Yoofi spent an agreeably wonderful night in bed. He was glad that despite everything that had happened, Rose still had time to send him a goodnight message.  Though he still felt that she had been unreasonable,  he was happy that she had at least, the presence of mind to send him a caring message.

Thinking about her ultimately transported him to thinking about the problems at hand. Still in bed, he dwelled on all the pieces of information he had gathered regarding his quests to get to the bottom of things. He had always prided himself on having an analytical mind and being a reader of people. He was of the view that for him to quickly get to the bottom of it, it was important to force the faceless man’s hand and get him to make a mistake.

”To catch a criminal,  act like a criminal,” he quoted the time-tested mantra. He made notes,  trying to get a psychological profile of his faceless but dangerous adversary.

He had already sent some queries on the phone numbers that had been sending threatening messages to him and Rose but it had proven to be a very difficult venture indeed. It seemed to be an unreachable number.  He had thought about reporting the numbers to the authorities but he had decided to tarry a bit as he knew that whoever was behind it was well-connected enough to secure as many untraceable numbers as he could.  He stepped out of bed and then, had a quick cup of Milo.

”You’ve gotten into her pants, right? You owe me. You must pay. Maybe I should also have a taste of her.”  A message he got as he rinsed the Milo mug.

He squeezed his eyes shut in painful anger. His fists were balled tight and he trembled as he knew the damn man could do as he pleased because he had the advantage of being unseen. He seemed to do everything and anything with impunity.

He smiled and it wasn’t a pleasant smile at all as he knew he was soon going to get the tables turned and would crush his bones when the time came. He stayed indoors,  made business calls and only went out when it was very necessary and unavoidable.  He had deliberately decided to distance himself from Rose and her sister to enable her to properly calm down and clear her head. His time was going to be spent ensuring their safety and that was only going to happen when all the hoodlums had been rendered powerless and were behind bars.

He made a call to his shipping agent, a different one this time around to tell him of a package he was expecting and sent him the documents that showed the items being expected i.e. a sealed manila envelope that contained some contract documents, and some boxes of Tablets from the USA.

”If the Capo wants his payment for setting me up with Rose, he’ll get it,” he said with a vicious, ominous bark.

”Bring it on Capo, bring it on,” he whispered to himself and left for town again.

The man we know as the Capo was ecstatic.  He was enjoying himself immensely.

”So this Dadaba thinks that merely changing agents can keep his goods safe.  Hahaha,” he said to one of his men and they laughed with him.

He had gotten wind of the expected arrival of consignments and had decided to grab them to teach him a lesson for meddling in his affairs.

”Don’t you think it could be a trap, boss?”

”Oh shucks. That Dadaba is too dumb to think beyond ordering people around,” Capo retorted and glared at the only member of his gang who could dare to contradict him and sent him away to prepare for the snatch. This was just a side issue as far as his businesses went. He was in the process of selling one of the up-and-coming football talents that could set him up for life. That was why he was trying to prevent the publication of the expose. He was going to receive ten times more than what the player himself was going to get and he wasn’t going to allow anything to get in his way

”No one is going to stop me. Neither can any Dadaba be a stumbling block in my path” he declared as he made his way out to a function he had been invited to as the Chairman for the occasion.

 

ONE WEEK LATER

 ”Good morning, Jackie Chan” Rose sent a message to him on both the group platform and on his DM.

He replied to both and placed a call to her.

”You haven’t come here since that day,” she said quietly when they were done greeting each other.

”Yeah. I must find time to visit soon. I have been so busy,” he said breezily but they both knew that wasn’t the only reason.

Actually,  he had been making some progress in his investigations but wasn’t yet ready to discuss it with her as it could unnecessarily put her on edge.

”Don’t you love me anymore?  I am sorry for my burst of tantrums the other day,” she said,  taking his silence as his unwillingness to be with her anymore. She had been planning to move out of the duplex so she would not be helpless in case of any future withdrawal of his help.

”Please don’t say that. My love for you is everlasting and would never fade,” he assured her in that voice of his she had so come to love.

”I love you too and I miss you,” she said,  in a broken voice.

”I know and would visit one of these days.  Don’t ever doubt my love for you, beautiful Rose,” he assured her again.

”Same here, my knight in shining armour,  dearest Yoofi. ”

They spoke for a long time before they said their goodbyes and she had a radiant disposition on her face when the call ended.  She let herself fall backwards on the bed and placed the phone on her chest only for her to see her sister in the doorway looking at her as if she were a mother who had caught her teenage daughter with a boy.

”I knew it! ”I knew it! I knew something was going on between you two and now I have caught you,” Pam said with dramatic indignation.

”You knew what?” Rose asked with a deadpan face.

”Don’t act that way with me, young lady.  You and Jackie Chan have been screwing each other and don’t you deny it,” she said, looking down sternly at her elder sister who seemed unperturbed by her sister’s drama.

”Think whatever you want to think. I care less about your opinions,” Rose shot back at her and pretending to be annoyed,  shooed her out of her room.

”I think Pam is on to us,” she sent a message to Yoofi immediately after her sister left.

”I see. I’ll handle her,” he replied and as soon as he put the phone away, he received a message from the ever-inquisitive Pam.

”Good morning brother-in-law.”

“Good morning my beautiful sister-in-law,” he replied and smiled, enjoying himself immensely with the cat and mouse game she was playing with him. They chatted for a while and she also complained of his recent lack of visits and he assured her of his visit soon.

”These girls are  part of my family now and I’ll do all I can to keep them safe,” he said to himself resolutely.

it was now the time to hit a preemptive strike of his own and left for the football function he had been invited to.

He felt it was time for him to be in on the inner circle of football management. He was actually coerced into attending by Ursula even though she knew nothing of his secret missions to unravel the mystery surrounding Rose’s near-death situations.

