“Well, I hope whatever my Lord has to attend to is not too serious,” Alayaa commented, strapped in the front passenger seat.
“Yeah, me too. The way he seemed to have some concerned look bi when he said he won’t be in today had us a little worried. But hopefully it’s nothing too major,” Wayne answered as he kept his eyes on the road, a few metres away from Garsah Medical Center.
Indeed, that Thursday was a bit of a free day at the court. Justice Takyi had a little family emergency to attend to that morning, and had informed the workers before leaving the previous day. With Alayaa due for her monthly ante-natal visit on that day, Wayne asked for permission from the registrar to also be absent for the day so he could accompany her. Angelina had absolutely no problems with that, and duly gave him the green light.
“Hmmmm. I hope so. Coz chale, people really dey suffer in this life,” Alayaa commented. “Like this our Sodjah boy.”
“Chale, it’s serious,” Wayne responded, shaking his head. “As for his matter, it’s something else. Like, it’s hard to understand. So the woman just beats him up because he reminds her of his father? Like, how does that make sense? The boy isn’t his father. Whatever the man did, take it out on him, not on the poor boy.”
“Hmmm, Wayne. It really doesn’t make sense. Making your boy suffer for his father’s indiscretions diɛɛ, it’s just wrong. Yes, the father is definitely a very wicked man, no doubt. But the boy has no hand in it. The alcohol too plays a part, to be honest.”
“Oh yeah, definitely. If you’re downing Alomo Bitters at 5:55 am diɛɛ, your mental capacities go suffer pass.”
“Hmmm. I dunno what to do about it. I’m still trying to get someone who can help, still asking around and making calls. But the way it seems he’s afraid of opening his mouth to say something that will get his mother taken in, or will worsen his situation, it worries me..”
Wayne sighed. “Yeah, it’s a problem. But I think we’ll just have to keep being there for him. These kinda things take time. So that’s what we have to do for him.”
“Yeah, true. We have to take our time with him. Secure the help that he can get when he’s ready. And pray, too.”
“Absolutely. Extremely important,” Wayne agreed as he drove through the gates of Garsah Medical Center. The place where Alayaa worked, but was coming as an antenatal patient for the day.
He smirked as he looked around. He virtually knew every nurse walking around, yet had never spoken to a huge number of them. All thanks to Alayaa and her numerous stories of what went on in the medical center.
He saw Rachael. The nice, dark skinned nurse who was a very committed Christian and apparently one of the best nurses around. As far as Alayaa was concerned, when it came to raising the flag of Christian excellence, this nurse hoisted it high and did it well.
He saw Mellie. This nurse, according to Alayaa, was known as being ‘the sexiest nurse in Garsah Medical Center’. She had a TikTok account that had nothing but naughty videos of her, and was apparently in a little triangle with two young doctors in the hospital. An open secret that every worker in the hospital knew, except the doctors themselves. Or so was the claim. He had his doubts about that, but whatever.
He saw Karen. The nurse who many had complained about as being unfriendly and rather harsh in her dealings with patients. Alayaa had no idea why she was still there; her attitude was a stain on the glowing reputation Garsah nurses had.
Then he saw the other one. The one who apparently did not like his wife.
As he moved to a parking spot, he gestured in her direction as she walked toward the entrance of the hospital. “Uh, honey, is that the…”
Alayaa nodded. “Yep, that’s Nadine. The nurse who doesn’t like me because I have a fat ass.”
Wayne shook his head and raised his arms in confusion, a very perplexed look on his face. She had told him about it a long time ago, but the ridiculousness of it still could not register. As to why someone’s big booty was a reason for disliking that person, he just could not get it. “But… but… I don’t… How in the…”
Alayaa shrugged. “That was my reaction when I heard it ooo. Nobody else gets it.”
“Nahhh, but… like, is it that you said something to her or…”
“Wayne, you know I wouldn’t say anything about my ass to her. The only person I tease about these things is Steph. Like, the girl joined us, saw all this gloriousness on me and just decided that she doesn’t like me. Just like that. I never did anything to her. Nothing, honey.”
“Hmmm. And you said she’s never spoken to you?”
“Never ooo, never! You can ask Stephanie. The girl has never spoken to me before. Good morning sef, she’s never said some to me.”
Wayne sighed as he turned off the engine. “Ah well, abi it’s her problem. It is her that will be suffering with all that envy in her heart, abi?”
Alayaa snickered. “Of course. While she’s staying up at night hating on me and killing herself slowly, I’ll be in my husband’s house happily collecting sweet, sweet backshots from my husband. Who is the loser here, coz it’s definitely not me!”
Wayne did the facepalm as his wife giggled. “Oh Lord, Alayaa! You really spoil oo! Ei! This spoilt girl I’m married to, eh. In fact, I have to do something about this…”
“Owula, whatever it is, I hope you’re not coming to tell me you’re depriving me of my rights, coz that one diɛɛ, it’ll be a war zone in the house ooo!”
Wayne snickered. “I was actually about to consider that, but me naa, I know, I can’t deceive myself. Before I know it, you’ll be walking around me in your uniform one early morning with that your magnificent booty calling my name, then bam, you dey collect hot pashew before we leave for work.”
Alayaa laughed out loud as she rubbed her husband on the thigh. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way, my sweet husband. Now let’s move. Doctor Francis is waiting.”
***
“Eish, the soon-to-be Mrs. Amanie!” one of the police inspectors teased as she passed by Natalie’s desk.
Natalie looked up from the computer screen and at her, a slightly darkened expression on her face. “Chief Inspector, good morning ooo.”
“Ei. Is everything alright?” the inspector asked, her look of amusement turning to concern.
