by Adwoa Badoe
“It doesn’t seem to matter that you treat these girls well. They will always steal or do something that confounds,” said Mimi.
“We don’t know for sure that she stole,” said Julie.
“Where else could the money have gone? The whole envelope is missing. Only that particular envelope is gone and no one has broken in,” said Christine.
“Perhaps you put it in some other place,” said Julie. “I misplace things sometimes when I’m trying to hide them.”
“I wasn’t trying to hide it. I just put it where I always keep my money,” said Christine. “Listen, I don’t want to believe she stole it, but the money’s gone for sure.”
“But she denies it,” said Julie.
“Do you expect her to own up?” Mimi laughed. “This kind of thing has happened to my mother before, so it doesn’t surprise me. You should have been more careful, Christine. You’re too trusting.”
“I guess so. But I thought she was so transparent, even child-like in her ways.”
“Hoongh! Nobody is a child in Ghana these days. You’d be surprised what even Sam knows,” said Mimi.
“There, you’re quite right,” said Julie. “All the same I’d rather give Glo the benefit of the doubt.”
“Then leave your money on the dresser,” said Mimi sarcastically.
They all laughed, and tears filled my eyes.
“What are you going to do?” asked Julie.
“I’ll ask her again. I hope she tells me the truth. It’s not just about the money but also about trust. You have to be able to trust the person who looks after your child.”
“If she doesn’t own up what will you do?” asked Mimi.
“I’ll have to let her go. I don’t see any other choice,” said Christine.
“Oh! And she’s such a good cook,” said Julie.
“It’s not only about her cooking. I really like her. This is so disappointing. I haven’t even been able to speak to her all day,” said Christine.
I was trying to finish my chores while this conversation continued. I wondered why they couldn’t believe me. Then I remembered that I wasn’t always honest. In spite of all the little things I did, I wouldn’t steal her money.
Tears came to my eyes. My throat stung. Sam came out again with a CD in his hand, shouting for me. He tripped just outside the door and fell. He let out a loud wail. I rushed to him to pick him up and collided with Christine. She took Sam and turned away from me.
As Julie and Mimi left, Julie swung into the kitchen.
“Glo, you must tell the truth no matter what. I know you go to church. Now more than ever, the truth is important.”
“Sistah Julie…” I began, and tears rushed into my eyes.
She held up her hand.
“I don’t need to know anything from you. Christine needs to hear the truth,” she said. And she left.
I considered owning up even though I hadn’t taken the money. Sometimes if one owned up and begged, things blew over quicker. Yet this was something I hadn’t done. And I couldn’t stand to call myself a thief.
Supper was ready and I fed Sam. I wasn’t sure whether to eat, as Christine had not come out to eat nor yet spoken to me. Finally she came out for her supper.
“Gloria, this is your last chance to speak up. I had three hundred pounds sterling in a brown envelope in the third drawer of my closet. Did you take it?”
“Sistah Christine, I swear I didn’t take it. I swear on my father, my mother — ”
“Stop it,” she said. “Don’t bring curses down on other people.”
“Sistah, if you like we could go to Pastor Brown or even your own pastor and I will swear on a Bible. If I’m lying the Bible will find me out.”
“I don’t do such things.” Then as an afterthought, she said, “Let’s look through your things in the closet.”
“Okay,” I said, and too late realized I had things in my bag that she knew nothing about.
I followed her into the room. She found the old bag with the broken zipper and overturned it on the bed. There were only old clothes in it. Then she looked in the closet and found my new bag. I could imagine what she was thinking as she looked at the blue travel bag stuffed in the corner of my closet.
“Where did you get this bag?” she asked.
“In the market,” I said.
“Who gave it to you?”
“I ran an errand for one of the doctors and they gave me twenty thousand cedis.”
She noticed the lock.
“Where’s the key?”
I fished in my drawer and gave her the key. She opened it.
My books came out first, then Effie’s letters. Next came some clothes Christine had given me and the red Diva T-shirt and stretch jeans. There was my glitter belt with the shiny silver buckle. Then some gifts I had bought for my family. There was also another twenty-thousand cedi bill.
“Can you explain these?” she said, picking up the T-shirt and the jeans. “How did you get designer clothes?”
I was quiet.
“Is this what you used my money for?”
“No,” I said. “I didn’t use your money. I bought the clothes on credit and people gave me money when I ran errands for them.”
“And who exactly have you run errands for?”
Again my lips pressed themselves shut.
“Gloria, you disappoint me,” said Christine. “JB is coming in a matter of days and when he leaves I will take you to Accra and decide this matter before your parents.”
I burst into tears.
“Sistah, I didn’t take your money. I would never do that to you,” I said between sobs.
But Christine just walked out and left me in my bedroom.
My whole world was coming to an end, one trouble after another. First I had lost Kwabena Kusi and now I was in danger of losing my future.
After that, I walked about like a shadow, silently unless I was alone with Sam. I didn’t venture out to the clubhouse or even in the compound because I wasn’t sure who knew what had happened. Had Bea heard? What about Kwabena Kusi? He seemed to have disappeared from our compound altogether.
