Mary stared at the taxi cab that drove out of the hospital in confusion. She had seen someone being helped into it and though she was too far from the scene to be actually sure of it, she could have sworn it was Billy she had seen.
Billy Gosa, whom she hadn’t thought about for a while, suddenly invaded her thoughts.
”No. That cannot be him. He’s far away in Mantsekrom probably toasting an innocent girl,” she said to herself
”And it’s that rude woman from yesterday,” she observed and gave herself a mental shake of her head.
”My mind is probably playing games with me.”
She happened to find herself at the hospital again that day because she wanted to ask Dr Nat whether he had seen her pay slip in his car. She seemed to have misplaced it. She needed to find it to use it as part of her loan-seeking quests from the Bank.
She went to the consulting booth and found a highly agitated nurse Kuukuwa screaming and gesturing wildly about someone being abducted.
She excused herself and went to sit outside to wait till he was free enough to listen to her.
***
Mantsekrom was in aurmoil. Amerley’s fate still hung in the balance as she continued to fight for her life. And Safoa, Safohene’s daughter was still missing. Her father was weakened by the turn of events. He hadn’t set his eyes on her since the night he confronted her about her affair with that young man. He hadn’t been able to say anything to anyone about what really happened as he knew so well that it could lead to his own downfall. He was helped by the fact that the Chief and the whole community were distracted by Amerley’s condition, nevertheless, a search party was organized. It was helped by the fact that the two girls had had their puberty rites performed at the same time and all sorts of meanings were being read into it. And no one forgot to remind themselves that both girls were of royal blood which ultimately, pushed the need for the gods to intervene. And that fell right on the doorsteps of the Priestess.
”I am relieved that at least, the Agric man survived,” Mogyahyew said as he pondered on the puzzle of his missing daughter. His, and the Chief’s consultations with the Priestess had yielded no concrete results. The gods, it seemed, were waiting for the right time to respond. He really appreciated the singular efforts of Komfobaa. She had even thought it wise to bring Billy home upon his discharge from the hospital.
”Thank God for Kutorkor,” he sighed. He knew perfectly well that everyone, including the elders, was happy to leave it all in the able hands of Kutorkor as the whole issue bordered on spirituality.
A WEEK LATER
Kutorkor was really a well-satisfied woman. She had brought Billy home. He was in her home, in her bed.
He appeared to be an automaton: and was at her beck and call. He was pliable. Just like a puppet, with her as the puppet mistress. With the numerous kinds of concoctions, she got him to drink, it was no wonder he behaved like a zombie.
He was seemingly normal and he still performed his duties as an Agricultural Officer creditably, but as soon as he got home from work, he did her bidding, with body and soul. He was like a slave to her and obeyed her commands with no hesitation and the glazed look in his eyes attested to the fact that he wasn’t himself.
Suffice it to say that he had forgotten about any other woman, having lost the desire to be with any other woman apart from her.
”Eeiii, Billy Goat paaa nie,” one of the farm labourers said of the change in him. He hardly looked at any other woman and didn’t even say sweet words to them like before.
Some people said it was a genuine change and were happy for him but the cynics found it strange and cast suspicious eyes in Kutorkor’s direction. But no one was brave enough to say anything.
”Who dare say Komfo ne se kɔɔ’,’ one man succinctly said.
Billy himself knew he was under some sort of bondage but was powerless to do anything about it. He felt as if he was bound by shackles of some dark force which had robbed him of his willpower and he had no urge to either resist her or take any initiative as far as she was concerned.
Sad to say, she even chose which side of the bed she wanted to sleep at any particular time or day.
And the sexual perversions she made him go through would have sent a sane man running away but the very thought of him leaving did not even occur to him to consider.
His usual buoyant upbeat persona had left him. He now had a lethargic and woebegone outlook that left him perpetually confused.
”Me Billy Goat paaa nie. M’apim apim ma pim apim me’,’ me mused at the kind of grip KK had on him.
On the other hand, KK was feeling on top of the world. She was very proud of herself. She smiled with satisfaction. She smiled as she thought about the powdered substance she had dropped into Amerley’s drink when she saw her drinking water. Just a minute grain of it hidden under her fingernail was enough to do the job. Now she was fighting a losing battle with death.
”Sɛ akɔdaa pɛ ade kɔkɔɔ ahwɛ a, yɛ de gyamerama na ɛkyerɛ no,” she quoted the age-old proverb which literally means when a child insists on seeing red, red is shown to him or her in its fiercest form.
She smiled.
