Broken Vows – Episode 3

BROKEN VOWS Episode 3

THE STRANGER

Well it is!

AFIA

(hollowly)

And the woman behaved differently? She behaved differently to how I’m behaving?

THE STRANGER

Well, yes. Compared to your case, all of them behaved differently!

There is a silence, and then the elderly stranger suddenly stands up, gives a slight bow to Afia and Naa, gives a little salute to Takyi, picks up his mop and turns to leave.

Afia looks at her soon-be-ex-husband and then she raises a hand.

AFIA

(earnestly)

Please, sir! Please, please don’t leave. I do want to hear this story… of this other couple.

The stranger stops and looks enquiringly at them.

THE STRANGER

Really?

TAKYI

Yes, yes, please. I also want to hear it.

The elderly man purses his lips, and then he nods, puts down the mop and sits down again.

THE STRANGER

Well, I’ll be quick. Like I told you, this story is a real one. Happened about fifteen years ago, in Takoradi, to Yaw Kuntu and his wife Kwansema Kuntu. They had been married for fifteen years without a child. Unlike you who has adoring in-laws, Afia, Kwansema’s mother-in-law was a terror, always blaming poor Kwansema for not having a child. Listen, come closer and listen to my tale…

FLASHBACK: THE STRANGER’S NARRATION

Location: THE KUNTU RESIDENCE

Kwansema survived fifteen years of that fractious marriage because she was a Christian…a very good Christian.

The first couple of years were a bit bearable because Yaw Kuntu was working in Takoradi, and Kwansema was an accounts officer in a firm in Accra.

So, you see, Yaw had to travel to Accra on weekends, or Kwansema went to Takoradi. So, basically, everyone thought that their inability to stay together contributed to their childlessness.

By and by, however, Yaw’s bosses saw his dilemma and transferred him to head one of their branches in Accra, and so the lovers finally came together, after an initial two years of staying apart.

Yaw Kuntu’s father was dead, and his mother, Madam Nyinaa, wanted her grandchildren.

Well, it was not as if she didn’t have grandchildren. You see, Yaw Kuntu had a sister called Maa Abena, and she was married, and she had two children, a boy and a girl.

But, you know mothers and their sons! Madam Nyinaa’s favourite was Yaw Kuntu, and it was his children she wanted to hold, so to speak.

Haha, funny.

Anyway, like I said from the beginning, that woman was a terror! I can’t tell you all that she did to poor Kwansema, but she never let that poor girl rest.

She came to Accra under one pretext or the other to visit them frequently. When Yaw Kuntu was around, that woman was an angel personified, but when she had Kwansema to herself, oyiwa, come and see show!

Kwansema’s only strength was the God she depended on, and her church members who held her up in prayers, and her pastors who spent countless hours counselling her.

Anyway, it seems I’m straying too much, wasting time on chaff, so you must think, because you’re also in a hurry to go to your divorce hearing, Takyi and Afia. So let me cut to the chase.

Now, in the fourteenth year of Yaw Kuntu and Kwansema’s marriage, Madam Nyinaa suffered a mild heart attack. Hahaha, when I heard the story, at this point I asked myself why she didn’t just die so that poor Kwansema would be free.

Hahaha, wicked thoughts, I know, I know. I’m sorry, terribly sorry. Christians should never think ill of others, no matter how badly they treat them. I apologize.

Anyway…where was I mpo?

Aha, I remember. Fourteenth year, Madam Nyinaa recovers from a mild stroke. Her daughter Maa Abena was in Nigeria for a short symposium, and so Yaw Kuntu decided to bring his mother to stay with him for a while, until Maa Abena’s return.

Well, this woman came to the house, and she refused to go back, even when Maa Abena returned. Yaw Kuntu loved his mother, and so he couldn’t forcibly ask her to leave.

Kwansema had to bear with her mother-in-law’s sharp tongue for a year.

Now we enter the fifteenth year, where all the drama occurred.

Yaw Kuntu, as the Sector Manager of the Company he worked for, was attending the Annual General Meeting of the company at their headquarters in Takoradi.

It was supposed to last for three days.

The evening before his departure, his loving wife packed his travelling bag.

They took their shower together, and probably made love, you know, since it was going to be sometime before they saw each other again.

Forgive me, there I go again, harping on the unnecessary. Anyway, they were in bed, when the bedroom door opened and in walked Madam Nyinaa, startling them.

YAW KUNTU

(exasperated)

Goodness, Mother! You can’t just barge into our room like this! We could’ve been naked!

Madam Nyinaa pulled out Kwansema’s dressing chair and sat down facing them.

MADAM NYINAA

(unperturbed)

You’re my children, and there’s no shame in me seeing your nakedness. Anyway, I want to have a talk with you, both of you!

YAW KUNTU

(fighting his anger)

At this time of the night, Mother?

MADAM NYINAA

(primly)

Yes. Now! I don’t see why you’re so fired up, Yaw! Why, do you want to make love to your wife? What’s the use of that except for the pleasure of the flesh? You’ve been making love to her for fifteen years now and that belly of hers which the witches from her hometown are obviously using as a football pitch or chopping block just won’t swell up!

