The Devil

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 11

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 laid 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 laid

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.