Divorcing Tony…

AARON ANSAH-AGYEMAN

DIVORCING TONY

The judge looked at Tony and his children for a while, ignoring the excited hubbub in the courtroom, and then she looked at Liz’s sister, Stacy and Lindsey, who were still on their feet, quite stunned.

“Please sit down, the two of you,” she said, and the ice in her voice could be felt, and slowly the noise in the courtroom died down, and all eyes were fixed on the two women as they took their seat.

Attention then returned to the judge who was looking at Liz with cold eyes.

“Mrs. Liz Siaw,” she began.

“Your Honour…” Tony said sharply.

 

“Yes, yes, yes, I know, Mr. Siaw!” the judge said impatiently without looking at Tony. “I know your usual objection to calling her Mrs. Siaw, but this is my court, and you will not tell me how to address people in here, do you understand?”

And then Tony Siaw shrugged.

“I don’t understand but, yeah, it’s your ghetto,” he said, drawing a cackle of laughter that made the judge peer at him from over the top of her glasses.

“I thought your kids around you made you calm,” she said quietly.

“Oh, yeah, sure, I’m calm, Judge Boss, I’m calm,” Tony said, and then a smile shot off his face, startling the judge who looked at him with surprise for a moment, and then she turned her attention once more on Liz.

 

“Mrs. Siaw, if there’s one thing I abhor most, it is adults trying to manipulate children, and to teach them lies,” the judge said levelly with her eyes on Liz. “That act, of telling the young boy to lie for an unnecessary cause, is very abhorrent!”

Liz looked shaken in her seat, and this made her lawyer stand up quickly.

“Your Honour, I think we must put what happened in the right context,” he said. “First, my client was nowhere near them when that rather unfortunate plan was hatched. She is equally shocked that her folks could do such a thing.”

“She is not going to raise them in isolation, Counsel,” the judge said sharply. “Mr. Siaw is a career woman, sometimes she goes on a movie location for days, weeks. I’ve watched movies of hers with various locations outside the country. Seems to me she would be leaving her kids with her family, and at this particular moment, I do not trust her family based on what I have seen and heard.”

 

“Your Honour, no!” Liz cried, horrified as tears filled her eyes. “There are a lot of things I didn’t know! A lot of things Tony apparently kept from me! Now that I know, things are going to change, I promise you!”

“Who was looking after the kids these past few years, when you go on location or when you’re out of the house for some length of time?” the judge asked.

Liz spoke without pause, without thinking.

“My husband,” she said promptly, and again there were a lot of murmuring in the courtroom which made Liz aware of what she had said, and then she looked at Tony with wide, startled eyes, quite shocked herself.

“He goes to work too, doesn’t he?” the judge asked, and turned to Tony. “Mr. Siaw, who takes care of your children when you both go to work?”

 

“I work from home,” Tony said gently. “As an IT expert, I have a special arrangement with my employers, and I have set up a network at home that enables me work from home without any problem.”

“Really?” the judge asked, surprised. “Since when?”

“Five years, getting to six,” Tony said. “When Junior was born, and his mother had to chase her career, I decided to opt for that option. I didn’t like the nannies that we tried, and I frankly couldn’t trust her family, so I decided to take that option.”

“And you work from home just to take care of your kids?”

“Yes, Your Honour.”

“And that doesn’t affect your work, distract you in any way?”

 

“No,” Tony said gently. “We have an understanding, me and the children. It works perfectly.”

“Your Honour!” Hassan Moshi shot in quickly when he saw the look of admiration on the judge’s face. “May I remind this court that Mr. Siaw has been summarily dismissed from Waisynot Inc and has been unemployed for the last three weeks? Financially, he is not well-placed to take care of the growing needs of the children.”

The judge looked startled.
“Dismissed?” she asked hurriedly. “He’s unemployed?”

“Yes, Your Honour,” Liz said quickly. “With schools going to reopen, I would have to bear their financial requirements!”