Natalie then shook her head and forced a smile, realizing her expression was too dark for a woman readying herself for that trip down the altar. “Oh, yes, yes. Sorry, I’m good. Just the normal stress of planning and things, that’s all.”
“Ahhh, okay. Oh, that one diɛɛ, it’s normal. Planning a wedding diɛɛ, it’s stressful papa. Pressure here and there, that one is normal. Just don’t let it change your mood, wai. At the end of the day, it’s all part of the journey to a new phase of life.”
Natalie nodded and smiled. “Sure, Chief Inspector. Thanks for the encouragement.”
“You’re welcome, my dear. Now please, can I get some copies of this…”
As Natalie obliged Chief Inspector Naa Kai Sowah with her search, her mind was a battlefield of thoughts. She truly was grateful for the uplifting words the older woman had given her, but it didn’t douse the anger towards her husband-to-be.
After their last meeting, their subsequent chats had been icy and formal. They still were not letting go of their respective stances on the wedding matter. On Natalie’s part, she just couldn’t understand for the life of her why he was complaining about the costs. Hadn’t they prepared for this? Where were these complaints about spending too much on it coming from?
I really hope he snaps out of this nonsense, she inwardly grumbled to herself. It’s not those cheap two-by-four weddings that I signed up for ooo. I need to be covered in proper glory. I dunno where this whole ‘saving money’ mindset is from, but I sure hope it dies quickly, coz that ain’t it…
***
Divine and Elias were done with their work for the day. They had assigned new dates to the cases meant to be heard that day, made their entries, and were now simply at their seats, playing with their phones. As always, Elias was being Elias: silent, moody and withdrawn. Divine had learned a long time ago not to attempt engaging him; the attempt would not be worth it.
So he remained focused on his phone, checking out Instagram reels. Then for a moment, he looked to the right.
Natalie, as expected, was busily typing away.
Eh, normal, he thought, readying himself to lift his phone. Then he looked at her again.
And he frowned.
Now that he noticed it, her facial expression was dark. Like, really dark.
Like, ‘this person is really annoying me’ kind of dark.
Ei, na who has annoyed Natalie like that? He thought to himself in amusement. Coz this her face is scary…
Suddenly, a memory flashed before his eyes.
The memory of her fiancé talking to his friends and telling them his desires for the wedding.
And in that moment, he had a feeling he knew what the problem was.
***
“Nana! Nana, chale, make I see you outside.”
Nana Appiah, who was also busy on his phone, sitting at the back of the court, perked up as Divine approached him. “Ei, wassup? You dey come give me money anaa?”
“My guy, I dey hia money pass you. Just some matter bi I wanna talk about with you.”
“Sure,” Nana Appiah agreed, rising and following Divine out of the courthouse and onto the car park, where very few cars could be found. Of course, court did not sit, so only the cars of the court workers were parked.
“Nana, wei diɛ, it’s a bit touchy what I’m about to tell you. It has to do with Natalie, and her upcoming wedding. I can’t talk to her directly about it, but… I’m a little concerned.”
Nana Adjei looked concerned. “What is it about?”
Divine took a quick breath, then began. “So… about a week or so, I was at my usual spot, getting my customary drink before I get home. There were these guys around, some young guys in white shirts. You can see these are corporate guys. Turns out they were colleagues of Naphtali, and as we were there, Naphtali himself showed up.”
Nana Adjei’s eyebrows went up. “Wow, interesting.”
“Yep. So me, I just watched on, because chale, I don’t know him like that. His guys were making noise, congratulating him, saying they’ll detty themselves for the wedding, all those things. Then they started asking about his plans for the wedding. Opana said he doesn’t want anything extraordinary. Just a simple, nice, memorable wedding.”
Nana Adjei frowned. “Ei! But that’s not what Natalie said to us. The way she said it diɛɛ, it’s like the guy has stacked some mega monies for the event.”
“Exactly, onua! The way it was looking at that point, like they have totally different desires for the wedding. And with the way she’s been looking moody for a while now, I’m a little worried. I’m starting to wonder if they’ve already clashed about it.”
Nana Adjei stroked his chin. “Hmmm. It’s true mohm. She’s not been herself. Maybe it’s because we’re busy and all, but yeah, Natalie has been unusually quiet.”
“Hmmm, Nana. As for me, I can’t say anything to her, I don’t want to look like a busybody. And maybe I might be wrong, I dunno. It’s possible that it’s just a matter of stress. But chale, if it is what I’m suspecting, then that’s very problematic. Fighting over this so early?”
Nana Adjei sighed and rubbed his face. “Hmmm, Divine. All I’m wondering right now is, how come they never properly discussed this? Because considering what we’ve heard from Natalie, and what you say Naphtali said, it looks like there was no proper discussion on how the wedding should be like. And that’s not good. Look, these sorts of things, it’s so important you discuss them with your partner before you go forward. You should never assume that you’re on the same level about some of these issues; it’ll shock you how different your opinions are when you really probe into it.”
Divine shook his head. “Serious, chale. Very serious.”
“It really is. Well, we’re just speculating at this point. It could be that it’s been settled or something. But chale, it’s a big mistake a lot of people do these days. They don’t set the record straight on issues like this, they assume things will be straightened out by the time it’s due, and before you know it, that matter has become an unnecessary weight and a source of headaches.
“So Divine, I beg, learn from this. When the time to marry is due, make sure you and your fiancée deal with these sorts of issues from top to bottom. Make sure you two are fully in agreement with everything you want to do. Don’t leave anything to chance. The world is dealing with enough of these couples who aren’t fully prepared. Don’t be another one.”
That’s some serious advice from Nana Adjei there! Very true stuff.
