The call came at exactly 6:32 in the morning. She was already awake, counting down the minutes as the time drew closer. She had not slept well the night before; she was anxious and shaky, wondering if the call would come. She was almost afraid to hope that it would come—that he would remember. She accepted the call by the fourth ring, because it took that many seconds for her hands to stop shaking.

“Hello?” 

Her voice was a whisper. She had been unable to speak any louder or bolder. It had come out shaky and uncertain, but still ten times more confident than she felt.

“Happy Valentine,” he said, fulfilling a promise made six years ago — a promise she thought he had forgotten but had hoped against all odds that he hadn’t. She had been scared to bank on the promise of a young man made in the heat of circumstance, but she had hoped. God, she had hoped so hard. 

His voice was just slightly deeper, and it soothed something shaking deep inside her. It had been so long, but it felt like it was just yesterday since they last spoke. 

“Happy Valentine’s,” she responded, waiting a few seconds just to hear the sound of his breath on the line before hanging up.

She lay back in bed, shocked that it had happened. Hearing his voice had started healing something deep inside that was broken. It started to rebuild the hope that had been lost.

He had called. He had called. D had called.

The sound of her message tone sent a jolt through her. With hands that were trembling even harder than they were before, she lifted up the phone she was still holding and opened the message. After reading it, she sent a quick reply and then began to weep. The tears started silently, fat tears that rolled down her cheeks, and then they were accompanied by soft whimpers before graduating to full-blown, gut-wrenching sobs. She cried for ten straight minutes, releasing years of pent-up sorrow, despair, and unhappiness. When she was done, she looked around the room that had been both her prison and sanctuary for the past five years. It was a good-sized room with a queen-size bed and a dark-wood wardrobe with a matching dresser. 

She hated the brown and lime-green colour scheme of the room, but she hadn’t been allowed to make any changes to the room her sister had decorated. Not that she had the energy to decorate, anyway.

She showered quickly and dressed up in the same white sundress with little hearts scattered across the bodice that she had worn on that fateful day. It was a lot snugger now than it had been six years ago, but it still fit. She had also made sure to braid the same kind of box braids in the colour 27 she had favoured until she had been banned from all other hair colours except black—her sister’s favoured colour.

The things she valued most and wanted to keep with her were in her trusted large black suitcase. They had been packed since Christmas, and she had been living out of her smaller suitcase in anticipation of this day. Glancing around for the last time, she bid the room a bittersweet goodbye and left, dragging her luggage down the stairs.

When she got to the bottom of the stairs with her luggage, she was startled when she saw him in the living room sitting on the single sofa he favoured. She had not expected him to be here. He was not supposed to be here. He was supposed to be on a trip to Kumasi. She gulped, trying not to panic. She had paid her dues. She was free now, and nobody would stop her. Right? 

“You couldn’t wait to leave, could you?” he sneered with a voice thick with derision. “Ready to go back to being the little whore you were before I married you?”

“We’re not married anymore,” she wanted to say, but didn’t, because the breaking of their traditional marriage hadn’t been completed yet. But there was no way she could wait. And after all this time, it still hurt. His words still had the power to hurt her. They had been family, and there had been love between them. How did it go south so badly? She had sacrificed five good years of her life, only to be met with displeasure, disappointment and rancour at every end.

“I don’t want to fight,” she told him, resigned and exhausted. “I want to leave with some peace between us. I don’t want to go with only bad blood and bad feelings. For the sake of Naya and Lily. Please.”

He opened his mouth to say something derisive. She recognised the look on his face and the twist on his lips. But then he stopped, and his face crumpled. He suddenly looked defeated and very old, and his voice, when he spoke, was lifeless.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I have been horrible, and you didn’t deserve it.”

She was so stunned by his admission that she almost hit her foot against the coffee table. After five years, had she been able to finally reach him? She was tempted to brush it off, to say that it was okay, that it hadn’t been so bad, but it had. It had been terrible. In the five years she had lived with him, he had been emotionally and verbally abusive, making both of them miserable. He had punished her for being so much like Naya and still not enough like her.

“No, I didn’t deserve it,” she said. “You need help, Jonah. It has been five years. I don’t recognise you anymore, and neither would Naya.”

He jolted at the mention of her name, eyes going glassy. “I knew I was being horrible to you, but I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t stop myself from hating you, even though I knew you didn’t deserve it.”

“You need help,” she repeated. “You need to get professional help before you destroy yourself and everyone around you. For Lily’s sake at least.”

With that, she turned and left, leaving him sitting slumped and dejected on the sofa.

