Zack Larbi was a man who seemed to be possessed.
He had put a table and a chair on the veranda and worked day and night assembling the pieces of the strange box in the suitcase.
He tacked his sheets to the side of the wall and worked with his tools.
By the second day, he had put together all the contents of the strange box.
It had a rectangular base, but its top was curved smoothly at the edges.
There were switches inside a covered recessed area and tiny indicator lights.
On the third day, he began to wire up the house.
They watched him and did not ask him too many questions.
He was focused and rarely spoke but Kuukuwaa ensured that he ate at the right time.
He used a single-line thick wire to make the wiring.
Kobby was intrigued.
“Zacky, boy, I don’t know what you think you’re doing, bro. I might be dumb, considering I don’t have much education. At first, I thought you were making electrical wiring, but I see you use only one line. I’m dumb, like I said, compared to you, but even I know you need positive, negative and neutral feeds to make proper electrical wiring!”
Zack, who was fixing a bulb in the socket he had created in his room, looked down at him and smiled.
“A single wire is exactly what it says right here on the sheets. It seems this can be the greatest invention I have ever seen. So, let’s wait and see, okay?”
By the end of the week, the two of them had wired the house with the single-line specification Zack ordered.
On the following Tuesday, Kuukuwaa came back home and learned that Zack and Kobby had gone back to the city.
She was worried and waited impatiently.
As dusk fell she was awakened from her slight doze by excited cries.
She got out of bed, pulled on a light dress and quickly came out of the room.
A small truck had just turned into the yard, and she saw that Zack and Kobby had come out of the passenger side.
The driver also got down.
What was causing all the furore was the things in the back of the truck.
As Kuukuwaa approached, she saw that there was a refrigerator, a chest freezer, standing fans, electric irons and a host of other electrical appliances including an air-conditioner and a microwave.
She came to stand by her stunned father’s side.
The town folk had seen all these appliances at the back of the truck, and most of the young men and women had followed the truck to the Medicine Man’s residence.
The crowd stood around, talking excitedly.
Opanyin Amoah, confused and stunned, spoke to Kuukuwaa.
“Your fiancé must be out of his mind, Kuukuwaa! Surely, he will need a giant generator to power all these appliances! Is he going to power them with that ridiculously tiny box?”
“It seems so, Papa?” Kuukuwaa replied softly.
They took all the appliances down and then Zack paid off the driver and he drove away.
The crowd, seeing the single-line electrical lines around the house, was quite excited now, and their number began to grow.
And thus, by the time Zack and Kobby had finished installing the split air-condition unit in Zack’s room, a huge crowd had assembled.
They all watch with bated breaths as Zack fixed the strange black gadget on a metre board against the side of the wall.
Obaapa was confused and stunned as she spoke.
“Surely, he doesn’t think he’s going to give us electricity, does he?”
Zack had erected a huge flashbulb on a pole in the middle of the house.
It was quite dark now, and they were working with lanterns and candles.
Zack climbed onto a table and pushed in the recessed portion of the box.
He flipped three switches, and the tiny indicator lights on the gadget began to blink alternately, and then they steadied.
Immediately the gigantic flashbulb in the middle of the yard comes on, turning the darkness into bright, blinding light!
There were sudden screams from the crowd and some of them took to their heels with fear! The children began to scream with terror and confusion.
The lights in the veranda came on!
The lights in the rooms came on!
People are screaming with shock and acute disbelief, and with joy and excitement!
Opanyin Amoah held onto a wall with trembling hands. To say he was stunned was an understatement.
“Gods of Densua! This can’t be! This man might not be human!” he said in an unsteady voice.
Obaapa Basiwaa, who had screamed and fled into the kitchen, came to a halt and looked at the kitchen light with horror, and then she emerged with a sheepish grin on her face!
This was amazing!
This was unbelievable!
Kobby was standing with his mouth wide open, turning this way and that, looking at the lights and the flashbulb with disbelief!
As the screams continued, Zack entered his room.
He put on the switch of the air-conditioner and pointed the remote at it.
