#WTF Chapter 9

Read Chapter 8 here.

A sealed envelope lay on the dining table with Edem and Afriyie seated across from each other. Afriyie picked up her wine glass, swirled the contents inside around and sipped. Edem watched her suspiciously.

“Relax, it’s only grape juice. It’s my way of getting over my wine craving. Are you going to open it or should I?”
“Last chance. Any confessions?”
“From me? I already know what the results are going to say”, Afriyie said confidently. Edem gulped his drink and put his glass down. He took the envelope and opened it. He opened the folded paper and scanned through it. He sighed.

“Verdict?”
“I’m your baby daddy.”
She smiled. “Of course you are.”

He sighed again. “How does that feel?”

“What does what feel?”

“To confirm you’re going to be a father again.”
“Strangely, it feels good, especially after my wife’s strong opposition to the fact that I could be the father.”
“And why would she feel so strongly about that? Have you ever thought about that?” Afriyie asked curiously. 

“Perhaps she’s in denial? She doesn’t want to believe that I’m capable of cheating on her and even worse, father a child with the other woman.”
“You think that’s just it? You don’t think there could be more to it?”
“Nah, I don’t think so. Just wifely frustration.”
“I don’t think it’s just that. But hey, I’m not a wife so what do I know?”

“No, you’re not,” Edem said, hoping the conversation would end already.

“But I am a woman and I believe we are wired the same way whether or not you are carrying a man’s last name. I think we should give her a taste of her own medicine.”

“We?”
“Or better yet, you. Why not flip it on her?”
“What do you mean?”
“Ask for a DNA test on her children.”
“And why on earth would I do that? I know they are my children!” Edem said defensively.

“Oh honey, men assume they are the fathers but the one who can tell for sure is the woman.”
“Again, why would I do that? I have no reason to question my children’s paternity.”
“Yes, you didn’t before until I got pregnant and she vehemently refused it as a possibility. Why would she be sure when she has supposedly birthed not one but three children of yours?”
“I don’t know what diabolical idea you have in mind but I have no intention of breaking my marriage, Afriyie.”
Afriyie laughed. “If you ask me, I’d say you’re afraid of facing the possibility of your greatest fear…that there’s a reason why your wife feels strongly you can’t be the father of my baby. If you want to spend your lifetime caring for children you assume are yours, that’s your cup of tea. But at least, you know for sure that mine is really yours.”

“Enough, Afriyie. I want this to be the last time that we’ll have this conversation.”
“That’s fine. Just thought that I should put it out there.”

Edem walked out of the dining room. Afriyie smiled, knowing the seed she had sown had found soil to germinate from. 

**
Serwa was lying in bed watching a TV show when her phone rang. She took the phone and stared at it as it rang. She picked up after several rings.

“Hey.”

“Hey…for a second, I thought you had gone to bed already.”
“What’s up?”
“You don’t sound like yourself. Is everything all right?”
“Considering that I know very well that you’re with another woman right now who claims to be carrying your baby, yeah, I’d say everything is all right.”

“I told you I was going for a business…”
“Please Edem, let’s not do this, okay? You didn’t marry a stupid woman so stop trying. To what do I owe this call?”
“I was calling to check in. How are the kids?”
“They are fine.”
“May I have a word with them?”
“They are in bed.”
“I’m sure they are not yet asleep…” Edem said, checking his watch.

“I said they are in bed. You know their bedtime. If you really wanted to speak to them, you’d have called earlier.”

“Come on Serwa, this is not the first time I’ve traveled and called in late and still gotten to speak to them.”
“Well, times change.”

Serwa heard a door open from the other end of the line. There was a pause from Edem’s end.

“Is that Afriyie? Do send her my regards.”

She could hear some murmuring over the phone. She ended the call and threw the phone next to her on the bed. She lay down. The phone rang a few seconds later. She ignored it.

A tear ran down her face. She sniffed.

**

Kekeli ran to the front door and opened it.

“Uncle Jojo!”

“Hey buddy!” Kekeli hugged him around the waist.

“How are you doing?”
“I’m fine thank you and you?”

“I’m good. Where are your sisters?”

“Elinam is doing her homework and Apefa is watching videos.”
“I see.”

Jojo entered the living room to find Serwa on her laptop, typing away.

“Hey.”
She barely responded, her attention fully on the screen. Jojo slowly closed the laptop shut and took it from her lap, earning himself a scowl from Serwa.

“Am I getting a hug or what?”

“I’ve an assignment to finish, Jo. Get me back my PC.”
“I’m hungry…can I have something to eat?”
“You’re not a guest here, Jo. You can help yourself in the kitchen.”
“Okay…someone’s in the mood. Is that why you’re giving my brother a hard time?”
“Oh did he send you here?”
“Oh no…I was going to come here anyway. Seeing that you’ve gone MIA on me these days, I knew I had to come over before this goes too far.”

He took her feet down off the sofa and sat next to her.

“You look angry.”
“I feel worse. Do you know how insulting it is to have your husband travel out with his other woman and shamelessly call you like all is well?”
“Unfortunately, it seems that until the paternity of her child is verified not to be Edem’s, she will continue to be in your life, Serwa.”
“I don’t have the heart for that, Jo. Maybe we should go our separate ways.”
“Wait, what? And what happens to the children?”
“He will take care of them of course.”
“You wouldn’t want to leave him after all these years after what you two have been through for another woman to come and enjoy the fruits of your labor.”
“But staying in this situation will only end in a premature death for me and I love myself and children too much to die before my time,” Serwa said.

