Born Bad…
AARON ANSAH-AGYEMAN
BORN BAD
A ChrisEffe Thriller
CHAPTER 9
She hesitates for a second, and then she sighs and speaks softly.
“How did you know about the birthmarks on my body?”
He bites into a tasty toast bread and spoons oats into his mouth. He chews thoughtfully for a while, and then he looks straight at her.
His expression is now serious, and all the laughter is gone from his eyes.
“Are you still insisting you’ve never been to Cherensua?”
“I’ve never heard of the name till you brought it up.”
“And you’ve not been a whore named Eyram?”
Effe’s eyes are pools of blazing fury as she regards him, and filled with loathing and spite.
“That’s the very last time you refer to me as a whore, you hear that?”
He holds out his good arm.
“Sorry. No offence meant. I don’t understand it myself, really. There was a woman at Cherensua called Eyram. A lady of the night. Exactly like you, in every single detail. Only difference is that she liked her hair short, and knew how to use a man’s body.”
She glares at him and speaks coldly.
“And you slept with her.”
He looks at her with surprise.
“How else would I have known about those marks? Yes, I slept with her and went back time and again after that. I wanted her, and I rented a house for her at Bomofo, but when I went to Cherensua to bring her to Bomofo, she was nowhere to be found!”
“And her name was Eyram?”
“Eyram, yes. Either you have a twin sister you don’t know about, lady, or it is true what they say that everybody has a replica somewhere.”
He resumes eating.
Effe sits and stares bleakly at him for quite some time.
“And when was the last time you saw this… this girl, this Eyram?”
“Two years ago. She always begged me to take her out of Cherensua. I liked her a lot and didn’t want her to continue as a prostitute. I wanted her to leave and find a vocation somewhere. She always wanted to be a beautician, and so I spoke to a hairdresser at Bomofo who was ready to take Eyram on. I paid, I rented the place for her, and then I went to Cherensua to give her the good news, but it seems she just disappeared into thin air. Haven’t seen her since.”
She looks at him with mounting fury, and then she gets up suddenly from the table.
She walks to the bedroom and picks up her phone. She sees that she has about ten missed calls from Jon.
She has set her mother on speed dial, so she quickly presses and holds the 2 on the keypad.
It rings just once, and then her mother’s sweet voice comes on.
“Hello, my sweet little angel! I’m missing you so much already! Your father is also morose and green since you left.”
Effe laughs gently.
“I missed you two so much! It is really going to be hard for me.”
“The beginning of life, my love. Always the hardest! Oh, lest I forget, there was some terrible news on television about an armed robbery of a bank van around that place. We were so worried! Are armed robberies rampant there? If you don’t feel safe you better pack your bags and get back here, baby.”
Effe bites her lower lip.
She feels so homesick!
This isn’t what she had expected at all! She is feeling very uncomfortable, but she steels her nerves and tries to speak calmly.
“Oh, that wasn’t around here, Mom. I’m beginning to settle in and I know things will smooth out soon. Hey, Mom, guess what! Something really terrible happened here. I met a certain man, a ruffian, actually, and he said some things that are a bit troublesome.”
Her mother is concerned instantly.
“Oh! What’s this? I hope no one has hurt you, baby!”
“No, no, no, Mom! He’s a nonentity, really. But when he saw me, he told me he knew me. He even mentioned my birthmarks, both of them, and described them vividly. He claimed he met a woman called Eyram who looked exactly like me.”
Ivy is shocked and chagrined instantly.
“Is he mad? Is he absolutely crazy?”
“He was intimating that I might have a double somewhere, maybe even a twin sister!”
And that is when her father’s voice breaks in.
The phone is obviously on speaker, and he is listening. He speaks angrily.
“That kind of nonsense talk can only emanate from either a drug addict, a thief, or a damn con artist!”
Effe laughs with relief.
“Actually, he is a bit of all three, I guess.”
Her mother’s voice comes back on, and she sounds rattled.
“Please don’t mix with such ingrates, baby! Don’t make those brutes come near you! Of course. you were born single, our only daughter!”
“Maybe that ruffian, whoever he is, has information about you. Maybe he was a classmate of yours when you were little, or maybe he was in the neighbourhood and heard your mother telling somebody about your birthmarks. Heaven knows your mama used to talk a lot about them some time ago!”
“Yes, that could be it, Daddy! That is the only reasonable explanation! Silly of me to be so spooked!”
They exchange a few pleasantries, and then Effe gently cuts the call and walks back to the dining room.
He has eaten all the oats porridge and toast bread.
He smiles at her.
“That was surprisingly delicious. Thank you, Doctor.”
She looks at him with all the disgust she can muster, and she plants herself firmly in front of him.
“Well, if you’re done, I think it’s about time you left my house.”
He looks at her with surprise, and then his eyes narrow.
