by Janu,Tamsin
‘That was good. I want you to say the lines like you said them to Nana in the real scene. Okay?’
Nana stood beside Grandma Ama and I returned to the market stall to begin the scene. Joel gave me a thumbs up. I gave one back. I felt more confident now.
‘And … action!’
I did much better on my fifth try. And even better on my sixth. By the time we had finished the scene even Melanie seemed happy (although she might have just been glad it was getting cloudy so the sun was not as hot) and Joel said I was acting as well as a professional. Me, a professional!
We shot two more scenes before the clouds grew heavy and dark. Joel said we would film my other scenes the following day because he was frightened the camera and other filming equipment would get wet.
The rain began as my family walked home. We were soaked to the skin and Nana and my cousins and I had fun skipping and stomping through the puddles. Grandma Ama wasn’t having fun. Her bad leg plays up in the rain, and her cane sinks into the wet dirt road, which makes it more difficult for her to walk.
‘Stop skipping around and help your old grandma,’ she shouted through the rain. ‘You children are very naughty.’
We rushed over to Grandma Ama, Nana and I taking her arms, Kwesi grabbing her cane and Perpetua her bag. Then Grandma Ama lectured us on the importance of respecting one’s elders. Her voice was angry but she was smiling, a little bit, as she spoke.
‘Grandma Ama,’ Nana interrupted, ‘why are you smiling if we are such bad children?’
Grandma Ama’s smile dropped. ‘I was not smiling. Don’t be silly.’
Nana shook his head. ‘You were definitely smiling. Did you see it, Figgy?’
I did see the smile, and Grandma Ama says we should always tell the truth.
‘I did,’ I said.
‘Figgy!’ Grandma Ama’s head jerked towards me.
‘You were smiling,’ Kwesi said, dragging Grandma Ama’s cane in the mud as he walked. ‘Maybe you thought we couldn’t see it through the rain.’
‘It saw it too!’ Esi said. Esi likes to be included in things so we let her pretend she had. Even though she was walking in front of us so hadn’t been looking at Grandma Ama’s face at all.
Grandma Ama shook her head. ‘Perpetua, you are a good girl. What did you see?’
Perpetua was silent for a few seconds. Her eyes flicked from Grandma Ama to me. I knew what she was thinking – she had seen the smile, but she wanted to please Grandma Ama. Perpetua always wants to please adults. A prod from Kwesi with the cane made her speak. In a little voice, as if she didn’t want us to hear her answer.
‘Grandma Ama was smiling.’
We all cheered, and Kwesi and Esi chased each other home. Grandma Ama muttered about how cheeky and naughty we were. But I saw Nana pointing at her, so I looked up at her face. She was smiling again.
Uncle Philmond says that Grandma Ama is becoming soft in her old age.
I acted out the scenes I had filmed that day for Mama, while she lay in bed. Perpetua played Melanie’s character and Esi was the cameraman. Esi used a cardboard box as the camera and she leaped this way and that, doing close-ups and wide shots and shouting ‘action!’ and ‘cut!’. Perpetua kept pushing Esi away, saying she was annoying. But Mama thought she was cute.
We sat on Mama’s bed afterwards, each with a hand on her belly. I felt the baby kick a few times.
When Perpetua and Esi were sent to bed I stayed with Mama. I lay next to her. She was awake but her eyes were closed.
‘How did it feel to be an actress?’ Mama said.
I shrugged my shoulders. ‘It was fun.’
But it also felt a bit silly, playing a pretend person all day. I wasn’t sure if I would like to act all the time, as my job. I wanted a career that let me be myself.
Mama began stroking my forehead, her eyes still closed.
‘Mama?’ I said.
‘Yes?’
‘Why did you leave me with Grandma Ama when I was a baby?’
Mama’s hand stilled. For a few seconds I thought she was angry at me for asking. But she soon resumed stroking my forehead and answered me, her voice calm. ‘Because I couldn’t look after you as well as your Grandma Ama.’
‘Because you were doing bad things?’
Mama nodded. ‘I drank bad drinks and took pills that made me sick.’