Simon came to see me after the Thursday youth meeting because I had not shown up. He came with Ellen. I told them I had been busy because JB was arriving in the next few days. Simon wanted to play the new song but I could not sing it. There was no joy to sing from.
Finally I told them that Christine had lost some money and that there was trouble at home.
“I don’t know what will happen. She doesn’t believe that I know nothing about it.”
Simon was angry at Christine but Ellen suggested that we pray. I was happy for their company but I didn’t want them to stay long because I did not want to get in trouble with Christine. They asked if I had seen Bea.
“Not since the Adaekese Sunday,” I said.
“She got into trouble for missing school,” Simon said. “She missed school several times with the excuse that she was ill but her teacher saw her in someone’s car in town.”
“Oh, no!” I said.
“They checked with her mother, but she didn’t know anything about Bea’s sickness and her many absences from school. They nearly suspended her but instead she was given a large plot to weed and ten lashes in her hand.”
It was too bad that both Bea and I were having trouble at the same time. If I had a chance I would go and see her. School would be over for Christmas in just a few days.
Simon left with Ellen. I hoped they would not tell everyone at youth meeting about the lost money. What would Pastor Brown think? All the grown-ups were bound to side with Christine. Julie still talked to me but Mimi gave me the full silent treatment. She was a lot harder than even Christine.
Once in Accra, a teenager had stolen money. Her parents beat her and hung a sign around her neck
that said: I am a thief, beat me. Wherever she went people just hit her if they wanted. It was my father who had pleaded for her. “Jesus said the one without sin should throw the first stone,” he had preached loudly. My mother said the girl was lucky they hadn’t put ginger or pepper in her eyes to punish her. A long time ago that’s what was done to thieves, to remove jealousy from their eyes for other people’s things.
• EIGHTEEN •
Christine’s time off began the next day. She had asked for special permission because her husband was coming. Her mood improved when phone calls came confirming JB’s arrival in Accra. Finally she said he was leaving at dawn for Kumasi.
It seemed as though everything was forgotten. She was talking to me again, laughing and keeping busy. I wondered if she had forgiven me.
Julie, Mimi and Joe had gathered in our living room to wait for JB. Whenever they heard a car they rushed to the balcony to look and Sam screamed, “Daddy, Daddy!”
“He probably won’t recognize JB. It’s been seven months since he saw him,” said Mimi.
I knew Sam would recognize his dad. We looked at his photos every day. He would recognize his voice, too. Sam had a tape called a talking letter, and it was a long message from JB. He even read Sam’s favorite story on it. “Not me,” said the monkey. We always played it for Sam before he fell asleep.
We heard a car as it slowed into our carport and stopped. Everyone rushed to the balcony and Christine screamed. I thought something had happened to her but the man who stepped out of the car waved, and she charged out of the house. She left the door ajar and tore down the stairs.
Julie had Sam in her arms. She pointed to JB and said, “Sam, look, your dad.”
“Samuel Antwi Ossei,” said Sam’s dad, waving hard at Sam.
Then Julie followed Christine downstairs. I went down with the rest of them to help bring JB’s bags up. There were three large suitcases and a small bag.
“You must be Gloria,” he said.
His voice was a lot deeper than I had heard on the phone. He had eyes that laughed and two dimples in his cheeks. He was clean shaven and wore small rectangular spectacles, giving him a very distinguished look. He seemed so fit and strong like Joe, who worked out and had a flat belly and big muscles.
“I hope you looked after Christine and Sam well because I do have your surprise,” he said.
The smile felt foolish on my face. Nobody else said anything and the moment passed.
“I’m Joseph Boakye Ossei,” he said, giving me his hand.
His handshake was warm and his voice friendly. He was someone I knew I would like very much. I reached for one bag to carry it, but he stopped me.
“What are you thinking?” he said. Then he turned to his friends and said, “This girl doesn’t know that when an Ashanti man is coming home, only robust men have enough strength to carry the bags.” His laughter made us laugh. He picked up a bag, Joe picked up the other and the taxi driver picked up the third bag. We made a single file up the stairs to flat D4.
Once the suitcases were put away, everybody settled in the living room. JB took the couch next to Christine and Sam sat on his lap.
“Everybody, time to leave,” said Joe. “The man has missed his wife.”
“Not before we work through amanee,” said JB.
Christine got up and fetched a bottle of Champagne from the fridge. She told me to bring water and a glass. I poured ice-cold water into a pitcher and set it on the tray with a tall glass. Christine stood on a chair to reach the top shelf of her pantry. She pulled down some thin-stemmed glasses I had never seen her use.
“Rinse these quickly and bring them to me,” she said. Then she took my tray to the living room.
I knew all about amanee. Nobody ever came to visit in Accra without my father performing amanee, the story of their visit.
By the time I got back to the living room, JB’s news had been received, he had drunk his water and everyone was waiting for the glasses. JB popped the Champagne. Laughter rang out as they poured Champagne and toasted each other.
“Glo, bring your glass,” said JB. “This is the one time a teenager may taste alcohol.”
