Kutorkor was ecstatic. She felt a sense of achievement. What she was feeling had never been experienced by her in her whole life. She had at long last gotten pregnant.
She hadn’t seen her flow for two months and didn’t need anyone to tell her that she was pregnant. Though a Priestess, she resorted to the singing of gospel songs in jubilation and celebration. Her most heartfelt prayer had been answered and she was going to have her own fruit of the womb.
She looked sideways at Billy, the man responsible for the good job done. He stared back at her with an expression devoid of any emotions. It was just a bland look of incomprehension. He seemed to be looking without seeing.
”Now how do I get this idiot to seek my hand in marriage,” she said and smiled happily, assured that she could get him to do anything and everything with no fear of him refusing. She found him smiling back at her. It mirrored the exact smile on her face.
”I want you to start the process of seeking my hand in marriage. I am carrying your son.”
”I’ll marry you, KK” he said, discordantly.
She stared at him tiredly. Sometimes, she wished he was like how he was before she blew the charms to his face: those days when he was in control of all his faculties and took the initiative in everything. Especially how he made her feel well-pleasured in bed. Those days when he knew exactly what to do to please her and how he took her to climax heights without her asking him to.
”Come and pim me,” she ordered.
”Mɛpim wo,” he said and since he was always ever ready, got up to oblige her.
Mary gave birth on the exact day her pregnancy hit the ninth month. They were twins and both were boys.
She had gone to the hospital for her usual check-up when she had her first labour pains.
One of the nurses saw how she abruptly sat down and winced in pain as soon as she arrived. She went to her with concern and noted how she had screwed up her face and helped her to the maternity section where the antenatal clinics were being held. She was quickly attended to and it was established that her time was due, though it could take some time before she was well dilated for delivery. The nurses impressed upon her to allow herself to be admitted until it was time for her to deliver.
She called her mother on phone to go for her already packed delivery bag which contained everything she was going to need for the yet-to-arrive baby.
The kind nurses, especially Auntie Mary the midwife, who still treated her like a daughter, found one excuse or another to be by her bedside as she went through the contractions to comfort and also tease her.
”Don’t worry. The second pregnancy would be easier than this” they said
”Which second pregnancy? Abeg don’t go there,” she said, almost angry with her for saying that.
”See this girl o. You’ll be opening your legs to him in no time,” they said and continued to tease her.
Auntie Mary, who upon entering heard her say she wasn’t going to get pregnant again said ”Are you telling me that you are not going to enjoy the sweet feeling of sex ever again?”
She got angry and refused to answer any of their questions and jokes. They laughed, teased and helped her through the contractions that were still far apart from each other. She was grateful for their care and presence though they greatly annoyed and enjoyed themselves at her expense.
Her mother, about an hour later, arrived with Mena Aba in tow. She brought banku and light soup.
It was almost midnight when she gave birth. And they were twins.
Though the pregnancy was unplanned, her joy knew no bounds as she held her babies in her arms with congratulatory hugs and kisses from them.
It was all joy when they were discharged the following day. She went home and her mother could just not stop herself from beholding her grandsons.
”They are so cute,” she said with pride as she stared down at them with pride and wonder. “Awwww, look at how adorable they look”
Mary looked on at her sons and their grandmother and counted herself lucky for having such large amounts of love around her.
Meanwhile, in Mantsekrom, Billy had resorted to smiling for no tangible reason. It was as if he had gotten wind of the birth of his sons.
”I wonder which names would be given to them,” he said, out of the blue.
”Our baby has not yet been born and you are looking for a name for him,” Kutorkor said with amusement. He looked at her in confusion, not understanding what she was on about.
”Come. Let’s water him small,” she asked of him as she had heard that the well-being of babies depended on how often the parents had sex.
At the same time, Father Samuel was in deep thought. He couldn’t shirk the feeling of some divine hand in his battle to avoid going to Mantsekrom. He had gone to help Maame Konadu and her daughter name the twins. She wanted it to be done the Christian way so he had accepted wholeheartedly when she asked for his assistance.
The Panyin was named Robert, while the Kakra was named Francis.
What really got father Samuel startled was Mary’s answer about where the father of the twins was.
”Have you told their father about their birth? Do you know where he is at the moment? ” he had asked.
”No, I haven’t informed him but I know where he is,” she calmly replied.
”Where is he? He needs to be told of their birth for him to take up his responsibilities,” he advised.
”I haven’t spoken to him in a long while but he is at Mantsekrom.”
***
”I hope this young man is aware of what he is about to do,” the Chief of Mantsekrom said to himself as he bade farewell to the elders of the Shrine who had met him to formally inform him of the forthcoming marriage of their daughter Kutorkor and Billy Gosa, the Agric Officer. He knew exactly what the marriage ceremony was going to be like. It was going to be a chance for the fetish priests and traditionalists to showcase their beliefs and their prowess. There was going to be drumming and dancing for at least three days. Fetish priests from far and near were going to be invited to attend and display their powers and they were going to challenge each other on how powerful each of them was. They were going to forget momentarily that it was a marriage ceremony and not a battle of strengths. ”The young man is going to find out too late that it is a deity he is going to get married to and not the lady in question,” he mused.
