Chapter IV

“Dada!” the little girl who could hardly speak said excitedly.

For her, she only had the weekends to see her father and play with him. Before he arrived, Baby and her aunty were making bracelets from colorful and sparkly beads. He walked to her as if he was dancing, carried her and raised her high into the air. Then, the father and daughter hugged each other tightly for a long time. He would usually hold her cheek and smile at her making the little girl laugh. “Oh, there you are,” Gyaba said as she entered the house.

She was coming from the market and hugged her son who still had Baby in hand.

“I don’t deserve your welcome, right, Georgea?”

Georgea, who had seen his brother enter but decided to focus on making stuffs out of beads got up to hug his brother too. As the two held on to each other, George appeared from nowhere. He waved at his brother casting a cold look at him. He waving was his way of saying welcome to his brother, Agyei. However, what he really wished for was his departure. “Okay, I brought something for everyone,” Agyei said to lighten up the mood.

He dropped his backpack and began to take out items from the plastic bag he had in hand.

“This is for you, mom,” he said cheerily and then handed his mother a white and yellow tunic dress.

“This is beautiful,” Gyaba said content with her gift, “how much is it? It looks expensive.”

“It’s not expensive, mother. Besides, yellow on your skin works wonders,” Agyei said avoiding the question, ‘how much is it?’

“And for my beautiful sister, surprise!”

“Is that what I think it is? A drawing book?” Georgea said excitedly.

“It comes with a set of color pencils.”

Georgea excitedly snatched the set of color pencils from her brother and ran around the room with the book in her other hand.

“A beautiful doll for my adorable Baby,” Agyei said while he handed the doll to Baby.

After checking out her new colorful dress, Gyaba entered the kitchen to make dinner. She truly understood the words, ‘a hungry man is an angry man’. In this case, her eldest son was not the man; it was George. As she washed the fish she bought from the market, Agyei entered the kitchen.

“You called me some days ago, crying. You said that you’re going to lose your job. Why not save the money?”

He simply smiled making her aware that he had heard her loud and clear.

“Gyei, this is no joke. We’re in need, son!”

He still stayed quiet and walked closer to his mother. He could feel his mother’s frustration and sadness.

“Why don’t you ask him for some money?” Agyei asked gently.

Gyaba turned to look at him in the eyes. She was almost teary and he could see it. Speaking about this ‘him’ was mostly avoided in that house. The mention of his name made Gyaba angry. She ignored Agyei’s question and focused on making dinner.

“I helped my boss’ son with something and he paid me for it. That’s how I bought all those things,” Agyei responded before leaving the kitchen.

He walked to his room passing by his siblings and daughter who overheard his conversation with Gyaba, their mother. She had taught them not to accept anything from people as a payment for a favor.

“The moment you take it, it’s no longer a favor,” she would always tell them.

One other thing they had learnt from their mother over the past few years was not to ask for more from the ‘him’ who happened to be their father.

“Thanks for this,” George said, not arrogantly as he entered his brother’s room through the open door.

Agyei simply smiled at him and turned away. He moved around his room as he unpacked his bag; he was staying for the weekend.

“Will you come with us to visit dad?” George asked suddenly.

He had been standing at the gate for several minutes watching his brother unpack. Agyei signaled his brother to come sit with him on the bed which he obeyed.

“I can’t,” he answered and stayed quiet. “Promise me something,” he said then looked at George who sat by his side, “that you’ll take care of mom and love her like he couldn’t,” he added.

“You’re talking like you’re going to die,” George said rashly offended by his brother’s words, “plus, dad loves mom,” he continued and then stood up to leave.“By the way, thanks for the shirt,” George said before leaving the room.

Like a ritual, the company laid off some employees depending on their current worth to the company. Agyei’s name was on a short list of employees who were counted as having little importance to the company. All he did was ran errands, like an errand-boy. Finding a job in the city was a headache. He already had a lot to think about; a lot of payments.

“Money! Money! Money!” Agyei yelled frustrated as he returned to unpacking.