Sarah and her two younger brothers attended Research School Complex, a fine school run by the research institutions in the Eastern Region. A brilliant child, she enjoyed school, and was always around the top of her class.

She loved her parents. Her mother made sure they lacked nothing. Her father was the easy going type. He was generally good to them, but he hardly spent much time at home. Her major problem was her parents’ continuous quarrels.

During those sessions, the children would recoil in front of the TV in their room till they fell asleep. Very often, they would wake up to hear them quarrelling. Up till she reached junior high, she and her siblings managed to live with the situation. But later on she would hear them exchange threats and insults which confused and scared her.

‘You are a useless man. You are lazy and incompetent at work. Your boss says he’s tired of complaining. He says if you don’t change you could lose your job’.

‘And you are a heartless and selfish woman. You only care about money and yourself. Why should you go and discuss me with my boss? ‘

‘You dare call me heartless and selfish, when I feed and clothe you and your children? You lazy man. Can you survive for a month if I don’t feed you? When was the last time you took care of any of your children’s expenses, school fees, food, clothing or books?’

‘At the very least I provided you with a home and respectability. Without me you would be living in shame. You would have been ex­posed for who you really are’.

‘If you dare repeat that brainless sentence, I will teach you a lesson you would never forget’.

‘There you go. Threats! Threats! Why are you always threatening me?’

‘I asked you to repeat that stu­pid statement once, and see what happens’.

‘Okay. I’m sorry. Look, this is not good for the kids. I’m going to town. Will be right back’. With that he dashed out of the door, into his car and noisily sped off.

Although Sarah usually excelled in academics, the turmoil at home was having an impact on her. The teach­ers noticed that she was withdrawn, and would sometimes break into tears with little or no provocation.

Ms Odame, an elderly English teacher, took an interest in her and, after Sarah had told her about the problems she was facing at home, spent any free time she got encour­aging her. She realised that there was a deep seated problem behind the symptoms she was displaying. One morning, she took her out for lunch, and asked her the hard ques­tion.

‘Sarah, for some time now, I’ve been trying to encourage you, be­cause you are a brilliant girl, even though you may be facing a few problems at home. Now Sarah, I want to do my best to help you, but I want you to try and tell me ex­actly what the problem is at home, and I will do my best to help you. I promise you that I won’t discuss this with your parents’. Without much hesitation she unburdened herself of the load she had been carrying.

‘My parents are always quarrel­ling. Most of the time it is about money. Mummy keeps saying that Daddy doesn’t give her money, but spends his money on going out with friends and girls.

She also says that he is not serious with his work, so he’s not gaining any promotion. But Daddy sometimes says something which infuriates Mummy. He says he has kept her secret and given her respect, so she should stop disturbing her.

Mummy would then say that the whole issue was Daddy’s making, that if she mentioned it again she would move us out and leave him destitute. He would usually get scared, and apologised. There would be peace for some time, then it would happen again’.

‘I see. I see. Now, Sarah, I want you to trust me on this. I will do my best to help you. Do your best not to dwell on this. Come to me whenever you need any help, but we will solve the problem very soon’.

Through her enquiries, she learnt that Madam Gladys Ababio taught for a while at Aboso Senior High School. She made further enquiries at the GES, and learnt that the current headmaster of the school had been teaching there for close to twenty years. She called him and booked an appointment, explaining that she wanted to make an enquiry about an issue that would help a student of hers who was currently troubled.

‘Thanks for agreeing to see me’, she said after she had been welcomed with a snack. ‘I will go straight to the point. I have a student in JHS three, a girl. She’s brilliant, but she’s troubled at home. She confided in me that her parents have been quarrelling continually, and they seem to be hiding a secret. The mother was a catering teacher here in this school’.

‘I believe I have your assurance that you will handle this informa­tion with care, since it concerns a minor’.

‘You have my fullest assurance, madam

‘.

‘You are talking about Gladys and David, who were my colleagues. I know them, very well. They separat­ed soon after marrying, and Gladys married one Simon. David was a very popular French teacher. In fact, the school’s playground is named after him.

He left for Germany as soon as the marriage broke down. He’s back, do­ing big business. He has been doing a lot for the school, but he prefers not to be given any publicity.

Now, let me come to the main issue that has brought you here from Koforidua. Not long after David had married Gladys and was living with her, Simon appeared from America, and spent some time in a hotel with her.

This happened again some months later. David got wind of this, and decided to end the marriage and leave town. Gladys and her relatives begged and begged, but he wouldn’t budge. Then, obviously with the intent of punishing him for rejecting her, Gladys came out and told Mon­sieur that the baby, Sarah, was not his. Indeed, she had told him that she would teach him a lesson.

David was shattered, but his par­ents advised him not to fight Gladys over the issue, because she was quite strong-headed. They told him that the child would come back to him eventually, if she was truly his. So he left town. And Simon married Gladys.

‘I see. So Sarah is not Simon’s child’.

‘No way. Listen, Sarah was con­ceived before Simon appeared from nowhere. This was known to every­one at Aboso, because David was very popular, a great guy. I don’t know how Gladys can live with her­self, after what she did’.

‘I don’t know how to thank you. I will go back and do my best for the child, without causing much trou­ble’.

By Ekow de Heer