“Wow. Just like that, huh?”
She replies acidly.
“Yes, just like that, you damn liar!”
“Yes, I do lie sometimes. But what I told you about Eyram –”
Effe cuts in angrily.
“Are all part of your damn lies! You do know about my birthmarks from someplace else, and your evil mind used it to formulate a ton of lies just to save your own criminal neck! Get out of here, Mr. Chris Bawa! You stifle me!”
Chris gets to his feet in one fluid movement, and she sees by the sudden glare in his eyes that he is also angry.
“My clothes?”
Effe sighs then. She looks helplessly at him, suddenly remembering all the blood on his clothes, and remembering forcibly that in a way she owes him her life because he had taken a bullet for her.
“They were too soiled with blood. Doctor Norvisi promised to call your brother to bring you some clothes!”
“And the guns?”
“In the wardrobe beside the bed.”
Without a word, Chris walks past her.
Just then she hears the angry squeal of tyres outside and the high-pitched whine of a car’s engine.
She goes to the door and peers out of the window and breathes with relief when she sees that it is Jonathan.
He gets out of the car and approaches the front door.
Effe runs and opens it.
Jonathan Afful sweeps her into a fierce hug.
“Oh, Effe, Effe, my darling! My sweetheart! I’m so sorry! The policeman called me this morning and informed me about what happened yesterday! I was so worried!”
Afful suddenly looks up, and sees Chris, still wearing only boxers, emerging from Effe’s bedroom.
A sudden look of sheer animalistic rage and uncontrolled jealousy crosses Afful’s face as he thrusts Effe away from him.
Startled, Effe loses her balance and almost falls.
“Jon?” she says.
Afful speaks in an explosive manner.
“Isn’t that the Bawa guy? The one whose mother is on admission? Is he not the one you accused of being a robber? What the fuck is he doing here, coming out of your bedroom naked, Effe?”
Jonathan Afful flies across the room without waiting for Effe’s reply.
He swings a fist at Chris’ head, but Chris easily spins away from the fist.
His face darkens with sudden fury as he glares at Jonathan, but he speaks calmly.
“Stop it, Mister Man. I won’t warn you again.”
Afful, incensed with fury, does not appear to hear the latent danger in Chris’ voice. He swings his fist again, and Chris jumps back, swivels, and crashes the barrels of the two guns in his hand across the base of Afful’s skull.
Afful utters a strangled cry of pain and falls on his face.
Effe shouts and rushes forward just as Chris raises his right foot to step down on Afful’s head.
Scared that Jon might get seriously wounded, Effe pushes Chris none too gently, sending him falling awkwardly sideways and landing on his injured shoulder.
The pain is so excruciating that Chris cannot hold it in, and he groans in a most disturbing manner.
Effe barely hears him as she helps Afful to sit up.
There is a protrusion just below his right ear where Chris had walloped him with the barrels of the guns.
“The bastard! The damn thief! What’s he doing here anyway, Ef?”
“It is a long story, Jon! You should learn to trust me! I was going to tell you all about it, love!”
It is only when Jonathan is sitting up, gingerly touching the bruise, that they notice that Chris is struggling to his feet and that his stitched wound is bleeding again.
His eyes are orbs of dislike as he gazes at both of them.
“He seems hurt,” Jon states in a calmer voice.
Effe suddenly feels deflated.
She is not aware that she had pushed him that hard. She gets to her feet quickly and approaches him.
She speaks remorsefully.
“Now see what you made me do. Sit down and let me take a look at that.”
He looks at her with fury.
“Keep your damn hands off me!”
His abrasive voice and sudden wrath cause her to draw in her breath sharply, and just then the doorbell rings.
Effe gazes from the door to the violent man, suddenly at a loss of what to do.
Chris begins to walk weakly towards the door just as the bell dings again.
Effe holds his arm.
“Sit down right now! If you lose more blood you would need a blood transfusion!”
And he responds angrily and bitterly.
“Does it matter to you? I got the distinct impression that you’ll be extremely overjoyed if I drop dead this instant!”
Before Effe can reply the door opens, and the dark beauty she has seen with Chris at the police station looks into the room nervously.
Effe’s eyes narrow with sudden dislike.
“Hey! You just can’t barge into someone’s room like that, lady!”
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to. I rang the bell twice. Doctor Norvisi informed me that Chris is here wounded, and needs some clothes,” Elaine says in a rush.
She walks forward, and behind her came two young men. One is the lean man with Chris at the hospital. The other, incredibly, is a gentle-faced hunchback.
Elaine stands in front of Chris and looks at him with hurt eyes.
Chris’ face softens and becomes tender as he looks down at her.
“Hello, my sweet angel!”