There is an alleyway in my village where they sell bad drinks and pills. Grandma Ama tells us to stay away from it.
Mama sighed heavily. ‘And I had no money. So I stole from someone.’
‘What did you steal?’
I don’t know why I wanted to know that.
I just did.
‘A beautiful beaded necklace. From a woman who shooed me away whenever I slept under the tree in her courtyard. It was warmer and safer there than on the street.’
Mama slept on the street? Nana was right; her life had been difficult. And probably lonely. I was glad she was with us now.
‘The police know I was the thief. After I have the baby I will go to them and accept punishment for my crime.’
Mama finally opened her eyes. They were scary to look at so close, because the white bits surrounding her pupil were flecked with red. ‘Will you promise never to steal?’ She moved her hand down to stroke my cheek. ‘And to stay away from bad drinks and pills?’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Of course.’
Mama smiled at me. It was a sad smile though.
‘Are you happy?’ she said.
I nodded. ‘Very happy.’
‘Good.’ Mama closed her eyes again. ‘You must stay with your Grandma Ama, and listen to her advice. She will stop you from doing bad things.’
Of course I would stay with Grandma Ama. I loved her too much to leave.
The next day of filming was less busy and noisy because most people were at church. The Obrunis liked the quiet but I missed my family and friends. I was especially sad that no one heard how the Obrunis shouted ‘hip hip hooray!’ for me when we had finished my scenes.
But I was in a happy mood when I skipped home. I wanted to tell Nana how Joel had let me watch myself on the camera monitor. And how David told me that when the movie was finished, I could bring my family to Accra to watch it on a big screen.
I slowed to a walk as I entered the courtyard. There were unfamiliar male voices in our house. The front door was open and my cousins were sitting on the floor, at the end of our house’s narrow hallway. Perpetua looked worried, and Esi was crying quietly on her shoulder. Kwesi grabbed my leg and tried to stop me from going into the living room, but I shook him off and opened the door.
On one chair sat Ato. The people of my village go to Ato if they have a problem. He wears a thick gold chain around his neck and has a very deep voice. Next to him sat Grandma Ama, her arm clasped firmly around Nana’s shoulders. Nana was staring straight ahead, at the wall. His face seemed to be frozen, his mouth set in a straight line.
On another chair sat a man I had never seen before. He had thick eyebrows and his arms were crossed over his chest. He was not happy when I came into the room.
‘Who is this?’ he said, pointing at me. ‘I want her out!’
I ran over to Grandma Ama, who let go of Nana and pulled me on to her lap. Nana was still staring straight ahead, as if he did not realise I was there.
‘Figgy can stay,’ Ato said. ‘She is involved too.’
I realised they were speaking in English instead of Twi. The stranger must have come from another region of Ghana, one that spoke a different dialect.
The stranger grunted and sat further forward on his chair. ‘Fine,’ he said, gripping his knees. ‘I have come for my son.’
CHAPTER 9
NANA’S PAPA
Grandma Ama started yelling in Twi and throwing her arms around.
Ato held up his hands. ‘Calm down, Ama. This man is Nana’s papa. He has all the necessary papers to prove it. Why will you not send Nana home with him?’
I could fe
el Grandma Ama shaking.
‘Nana ran away from home because of his papa’s beatings,’ Grandma Ama said. ‘And he does not want to go back – he has a life and family here.’
Nana’s papa glared at Grandma Ama.
‘Nana cannot choose where he will live,’ he said. ‘He is a boy. And he ran away because he is naughty. As his father, I can beat him if he misbehaves.’
Ato sighed. ‘That is true, Ama. He can.’
Grandma Ama snorted. She thinks snorting is unladylike and only does it when she is really, really angry.
‘These beatings went beyond punishment – they amounted to abuse,’ she said. ‘Nana, stand up …’
Nana didn’t move. Even when Grandma Ama prodded his arm. So I got off Grandma Ama’s lap, took Nana’s hands and pulled him to his feet. Then I spun him round and pulled up his shirt, showing the silvery scars on his back.
Nana’s papa laughed loudly; it sounded like he was barking. ‘I didn’t do that to him. Nana has been gone for a long time.’ He pointed at Grandma Ama. ‘Maybe this old woman is the guilty one!’