Its green and orange lights come on, and soon the coldest breeze emerged from the air-conditioner.
He stood with spread arms, gazing at the air-conditioner with real delight on his face.
The door opened, and Kuukuwaa came in slowly and shyly.
Zack turned, and his wide, beautiful smile touched her whole being.
She moved towards him quickly. She was really humbled by the brilliance of this incredibly handsome stranger who loved her so much.
“You… you’re a genius, my love!” she whispered, her eyes adoring him.
He smiled at her, and she could see how excited and stunned he was about what he had achieved.
“It seems so, my darling, it seems so! Pity I can’t remember any of this.”
She simply wiped tears of joy from her eyes and slipped her arms around his neck.
He kissed her hard, thirstily, like a dying man would consume a sachet of water!
Suddenly a scathing voice spoke acidly behind them.
“Well, well, well! Isn’t this quite a sight to behold?”
Zack and Kuukuwaa split apart and turned around with gasps of surprise. The Princess of Densua was standing there, and on her face was the most vicious, wicked, and outraged expression any of them had ever seen!
Kuukuwaa came out of Zack’s arms and took a bow.
“Your Highness! To what do we owe this honour?”
“Oh, come off that, Kuuku!” Yaa said savagely.
She walked forward and stood facing Zack with burning eyes, her whole body trembling slightly. There was unease on Zack’s face as he looked at the icy-faced Princess of Densua.
“Welcome, Princess. Are you here to see me, perchance?”
“Yes, I came to see you, to extend another invitation to you. It is the Prince’s Royal Day in two weeks, and I came personally to extend a special invitation to you. The Medicine Man had already received his invitation. And I came upon this glorious thing you have done, bringing the wisdom of the White Man to our village.”
“Actually, this is my own invention, and it has nothing to do with the white Man,” Zack said softly.
“And of course, being the dishonourable man that you are, you saw it fit to use this great wisdom of yours to woo a girl the Prince himself has eyes for?” Yaa said with diabolic cruelty.
Kuukuwaa was alarmed.
“Now, Yaa, Please –”
The Princess of Densua swivelled around on Kuukuwaa with a hissing sound, her face filled with a hatred that made Kuukuwaa gasp as she took a step back with horror. The princess spoke cruelly to her.
“And you will address me properly, girl!”
Kuukuwaa bowed quickly, her surprise turning to sudden pain.
“Yes, Your Highness. Forgive the impudence of a poor girl!”
Zack’s face tightened with anger as he looked at the cruel face of the princess.
“Is that necessary, Princess?”
The Princess jabbed a stiff forefinger into Zack’s chest, and her eyes were that of a woman filled with wrath. She spoke furiously.
“You don’t joke with me, foreigner! Believe me, you don’t want to incur my wrath or that of my brother!”
She turned with a scathing look at Kuukuwaa’s shocked face and left the room in a huff.
Kuukuwaa turned stunned eyes to Zack.
He looked away quickly, but not before she saw the look of hidden guilt in his eyes.
She walked towards him on rubbery legs and stood facing him as the sweet breeze from the air-conditioner swirled around them.
She looked up at him, and her face was acutely troubled.
She reached out and put a trembling hand flat across his chest.
“I see you, Zack Larbi…”
He looked at her, his face troubled, and he put a hand across hers and held it close to his chest.
“I see you, Kuks, I see you!”
“That day the Princess invited you, when you were with her that night… did something happen that I should know of, my love?”
He looked at her earnestly, with love and deep, craving need.
“Nothing important, Kuks. The only thing that matters is I love you, and nothing is going to come between us.”
Her eyes searched his face frantically and she spoke earnestly.
“You have the ability to hurt me permanently, Zack. Please, I beg of you, don’t ever use that power against me, my love!”
“How can I hurt you, my love, when hurting you means hurting myself?”
He kissed her deeply and tasted the salty tang of unshed tears on her tongue, and he held her tightly, praying that his night of terrible uncontrolled passion with the vindictive Princess will not come back to haunt this love he had for this angel called Kuukuwaa.
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