– Enoch Ato Nyamson
Martina became very worried about the sudden change in attitude of her spouse which nearly kicked her out of the land of the living. Her blood pressure rose to an abnormal level which spoke a lot about what she was going through after they came to Ghana when they paid a visit to her childhood friend and brother, Dickson, in London. Martina went ahead to talk to him secretly as a good wife but her spouse didn’t give her the attention she deserved. This created a wave of pangs in her heart. Dickson, also a stranger in the white man’s land, became very worried about the situation his childhood friend was going through back home. He could phone to check on her about four times in a day and even though Martina did not respond to them, he kept calling anyway.
Martina deliberately decided not to answer the calls because she thought Dickson might make mockery of her condition as she had done to him back in college and she also wanted to counter the occurrence of any related Karma. Dickson then wrote a telegram to Martina and finally she opened up to him about everything regarding the sudden behavioral change in her spouse. However, she was amazed to observe that instead of Dickson serving her the expected dish of mockery, she got the juice of empathy.
Dickson showed some maturity in his speech, even at the very beginning where Martina was talking to him. He gave his childhood friend a brotherly advice which was so rich in knowledge and carefulness. The advice was that Martina should try and talk to her spouse one more time and hope that life would restore to normalcy. Martina agreed to do exactly what Dickson advised her to do and she strongly believed that her efforts would not be in vain. The next morning, as her spouse was moving towards his car to drive to his workplace, Martina approached him and then apologized to him and, of course, the sweet words which rolled from Martina’s penetrated the hardened heart of her spouse. Finally, he was moved into accepting her apology. He subsequently made it known to Martina where she went wrong during their visit to London. Martina couldn’t withstand the joy that filled her heart. She was the happiest lady on earth in that moment. She immediately phoned Dickson to tell him about what happened and how happy she was when her spouse finally accepted her apology. Dickson, however, had peace within his being since his friend Martina had become happy.
About a month later, Mr. Denmark, under whose supervision Dickson, was pronounced dead. The news broke through the media space in Germany, London, Spain, Italy and wherever he had worked before his demise. Dickson was called to face the entire Management Staff of the company to be questioned on his abilities to occupy the position of the late Mr. Denmark since he made it clear in his document that Dickson should be the next person to occupy his seat if he shuffled off this mortal coil. Even though other staff members didn’t agree with the decision made by Mr. Denmark before he died, they were left with no other choice than to give Dickson the position as it was ordered by the Late Mr. Denmark. After they were done with Dickson, they announced to the entire staff that finally Dickson was their new Chief Executive Officer. Various persons within the company upon hearing the news became very happy because Dickson was a kind person compared to M. Denmark as his nickname even predicted. From Dickson’s vision to make the company the best amongst the rest, he laid down strict rules to ensure discipline and hard work within the company everywhere around the globe. His initiatives brought about massive increase in the productivity of the company at large and he once made an unbreakable record which was above the threshold. Every company wanted to compete but they failed. Dickson in one of his meetings encountered a lady who was a spinster because of her business. Dickson had a chat with her and invited her for a dinner at one of the top-notch restaurants in London. They really had a lot of fun, and his love at first sight compelled him to propose to her. Imaginary butterflies encircled her head. She was Portia Adams, a beautiful Fante lady, based in the London. Dickson thought it wise to marry her before he got disappointed by the lady. He launched an investigations into her background to aid his final decision on her. As he expected, everything about her was positive. Dickson out of trust opened a joint bank account with his new wife to be just to make his lover comfortable and happy to be with him. Dickson gave her everything she needed but she had a different mindset. Unknowingly to Dickson, Portia was into defrauding men for her own selfish gains. Being together with Dickson for about a month, she secretly emptied their joint account and then vanished into thin air. When the sad news got to Dickson, it nearly took away his life. He was queried and accused of embezzlement of funds from the company’s bank account. Dickson was then dragged to court by the Management of the company since he wasn’t the actual owner of the company. Solomon who was a friend of Martina called her to update her on the latest news on her childhood friend, Dickson. Moving from one hospital to the other and from one courtroom to the other totally drained him physically, mentally and financially. He became very rawboned.
Finally, the verdict was made clear that Dickson was not guilty of the accusations levelled against him and also for his compensation the judge made the accusers pay a huge sum of money to him. Martina quickly gathered the little she had on her and boarded a flight to London just to see how Dickson was faring. She wanted to be with him through it all till he got well and really fit. Dickson was discharged from the hospital and went home to continue with his treatment. This time as Martina arrived at the Heathrow Airport, she went straight to Dickson’s house and immediately she saw what he had turned into, she cried very bitterly because she least expected that his condition would be so critical. She did all the cooking, washing, cleaning and also tried to assist him in controlling the affairs of the company since Dickson was weak and couldn’t even walk due to the shock he had had.
Many great men and women who once worked with him upon hearing the news travelled to visit him and at least give him something to support the hospital bills he had accumulated while on admission. Dickson became a poor sick man but Martina never gave up on him because she realized that Dickson’s only hope was stored in her so she was encouraged to take good care of him no matter how difficult it was for them.
Martina fasted and prayed for Dickson to quicken his healing. Doctors came to check on him and advised her concerning Dickson’s health thus the kind of food to cook, what to drink, how to rest and many more. Dickson was still battling with death since his condition became worse every day.
Out of fear, Martina sought for permission to take Dickson along with her to Ghana for herbal treatment as their folks believed that herbal treatment was sometimes needed at a certain point in time or when one’s health seemed too strange to cure. Martina brought their scholar back home and everyone was concerned about him as it is in the Akan society. Aunty Nurse, Dickson’s grandmother, took over from there and promised to carefully look after him. Since she was a retired nurse, she could take care of his own grandson satisfactorily.
Six months later, Dickson finally bounced back to good health and was even stronger than before. As the saying the goes, the tougher it goes, the harder it becomes.