“What’re doing here, Chris? You got hurt trying to protect her? Someone you claim you don’t know! You told me you’ve never seen her until the day she called the police on you, that it was the Big Boss who told you what to write in your statement to the police! All that shit about her birthmarks! And now you’re here, almost naked, and shot! Why, Chris? Why do you do these things to me?”
Crankson speaks, exasperated.
“Good gracious, Elaine! Why can’t you just keep your mouth shut –”
“Shut the fuck up, Mikey! What’s this got to do with you anyway?”
“You’re here talking about some Big Boss who told Chris what to write down in the presence of witnesses! Do you fucking want them to report to the police and have Chris arrested again?”
Elaine bites her lip as she realizes suddenly what she has done.
Already Effe’s face has clouded over with unbridled anger as she looks at Chris.
Effe speaks angrily then.
“You evil despicable man! You were here just a few minutes ago trying to convince me that you knew a girl in Cherensua who looked like me, and with the same marks! You were lying, weren’t you? Your criminal boss gave you that information! No wonder! I should’ve known, you vile monster! Please get the hell out of my house!”
“Typical!” Elaine says disdainfully. “He rescues you and takes a bullet for you, and the first thing you do is to order him out of your house! Did you hear that, Chris?”
Without another word, Chris walks past them and out of the front door.
Crankson and Kuntu follow him.
Elaine glares at Effe rudely, making Effe’s blood boil. Effe speaks with suppressed fury.
“Please get out!”
“That’s what you all do! Fake anger and dislike, and yet, before I can say Jack, you all end up opening your thighs for him!” Elaine says contemptuously.
Effe has to clench her hands tightly to prevent herself from tearing out the arrogant girl’s eyes.
“I have taste, lady. I don’t cavort with thieves. He’s all yours. You deserve each other!”
She has the satisfaction of seeing the sudden pain in Elaine’s eyes, and she gloats that she has been able to hit out at this girl’s insulting insinuations so perfectly.
Elaine tries to say something cryptic, but nothing comes out.
She spins round with an air of disdain and walks out of the house.
Effe is visibly shaking as she sits down gingerly on the sofa.
Jonathan stands up and walks towards her, still fingering the bruise, which is hurting him badly, making him seethe with anger.
He sits down beside Effe.
“Now I want you to tell me everything that happened, sweetie.”
Effe nods numbly, holds up a hand and then dials a number on her phone.
It rings twice, and then Aku picks up.
“Hello, Effe, dear. How’re you, and how is our little patient?”
“He left. Jonathan showed up, and Chris’ evil girlfriend showed up too. There was a little scene, and he left…but he was bleeding, Aku. That’s why I called. If you have his number, call him and go and attend to him before he bleeds to death!”
“Oh, my God! Alright, no problem, I’ll go and check up on him now. Will feedback later,” Aku says anxiously.
“Thanks, Aku,” Effe says.
She puts down the phone and finds Jonathan looking at her with fury in his eyes.
Afful speaks coldly; he is evidently angry.
“Really, Effe? You’re sitting there and coolly making arrangements for his treatment? What’s the matter with you? That boy is a thief, a criminal, a scourge of the worst kind in the society! What do you care about him?”
Effe gets to her knees in front of him and holds his hands, and her face is distressed.
“Please, Jon, please! Don’t let us fight over this, okay? Let me explain everything to you. That man came here, and he saved my life!”
“Saved your life? If he hadn’t attacked us in the first place, there wouldn’t have been the need to save you! These guys are dangerous, Effe! You have new information, and you must report to the police so that they arrest him!”
“Please, Jon, please! Just listen to me for a second, would you? There’s no need to behave like this! Yes, they’re dangerous and based on what I heard, it is better if we let this slide for now. The police will definitely get them. Just listen to me first, my love, and then afterwards you can tell me what you think! I’m not trying to help him because he’s special, but because that’s the way I’ve been trained. Please, darling?”
Afful stands up and paces for a while, and then he stops and takes a deep shuddering breath. He speaks calmly.
“You’re right, darling. Here I am, shooting off about that imbecile when I don’t even know the full extent of the harrowing experience you’ve been through. I’m sorry, darling. Come, let’s get out of this stifling place. You can tell me all about it in the car.”
Effe goes to him.
She goes into his arms and holds him tightly, and soon her body shakes and tears silently course down her lovely cheeks as the reaction of the harrowing near-death experience sinks in.
***
Chris sits in the front passenger seat of the taxi, with Elaine, Crankson and Kuntu in the back.
They are all quiet, but as soon as the taxi drives out of the gates of the EDEN HOSPITAL STAFF QUARTERS and heads for the village centre, Elaine leans forward and taps the shoulder of the taxi driver.
“Let me get down here, please.”
Chris turns in his seat sharply and looks at her.
“Elly. Please.”
Elaine speaks fiercely.
“Stop the bloody car, would you?”
