A FATHER’S PAIN
WRITTEN BY MICHAEL DOKOSI
EPISODE 13
I held a one hour meeting with my lawyer, Carl Lomotey, who as-sured 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 as-sured 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 as-sure 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 alre-ady there with her brother and the men she had obviously employed as b©dyguards. Her lawyer, Prof. Solomon Laryea, was also pres£nt. 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 someb©dy 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 c@m£ in later with my children. Peter and Pamela.
“Daddy!” Pamela screamed on seeing me. She wanted to dash to my side but Nora st©pped 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 gr-abbing them and cudd-ling them in my arms. But I restrained myself, as-suring 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 as-sistants 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 c@m£ 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 be established.
A FATHER’S PAIN
WRITTEN BY MICHAEL DOKOSI
EPISODE 14
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 c@m£ to live with us, nothing serious had happened to shake the unity and harmony in the p@rty. 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 be-d. 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 be-d, paced the room, walked out of the be-droom, 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 re-ady for me with breakfast when I c@m£ 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 alre-ady 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 throu-gh 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 sp©tted 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 as-suring 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 be-droom and on our be-d. 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 un-derstanding 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, cudd-lethem, k!ssthem and pl@ywith them. Pres£ntly, 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.
Tbc