The Unfaithful Wife

Episode 8

I held a one hour meeting with my
lawyer, Carl Lomotey, who assured me
that once the DNA test proves that the
children are mine, he will ensure I have
full custody of them. He was confident
that the judge will grant that request.
I did not go to the hospital that day.
From my lawyer’s chambers, I went to
my children’s school with the hope that I
will find them there. But their teachers
told me they had not been to school for
two days. It was obvious my estranged
wife was keeping them away
permanently. I assured myself that soon,
I would have custody of them. I went
home early that day. On arrival, I found
Efe at the kitchen; she was still crying.
I asked her to follow me to the living
room where I had a twenty minutes talk
with her. She listened amidst tears.

“Such is life, Efe. But, we can only move
on. You will see Peter and Pamela soon. I
can assure you of that,” I told her,
hoping that would cheer her up.

The next day, I was up very early. If my
Nora and the children had been home,
we would have had the usual early
morning devotion. But, alas, they were
not at home so I had it alone. Then I
prepared and headed for my lawyer’s
place.

Carl Lomotey was waiting for me.
Together, we drove to the Central
Government Hospital where the DNA test
was going to take place. We arrived
there to find that Nora was already there
with her brother and the men she had
obviously employed as bodyguards. Her
lawyer, Prof. Solomon Laryea, was also
present. I sat down with Carl Lomotey as
we waited all waited for George Oteng,
the court Registrar who was going to be
the Independent observer, to arrive.

Five minutes later, he did. We were then
all ushered into a consulting room. The
medical doctor who was going to
perform the DNA was not somebody I
knew. He was called Dr. Clement Adu.

When he said all was set and asked of
the children, my wife asked his brother
to go fetch them. Nana Kweku went out.
He came in later with my children. Peter
and Pamela.

“Daddy!” Pamela screamed on seeing
me. She wanted to dash to my side but
Nora stopped her..

“Pamela! Have you forgotten what I told
you?” she sternly asked the little girl. I
could see my son, Peter, wanting to
come over to me. I felt like grabbing
them and cuddling them in my arms. But
I restrained myself, assuring myself that
sooner than later, they will be back in my
arms.

“Hello Peter and Pamela. How are you?” I
asked them. Cowed by their mother,
none of them replied but I could see
how much they wanted to.

The doctor led the way to the laboratory.
We all followed him. Two laboratory
assistants were waiting for us. The DNA
test began. Ten minutes later, it was all
over and we were told to go back to the
consulting room.

Back there, we all waited. The doctor
soon came back with a report sealed in
an envelope. He gave it to the Registrar
who got all of us to sign on the seal.
Then he asked us to come back to the
court the following day where the
envelope will be opened and the
contents known. With that, we all filed
out of the place.

Once outside, both Peter and Pamela
began to cry that they wanted to come
to me. However, Nana Kweku and his
sister, Nora, will not let them. I looked on
with a heavy heart as they were
dragged towards the vehicle they had
come in. A few minutes later, the car
was driven away.

I felt broken within. Suddenly, I began to
wonder whether Nora was the same
loving, God-fearing, humble and caring
woman I met years ago, fell in love with
and married.

“It is okay, Mr. Mensah. Let us go,” my
lawyer told me. I felt like going back in
to see the doctor to ask him what the
result was but I decided against it. Of
course, the children were mine. The DNA
will prove it. I went home, hopeful that
the next day, the truth, that I was the father of Peter and Pamela will beestablished
Efe, my maid, was anxiously and
faithfully waiting for me when I arrived
home. She was anxious to know what
the result of the DNA test was.

“Efe, we shall know tomorrow in court
but have no doubts. Peter and Pamela
are my biological children and this will
be proven by the DNA test.

Efe, I could see, was totally disoriented
by all that was happening and she had
good reasons to feel that way. Since she
came to live with us, nothing serious
had happened to shake the unity and
harmony in the party. We were all just
one happy young family. Then suddenly,
everything seemed to be crumbling like
a pack of cards.

Despite her plea that evening, I skipped
supper, went to have my bath and went
straight to bed. But, I was to have a
sleepless night. My mind kept on going
back to my children when I saw them at
the hospital and their attempt to break
free from their mother’s hold and come
to me. My heart yearned for them.

Finally, I managed to fall asleep only to
wake up about an hour later hoping it
was about 6:00a.m. Realizing it was
3:00 a.m, I sat up in bed, paced the
room, walked out of the bedroom, went
to the children’s room, went to the living
room and finally went outside as I
restlessly waited for day to break.
Finally, it was 6:00a.m. I went to have my
bath and dressed up before 7:45 am. As
usual, Efe was ready for me with
breakfast when I came out of the room.
She had prepared tea with sandwich for
me. I declined the breakfast and said I
had to go. I noticed the sad expression
on her face as I headed for my vehicle. It
was when I got to the car that I saw
John, my driver. He had just finished
washing the car. His two weeks leave
had come to an end so he had reported
for duty. I was glad that I wasn’t going
to drive.

