The next morning came with a lot of hope for the four friends. At least, they were all bright that morning, without anything appearing as some kind of weight they were dealing with. Lancelot, who had cried his eyes out the night before, was the only one who looked like a little like stress. His eyes were still reddened and the others had to laugh at him about how someone could be drunk and in tears at the same time.
'I don't think the alcohol was working because really, we have never seen a man who is weeping and is drunk before,' Gerald teased.
'I am not going to mind you guys,' he replied and went ahead to call his wife. Nurudeen could overhear the conversation and he was glad. He walked back to the living room earlier that morning to inform the rest who were chatting about football that indeed Lancelot was making progress. Immediately, Gyasi and Nurudeen compelled Gerald to also call his wife and call the children too who were at his mother's.
The discussion had gone really deep into the night. They turned in after midnight when the fire had totally died down and everyone had truly poured out what was on their hearts. It was to the satisfaction of Nurudeen and Gyasi, who had to automatically become counsellors, jury, and judges of every other scenario the other two would cook up to defend their 'stupidly silly' actions, as Gyasi had termed it. Nurudeen was against Gyasi's tags because they were a bit too harsh and Nurudeen was worried that the harshness may hurt the others even more. Indeed, it did rub Gerald in a bad way at a point and he became so riled up with wrath. Thankfully, Gyasi did not take offense but matched Gerald until Gerald cowered.
'Gerald, no matter what you say, you want to punish your wife in the name of you do not want to talk about it. Carrying these children away to your mother's end because you think Essie would be too busy to care for them is all a ploy to punish the woman for no reason. If you think she has cheated and you can no longer stay married, take the bull by the horn and demand for a divorce. You are a lawyer. You can easily do that. But this estrangement you are engineering in your own house will not only come back to bite you but your mother as well because you are getting her to indulge in it without her permission. This is the cowardice I am talking about. All of us have it in us but from this point, I believe it's just a lot of foolishness to behave nonchalantly because that is the most masculine thing to do. Being a man doesn't mean you should act in ways that punish a woman or make choices to force a woman to feel your authority. These choices you are making for your home will destroy it. It is same as Lancelot's situation because it has to do with you two being human beings, proper men, without having to play the role of the label society has accorded,' Gyasi's speech that night was really rich and powerful.
'Bro, you don't get it. She cheated with her boss! Come on! It is not as if I abstain from her or I don't have sex with her. She is the one always complaining of tiredness. Then suddenly she slept with her boss? Come on! You do not expect me to be calm about that. You cannot tell me what to do!' Gerald retorted in fury.
'Gee! I cannot tell you what to do, yeah! But I owe you that duty as a brother, as a friend, as a man to his fellow man, to point you in the right direction and to demand that you do the right thing! That right thing makes you think you lose your power to act as a man and that is how we have been conditioned. You also don't want to make the bold decision to divorce her because of your family and its honour. So you see how stupid it is to be torn in a dilemma like this one? Instead of you to simply desist from these absurd ideas of punishing your wife blah blah blah and fixing the situation like a true man, you are here being what is socially ideal? Look, there are your children. There is Mrs. Approach this better and stop being stuck at getting back at her. Even if you do, she has still had sex with her boss and lied about it. Choosing not to speak to her or choosing other forms of punishment for this woman will not reverse the situation! Have you even thought about how the man in that office may be making life uncomfortable for her? Have you even thought about getting her a different job or something so that she left that space? I mean! Have you thought about what the guilt is doing to her state of mind? I am not justifying what she did and I am not making a case against that we should overlook her bad choice. What I am saying is that be a man - not this boyish stuff and drama. Approach the situation with a choice that will bring a solution that works fine for the entire family.'
Gyasi's words did sink in but that morning, Gerald was still hesitant about calling his wife. Nurudeen insisted on that and he went out to the balcony to call her. In the matter of seconds, Gerald's voice had toned down as the conversation seemed to become more intimate.
'Mmm! I think this has been a fruitful trip after all the wild wild west we have had,' Nurudeen remarked, his gaze fixed on Gerald who was speaking on phone, while he was standing at the balcony.
'Well, you could say so. Any news from the accident and all?' Gyasi asked.
'I had a few of my associates follow up and they mentioned that the car had been found and unfortunately two men were found dead. One by the scene of the accident and the other along the road. They had also traced the taxi to its owner,' Nurudeen said with a deep sense of concern.
