isn’t any solution in this matter! How do you solve an issue of breaking up with me, huh?! Tell me!” Kelly yelled once more amidst tears
“What did you say?” whispered Mrs. Hansen, astonished “You mean my son broke up with you?”
“He just did that!” said Kelly rudely “I will pack my bag and baggage out of your life if that is what you want, but you can bet that you aren’t doing this with impunity!” she said bitterly and flung off.
“Don’t go anywhere, Kelly!” shouted Mrs. Hansen after her “Stay right here and lets resolve this issue!” she said this, no less offended, into her son’s eyes
“You can resolve whatever with your son!” said Kelly grumpily and walked off. Mrs. Hansen knew that she was deeply hurt and so passed that cheeky statement for an impulsive one.
“What is all this about, huh?!” asked Mrs. Hansen grimly, looking straight into Mellis’ eyes “Did you really break up with her?”
“It is the right thing to do, mom” said Mellis neutrally
“Oh, right? Tell me what her sin is and let’s both decide on what is right to do or not!”
“Mom, she did nothing wrong. It is me who is the problem here. I don’t love her anymore and I think it will be better if…”
“Just hold it there!” his mom cut into him with all rage. “Are you listening to yourself?! Since when did you know you have no love for her anymore?” Mellis remained silent “Will you answer me?!”
“Mom, I have never loved Kelly…”
“And you have been hanging around with her all these while? I didn’t know my son had turned into an opportunist! I didn’t teach you that, Mellis! I thought you to be responsible for God’s sake! How could you have turned a deaf ear to all the advices I had been giving you, huh?”
“Mom I had…”
“Shut up and let me talk!” Mrs. Hansen hollered “I will not watch you use a woman and dump her just like that! I am not going to watch you bring a curse upon yourself by doing this evil against your fellow man you hear me? You are going to marry that girl and if you refuse that, you cease to be my son! You are not going to bring any curse to this family! You are surely going to marry that girl…!” she raged on and then fell down unconsciously
“Mom? Mother?! Oh my God!” Mellis was anxious, as he kept shaking his mom.
***
Mellis was in the room when his mother awoke. He walked briskly towards her and sat beside her
“Are you ok mom?” he asked
“Where am I?” asked Mrs. Hansen
“In the hospital. You fell unconscious” Mrs. Hansen was a bit confused. She looked through the window and saw the bright sky
“Is it morning?”
“Yes it is morning; about eight thirty” said Mellis
“You spent the night here?” she asked
“Yes. Everyone else left for home but I’m sure they will be here any moment”
“Have you made a decision on what I told you? Are you going to marry that girl?”
‘What?!’ thought Mellis. How was it possible she still had the issue of Kelly on her mind? “Mom, get better now, and we can talk about that later”
“I will be better if I know you did listen to me; and I want to know now”
“Mother, I can’t lie to you” he said softly “there is no way I can marry Kelly, you would have to understand me…”
“Understand what Mellis?!” Mrs. Hansen screamed and sat up “Now I know you are ready to disown me as your mother!”
“Mother you are going too far…”
“Oh you think I am? You think I don’t mean this? Now get out of my sight if that will tell you how serious I am”
“Mother…?”
“Just get out of here Mellis!” she burst “And don’t ever call me mother again because you cease to be my son from today! My true son listens to me, but not you! Get out of my sight and don’t let me ever set eyes on you again!” Just then, the rest of the family entered and hurriedly walked towards Mrs. Hansen who was shaking miserably
“Are you ok sister?” asked Mellis’ elder uncle “What happened Mellis?”
But Mellis, already on his feet, went out of the room without saying a word. He was sad, angry, furious and offended. They all showed on his face and brisk walk. He crushed with Kelly on the veranda, who was walking towards the ward from opposite direction. With all the fury in his eyes, he looked straight into Kelly’s eyes and the latter maintained the same glare. Then he flung away. How could things be this rough? But then he stood on his grounds; there was no way he was going to marry Kelly and lose Haida.
***
Mellis came back to the country that evening, looking despondent yet glad; despondent because of the is
sue with his mom, and glad because at least, he had cleared up what was on his mind as far as Kelly was concerned. Upon seeing Haida, it was all joy, but he couldn’t help feeling guilt, when she raised the issue of why he travelled to the UK.
