AARON ANSAH-AGYEMAN

PASSWORD

SEASON 2

Season 2 Episode 1

Ato Sey was almost weeping as he walked dejectedly down the narrow path toward Mallam Busanga’s shrine.

He was naked, as usual, and he remembered how it had felt coming down here with Kofi, the fun and the adventures they had had!

Kofi, his best friend, now confined to the ADADA ASYLUM!

How could it be possible? Kofi, his only friend, with so much prospects, now mentally-challenged? That was not even remotely possible, and Ato just could not believe what that incompetent Director Dovlo was talking about!

Ato had gone and explained everything that had happened to the Director of the Adada, Mr. Bobo Dovlo, and yet Kofi had still been declared insane and remanded indefinitely to the asylum.

“This is not fair koraa!” Ato whispered, and fought the tears threatening to spill down his cheeks.

And to think that all this had happened because of the Jamaican Stone that he had handed to Kofi.

“Oh, K.K! I shouldn’t have stoned you! Aaaaah! The way I have regretted!” Ato mourned as he came within sight of the shrine.

As he was ushered into Mallam Busanga’s presence under the shed, he noticed that there was a huge boulder in the middle of the yard with a tight rope coiled around it. He had not noticed that on any of their previous visits. Might be a new addition, he deduced.

A moment later he lowered himself on the mat and faced the taciturn Mallam Busanga and his absolutely feral attendant.

“Tor, tor, tor!” said the grinning attendant. “Mallam Busanga, he say he welcomes you weel weel to shrinana again! Mallam Busanga, he say he vely vely soly aboot whata happena to yew friend!”

Ato’s eyes blazed angrily at them as he cleaned his face.

“Sorry, huh? He’s sorry huh? So he knew about what happened to my friend, right?”

“Tor, tor, tor! Mallam Busanga, he knowings evelytin! Evelytin!”

“Then how the hell didn’t he know that there would be people at the mortuary that would catch my friend in the act of dipping his damn dick into the corpse of that Indian witch?”

“Eiiii! Heyyy!” the attendant exclaimed, indignant. “Yew watcha yew morff ooo! You watcha yew morff vely vely weel before Mallam Busanga he getta angrily o!”

“Oh, shun your body!” Ato ejected wildly, too angry to care anymore. “Surely, once we came here, he should’ve warned us! Anyway, that’s not the reason why I came here. I just want to find out from Mallam if the treatment worked, and if Kofi is now free of the password curse of Sajili!”

The attendant turned and spoke to Mallam Busanga for some time.

He then turned and looked at Kofi.

“Tor, tor, tor-” he began.

“Would you just cut out that tor-tor bullshit?” Kofi screamed angrily.

The attendant looked at Mallam Busanga and smiled.

Mallam Busanga shook his head slightly, and spoke again.

“Tor, tor, tor!” the man said with deliberate emphasis. “Mallam Busanga, he say that ehn, the cure not working koraa! Your friend was asked to put the penisa intoa the vaginant of the deeeed Indian girl!”

“Go to hell, you fake!” Ato exploded. “That is exactly what he did!”

“No-no, no-no, no-no!” the attendant said, wagging his finger. “Your frienda, he puuuut the penisa for the vaginant, but he deeedn’t remove penisa himself! Some man geeev him blow and his penisa come outta the vaginant! He shoulda removed his penisa himself!”

Ato lost it.

He jumped to his feet and stood bristling with anger, his expression explosive, his face suffused with uncontrollable fury.

“What the hell are you telling me now? Ato put his dick inside the dead woman but he didn’t remove it himself because some man gave him a blow and pushed him out of the corpse, so the cure wouldn’t work? What kind of chicken shit is that one?”

“Hey, yew thees forkin man!” the attendant stated indignantly. “Yew caint talk talk shit shit here! Yays, he deeednt remova penisa himself! A man geev him blow and he fall off the deeed body! So the cure no wark wark!”

“I’ve never heard such foolishness! Whether he removed it himself or somebody pushed him off, was it not in and out? Is that not what you said, you lying bunch of evildoers?”

And for the very first time Mallam Busanga’s eyes flashed with sudden anger.

The attendant looked at Ato with horrified eyes.

“Eiiiiiii!! Yew callin’ the Busanga leear? Oh, yew weel puller rock!”

Ato suddenly realized he had pushed the medicine man to the wall, but before he could utter a word Mallam Busanga lifted his hand and pointed a finger first at Ato, and then at the new gigantic rock in the middle of the yard.

Ato, transfixed and no more of his wits because of the evil spell the fetish priest had put on him, walked on stumbling legs to the centre of the yard. He was aware that he was under some spell, but try as hard as he could, he couldn’t shake it off.

He picked up the ropes attached to the gigantic rock.

Ato wanted to stop and run out of the evil place, but he had no control over his body anymore.

He placed the two ropes across his shoulders.

He began to pull the ropes, and the huge rock moved fractionally. For the next twenty minutes Ato Sey pulled the rock under the spell cast on him. His veins stood out, and sweat drenched his body.

The despicable assistant stood not far from Ato and laughed uproariously.

“I tuuld yew yew weel puller rock!” he jested.

Ato, feeling dizzy and weak from pulling that heavy rock in the sweltering sun, dropped to his knees and summoned all his inner strength and screamed.

“Jeeeeeeesus! Jeeeesus! Heeeelp me, Jeeeeesus!”

He was aware of the attendant screaming and running away, but he stumbled suddenly and went crashing to the ground!

Mallam Busanga fell from his perch and rolled down the steps!

Suddenly Ato was free.

He dropped the rope and shouted again.

“In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, inthenameofjesus, inthenameofjesus, inthenameofjesus!”

Each time he mentioned it Mallam Busanga and his attendant groaned and held their heads.

Ato began to flee, stopping only briefly to kick Mallam Busanga in the head.

“Awo bribaba!” Mallam Busanga groaned with the pain.

