Maggie was on her way to work one fine morning when Birago stopped her by the roadside. Maggie felt impatient; her students were waiting, and as a dedicated teacher, arriving early was her priority. She wanted to lead by example.

"What do you want?" Maggie asked curtly, glancing at her watch.

"Are we enemies now?" Birago asked, her tone heavy with accusation.

"No. Why would you say that?" Maggie shot back, her brows knitting in confusion.

"If we’re not enemies, then why didn’t you tell me when Akos traveled?" Birago pressed, her voice rising.

Maggie raised her eyebrows, startled. She hadn’t expected this confrontation. How had Birago even heard about Akos? Akos had made the travel plans quietly, discussing them only with her husband. Not even her had been told until the day before her departure. Yet she was her mother.

"Birago," Maggie began, choosing her words carefully, "even I—her own mother—didn’t know about it until the day before she left. So, why are you so upset that, as her aunt, you weren’t told?"

Birago paused, seemingly processing Maggie’s words. Then, with a bitter nod, she muttered, "Fine. We’re all here, right? She’ll come back and meet us." Her tone shifted, ominous and cold. "She will come back and meet us," she repeated, almost as a threat.

Maggie watched, unsettled, as Birago walked away. The encounter left her shaken. She couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding as she continued to work, but this was the 1970s—mobile phones were non-existent, and telegrams took ages to arrive. There wasn’t much she could do to shake the unease.

Meanwhile, Akos was in Germany with her husband, Agyei, doing everything they could to make a better life for themselves. Agyei worked tirelessly to support them, and Akos spent her days managing their modest home, dreaming of a future where they could send money back to their family and make life easier for everyone. But life abroad was far from easy, especially with the racism that hung like a dark cloud over everything they tried to achieve.

One quiet afternoon, while Akos was at home with Agyei, someone slipped a magazine under their door. Agyei, curious, picked it up and started flipping through its pages. He stopped abruptly, his face contorting with shock. His breathing grew ragged, and suddenly, he began to scream.

“What’s wrong?” Akos cried, rushing to his side, but Agyei didn’t answer. His screams turned into incoherent rambling, and he clutched his head as if it might burst. Then he threatened to throw himself off the porch.

Akos screamed for help, and with the aid of neighbors, they rushed Agyei to the asylum. There, he was stabilized for a time, but the reprieve didn’t last. A few days later, he went wild again, this time more violently. He stood on the edge of their building, once again threatening to jump.

This time, the situation spiraled beyond Akos’s control. The authorities intervened, and Agyei was deported back to Ghana. Akos was left in Germany, terrified and alone. She couldn’t fathom what had happened. Agyei had been her rock—the one who had brought her abroad, who had worked tirelessly to make their dreams come true. Now, he was gone, and she had no skills or strength to continue living in a foreign land, especially not with the pervasive racism that made every day a struggle.

Heartbroken and desperate, Akos boarded a flight back home. She hoped to regroup, to find answers, and most of all, to figure out what had gone wrong with the man she loved so deeply.

When Akos arrived home, exhausted and filled with dread, she found herself greeted not with comfort but with an ambush. Agyei’s family came to the house that very day carrying a drink—a traditional gesture laden with meaning.

"We have come to end the marriage," one of them announced coldly, holding out the drink. "We believe that the end of this marriage will save our son."

Akos stared at them in disbelief, her mind racing. "What are you talking about?" she demanded, her voice breaking. "I want to fight for my husband. He’s my husband—he needs me!"

But her pleas fell on deaf ears. Agyei’s family was resolute. They refused to entertain the idea of reconciliation, believing that the marriage itself was the root of Agyei’s troubles. In their eyes, ending it was the only way to restore his sanity.

After hours of heated arguments and tears, Akos had no choice but to relent. The marriage was dissolved, and everyone went their separate ways.

True to their words, Agyei regained his sanity after the marriage ended, but Akos was left shattered. The man she had sacrificed everything for was now a stranger, and she was back at square one, wondering how her life could have unraveled so completely.

If only Maggie were alive to explain what had truly transpired between her and Birago that morning. If only Akos had known what shadows had been lurking beneath the surface of their family all along.