The driver glances at Chris apprehensively, and then he turns to the side of the road and stops the car.
Elaine opens the door angrily and gets out.
Chris gets out too, still in his boxers, and quickly faces her.
People are staring at them now.
“Hey, hey, hey! My love, c’mon! Why’re you so angry?”
She faces him, and tears are dancing in her eyes.
“You spent the night with her? Did you fuck her, Chris Bawa? Did you?”
Chris sighs and looks at her with pained eyes.
“No! Why wouldn’t you believe me? She’s nothing to me! I don’t even know her!”
She is hurt, and it spills over in her voice.
“Really? But you thought about her enough to go and save her?”
And it begins to make Chris angry.
“I didn’t go to save her! I saved myself! If the guys had killed her I would have been the prime suspect, because she accused me! C’mon, love! You know that Police Inspector has the hots for me and has been gunning for me for a long time! If that lady gets murdered Cuger will lock me up and throw the keys away. He will do everything in his power to make sure a murder charge is tagged on me!”
Elaine begins to weep silently.
“And you didn’t think of me, did you? Did you bother to let me know what was going on? You could’ve been killed and I would’ve been the last to know! Respect me, Chris Bawa, respect me!”
Her pain makes Chris contrite immediately.
“I was coming home when it suddenly struck me that they were going to try a caper like that. I’m sorry, Elly, I’m very sorry. Please let’s go home. I’ve missed you, love.”
“Go on, Chris-Love. Let me clear my head a bit, okay? Will join you soon,” she says, shaking her head.
She begins to walk away.
Chris looks after her, troubled. After a while, he gets into the taxi, and it moves away.
“She’s mad?”
“Hurt. She’s hurt,” Chris says with a sigh.
Kuntu speaks softly.
“She should be. You always consider her last. Meanwhile, from what I’ve noticed, she always puts you first. You’re gonna lose her if you continue like that, brother.”
Crankson rebukes him sharply.
“Shut the fuck up, Hunchie!”
“It is true, brother,” Kuntu replies calmly.
The taxi passes Elaine, and her eyes meet Chris’ briefly, and she sees how confused he looks, but she looks away, too hurt and bitter to care about his feelings.
She takes a side road that eventually brings her to a deserted area where the houses are neater and more luxurious.
She is headed for the DENSUA RIVER, where she normally goes when she is feeling stressed out.
She comes to one of the new buildings.
She has seen it being built a couple or so months ago, but she is not aware that the building has been completed and that it looks so beautiful.
It is a single storey with high walls around it, painted deep ash upwards, and darker-hued ash at the lower parts.
There is a shiny car parked in front of the opened gates.
As she stands admiring the house and the car the driver’s door opens, and a man gets out.
He is bald with a trace of hair on his lip and on his chin. He is wearing white casual shorts, white sneakers and a blue polo shirt. There are gold chains around his neck, and gold wrist bands and a watch around his wrists.
He is wearing sunglasses, and his perfume is really nice as he turns and smiles at Elaine.
“Hey. You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve seen in this village!”
Elaine raises her eyebrows, smiles and shakes her head.
“And how many have you said that to?”
He suddenly moves in front of her, removes his sunglasses, and looks at her with sudden intensity.
“My name is Wachipa Sey, and I don’t go around giving compliments to girls I barely know. I don’t have to lie to a girl to get her into my bed.”
Elaine gives him a cool look and tries to step past him.
“I see. Good for you, Mr. Sey.”
He turns and begins to walk along with her.
“So, we take a stroll.”
She stops and looks hard at him.
“I don’t need company.”
His expression goes cold.
“Listen, lady, please! I don’t want to jump between your legs, okay? I came to this village to invest in cocoa. That is my house. I built it. I’m going to buy cocoa from all the villagers around and transport them to Accra. If I want a girl, I can easily pay for one, because I’m not married. I don’t delude myself that a girl as beautiful as you doesn’t have someone who wants to marry her. I don’t see a wedding ring on your finger, so we can be friends, can’t we? I find you absolutely attractive, so let’s just get to know each other, okay? Let’s just be friends, okay.”
Elaine hesitates, and then she smiles sadly.
It is nice, for a change, to be chased, to be liked, and to be found irresistibly attractive.
“Alright, Mr. Sey.”
“Fuck the Mister shit! Call me Wachipa, Chipa or Darling, Sweetie, whatever. No more mister shit!”
Elaine laughs then, and smiles into his eyes.
“Alright, Chipa. I’m Elaine Boateng.”
They shake hands, and he puts his sunglasses back on.
“Okay, Elaine. Pleased to meet you. Let’s take a good stroll, Beautiful!”
They begin to walk, and a few minutes later, as they descend towards the riverside, they are laughing as if they have known each other their whole lives!
A Father" />
A Mother" />
Zac 29-Episode 1" />
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