Ato aimed another kick into the balls of the attendant, and had the satisfaction of seeing the man screaming and grabbing his balls, and then Ato fled naked out of the compound with his buttocks jigging and his balls swinging like pendulums.

He did not stop saying ‘in the name of Jesus’ until he was safely in his car and driving out of the forest!

He was still naked behind the wheel. He had only paused at the changing room to snatch his wallet and clothes, but hadn’t bothered to get dressed!

He would get dressed when he was safely away!

Nii Lin had gone to call Senior Nurse Elsie Ansah in a bid to persuade the Director of The Adada Asylum, Mr. Bobo Dovlo, from sending Kofi Kuntu to D-Block, precisely into the ward of the dangerous Baluu.

Maa Abena Nyantie waited, glancing frequently at the main entrance to ascertain that Nii Lin was returning with the nurse, but all hopes seemed lost because there was no sight of Nii Lin.

The security men bundled Kofi off into the back of an ambulance.

Kofi Kuntu, given a dangerous injection by the Director to induce temporal madness, was still screaming out obscenities, forcing the security detail to gag him and put him in a straitjacket.

They drove off with sirens wailing.

Maa Abena, heart beating with fear, sat in the Director’s car to D-Block.

She noticed that Mr. Dovlo had a strange contented smile on his face, and that he seemed to be secretly enjoying himself. Maa Abena scowled darkly. Contentment and enjoyment were not exactly the feelings she expected the caregiver to exhibit.

She got out of the car when they reached D-Block.

Kofi, now calm and appearing to be asleep, was put on a gurney and wheeled up the elevator, which swiftly took them to the fifth floor wards where, presently, Baluu was the only patient in the huge ward.

Baluu was a monstrously huge and abnormally muscled man who had been brought in after murdering his wife and his brother when he caught them in bed.

He was incredibly fierce and violent, and nobody could go near him. He was always shot with sedative darts which rendered him weak before anybody could enter his ward.

They were on the corridor when they heard Baluu screaming wildly inside the cell-like ward.

They came to a bend in the corridor, and stopped in front of the ward. The door was locked with an inner metal gridlock, and a normal door outside. Baluu was at the far end of the ward, standing on top of one of the beds.

He was wearing only a pair of shorts, and his abnormally huge muscles were flexing. He was sweating, and he had wounded himself high on his brow, and blood was streaming down his face.

Two nurses were standing by holding dart guns.

The security men were trembling badly with fear as they unlocked the padlocks which were keeping the gridlock secure.

Baluu suddenly let out an ear-splitting scream, jumped from the bed and raced towards the door, but he suddenly stopped when he saw the dart guns. He knew how painful the drugs from the darts were, and he tried to keep away from them.

They removed the chains in the gridlock, pulled it to one side, and then they pushed Kofi Kuntu into the ward.

PASSWORD

Aaron Ansah-Agyeman

Season 2 Episode 3

Still Baluu remained far away as the security men locked the gridlock and secured it with the padlocks and the nurses held the dart guns pointed at him.

Maa Abena was weeping silently now, and just then Nii Lin appeared with Senior Nurse Elsie Ansah.

She was in blue housedress. Obviously she was not on duty but Nii Lin had hunted her down.

Her face was filled with horror as she glared at the Director.

“Mr. Dovlo!” she said harshly. “What do you think you’re doing? Putting a patient in the same ward with an unrestrained Baluu? What’s the meaning of this? Do you want him dead? Get him out of there this instant!”

Director Bobo Dovlo turned and glared at her with fiendish scrutiny.

“You dare question me?”

“I’m not questioning you!” Elsie flared. “I’m just telling you that if any harm comes to that boy I’ll include this gross disregard to human life in my report, Mr. Bobo Dovlo!”

Bobo Dovlo looked at Nurse Elsie with narrowed eyes and licked his lips.

Suddenly it occurred to him that there were too many eyewitnesses, and maybe he could have handled this situation differently with only the security guards around.

Hatred for Kofi Kuntu and the urge to see Baluu tearing him apart had made the Director behave in a rash manner, and now he sought a way out that would give him some leeway when the imminent death of Kofi occurred at the hands of the killer Baluu.

“I’ve been trying to work out a new formula for Baluu to integrate him slowly to human co-existence, Nurse Ansah!” the Director said crossly. “You don’t understand my premium approach to cases like these, because you’re always in a rush to jump to conclusions!”

“Get him out of there now, Director!” Nurse Elsie screamed. “Whatever treatment you’re aiming at will have to be tested under controlled situations first without humans exposed to acute danger that can lead to death! This is absolutely unacceptable!”

Baluu could no longer wait.

He let out an ear-splitting scream and rushed towards the door.

The nurses, security men and doctors quickly moved away from the door against the wall.

“My God!” Maa Abena said tearfully. “He’s going to kill Kofi!”

Kofi Kuntu, who was free from the straitjacket now, and whose mind was still a little befuddled by the drug he had been given, suddenly stood up tall, and then he suddenly dropped on both his hands and knees and crawled forward toward the rushing Baluu.

Baluu came to a sudden stop and looked at Kofi Kuntu crawling towards him on his hands and knees like a monkey.

“Ei, no be small. Yie!” Baluu said softly. “And what animal is this?”

Kofi still moved towards Baluu on all fours.

Baluu’s face was a little uneasy now.

He held out his hands towards the strange white thing coming towards him.

“Ei, no be small! Hey, stop!” he said, taking a step back. “Stop!”

When Kofi still came forward Baluu took a step forward and kicked him in the belly! Kofi grunted with pain and fell flat on his face, breathing with difficulty and looking up at Baluu with his face contorted with pain.

“Ei, no be small. What do you think you were doing?” Baluu asked with an uneasy smile.

“I’m hungry,” Kofi said, giggling suddenly through his pain.

Baluu grabbed Kofi’s arm and suddenly hurled him through the air. Kofi smashed into one wall with a sickening thud, and this time he moaned with great pain. Maa Abena and Nurse Elsie both screamed with fright. Maa Abena Nyantie covered her face with her hands, unable to watch the terrible beating.

