The Devil Has His Money

Episode 10

Everyone had gone to see Ama at the hospital except me. I couldn’t face her, knowing how i wasn’t there to protect her. The only good news was that my uncle was arrested for abuse,my nightmares started again and Kofa also started acting strange but i just summed it up as one of those things peculiar to him. The president ‘ s visit was only a day away now.Everyone was excited, i was sad that Ama won’t be there, she won’t get that handshake she had been dying for, she won’t wear her beautiful blue gown and march in front of the other students. She was transferred to another hospital in a neighboring town for better medical care.

One evening i summoned on courage, plucked some wild flowers and went to see her. She was propped up in bed staring at the ceiling, her left eye was heavily covered with plaster. I wondered how she was feeling at the moment, she acted like she didn’t see me. I stretched out the flower towards her, she collected them and resumed staring at the ceiling.

” How are you feeling?”

” Okay”

” Do you mind if i stay here for a while? Or stay over the night”

She shrugged so i took it as a yes. I sat on the bed next to hers.

” Have you eaten?”

” Efo (bro) Mensah brought something for me to eat”

” Do you want anything else”?

She shrugged again. I went out to buy fried spaghetti with salad and fried turkey ass with a can of coke.i watched her dug into the food with gusto, at least she still had an healthy apetite.

” Thank you” She handed me the empty food pack and i threw it in the waste bin in a corner of the room.

” I brought cards for us to play” i said as i brought out the pack of whots from my pocket.We played for a while until I got tired of losing and accepted defeat.

” Thank you” She said again.

” For what?”

” For acting normal i guess….when my brother came here he couldn’t decide if he wanted to hug me or weep till he drops. He kept fidgeting,asking every second if i was okay”

” He cares about you Ama, i know he’s beating himself over this and feeling guilty for not being there to protect you” i also felt guilty too but i wasn’t about to let her know.

” I know Kojo, but am still the same Ama i was before this happened….right?” She la!d back on the bed. ” I don’t want to be pitied, i can stand anything but not pity please”

” You are still the same beautiful Ama and no one pities you”

” Good”

She scooted to the edge of the bed and i la!d beside her. When we woke up the next morning, a blanket had been draped over our bodies by some kind nurse or doctor. I went out of the room for the doctors to see to her. I helped her to the bathroom, afterwards i also freshened up and went to get us breakfast,we ate in silence until i remembered something that has been nagging me for long.

” Ama do you know Bella? Or maybe you have heard of her?”

” Bella? Who is she?”

” She……i think she was your brother’ s girlfriend”

” Oh that Bella? yes i guess so”

” Okay, do you know what happened to her?”

” I overhead Mami and Efo( bro) Mensah talking about her once, long ago, i think she was murdered in a gruesome manner, her family too. What is your interest in her?”

I shrugged ” Just curious, You know who murdered her?”

” I heard a bad man who goes to schools under the pretext of helping students. I don’t remember much now, it was long ago.”

” Would you still like to go for the march? Its today, i heard its taking place on the street opposite the market, Nma ( Mother) said the streets had been cleaned and bulbs have been put up”

” I can’t go, i wasn’t only going for the handshake you know? We were told in school, that some lucky students would be given scholarship and other monetary items by the president. I was hoping mother luck would shine on me too”

A bell rang in my head and kept ringing . ” What is his name?”

” President Komla Amuzu”

The name rang no bell but i suddenly felt uncomfortable.

” The lecee ( Poly) students are also marching, Efo ( bro) Albert being the overall best student in his school is also getting a handshake but surely you know that already” She said proudly.

My palms suddenly felt sweaty and i wiped it on my pants. ” Ama do you know these men? Seyram, Francis…..”

” Doji, Yaovi and Lyon. They come to see my brother under the cover of the night. I don’t know what their nocturnal meetings were about”

My heart was pounding loudly as sweat broke out all over my body. I don’t know what it was but it wasn’t a good thing i was sure. What has my brother gotten himself into? How could they think they could defeat a president! All the puzzles are fitting in now, the man who had more than enough money to lure young girls to their doom, the man rich enough to have thousands of armies at his beck. Of course it could only be the president! My horrid nightmares and Papa Ayi’ s warning swarmed across my mind. I had to stop my brother from doing anything stupid. I told Ama i would be back and dashed out of the hospital room. I ran like the devil was on my heels, the motor park was empty, i ran back and forth looking for a cab. Fortunately, i saw a bike rider, i hailed him and got on the bike. I told him to ride like death was after him. God please help me! Its been so long i called on God for anything and i hoped for the sake of my poor mother he would answer my cries.