My driver’s sombre disposition was
enough indication that he was aware of
the fire raging on in my house.
Obviously, Efe had briefed him. As far as
I was concerned, that was good as it
saves me another task of explaining to
my driver what was happening.

On our way, I phoned Carl Lomotey to
tell him I was heading for the court. He
said he was already at the court; my
estranged wife was also there with the
children.

Knowing that my children were in court
gave me mixed feelings.

On one hand, I reasoned that in at most
a couple of hour’s time, they will be in
my custody. But I was also pained by the
fact that they had to be put through a
court session. I wished they were not
going to witness a legal tussle between
their mother and I.

Finally, I arrived at the court.

Immediately, I spotted Nora and the
children. They were seated on the front
bench in the middle row of chairs on the
court room.

I made no attempt to go to them,
repeatedly assuring myself that very
soon, my children will be reunited with
me.

The court room was quiet as all awaited
the judge. I sat by my lawyer while Prof.
Solomon Laryea sat by Nora and the
children. She looked beautiful as usual.
There was innocence and decency
written all over her.

Indeed, no one can judge a book by the
cover. No one, by looking at Nora, would
believe that she, a married woman, was
capable of having s-x with another man
in my bedroom and on our bed. She was
a holy devil, I told myself as I sat there,
occasionally staring at her.
My children, Peter and Pamela sat calmly
by her, not understanding what had
taken place so far and what was about
to take place.

Again, I longed to have them in my arms;
to hold them, cuddle them, kiss them
and play with them. Presently, a loud
voice announcing that the judge was
about to enter the court room boomed,
interrupting my thoughts. We all got up
in the room. The judge entered. He looked clam and composed.

We all rose to our feet, sitting down only
after the judge had taken his seat.
All the lawyers in the room bowed lightly
to the judge before taking their seats
once more.

I sat down calmly in-between my lawyer
and his partner, K.A. Ofori . None of my
relatives or friends were in court with
me to give me moral support because
only my house-help, Efe, and my driver,
knew about the case. I had kept
everybody in the dark. My colleague
doctors also knew about the case but
did not know we were in court litigating
over my fatherhood of my children.

Two cases were called and dealt with.
The first case was a theft case involving
an old man who was arrested for
stealing food somebody had bought. He
pleaded guilty to the charge of stealing.
The judge, one could see, felt sorry for
the old man. He warned him not to steal
again even if he was hungry. Then he
discharged him, warning him that the
next time he is brought before him, he
would deal drastically with him.

The second case was an armed robbery
case. Three armed robbers, with their
police escorts were taken to the dock
and then the handcuffs removed from
their hands. They had already pleaded
guilty to various charges and had been
brought to receive their sentences. The
judge described them as the scums of
life and then jailed each of them 25
years in hard labour. Then my case was
called.My estranged wife and I got up.
The registrar got up to tell the judge that
the DNA test had been conducted.

“The envelope I have in my hand
contains the result. The envelope was
sealed in the presence of the two people
here, I mean Dr. OforiMensah and Mrs.
Nora Ofori- Mensah Both of them signed
on the seal. Their respective lawyers
signed as their witnesses. Now, I will
give each of them the envelope to check
if the seal had been broken or not” the
Registrar said.

He gave me the envelope. I checked the
seal. Everything showed the seal had not
been opened. Nora, my lawyer and then
Nora’s lawyer all took turns to check the
seal. With all of us satisfied, the judge
ordered the envelope to be opened and
the contents read to the hearing of
everybody.

The Registrar complied. He began to
open the seal. I was calm, confident that
I was going to be vindicated. I looked
over at Nora. She too looked calm, and in
fact confident.

The Registrar finished opening the
envelope and pulled out a piece of paper
in it. The judge asked him to read the
content.

The court room was dead quiet. The
Registrar began to read. The sum totality
of what he read simply meant that the
DNA test had proven that I was not the
biological father of my children. Or,
perhaps, I did not hear the Registrar
well.

I looked over at where my estranged
wife sat; beaming with a smile, she was
hugging my son. She looked victorious
and this meant I had heard the Registrar
well. She turned to hug her brother who
was sitting behind her.
“What did the DNA result say?” I asked
my lawyer, who putting a hand on my
shoulder said all was well so I should
take it like a man.
“Take what like a man? You mean the
result showed that Peter and Pamela are
not my children?” I asked, the tone of
my voice rising.

“Please calm down and lower your voice
or the judge will be angry with you. The
judge is about to speak. Let us listen to
him first” my lawyer pleaded with me.
I could hear the sound of my heart as it
beat violently in its place of abode in my
chest. I could see my wife jubilating. The
judge began to speak.
“…the result is conclusive that Dr. Ofori-
Mensah is not the biological father of
Peter and Pamela. The wish of Madam
Nora that Dr. Ofori-Mensah should not
come anywhere near the two children
must therefore be respected” he said in part.