“I believe everything worked in your favour?” she asked.
“Err, not really” said Mellis. “The corporate body has initiated new policies and the terms are quite unfavourable for us. However, there’s been an assurance of a flexible condition of terms of a sort. The decision isn’t for me alone to make anyway. I’d meet up with the board and hear out their views too. I do hope things would work out as expected”.
“Hope so” she sighed. “After all, that’s the reason you bore the cost to travel, and I believe it wouldn’t be in vain” she said.
“You are right”, said Mellis, stealing suspicious glances at Haida. He was scared she could see the lies in his eyes. ‘So, that was the problem he was having’ she thought. That didn’t however justify why he couldn’t call her in the evening, but for whatever reasons, Haida thought she should skip that and let sleeping dogs lie. What was important to her was that Mellis was finally with her, and that was satisfying enough.
The weeks that followed found Mellis calling his mother at least thrice every single day, but Mrs. Hansen never responded to his call. He knew he couldn’t call his father to plead his mother on his behalf, for undoubtedly, he would also share the same concerns as his wife. Moreover, he knew discussing the issue of Kelly with any other member of his family will make the issue a family matter, and that would be a sure way of having no other choice at all than to marry Kelly, for almost everyone in the family was for their marriage. What is more, he knew making this issue so public to family members would only be like betraying his mother. For his privacy sake, he didn’t want to discuss this issue with anyone else. So, it was that Mellis kept the pain of his mother’s disowning away from his family. There were few times he was tempted to make it up with Kelly and marry her for the sake of his mother’s happiness and his eventual reunion with her, but Haida was too strong in his heart to erase her too easily. He truly loved this innocent, vulnerable, beautiful woman; there is no way he could trade her off for another woman, or so he believed.
Soon, Kelly was in the country. She had beseeched the rest of Mellis’ family not to mention anything about her visit to the country to him. She would do all it takes, to get closer to him once more, once she was in the country. Mrs. Hansen had asked her not to give up on him yet, and that she was going to make sure he came back to his senses and got married to her. She had actually told Kelly to leave the onus of the reality of their marriage upon her. Based on this, Kelly came to the country feeling jaunty as far as her relationship with Mellis was concerned. So, after few formalities with the Ghanaian committee in charge of the road construction, and having found herself a better accommodation at the Five Star hotel, the next thing she could think of was getting to see her lover and probably, spending the night with him.
She was wearing a tight sea-blue, low-cut neck blouse, which exhibited more than half of her breast, and tight jeans which revealed her slim but wide hips, with a pale blue beret slung on her natural rich long black hair. She was wearing a heavy make-up on her cute smooth face, with finely manicured nails.
“Is your master in?” Kelly asked the gate man emphatically, who had been staring speechlessly at her ever since she got out of the car.
“Yes” he stammered, with a querulous look on his face. He looked like he wanted to say something, but Kelly couldn’t stand his sight a second longer. She turned round in a stylish way and modeled her way to the front door, swinging her hips and giggling as she went.
The gateman gazed at her in admiration. Even in the dark, her bright brown complexion, and her 5’8 model figure was revealing. When she got to the door, she heard a crackle of laughter, coming from inside. It was duet - that of a male and female, she could tell. Her face that had been beaming with smiles few seconds ago suddenly fell low. Suspicion ran over her, and then she leaned on the door and eavesdropped.
“You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me” she heard the man say “I would have beaten my chest to death if I had let go of you. I love you Haida, I love you so much”. There was no mistaken who owned that voice.
“I love you too Mellis, my love… with all my heart” came in the feminine voice.
Fuming with rage and pain, her hand reached the handle of the door, but upon second thoughts, she let go of it. At the gate, she whispered to the gateman, “Don’t tell him of my visit”
“But, madam….”
“I said don’t tell him I was here!” she shouted, and then pressed something into his hands. She giggled and went and sat in her car.
Again, the gateman looked on speechlessly as she drove out of the premises impetuously. He gazed at the several money notes in his hands, took his time to count them, and then burst out in ecstasy.
“Who was it Bambi? I heard a car rattling on the premise” asked Mellis, appearing outside with Haida
“Err, no one familiar Mellis. Think he lost his way” said the gate man.
