The Silent Vow

The Author

EUNICE ANSAH-AGYEMAN

THE SILENT VOW

EPISODE 2

Eddie looked at the big clock hanging in the living room again. It was way past midnight and his wife of five years was still not back from her supposed outing with her girlfriends.

It was not the first time this was happening in the last three months or so.

Yawa had changed for the worst when she participated in her ‘old school homecoming’ event that had taken her away for close to ten days.

She had kept late nights and neglected all her duties as a wife from the very day she returned. Lately, all she did was stay on the phone, go out clubbing and watching one show after the other when she was home.

He had sat her down a couple of times, to try and get to the bottom of whatever might have triggered such drastic change in her, but he had not found anything concrete.

He was just about calling the wait off when he heard a car pull up in their driveway. Loud laughter echoed through the quiet night when she got down from the powerful four runner breathing soundlessly on his driveway. There was laughter from about three other people in the car when Yawa got down. They shouted their goodbyes and well wishes as the car backed-up and sped away.

Yawa waited until the car way out of sight before she turned her attention to the house that had been home for her for five years.

She pushed the side gate open and turned towards the magnificent house that was the envy of many without closing the gate.

Taking the stairs one at a time, she climbed to the balcony on unsteady legs. It was quite clear that she had had too many drinks for the night.

When the door yielded when she turned it, she chuckled and stormed in with a smile on her face.

Eddie went through the door she left ajar and rushed to the side gate to close it. When he entered the bedroom after locking up, his wife was in the shower. He slammed onto the bed and turned off the night lamp by his side and laid in the dark room staring at the ceiling with a worried face.

Evidently, he knew he could not allow things to go on like that forever. He could tell that Yawa had lost interest in their marriage and he knew nothing could change that. It was not like he blamed her that much. He was aware she loved kids to high heavens and their inability to have a child of their own for this long had killed something in her. All their efforts at making babies were hampered by the series of unfortunate miscarriages they had suffered as a couple. The last one had gone far, seven months but came out stillborn before the end of the seventh month. Yawa had changed a bit afterwards. She had, kind of, recoiled into a shell. Then, Eddie had thought it would do her some good to meet old friends and network when he had seen the extensive advertisement of her Alma Mater homecoming event. He had, in a way, convinced her to go, an action he regretted the moment she returned from that trip.

“Won’t you even ask me where I am coming from? You see, you are not man enough?” Yawa taunted.

“I am not going to have a discussion with you in the state you are in right now,” Eddie replied, fighting to control the anger that was sizzling within him.

“What state am I in? Are you trying to insult me or something?”

Eddie decided it was best not to indulge her in any argument. He turned his back on her and kept mute while she taunted.

Yawa ranted about nonentities for some time, and when she realized Eddie was not interested in what she was saying, she turned to the wall and a while later, Eddie deduced she was fast asleep when he heard her breathing heavily.

***

Later in the day, Eddie, freshly-showered and feeling the blues, stepped into the ultra-modern kitchen in the two-storey luxurious house he shared with his wife.

He brought out bread, vegetables and other ingredients and laid them neatly on the counter, wondering when all the madness that had plagued his wife would dissipate for things to go back to normal again.

For three months, he had watched her get worse by the day. She had conveniently shirked all the things she did for him, making him learn to depend on himself for food, neat clothing, and many others. He was not the type that liked eating out. He could manage that occasionally but cooking, washing and taking care of Yawa’s mutually agreed responsibilities was not something he could do forever.

When they had tied the knot, he had agreed to Yawa’s proposal to be a stay-at-home wife, and now it seemed like he did not even have a wife. After a hard days’ work, he had to worry about what to eat for the day. The annoying part was that she would come home from her crazy outings to eat whatever he cooked for the day.

They had had countless dialogue sessions on this, but nothing seemed to change. To the contrary, things were getting worse.

After working for close to thirty minutes, his breakfast of toasted bread with vegetable filling and a mug of cappuccino was ready for the eating.

Not wanting to waste too much time going back and forth to the dining room, he sat on the small table with two chairs in the kitchen to have his breakfast.

Half-way through the meal, the doorway darkened, and a hangover Yawa stood looking at him with eyes that expressed no emotion.

She pulled the other chair and sat on it, with her right hand across her forehead.

“Did you leave some of the breakfast for me?”

“No, I cooked just what I can eat.”

“How insensitive can you be? Don’t I cook for both of us all the time? Are you saying you are more human than me?”

