“I’ll get her.”

“You won’t get her.”

“Ah, what does it take to get a girl like her? I’ll get her if I want.”

“You won’t get her. Does she look like one of the girls you play with?”

“So you’ll bet me?”

“I don’t like betting but I will put everything on this one. You can’t get her.”

“How much are you ready to bet on it?”

“Name the amount and I’m ready.”

“Bring GH₵1,000. Who will keep it for us?”

That’s how it all started. I had only one month to win the girl and also win a GH₵1,000 bet from my friend.

There’s this huge supermarket we all buy from. It’s closer to our office so we usually go there during our break time to shop for groceries and things we’ll need for the house. It’s a usual shopping place for me and my colleague Arnold. The owner of the shop came to recognize us and treated us with smiles each time when we went there. One day, we went there and there was this lady at the cashiering point. She was very easy to notice apart from the fact that she was new. She was very beautiful; pointed nose, polished skin, chest full of breasts, and a smile that can get everyone’s attention. 

When we left the shop, I told Arnold, “That girl is so cute. Should I start working on her?” He said, “Please, that’s not your kind of meat. You can’t win so don’t even start.” That’s where the argument that led to the betting started. We went back to the office and explained the whole thing to another colleague. So we set the rules of the bet. I had only one month to get her provided the lady would stay in the shop for that long. 

I set off to work immediately. I even stopped visiting the shop with Arnold so I can have the freedom to vibe with her and get her attention. The first time I spoke to her, she didn’t look enthused. I complimented her hair when I noticed the change in her hairstyle. She smiled subtly and said thank you while looking down at the computer. The following day I asked, “Are you a permanent employee here or you’re just passing through?” She looked at me this time. She smiled; “I will be here.” The next day when I went there it was the owner of the shop at the counter while she was sitting next to her. I picked a chat with the woman; “These days I don’t see you here at all. I’ve been asking about you from this lady.” She answered, “I’m resting ooo, my son. My daughter is here to help so it gives me the space to rest. That’s her use until she gets herself another job.” 

I think the vibe I had with her mom helped because the following day when I went there she softened a little bit. She looked at me. I asked her questions and she freely responded. A week had passed but I hadn’t gotten anywhere. It didn’t look like I was going to succeed. It took me three weeks before I got her number. Sometimes I will go there and there would be too many people in a queue so I don’t get the time to interact with her. I was also spending a lot of money shopping for things I didn’t need so I had to slow it down a bit. The day I asked for her number, there was someone behind me in the queue so she didn’t give it to me. The next time I went there, I was lucky. I was the only one in line so she wrote it behind the receipt and gave it to me.

I ran to the office and showed it to Kobby. I screamed, “I have her number. You’re finished.” He responded, “You’re only left with a few days. You’re rather finished. I don’t think she’s so cheap to fall for you in a week.” That was the truth. There was no way I was going to win looking at the slow pace I was traveling. I had only five days but I was determined to prove the point that if you want the girl, you’ll get her. I didn’t call her the same day I got the number. I went to the shop twice when I hadn’t made a single call to her. She’ll look at me and smile and I will return the smile. The day I sent her a text message, I had only two days left to win or lose GH₵1,000. I said, “Takyiwa, On Sundays that you don’t go to the shop, where do you go?” 

She sent smiling emojis. She asked, “Why do you ask? Do you want to go where I go on Sundays with me?” I sent back laughing-until-I-cry-emojis. I said, “If only you’ll take me there.” She said, “I don’t go anywhere so there would be no place for you to go.” I said, “A girl like you ought to be out often. God gave you all that beauty so you can bless the world with it. Why keep it in the room?” She responded, “Eiish, you have words ooo.” And then laughing emojis followed.

Two days later, Kobby came to the office and screamed, “Where’s my money? You either give me the money or you show me the evidence that shows that you’ve won the girl.” I said, “Put your money on the table, let me also put mine on top. I don’t want any gidigidi biaa. She has accepted and I’m going to show you the evidence.” We called the other colleague who we chose as a witness from the beginning. He asked us to bring out the money. I didn’t have the money and he also didn’t have the money. The guy said, “Ok, you both should send me mobile money. Whoever wins, I will transfer the money to him.” We both didn’t have that amount in our mobile wallets. The thing is, we didn’t have that much to bet away in the first place. I said, “Until I see his money, I’m not going to show the evidence.” 

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That was how I ran away from paying for a losing bet but I never stopped pursuing Takyiwa. I had come to love her and there were positive flickers that said, ‘If you pushed harder, you’ll get her. The bet was off the table so I had all the time available to work on her. 

After several days of asking her out, she finally agreed. Guess where she invited me to, church. “Sundays I go to church. Come with me if you want.” So I did go to church with her. After several hours and what looked like forever in church, the pastor finally closed. I stood at the church’s entrance waiting for her. I saw her walking toward me with a guy next to her. When she got to my place she said, “Appiah, meet my new friend. He came to church because of me. God should be very proud of me because I brought one home.” I shook hands with the guy and then she turned to me and said, “Hey, that’s my boyfriend, he’s the youth president of this church. He says he will marry me so I’m waiting for him.”

We all burst out laughing but one of us wasn’t genuinely laughing. That one was me. 

It was like I’d hit a wall. We shook hands again and exchanged pleasantries. I told the guy, “She’s a good girl. Keep her well for me.” They went back inside the church while I stood there alone thinking about my miserable life. I said in my head, “So if I didn’t use technicalities to avoid paying this bet, I would have lost GH₵1,000 and still lose the girl? God, you love me too much.”

One day Kobby asked me, “So is it true that you got the girl?” I told him the whole story. How I went to her church and how she introduced me to her boyfriend and how I walked back home with a heavy head. He said, “You owe me GHC1,000. I responded, “You’ll have to arrest me.” He tried to dip his hand into my pocket. I got up and stood firm. I warned, “Masa, we are in the office. Don’t make us fight.” We burst out laughing. Because That’s what men do when they realize they’ve both lost. 

–Ted

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