She felt awful leaving him like that, but she had to think of herself now. She had done enough. Now, she was free. 

Inputting the address into her phone to guide her, she drove to freedom, her heart beating faster as she drew closer. Her mind went back to the promise she had made six years ago, which had changed everything.

Seven Years Ago

Obenewaa sat by her sister’s hospital bed, saddened by how frail she looked as she spoke to her. She had requested to speak to her alone for a few minutes while the rest of the family waited outside.

“Do you remember the favour box you always gave me for my birthday?” Naya asked.

“Yes, of course. You kept all of them and never got to use them,” Obenewaa replied, feeling another wave of sadness that after everything her sister had done for her, she would not have the chance to reciprocate.

“I want to claim the favour now,” Naya said, her voice sounding slightly stronger.

“Anything,” Obenewaa promised. She would do anything for Naya.

Naya’s lips curved weakly at the quickness with which her sister had answered. “You wouldn’t say that so fast if you knew what I want to ask of you.”

“Anything,” Obenewaa repeated.

“I know that what I am going to ask of you is selfish and completely unfair, but I need to rest, and the worry will not allow me to.”

“What do you want me to do? I’ll do anything,” Obenewaa repeated, broken by the pain she was seeing in her sister.

“Frimpong is not going to take this well. He has been in denial. He thinks our Bishop can pray away my illness and refuses to accept how sick I am. I am so tired, Obenewaa. I can’t keep holding on. I need to rest.”

She paused to gather herself, and Obenewaa sniffed, wiping the tears she was unable to hold back now.

“This will hit him so hard, so I need you to help him. And Lily. Lily is still so young. Frimpong won’t be able to take care of her by himself, and even though Chrissy helps, Lily is not going to have her dad as she knows him when I’m gone. And I don’t know what will happen, but I don’t want my daughter to be raised by strangers. You know how awful we had it when mom died, the things that happened that we couldn’t tell dad. I’m afraid that Lily might also become a victim.”

Obenewaa remembered all right, and she also remembered that it was Naya who had protected her, even when it made it worse for herself. 

“I will help Frimpong take care of Lily,” Obenewaa promised, determined to protect her niece from the same fate she and Naya had faced.

“Thank you,” Naya whispered. “But I want you to go the whole way. I want you to replace me in their lives. I think it will make it easier for all of you. You could heal together.”

Obenewaa didn’t understand. Replace Naya? Nobody could replace Naya. 

“Nobody can replace you, sis. Not even me.”

Naya’s lips moved like she was trying to smile. “If you married him, you could. Maybe for now, just a traditional marriage? We have an old custom where this was done. I asked Dad. You could take my place in my home.”

The shock at the request stopped the tears momentarily, and Obenwaa felt all the blood drain out of her face. Marriage? She couldn’t fathom marrying her sister’s husband. She couldn’t imagine marrying anyone other than David. She and David had plans for a future together.

“I know that’s a lot to ask of you, but I need you to seriously consider it, please. For my sake. You and I look so much alike, and we’re similar in many ways. It will be of comfort to Frimpong to have someone who is so much like me around. It might help him get over the pain much faster. And Lily would also heal faster if you were with her. Frimpong is such a good man. He will be good to you, and you already get along so well.”

“I can live with them,” Obenewaa offered quickly. “I can move in with them. I don’t have to marry Frimpong to be around them or help them heal.” 

The idea of losing both her sister and the love of her life was creating havoc in her emotions and head. Yes, Frimpong was a good man and had been like a brother to her since he and Naya started dating years ago, but her boyfriend, David, was amazing and the only man she wanted to marry.

“It won’t be the same,” Naya said, dashing her hopes. “And you won’t have to stay married forever. Five years should be fine. Please, give me and them five years of your life. By then, Lily would be in Secondary School, and if Frimpong is unable to convince you to stay with him after five years, you can move on with your life.”

Obenewaa didn’t know what to say. She was losing everything that mattered to her. After everything that her sister had done for her, how could she say no? How could she deny her deathbed wish?

In the end, she had agreed. She would give up five years of her life to help her sister rest in peace.

Present

Naya had been wrong. Seeing her around had helped Lily, but not Frimpong. She had been a constant reminder of everything he had lost, and he had punished her for being here instead of Naya. Five years had not healed him at all, and he had made sure she couldn’t heal properly either. But now, it was over, and Lily was in a good Secondary School. Now, Obenewaa could go back to being happy and loved by the man who had waited six years for her to fulfil her promise to her deceased sister.

Read Part 2