YAW KUNTU

(angrily)

Please stop that this instant, Mother! Children are a gift from God! At the right time-

MADAM NYINAA

(angrily)

The right time is long gone, my son! That woman is your wedded wife, I understand! You probably don’t want to divorce her, and you prefer to live with her forever! But remember, you’re the only son, bearing your father’s name!

Your name is Kuntukununku, a warrior’s name! It has lasted many centuries, and a name that makes knees buckle with fear! You’re the last of an unending chain of Kuntukununkus! You can’t allow your line to fade! So, I’m coming with you to Takoradi tomorrow!

You can go to church and stay married to that useless log of a woman whose womb is lined with Togo cement for all I care! But I will not allow you to end your father’s name line, do you hear me? I’m going to find you a woman in Takoradi who will bear you children!

YAW KUNTU

(thunderously)

That’s preposterous, Mother!

MADAM NYINAA

(angrily)

Prepos your head, Yaw Kuntu. Prepos your nose, Yaw Kuntu! I raised you a man, but you have fallen under her witchcraft like a foolish sheep which has seen dried cassava covering! But no more! You can live in your filthy marriage, but I’m going to find you a real woman to give you children!

***********************

Now, you may be wondering what Kwansema was doing all this while.

Well, she had learnt how wicked her mother-in-law’s tongue could be, and so she kept silent, as usual. She was sitting on the bed and weeping silently, but her heart was obviously meditating on the word of God, as usual, for some comfort.

YAW KUNTU

That will never happen, Mother! NEVER!

MADAM NYINAA

Oh, yes, it will happen, Yaw gyimii, Yaw atopa, Yaw kwasea!

Well, that one finally got to Kwansema!

She could take insults levelled at her, and stomach it, but she was a woman who loved her husband, and she definitely wasn’t going to stand silently and watch him being insulted in such vulgar language, not even by her own mother-in-law!

KWANSEMA

(hurt)

Stop it! Stop it this instant, Asew! How could you insult your only son with such language?

And that was when Madam Nyinaa came off the chair like a derailed train and gave Kwansema three pregnant slaps across the face!

Kwansema fell from the bed, blinded, her ears ringing with her mother-in-law’s blows, blood streaking from her cheek which had been torn by a big ring on Madam Nyinaa’s finger!

Yaw Kuntu came off the bed and took his wife in his arms.

Remember, Madam Nyinaa was recovering from a mild stroke, right? So, obviously, Yaw could not even push her, and Kwansema could not touch her for fear of doing the woman further harm.

Yaw Kuntu consoled his heart-broken wife and ordered his mother out of their room.

Madam Nyinaa left the room finally, without much remorse, as you can well imagine.

Well, the following day, at dawn, Yaw Kuntu drove to Takoradi… and true to her word, his mother went with him.

Kwansema, face bruised and covered with welts, closed the gates of the house and went inside.

She trusted her husband, of course, but she also understood the temerity of her mother-in-law, and acknowledged the influence that horrible woman could have on Yaw Kuntu.

Kwansema spent that week fasting and praying.

However, as it turned out, Madam Nyinaa didn’t even have to find another woman for his son.

A woman, in the form of ADWOA TIMTIM, found Yaw Kuntu that very first time he checked into his hotel in Takoradi.

You see, Yaw Kuntu had promised Kwansema that he wouldn’t stay in the family house, because he didn’t trust his mother.

He chose to stay at a hotel… where very big trouble was waiting for him!

Location: THE DIVORCE COURT

The stranger stops speaking and looks at the expectant faces of Takyi, Afia and Naa Shormei.

He just sits there smiling lightly.

NAA SHORMEI

(softly)

Well?

THE STRANGER

(raising his eyebrows)

Well what?

TAKYI

You got us interested. Please continue.

THE STRANGER

My throat is dry. I need cold water to drink.

AFIA

(softly)

Cold water is not good for you.

THE STRANGER

(smiling)

So they say. Been drinking it all my life, though. I’ll go outside and see if I can get one to buy.

NAA SHORMEI

(impatiently)

I bought one on my way here. It had iced particles in it, so I decided to wait a while to make it warmer.

She rummages in a little polyethene bag lying on a seat beside her and brings out the bottle of water.

The stranger takes it with glee, shakes it, and when he hears the tinkling of ice in it his face splits up into the most profound expressions of joy that makes the other three smile.

He opens it, puts it to his lips, and slugs happily.

He caps the bottle, smiles, and chews the little pieces of ice in his mouth.

TAKYI

(chuckling)

That is going to ki*ll you!

THE STRANGER

Probably, but well, crossing the street can equally ki*ll you!

AFIA

(carefully)

And you say the story you’re telling us actually happened, sir?

THE STRANGER

(smiling)

As God is my witness, ma’am, it is the absolute undiluted truth. Alright, enough of iced blocks. Let me continue my tale…

Story continues…

©Aaron Ansah-Agyeman

All Rights Reserved

 

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