I fell in love with her story before I fell in love with her. When I met her, she was aimless. She didn’t have anything going on in her life. The guys around our office would send her and pay her. The women in the office would send her to the market to shop their foodstuffs for them. She was very diligent and she was beautiful too. One day I called her on the side and had a conversation with her. “Don’t you have any education? I asked. She answered, “I went to the SHS but couldn’t complete. I dropped out because my parents couldn’t pay my fees.” I asked, “You live with your parents?” She answered, “My parents are in the north. I’m here in Accra with a friend. She also does the same job I’m doing.”

I took her number and we started talking on the phone. I told her, “The job you do doesn’t befit your beauty. Think about something you can do and  will support you.” A week later she told me, “If you can get me a transfer chip, I will start a mobile money business in front of the house I live. There’s a space there. It’s a busy road. I’ve spoken to the landlord and she has agreed for me to do it there.”

One day after work, I went with her to inspect the place. I spoke to the landlord and she said indeed she had given her the go-ahead to do it there. I worked out for the chip and gave her GHC2,000 to start with. All this while I hadn’t proposed to her. I wanted to take her away from our office compound first before I would pick a move on her. She started doing the mobile money business and she was doing well at it. I visited her stand after work every evening to see how she was doing. Not too long after she started, I realized guys had already started pitching camp close to her. Every day when I went there, there was someone new sitting next to her.

To avoid any future complications, I proposed to her. She asked me, “What took you so long?” I answered, “I wanted you to be on your feet first.” She said yes so we started dating. I started talking to her about the guys who come around her stand; “Those guys can steal from you. Don’t give them space around you. You’re working so you have to focus on the job.” She called it jealousy and paid little attention to me. “I would be lonely without them. Rest assured, I can’t fall for anyone. Why would I betray you this way?”

I was with her one day when a guy walked to the stand. He called her on the side and I saw them exchanging something between them. When she came back I asked her, “What was that?” She answered, “Someone left something for him and he came for it.” Not too long afterward, another guy came around and the same thing happened. I started getting curious. “Someone left something for him too? She nodded. The last one was a rasta man. He didn’t care about my presence. He asked, “You have the flower?” She winked at him and I saw it. The rastaman kept asking her until she screamed, “I told you I don’t have some.” 

The rastaman walked away but it was becoming clear to me what she had been exchanging with those guys. I went through her bag and found a little container in there. I opened it and it was weed she was selling to those guys. I was shocked. “Maria, since when? Who gave you this to sell? Do you want to go to jail? What has come over you?” She said one of the guys introduced her to it. He brings it to her to sell and they slit the proceeds. I told her to stop but she didn’t mind me. 

She started making losses. I told her to pay extra attention but each day when we did balancing she was losing money. I asked her, “Do you want to stop the work? You need money to rent for yourself and that would come from this business you’re doing. Open your eyes before we lose everything.” Some days we lost something and some days we made some profit. At least, the losses weren’t rampant so I took it like that. Then I realized she was into sports betting. All of a sudden she became interested in the games. She wanted to know the scores and she’ll check them on her phone. “Maria, what is going on?” She said, “Nothing. Can’t a girl love sports too?” 

Then I saw her betting tickets one day. It was as long as the road to her hometown. She was using the money to stake a bet. I threatened to take the business away from her if she continues. I did all I could but this girl won’t stop. One day I went to her stand and she wasn’t there. Nothing showed that she came to work that day. I called her phone and it was off. I asked the landlord and she said she hasn’t seen her all day. Three days later, I still didn’t hear from her. I started getting scared. Has she been kidnapped? I looked for her friend and asked her whereabouts and she said, “Ever since she won the bet, I’ve never set my eyes on her. She told me she would go to her hometown, so maybe she’s gone.”

“How much did she win?” She answered, “She didn’t tell me but she gave me GHC1,000 so it can be a lot.” I gave her my number and asked her to call me whenever she hears from her. 

A week later, I called her and it went through. She said, “I’ve come to my hometown. Thank you for everything but I’m not coming back again.” I asked, “So you’ve gone with my money too?” She answered, “We were making losses so I had nothing left when I was leaving.” I asked her about the bet and she nearly insulted me. She screamed on the phone, “What has that got to do with you? How much I won isn’t your concern. Just leave me alone.” This girl cut the call on me that day and stopped picking up my calls. 

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I saw what she was doing on her status. She opened a new shop and was always posting the things in her shop on her status. She would post her mom and post her brothers. I was there watching in pain. At some point, I deleted her number and moved on. Her posts were hurting me especially as she wouldn’t talk to me. I moved on with my life. In business, we make losses. I took it as I’d invested money and lost. 

Two weeks ago I woke up and saw about five missed calls on my phone. The number looked familiar but I couldn’t guess who it was. I called back and it was Maria. She was crying on the phone, begging me to forgive her. I said, “It’s been over a year since you left. Why are you asking for forgiveness for something you did over a year ago?” She answered, “I’ve lost everything. My brothers connived and stole everything from me. My shop is now empty. Everyone is laughing at me so I’m back in Accra. Even if you don’t love me again, can we start the business again? I swear I will work hard and pay you back.”

 She’s twenty-four years old. I gave her the opportunity to escape from abject poverty but she took my money and bit the fingers that fed her. I wasn’t going to be twice a fool for her so I cut the line and blocked her. She’s back in the office. They send her and give her pesewas. They insult her when she buys the wrong thing. I meet her every day and she can’t even look at me in the face. I’m not angry with her. I’d forgiven her even before she asked for forgiveness. Nobody knows our story in the office so we pretend it never happened. I don’t know her and she also doesn’t know me.        

—Soldier

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