Sunyani was peaceful. I woke up at 7am and got to work before 8am. I was never in a rush. My workplace was just a walking distance. Sometimes, I would go to work and come back home in the afternoon to eat lunch and go back to work. I was born and raised there. I went to school outside Sunyani but wherever I went to, I always returned home to Sunyani. 

Two reasons made me decide to move; One, my salary was bad. It was so bad I found it very hard to save. Looking at my educational qualification, I felt I deserved more. The second reason was to have a change of environment. It had always been Sunyani. The same skies, the same faces, the same places every day. I needed a breath of fresh air. 

So I got a job here in Accra. The first time I stepped on the soil of Accra I told myself, “It’s going to be a tough day around here.” Everything was moving so fast I felt left behind. I had to learn a new walk. I had to learn to walk faster. I had to learn to struggle for things that fell easily on my bed when I was in Sunyani. But I’m a tough girl. Tough girls are made for this so I decided to exist here no matter what.

It took me two months before I got a place of my own. I lived with a friend whose boyfriend came around every evening. When he was around, I had to stay out and count the moving cars until he leaves. I could stay out with my bag until as late as 11pm. It was hard. I didn’t have the money but I spoke to one agent who said he could get me a place closer to my work. One Saturday morning he called, “Nancy, there’s a place I want us to go and see. I know you’ll like it. It fits all the specs we’ve been looking for.” 

We got to the house and met a man who introduced himself as the landlord. I looked at him. So young and vibrant. I said in my head, “What does he do to be able to build such a big house at his age?” No answer. Questions asked in the head get no answer because no one hears them. He said, “This room wasn’t for rent because it’s closer to where our apartment is. On second thought, I felt the presence of another person would keep the place lively. My wife is always out there working.” We talked about the rent charges and I agreed to pay. He asked about my work and I told him. I took his number, so I would call whenever I’m ready to move in.

When I went back to make payment, I met him and his wife. The wife looked at me and asked his husband, “Who is this and what does she want?” The husband responded, “Sorry I didn’t tell you. She’s Nancy. She’s coming to Occupy the room next to our apartment.” The wife looked shocked. She said, “I thought we agreed….” The husband cut her short, “Yeah we agreed but on second thought, it’s a good idea to have another person around.” Right there, I knew I was going to be in trouble. “A man who doesn’t tell his wife anything concerning a new person coming to live with them? What sort of man is that?” Another question in the head. Another question that goes unanswered.” I paid the rent and I left.

The day I was bringing my things to the house, I met only the wife. I was uncomfortable judging from the question she asked her husband. I felt she was going to give me hell since she didn’t want anyone around. I was wrong. Immediately I got there, she came to help unpack my things. She worked with me all day to ensure my things were arranged properly in the room. She said, “We are the only people around here. My husband traveled abroad where he came from. I’m happy you’re a woman. We can be sisters. We can keep each other company. Whatever you need, just tell me and I would help you. Don’t struggle alone around here. Ask questions.”

My troubled heart finally found rest from all the niggling fears I was harboring in my heart. 

In the evening after work, we would sit on the porch facing the main road and talk about anything that crosses our minds. We gossiped about passers-by. Women and the way they were dressed. Men and the way they walked. We talked and laughed each night until one day she went to work and never came back in the evening. It was a Friday. I called her phone and asked if she would be coming home soon and she said, “No I’m not coming back home today. Some Fridays, I visit my parents. You’ll see me on Monday. Are you feeling lonely?” I answered, “Yeah, sort of but I will manage.”

It continued until it became a normal routine. I knew on Fridays she wouldn’t be around. I knew also that I would see her again on Sunday or Monday depending on her schedule.

It was one late night when I had a foreign call. “Eiii, who is that calling me from Europe? Is the person bringing me money?” I picked up and it was my main landlord. I didn’t know why he was calling me so I was choosing my words very carefully. He wasn’t talking about anything in particular apart from asking how the house had been ever since I moved in. Then he will narrow it to his wife; “How is she treating you? I hope you girls are not fighting ooo. Have you seen her this evening? Has she returned from work?” I nearly told him, “On Fridays, she goes to her mom so she doesn’t come until the end of the weekend.” But the angels clipped my mouth and put something better in my head. “He should know where his wife goes to. I’m not the one to inform him,” The tiny voice in my head said.

