When we first met, he wasn’t doing badly in life. He had a job and could provide for himself. He could buy me a gift once in a while, but it wasn’t flashy and didn’t bring any wow factor into my life. It was just okay, but he had ambitions to do well in life. He was always ready to do other things that could bring him money. That’s the side of him I fell in love with.

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Then one day, he introduced me to a friend he said had returned from abroad. This friend had lived abroad, married there, and had returned to Ghana to settle. He told me this friend had brought a business idea he thought was good, so he was going to go all out to invest in the business and see how it would go.

He followed his friend to places in the name of business. They needed an office, so they set it up. They needed clients, so he was always on the phone talking to people. They needed to think together, not just as friends but also as business partners. They were always together, making moves and appearing at places they said could help the business.

In no time, I started seeing a huge change in the lifestyle of my boyfriend. The places we used to eat changed. The places we walked to buy our favorite stuff changed. The route we used to go around in our lives also changed. They all changed in a flashy way. He could buy me expensive things without batting an eye. He changed my phone, got me an apartment, and even got me a driver who would take me to work and bring me home sometimes.

Though their business was doing well, he didn’t resign from work. He was doing both, but you could clearly see the money he made came from the side business with the friend. And then he got a new car. Four months later, the car vanished, and he got another one. And then there was another one and another. When I asked about the ever-changing cars, he told me he and his friend had started a car rental business, so those cars he used were cars in the business.

He put me through driving school, and when I passed, even when my license was just a day old, he got me a car from the pool of cars he said were being used for the rental business. Life was moving so fast, faster than the cars he was driving so I started questioning certain things. “Was it not only yesterday that this guy was struggling just like the average guy on the street?” I asked myself. “Why is it that all of a sudden he could afford this flashy lifestyle?”

So I asked him, “You mean all this money you’re spending comes from the business? Or is there more to it?” He answered casually,  “You no longer believe me? Okay, let’s do this. Tomorrow, I will use your Momo number to receive all the money I receive from clients.”

As early as 8 a.m. that day, my Momo started buzzing—GHC1,000 from Josh Andoh, GHC500 from Abeiku Sampson, GHC200 from Kwabena Jones, GHC2,000 from Yaw Obimpe. By the close of day, I had received over GHC20,000. He told me, “This is the least amount I’ve made in a day. Do you now trust me?”

On my birthday, I expected the day to be a quiet one, just like the years had always been. But he told me he had a surprise for me. I already imagined what the surprise would look like because I knew his taste: a night at a serene place where we would enjoy some great food and good music. No, I was wrong.

He drove me straight to Kempinski, and before we got to the table he was taking me to, all I heard was a shout of “Surpriiiiiise!!!” Everyone who mattered in my life was at the table, even an aunt who was far away in my hometown had been invited to the birthday. I was so shocked and happy I couldn’t contain myself. He hired a saxophonist to come and play the “Happy Birthday” tune for me. And then a big cake, a lot of tasty wines and champagne. Anything you can think of happened that day.

When we finally retired to bed that night, I looked around me and counted all the blessings he had made possible in my life and asked, “Is this all coming from money he has made genuinely? God, I don’t want to wake up one day and he was in the news for all the wrong reasons.”

Not too long ago, I was in the office when he came and threw a bag at me. He asked me to keep it; he would return in the middle of the day to collect it. I waited all day, he didn’t come. So I took the bag home. In the evening, I asked where he was and why he didn’t come for the bag. He asked me, “You don’t know what is in the bag?” I answered, “How would I know? The bag is not mine, so what right do I have to open it?” He said, “Open it and see what is inside.”

All day, I had been carrying a bag of money that I didn’t know about. The bag was full of money; twenty-cedi notes. I screamed, “But why would you put me in this situation? What if I got robbed or something?” He laughed and said, “I’m at Zen Gardens. Bring some of the money; let’s have a good time.”

I didn’t count how much I took. I just put my hand in and picked a handful and drove to Zen Gardens. Another beautiful night, just like our life had been over the years but you see, I’m a woman of loud conscience. Nothing passes my eyes without conscious scrutiny. When we are together, I throw all the doubt away, but when I’m alone and I think of how fast our lives have changed and the beauty upon beauty he’s opening my eyes to, I ask myself, “Is this a dream I would one day wake up from, or is it all just real?”

We no longer travel to Kumasi or Takoradi by road. “I booked a flight for you, go and come,” he would tell me.

I look at the office he once took me to, how simple the setup is, and ask myself, “So all the money we are spending comes from this simple setup, or is there more to it?”

Sometimes my head aches. It’s like I’m waiting for a disaster that will never come or is on its way. I blame myself for being pessimistic. And then I would blame poverty and say, “Or is it because I’ve never had this lifestyle that’s why it’s all strange to me?” But on ordinary days, I tell myself, “Life is too short to think of the worst every time.” On such days, I would make one crazy request, and he would make it happen. After all, what can come can come.

—Georgina

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