I was excited about my new life. My mother and aunt had told me how enjoyable marriage was going to be and I was looking forward to it. It was nice to ride in a private car for the first time as I journeyed to my new home. I wondered if the other wives would like me. I hoped they would, because it would not be nice to live in a house where I wasn’t liked. I almost asked my new husband about that, but my mother had warned me about badgering him with questions.
“On your wedding day, the only thought in his head would be making you his in bed. Don’t annoy him with silly questions even before the marriage is consummated.”
Remembering that, I decided not to ask any more questions.
When we arrived, the sun was just beginning to set. I opened my eyes in awe when I saw the big house we were driving towards. It was a cream-coloured storey building with louvres instead of wooden windows. My first thought was that my mother would love this house. The driver honked the horn, and the black gate was opened from inside. My mouth was wide open at the sheer opulence of the house and the large compound, which was half the size of my family house. There was a smaller building that was painted the same creamy colour as the main house. Apart from the sides of the house where flowers were growing, the rest of the compound was covered in terrazzo as well, which I knew my mother would love.
As I got out of the vehicle with the others, my attention was drawn to a beautiful, tall, light-skinned woman in her mid-thirties who came to meet us, along with about ten other men and women of varying ages. They were all dressed in celebratory clothes, but the light-skinned woman looked the most beautiful. She wore a long, shimmery yellow lace dress with her braids partly hidden under a scarf of the same fabric as her dress.
When she got near, she smiled at me, looking around.
“Welcome back, Kwabena,” she greeted Mr Anderson, still looking around.
Mr Anderson took my hand and inched me closer to the woman. “This is Rama, my first wife and your senior co-wife. Rama, this is Nhyira, my new wife.”
Rama’s eyes widened in shock, but she hid it quickly and smiled at me. I didn’t realise at the time that her smile was shaky.
“Welcome, Nhyira.”
“Where is Nafisa?” Mr Addison asked Rama, looking around the small crowd that had been awaiting us.
“She is up there,” Rama answered, pointing to the top of the stairs, where a woman stood looking down at us. This woman, in contrast to the others, donned a simple white dress.
“Why didn’t she come down to welcome us?” Mr Addison asked with a frown.
Sneaking a glance at me, Rama answered in a low tone, “I think it may be better that she’s not here now.”
He looked up the stairs at the woman who was watching us and nodded. “You may be right. I don’t want any drama today.”
I wondered who she was but didn’t ask. Even from far away, I could see that she was gorgeous. She was dark-skinned and petite, and her thick, kinky hair had been braided into two thick braids with a middle part. I hoped she would like me. I wanted everyone in my new household to like me.
My attention was drawn back to the crowd when the others came closer to congratulate Mr Addison and welcome me to the family. It was a little disconcerting meeting all of these strangers at once and intimidating to be the smallest person in the room with strangers. I wished that I had at least one person from home with me, but I knew that my mother and aunt would want me to adjust and make them proud, so I tried not to betray my discomfort. As we walked into the house, I tried not to gawk at everything in the luxurious home, but it was hard. We moved into the big living room, where drinks and food had been set up. I had eaten some food from the wedding at home, and I was too nervous to eat again, but I didn’t want to be rude and completely reject the food, so I ate half of the food that I was served.
While we ate, I was introduced to the rest of his family, particularly his cousins and uncles, who congratulated him profusely on being able to afford fresh young blood. They were proud of his choice, and that also made me proud of myself. There were several times when I saw Rama looking at me with a weird expression, and she kept leaving the room and returning, but she would give me a small smile when our eyes met.
When the celebration was over, Mr Addison asked Rama to show me to my room. I was excited by the thought of having my own room, and as I followed Rama up the stairs to the first floor, she pointed to the other rooms and what or who they were for. The ground floor included the kitchen, servants’ area, living room, and children’s room. She told me that all the wives were on the first floor, and Mr Addison had his space on the last floor. One side had a balcony overlooking the ground floor, while the bedrooms were located on the opposite side. “This is my room,” she said, pointing to the first room from the landing of the stairs. Then she led me to the end of the floor.
“This is Nafisa’s room,” she said, pointing at the last room in the corner. “She is the second wife, and you’ll meet her eventually. But please don’t ever go in there or even knock on her door unless she explicitly invites you. This room next to it is a bathroom. The next room is a kitchen, but please do not enter any of those rooms either. They’re all Nafisa’s space, and she is very private.”
I was surprised by her sudden intense demeanour when she told me that, but I nodded quickly. “I won’t bother her, Auntie Rama. I promise.”
I had just arrived in my new home, and I wasn’t about to step on any toes, especially that of a senior wife. Knowing that the second wife had been the woman on the balcony staring down at us made me feel slightly uncomfortable. She had not come to my welcome party either, but I tried not to feel discouraged by it. My mother and aunt had warned me that I may not receive the best welcome from the other wives, but I was hopeful. I liked to get along with people, and I wanted everyone to like me and be friends with me.
Rama paused with her hand on the knob to the next room to give me a strange look. “I think you should just call me Rama.”
I was confused. The thought of calling an older woman just by her first name felt weird. Then it dawned on me what the problem was. We were co-wives. She may be my senior, but perhaps it was inappropriate to call my co-wife “auntie”. My mother and auntie had given me many lessons in preparation for this life, but they had forgotten to tell me the correct protocol for addressing the women whose home I had just joined.
“Rama is just fine,” she repeated, finally pushing the door open. “This is the main bathroom on this floor. If you need help on how to use any of the facilities, please let me know.”
It would take some getting used to, but if that was what she wanted me to call her, I would.
The bathroom was lovely. There was a water closet, a shower and a sink – things I had only ever seen in the big town when I visited with my mother and aunt – and I had never used any before. When I told Rama that I had never used a water closet, shower, or sink before, she spent a few minutes explaining how to use them. It was all so exciting that I almost didn’t want to leave, but eventually, Rama moved me along and we left the bathroom. There was only one room left, and she had skipped that when she showed me the bathroom.
“This is your room. You and I will share the bathroom in between our rooms. There is a door from your room that opens into the bathroom, the same as mine. You can lock it when you’re inside to prevent me from interrupting you while you’re there. I will do the same.”
“Thank you, Aunt – thank you,” I said as I followed her into the room, still unable to address her without using ‘Aunt.’
It was a big, spacious room; bigger than the one I had shared with some of my family at home. There was a big bed on one side of the room and a wardrobe and dresser on the other end.
As soon as I saw the large dressing mirror and caught my image in it, I felt settled. I was beautiful. I had been chosen. I was a wife. I hadn’t realised I was so nervous until then. But the mirror was my solace, so I looked into it and felt calm.