Out of the blue, he’ll call me. He asked me not to mention to his wife that he had been calling me. Everything he said was leading to something. I was suspecting he wants me to keep an eye on his wife but he wasn’t able to voice it out. He would call, ask about the living conditions of the house, ask about my job and how I’m finding Accra, and later narrow it down to his wife. The questions always centered around whether his wife had returned home after work. One night he called. I asked him boldly, “Please tell me. Is there something you want me to do for you? You want to send me to do something for you? Just say it and I’m ever ready to do it.”

He said, “My wife. This is one deepest secrets I’m sharing with you. I know you’re mature and you’ll understand my troubles. I’ve been here for the past nine years, doing all I can to make my wife live a better life. You see that house you live in? I built it with my own sweat. I started building it even before we got married but guess whose name is on the house document? Her name. The car she’s driving, it’s her third car in six years. I change it whenever she asks me to. I come home once every year. Let me ask you. Am I doing badly as a husband? If the man you’re married to does these things for you, would you call him a bad husband? What would make you cheat on a man like me?”

I realized I was in the middle of a brewing storm so my heart started racing. I was careful not to say too much. I only listened. Where I had to sympathize with him I did, without confirming anything to him. He said, “I know she’s cheating. There are three men I suspect. Friends have given me the clues but nothing solid. You are the closest person who can assess her movement. Sorry, I’m involving you but desperate times call for desperate measures. Can you tell me when she’s in the house and when she’s not in the house? Who comes in and who goes out? Can you do that? If you say yes, I will refund your rent and you’ll never have to pay rent again. That’s how serious I am.”

I sighed heavily. If Accra can’t kill you directly, it brings problems that would eventually kill you. I was running away from a friend who made me stand out all night because she was doing things with her boyfriend. Now see where I landed. Right in the eyes of the storm. I said, “I’ve been here for a while now. She’s always home after work. I don’t really check on her but anytime I’ve had reasons to check on her, she had been there.” He answered, “It’s an assignment I’m giving you. It comes with a big reward. Bring me good news and have your rent refunded. We’ll talk later.”

Since then I’ve been looking at her differently. The dress she wears whenever she tells me she’s visiting her parents for the weekend, the way she looks whenever she comes back, the times she comes home somedays and the kind of conversations she has with me. It all points to the fact that what her husband is suspecting is true but “I’m not going to be the one to break the news to him,” I told myself. “I’m only a tenant. I came to fetch fire. I didn’t come here to see what’s cooking.”

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So I’ve ignored her and her husband totally until weeks ago, I bumped into her and another gentleman descending the stairs from her room. It was around 4:30 Sunday morning. I wanted to go to the first service so I decided to wake up early and wash my clothes before going to church. I opened my door and came face to face with them. The guy looked away. She smiled sheepishly. She asked, “You’ll go somewhere this morning I guess. The way you’re going to wash this early.” I nodded my head because I had saliva in my mouth. 

All day she was around me trying to explain who that guy was and why he was there at that moment. “I was there when he came to knock on my door that we should go for dawn jogging. I was too tired I decided not today. Did you hear him knocking on my door? I hope it wasn’t his knocking that woke you up.” I only smiled and said no to her.

Who goes for jogging in shoes and a tucked-in shirt? 

Her husband keeps calling me, especially on weekends. He keeps asking me if I’m watching her. If I’m doing the work he gave me. He keeps reminding me I will live rent-free if I give him a single clue that would lead him to the full fact of the situation. 

Rent-free. Rent-free Rent-free. For some time now that’s all I think of. GHc550 a month is at stake here. One konkonsa and I live here rent-free until I move out. You know Accra is hard right? I’m not saying I’m going to tell him anything ooo but see, it’s also not easy. So when I sleep, I pray for her. I pray to God to give her a change of heart so she would stay out of her cheating ways. She doesn’t know it but her cheating behavior is slowly leading me into temptation.

—Nancy

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