Picture Culled From: MARSHABLE's 'Black Armor' Written By: David Yi |
When Ebo
Kofi met Iminathi Thato, he and Farhanah Ekow were checking themselves out. For
a minute there, he thought he was in love with Farhanah but all that flew out
of the window when Iminathi spoke to him.
He and
Farhanah worked at the premiere advertising agency in Kumasi, an agency where
he was a bit of a celebrity. Iminathi did some work for the agency and during
one of her presentations, they met. He was impressed with the quality of her
creativity. He wished she did more work with the company so he could see her
often, but wishes weren’t horses. Whenever she was around though, he watched
her from afar as she did her job. She kept to herself a lot, making her
irresistible to men and women alike.
There
were many days Ebo wished he and Iminathi were friends but he kept his distance
too, maintaining his faux mysterious aura so people thought there was more to
him than he portrayed.
And then
she sent him a message. She was sick and wondered if he would do a major
presentation for her. The client was the biggest telecommunications company in
Ghana and the account was going to be big for their firm. He agreed to do the
presentation and asked her to send her work. When the time came, he delivered a
flawless performance and got the account. He made sure to tell the company that
he was making the presentation for Iminathi, who was unavoidably absent. The
commission was written in her name.
When he
told Iminathi everything that had happened, she was so grateful. She shared the
commission equally with him and that day, they became friends.
They
started texting each other and somehow, he knew he was falling in love with
her. She on the other hand, seemed to just be having fun. It was obvious that
she was attracted to him but he wasn’t sure if her emotions were invested in
their attraction dance.
Farhanah
on the other hand, was transferred to the Nigerian bureau and Ebo was glad she
was out of the way. He could now focus on getting the girl of his dreams.
From
texting, they started sexting and he knew that they would invariable be
together. While he couldn’t wait to be with her physically, he also wanted to
connect with her emotionally. But he was scared; she was a fully functional
girl with big dreams. She had even bigger dreams than he had ever had. She
wanted to own the world; or a huge slice of it. That was a bigger motivation for her than any other thing OR
person. He wondered if he would be in competition with her career and if that
would be okay with him. He could see that she was clearly different from
Farhanah, who was content with him as her prize. He however believed that if he
could get her, he could change her. And so, he put on the charm.
Soon
enough, he was in Iminathi’s head. He knew this because whenever she saw him,
she burst out the biggest smile. He could be in a group of people and she would
walk up to him, say hi, and walk away. Soon enough, he was the envy of the guys
in the office. Everyone wondered how he got THE Iminathi to like him.
And
finally, Iminathi invited him to her home. They had quality dinner and even
better conversation and soon enough, they were wrapped around each other. Ebo
knew that it was a glorious night for him and he hoped it was equally so for
Iminathi. When he got up to leave, she smiled and him…and shattered his world.
‘Now that
this attraction has been sated, we can get on with our work. No more
distractions for me.’
Ebo was
shocked; Iminathi didn’t want a relationship with him. It had just been a
one-night-stand for her. This was usually what men did but for the first time
in his life, a woman had done it…and to him! He was beyond shocked. But he hid
his disappointment and said, ‘You are my girlfriend now and I am going
to make you the happiest woman in the world.’ Iminathi laughed and
said, ‘Darling, I am happy already. My happiness is not dependent on
you, or anyone for that matter. No beef, but I am good. And no, I am not your
girlfriend.’
He
laughed – painfully – as she saw him out of her house. As he walked to his car,
he promised he was going to make her fall in love with him; if it was the last
thing he did.
Ebo
layered the charm and pursued Iminathi like his life depended on it. He was
suave, charming, and peppered his speech and actions with enough romance to
make Mills & Boons look like child’s play. And soon enough, Iminathi fell
in love with him. It was the start of a beautiful love story. Or was it?
Ebo
noticed that Iminathi didn’t become less interested in her career. If anything,
she was more dogged about what she wanted to achieve with her life. He knew she
loved him but he also knew that if she was to choose, she would choose her
career over him. He wanted to be her all, to be the reason she was happy and
somehow, he felt that if he offered her marriage, that would happen. In less
than six months, he started dropping hints about wanting to spend the rest of
his life with her.
One night
after an intense love making session, he cuddled her and said, ‘I love you
so much. I am happiest with you around and I think I could do this forever.
What do you think?’
Iminathi
squirmed and broke out of the cuddle.
‘You know
there is no ‘forever’ for us, right?’
Ebo sat
up. ‘Why would you say that?’
‘Well, I
am not the committing type. I admit that you have broken some of my walls and
all, but you and I cannot be together in a commitment institution. You want a
woman who loves you and cooks for you and takes care of you and cuddles you;
basically a woman whose life is built around you. I am not that woman. I
believe marriage is a part of my
life and not the entire essence of
it. Moreover, you are Ghanaian and I am South African. Our cultures are vastly
different and in many aspects, clashing. I definitely won’t want to bring
children into the drama we are sure to have. Anyway, don’t spoil something
beautiful with thoughts of the future. Let us take things a day at a time. Be
rest assured that someday, I will leave Ghana, maybe back to South Africa or
even Nigeria – you know they love us South Africans – and I know that isn’t
what you want. So darling, enjoy the moment. That is the only guarantee I can
give you.’