Though Bambini, a former school colleague of Mellis at the junior high, is semi-literate and principled, his love for money is enough to make him compromise entirely on his quite disciplined life, even to make him an associate in Kelly’s vicious ways. Moreover, this particular woman was able to pelt him down with her impertinence, money and beauty. It was quite long since he saw her in the country. Seeing Haida around the house the umpteenth time, it was undoubtedly clear that she was Mellis’ current girlfriend and that Kelly was out of the picture, so what on earth was she doing here again? He could never make it out why an extravagant beauty like Kelly could be so churlish. He couldn’t lay his hand on why he could have a soft spot for such a saucy creature - perhaps, it was her enchanting beauty and her cynical way through which she got hold of everything she wanted. But for his low educational level and position in the house, he would have made a pass on her; he was handsome and well-built too, but was too insignificant for a woman like Madam Kelly. It was for enough money for his upkeep and the fact that Mellis was like a brother to him, that made him stoop that low for the position of a gateman and gardener in the house, despite Mellis’ dissent. So, there were times they sat at table together and shared certain personal issues.
Laura, Kelly’s colleague at work and best friend, has known the couple ever since they started going out. She knew much about them and was actually a third person who settled most of their disputes. She knew the sacrifices Kelly had made for the relationship’s sake. In fact, she cherished their relationship like her own and admired the couple so much. Likewise, she wouldn’t like to see anything jeopardizing this beautiful relationship. Fact is she had been an acquaintance of Kelly’s onus to ward off women who made passes on Mellis. Knowing all about their wonderful adventures, she was also aware of the sour times, most especially, how their relationship has been fairing for the past few months. She was cut to the core when Kelly gave her the latest news about Mellis. Kelly had made her investigations properly, with the help of Bambi, and had gotten to know who Haida really was and where to find her. It was a good idea, that she wouldn’t expose her presence in the country yet to Mellis; she was going to destroy his relationship with that Haida anonymously.
***
It was a sultry Saturday afternoon. Quite a crowd was busily pushing their trolleys, full of items, while a few others were window-shopping at the celebrated shopping mall. What made Haida love this mall was its welcoming atmosphere - the staff was friendly and competent, and she could get almost everything she needed in that mall. She was one of the many who had pushed their trolleys to the counter. It was a long queue, and she rushed to pick up few items which she had almost forgotten about. Kelly rolled up the Jeep at Midas Shopping Mall. “What the hell are we doing here?” asked Laura, bewildered as to why they had ended up at a shopping mall when they were supposed to be at a beaut
y salon.
“I’ve a surprise for you” said Kelly with giggles and walked chest-out to the glass door of the mall.
Laura raised her eyebrows, trusting Kelly, and then followed her. It was as if Kelly was looking for someone and not window-shopping as she wanted everyone to believe. Suddenly, her eyes fell on Haida and she beamed with smiles; that was the exact copy of the description Bambi had given her about Haida. Haida was making her way back to the queue, which had by then shortened. Kelly walked briskly towards her and then collided with her. Haida’s items came crushing down the floor; the glass-made ones gave an irritation crush, and then speckled little pieces around her. Kelly gasped.
“Gosh! I’m so sorry Miss. Oh please, forgive me” Kelly apologized, bending down and picking up the unbreakable items.
“That’s ok” said Haida neutrally, taking the items from Kelly. “It was just an accident, don’t worry”.
“You’re so kind. Thank you” said Kelly, straightening up “Anyway, I’m Kelly; Kelly Cleland and you are?” she asked expectantly.
“Haida; Haida Morgan”
Kelly sighed satisfactorily; it was faster than she had thought. “But that must cost you a fortune. I offer to pay for them, and in fact, the whole items” she said.
“Come on. You don’t have to do that; it was only an accident and….”
“I insist, madam” said Kelly with a polite order.
Haida smiled and looked her over - she was a tall lovely and really pretty young woman. She sounded amusing too. She looked kind and quite sophisticated. She must be a model or screen star or something exposable.
“Can we be friends?” asked Kelly, extending an arm of friendship which Haida took. Her fingers were as long as her height and her nails were artificially made up with a touch of class.
“Sure” said Haida.
After paying for the items, Kelly made her way out with Haida, with an astonished Laura following; Laura knew Kelly’s act was deliberate and was up to something.
“Aren’t you shopping yourself?” asked Haida, seeing Kelly follow her outside.
