by Kwei Quartey
Dropping the rebar, Safo cried out and bent over Darko weeping. “No, please sir, don’t die. Stop bleeding. Please, no.”
“It’s okay.” He smiled slightly. “Tell my family I love them. That’s all that matters now.”
She tried to turn him toward her. She couldn’t see the source of the blood. All she knew was that it was pooling beside and underneath him like a lake. She ran outside screaming into the night.
Dawson felt tired and wanted to sleep. He didn’t feel pain anymore. He had always questioned whether God existed, and now he understood why man needed God: to assuage the fear of dying and the torment of the abyss. But if Dawson could go back to the living for just a moment, he would tell the world how, when he had stood at the precipice, he felt no fear at all.
Glossary
Agbogbloshie (ag-bog-blow-she): highly polluted section of Accra.
Ashawo (ah-sha-WO): prostitute(s).
Awura (eh-WU-ra): Madam, Mrs. (Twi)
Awurade (eh-wu-ra-DAY): God. (Exclamation, Twi)
Banku (ban-KU): proportionate mixture of fermented corn and cassava dough cooked to a smooth, consistent paste and shaped into balls.
Cedi (SEE-dee): monetary unit of Ghana.
Chaley (cha-LAY): buddy, pal, bro. (colloquial)
Cutlass: machete.
Dumsor (doom-saw): literally, “off-on.” Expression used in reference to the frequent power outages in Ghana.
Ete sen? (eh-tih-sen): How are you? (Twi)
Fufu (fu-FU): yam, cassava, or plantain pounded to a glutinous mass; usually accompanies soup of some kind.
Ga: language and people of the Accra Metropolitan area and several coastal communities.
Gari (ga-REE): popular West African food made from cassava tubers, consistency similar to couscous.
Garden eggs: eggplant.
Gono: gonorrhea. (slang)
Harmattan: dry, dusty, northeasterly trade wind blowing from the Sahara Desert over the West African subcontinent into the Gulf of Guinea between the end of November and the middle of March.
Hip-life: style of music fusing Ghanaian culture and hip-hop.
Jollof rice: West African version of pilaf or paella, and possibly a progenitor of the Louisianan dish jambalaya.
Juju: related to magical powers, particularly malevolent ones.
Kayaye (KA-ya-yay): girls and young women, often from Northern Ghana, who earn a living carrying staggering loads of different kinds on their heads.
Kelewele (kay-lay-way-lay): chopped ripe plantain deep-fried in ginger and other spices.
Kenkey (KEN-kay): balls of fermented corn dough.
Kente (ken-TAY): a woven fabric with an interlocking pattern of colors; originated by the Ashanti (Asante) people of Ghana.
Kofi Broke Man: roast plantain and peanuts, a cheap but filling meal commonly sold at roadsides.
Kwaseasem (kwa-see-ah-sem): foolishness.
Makola Market: one of the largest traditional marketplaces in Accra.
Malta Guinness: lightly carbonated, non-alcoholic malt beverage, brewed from barley, hops.
Mepa wo kyew (mih-pa-wu-CHEW): Please. (Twi)
Omo tuo: rice balls.
Paracetamol: Acetaminophen. (chiefly British)
Plaster: bandaid.
Sachets: small plastic bags of water sold on the streets in Ghana, usually 500 ml (1 pint).
Sakawa: relating to magical powers, particularly in connection with Internet money scams.
Red-Red: ripe plantain and black-eyed peas cooked with spices and palm oil.
Tro-tro: minivan transportation for customers paying a fare along the route.
Truck pushers: young men who transport scrap around the city on four-wheeled carts.
Twi (chwee): one of the Akan languages.
Wahala: fuss and trouble.
Wee: marijuana.
Ye fre wo sen? (yeh-freh-woo-sen): What is your name? Literally, “We call you how?” (Twi)
Acknowledgments
I must thank my dear friend J.O. in Ghana for graciously allowing me to fictionalize the real-life traumatic events surrounding her infertility, including her acrimonious divorce.
Thanks also to Bishop Bonegas, founder of Great Fire Pentecostal International Ministry, Ghana, for answering my many questions and permitting me to observe one of his deliverance services.
And finally, many thanks to Ignacio Pena Licona for assistance with Bible references.