DANIEL BAFFOUR-KODUAH

OBSESIONADO

EPISODE 12 – 14

Episode 12

Mr Kpakpo woke up early in the morning and prepared for his journey to the GIBS ACADEMY. His wife had still wanted to journey with him but he had declined and went off alone.

The journey seemed longer than it usually was for him and he was pissed off by the fact that passengers had to alight at their destinations during the journey.

But he remained calm and hoped to get to the school on time.

He was dressed in his usual traditional cloth. He had his smock and trousers on, together with a pair of sandals. It would have been a simple dress but this time the smock was purely red, matching the colour of his eyes.

As he got closer to the school gate, he had a feeling that something has happened to his daughter and that made his blood boil.

He got to the gate and had troubles with the security guard who told him it was not visiting hours so he should go back.

Mr Kpakpo tried explaining to the security guard that he just wanted to see his daughter and make sure she was fine but the security guard never budged. It took the intervention of Leonard who was walking by to separate what would have turned into something nasty.

Leonard directed Mr Kpakpo to Raymond’s office after asking a few questions and set off to inform Raymond of Mr Kpakpo’s visit to the school.

He knew pretty well then that Mr Kpakpo’s visit had something to do with his daughter.

               *

Raymond got to his office and his heart missed a beat. He started sweating profusely but he immediately cleaned it before Mr Kpakpo noticed his presence in the room.

“Welcome, Mr Kpakpo. Please have a seat.” Raymond said.

He sat down and waited for Mr Kpakpo to walk over from the windows to take his seat.

“My daughter, Ama Konto, I want to see her, please,” Mr Kpakpo said.

“Would you like to take anything please, sir,” Raymond said, pretending not to have heard what the man had just said.

“My daughter, Ama Konto Bosomba, I want to see her,” he repeated with his voice rising.

“You need to relax, sir. And what do you mean you want to see your daughter. Is Ama Konto not with you already?” Raymond asked, trying to feign anger.

“What do you mean Ama Konto is with me. The last time I saw my girl was when your headmaster celebrated his birthday. Now you go out there and get me my girl,” Mr Kpakpo responded angrily.

“I personally signed your daughter’s exeat yesterday because she wanted to see you badly. And that was the last time I laid eyes on her,” he said. “Here, the exeat register, you can cross check yourself.”

Raymond opened the register and handed it over to Mr Kpakpo. The older man checked and saw his daughter’s name and her signature against it.

“Now stop the I want to see my daughter games with me and tell me where the hell the girl is.” Raymond said angrily.

“My daughter ain’t with me. And…”

“And if she ain’t with you then she ain’t with us too. I’m gonna ask you to leave. The moment she signed the exeat, she was on her own. And it’s now your responsibility to find her. Not ours!” Raymond interrupted quickly. “Here, that’s my card. Notify me when there’s any development”

Mr Kpakpo took the card and without another word he left the room. Raymond sighed quickly and started sweating all over again but he had a mischievous smile all over his face.

He moved over to the window and saw Mr Kpakpo walking with his head down, like a defeated man whose spirit has left him.

“You’re going to have a hard time finding that daughter of yours, Mr Kpakpo. And as poor as you are there’s nothing you can do. So far as I know. Just let sleeping dogs lie.” he said mischievously and started laughing hard.

And that was when Mr Kpakpo turned and caught him laughing.

The older man’s eyes were red and when Raymond looked the laughter died out slowly. And as he looked, Mr Kpakpo’s eyes looked like it had fire in them.

Raymond quickly drew the curtains and stood behind the windows panting.

 

 

Episode 13

Mr Kpakpo left the school and was lost in his mind, heart and soul. He contemplated going home that very same day but later lodged at a hostel to spend the night.

He didn’t know what he was going to tell his wife the next day and cried his heart out the whole night. Sleep never came to his eyes.

He tore his smock up and cried and cried for his daughter because he knew and felt his child was in trouble.

Mr Kpakpo woke up early the next morning and filed a missing person’s report at the nearest police station. He gave out the one picture of his daughter he had on him to the police to find his daughter for him.

The Chief superintendent, Supt. Clifford Gyamfi, had assured him that he’ll put his men to work to find the girl by hook or crook.

“You need to sit tight, sir. Sometimes these young girls just run out of school to meet their boyfriends in town. For all you know she might be with the boyfriend,” the superintendent said.

“There have been numerous cases like these which we get but at the end of the day we only get to find out they are with their boyfriends or sugar daddies,” he explained.

