As the only girl in a family of five children, Ama had learned to be obedient and was well practised in household duties. Apart from working on the farm, she had often helped her mother trading in the market place. She had enjoyed attending the Catholic Sunday School in the village, from which she had learned a little of the strange ways of the white man, and of the world outside the village. The man her parents had chosen to be her husband was a strong, good-looking cocoa farmer. In their first year, up to the time her son was born, the marriage was happy enough, as Ama looked forward to the joys of motherhood. But after that happy event, her husband started drinking heavily. There were many quarrels particularly when too much cash was spent on drink, and she was often beaten. By the time Ama was twenty, she had obtained a divorce.
Not long afterwards she met and married Kofi Adu, a young electrician working in Kumasi. After a long search, they had been lucky to find a small rented room. But it was hard to make a month's salary last for a whole month, especially after their daughter was born. No matter how much Ama economised, prices always raced ahead of Kofi's meagre pay rises. The daily chop money bought less and less. In marriage, happiness and hardship are not frequent companions.
But Kofi was ambitious and enterprising, always planning for a better future. One day he came home very excited, carrying a copy of the "Ghanaian Times" in which there was a large advertisement for jobs for electricians in the Tema industrial estate. The salary would be almost twice what he was earning in Kumasi.
Ama was at first reluctant to move so far from her family, but Kofi promised her that they would have good accommodation with a friend of his who now lived in Tema. There was no doubt that the pay would be enough to enable them to eat well every day of the month.
On arrival in Tema, they went to Kofi's friend, who kept a lodging house. They were warmly greeted, and given a meal but the "good accommodation" that Kofi had been promised was a bitter disappointment to Ama. The only place where they could sleep was on the floor of the kitchen, and that could only be used after all the other tenants had finished their cooking!
However, instead of complaining about the unreliability of Kofi's friends and nagging about broken promises, Ama took action to remedy their sad state. She remembered the Twi proverb which says:
"If you want to get something heavy from a man, start by giving something to his wife."
Kofi's boss, Mr. Saunders, was a white man, living in a senior staff bungalow with his wife and two children. Ama called on the Saunders to pay her respects, and to present a pair of native sandals to Mrs. Saunders. For the children, she brought a draughts board, and offered to teach them how to play the African way. This pleased the parents greatly, for as Mrs. Saunders remarked, her children were always complaining that they had nothing to do.
To show their appreciation, Mr. Saunders and his wife complied with custom and on the next day came round to the lodging house to say "thank you" for the gift. Whilst they were chatting, it soon became obvious that Kofi and Ama had nowhere to sleep. Mrs. Saunders felt sorry for them, and offered them the use of two rooms in the boys' quarters of her bungalow.
Ama was delighted with the success of her plan. The incident made Kofi realise that he had an intelligent and enterprising wife. But he did not directly thank Ama for her efforts.
From that point on, Kofi concentrated all his efforts on his work. He was always conscientious and eager to learn, and took pride in doing a good job. In due course he was promoted. Then he had the good fortune to be selected for study leave in Britain, whilst Ama moved to her parents' house with the children. Three years later, he came home with new skills, attitudes and a university degree, which led to promotion to the senior staff. To Ama's delight they were allocated a bungalow on the company's compound. There they could entertain their many new-found friends in style. Ama soon found that there is much truth in the saying that a good soup attracts many chairs.
The company put Kofi in charge of the maintenance of domestic air-conditioning and refrigerators. This work took him into the homes of many wealthy and influential people. He now mixed easily with the highest social classes. No one could have guessed that he was once so poor that he had been forced to sleep on a friend's kitchen floor. In spite of his new status, he had not forgotten his roots, and he attended funerals and ceremonies in his village several times a year. The family were very proud of his success, and wanted all the world to know that Kofi was now a "big man".
One Saturday, after Kofi had attended a funeral in the village, his mother asked him to stay and discuss family matters.
"Kofi" she said, "you are now well established in your business. You should think of your position."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm referring to your marriage. Your wife is not from this village. She is a stranger to us and does not seem to understand our customs. She does not know most of your relations. Your children are strangers here."