“It’s very likely Edem will have the DNA test done there. Have you considered what you’d do if the results turn out to be positive?”
“It won’t,” Serwa said confidently.

“What if it does, Serwa? I did tell you he was going for some treatment, right?”
“So you’re confirming they are together in the States as we speak.”
Jojo sighed. “I’m only saying that if the result turns out to be positive, it would be a terrible move to leave the marriage. Your children stand to lose the most if you catch my drift.”

Serwa’s eyes met his. She got up from the sofa.

“What would you like to have? I have some leftover spaghetti in the fridge.”
“Yeah, that would be fine.” She walked to the kitchen. Jojo followed her.

He watched her as she took a bowl from the fridge and dished some onto a plate.

“Serwa, just humor me for a second, all right? What do you plan to do if Edem returns and demands a test on your children after Afriyie’s results turn out to be positive?”

“He dares not ask that of me.”
“You demanded that of him.”
“I never told him I cheated on him. There’s no reason for him to doubt they are his children.”

“Unless you have a good reason why you believe Afriyie’s baby isn’t Edem’s, it puts to question who your children’s father is.”
“If he’s considering that and this is your way of giving me a heads up, you better tell him to forget it. Unless he wants this marriage to be over.”
“I don’t think you really mean that. You don’t stand to gain anything if you leave this marriage.”

She put the bowl in the microwave and set it to a minute to warm up.

“I repeat Jo, tell him not to dare.”

“You know that is not a good plan to have.”
“I’m not planning anything. He’s the one who confessed to having made another pregnant.”
“He doesn’t need a confession to get what he wants.”
“Okay…if you need assurance Jojo, let me make this as clear as I possibly can: if you let that happen, you know I’m not going down alone. And if you love him as a brother as you always say, then you wouldn’t want to destroy him so make sure he doesn’t come asking me nonsense. Kapish?”

Jojo nodded.

“Thank you.” She walked out of the kitchen.

** 

Jojo waved at Edem. He nodded and strolled to him with his luggage.

“Welcome back. Shall we?”
“Um…can I ask a favor?”
“Sure, what?”
“Seeing that it’s quite late, could we do a detour and drop…”
“Come on man, she can Uber herself home, can’t she?”
“Be nice, Jojo.”
“I don’t feel like it, Edem.”

“I know you’re acting this way out of loyalty to Serwa but you are my friend, Jojo and I am asking you a favor.”

“I don’t want a homewrecker in my car and doing so only suggests I’m okay with her presence in your life.”
“Can we have this conversation later, please? Been a long flight and we need to catch some rest.”

“Fine but then you load your own stuff,” Jojo said and sat in the car. 

“Everything okay?” Afriyie asked.

“Yeah,” Edem replied as he opened the boot of the car and started loading their luggage.

On the road, Afriyie attempted to pick up a conversation with Jojo.

“Hey…Jojo, right? Ed mentions you a lot. You two must be like brothers, right?”

Jojo turned up the volume of the music playing and kept on driving. Edem shook his head but said nothing. Afriyie got the message and said no more. 

When they arrived at her end, Edem got down to take out Afriyie’s luggage.

“Ed tells me you and his wife are pretty close,” she said. When he said nothing, she continued, “Then I guess you know why she felt strongly about me possibly lying about her husband being the father of my baby. I’ve seen photos of her children and it kind of gives me an idea of how they came about.”
Jojo shot her a glare in the rearview mirror. She met his gaze and smiled. Edem opened her door.

“Thanks for the ride, Jojo. A pleasure meeting you.” She got out of the car. He exhaled. He tapped on the steering wheel as he waited for Edem. He had taken Afriyie’s bag inside her apartment.

“Let’s go,” Edem said when he got back into the car.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Edem asked, “So, how are things?”

“Just the way you left it.”
“Her baby is mine, you know.”
“Yeah, you sent me a screenshot of the results, remember?”
“Yeah, I did. This whole thing got me thinking. Considering how strongly Serwa felt about Afriyie’s pregnancy, I think I should…”
“Before you say anything outrageous, know that Serwa is ready to file and walk.”

“File for what? Divorce? She’s bluffing and you know it,” Edem scoffed.

“I don’t think she is, Edem. No hell hath fury like a woman scorned.”

“If she goes ahead with it, the more reason I have to verify the paternity of our children.”
“And let me guess, Afriyie gave you that idea. Why would you want to destroy a family that has taken you years to build?”
“Why should she also walk away from the life we have built just because I have a child with another woman?”
“If the tables were turned, would you have stayed after telling you she was pregnant with another man’s child?”
“You know that’s different, man.”
“How different is it, Ed? Serwa feels betrayed by all this and you had to add insult to injury by sending her abroad after she explicitly told you not to.”
“I did it because she insisted on verifying the paternity which I’ve done. She can’t have her cake and eat it.”
“You could have done the test here.”
“Well, my first tests seemed to suggest that I had weak sperm but look at me now.”
“All I’m saying is that don’t throw away what you have. The devil you know is better than the angel you don’t know.”

He pulled over in front of Edem’s house.
“Want to come in ?”
“Oh no. I’m sure you and Serwa have a lot to talk about, so I’d rather give you your privacy.”
“Yeah, leave me to enter the lion’s den all by myself, huh?”

“You made your bed, buddy. It’s time you lie in it.”

Edem got out of the car and took out his luggage.

“All the best, buddy,” Jojo said and drove off. Edem sighed as he looked at the house.

(c) 2024 Josephine Amoako

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