could not stop myself from laughing out loud. “No. It’s not like that. He’s after something else.”
“I see. Give me a moment,” he said.
He went round the back of his house and emerged with a bench, which he set down in front of the garage door. He gestured that I join him.
“Aren’t you going to be late?” I asked as I sat down beside him.
“Oh, don’t worry. These are Ghanaians we’re talking about. You know how Ghana man time is like.”
I giggled. “Oh yes. Six o’clock is seven thirty.”
That made him smile. “Besides, ten minutes won’t make much difference.”
“Okay.”
“I’m sure after ten minutes, it would be safe for you to return home.”
My giggle turned to laughter. “This guy? I don’t think so. He’s persistent.”
“Or would you like me to go get rid of him? I have macho,” he said, flexing his muscles.
“Hoh!”
He smiled. “Touch it and see.”
I poked his arm. “Yeah, you do. And that would be so, so nice. Unfortunately, he’s a coworker, so I can’t afford to antagonize him too strongly. Let’s just wait for him to leave.”
We could see my porch from our vantage point, so we sat there waiting for Gerald to surrender my home. In the meantime, Junior told me about himself. He was an artist. I thought that was really cool.
“Yeah, but not everyone approves,” he said with a grimace.
“I think I understand.”
“The old man really wants me to practice instead.”
“Practice what?”
“I’m a medical doctor by profession.”
“Wow.” It was genuine this time.
“So tell me, Miss Desire, why you came out here.”
I was starting to tell him about my getting a job at the JSS when the lights suddenly went out.
“Oh ECG!” came a cry from inside the house.
My mind immediately went to Gerald alone in my house, and I rose.
“You want to leave?”
“Yes, I’ve got to make sure—” I stopped. I didn’t really care. “No. I don’t actually. I’m enjoying myself here.”
The moon was a thin crescent, so the darkness was almost complete. But my eyes had adjusted to the dark a bit, and I could see the outline of a smile on his face. “Let me go and get us a candle,” he said.
“Okay.” Then I called after him, “Do you have any wine, Junior?”
“Wine?”
“Yes. I was having a glass when that guy came and interrupted me.”
He laughed. “Don’t worry, we’ve got a bottle of red wine stowed away somewhere.”
“My favorite kind.”
Soon he was back. He sat down facing me with a leg on either side. He lighted the candle and stuck it to a saucer, which he set down between us. I turned to face him while he placed a glass in front of me.
“What about you?” I asked as he filled the glass.
He shook his head. “I don’t drink alcohol.”
I took a gulp. “I rarely drink myself.”
“So you were telling me why you came here?”
“Oh yes, erm, there was nothing for me back in Accra,” I said.
“Rather? When that’s where everyone wants to go because there’s nothing here.”
My lips curled in imitation of a smile. “I lost a lot of things in Accra. My father died and we lost our property and I lost my job.”
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Don’t worry,” I said with a shrug. I took another gulp and set the empty glass down. “So here I am.” I picked up the bottle and refilled the glass. “Besides, I don’t like city life.”
“Why? I miss Accra so much. We used to live there as well.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. We lived in Tema until ’88. My father then took a job as a lecturer at the university, so we had to move here.” He paused for a moment. “Shortly after we moved, my mother found out she was pregnant. It was an accident. It wasn’t planned. Well, she delivered and Kwabena was born and—”
“Sorry, Kwabena?”
“Wolfgang.”
“Oh, Wolf. I see.”
“He has managed to get you to call him Wolf, eh? That’s his new thing now. That boy, eh.”
“I like him,” I said. “Anyway, go on with your story.”
He did. “After she had given birth to him, the hospital gave her painkillers to help her sleep. They were expired.”
My mouth dropped open.
“She died.”
“No!” I exclaimed. “And what happened to the doctors and nurses? I hope they went to jail or were sacked.” My emotions had me leaning forward.
He shook his head calmly. “We gave it to God.”
I sat back and pressed my lips together. The words which threatened to come out of my mouth would not be thought of as wholesome or becoming of a lady.
“You can let your words fly,” he said with a laugh. “We’ve insulted them saah. Yours would just be a drop in the ocean.”
Even though his words moved me to laughter, my eyes watered.
“Are you crying?” he asked in disbelief.
I wiped my eyes and took a large gulp of wine. “I’m sorry. I had a . . . a brother who died, that’s why.”
“Sorry.”
“He was just a baby. Don’t mind me, okay.” I took another gulp. “Let’s change the topic.”
“Okay,” he said. “Look up.”
I did and gasped. A brilliant silver shroud was spread
