“In this weather? No, you are not going anywhere. I would not allow you to go out in this weather” Gwendolyn Duah fired back. She was suspicious of her husband’s sudden decision to go out that evening especially as it was raining cats and dogs. Being a soldier’s wife and for that matter, the wife of the Army commander, she was no stranger to her husband leaving the house suddenly to attend to duty. He has been woken up from sleep in the deep of the night several times to dash out to deal with a situation or to see the President. But since she heard rumours he was secretly dating a student at the University of Pharmacy, she has become suspicious of any sudden decision of his to go out.
“She was the one who called you, right? She wants you to come and spend the night with her, right?” Gwendolyn spat out
“Gwen, don’t be ridiculous! I am going to spend the night out with who? That call I received came from President Marfo …”
“Lie! Lie” she screamed “You told me just this afternoon that President Marfo has resigned on health grounds so the Vice President is going to take over as President. How then could it be that President Marfo is the one calling you? Calling you to do what? You see your lies have caught up with you? You are not going anywhere”, Gwendolyn Duah said hotly as she walked out of the room and locked her husband in.
“Gwen! Please open the door! I have told you the truth! My job is at stake! Please open the door!” the Army Commander pleaded with his wife. However, she could not hear him because she went downstairs to join her son at the table.
Suddenly, they heard a loud crash. Mother and son were startled. Immediately, they dashed upstairs to find that Maj-Gen Omari had kicked down the bedroom door. Gwen began to retreat but her husband ignored her and dashed down.
“Mother, what is it?” Collins asked, realizing there was something going on between his father and mother.
“Your father wants to go out in this weather and at this time and I say I won’t allow it so I locked him in” Gwen said.
“Mother, you cannot do that. You know the nature of his work. It isn’t something new to you so why are you stopping him?” Collins asked. She wanted to tell him his father was not going out to perform any duty for the army or the state when he thought otherwise and refrained from replying. She vowed long ago never to make any comment that would make her son disrespect his father or think little of him. Collins adores his father very much and she wanted it to remain so. When they went downstairs, they found him on the phone, giving out orders.
“So, comb the city for him and arrest him. The President said he is driving his white V8. Get some of the men to his house immediately and secure the place” he said. Then he ended the call and called another person.
Mother and son looked on, silently. Gwendolyn realized she had made a mistake. She had goofed badly. She heard her husband clearly as he ordered some of his soldiers to go arrest the Speaker of Parliament. Ordering the arrest of no less a person than the Speaker of parliament was a serious matter and that could have been the orders of only one person; the President! And her husband had mentioned the President as having been the one who called him when they were at table. She realized she had gone too far in resisting her husband’s decision to go out.
Maj-General Omari Duah wished the floor would open and swallow him when he phoned Brigadier Addy of MI to tell him not to release Rex and Kruger as he had previously ordered only for the Brigadier to tell him he had released the two men already based on his earlier orders.
“I am finished!” he said quietly under his breath after he ended the call. He stood rooted to the spot, the consequence of his earlier directives hanging around his neck like the Sword of Damocles.