Kofi could barely move now. The mist of madness induced by the injection Director Dovlo had given him was clearing fast now, and as he sat up with pain, he looked at Baluu with confusion.

“Aboa wati!” Kofi groaned with pain as Baluu dropped to one knee and raised a gigantic fist above Kofi’s face, ready to deliver a crushing blow to Kofi’s face.

“Ei, no be small!” Baluu said. “So you’re hungry. Ei, no be small. So what do you want to eat?”

“The head of John the Baptist,” Kofi said and giggled insanely.

And that was when Baluu began to laugh!

For many years he had been kept at the Asylum, and no one had ever heard him laugh before. He dropped his fist and laughed so hard that he started farting with loud explosive sounds!

Kofi was intrigued, and he slowly got up and sat down on one of the beds.

Baluu was still laughing as he also got up and sat on the bed beside Kofi.

The people in the corridor stared at the two of them with total shock.

Director Bobo Dovlo’s face was like a death mask as he drew near the metal gates and peered inside, his mouth dropping open with total disbelief.

“Ei, no be small!” Baluu said. “You want to eat the head of John the Baptist, that rastaman preacher is in the Methodist Hymn Book?”

Kofi giggled himself silly.

“Yes, yes!” he said, giggling. “The one whose head was chopped off by King Herod for his step-daughter!”

“Ei, no be small, you fool!” Baluu said, pushing Kofi’s head back. “It wasn’t King Herod who cut of the head of John Baptist! It was Jerry Rawlings!”

Kofi giggled loudly and shook his head.

“Crazy talk!” he said with glee. “What’s Jerry Rawlings doing in the Methodist Hymn Book?”

Baluu laughed loudly with him.

“Looking for Doctor Miamia!” Baluu said.

The two of them laughed insanely, grabbing their bellies and exploding with laughter.

Kofi spoke again through giggles.

“But what did the girl do with the head of John the Baptist when King Herod gave it to him?” Kofi asked.

“Ei, no be small!” Baluu said. “Maybe she threw it into this room somewhere. Let’s look for it.”

Kofi laughed loudly and nodded his head in acquiescence.

“I like that, I like that!” Kofi guffawed. “We’re going to look for the head of John the Baptist!”

“Ei, no be small!” Baluu screamed. “The head of John Baptist!”

The two of them got off the bed and began to search frantically under the beds.

“What will we do with the head of John the Baptist?” Kofi asked.

“Ei, no be small! We’ll eat it together!” Baluu screamed, breaking into fresh laughter. “You will eat the eyes so that you can see! I will eat his ears so that I stop hearing the screams of my wife.”

“And we’ll give his brains to Bobo Dovlo to eat so that he’ll get some sense!” Kofi said and guffawed.

Season 2 Episode 4

Laughing crazily together, and conversing with mad topics, the two of them trampled on every little portion of the room for John’s head.

The Director screamed and shouted, but they did not listen to him.

Maa Abena watched, shocked to the very foundations of her soul.

Eventually, Kofi spread out on the floor, tired.

Baluu came to lie by his side, and very soon, shockingly, both of them fell asleep on the floor!

“Seems I owe you an apology!” Nurse Elsie said to Director Dovlo with a curl to her upper lip. “I was rash. Your new treatment seems to be working perfectly!”

Doctor Bobo Dovlo took hold of the metal bars and shook them hard whilst making incorrigible sounds.

After a moment he turned away, his face made ugly by the extreme jealousy in his breast, and by the strong sense of failure corroding his soul like undiluted acid on metal!

He had failed! He had wanted Baluu to beat that little brat to pulp, but it had failed woefully!

But it wasn’t over yet. Maybe it was better that it had ended this way because there had been too many eye-witnesses. Next time, Kofi Kuntu, it wouldn’t be so easy, he whispered under his breath as his sense of failure and anger consumed him.

Nii Lin watched the Director moving away and laughed softly.

“Well, well, well!” he said. “That motherfucker!”

“Please, you have to take Kofi out,” Maa Abena said tremulously. “Baluu’s mind can change anytime. If he wakes up before Kofi, he will definitely kill him.”

“That’s well said, young lady,” said Atakora Nana, the head of security. “But who’s going in there to save him? Definitely not me!”

Elsie Ansah put a shaking hand on Maa Abena’s shoulder.

“They’re right, my dear,” she said sombrely. “Baluu is too far away to fire a dart gun at him. If anyone dares go in there and he wakes up, he’ll kill whoever it is!”

Maa Abena looked around at the regretful faces of the men looking at her, and none of them made any attempt to go in there and get Kofi Kuntu.

She didn’t understand why she was feeling so protective of this Kofi boy anyway. Maybe it was because he was Ato’s friend. Maybe it was because Nii Lin knew him. Maybe it was because he had been so nice to her before the Director had a session with him.

But she knew one thing for a fact: Baluu never stayed in a friendly mood for long. The moment he woke up and saw Kofi Kuntu in his ward he would attack.

She licked her lips slowly.

“Please open the gridlock,” she said fearfully.

“Oh, no, no, no!” Nii Lin said with horror.

“My dear, goodness me, no!” Elsie said, terrified. “I can’t allow you to do this!”

“Why not?” Maa Abena asked. “Are we going to stand by doing nothing and see him murdered? No, please, I can’t do that. Please open the door!”

Atakora looked at Maa Abena as if she were mad, and then he motioned to one of the security men to open the gridlock.

When the padlocks came off Maa Abena took one of the dart guns and tiptoed into the ward.

“The moment he stirs please run back here!” Nii Lin said fearfully. “If you stay in there he’ll tear off your head.”

Maa Abena nodded, her throat dry, as she walked silently and carefully towards the two sleeping forms.

She got to them, and was reaching down to shake Kofi Kuntu when Baluu opened his eyes.

Maa Abena gasped, petrified, but she did not flee.

She was shaking terribly as she looked into the murderous eyes of the killer.