They were called by Gerald's police friend to come to the hospital to see and talk to the man Gyasi and Gerald had nearly run over nights before. Gerald managed to dissuade any suspicions of how Lancelot and Nurudeen turned up after that night, blatantly lying that the two had fallen asleep and locked themselves up in the room. It was at dawn that they realised they were inside and they went out for a walk on the beach that morning and returned to their rooms. The receptionist could corroborate the story because she saw how they looked beach-messy when they got back into the house that morning. But the call to see the dude was in relation to the fact that his taxi had been found in an accident miles away and probably it had something to do with Lancelot and Nurudeen's disappearance. Gerald told him the fake story but intelligently said they would still have to come and see the man and see if they could offer any help.
'Well, I guess that ends it or…?' Gyasi asked.
'I am sure Issah is still out there. He survived and he may come back for blood. It's best I prepare myself for the worse if he finds me or I find him first and settle the matter,' Nurudeen replied.
'Mmm. You are right but this time, Nurudeen, you have to be careful. No more blood because you are not in any life or death situation. Thanks to Gerald's legal creativity, I guess. We don't want you connected to this again in ways that would mar your image. Please…' Gyasi pleaded.
'Gyasi, that's why I probably have to find him first. I really have to. I don't want anymore blood. I really had to act out to save my life and I blame myself for those mistakes that led me into this situation and hmmm! Sometimes, I wished I had made some really better and smarter choices but I was just going on and on and doing what I thought was right. So much for being the intelligent one!' Nurudeen took a sip of water when he paused.
'Nuru, so much for us all who just tried this manhood thing without any kind of guidance or proper exemplars or mentorship! So much, man. We all wished we had had it better then. But here we are. We have already had to go through it and we cannot just reset now. We can only learn from what we missed and do better for ourselves as friends and for our young men in our homes,' Gyasi said.
'That's true. We have to do better. Speaking of doing better, I have a real opportunity for Lancelot,' Nurudeen said, lowering his voice to a whisper. 'It is meant to be a surprise but do you think he will take it?'
'Wowww!' Gyasi was surprised. 'Now that is some real support man! Great! I think he would take it,' Gyasi laughed and shook Nurudeen's hand. He was elated about the idea.
'Then I think I would pitch him for it immediately we are back in Accra. It's a multinational fintech company that is setting up a West Africa office in Ghana and they need a director. I mentioned Lancelot's name almost immediately and I told them to hold the position for him alone. The HR owes me a few favours so he called me first to see if he could use this to redeem himself.' Nurudeen was pleased at what he had done.
'Now this is huge!' Gyasi said as Gerald walked into the room.
'What is huge?' Gerald asked with a very cynical tone that made them laugh and wonder what exactly he meant the question to mean.
'Not what your very dark mind is thinking, mister man. Nurudeen got Lancelot a job,' Gyasi announced.
'Oh that's more like it! I was thinking about this the whole time! Whewwww! Thanks man! He will be grateful for this,' Gerald was also excited.
Lancelot walked in from the bedroom area. His face did not look like he was happy. So, Nurudeen's smile became a grimace.
'What's happening?' Gyasi asked when Lancelot slumped into the couch. The four men were seated.
'My woes are far from over. Adjoa showed up with our son at my home last night,' Lancelot said and sighed.
'Who?' Gerald asked confused.
'Our old housemaid. The one who… she kept the baby and he is three… and she hadn't heard from me in days so she thought I had left her so she showed up with the child… and Gifty is in shock and pain. So this is where my side of the trip came to an end. I think I have to get going so I face this once and for all.' Lancelot got up. 'I will see you guys in Accra?'
Nurudeen smiled. 'See who in Accra? This won't spoil the goodness of today because it doesn't have to. Because first, I have an offer for you for the role of director of the West African branch of Crandux Global.'
Lancelot jerked his head forward, and his eyes widened.
'Second, just don't think of this journey of recovery and restoration as man as one you will take alone. If your side of the trip is over, I guess our trip is over too. We are coming with you to help you and see you through this brother,' Nurudeen got up and extended a handshake to Lancelot, who was still in shock.
Nurudeen grabbed his hand and pulled him close for a hug.
Gerald and Gyasi stood up and smiled.
No comments:
Post a Comment