So I tasted the drink they called Champagne. It was fizzy and strange. Sam was screaming for a drink so I brought him some ginger ale.
The first few days, it seemed as if all the doctors in Komfo Anokye came to visit. I never knew there were so many. People stayed and talked. JB had so much to tell them. Sometimes he showed them photos. Often people stayed to eat. I was cooking twice as much as I normally cooked. Christine and JB went out together often. They went out with friends, too. Then Sam and I would spend the time playing with his new toys.
He had several new action toy figures: Superman, Spiderman and Batman. It was Batman that he liked the best because he came with a car JB called the Batmobile. Sam had his own toy computer that made sounds and showed pictures and words. I could read those words, too. JB hadn’t given me my surprise so I thought Christine must have told him about the money. Or perhaps he was saving the gift for Christmas.
Mostly the feeling at home was good, and I hoped that Christine would believe me and let me stay. I prayed every night. I said to God that I would never do bad again if we could find the money. I said that I had done many wrong things but I promised him that I would do much better, tell the truth and not take a boyfriend until I was ready for marriage.
The next Thursday we set up the Christmas tree. It was a small artificial tree and we decorated it with many shiny bulbs in gold and silver and red. Then we draped silver and gold tinsel all over it. Sam was beside himself with excitement, and we had to stop him from pulling the ornaments off.
I asked Christine if I could go to youth meeting. To my surprise she said yes.
Then in a strict voice she said, “Be good!”
“Why, isn’t she good?” JB asked.
It was meant to be a joke, but Christine’s silence spoke volumes. I knew she would tell him everything. I prayed all the way to youth meeting.
Practice was okay. I wasn’t very happy so I did not have my usual energy. But I sang well and Simon and Ellen were kind to me. I realized that they hadn’t told Osi or Jima about Christine’s lost money, and I was really grateful for that. I declined to lead the worship for the youth meeting but I allowed myself to rise on the songs that Ellen sang. I began to feel better inside.
On our way home after youth meeting, Simon said, “Glo, have you ever left Bea alone in your sister’s room?”
“No. Why?”
“She’s been flashing a wad of pound sterling notes around.”
“Did you see her?”
“No. But someone I trust said so. She said Bea’s dad had given it to her.”
“Bea’s father is rich,” I said. “He’s even going to throw a party for her at the clubhouse.”
“Everybody knows her father is rich, but she’s never had much until recently,” said Simon.
“Even if he’s rich he’d give her cedis, not pounds sterling,” said Ellen. “I don’t trust Bea. She has changed a lot.”
I didn’t say anything. I, too, had changed, except nobody knew what I had done.
“These days she goes around with businessmen, barkeepers and foreigners, and she’s always boasting about the party she’s going to have. She should have heard the talk on AIDS,” said Simon.
“Glo, haven’t you ever allowed Bea into your sister’s room? Think,” said Ellen.
I let my thoughts wander through the months of our friendship.
“Wait a minute,” I said. “I let Bea into Sistah Christy’s room that day I quarreled with her. We were trying on make-up when the doorbell rang. It was after that Bea quarreled with me and left. That was before the Anansekrom concert.”
I remembered that evening well. I had dressed up in the red T-shirt and the blue jeans. That was the
first time Kwabena Kusi came to our door.
“Let’s go and ask Bea now,” I said.
“No,” said Ellen. “You’d better tell your sister and she can talk to Bea’s mother. Bea will never admit a thing to us. You know how tough she is.”
Suddenly it made sense. The blue eyeshadow and the gold glitter eyeshadow that I had seen her wear time and again. She had probably taken those from Christine’s things, too. I could barely contain myself as I walked home.
We parted at our usual place.
“Thank you very much,” I said. “You may have saved me.” And I hugged them both tightly.
Everyone was out when I got home. I sat on my bed wondering how to tell Christine. I wondered what Bea would say about me when she was confronted. I felt very anxious. The moments passed.
I checked the thermos. There was no hot water. JB always made tea before he went to bed. I boiled water and poured it slowly into the flask. Then I went to bed. I heard them come in but it was too late to talk.
Christine opened my door. She was checking on me.
“She’s asleep already,” she said. “Sometimes I forget she’s still a child.”
“Yes, she’s still a child,” said JB. “At sixteen I bet you couldn’t have handled the responsibilities she has to handle, looking after a child and a family full time. So don’t be so hard on her, hmm.”
“I’m not hard on her. Ask anyone. She stole and there’s no excuse for that. Even if she’d just told the truth, I would have forgiven her. What bothers me are the lies. It takes a kind of person to insist on lying. How can I trust her with Sam? Will she tell me if Sam takes a bad fall or swallows something accidentally?”
It was hard to listen to all this. I wished I could tell her everything.
So much had happened since July. But the truth could get me into a lot of trouble. Christine had taken the red Diva T-shirt and the jeans the day she searched my things, and I could imagine her waving them at JB.
“Where did she get the money to buy designer clothes?” she asked. “Up until now she has not been able to explain how she got them. The plot thickens, hmm? Maybe she leaves Sam to have affairs.”