by Adwoa Badoe
“Does she get some allowance for herself?” JB persisted.
“No, but I give her money sometimes for treats when she’s out with Sam, and she can ask if she needs something.”
“What about her pay?”
“I don’t pay her. I’ve taken over her upkeep and future education. I’ve only recently begun to save for her just in case we have to move to England after all.”
“So what is she to do if she finds clothes she wants, or shoes or even sanitary towels?”
“She’s a child. I supply her needs just as my parents did when I was her age.”
“Christine, you could ask your parents for clothes, but can she ask you?”
“Of course. We are like a family.”
“The operative word here is like, Christine. This is not her real family. She doesn’t have the privileges your dear sister Grace would have if she was living with you.”
I listened to the silence between them. I had always thought we were exactly a family, and now I began to understand the difference. I remembered my old fights with Effie. No matter what I did or where I lived, we would always be sisters. But Christine was my sister as long as I pleased her.
“I want to give her the clothes I bought her,” JB said.
“No,” Christine insisted.
“At least the towel then.”
“No!”
“Tomorrow we’ll talk to her. I’m sure she’ll tell me the truth.”
“JB, you think you’re so charming, hmm? No one can resist your large eyes and velvet tongue.”
I heard their laughter.
I was first to wake up the next morning, and I immediately started on my chores. I swept the house, washed Sam’s diapers, washed the bathroom and dusted, all before everyone else woke up.
I started on breakfast. I fried eggs, tomatoes and mushrooms. Then I made the toast. I squeezed ten oranges for fresh juice. JB had completely banned chemicals from the house. But he did enjoy his beer and his wine in the evenings. I did not sit with them for meals as before.
As I brought his marmalade to the table, he told me to take a seat.
I sat down nervously, facing Christine. She did not smile but went straight to the point.
“I have told JB about the money. I showed him your clothes and he wants to ask you your side of things,” she said.
Tears came unbidden to my eyes and I began to sob.
“Stop it,” said Christine. “We’re not interested in your tears, just the truth!”
I got myself together and swallowed my sobs until only my chest heaved. Then I began again.
“Daddy JB, I didn’t steal the money,” I said. “Once, my friend Bea came here while Sistah Christine was away in Accra. I was tidying her room and Bea joined me in her bedroom. Then the doorbell rang and I left her there. Sistah, I never thought Bea could take anything of yours but yesterday Simon said she has been showing off pounds sterling in school. I have also seen her in blue eyeshadow and gold eyeshadow but I don’t know if she took yours or not.”
Christine got up at once.
“I thought I had misplaced my make-up. I’ll go and look,” she said.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” JB asked while Christine was gone.
I couldn’t even look at him. I was glad he didn’t push it. I was too embarrassed to speak. Then Christine came back.
“I can’t find some of my make-up. I’m going to Bea’s house. Come with me, Glo.”
• NINETEEN •
Christine walked out of D4, her lips pinched shut. I followed her closely, my heart pounding in my ears. Her shoes clipped on the stones as we cut through the bushes and found Bea’s home.
Bea’s mother was washing clothes outside. We startled her with our greeting. Her hands were dripping with soap suds, and she dried them on the front of her dress.
“Good afternoon, Doctor,” she said courteously. “Can I do anything for you?”
“Sister Dartey, we have a matter of some difficulty to discuss,” said Christine. “It concerns Bea.”
The frown lines on Bea mother’s face drew themselves together. Would she get angry and dismiss us? Would she hear us out?
“Come in,” she said.
She settled us in the dark living room with the old heavy curtains.
“Water?” she asked.
“No, thank you,” said Christine. “Sister Dartey, Bea and Gloria, here, are very good friends and I am sure you know that Bea comes to our house often.”
“Yes. Of course.”
“I have lost some money. Three hundred pounds sterling in twenty-pound notes which I kept in my closet,” Christine said.
“Oh,” Bea’s mother gasped. I saw the woman’s tense shoulders sag. I felt sorry for her.
“I asked Gloria and she said she has not taken the money. I did not know what to believe. Then we heard from schoolmates of Bea, who are also Gloria’s friends, that Bea has been spending money in pounds sterling.”
“Bea? Pounds sterling? I don’t think so. Doctor, I don’t think Bea will steal in spite of the fact that she is sometimes troublesome.”
Christine sat still. At last she said, “Sister Dartey, sometimes children get tempted but they are only children and if they do wrong it is important to find out and correct them. It isn’t my interest to make a big fuss but if she took the money and she has it, then I’d like it back.”
Long moments later, Sister Dartey said, “Excuse me.”
We sat waiting in silence. At last she came back. In her hands she held an envelope. She opened the envelope and I gasped.
“There it is,” said Christine. “That’s my envelope.”
Christine counted twelve twenty-pound notes.
“She’s spent some of it — sixty pounds,” she said. “But at least most of it is here.”
“I’m so sorry,” said Sister Dartey.
