Mine wasn’t a bracelet. It was a key holder. We went out one afternoon and he asked for my key. When I gave it to him, he placed my keys on the holder and gave them back to me. He said, “It’s a small gift but it’s the thought that matters.”

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I did the aww and said “lovely” a million times before placing the keys in my purse. Instantly I started seeing him differently. I wanted to kiss him right there. It was like I had no control over my emotions. I remember telling myself, “He gave me a key holder when he realized my keys had none. How thoughtful could a man be?”

That same day, I followed him home and had our first sex. He hadn’t proposed to me but I was so lost in my feelings I wanted to give him a child that very day. It was after the first round that I asked if he liked me and wanted a relationship.

He answered, “I’ve always loved you and was looking for the right opportunity to say it. Thank God you also feel the same way.”

He got me to invest my life’s savings into his business. A business he started not long ago with only GHC1,200, he got me to invest GHC8,200 into the business. This was 2020 when COVID was new. He imported nose masks, face shields and other items COVID made relevant. It didn’t stop there. I had a job but I also became a delivery girl for his business.

I would carry the items and distribute them to those who ordered, collect the money and bring it back to him. He didn’t give me lorry fare. He didn’t pay me a dime. No security. As late as 10pm I could be doing distribution.

I would get home late and knackered but once I took out my keys and opened my door, I would see the key holder and whisper to myself, “The key to my heart.”

I would open the door while imagining him opening my heart’s door and going through me. I could wake up at dawn and do nothing but stare at those keys. He should have treated me right while I was giving him the best of love but no. He didn’t give me a gift, he used me for his business and didn’t pay me a dime. I used my money to cook for him, clean for him and while I was tired and broken, I bent my ass up so he could have me in his favorite position.

My social media became his advertising platform. What didn’t I sell and what didn’t I advertise on my WhatsApp? Talk about hand sanitizer, masks, sanitizer dispensers – everything. He didn’t pay back my investment though he was making mad profit. He bought a car, rented a new place, all through the business but gave me nothing.

I was out delivering ring lights because Covid was disappearing and he had started selling other things when I lost my keys. I didn’t realize until I got home. This is when I came to believe in prayers. I got home so late and my key was missing so I was forced to sleep in a co-tenant’s room. She woke up to pray at dawn and I joined her. That girl was fire.

After the prayers she told me she saw God’s hand in the missing of my keys because God wanted to use that opportunity to show himself as mighty. She said, “Don’t tell your boyfriend about the missing keys and let’s see what happens.”

All the while, I hadn’t called him. I wondered why I hadn’t called the first person I should have called.

After the keys went missing, I found him annoying. I started asking for my investment back. I made excuses whenever he asked me to see him. One day he came over uninvited. He asked when I removed the key holder and I asked why it mattered. He got angry and told me I had changed. Guess what, he came to my place the next day trying to put a new key holder on my keys without telling me.

I tried snatching it and it turned into a struggle. “It’s only a key holder what’s wrong with you?” he asked. I shouted, “Did I tell you I needed one?”

He stopped, looked at me and said, “You’ve changed but remember I still love you.”

For over a year, I never heard him say that he loved me. He was using love to manipulate me. Later in the evening he called to ask why I didn’t allow him to put the key holder; “What has changed? Are you suspecting me of evil?” I answered, “What’s in the key holder that you need to hang it on my keys by all means?”

“It’s OK,” he said and then hung up.

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My co-tenant told me, “Look within yourself and judge. Is the love the same?” I shook my head. She said, “Let’s pray.”

I’ve never stopped being prayerful since then.

When love is beyond absurd, question it. When you find yourself behaving out of character because of love, ask questions. Love is consuming but it’s never stupid so if it makes you act stupid, dear, ask questions.

—Doris

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