Incompatible…
AARON ANSAH-AGYEMAN
INCOMPATIBLE
A ChrisEffe Thriller
CHAPTER 6
The courtroom was quiet.
Chris Bawa was sitting beside his father on the right of Judge Ebow Quansah.
Their lawyer, Kwame Osafo, was sitting on the other on the other side of Brand Bawa.
Across the courtroom, Mr. Ken Kedem was sitting with his lawyer, Anthony Appoh.
Behind them in the public seats were Effe, Eyram, Baaba and Josh Kedem, their senior brother. Sitting directly behind Ken Kedem was Ivy Kedem, Effe’s mother, and she kept casting acid looks at Chris and his father.
In the witness box was the head of the Bosomtwe Family, Mr. Fiifi Bosomtwe, who had sold the plot of land to Brand Bawa.
Judge Ebow Quansah was holding two titles of the land in his hands, and poring over them with such concentration that his fleshy round face looked rather slack with furrows on his forehead. He had been doing that for some time now.
There were about four policemen in the court.
Finally, the judge leaned back and looked at them, his face severe.
“I’m getting a bit confused here,” Judge Quansah said. “So, first Mr. Brand Bawa had the titles to the land, and Mr. Kedem wanted to buy it off. Later it came out that Mr. Kedem also bought the same plot of land, but he could not find the details of the transactions. Mr. Brand Bawa bought the land from you, Mr. Fiifi Bosomtwe.
Now, you went through the titles and found this older one which testifies that your father first sold the same plot of land to Mr. Ken Kedem. Now, since the date on this current document clearly shows an older date than Mr. Bawa’s documents, it presupposes that the land now rightly belongs to Mr. Kedem.”
Ken Kedem and his wife were nodding their heads.
“That’s the case, Your Honour,” said Lawyer Appoh. “However, since my client is aware that the poor man indeed parted with a large sum of money to purchase the land from Mr. Bosomtwe, unaware that the land had been sold already to Mr. Kedem, my client, the kind-hearted Mr. Ken Kedem, now wishes to pay double the amount the defendant spent on acquiring the land as refund to Mr. Brand Bawa.”
“Well, that sounds agreeable to me,” Judge Quansah said. “Defence, what does your client say to that?”
Lawyer Osafo got to his feet.
“Well, Your Honour, in view of this document, I’ll plead for you to allow us time to consider this offer from the other side, and give you our feedback later.”
As he was sitting down Chris glared at him.
“What’re you saying, Lawyer?” he asked icily, and his father put a warning hand on his arm.
“Take it easy, Chris,” Lawyer Osafo hissed, but Chris got to his feet and looked balefully at the Judge.
“Young man, sit down!” the Judge said in a fierce voice.
All eyes were now on Chris as he looked over at Ken Kedem.
“Sit down, Your Honour?” Chris asked coldly. “You know as well as I do that the document purportedly giving ownership of the land to Mr. Kedem is a forged document! You know it is a fake document, so what do you think you’re doing?”
There were angry cries from Ken Kedem and his family, but Effe remained silent as she looked at Chris’ angry face with concern. She sighed tremulously and linked her hands to stop their quivering.
Effe knew that Chris had just called her parents ‘thieves’ and it had hammered another nail in their coffin! She knew her mother would be seething with fury now, and wouldn’t relax in her opposition of Chris as a son-in-law one bit!
And it pained Effe’s heart indeed, that Chris Bawa just couldn’t make that little sacrifice of letting the land go so that they would be happy in their relationship.
“Now sit down this minute!” the Judge roared. “How dare you! Sit down before I have you arrested for contempt of Court!”
“Do your worst,” Chris hissed right back. “You’ve kept this case running for almost a year now! Meanwhile, you know Mr. Ken Kedem just wants to take my father’s land! Because they’re rich and powerful, they want to snatch that plot of land from a man who has toiled all his life, and whose only claim to achievement is that plot of land! You should have that new document tested, and you’ll find out that it is a new paper! The ink and the paper would indicate that they’re far fresher than my father’s title!”