“It’s not your fault, Sister, and I have you to thank for even going to look.”
“What shall I do now?” Sister Dartey asked. “I do my best for this child, but lately she’s giving me so much trouble.” There were tears in her eyes.
Christine said, “We should ask her about this money and maybe we’ll find out why.”
“Please wait,” said Sister Dartey. “She said she was going to the clubhouse to buy a drink. I’m sure she’s talking to her friends.”
While Sister Dartey went out to fetch Bea, Christine and I sat with silence between us. I kept looking at my hands folded one in the other. I was very nervous.
The door opened and there was Bea, surprise in her eyes at seeing us.
“Bea, Dr. Christine wants to talk to you,” her mother said.
Bea came and stood tentatively at the doorway. Her mother sat down and sighed. I couldn’t look at either of them.
Christine said, “Bea, I lost some money, pounds sterling. Did you take it?”
“No,” she said, her voice strong. She turned to her mother. “Mama, I haven’t taken anything,” she said, her arms open in a wide appeal.
The slap her mother gave her was sudden and shocking. I looked up as Bea gasped. Her hand flew to her face and I shrank into my chair.
“Don’t lie,” said Sister Dartey. “Don’t lie!” Her voice rose, tense and shrill. “Tell her the truth now!”
“But I didn’t take the mo — ”
The envelope was out of Christine’s bag and she was emptying the money on the table.
“There used to be fifteen notes and now there are twelve,” Christine said.
“And I found it in your things,” said Sister Dartey. “Where are the other three notes, sixty pounds?”
They couldn’t get Bea to speak, as much as they tried. Her mother called her bad, wicked and mean and threatened to tell her father.
In all this Bea said nothing. She
didn’t cry or say anything. Sister Dartey said she’d make Bea pay back the money. Christine said it was okay. Finally Christine thanked Sister Dartey and we left.
Our footsteps were softer on the way home and we didn’t speak to each other. I was happy Christine had most of her money back. I hoped she was sorry for accusing me but adults never apologized to children. Besides, it was my fault for allowing Bea into her bedroom.
It was Bea I worried about. What if she took revenge on me and told Christine about Faisal? Then there was the secret party we’d had with Simon and Jima.
Thank God I hadn’t told Bea about Kwabena Kusi.
•
Thursday afternoon, I dressed for youth meeting. I knew that Simon and Ellen would be waiting for news about the money and Bea. I wanted to let them know that the problem was solved. I wore my yellow dress with the silver embroidery, the very one I had worn when I first came to Kumasi months ago. I had forgotten all about it for show-your-belly T-shirts and strappy dresses. All it needed was a hot iron to take out the creases.
My hair was still in extensions and a little untidy. I brushed the impossibles away from my hairline and powdered my face. A little kohl pencil brought some definition to my eyes. I did not put on lipstick.
I took a small shoulder bag, big enough to hold my Gideon’s New Testament and my hymn book. I set off quickly along the driveway.
I heard the sound of a car purring behind me. I kept walking, refusing to glance back. The car finally came alongside me. It was the red Passat with dark tinted windows. I kept walking. The window slid down.
“Leave me alone,” I said.
“Gloria, what’s the matter?”
The voice I heard made me freeze.
“Dr. Joe, I didn’t know it was you,” I said.
“I’m only borrowing Kwabena’s car. Kwabena Kusi has been bothering you again, has he?”
I wondered what he knew. Was he truly concerned, or was he just fishing for information? I said nothing.
Dr. Joe laughed.
“Don’t take that man seriously. He’s a real playboy,” he warned.
Too late, I thought.
“I’m going to town on an errand. I thought you might want a ride.”
“No, thanks,” I said. I would never sit in that car again.
Dr. Joe stepped on the gas, stirring up red dust. I hurried toward the tro-tro station at the junction. Some of my friends were waiting there. I joined them on the wooden benches of the truck, and we chatted all the way to church as the wind blew gustily through the open sides of the vehicle.
Our practice was excellent, and we discussed the Christmas show the church was putting on. Ellen thought our band’s name F Block was rather uninspiring.
“F is what you get when you fail exams,” she said. “We need something more positive.”
She suggested Abundant Life, but Simon thought it was too Christian. Jima suggested Nu Life. Everyone thought that was cool, especially the way he spelled it. So that afternoon we became Nu Life.
Simon asked about Bea and the money. I told them everything. Ellen thought it was all very sad, but Simon was angry.
“Have you spoken to her since?” he asked.
“No. I haven’t even seen her. I think her mother may have put her under house punishment.”
We walked all the way from church together. At Bantama, we stopped for kelewele and groundnuts. Then we heard footsteps on the path. Three girls passed by us in a hurry, their slippers slapping hard against the soles of their feet.
“Bea,” I called.
She stopped a few feet away. “Who’s that?”
“It’s me, Gloria.”
There was silence.
“What do you want?” Her voice was cool.
