Bad Boy, Church Girl 2.

He saw my mum pushing her bags to check in.
“Hello, hello, Elizabeth.”
She turned around, confused.
“Who’s calling my name?”

He pointed to her bag tag.
Her name was molded into it.

“Oh right”
They shared their first laugh.

He cracked his charming smile.
He offered to help with her bags. A cliche gesture that works.
Said he was heading to Lagos too.
For business.
And now, apparently — pleasure.

On the flight, they spoke the whole way through.
Easy.
Non-stop.
They hit it off.
A bit too much.
By the time they landed,
she’d laughed a bit much
and already given him her number.

Back in Ghana.
They won’t go a day without talking.
Whenever my dad visited from Kumasi for business,
they’d stay at hotels.
My mum would go and see him,
but she couldn’t bring my dad home —
because my grandad, her dad, was an Apostle.

He was strict.
He didn’t approve of Mum dating yet.

They start dating anyway.

They go out. Take date trips out of town.

Lagos. London. The States. Making memories. Have the time of their lives.
At some point within months, Dad proposes.

My grandpa isn’t excited.
Something feels off.
He makes calls. Tries to get a read on my dad.
Starts doing his research.

My dad was from Kumasi.
An Asante man.
He has a mother and siblings.
He’s recently divorced.
His dad passed right before high school.
Had to fend for himself young.
His first son died.
He was a young man trying to figure out life.
He’s hustling.
He’s a businessman.

That’s all Grandpa could dig up.
Nothing concrete.

Grandad said, “He’s respectful…
but something’s not right.”
He couldn’t put his finger on it.

He fairly warned my mum.
Told her to take her time.
But she’s in love.
And women in love —
you can’t tell them nothing.

They eventually get married.
Small but fun wedding.
Life moves fast after that.

Within seven years,
they have me and my two younger brothers.

Dad starts a spare parts business.
It’s starts booming.
They move to a middle-class neighborhood.
The cars start coming.
The furniture.
Swapping out fans for ACs.

We change to private school.
Dad is importing baby food and snacks from Germany.
His life elevates fast in a year.

He even starts getting contracts from my grandad now.
I guess he finally accepted my dad at this time.
Grandad worked with a transport company as the head of operations.
Guess who got the contracts when the buses broke down?

Everything was in sync.
Dad was traveling to a new country almost every other week.
Balling. Flexing. Living his life to the fullest.
Handling the bills.
He’s the man.
It’s all happening at once.

Mum is excited her husband is doing well.
Her man isn’t in debt.
She has the man of her dreams.
She has healthy kids.
Everything’s going great.
She’s happy.
The prayers worked.
Her faith — rewarded.

Then my mum starts getting money too.
Fast.
Faster.

She designed this royal blue and mustard yellow dress
which went viral back then.
She was featured in magazines. She has multiple shows.
She opened her shop and called it L&J - named after her and her best friend.
Orders.
Then more orders.
It was like the heavens left the tap open for her.

Women loved her stuff.
Cars lined up.
Customers blocked neighbors’ driveways.
Neighbors weren’t happy.

She understood the situation.
She handled it.
She cooled them down.
She’d make new designs and gift them to the wives,
women, and girls in the neighborhood.
The best of quality too.
Things they all knew were valuable.
They loved her for it.

She’d dissolve any conflict.
She had kind words that calmed nerves.
She handled everything with style and grace.
Nothing was stopping her.

We started flying out for vacations.
The whole family.
Often.
A new lifestyle.
We almost started feeling entitled as kids.

Dad was traveling a lot during this time, handling business too.
Mum wasn’t waiting for Dad to handle bills anymore.
She was already on it. She had money.

Not to prove anything.
She told me,
“I was just getting so much money,
it didn’t cross my mind he wasn’t even around.”

“Two shall become one.”
That was her anchor Bible verse.
Her glue.
Her money was his.
His was hers.
To be truly one.

During this time, things started to shift.
Financially, my mum was catching up.
Then soon enough, it became clear who was making more.

That’s when the family dynamics started to change.

To be continued...

I curated a playlist to go with the Bad Boy, Church Girl Story.

The Playlist is for Apple Music and Spoitfy.

Add it to your playlist and jam,