Ebo
looked at her as she turned away, preparing to sleep. For the first time in
their relationship, he knew that she had seen right through him, that she had
broken the walls of his mystery and realized exactly who and what he was; a man
who thought he should be her prize.
For the
next three years, their relationship continued and with each passing day, he
knew Iminathi would never settle with him. He gradually became frustrated
because he wondered why she was even with him. She made her own money, worked
hard at her job, was building a healthy reputation for herself in Ghana and
didn’t seem fazed that almost every other girl was getting married and playing
housewife. When he did spend money on her, it was because she allowed it
and those days where they fought, she settled not because of his apologies but
because she wanted too. He couldn’t make her do anything.
She was sufficient in herself. And the more everyone asked when they were tying
the knot, the more annoying her quirky laughter became.
Then
Farhanah returned to Kumasi. All the time she was away, she kept calling him,
begging him to accept her in his life. He was bored with the neediness and
stopped picking her calls. But on her return, he began to wonder; could he
carry on with Farhanah when everyone knew he was dating
Iminathi? Something they all knew because he made sure they
did? He knew he wouldn’t know if he didn’t try.
So, he
started seeing Farhanah.
Soon
enough, Iminathi found out and told him they were over. He knew he was losing a
rare gem for a bauble so he went to her, begged, cried, and worst of all, lied.
He swore with his life that there was nothing between him and Farhanah. He said
she was all over him and he was only nice to her. He said he couldn’t trade
someone precious for someone like Farhanah. And the more he talked, the more he
saw the light in Iminathi’s eyes fade out. When he thought she was going to
kick him out, she smiled and hugged him. She told him it was okay and she had
forgiven him. He left her house that day knowing that the relationship was
over; not because of anything Iminathi said or did, but because he knew he had
crossed an unforgivable line.
He
started avoiding Farhanah and sometimes, deliberately treating her like crap.
But she wouldn’t budge. She sent even more messages, tried to talk to him in
public and eventually, stopped speaking to him completely when she saw his
devotion to Iminathi.
He and
Iminathi continued dating for a year after that incident but many times, he
caught her staring at him as one would look at an errant child…or a fool. The
sex was still great but he felt she was probably playing Mahjong in her mind
while they were at it. The conversations became mostly work related. What hurt
the most was that she no longer respected him. Oh! She didn’t do anything to
show him that, but he knew! He knew.
Iminathi
finally left Ghana and went to Jamaica, taking up a position of management in a
top global advertisement agency. In less than a month, she was in a
relationship with someone she saw a future with. He wondered at how quickly she
moved on but remembered that her heart had not being in the relationship for a
whole year. He also wondered at her sudden willingness to get married,
especially because the man she was dating was from Barbados and the cultures
were different too. It confirmed to him that she wasn’t wary of the institution
called marriage, she was just wary of being in the institution with him.
And so,
he did what thought would hurt her the most; he went public with Farhanah. All
the things he used to do with her, he started doing with Farhanah. And they
started planning for a wedding immediately. He made sure the word got out that
he had dated Iminathi for years and didn’t marry her but Farhanah whom he was
in a relationship for less than three months was already being called his wife.
He tried to make it look like it was his choice not to marry Iminathi, dropping
hints about women you marry and those you just…have sex with.
Deep
down, he knew he wasn’t hurting Iminathi. Rather, he was confirming exactly
what she thought he was; a little boy trying to fill a man’s shoes. He also
knew that Farhanah was too much of a downgrade from Iminathi. He knew she could
arouse him, cook for him, clean after him, take care of him, make him babies,
and be the exact woman he needed, but she could never titillate
his mind. Deep down also, he wondered what kind of low self-worth made Farhanah
accept him after rejecting her over and over again because of his love for
Iminathi.
Maybe he
deserved her, maybe he deserved the woman who saw him as her prize, who
depended on him for her happiness, who was willing to do anything to make him
happy and who was incomplete without him. Maybe he deserved a woman he could
control, a simpleton who would be content with just being his wife. Maybe, just
maybe, he deserved the boredom he was sure to have as the marriage
progressed. But he knew that in his heart of hearts, he would always love
Iminathi, the woman who didn’t need him to be content, the
woman who didn’t need ANYONE to be the person she has always wanted to be, the
woman who knew there was more to life than seating at his feet, waiting to
fulfill his every desire.
To the
world, he had moved on from Iminathi and she had probably lost her prize. To
Ebo, he knew that he was the one who lost his prize. And now, he
had to settle, not for second, third, or even tenth best, but for what was
available.
He knew
he would always love Iminathi, the one woman he never completely had.
No comments:
Post a Comment