“Wait a minute,” the judge said quickly. “Does it mean you have been paying the bills in the house, Mrs. Siaw?”

 

Liz again looked uncomfortable, and could barely looked at Tony when she answered.

“Well, no, Your Honour,” she said softly. “My husband… Mr. Tony Siaw, excuse me, insisted on picking up all the tabs. He’s never allowed me to pay for anything, Your Honour.”

“Really?” the judge said, scowling.

“And, Your Honour, that also raises another question about Mr. Siaw’s character,” Hassan said quickly. “I don’t think it will be prudence to give custody to a man whose financial strength is questionable, perhaps, a bit shady.”

There was silence in the courtroom as the judge looked at him.

“Explain yourself, Counsel,” the judge said. “I take it you have a strong reason for trying to impugn on the honesty of Mr. Siaw.”

 

“Forgive my allusion, Your Honour, but I do have good reason,” Hassan said quickly. “Remember we have it on record that Mr. Tony Siaw paid a fifteen-year leasehold on the property they stay in. That’s a lot of money, Your Honour, from a man who was not working at that time. Now, since then, he’s been picking up every tab in their home from a salary of just about three thousand Ghana cedis. That is not possible, Your Honour, especially since he has no other side business listed.”

The judge pursed her lips and nodded once.

“I see your point, Counsel,” she said and looked at Tony. “Mr. Siaw, that’s a question we need to answer. Especially, going forward, how well-placed are you financially to meet the great needs of your children? Your wife is well-placed to give them better financial support.”

“I got enough saved to see us through,” Tony said as he pulled his head back from Ceci’s hands.

 

“You have been sacked, Mr. Siaw!” Hassan shouted, his voice almost angry. “How long can you live on that savings especially if you don’t get immediate employment? Waisynot Inc sacked you for bringing disrepute to the name of the company! Was that not a prerequisite before you were employed? A clause, a condition, never to do anything – in your personal life or in the course of your employment – which would stain the name of your employers?”

“Yes, that was part of my conditions of service,” Tony said. “Summary dismissal for any such actions. And I would understand if they sack me for soiling the name of the company. But, they have not fired me.”

“Mr. Siaw!” Hassan screamed. “You’re under oath! Haven’t the Waisynot Inc officially written to you that you have been fired for your gross sexual misconduct?”

“Like I said, they have not fired me,” Tony said calmly.

 

“Mr. Siaw, don’t incur my ire!” the judge said angrily. “I heard the CEO of the Waisynot Inc, Mr. Kofi Bediako, speaking on telly that it was unfortunate, but they fired you.”

“He cannot fire me,” Tony said coldly. “So, let’s forget that!”

“No, Mr. Tony Siaw, enough of your lies and disrespect for this court!” Hassan roared with disgust. “Your Honour, I summoned Mr. Kofi Bediako here, and I would like to present him as a witness.”

“Granted, Counsel,” Judge Ivy Asante Darteh said. “I want to speak to him myself.”

“Thank you, Your Honour,” Hassan said and nodded to an immaculately-dressed grey-haired man sitting at the front. “Mr. Kofi Bediako, please.”

The Chairman of the Waisynot Incorporated, Mr. Kofi Bediako, stood up with a rather melancholic expression and approached the Bench.

 

“Your Honour, I want to swear him in,” Hassan Moshi said.

“Hold on, Counsel,” the judge said and smiled at the Chief Executive. “Mr. Kofi Bediako is a personal friend of mine, and I would just like to ask him a question.”

“Yes, Your Honour, go ahead.”

“Kofi,” the judge said. “It’s been a while.”

“Yes, Aba,” the gentleman said. “You’ll see me this Christmas.”

“You better!” the judge said with a smile. “And bring the family.”

“That’s the plan,” Mr. Kofi Bediako said.