“I’m just hoping everything is okay,” I said.
“Of course,” she replied. Then she ran off to join her friends.
• TWENTY •
I dropped my dishcloth and went to Christine’s bedroom when she called me. She was nicely dressed in a floral bareback dress and pink espadrilles. She looked very feminine with her straightened hair tied back in a ponytail. Her make-up was subtle as usual around the eyes, but her lips were a glossy red. She had become more fashionable since JB arrived. I saw the happiness on her face as the sunlight streamed through the window.
JB was at Christine’s desk with his back to me. He turned around and said, “Miss Gloria, here’s something I brought you.”
The gift bag was a swirl of rainbow colors, and it contained a pink bath towel. It was thick and soft just like the one Christine used, but she preferred darker colors — green, blue and red.
“Thank you, Daddy JB,” I said and made a curtsy the way I used to for my elementary school teachers.
JB raised an eyebrow, and Christine said nothing.
“Sistah, please thank Daddy for me,” I said.
“But you already did so for yourself.”
I turned away clutching my bag. At the door I hesitated.
“Yes?” asked Christine.
“Sistah, I am sorry for letting Bea into your room.”
“So you should be, Gloria. I treat you like a sister but you should never disrespect my privacy. I was this close to taking you back to your home.”
“I’m sorry.”
There was the difference right there. One didn’t stop being a member of a family for stealing or getting pregnant or any other thing. But I would have been sent away for something I hadn’t even done.
There was another bag on the bed, and I wondered if that was the dress I had overheard them discussing. But there was no mention of any other gift. Perhaps that was my punishment, and I deserved it. I resolved to be more conscientious and work harder to do everything just as Christine wanted it.
I remembered Christine’s soft fingers rubbing pomade on my scalp, and the day we had baked a cake together, and all those times we had shared with Julie and Mimi at the table. All I wanted was to win back the closeness we had shared. I wanted us to be able to talk and laugh as we once did. I wanted to belong like family, even if there were differences.
•
There were five more days to Christmas. JB had gone for a drive with Sam. I finished reading “The Musicians of Hamburg.” I looked through my Ladybird books and chose “Treasure Island” at Level Ten. I began to read about Jim Hawkins. It felt as though each word had a different flavor. I was actually enjoying reading.
But there was nobody here who could really appreciate my achievement. Not Bea or Simon, or Osi or Jima or Ellen.
It was time to write to Effie. So far I had received four letters from her. I searched in my bag and found them. I began to read.
Why had I found her letters so difficult? It all seemed very easy now.
August 8, 1994
Dear Gloria,
It’s been so quiet since you left. Maa has not been well lately. Just a cold, she said. Daa says she’s just missing you. She is coughing a lot! The prayers are not healing her. She needs a doctor.
I have a secret. I have a boyfriend. His name is Charles Dodoo. He is a seaman and soon he is returning to sea. He’s the person I used to go and see after youth meeting. This is the secret I have been dying to share.
Daa has been made the chief deacon. I wish he would find work. But it’s a little easier at home because there are only three of us now. Still, I miss you.
Auntie Ruby had a new consignment of clothes. I selected two pairs of jeans, T-shirts and sneakers. She gave me the sneakers for free. Eno and Asibi want to take Maa to the herbalist but Daa says no fetish business is allowed in our h
ome.
Write soon. Tell me what Kumasi is like.
Effie
I took out the second letter.
September 6, 1994
Dear Gloria,
You didn’t say anything in your note. Christine visited. She said you were performing with a band. Eiii! Daa said if you want to sing, join the church choir. Christine brought us provisions. Sugar, tea, Milo, milk, sardines and oats. Everyone was happy. I was glad for Maa’s sake. She hasn’t been eating well. Christine said you were a good girl and very good with Sam. She says next year she will either make you do the JSS again or put you in vocational school. She told Daa she thought you were smart but Daa said you were never good in school. If she gives you a chance to go to school again, take it.
Effie
P.S. My final catering exams are coming up and I need to buy so many things for my kitchen and table settings. Oh, Gloria, if only Daa worked and had some money! Maybe Auntie Ruby will help. Do you think you could ask Christine?
I opened the third letter, slitting the top with a knife. I hoped Effie had found some money for her exams. Instead of buying bags and clothes, I could have sent her some of Kwabena Kusi’s money.
October 8, 1994
Dear Gloria,
Won’t you write? Guess what? I have met a rich man. He has promised to pay for all the expenses of my final exams. This means I don’t have to worry anymore about buying professional cooking utensils, a complete dinner set and the ingredients for my six course dinner. He is very good to me. The only problem is that he is already married. It is all so complicated. How did your concert go? Daa hopes you still go to prayer meeting. Maa says be good. She says it is God who has blessed you with Dr. Christine for a guardian. I think you are so lucky. Write soon.
Effie
And then there was one final letter.
November 5, 1994
Dear Gloria,
