Whatever It Takes…
EUNICE ANSAH-AGYEMAN
WHATEVER IT TAKES
EPISODE 33
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The Author
It had been two years since Esenam was forced to live outside her home.
Life had not been easy but through the immense support of the Church, Boat, and her mother, she had made it this far.
Mr. and Mrs. Fiagbe were in the living room of their home one evening when a batch of letters was brought to him.
Mr. Fiagbe was looking through the day’s newspapers.
Mrs. Fiagbe was reading a novel. That had been the order of the day since Esenam left. She turned to novels to fill the void and anger she felt towards her husband. Reading kept her occupied.
Elorm, their son, walked in from town and handed his father the mail he picked from the letterbox and left for his room.
Mr. Fiagbe looked through the mail uninterestingly. He saw one from the University Esenam attended and opened it hoping for another excuse to justify his actions. He scanned through the contents hurriedly.
“Yes! That is my daughter. She’s made me a proud father.” He shouted excitedly.
“Which daughter are you referring to?” Mrs. Fiagbe asked, looking up from the novel
she was reading.
Her husband gleefully handed her the letter. She scanned through and could not hide her joy. Esenam had made them proud. She had obtained First Class honours in her field of study. As a result, a renowned Banking institution had offered her an opportunity to join their team. It was the bank’s way of helping the young but brilliant students to achieve their dreams in life. They saw it more like a corporate responsibility towards society. There was, however, a catch to the whole happy package.
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“Wait a minute; she’s to reply by the twentieth of this month indicating her acceptance or otherwise. That gives us just about three days to go. We need to find her immediately. We can’t make her miss out on this golden opportunity.”
“She is your daughter; you should know where she lives. You can take the letter to her if you want,” said an elated Mr. Fiagbe.
“Honestly, I don’t know. You forbade all of us from seeing her. How will I know where she lives? All I know is my daughter is out there at the mercy of strangers, thanks to her father who was chosen by God to protect her.”
“I know you see her so stop pretending. I saw you with her around your office some time ago so stop making it seem like you’ve not seen her ever since she left this house. Anyway, that’s not important, we need to find her and as soon as practicable. I’ve even forgotten her number; can you call her?” Mr. Fiagbe stated trying to get his wife to contact their daughter.
Mrs. Fiagbe walked to the phone and dialed Esenam’s number. A mechanical voice told her Esenam’s number was switched off or out of coverage area. She hoped Elorm would know where but it turned out he didn’t or he was not telling. Esenam had informed her when she had moved to Naana’s place but she had never gone there practically because Esenam always came to see her and she did not want them crowding Naana’s house with their visits.
“Elorm cut the act and tell me where we can find your sister. There is something she had to attend to urgently,” Mrs. Fiagbe stated hastily.
“She is no longer my sister so why should I bother to know where she lives,” Elorm retorted looking over at his Dad.
“Stop your nonsense right now and answer the question. Do you or do you not know where Esenam lives?” his Dad commanded.
“I don’t know, Sir!” Elorm said and saluted his Dad.
“You can go. You are more useless than I thought,” Mr. Fiagbe said, disappointed.
Getting Esenam to work in any bank was one of his cherished dreams for her. Now, he is faced with a golden opportunity to make that happen and Esenam had complicated it all. If only she had listened to him, this conversation that made him feel like a villain would not have taken place.”
“So what are we going to do?” his wife asked frustrated.
“I guess we’ll wait and see if she’ll show up here.”
“Show up where? Here? Have you forgotten how you treated her the few times she’s been here? And do you remember what you did and said to her the last time? Well, I haven’t forgotten and I know Esenam remembers it too. You virtually dragged her out and specifically told her not to set foot in this house or you’ll call the police and give her out as a thief.
You even said you’d kill her if you have to. And from that day I’ve not seen her again. You are very heartless Alfred. I’ve often wondered if you are the same person I met and fell in love with. I don’t even know why I put up with you and your selfish ways. You are selfish and a hypocrite. Thanks to you we don’t even know where our daughter, the one whose birth brought so much joy to our home, lives. You should be very proud of yourself. The King’s wishes have been honoured. “
“Look, Sylvia, it’s not my fault Esenam lives with strangers. She made her choice so don’t blame me.”
Mrs. Fiagbe’s tolerance level had been stretched. She threw the letter on him and warned him to look for their daughter and hand it over. She mentioned that she’s had enough of his ego and pride that she would leave too if he does not mend his selfish ways.
“If Esenam misses out on this golden opportunity because of your selfishness and ego, consider yourself without a wife.” She said and left for the bedroom, slamming the door in the process.
