I traveled to Kumasi to attend a best friend’s wedding. I was his best man for the wedding. They attended wedding rehearsals I think twice or thrice but I couldn’t go. I couldn’t travel all the way from Keta to Kumasi to attend the rehearsals but on the d-day I was the first to wake up, dressed up, and got ready for the wedding. When I got to the hotel, I was introduced to the lady I was going to partner with. She was the Bridesmaid. My friend said, “Meet Alberta, my wife’s childhood friend.” I shook hands with her and she smiled. My heart skipped a beat. I couldn’t let her hand go as I kept staring at her face. I’m not a man to give compliments but I looked into her eyes and said, “You’re gorgeous.” 

She smiled again and said, “Thank you.” Throughout the wedding ceremony, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. The way she walked was graceful. Her smile, enchanting. Her eyes, dazzling. I looked at her like an artist would look at his subject. I told myself, “If I met this girl a year ago, we would be the ones getting married today.” I seized every opportunity to talk to her, touch her or let her know I had my eyes on her. At the wedding reception, when we danced, I told her, “Alberta, I hope this wouldn’t be the last time I see you.” She said, “I’m always around.” Then she smiled again–that infectious smile.

Some weeks after the wedding, we became friends. Two months after the wedding, I proposed and she said no. It wasn’t an easy thing to get her to say yes to me so I confided in my friend whose wedding we attended. He said all he had to say but Alberta still said no. Since she was a childhood friend to my friend’s wife, I called my friend’s wife and told her about my feelings for her friend. She said, “Alberta had been through a lot that’s why she’s proving stubborn. She’s not someone who plays hard to get but if your intentions are pure, I can help.”

So she put in a word for me and finally Alberta said yes. She was the reason I was traveling to Kumasi every weekend from Keta. She was the reason I started seeking a transfer from Keta to Kumasi. Some women come into your life and everything begins to sparkle. Alberta was that kind of woman. She made me better. She made me dreamt bigger. One day she sent me a screenshot of a job advertisement. She said, “This is directly related to your field.” I said, “Check the qualification, I’m not there yet.” She said, “Try it and see, who knows.” I tried it. Two weeks later I got a call for an interview. A week after the interview, I had another call. They said, “Congratulations, you were offered the job.”

Some women come into your life and call for things that are not there to happen. Alberta was that kind of woman. She became my lucky charm. One and a half years after dating, there was no reason to continue staying as boyfriend and his girlfriend. I had a better job that brought me closer to her. I was living in a good place and she was also doing well in her chosen career. When we decided to get married, the first person I told was that my friend through whom I found Alberta. You remember him? The guy whose wedding led me to Alberta. Yeah, that friend. 

I told him excitedly, “My guy, we are getting married. Very soon I’ll join the table of men with you.” I thought he was going to be happy for me. He said calmly, “You’re joining the table that I’m running away from? It’s not easy. You have to think well about it.” That wasn’t the answer I was expecting. I asked, “Or you didn’t hear what I said? I’m getting married to Alberta, that’s what I mean.” He said, “I got you clearly the first time. I was only advising you based on experience. I and my wife are getting a divorce.” I said, “Tell me you’re joking.” He said, “We are beyond repairs. The best thing now is to let each other go.” I asked, “Less than two years together and you guys are beyond repairs?” He said, “It started the very first month we got married. We’ve stayed together all this while trying to make it work but my dear, we can’t seem to find the crack that needs patching.”

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When I told Alberta, she called her friend immediately to ask what was going on. She said the same thing, “It didn’t work. This marriage had a lot of issues right from the beginning. It’s better we let it go.” So those who put us together were going their separate ways. How ironic. I needed my friend to be my best man too but he wasn’t in the best frame of mind to carry that duty. He spent his days advising me to be careful with my decision to get married. He said, “I dated my wife for five good years but see where we are now. Just one and a half years and you two want to marry? If I were you, I would think through it very well.” 

Alberta’s friend also said the same thing to her. She told her men change after marriage. She told her men are not to be trusted, “They marry and leave you behind in the house to cook and do the dirty jobs while they go out there having fun and chasing their dreams.” I wasn’t scared but Alberta got herself soaked up in doubt. I told her, “We’ll be fine. We are two different pairs of people. We can’t have the same story.

On our wedding day, the two of them were there. They sat separately from each other. At the reception, the two of them sat at different tables. I was watching and wondering how two lovers could look like strangers in a very short while. We got married. They got their divorce. The good thing is, we are always happy charting our own marital course. The last time I spoke to my friend, he said he was happy too. He asked, “How’s married life?” I said, “It couldn’t have been better.” He said, “Open your eyes and watch her. Women are not to be trusted.” I said in my head, “I didn’t marry all women. I married a woman and I can trust her.” 

 —Kakra

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