Baluu suddenly sat up with a violent motion.

Behind her she could hear Elsie and the others screaming and shouting at her to retreat, but she was rooted to the spot with fear.

“Ei, no be small!” Baluu said softly, almost gently. “So the oluman shingo de shingo sent you to come and cut off my head like John the Baptist, eh?”

Kofi opened his eyes just then, turned his head, and saw the awful spectacle around him.

“Oh, my God!” Kofi whispered with horror. “My God, Maa Abena! What are we doing here with Baluu?”

“Shut up, Kofi!” Maa Abena quavered, horror all over her face. “Please, we need to make a run for it, please, otherwise he’ll kill both of us!”

“Ei, no be small!” Baluu shouted, looking at Kofi. “So, you’re the one that eats women in the dark! I see you now! You’re the ghost, osaman kanto, osaman atopa! I see you now!”

Kofi was terrified!

He jumped to his feet, and Baluu let out a huge scream of fury, scaring Maa Abena.

He was on his feet in a flash, and he wrapped both of his giant hands around Kofi’s throat and began to squeeze!

Kofi was choking. He could barely breathe!

He held Baluu’s hands and tried to prise his fingers loose, but they were like vice bands.

“I’ll kill you, you Akwesi Jesus, you Osaman Atopa!”

Kofi was beginning to see hazes as death knocked on his door. He knew that it would take less than a minute for him to die now.

He fought furiously but to no avail as Baluu’s fingers tightened harder around his throat, choking off all air.

Maa Abena was so badly scared that she screamed with horror and pointed the dart gun at Baluu, and then she fired rapidly, over and over again.

Eight darts hit Baluu’s back and arms, discharging their sedative solutions into him.

He turned his crazed eyes on Maa Abena and smiled nastily.

“Ei, no be small!” he said, his voice slurred, his eyes going out of focus. “The daughter of the harlot has cut off my adonigans! When I kill this rat completely, it is gonna be your turn. I’ll skin you like wele!”

And then he toppled forward and fell down heavily, still holding Kofi’s throat, but his fingers were loose and slack now. Kofi kicked himself away from the huge form of Baluu who was now out cold due to the darts.

Maa Abena was trembling badly and she dropped the dart gun. She took faltering steps forward, straight into Kofi’s arms.

She began to weep tremulously as reaction set in, and her fear found a release.

Kofi held her gently and rubbed her back.

“Thank you, Abena,” he whispered unsteadily. “You came back for me. Thank you!”

Episodes Dedicated to Ethy Akloyo and Sekumba Andho of the Klever Paid Platform. Happy Birthday, dearies. Wishing you many divine blessings.

PASSWORD

Aaron Ansah-Agyeman

Season 2 Episode 5

The other nurses took Kofi’s arm, and led him towards the doors.

Elsie Ansah hugged Maa Abena tightly.

“That was the bravest act I’ve ever seen, girl,” she said gently. “God bless you, God bless you.”

“You craze, Abena?” Nii Lin said with a giggle. “You almost made me shit in my pants! I thought you were gonna be crushed by that imbecile!”

***

Maa Abena kept tossing on her bed.

The incident with Baluu just wouldn’t leave her, and she was having bad dreams about it. In the dream Baluu got up and clamped his huge hands on her neck and began squeezing, and she kept firing darts into his eyes but to no avail.

She came awake with a start, and lay in bed panting.

The luminous face of the bedside clock said it was two o’clock at dawn.

She got up and padded to the bathroom, and then she came back to the bed after a while. She switched on the bedside lamp, then took her Bible and read a few verses in Psalms, and then she prayed.

Her phone dinged softly, indicating a new message, as she put off the lamp.

She picked up the phone, and saw she had numerous WhatsApp chat messages.

She saw five messages from Ato Sey. He had sent them around midnight.

ATO

Aho)f3 Abena! Wada anaa?

Ei, won’t you mind me? I see you online oo!

Okay, it hasn’t checked blue lines yet, so you no see am. Or u just dey ignore me eh?

Anyway, how’re you?

How’s my bro faring? I’m so worried about him. That Director is a bad man. He refused to let me see K.K. PLEASE HELP HIM FOR MY SAKE, OKAY? HE’S SO INNOCENT.

Maa Abena sighed, and then she put on the bedside lamp again and sat up in bed.

She began to type:

MAA ABENA

Sorry, Ato. Was a bit tired yesterday so I went to bed early. Are you up yet?

The message checked one tick, double ticks, and then double blue as Ato came online.

ATO

Yes, Beautiful. Couldn’t sleep much. Had a harrowing experience. How be K.K?

MAA ABENA

He’s doing well, Ato. I’m just a bit worried for him, though. Nii tells me you guys go way back, and that he knows Kofi too.

ATO

Yeah, yeah. Long story. I think I need to be open with you to help K.K.

MAA ABENA

So what really went down with your friend?

ATO

Longest story, dearest. Call u now?

MAA ABENA

Please do.

She put off the lamp as his call came through instantly, and she snuggled under the sheets and fixed her earphones.

She picked the call, and for the next hour listened to the most horrific tale she had ever heard.

Ato told her everything, holding nothing back.

“That’s horrible!” Maa Abena breathed at last, stunned. “I can’t believe this! Really?”

“Yes, dearest,” Ato said sadly. “I went to Director Dovlo and told him everything. He seemed to believe me, and so I don’t understand why, suddenly, he’s making it seem like Kofi is mad.”

For a moment Maa Abena debated telling Ato about what had happened the previous day at the Asylum, but she decided against it.

“I think there’s more than meets the eye here,” she said finally. “I’ll keep an eye out and my ear to the ground. I’ll let Miss Elsie also be aware. If what you’ve told me is true, then Kofi really needs help. I’ll keep you updated.”

“Thank you very much,” Ato said gratefully. “Any chance of doing lunch sometime soon?”

“Well, I’ll see about that, Ato,” she said gently. “My days are always booked solid, but I have an off day once a week. I’ll let you know.”