”Wokɔ aware a bisa,” he concluded. He had no intention of putting his mouth where it wasn’t needed. He had his own problems. His daughter, Amerley, had regained consciousness but she was wasting before his very eyes.
”Hmmmmm, barima nnsu,” he said and wiped a single tear that dripped down from the corner of his eye.
To say that the Safohene was furious was putting it mildly. He was so incensed that his body shook as he stared eyeball to eyeball with Komfobaa Kutorkor. He didn’t understand why she went about making grandiose marriage plans when Safoa his beloved daughter was still missing.
”You promised me. If you think you can’t find her with all the gods behind you, just tell me and I’ll consult another deity’,’ he said and glared at her.
She looked at him calmly even though she was seething within. She was a little bit apprehensive too of what another deity could reveal to him. A different fetish priest could reveal the truth to him.
”You can go and consult another komfo if you wish to. It’s your right. Maybe they’ll tell you and the police that you found her in Billy’s room and shot him with your gun. Maybe they’ll tell you too that she has run away because she is afraid of your threat to kill her if she comes home,” she told him in the face.
He stared at her, shocked.
”If you go to the police too, they see that Billy lied for you to let matters rest, and would probably arrest you for attempted murder.”
Safohene Kobina Mogyahyew stared at his feet unable to look her in the eyes anymore.
”So what do I do now, Nana Komfo” he asked humbly.
”Go home. The gods would bring her home at the right time,” she said and shooed him out of her room.
He was a broken man as he went away.
His well-known spitfire fierceness had left him and he went away with a droop on his shoulders.
***
Father Samuel had so far, managed to resist the call to go to Mantsekrom for the evangelization he was being asked to hold. He thought it wasn’t going to make any difference whether he went or not. He thought about all that as he drove out of the D. V. L. A premises where he had gone to renew his Roadworthy Certificate. He felt at that moment like the biblical Jonah who refused to share God’s message with people from another land.
All of a sudden, he saw the image of a girl crossing the street with no regard for oncoming traffic. He desperately applied his brakes and stopped just in time but the girl, unmindful of the danger she was in, ran into the stationary vehicle, her flailing arms hit the bonnet of the car and she passed out. Wasting no time, he got out and beheld a dirty-looking young girl who had no footwear on. He got passersby to help put her into the car and drove to the hospital for prompt attention. He narrated what exactly happened and paid the initial cost of the bill and left with a promise to return in the evening, by which time she might have regained consciousness to provide information on herself, and for contacts of a family member.
***
Kutorkor was by her calculations, now three months pregnant and her marriage to Billy was just a month away. She smiled. She had been smiling a lot of late. All her plans were working well. Even the firebrand Safohene had been coerced into silence. He knew just one word from her to the police was going to land him in hot waters.
”Abowa. Pɛtɛ n’eyiwa nsɔ adze a, na ɔnnyɛ Mankessim guamu a.”(A disrespectful vulture can dare not be disrespectful in Mankessim market)’ she quoted a fanti proverb
The only vexing thing as far as her plans were concerned was that Amerley was still alive though she had lost her pregnancy. The powder she had put in the girl’s drink was supposed to have killed her. This anomaly could be corrected later, she felt.
”Who cares whether she lived or not? I have Billy all to myself now, don’t I,” she said with a well-satisfied smile as she munched on a juicy piece of ‘kotodwey’ on the fufu and nkakra she was having.
”If this is not enjoyment, then I certainly don’t know what enjoyment is.”
Billy looked at her from the corner.
”Should I add more soup, KK?” he asked monotonously.
***
A week after the accident, Father Samuel had a call from the hospital that the patient had regained consciousness. He went as soon as he was free and was ushered into the doctor’s office.
”She seems to be alright physically but there seems to be something wrong with her mind.”
What do you mean, doctor,” he asked, feeling uneasy.
”No damage was done when the car hit her but she seems not to remember anything about herself.” the doctor explained.
”Amnesia?” he asked.
”Could be more than that but further tests would tell us more.”
They went to see her and watched as she lay in bed staring at the ceiling.
Father Samuel thought there seemed to be something off about her. Her body language seemed all wrong: from the way her mouth hung open and how she ignored their presence.
”How are you feeling?” he asked but there was no response.
”What is your name?” still no response
”Who are your parents? Do you have anyone we can call?” he persisted but it was as if he was talking to a dead person for all the responses he got.
He became silent and looked at her with despair and pity.
”You didn’t ask me where I came from,” she said after a while.
They gaped at her, surprised that she had spoken at last.
”Where did you come from,” he asked slowly.
”I am from Mantsekrom!”
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