“Get a grip on yourself, Yawa. Cooking and taking care of the house are what you brought to the table in this marriage. We agreed you would do that whilst I go and work for the money to take care of the house. I have never, no matter what, shirked that responsibility but you think you can eat your cake and have it. I’m not adding your responsibilities to mine. If you are hungry, just prepare it and eat,” Eddie stated, a little angry at how things were between them.

“This is not just about food, is it? You are just not happy we have not had sex for months, right?”

“You sit there and make it look like it’s nothing. How many men will take such madness and stay faithful?”

“You know it’s not in your DNA to be unfaithful, Ed. You just have to wait for when I’m ready. Besides, what’s the point? You only end up giving me weak babies that don’t last. I can’t go through that shit anymore.”

“Why are you still here then? Why are we not talking about divorce instead? At least, I’m able to get you pregnant. What shows that you are not the problem?”

“I can never be the problem. You are weak, and I hate the fact that I married you.”

“If you feel that badly about it, I think you should talk to a lawyer and submit a proposal. Let’s end this before turning into enemies.”

“I might just take you up on that. Fact is, I’ve been thinking about it for some time now.”

Eddie washed his mug and plate when he was done eating and left without saying another word.

Thirty minutes later, Eddie came downstairs dressed in a royal blue suit, a white shirt and a beautifully coloured tie. Yawa was in the living room watching TV as she sipped her coffee.

“Your mom called me yesterday when she couldn’t get hold of you. She said your Dad is unwell and wants you to come. I promised her I’ll bring you over the weekend if it was okay with you. So, call her and let me know when you can go so I include it in my plans. Have a nice day,” he said and moved towards the front door.

Yawa neither stirred nor spoke. Her attention was fixed on the TV set, and when Eddie realised she was just ignoring him, he stepped outside, got into his car and drove off with mixed feelings. He just could not put a finger on Yawa’s drastic change in attitude, commitment and responsibility.

Theirs, he knew, wasn’t a fairytale kind of a love story. But they had connected and felt they would be good together. At some point, Eddie felt guilty because he knew he could not love her as much as he loved Abla, his first and only love.

He had done his best to love her as much as he could, not leaving room for her to feel disadvantaged in any way. He had committed and stayed faithful to her all the years. It had not been difficult to love her. She was caring, courteous, loving, kind, and possessed all the qualities he admired in a woman. They had enjoyed each other tremendously, and their marriage could have been added to the happily married statistics if their attempts to raise a family had not fallen through the cracks.

As he drove through the busy streets of the city, Eddie’s thoughts went back in time. It was only on these occasions; when he felt so let down that his thoughts drifted to his first love.

Abla was a gem. She was carefree, kind, sensitive, loving and full of love. Her parents had accepted him without reserve. It was only his mom who had been a bit unconvinced when it came to marrying Abla. Her reason was simple; they had been too young to be making permanent plans.

He dwelt on the last time he ever saw her.

It was a beautiful but emotional day because he was relocating to another African country the following day. His father, who was a Managing Partner of one of the prominent auditing firms, had been appointed to head one of its branches in the diaspora.

His mother, who was a lecturer in one of the respected Universities, had been thrilled by the opportunity. She had quickly looked for a job and made preparations for the big move.

Eddie fought through his teeth to get his parents to leave him with an uncle, but all his pleas and tantrums had fallen on plastic ears. He was still a minor, and the decision was that he was relocating with no room for any slacks.

He had thus spent almost the entire day with the love of his life to tone down the anxiety they were both experiencing.

They had gone to their favourite hideout at the beach and spent the time kissing and talking. They had both lost their virginities that day and pledged to love each other until the sun stopped giving off light.

When it got to the time for them to part for the night, Sedinam had started crying, and that had forced him to shed tears too.

He had pulled her close and professed his love to her.

“I will be in touch. I promise you that I will not be with another woman.”

“May you never find happiness with another woman,” Sedi said tearfully.

“May you never find happiness with another man. You are mine, and mine only,” Eddie bound her.

He had kissed her then and waited until she was inside the house before walking dejectedly away.

The continuous honking of a car horn behind him brought him back from his trip down memory lane.

He moved the car hurriedly and drove straight to his state-of-the-art office.

This is a Premium Story. The first 7 Episodes are free, after which readers who wish to continue would have to contact Eunice on 0244084955 and pay a small token price of Ghc 15 to enjoy this sweet romantic slice of paradise!