“Good, splendid,” Ato said with a giggle. “You’ll make me the happiest man.”

“I see,” Maa Abena said softly. “And Kofi’s girlfriend? Akweley, isn’t it? Have you heard anything from her? She hasn’t come to visit him yet.”

Season 2 Episode 6

“Yes, she hasn’t,” Ato said sadly. “I’ve called her and tried to explain the situation to her, but she wouldn’t listen to me. I’ve been told she’s now thick with some guy who’s investing in her father’s business. But it’s all good. I know Kofi will be well.”

“I’ll be praying for him,” Maa Abena said. “God can cure him of this evil curse. I’ll be trying my best to steer him towards God. Anyway, I have to catch up on some sleep. Will link up during the week, okay?”

“Sure, sure!” Ato said. “Good night, Princess.”

Maa Abena cut the call, sighed, and then lay staring into the empty darkness.

It was indeed a very shattering and sobering story.

If indeed Kofi Kuntu wasn’t insane, and had been a victim of his own personal folly, just as he had told her himself, why was Director Dovlo now so bent on presenting Kofi as mad, and even endangering his life by putting him in a room with the lethal Baluu?

As Maa Abena drifted off to sleep it was Kofi’s handsome face that she saw in her mind’s eye.

And, several miles away, Ato Sey put down his phone and walked to the bathroom to relieve his bladder. He walked back to his bedroom sleepily, and fell down on the bed.

That was when the mattress gave a really scary bump, as if someone had kicked it from under the bed!

Ato’s heart gave a lurch, and goose pimples sprang on his body immediately. He thought he had imagined it all, until it happened again, harder this time, making his body bounce on the mattress!

There was no doubt about it!

Someone, or something, was under the bed, kicking it up!

Ato was so scared that he could barely breath!

He could suddenly hear a soft voice coming from under the bed!

His lips were very dry as he edged his body slowly to the side of the bed and peered under it. It was quite dark under the bed, and he could not see anything for a moment, but then he heard the low, angry voice from under the bed.

“Yew keeked the Mallam Busanga in the haid!” the voice said in a grumble. “Yew keeked the Mallam Busanga in the haid!!”

Ato was so petrified with fear that he could not move, and it was as if he was having sleep paralysis! He made moaning sounds in his throat as his bed began to tremble rather badly, as if the bed wanted to jog. Now he could hear the voices, thousands of them, in various tones, coming from under the bed.

“Yew keeked the Mallam Busanga in the haid!”

Ato Sey screamed and slammed off the bed in one motion and ran from the bedroom, through the hall, and tried to open the main door.

It was only when he was out on the corridor of the apartment, and other neighbours were opening their doors to find out what was wrong, that he realized he was butt naked!

He covered his genitals with his hands as his next door neighbour, a lady banker, stared at him with her eyes agog.

“Mr. Sey!” she cried, alarmed. “Are you alright?”

Ato Sey beat a hasty retreat back into the room and closed the door.

He did not lock it though.

He put on all the lights and sat on the floor.

“In the name of Jesus!” he kept repeating over and over.

When morning came, he came awake on the floor, and he stood up slowly. With the darkness gone, his fear was abated, and he smiled sheepishly, wondering how he was going to face his neighbour ever again.

Maybe he had had too much to drink and dreamnt it all.

He sighed heavily and walked to his bedroom, and when he entered he just stood there glaring at the bed.

The mattress was on the floor, and all the wooden planks lying in the bed and supporting the mattress had been broken into several pieces.

Lying on the floor, in the middle of the wooden debris, was a small black pot and a horsetail whisk.

Ato’s heart gave a murderous lurch again.

Now he was terrified!

***

Nii Lin took Kofi to another ward on the second floor of D-Block.

The room was pleasant, and had ten beds in a row, but there were only three other people in the room.

They were all wearing the sky-blue pyjama-like uniform of the Adada Asylum.

One was a smallish man sitting on his bed and watching the television fixed on the wall. He was sitting absolutely still, his eyes never moving from the television.

Another was a really tall, gangling man, also in uniform, and he was standing with his face pressed into the wall, and his hands flat on the wall, as if he wanted to disappear into the wall.

The third man was quite young, around Kofi’s age. He was of medium built and height, and he was lying on the bed curled up in the foetal position, gripping a huge black teddy bear with his right arm, and his left thumb stuck into his mouth.

“Remember I told you only the severe cases were brought to the D-Block?” Nii Lin said as he pointed to a bed. “This is your bed, Kofi. You have a wardrobe here where we’ll keep your gowns and other essentials. The bathroom is in there, but it is mostly locked because these three need supervision to perform even the basic needs. You’re not going to be here long, my friend. We’re all finding out ways to help you.”

“Thanks a mill, bro,” Kofi said sadly and sat down. “I appreciate it, man. But you better find some people to help me fast before that Director Dovlo drives me crazy, man.”

“Don’t worry, bro, you’re in good hands,” Nii Lin said and smiled. “Senior Nurse Elsie has assigned Nurse Maa Abena Nyantie to take care of you. She’s a damn stunning hottie, isn’t she? I’m sure you’re going to like her. Now, I’ll go and rustle up some chow for you. It’s almost dinner time. But first, let me introduce you to your Ward mates. These are men who will not harm you if you leave them alone, Kofi, unlike Baluu. We give them nicknames here, you know, as part of the programme.”

He pointed to the man watching the television.

“That is Malboro. He’s okay, just that he can’t retain a memory for more than thirty minutes. He’s a great sort, but he’s irritating sometimes. The young man with the teddy lost his mind when his girlfriend jilted him and married his best friend. He’s Captain. Please, never touch his teddy bear. He’ll kill you if you do. The man against the wall is Pilot. He says he hears voices in the walls, and virtually anywhere. Like I said, they’re pretty harmless as long as you leave them alone.”

“Thanks, Nii, I appreciate it,” Kofi said sadly.