‘You will stop there, sir,’ Ato said. ‘Ama is a good woman who has been caring for your son out of the goodness of her heart. You must not show her disrespect.’
Nana’s papa scowled at Ato, but stayed silent. Ato turned towards Grandma Ama as Nana sat down again. Grandma Ama gripped Nana tightly, so that he was stuck to her side. ‘I cannot do anything, Ama,’ Ato said. ‘This is Nana’s papa, and he has a right to take him.’
I finally found my voice. ‘I know he caused the scars – Nana told me!’
‘The boy always lies,’ Nana’s papa said. He walked over to Nana, who flinched when his papa touched his shoulder. ‘We will go now, Nana.’
Grandma Ama stood suddenly. She poked her finger at Nana’s papa’s chest. His eyes widened, but he didn’t move.
‘We love this boy very much,’ she said. ‘If you hurt him our whole village will come after you.’ Grandma Ama was breathing very fast. ‘You will feed him well’ – she poked his chest – ‘and treat him in a proper way’ – she poked again – ‘and send him to school. Because one day he will be the President of Ghana. So he needs a good education.’
Nana’s papa announced that he was going outside to find a taxi. He would return shortly to collect Nana. I screamed as Nana’s papa passed me and tried to kick him, but Grandma Ama held me back. How would kicking him change anything, anyway?
I couldn’t believe that such a bad man was going to take Nana away from me.
Ato left before Nana’s papa returned. Grandma Ama refused to meet his eyes. Maybe she was thinking like I was: Ato could have, should have, done more to help.
My cousins came into the room. Everyone was crying except Nana. His eyes were dry and glued to the door his papa had walked out of. While Grandma Ama comforted the little ones I grasped Nana by his shoulders, tears falling fast from my eye. ‘If your papa beats you, you must tell us and we will rescue you.’
Nana shook his head. I could see by his miserable expression that he didn’t believe we would be able to.
‘And when my movie is finished,’ I said, ‘we will come and get you so we can watch it on the big screen together. Okay?’
Nana’s eyes became watery and he remained scarily silent. I had to make him feel better, to let him know that he wouldn’t be alone. He was so terrified of his papa.
I grabbed his hands. ‘I promise we will get you back.’
Suddenly Nana’s hands slid from mine and he disappeared from in front of me. His papa dragged him out of the door, through the front gate and into a taxi. Nana stared out of the taxi’s dirty rear window as it sped off. My cousins and I ran after it, as fast as our legs would carry us. We eventually fell to the ground and watched the taxi disappear over the hill.
We sat on the road, crying quietly. While we listened to Grandma Ama hitting the front door of our house, over and over again, with her fist.
The following morning I had made up my mind. I was going to find Nana. I would bring him home.
Grandma Ama bustled into the house while I was eating breakfast, holding bags in one hand and her cane in the other. Her face was puffy. She hadn’t slept all night. I heard her tossing and turning. She dropped her shopping on the ground, sat in the seat opposite me and took my hands.
‘We need to help Nana,’ I said.
Grandma Ama nodded. ‘My heart tells me that Nana’s papa is a bad man, and that he will not treat Nana well,’ she said. ‘But I cannot leave your cousins and your sick mama and my work to go and find Nana. And you cannot travel on your own.’
I opened my mouth to argue, to say that I was eleven years old, which was surely old enough to travel by myself. But Grandma Ama looked at me with her serious black eyes and I shut my mouth.
‘So this morning I used the phone at the bank to call Kofi.’
Our house doesn’t have a phone, but Kofi has one for business that he can take everywhere.
‘But what is Kofi –’
‘Be quiet, Figgy, and let me talk.’ I shut my mouth again. This morning Grandma Ama would not be interrupted. ‘Kofi is doing business in Kumasi, so he will meet you there in one week. And you will travel with him to the Volta Region, where Nana’s papa lives. Kofi will help us find Nana.’
My mind was whirling. ‘But when we find Nana, how will we get him back?’
Grandma Ama stood slowly from her chair, wincing at the pain in her leg, and leaned over to kiss my forehead. ‘We will think of a way. I will not fail that boy.’