The less she knew, the better for her and everyone involved.

”I am in the business of breeding young football talents to ensure a continuous flow of quality players for our national teams.” he arrived just in time to hear Kofi’s statement.

There was light applause to that.

”I have always been in the breeding business.  I used to live on a breeding farm owned by my Uncle,” he removed the baseball cap he was wearing as a sign of respect for the departed soul of his uncle and continued, ”I am told that most people here are in the breeding business which I suspect could only be mosquitoes but there’s a special feeling in the realisation that a young lad’s dreams have come through. It makes me extremely proud to have well-known football agents who are here to see the great works we are doing in Ghana.” He ended amidst warm applause and other dignitaries had the chance to deliver speeches, citing problems with club management and lack of sponsorship as some of the problems hindering the smooth handling of clubs.

A reception was held later.

”I never knew you were a farm boy o,” Yoofi said to Kofi when he had the chance to get close to him.

”That’s my man for you. A man of many parts,” Ursula who was hanging on to Kofi’s arm said with a smile.

”Yoo m’atse. Don’t come running to me when he touches your bum bum again,” he said and laughed.

”Oh, that. He has migrated to touching of other places,” she said with nonchalance to Yoofi’s surprise and embarrassment of Kofi.

”You have become a very bad girl,” Yoofi said with amusement when Kofi went outdoors to take a call.

She laughed unabashedly.

”I was just priming him up to have more time for me. He has been way too busy to give me the attention I deserve,” she said with a wink.

”You know these village people.  They get easily intimidated by city girls.”

”Him a villager? He’s the most sophisticated city boy I have ever met.”

”I am here now so you can stop talking about me,” Kofi who heard what Ursula had said told them.

‘When can we leave,” she whispered into his ears, obviously with amorous intentions.

”Oh geez. I am so sorry. I have been drafted as the official tourist guide to these foreigners but you can go now and I’ll join you later. Keep the fire burning for me,” he whispered back.

Yoofi observed them in wonder. He was highly intrigued by their closeness and wondered how much his dear cousin had changed. He also wondered about what she found in him.

“Maybe I am being overly over-protective of her,” he mused and stiffened when his phone vibrated in his pocket.

He received the call and listened with a deadpan face.

”What is it, Yoofi” Ursula asked knowing instinctively that something was not right.

”Some goods I imported have been stolen. I am sorry but I must leave,” he said and left at once with the promise to keep in touch.

The sombre look on his face changed to one of elation when he went into the car..  it seemed that the crooks have taken the bait. Every single item in the box had a sensor that could be tracked from anywhere in the world and he had a tracking device that could do just that. It could even lead him to their hideout.

He had decided not to involve the police yet. He felt it was his personal war and was none of anyone’s business as he drove, grim-faced towards home to quickly activate the tracking apps on his computer after which he would clone it to his phone.

”I want to take you guys out to celebrate a business deal. Are you guys game?” Yoofi said hours later when he went to visit the girls.

”What’s the occasion? You seem excited,” Pam observed.

”Yes, I am. But I must say something first,” he declared, sounding serious.

”You have?” Rose who normally acted cool towards him whenever Pam was present asked.

”Yes, I have something to ask Pam” he said with a serious look on his face ”Pam, can I seek your permission to ask Rose to be my girlfriend?”

”Yes, yes, yes,” Pam said and wrapped her arms around him and drew her sister into the embrace.

”Yes she will be your girlfriend ”

And they all laughed at this highly hilarious scene. Of the little time he had known the sisters, he knew that he had asked for it the right way. Their way.

”Thank you, Mama Pam, for accepting Yoofi’s request to have me as his girlfriend. You are the best ‘mpanyinsɛm’ sister ever,” Rose said in laughter but it was obvious she loved her sister very much. Pam returned the loving look her sister gave her and embraced her again.

”You are welcome but if you dare get pregnant with  him out of wedlock,  you’ll see what I’ll do to you.”

”I thought you said you were taking us out,” Rose said quickly noting that with the way Pam was going on and on, she was bound to say something more outrageous than she already had. He just gaped at them, conceding that he was way out of their league in terms of the way they bantered.

Even then, he was in for more drama.

Pam refused to allow Rose to sit in the front seat beside Yoofi because,  as she explained,  she was the chaperone; to which Rose replied that the car belonged to her boyfriend and therefore was hers too and it was just polite to sit beside him or anywhere she chose for that matter.

They went on and on until Yoofi also added his own twist to the unfolding funny situation.

In an attempt to help resolve the issue, handed over the keys to the car to Pam to the utter consternation of Rose.

”What. Do you want us to die?” Rose fearfully screamed at Yoofi.

”Gladly. With you in the back seat,” he replied and cajoled her into the back seat while Pam triumphantly sat behind the steering wheel.  She was excited to have the singular honour of driving the luxury car. She switched on the ignition well enough and managed to drive out of the Estates, with Yoofi giving her directions as Rose looked on with her heart in her mouth.

Pam confidently put on the stereo, and increased the volume, tapping on the steering wheel to the beats of the song. She stepped on the accelerator, increasing speed and even Yoofi was alarmed.

The car surged forward and hit a road bump she hadn’t noticed which got the car to veer slightly of course and she frantically stepped on the brake pedal and abruptly came to a stop just a couple of meters from a large drain.

Shocked silence reigned.

”Take your keys, take your keys,” she cried pushing the keys into the amused Yoofi’s hands.

He obliged her and helped her out from behind the steering wheel.

Ten minutes later, Yoofi,  now in the driving seat was cruising along the road to the cosy beach Spa he was taking them to with Rose by his side in the front seat. As for Pam, she was cowering in the back seat, praying as if she had just survived World War 3.

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