“Right,” Nii said. “Dinner is in the dining-room at the end of the corridor in thirty minutes.”

Nii went out and Kofi Kuntu slowly changed into his gown and lay down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling morosely.

He had lost everything.

Sajili had taken everything from him. Worst, Akweley was gone now!

But, in retrospect, he really had himself to blame.

He had had it all! A good job, a good life, a wonderful woman. The only dark side had been Laryea Odamten, his girlfriend’s father, but he knew he eventually would have won the man over.

Then he had gone in for the damn Jamaican Stone, and that simplest of acts, which had been targeted at some harmless fun, had progressed through a horrific series of events that had finally brought him into the claws of a man who felt aggrieved that his late wife had once been Kofi’s lover.

Now he didn’t know what the future had in store for him, or how he was going to get out of this grave situation. Director Dovlo had almost gotten him killed, and Kofi was scared. That man was capable of anything.

And even if redemption should come his way he might not have Akweley anymore! The pain was so sharp and devastating that tears came into Kofi’s eyes, and tried hard not to let them spill.

This was not the time for crying; this was the time to get out of this extremely unfavourable situation.

PASSWORD

Aaron Ansah-Agyeman

Season 2 Episode 7

Kofi sighed and turned on his side, and then he gave a startled cry when he saw that the man called Malboro had been standing by the side of the bed. Kofi stood up quickly and looked at the man, who suddenly thrust out his right hand and smiled broadly.

“Hiya!” he said in a strong voice. “I’m Malboro. Welcome to madness. We’re all mad here.”

Tentatively Kofi reached out and shook the man’s hand.

“I’m Kofi,” he said carefully. “Glad to meet you.”

Malboro withdrew his hand and went back to sit on his bed and resumed watching television.

Kofi watched them for a while, and then his stomach rumbled, and he wished Nii would bring dinner soon.

He fell back on the bed and turned his back to the others.

He might have dozed off, because when his eyes opened again with a start, he found Malboro standing near the bed again and looking at him intently.

Kofi sat up slowly and looked at him questioningly.

The man suddenly thrust out his hand again.

“Hiya, I’m Malboro. Welcome to madness. We’re all mad here.”

Kofi looked at him with his anger brewing up.

“Really? You wanna play that bullshit game with me?” he asked angrily.

Malboro looked at him with something close to puzzlement.

“Hiya, I’m Malboro. Welcome to madness. We’re all mad here!”

“What’s the matter with you?” Kofi asked crossly. “We just introduced ourselves a few minutes ago.”

“Hiya, I don’t know you. I’m Malboro. Welcome to madness. We’re all mad here.”

“Just go away, man,” Kofi said irritably.

And that was when Malboro began to scream shrilly, fiercely, at the top of his voice!

Veins stood out on his neck, and his arms were straight at his sides as he employed all his breath in the scream.

And then it finally dawned on Kofi as he remembered what Nii had told him about Malboro!

Nii had said Malboro couldn’t keep a memory for more than thirty minutes.

Kofi tried to calm him down, but the man screamed even more.

To make matters worse Pilot joined in, and the two of them began a screaming frenzy that really shook up Kofi.

He was standing there, unable to do a thing, when Captain came off the wall with roar. He jumped on one bed, and then he launched himself like a rocket, head first, at Kofi.

Startled and suddenly scared, Kofi swerved, and Captain fell on the bed with a sickening thud.

“Ow!” he cried, got to his feet and raised his right leg. “Some people are trying to use my leg for kako.”

Kofi could barely hear him because of the screams of the other two, and he backed away slowly as Captain put his leg down and jumped on Kofi’s bed now. He took two steps and launched himself at Kofi again, head first, and again Kofi swerved him, and Captain fell again, striking the floor with his head.

“Ow, my head!” he moaned.

He stood up again and raised his leg.

Pilot stopped screaming and watched Captain.

“Some people are using my leg for kako,” Captain said.

“Kako kako kako kako kako kako!” Pilot said, and kept repeating it in a high-pitched voice.

Captain now ran to the end of the room and bowed his head like a ram and spread his arms wide.

Evidently both Malboro and Pilot knew this gesture because they both stopped making screaming noises and climbed on their beds, looking at Captain with glints of horror on their faces.

Before Kofi knew what was happening Captain came at him with top speed, his head lowered, seeking to ram Kofi in the belly. Kofi took quick steps back, and his back came up against the wall. He knew that if he swerved the head butt captain’s skull would smack into the wall, and he might break his neck.

He just couldn’t swerve Captain now; he had to allow the man to head-butt him.

“Oh, God!” Kofi whispered with sudden horror. “Oh, God, Oh, Lord!”

He tried to steel himself for the strike and catch Captain’s head to reduce the impact, but it was no use. Captain’s head thudded into him viciously, straight into his stomach, smashing him into the wall and driving all the air from his body.

Kofi dropped to his hands and knees as the most terrible of pains passed through him.

“Goooooooaaaal!” all the three inmates shouted as they pointed at Kofi’s crumpled form.

Captain was standing still now with a huge grin on his face, preening.

Kofi looked at him through dazed eyes, and suddenly he was suffused with irrational fury.

What was happening to him?

Why was everything going so badly for him?

Why should he suffer so much?

With a roar of anger, he came off the ground and, screaming, rammed his shoulder into Captain’s belly, sending the both of them down in a rolling mass of limbs.

“Goooooooaaaal!” Malboro and Pilot screamed.

Season 2 Episode 8

Captain was lying on his back, grabbing his stomach as Kofi got to his feet. Captain’s face was filled with fear as he looked up at Kofi.

“You fool!” Captain groaned. “Why did you do that? Are you a goat? Why did you hit my belly with your head? You fool!”

Kofi was filled with instant remorse, and he forgot his pain immediately.

He reached out a hand to Captain.

“I’m sorry, man,” he said remorsefully. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Malboro jumped from the bed and approached Kofi, smiling and stretching out his hand.

“Hiya, I’m Malboro. Welcome to madness. We’re all mad here!”

