Ama squealed in anguish, she gritted her teeth. A sudden anger brewed inside her bowels. “I can’t believe it” she soliloquized. “How could Akos do this to me”. A tear slid slowly down her dimpled cheek, then she moaned and groaned. The bitterness gripped her sunken heart. She began wishing it was all a dream. No. It really wasn’t. She thought. Akos had lied to her boyfriend about her.

As the thoughts ran through her confused mind, she leaned over her bed, and threw her head onto the pillow and allowed the tears to flow.

Ama and Akos have been close friends since their school days at Accra Secretarial College. Everybody who knew them thought they were girls born of the same woman. They loved, cared for and protected each other. It was no wonder therefore, that after school they remained close to each other, sharing everything in common – until this painful incident.

John, Ama’s boyfriend, had met Akos on his way home from the office. He turned left after walking across the main street protruding through the Paa Djan neighbourhood, just behind the yellow painted three storey building belonging to Nana Yaw, the famous businessman, he bumped into her.

“Akos let’s go have a drink” John invited her. They went to JOY SPARKS DRINKING SPOT on that fateful Friday evening.

“Bar man, two bottles please”, he ordered some drinks.

“How is your sister”, ‘your sister’, that’s how he euphemistically refers to Ama any time he talked to Akos about her, he asked.

“Hmm, she is fine”, came Akos’ casual response.

Akos’s rather blasé response, struck some suspicion into John’s mind, but he kept his cool. Akos as John had come to know her ever since he entered the serious relationship with Ama had always responded with excitement whenever he talked to her about Ama.

He sipped his drink, pulled off his glasses, tossed it in-between his fingers and placed it safely onto the table. He pulled his hankie out of his pocket and wiped his hard nose of sweat that was making him a bit uncomfortable.

He cleared his throat and asked, “was she at home before you left?”

“Well, not that I am sure of. I haven’t seen her”, Akos said looking into the distance as if she was expecting some one to pop in.

This attitude further raised John’s fears. He tapped her hand, and she gave a wry smile. Looked into his eyes and laughed out loudly.

John jerked in his seat, grabbed her hand firmly this time and asked, “Akos, but what’s wrong? What’s the matter with you?”

“No. Nothing is wrong, John,” she assured him, and gave out another smile.

Nothing could have raised John’s suspicion more than this. “Please Akos, are you tipsy? Why are you behaving this way? You’ve never behaved this way before. Please tell me what’s wrong.” He pleaded.

“Why, are you expecting me to say anything?” She teased. “Do you want me to tell you something about her, so that you would blame me if things go wrong? No, I won’t.” She insisted.

Her stance made John’s blood ran hot. Increasing beads of sweat began forming on his forehead on the cool evening. His anxiety heightened, but he managed to gulp down some drink to relax his nerves.

“Now, tell me Akos. What’s that which must to be heard.” He requested.

“Well, you see, it’s not everything that should be said, hmm”, she sighed.

“Yes, I know, But what should be heard must be said.” John interspersed.

Tension gripped the two. They stopped drinking as each one waited with baited breath to hear what the other had to say.

“You see”, Akos, whispered, “I have been wondering if Ama really loves you. I really don’t know, but I have a feeling she doesn’t care a hoot about you.”

“Why do you say so, Akos?” he queried. His heart began drumming loudly.

“It’s because of what she has gone around saying about you. Ama has told someone you are unfaithful and all that.” She said.

“Me?! Unfaithful?” He blurted. “She said it to whom?”

“Well, you see it’s not important now,” she countered.

“But what does she mean by that, anyway?” He snorted.

Akos knew then that she had trapped him enough and could let go the bombshell. The devastating lie she had rehearsed over the past two weeks since she had a small misunderstanding with Ama over a missing underwear. The misunderstanding developed into a heated argument that led to a fight. Akos therefore packed her things and left the room they booth shared. When she was leaving, she promised Ama in her anger that she was going to ‘show’ her.

“But l believe you know what we, women mean when we say you are being unfaithful”, she carefully twitched her lips, licked them intentionally in a relaxed mood and sipped from her glass.

John gazed intently at her. He was so absorbed in the unimaginable - the unexpected.

“In fact, that’s not all I was told she said about you”, she continued, “She said other things that could make you cry.”

“You mean Ama had the courage to say all these about me to other people?” He fumbled.

“Yes. She did. That your supposed lover.” Akos retorted with contempt in her voice.

“Now, let me tell you everything.” She promised.

She adjusted herself to a more comfortable position. She placed her elbows firmly onto the table and rested her chin onto her palms. John was all the while glued to his sit. He felt numb as he waited impatiently for the whole story.

“Well, you see, she said she suspects you are playing a double game. She believes that you have another girlfriend at Buakyiman, a hairdresser, to whom you give all your money. Meanwhile you come to her for help when you run short of money.” She lied. “Apart from that, she said the last time your father fell sick, but for her, he would have died. She said she paid all the medical bills and actually looked after the poor old man. And that your way of showing gratitude to her was to go after another girl after you’ve made a promise to marry her.” She added.

John slumped back into the garden chair he was sitting on. He heaved a very heavy sigh that bellied his confused mind.

“Ama must answer to me,” he shouted, oblivious of where he sat. Every eye in the bar peered at him as he staggered out of the place towards Ama’s house.

Akos, however, sat quietly and watched him without saying anything.

John met Ama at the gate to the house, “Hei Ama, come here”, he shouted to her surprise, because he had always called her with affection and respect. But that was missing this particular evening.

“Please why don’t you come in?,” she asked.

“Me? Come into your house? Never!” He bellowed.

“Thank you Ama for all you’ve gone to say about me.” He howled at her without caring to know what she had to say.

He told her everything and asked if she had seen Akos.

“No. I haven’t seen her over two weeks now since she packed off and left after a small misunderstanding between us. But why are you asking me about her?” She asked.

“She told me everything you went out to say about me. And I wouldn’t have believed it, if someone else apart from Akos had told me. I have nothing to say but to thank you. That’s the end.” He fumed and walked away without waiting to hear what she had to say.

The more she thought about this episode which happened only a few minutes ago, the more she felt her world was falling apart. She lost her bosom friend and lost her dear lover over a small misunderstanding.

“Oh, my God. What a fall out”, she cried.


By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi

E-mail: edogbevi@hotmail.com