"But all that doesn't matter" said Kofi. "I am committed to Ama and I cannot take on another woman."
"No one who marries from his own kindred ever lives to regret it" promised Kofi's mother. "Take my advice and marry Abena Serwaa. She is a beautiful young woman. I have spoken to her parents and they are happy if you marry her. We know her parents well - they are very reliable people. And if either of her parents should pass away, you would not have to travel long distances to attend the funeral. Remember that Abena is educated and speaks English well. She would be such an asset to you socially when you are entertaining your friends in town."
She finished her plea to Kofi with a traditional warning:
"If people marry outside the village, the children will not stay."
Although he had not seriously considered the possibility of a second wife before, Kofi could see that there would be much in its favour. Ama was getting older, and was not now the most attractive of women. Further, it was true that Abena Serwaa, the wife his parents had chosen for him, was a beautiful young girl. That influenced him in his decision to accept the advice of the family. The marriage to Abena was officially registered, so that her children would have a claim on the estate. As the junior wife, Abena took up residence in the boys' quarters of his bungalow. Her arrival led to nothing but trouble.
Every morning started in the same way - with quarrels between the two wives. Kofi always supported his young new wife in the disputes, and showed his favouritism by giving her more than her share of the daily chop money. What was worse for Ama was that he allowed Abena to extend her "sleeping days" with him. Ama's life became unbearable. As the elders say, "if you want to be frequently disturbed with quarrels, then marry many wives."
Ama spoke of her troubles to her father, who sent a representative to enquire why Kofi had taken a second wife. On being pressed to give his reason Kofi said:
"When I come home and see Ama, I am reminded of my former days when I was poor and miserable."
The unceasing conflict between Kofi and Ama was clearly a case for divorce. At a family gathering, statements from Kofi and Ama were heard but no reconciliation could be reached. Ama's father went through the ritual of offering Schnapps to Kofi. The gift was accepted and distributed to all present who drank the spirit to signify that the marriage was over.
The family gathering also decided that the children should stay with Ama and settled a few outstanding questions about the sharing of joint property. Then Ama was taken back by her father. She was relieved and happy to be free once more. Abena moved from the boys' quarters to the main apartment of the bungalow.
Kofi celebrated his new life style by dabbling in high society and indulging himself in a passion for gambling. But luck was not with him, and he incurred heavy losses with big debts. The amount he owed was far too large to be re-paid out of his salary, and he was being pressed for payment. It seemed that his former days of prosperity and well-being were over.
Yielding to the temptation provided by his position in the company, he mis-appropriated and sold privately a consignment of refrigerators to raise cash to clear the debt. The fraud was detected, and Kofi was arrested. He served a short prison sentence and lost his job. He also lost Abena Serwaa who left him because she had no use for a penniless husband.
Since her divorce from Kofi, Ama had married a well-to-do transport contractor, who hired out trucks to move maize from Brong Ahafo to Tema. She now had her own business as a maize dealer and was respected, successful and wealthy.
Kofi often reflected on his divorce and now realised with hindsight how much Ama had done to help him. This would make him sad and he would use what little cash he possessed to drown his sorrows in drink. A friend had told Kofi of Ama's success as a trader, so he started looking for her amongst the maize sheds at Tema. Eventually they met and, after a few moments of silence, Kofi overcame his pride and plucked up the courage to speak.
"How sorry I am for what I've done. I know that I cannot come back as your husband. But I would like you to forgive me, and if it's possible, help me. I'm broke."
Ama looked intently at her ex-husband and felt compassion for him.
"O.K." she said. " I've sold six bags of maize today. I'm prepared to offer you the cash from today's sale. And you can come back again if you need more help."
She pulled the notes from her money belt and offered them to Kofi. But, as he stretched out his hand to take the money, Ama suddenly drew back and said:
"Please stop a moment. Do you now remember how hard up you were when we lived in Kumasi? Do you remember the reason you gave for taking a second wife? You said then that you could not bear being reminded of the days when you were poor!"