Kofi took his hand and shook it resignedly.

“Pleased to meet you, Boro,” he said tiredly.

Malboro pushed Kofi in the chest hard, his face suffused with sudden anger.

“Me, Borrow?” he asked crossly. “Borrow what? What do you have that I’ll borrow, you koobi!”

Kofi held out his hands placatingly.

“Sorry, sorry, pal!” he said resignedly. “I meant to say Malboro!”

Malboro looked at him with sudden surprise.

“Hey, you know my name!” he said with a happy smile. “How did you know my name?”

Kofi was silent. He didn’t know what to say because he wanted them to calm down, and it seemed anything he did or said led to something else.

“Hey, you dog pile, I’m talking to you!” Malboro said angrily. “Won’t you answer me?”

Kofi shook his head numbly.

“I’ve forgotten what you asked,” he said lamely.

Malboro’s face clouded for a moment.

“Oh,” he said at last. “I don’t remember too. Hey! Who’re are you? Did you just join us? Hiya, I’m Malboro. Welcome to madness. We’re all mad here!”

Kofi took the man’s outstretched hand and shook it without saying a word.

Just then, luckily, the door suddenly opened and the incredibly beautiful nurse Maa Abena Nyantie came in.

She held Malboro’s hand and guided him to his bed, speaking softly, and after a moment the man nodded and smiled, and sat down on his bed obediently.

Next the nurse helped Captain to his feet.

“That new man, nurse, he’s mad,” Captain said. “Do you know he’s mad? If you go near him, he becomes a goat. He turns into a he-goat, aponkye kwasi attah, and he butts your stomach! I was just standing there and he hit my stomach with his head! Such a rough goat!”

Maa Abena chuckled but said nothing. She got Captain to lie down on his bed, and finally she attended to Pilot and had him on his bed too.

Pilot lay on his bed and looked at Maa Abena.

“I can hear soldiers in my head,” Pilot said in a serious voice. “They march on horses like krika krika krika krika krika krika!”

“Those are not soldiers,” Captain said from across the room. “They are Hari Krishna ants. They will chew your brains until they march out of your ears and nose and eyes. I had Hari Krishna ants some time ago going kribo kribo kribo kribo in my head.”

“You fool!” Pilot shouted. “Yours is kribo kribo kribo kribo and mine is krika krika krika krika krika! They can’t both be made by the same things!”

“Oh, okay!” Captain said with a serious, wise face. “That must be your mother urinating in your head krika krika krika krika with her big hole!”

And this infuriated Pilot so much that he sat up straight in bed and looked at the Captain with chagrin.

“And yours is your father doing puupuu in your head with his big anus, aboa bi ba!” he said angrily.

Malboro got out of bed swiftly and walked purposely forward with his hand out and a smile on his face.

“Oh, God, no!” Kofi said wearily. “Oh, God, not again! Aaaba! Awurade, why?”

Malboro was walking toward Kofi.

“Hiya, I’m Malboro! Welcome to madness. We’re all mad here!”

And that was when Kofi began to laugh.

He laughed so hard that tears came to his eyes, and he sat on the floor howling with laughter. Malboro also sat on the floor, and he suddenly began to imitate everything that Kofi was doing, which filled Kofi with even more laughter, so much so that he could not breathe as he became locked in a laughing fit.

He was laughing, but his mind was horrified!

He was behaving just like them!

He knew that if help didn’t come soon, he would go insane inside the Adada Asylum.

PASSWORD

Aaron Ansah-Agyeman

Season 2 Episode 9

Maa Abena eventually managed to give them their medications.

Soon two male attendants came and led the three away, leaving Kofi in the ward with Maa Abena.

“Where are they being taken to?” Kofi asked hopefully.

“To dinner,” Maa Abena Nyantie said. “Dining-hall is down the block, and I’ll show you later. This evening, however, I prepared some jollof for you so that you eat here, because I want to chat with you.”

Their eyes met and held.

She was a beauty, for a fact, more than Ato had described her. She was the kind of girl that men stared at and fantasized about. As he sat on his bed and looked at her, however, something hit him hard, and scared him a bit: he didn’t lust after her!

That was a first for him. He got breathless whenever he saw a beautiful girl, and if it were possible that he could see a girl again, he would make a move on her.

But, surprisingly, although he knew he might remain at the Adada Asylum for a while, he didn’t, for even one moment, imagine hitting on her and making love to her. There was something different about her that stirred more than lust within his heart.

Maybe it was due to the fact that she might believe he was as insane as the Director was making it seem, and it could also be the fact that after the Sajili incident, he had lost his libido.

But, whatever it was, he was looking at an incredibly beautiful woman, and for the first time he was not undressing her with his eyes, or imagining how she would look like from behind and sideways or naked on top of him.

She lifted a blue food flask from a plastic basket on the floor and took out some plates. She opened the flask and served the jollof from it, and put it on the side-table which she drew toward Kofi.

She sat at the desk of the NOD –Nurse on Duty – watching him as he ate.

It was the most delicious rice configuration he had ever tasted.

She had finished off with grilled fish, and he just couldn’t have enough. She watched him with mildly surprised eyes as he first used the spoon, then put it down and wolfed down the food with his fingers.

There was the residue of chewed fish bones in the plate, and he looked up at her, licking his fingers, still not full but feeling suddenly abashed to ask for more.

She stood up and approached him. She scooped the rest of the rice in the food flask into a new plate, put one more grilled fish beside it, and put it down in front of him.

He looked at her with almost shy eyes.

“That was reserved for yourself, wasn’t it?” he asked softly.

“Finish it off,” she replied with a chuckle.

“Sure?” he asked uncertainly.

“I don’t like rice much, Kofi,” she said gently. “I prepared that for you, but I didn’t really believe you could eat all that.”

He looked at her, startled, and saw her eyes twinkling, and knew she was making fun of him, and they both smiled at the same time. She dropped her eyes quickly, and he turned to the food, aware that within that harmony of their eyes meeting, a threshold had suddenly been breached, somehow.