As for Safoa, hers was easy. laughable, even.
Just when she thought she had removed all opposition from her life with Billy, she came to her voluntarily, knocking at the door in the middle of the night entreating her to hide her from her enraged father. She comforted the crying girl with soothing words and made her tell her everything about what happened. From the time she went into Billy’s room to the time her viciously angry father dragged her back into his room, gun in hand. KK listened carefully, seething within but with a fake caring expression on her face. She went into a side room to emerge with a brownish-looking liquid which she smeared on the girl’s face, with a savage look on her face that the unsuspecting Safoa did not see.
”Safoa, daughter of Kobina Mogyahyew, go and roam the ends of the world, never to return home ever” she spat out at her and gave her GH₵20.00 to go with.
The girl’s head jerked with surprise but she nodded obediently and went away, from the house and the village of Mantsekrom. She had lost her mind.
***
Maame Konadu had been at peace within her for some time. From the day the young Reverend Father got posted to the Cathedral, he had taken a liking to her the way a son loved a mother. He always made it a point to check up on her, to pray with her and for her and her daughter.
It was quite funny and ironic in that even as she referred to him as ‘Father’, he referred to her as ‘Mother’.
Father Samuel Aidoo, that was his name, had started an outreach programme. He had been going on evangelical crusades to nearby villages to preach the gospel to the people.
His vibrancy and dynamism made him win a lot of souls for the church.
He was soft-spoken but his words were strikingly clear which never ceased to have a strong impact on his listeners.
”I am a servant of the Lord and I have sworn to be a shepherd to the flock in holiness and celibacy” he always said this to those who ask him why he chose the collar in place of the helmet, as he was a brilliant mechanical engineer before he entered the Seminary.
Despite his seemingly youthful outlook, he was of middle age and his depth of wisdom endeared him to all who got close to him.
He, after a successful crusade at a nearby community, was packing the equipment into the van they had gone in when Mr Bediako, who was on a business trip to the area and had listened to his sermon, approached him with a request.
”Please Father, go to Mantsekrom and deliver them,” he earnestly implored him.
Father Samuel looked at the elderly man calmly, trying to gauge him. He seemed like a sane and upright person.
”I’ll pray over it and will do as the Lord directs,” Father Samuel said as he packed the items.
”A lot of evil lurks in that community’,’, Bediako said and left for the hotel he was lodging in.
He really didn’t know why or how he got the courage to speak to the Reverend Father but he was worried for the well-being of Billy his protégé.
His cohabitation with the priestess was in his opinion not going to end well for him.
***
Mary was content with her lot. As content as one could be under the circumstances. She was almost due and was happy that there were no alarm bells concerning her pregnancy. She was happy to be friends with Dr Nat. He made her feel normal. He seemed to worship the ground on which she walked but she did nothing to encourage him. She felt he deserved more than what she could offer. He and all the nurses had shown only kindness to her since she began going to the hospital and didn’t want to do anything that could make her seem ungrateful.
She counted herself lucky to have wonderful people around her. From Mena Aba and her colleagues at work. They had all shown kindness. Even her own mother had wormed her way back into her heart and had been trying to get her to go back home but she had thought it wise to stay in her own space.
”I must find a nice way to tell Nat that I am unavailable” she had said and wondered how Billy Gosa was doing.
***
Father Samuel, back to base, entreated Maame Konadu to wait for him after Mass as he had something very important to discuss with her. So, she sought him out as soon as Mass was over and he led her to the vestry for privacy and sat her down.
”You told me some time ago that you used to live at Mantsekrom,” he said, but as a question.
”Yes. That’s where I met my late husband,” she explained, wondering on what it was all about. ”Has something happened there?”
”I really don’t know but a man I have never met before begged me to go and preach there,” he said, rubbing his chin.
”I see. Did he say why?”
”No, he didn’t but the urgency with which he said it makes me wonder,” he explained quietly.
”I can go with you if you want,” she offered impulsively.
He stared at her in surprise. In actual fact, he had no intention of going as his evangelical programme for the year had already been approved by the Bishop and the communities he had on the list were nowhere near Mantsekrom. He stared into the middle distance thoughtfully.
”I will think about it and your offer to go with us. Thank you mother,” he said gratefully
”Thank you too, Father” she replied and bade him bye-bye.
[insert-comment-form]
Click to follow my Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Aaron.Ansah.A/
Click to join the Kleva Whatsapp Family: https://chat.whatsapp.com/F3PeBtycHsVLX8705Fgi0U
Got a comment? Drop it below...