The day passed by in a blur. At school everyone was asking about Nana, even the teachers. Perpetua held my hand and calmly told everyone the story, over and over again. While I stared at the ground.
I couldn’t concentrate on anything, and at lunchtime I told Perpetua that I was going to leave school early. Perpetua did not say I was silly or irresponsible like she usually would, but hugged me and let me go without a fuss.
I didn’t go home but to the markets, to find Jeffenick. He ran over to me, beaming. His oranges had been selling well. But when we sat in the shade of an empty stall and I told him about Nana, he started crying. Nana had told Jeffenick about his papa’s beatings, and Jeffenick said that knowing Nana might be beaten again broke his heart.
I promised Jeffenick that I would find Nana, no matter what.
CHAPTER 10
KOFI AND KUMASI
The night before I left for Kumasi I didn’t sleep at all. I went out to the dark courtyard in the middle of the night and ran around and around, hoping it would make me tired and sleepy. I got a big shock when Adwoa’s husband came out of his house with his teeth bared and a plank of wood raised above his head. He thought I was a robber who had come to steal his pigs.
The bus to Kumasi was crowded and uncomfortable. A woman from my village made me look after her baby for the whole trip. I couldn’t refuse, because that would have been disrespectful. While the baby sat on my knee I wondered if, when I was older, I could have a job caring for babies. I really like babies. Except when they cry too much and do smelly poos.
But the baby on the bus showed me that having a baby-minding job would be difficult. The baby wouldn’t stop squirming and screaming. And he pinched me and bit me with his gums. After a while he fell asleep, but that wasn’t much better. I still had a big, sweaty baby on my lap. My legs were numb when I finally got off the bus at the tro tro station.
It didn’t take long to spot Kofi. He is very tall so his head always pops above the crowd. I ran to him and jumped into his arms, clinging to his neck. Kofi, still holding me off the ground, weaved his way through the masses of people.
I would usually be embarrassed that Kofi was carrying me like a little girl. I was eleven, and not a little girl any more. But at that moment I didn’t care what anyone thought of me.
I pulled away from Kofi’s neck so I could look at his face. His hair was shorter than the last time I saw him, and it had a few more flecks of grey in it. O
ther than that he looked the same, with his diamond earrings and smart blue suit. Most people I know only wear their nice clothes to work or church, but Kofi is well dressed all the time.
We jumped into a waiting taxi, which drove us to the hotel we would sleep in that night. I had never stayed in a hotel. It had many rooms and stairs and levels. The woman at the front desk stared at me while we waited for our room key. She pointed at the spot on my face where my second eye should be and said, ‘What is wrong with you?’
‘She is fine, thank you,’ Kofi said. He took the key from the woman and nodded his head. ‘Have a lovely evening.’
At dinner Kofi spoiled me. We had big bowls of fu fu for our main meal and chocolate cake for dessert.
Kofi asked me lots of questions about Grandma Ama. They have only met a few times but are good friends. Nana thinks they are in love. The last time Kofi visited, Nana tried to trick him and Grandma Ama into getting married by having them sign a marriage contract that Nana had drawn up himself. Grandma Ama got really angry and embarrassed when she found out. Kofi thought it was funny.
Kofi would be an excellent grandpa, but I would be frightened to try Nana’s trick again. Grandma Ama said that if we did, she would make us sleep outside.
‘So your mama is home?’ Kofi said.
Kofi was born in Tamale but he speaks almost every Ghanaian dialect. He has very good English too. When we are together he likes to speak in Twi, because it is good practice for him.
‘Yes,’ I said, ‘and she has a baby in her belly.’
‘Hmm. Is it good to have her around?’
I didn’t know how to answer that. I loved my mama, but her being so sick made me sad. So I said, ‘Sometimes.’
‘And tell me about your movie.’ Kofi licked the chocolate icing from his upper lip. ‘Your grandma tells me you are quite the actress.’
I shrugged. ‘That isn’t important now.’
‘It is!’ Kofi flashed his big smile. He has much whiter teeth than anyone in my village. ‘It is very exciting!’