Not that she had felt it; maybe she hadn’t.

A love note was the last thing he needed, though. He was now a disgraced man. The whole world knew he had tried to make love to a corpse. Videos and pictures of him had gone viral, and she was pretty well aware of that.

Secondly, she was such a beauty, and it was absolutely inconceivable that she was without a man, someone who loved her enough to make a respectable woman out of her.

And of course there was Ato, his friend. Ato had intimated this was the one girl he could love and marry, and as the Brother Code went, he could never express interest in the girl his friend loved. It was a taboo area.

Finally, there was Akweley to consider.

Kofi still loved her, and he had a deep pain in his heart that he had messed up and ruined their beautiful relationship. Maybe, if by some miracle he got out of here, Akweley would still be waiting for him because deep down she loved him, he was certain of that.

He finished off the plate, and she poured water for him to wash his hands and gave him some disposable kitchen towels to clean his hands.

She poured water for him to drink, and then she carefully packed the flask and bowls back into the basket. She went back to the NOD desk and after a moment she came toward him with some medicine in a tablet holder.

On the holder was also an unbroken injectable ampoule and a syringe.

She set it down on the side-table, and stood looking down at Kofi.

His face was a mask of misery as he looked at the medication, and then at her face. His eyes were sad as he reached out slowly and covered her right hand with both of his, his look unwavering.

“I want you to believe me, Maa Abena, please,” he said in an unsteady voice. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to me here, but I know one thing: if you give me those drugs, you’re going to drive me mad. I’m not crazy, Maa Abena. It has all been one great mess!”

Season 2 Episode 10

She looked at him, and her face was troubled, a furrow puckering her brow.

“I spoke to Ato deep into the dawn, Kofi,” she said in a worried voice. “He told me all that happened. But I’m confused, Kofi. If there’s nothing wrong with you, why did Director Dovlo confine you? Why did you act so absolutely crazy in the presence of the judge and journalists?”

“He injected me with some drug, Maa Abena,” he said carefully. “He told me it would make me act like a madman and convince the judge and the others about how unstable I was.”

She stepped away from him, her face filled with uncertainty, shaking her head.

“Motive, Kofi, motive!” she said, her eyes accusing. “That man is a professional! I admire him so much, because he knows his work. He has cured many inmates that were brought here, and integrated them back into society successfully! How on earth would he want to do such a thing to you?”

He stood up and walked slowly towards her.

“A long time ago, a woman came to my workplace to see my director,” he said carefully. “That woman wanted to buy a house, and my director told me to take her round to see our completely-detached housing units so that she could make a choice. I was a poor, bad boy, then, Maa Abena. I was a womanizer, and I saw only a lonely, mature woman with money to spend. She was not wearing any wedding bands on her finger, and she told me she was a divorcee. I began an affair with her. It lasted for a year, and then I could not take it anymore. For one, I was very much in love with my fiancé then, and secondly I could not tolerate her demands any longer. She wanted me to move into the house she bought with her, and get married. She was domineering and very violent, and so I broke off with her. I had no idea then that she was still a married woman.”

He stopped, his eyes filled with remorse, sweat on his face.

She looked at him, but it was evident that he was reluctant to continue.

“And what has that story got to do with Director Dovlo remanding you here?” she asked softly.

“I only found out when I met him that indeed Naana Basiwaa was a married woman,” Kofi said miserably. “She was Mrs Naana Basiwaa Dovlo.”

“Jesus!” Maa Abena exclaimed, shocked to her very bones. “Director Dovlo’s wife? The one who committed suicide?”

Kofi was trembling, and he could not stand any longer. He lowered himself onto the bed.

“Yes, Maa Abena, although I never knew she committed suicide. The Director told me. He is blaming me for her death, and he’s going to cut off his pound of flesh.”

“That’s so preposterous!” she whispered, so horrified. “He’ll keep you here to exact revenge? Is that what he’s doing?”

“That’s what he’s doing, Maa Abena,” Kofi said softly. “But he has the perfect excuse now passing me off as an insane man, and so he’ll get away with his evil.”

“Not as long as I live!” Maa Abena said, still shaken. “That’s so horrible, Kofi dear, and so terrible!

She went back to the desk and put her medicine holder down.

She came and sat beside Kofi on the bed, and took his hands, looking deeply into his eyes.

“If what you have told me is true, Kofi Kuntu, then a terrible injustice has been done to you, and I’m going to be your friend to ensure that this evil is exposed.”

Tears shimmered in his eyes, and he turned his face up to the ceiling to keep them from falling.

She was an angel, and she was on his side, and he was so grateful for that!

“I spoke to Ato, like I told you,” she continued, her face sad. “Evidently he went back to the shrine.”

Kofi scowled first, then raised his eyebrows.

“Ato went back to Mallam Busanga?” he asked with some surprise.

“Yes, Kofi,” Maa Abena replied. “He wanted to find out if that password situation has now been remedied since you were able to do whatever you were supposed to do with the corpse of that Indian lady.”

Kofi looked at her expectantly now, his face flushed.

“What did Mallam Busanga say?” he asked excitedly.

She shook her head sadly at him.

“Well, a load of nonsense, if I may put it bluntly,” she said. “The Mallam said that you were supposed to put in your…your…whatever, manhood, yes, and withdraw yourself. But since you put it in and then you were hit by a doctor, which forced you out of the woman, it means you didn’t withdraw your manhood yourself, so the password is still intact.”

She saw Kofi’s face going through a very tragic transformation.

The excitement slowly ebbed out of his face, and he looked bland for a moment but it rapidly changed to moroseness, then sadness, to agitation, and then, incredibly, his expression broke down and his face screwed up into a terrible line of sorrow, and then the tears walled up in his eyes like an overfilled dam, and slowly coursed down his cheeks.

It was such a tragic show of the weakness and vulnerabilities of a man, and it made Maa Abena Nyantie sad indeed. She reached out and took his hands in hers.