Esaaba went to her room, closed the door and sat on the bed. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she took her decision. If she was going to have her peace of mind and get along with her parents and sister, the only way was to find a place to rent and live on her own. She picked up her phone to talk to an estate agent when her door opened gently, and her parents walked in, Esaaba following.  

‘Esaaba’, her dad began, ‘we are sorry for what has happened. We are very sorry. But I wish you would understand that as your parents, we mean well. We want a good future for you. Naturally, we are concerned that you have been, er, a little late in settling down with a man. That is why we took the steps we did. We will continue to pray for a solution. In fact, it is possible that Stanley will realise what he’s missing and get in touch again’.                                                                    ‘Dad, I’m not going to discuss this issue with you again. It is quite obvious that you don’t agree that it is my right, as a right thinking adult, to make my own choices. So I am going to rent a place as quickly as possible and move out. If I don’t, we will continue to argue on this issue. I’m not prepared to allow anyone, even my parents, to choose a husband for me. And as for you Beesiwa, let me warn you, never get involved again in any issue concerning me, because apart from being very simple minded, you need to learn a few things in life. Don’t assume anything’.   

‘What do I care?’ Beesiwa snapped. What do I need from you?’                                                       

‘Get out of my room!’ she shouted. Beesiwa walked out, followed by their parents.

Esaaba decided that she needed space to clear her head. She went to the bathroom, washed her face and brushed her hair and, after checking to make sure that she had her copy of the front door key, went out. The only place she could think of, she thought, was Jackie’s, the open air joint. It was never too full, and they played mostly soft music. And the food was nice. It was just what she needed to clear her head. She decided against a taxi and strolled down, and took a seat. She sat and as the waiter walked up to take her order she saw Marian Mensah sipping a drink.

‘Hey, Marian! Where on earth have you been?’                                                                                  

‘Look who is asking questions. I have been trying to find you for ages. Where have you been?’  ‘I live some 200 metres from here. And you know I’m a TA on campus’.                          

‘I didn’t know that. And guess who has been asking for your number, almost desperately?’     

The only person I can think of is David Essel, and apart from the fact that he’s not in Ghana, I don’t think he will want to call me’.                                                                                            

‘Well, it’s him alright. He came back a month ago. He called last week, and said he heard you had gone to do a Masters programme on a university scholarship, and he also heard you were working with a drug company. But he obviously didn’t know you were on campus, because he would have fished you out a long time ago’.                                                                                 

‘Why, is he doing anything on campus?’                                                                                          

‘Yes, he’s just got a job as lecturer at the Statistics Department’. When he called and said he wanted to contact you, I teased him that you hadn’t changed, that perhaps you were the same difficult person you were, and he replied that perhaps you had changed’.                                      

‘Do you know what? I really liked the guy, but maybe I didn’t know him well because of the three year gap. Perhaps if he had taken a little time I would have agreed. He is quite good looking, always looking neat, and he had a great sense of humour. And you know, I was afraid of the girls who were always hovering around him. Do you have his number?’                                    

Marian called him, and within 20 minutes David had joined them at Jackie’s.                         

‘Good to see you ladies’. Esaaba, it’s been ages. I thought I would never find you.                      

‘Listen, you two’, Marian said, I’m sure it would be best for you if I vanished from here. So off I go. Call and let’s meet, this weekend if possible’

To be continued

By Ekow DeHeer, the author