Ken Amankwah was fuming furiouvsly as he paced unendingly the floors of his Attorney General’s Office. It had always been his weakness to get a grip over himself when he was at boiling point and today was no different.
His blazing eyes were darting the floor as he paced and persistently, he was searching his mind to find some reasonable information to keep him calm. But he was finding none. He didn’t want the situation which was gradually eating him up to get out of hand. He was aware of his wild temper which couldn’t easily be tamed, and he didn’t want to do anything unwise.
But where was all this confusion arising from? He kept asking himself and wondering exactly when Melody started planning the divorce against him. How could she think of divorcing him- after all these years? He had always given her everything; in fact, everything was at her disposal, all the time. So where was her need for freedom, as she put it, arising from? They had endured many situations together, virtually been through thick and thin.
In fact, he Ken Amankwah, had over the course of the years worked hard to create the perfect image of success and self-esteem he now enjoyed in the public eyes and suddenly, Melody was going to squash it all away? How could she be so unwise? No way. He won’t give her that satisfaction. If she wants to fight, he would give her a good fight. Fighting wasn’t anything new to him, Lawyer Ken Amankwah. After all, he had always been a fighter; since his youthful days.
He went behind his desk and sat down. He pulled the telephone closer and started to dial the numbers to initiate a secret call he didn’t think he would be making. Melody needed to be tamed and appropriately, he would ensure that at all cost.
“Hello Rocky J. I need you to follow my wife. Yes. She has left home and there is only one place she is sure to go. I will send you the details on my private line and I need you to trace her every step and get back to me with detailed information. Nothing less,” lawyer Ken Amankwah said into the telephone
“Yes Sir, I will do just that” the voice responded from the other end of the line and immediately lawyer Ken Amankwah ended the call. He returned the telephone to its cradle and from his private hand phone messaged the details to the man he called, just as he had said he would do.
Now Melody would be monitored every day and every time and her every action would be reported to him. He would deal with her accordingly at the right time; he thought to himself and rested. As he leaned back into his seat, his thoughts retreated to when he completed law school many years ago and was started off as a young lawyer.
Lawyer Ken Amankwah had always wanted to be successful. And to him, a successful life consisted of a flawless public image, being wealthy and in a leadership position; having a beautiful wife and beautiful children as a family. And over the course of many years, he had worked hard to build this image. Everybody in the country identified him as a successful man who was due respect and honour. His family was admired by the public and love from afar.
Therefore, seven years ago, when his moment arrived and he was finally appointed to lead the judiciary system of the country as Attorney General, after he had served as assistant attorney on many national boards and committees over the years, nobody was in dispute; everybody rooted for him as the lawyer who was well deserving to lead the team of national lawyers and lawmakers. It was a great celebration and honour.
But Ken Amankwah was the only one who could tell his story best- even in the midst of all the admiration. He started off as a struggling junior lawyer with little to show off for all his efforts. His first place of employment was Adjei and Co, a small law firm which handled lots of land and family dispute cases. Because of his youthful vibrancy and enthusiasm to learn and be productive on the job, he was put in charge of many cases by his seniors. But his efforts didn’t reflect in his salary. With his minimal salary, he struggled with matters like transportation, adequate feeding and enhanced shelter; but even in the face of all those challenges, Ken continued to work hard for the company until he resigned after five years.
He then went on to work with Law House Institute, a grander legal establishment. As a result of his already proven capacity and capabilities at his former place of work, Ken was put in charge of greater and very significant cases at Law House Institute, and this time around, his salary matched his efforts on the job. He was able to buy himself a porsh Nissan black car and rent a bigger and better apartment. But more importantly, were the professionals Ken Amankwah had the opportunity to work with at Law House Institute and those he came across as clients.
Many of his clients were considered movers and shakers of society. They ruled at the helm of national affairs and as politicians and managers of world class companies, Ken represented many of them legally. They in turn took his advice promptly when he offered them. It didn’t take Ken long to come up with a decision. With that amount of influence in his grip, he decided it was time he started planting himself on the national front. He started engaging in media discussions whenever he got the opportunity.
Constantly, he was on television, in the newspapers and on radio, sharing his opinions on legal discussions and national affairs. Ken had always been an intelligent man and for every point of view he shared during a discourse, his cleverness shined through his speech. He was able to make intelligent analysis of situations and proposed prudent recommendations on how to handle the problem. Besides that, his clients also endorsed him to their equally important colleagues and gradually, lawyer Ken Amankwah, who started off as a young struggling attorney started to gain recognition.
His name started circulating in the conversations of the highly profiled in society. Soon enough, he was being invited to take a seat at nationally scoped meetings and he was offered the platforms to share his opinions on issues, which he graciously and articulately did. It was finally at one of those meetings that Ken, through a protocol procedure was asked to take a job as an assistant attorney for the state. He was honoured by the prospect but he was also aware that by taking the opportunity, or better, the job, there was going to be lots of work and challenges to be done and overcome respectively, if he was going to stay in those circles for a very long time to achieve his dreams and also hopefully climb to the very top of the ladder and become the Attorney General himself someday. Thus, after assessing the situation briefly, Ken accepted the job and from there on started working as an assistant attorney of the state.
It had taken him more than twenty years of dynamic work and personal sacrifices to build the life and image that he possessed as a national figure that was revered and generally admired. But now as he sat alone in his grand-well decorated office, he realised that all off his hardwork was on the verge of collapsing if Melody insisted on a divorce.
It may not affect his appointment as an Attorney General but definitely it would taint the strong and powerful image he had had to work hard at building for himself and his career over the years. Lastly, before filing away thoughts of Melody to be revisited at a later time, Ken allowed himself recalling the latter part of their disagreement before he stepped out of the house and left her.
“I want a divorce, Ken,” Melody said, screaming at him.
“I have nothing like that to give you, Melody,” Ken replied, “How do you intend to explain your actions to our children?”
“My children know I will never harm them intentionally. They will understand if I explain my position.” But rather, in response, Ken threatened her. His face was ugly with anger when he did and his eyes churned evil.
“Melody, if you insist on your decisions, I’m going to destroy you in the media. You will never have a good reputation in this country again”.