“My daughter is not like that Mr Superintendent. She was trained well enough not to indulge in such activities. I have a bad feeling about this. Please do something about my daughter for me.” Mr Kpakpo pleaded.

“I understand your fears, sir. I have daughters too and I understand your fears. You just have to let us do our work. I assure you my men and I will do everything we can for you,” the superintendent assured.

Mr Kpakpo knew then that he had to do something about his daughter because the police assurance was just standard procedure.

Mr Kpakpo left the police station with a heavy heart and made his journey home.

                 *

Mrs Mae had just finished preparing her dinner when she saw her husband entering the house. There was something about him that confirmed her worst fears.

Mr Kpakpo walked into the house absentmindedly with his head down. He rejected his wife’s call and entered into the bedroom.

Mae stopped whatever she was doing and barged into the bedroom and found her husband crying.

She joined her husband on the bed and the couple cried their heart out.

“Bosomba is not the school, my dear. And the school authorities said our daughter asked for permission to come  home to us and the last time they saw her was when she signed the exeat that she was coming home.” Mr Kpakpo said as he wiped tears from his eyes.

“Oh Bosomba, my child, my heart bleeds. Ama where are you, my beautiful baby girl,” Mae cried.

Mr Kpakpo hugged his wife and consoled her.

“I lodged a formal complaint near the hostel I slept in last night. And the superintendent said he will do everything to help find our child dear. So…”

“So, they will do nothing, Kwaku Kpakpo? Do something. Find my daughter. I want to know where my daughter is Kwaku. Find her!” Mrs Mae said sharply.

“I know my love. I saw how the superintendent looked at me. He knows I’m a poor man and said what I wanted to hear. I’ll find our daughter. I will!” Mr Kpakpo said seriously, his eyes all red.

“My daughter shall be found! And if something has happened to her, the gods forbid, even if a strand of hair is missing from her hair, somebody will have to pay. I promise you that sweetheart,” Mr Kpakpo said tearfully.

He hugged his wife and kissed her on the cheeks. His wife followed as he got up and moved straight to his shrine and shut the door.

Mrs Mae waited outside and all she could do was cry and hope that something had not happened to her child.

She waited for days outside the shrine without food and water. She clothed herself in black and had smeared ashes all over her body.

On the third day, in the noon, the door to the shrine opened and Mr Kpakpo stepped out. His eyes were red and the tears that came out was hot as coal.

He spoke a strange language into the thin air and that was when his wife realised her husband was back. She felt the strong power around him and felt his sadness.

Without words, the woman knew the unexpected had happened. She shook terribly, sat on the floor and dragged her ass on the ground as she mourned her daughter.

Mr Kpakpo changed immediately into his black smock and smeared ashes over his body like his wife and they mourned their daughter from noon till evening, remembering the beautiful moments they had shared with their child.

And in the night, when the couple slept on their bed, they felt a cold strong wind in the room. The door banged continuously for some minutes and that was when they heard it.

The voice of their daughter, it was faint and had a sad tone and the only thing they heard was::

Mama, Papa…

And an owl cried the whole night till morning broke.

Episode 14

It had been a week since Mr Kpakpo and his wife knew their daughter was dead. The people of Densema cried and consoled the family for their loss.

The few young men who had eyes for Ama Konto had been angry and had wanted to go to GIBS ACADEMY to confront them about the missing Ama Konto but Mr Kpakpo had stopped them and asked them to leave things as they were.

Mrs Mae had not been herself. Out of fury, she had asked her husband countless times to kill whoever had a hand in her daughter’s death.

She had cried and wailed to be buried beside her daughter. It took strong men to prevent her from jumping into the grave of her daughter to be buried alongside her.

They had buried Ama Konto without her body and that shattered the heart of Mr Kpakpo. He couldn’t understand why he had to bury his daughter without her body.

Mrs Mae on countless times after the burial of her daughter tried poisoning herself to death because she knew no reason to live again. She felt the world was a wicked place for innocent ones.

Her husband had been a strong pillar and strength for her in those trying times. And he assured her justice will be served in his way and she just had to hold on for a while.

“Our daughter’s life will not be in vain, my love. It will not!” Mr Kpakpo assured his wife.

               *

Raymond had just gotten out from his bathroom and he felt a strong cold wind in the room. He thought he had left the AC on in the bedroom room. He took the remote and put the AC off but he still felt the cold wind in the room.