***
Mr. Fiagbe was totally angry yet for once he felt responsible for his actions.
He admitted he had acted very rashly towards Esenam but there was no turning back now.
It had been two years already.
Esenam had made it without him.
He admitted he had not treated his wife with the necessary respect was due to her.
He always insisted on his way.
Sylvia never had a say in anything yet she stood by him and had tolerated him all these years.
He knew his wife was an exceptional woman but it seemed to him that she was getting to the point where she would take no more crap from him.
They had been through some really rough times in their marriage but she had always sacrificed for him to be happy.
She was the type who kept everything bottled up and never complained about anything he did.
Now, all that had changed.
She had complained more than a couple of times over the past two years and had threatened to leave him for good any time soon.
He sat all by himself and wondered why Esenam did not change her postal address.
“Now I stand to lose my wife too. I’ve got to think and act fast. I know Sylvia is not joking. I can’t live without her, therefore I need to find a solution to this problem fast,” he said to himself.
He recalled events that led to Esenam being ousted from his house.
He played back events of that day in his mind and decided to contact the Yaw Boateng fella who lived in the neighbourhood for Esenam’s whereabouts.
And he was sure he was the key to his dilemma.
He prayed that the young man would still be in the house Esenam stopped over that fateful day he tailed her to the Church.
He knocked on the gate for a while.
No one answered.
He saw the doorbell and pressed it.
He stood at the door for some time, no one answered.
Frowning, he tried again and again. Still no answer.
He was sorely disappointed.
What was he going to do now?
He did not like the idea of going to the Church to look for Esenam.
He turned and stood still debating in his mind what action he should take next.
A taxi pulled up and Boat stepped out.
Mr. Fiagbe gave a sigh of relief.
He walked up to Boat as he waited for his change from the driver.
“Hello, gentleman.”
Boat turned in his direction and was surprised to see Esenam’s old man himself trying to be nice to him. He had seen him at his gate but had brushed it aside as a mere coincidence.
He responded reluctantly.
“I came looking for you.”
“Me? What did I do now?” Boat enquired.
“Let me go straight to the reason I’m here, young man. I don’t have time for chitchats. I’m looking for Esenam. Since you are behind her change in attitude and ultimate defiance, I thought you would know where I could find her?”
“May I know why you want to know?” Boat asked knowing very well he was pushing his luck with Mr. Fiagbe.
“You have no right to ask me that. Do you or do you not know where I can find her. There is something really important that needs her urgent attention.”
“Sorry if I offended you. I know you are her father and I have no right to question you. It’s just that I have seen how broken she’d been every time you have asked to see her. I am just trying to protect her from any more pain. She’s been through a great deal. She’s now getting over the pain you’ve caused her and since I don’t want you upsetting her anymore I can’t tell you where she is. All I can tell you is she is in good health and in good hands.”
“Look, I’m only here because her mother threatened to do something crazy if I don’t see her and give her this letter as soon as possible. So, cut the act and tell me where I can find her so that I can get this over and done with.”
Boat offered to take the letter to Esenam but Mr. Fiagbe would not take that.
He wanted to make sure that letter reached Esenam.
He insisted he would like to hand the letter to Esenam in person.
Boat was not sure Esenam would be home. She had said something about going to town for some supplies. He was sure, however, that Esenam would be at Church that evening.
“I’m not sure if she’d be home by now. But you can come by the Church this evening around six. She will definitely be there.” Boat supplied.
“So, you attend the same Church. Why didn’t you say so when you came to the house to see her? You turned my daughter against me so that you can have her to yourself. You are all a bunch of liars.” Mr. Fiagbe retorted, his suspicion confirmed.
“No one turned Esenam against you. You threw her out of your house instead of being grateful she decided to serve God whole-souled. Do you know how many parents want their kids to follow the only true God and bring honour to their name? I wonder how you sleep at night knowing your daughter is out there, alone and at the mercy of total strangers.
She talks very highly of you but she never even in her wildest dreams think that you would be capable of cutting her off the way you did. The fact that you chose to listen to a total stranger instead of her really got to her but thankfully she’s getting used to it. We all make mistakes in life and we learn from those mistakes. Esenam is a matured person and knows what…”
“Cut it out, young man. I didn’t come here to listen to any more nonsense. My job is done here. Thanks for nothing!” Mr. Fiagbe rudely cut in and left without another word.
Boat had wanted to give him the directions to the Church but he was already gone.
He called out to Mr. Fiagbe to wait for the directions but he did not heed the call.
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