 

“Well, quickly, this young man says he’s not been sacked,” the judge continued. “I know it is bizarre to sack a man for going for a prostitute, his personal choice, but I do understand your company policies which you have made legally binding. So, please tell me, has Mr. Siaw been fired or not?”

Kofi Bediako sighed, looking quite unhappy.

“He’s a brilliant IT expert,” he said regrettably. “But, he’s not above our policies. Personally, I’m devastated to lose him, but I had no option. We fired him, summarily, and that means he’s not entitled to any end of service benefits. So, yes, regrettably, we have parted ways with Mr. Siaw.”

There was a deep silence in the courtroom.

 

The judge looked at Tony, who was smiling and still playing with his daughter.

Junior, however, was looking at Mr. Bediako with huge, bulging eyes, and then he giggled suddenly.

“Daddy, Daddy, that man says he has fired you!” the boy said clearly.

“Don’t mind him,” Tony said as he tickled his daughter, making her laugh excitedly.
“Mr. Siaw!” the judge thundered, getting angry. “You will respect this court! You lied to me under oath that you have not been sacked.”

“He can’t sack me,” Tony said, still calmly.

Mr. Bediako shook his head sadly.

“You are really shocking me, Tony,” he said. “What happened to you?”

“Daddy, does he work at your workplace?” Junior asked.

 

“He does, my boy,” Tony said.

“And he wants to sack you?”

“He thinks he can sack me,” Tony replied.

And now the courtroom was dead quiet again as they all stared at Tony.

“Mr. Siaw, don’t let me cite you for contempt again!” Judge Ivy roared.

“Hmmmm!” Junior said, giggling. “Hmmmm! He doesn’t know, Daddy!”

“No, apparently he doesn’t,” Tony said.

“Know what, little man?” Mr. Bediako said, looking bemused. “Your father is certainly acting strange.”

 

“I can’t tell you!” Junior cried. “It is a secret, but you can’t sack my daddy!”

“Go on, tell him,” Tony said as he kissed his daughter on the cheek.

“Daddy!” Junior shouted. “But you said it’s a secret!”

“No more,” Tony said, and he sounded a bit sad. “It doesn’t matter anymore, son.”

“So, I can tell him?” Junior asked excitedly. “I can tell him and my friends and everybody, everybody too?”

Tony laughed then and smiled tenderly down at his son.

“Yes, you can,” he said gently. “I’m tired of the whole thing myself!”

“Okaaaaay!” Junior screamed and looked at Mr. Bediako. “Waisynot backwards is Tony Siaw, and Tony Siaw backwards is Waisynot!”

 

“Ano too, ano too!” Ceci shouted loudly and giggled. “Sisino backwar is Tony Shiaw, and Tony shiaw backwar is Sisino!”

Junior screamed loudly with laughter.

“Nooo, Ceci, you’re wrong, you’re wrong, that’s not the way to say it!” he cried. “Say it like this, Waisynot backwards is Tony Siaw, and Tony Siaw backwards is Waisynot!”

“Sisino backwar Tony Shiaw, Tony Shiaw backwar Sisino!” Ceci said, and the two of them burst into giggles.

And by then, the whole courtroom was in a state of electrified shock!

Every single person was electrified into stiff mummies!

 

Many were now writing the WAISYNOT on phones and on pieces of paper. It was a moment of latent madness as the incredible fact sank in and blasted their minds away, especially Liz and her family, and Mr. Kofi Bediako.

Tony Siaw was still playing with his daughter, and smiling gently. He didn’t raise his head, but that smile around his lips showed he was aware that all eyes were on him.

 

Aaron Ansah-Agyeman, Divorcing Tony, Aaron Ansah-Agyeman, Divorcing Tony, Aaron Ansah-Agyeman, Divorcing Tony, Aaron Ansah-Agyeman, Divorcing Tony, Aaron Ansah-Agyeman, Divorcing Tony, Aaron Ansah-Agyeman, Divorcing Tony

 

DIVORCING TONY :: CHAPTER 12

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