“Sit down, you imbecile!” the Judge roared. “Do you know the law better than I do? Fool!”
Chris pointed a finger at the judge.
“You can go ahead and give the land to them, but that wouldn’t be the end of the case. My father bought that land, fair and square. I’ve realized my father is not going to get a fair hearing here, so go on and give the land to Mr. Kedem. Afterward, I’ll take this case as far as it needs to go, and you’ll eventually be called to answer for any decision you take on this case.”
The judge leaned forward, his face made dangerous by his fury, so apoplectic that his voice shook as he spoke.
“Are you threatening me?” he hissed furiously.
“Yes, Your Honour, I am definitely threatening you,” Chris replied with an equal fury of his own.
The Judge tried to hold on to his fury, but it is evident that he is suddenly caught unawares by Chris Bawa’s cold analysis and threat to take the case to the higher echelons of the law should the need be.
Just then there was a commotion at the door, and four huge policemen came inside, walking purposefully down the middle lane towards the Judge.
“And what’s the meaning of this intrusion?” the Judge asked darkly.
Police Inspector Danso Cuger bowed respectfully.
“I’m sorry, Your Honour, but we have come to arrest Mr. Chris Bawa for assaulting a Member of Parliament on Saturday morning,” he said.
“Member of Parliament?” the judge asked. “Who?”
“Mrs. Lois Yeboah-McBaiden, Your Honour,” the policeman said.
The judge looked puzzled.
“Lois Yeboah?” he asked quizzically. “Isn’t she the boy’s own mother?”
“Yes, she is, Your Honour,” the policeman said. “But the boy assaulted her yesterday, and critically wounded her bodyguard, who’s on admission at the Central Hospital.”
“I see,” the judge said with sudden calmness as his eyes rested on Chris’ dark face, and it was evident that lots of thoughts were running through his head. “Alright then, do your duty quickly. I’m still in the middle of a case.”
Brand Bawa was up on his feet now, holding his son’s arm protectively.
“It’s okay, Pops,” Chris said softly as the policemen came toward him.
“You’ll come with us, Mr. Chris Bawa,” Chief Inspector Danso Cuger said.
Brand Bawa looked on, distressed, as the policemen handcuffed Chris’ hands behind his back. Chris nodded reassuringly at his father.
“Go home, Pops,” he said. “I’ll be with you soon.”
Effe stood up, her face tense and worried, and filled with love as she looked at Chris. She took a step toward him but her mother got up hurriedly and approached her, and pushed her back down on her seat.
“Don’t even think about it, Effe!” Ivy Kedem hissed furiously. “That boy just called your father a crook! Yes, we heard he beat up his own mother, her husband, and a bodyguard viciously!
That’s all he is! A useless boy who is a bully, always fighting, definitely a drug addict! You better put an end to this madness, Effe Kedem! You’re not going to bring that boy home to us! You better find a new person to love because I’ll rather die than allow you to be with that anaconda of a boy!”
“Mom!” Effe cried dejectedly. “I love him!”
“Love him?” Ivy cried, livid with fury. “A man who’ll insult your father’s integrity? A boy who’ll beat up his own mother? A boy who’s as violent as he’s uncouth? Sit down, Effe! It’s not happening!”
Effe sat down dejectedly as her tears fell silently down her cheeks, watching despondently as Chris was taken away by the cops.
“Well, as I said, Defence has three days. We’ll meet here on Friday morning to conclude this case,” the Judge said finally. “Court is adjourned.”
Effe left the court hurriedly the moment the judge left the courtroom.
She got into her car and drove straight off to the police station without waiting for any of her family members to come out, especially her mother.
Her heart was in a turmoil, and Chris’ crushed expression came back again and again to haunt her.
Oh, Chris, Chris, Chris, my love, my breath, my life…what is going to happen to us?
2 Comments
Leave your reply.