He got dressed pretty quickly and moved to the living room to get himself a drink before stepping out.

And that was when he saw Mr Kpakpo in his hall. The old man was sitting on his sofa and he had an apple juice and a glass in front of him. Beside the juice was a packet of Bourbon biscuits. And it was obvious the old man was quite enjoying himself.

Raymond was shocked to the bones because he knew he locked the door before going to the bathroom. He started sweating immediately and fear was boldly written on his face.

He tried moving his hands to wipe the sweat and that was when he realized he cannot move his hand. He tried going forward and he couldn’t move an inch of his body.

And he felt like a statue at the point, glued to the spot. All he could do was watch Mr Kpakpo eat. He tried to shout but he realised he could only move his lips but no sound or word came out from his mouth. And the moment, his fears knew no boundaries.

He was drenched in his own sweat, unable to move his own body or talk. And his mind could not fathom whatever was going on.

“This is the best apple juice I’ve ever tasted in my life. Oh damn! And the biscuits, oh mine! I should’ve brought my wife. Oh, she would have enjoyed these biscuits too,” Mr Kpakpo said, as he enjoyed the juice and the biscuits with much gusto.

“Oh these biscuits are great, aren’t they, Mr Raymond,” he asked.

And suddenly he realised Raymond could not speak or move any parts of his body.

“Oh forgive me, Mr Raymond. Pardon my manners. Talk!”

And it felt like a burden has been lifted off Raymond’s mouth. He felt something honey-like in his mouth and swallowed it much against his will. And that was it, the words flowed like water.

“What the fuck did you just do to me. And who the fuck do you think you are. I want you to get the fuck outta my room now. You mysterious man. Get out!” Raymond shouted and gasped for breath.

“I’ll pretend not to have heard what you just said, Mr Raymond. Besides, that’s not how you treat your guest. Please sit with me and let’s enjoy this juice and biscuits together. Mmm?” Mr Kpakpo said without looking up.

And suddenly Raymond felt a strong force around him. And he felt being lifted. It was a force he had no strength over and it threw him directly into the sofa, right opposite Mr Kpakpo. And he saw the old man’s face for the first time.

His eyes were red and were blazing like a raging fire. His face looked like a demon with four heads. He had no ears and he had the pupils of a snake, a cobra to be precise. When Mr Kpakpo smiled at him, he had no man’s teeth. He had only four long sharp teeth and he had the tongue of a cobra.

Raymond had wanted to run but he was glued to the chair and when he looked at the old man again, his face was changed again and this time, it was Mr Kpakpo’s own face.

“I know what you’ve done, you imbecile. I know the likes of men like you and you think you can get away from everything you do. Well, guess what? Not this time” Mr Kpakpo said calmly but his voice echoed in the room and the cold strange wind came back again.

“She was my only daughter. The pride of my loins. And for your sexual satisfaction, you drugged her, took away her protective chain, and raped her.” He said tearfully, his voice breaking off.

Mr Kpakpo opened his hands wide and when he brought it down, Ama Konto’s necklace was in his hands.

The necklace Raymond thought no man could ever find where he had hidden it was in the old man’s hand. And he could not believe his eyes. He started sweating more and more.

Mr Kpakpo’s tears fell on the necklace and instantly felt her daughter’s spirit in the room. He felt her lovely arms around his neck and all he did was close his eyes and enjoy the moment.

“You’ll never get away with this, Mr Raymond. I will do things to you that you’ll wish for death. But death will run away from you, Mr Raymond,” he said.

The room became dark instantly that Raymond could not see a thing. All he could see was Mr Kpakpo’s red eyes and it was blazing like fire.

“You’ll grow young and small like a child and you’ll grow old just like an old man. And the things that will happen to you, you will wish for death. I will visit you again Mr Raymond. No one can help you. NO ONE!” Mr Kpakpo said and his voice shook everything in the room.

“For the wages of sin is death…”

And that was it. The darkness faded away and Mr Kpakpo was nowhere to be found.

And this time Raymond was able to move his legs and hands. He moved immediately to the window to see if he’ll see the old man but he saw no one.

And then he knew he had to get something against this man. For the first time in his life, he was deeply afraid of someone.

OBSESIONADO

THE AUTHOR

Baffour-Koduah Daniel is a young Ghanaian writer and student. ‘OBSESIONADO’ is a Ghanaian project filled with Passion, Love, Betrayal and Surprises. Enjoy!

 

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