around. They led me into the room where he stayed. The half-light came through the louvers. The son was on the bed. There was blood all over it. He was half-naked. Somebody had cut off his member. It was lying on the floor. I might have missed it, but they showed it to me. I asked if the police had come. They said the police had come and then went and were coming back. I asked them who did it. They said the boy was not good. That he was known to rape women in the area. They said people knew, but no one would trouble him because of the family. They said his brother was in the air force, so nobody wanted to trouble them. He would bring girls to the place and then rape them. Usually they were not girls from Accra. They were girls from the north who came to find work. He would promise them things and then he would rape them. Everybody knew that. I asked them who did it. They said they thought it was the police, but they didn’t know. I asked why they thought it was the police. They said it was what people were saying. One woman said she heard a girl crying and screaming, and then for a long time she heard nothing. So I went to see the family. They said the boy was bad, but nobody had a right to do that to him. They wanted to know who was responsible. I told them I would look into it. Then I prayed for them and went to the station. The officers said they had heard, and it was they who told the family, and maybe they were the ones who sent it to me. They said they had to investigate to see what happened, but he was a bad boy. I asked who was the senior officer on duty. They said she had gone home.
9
A Woman and a Man
—So now I know that you are here for a reason.
—Well, I did not say I had no reason.
—You did not. But you have hidden why you are here.
—I have to close whatever case I can. There are so many that need to be closed.
—And how do you close a case? You want to know who committed a crime, right?
—That and why. Mostly I want to know why.
—So you came here to close the case.
—Is this one not obvious?
—By obvious you mean what happened made sense and was the right thing?
—I did not say that.
—Then what do you mean?
—I mean that you know what happened.
—I think I do.
—Maybe you do.
10
A Woman
—Let me tell you a story. A woman was the officer in charge on a night when very little happened. A few fights, some drunk driving, but nothing much. The officer was looking at the clock and planning for when she got off work. At one point she went out into the front yard and sat on the steps. Sometimes she liked to do that, just to think and plan her life. And when she was sitting there, a girl limped into the yard. She was crying. The light from the station showed her face as she came closer. Her face was broken. Her head was bleeding. And she was trying to hold together the blouse she had on, but it was torn. The officer could tell by the way she held her body what had happened. The pain was in her center. She asked if she could stay in the station for the night because she was afraid. The officer asked her what she was afraid of. She said there was a man who was looking for her, and she wanted to rest a little bit and then would leave before first light. The officer asked what the man did. The girl did not say, but slowly, the officer got her to talk. The girl said he beat her. The girl said he raped her. The girl said he spat on her. The girl said he beat her some more. By now she was shaking, but she had stopped crying. The officer asked where the man was. She said he was in his place. The officer asked how she got away. She said he fell asleep after he was finished with her, and she sneaked out. The officer asked if she could find her way back to the place. The girl said she could but did not want to go. But the officer convinced her and called one of the constables to come with them. The girl led them to the place. It was in darkness and quiet. The girl pointed to the door. The officer told the constable to take the girl back to the station and wait. The constable did not want to leave the officer, but he followed orders. The officer went into the room, and the man was there sleeping, just like the girl said. He had on a singlet and a pair of jeans, but he was on his back, and his jeans were zipped open and he was exposed. He slept with his mouth in a sneer. Maybe it was this or the white panties near the man’s hand that made her do what she did. She found what she was looking for under the bed. She did not even bother to wake him up.
11
A Woman
—I never even bothered to wake him up.
12
A Woman
—You know there was a riot, right? They attacked the police station and then I was officially asked to take leave. I have not been back. They have not written to me or maybe they have. I think somebody told me that they wanted to place me at the police college because I could be helpful there. I was there when the man’s brother, an air force officer, brought his men to the station. Big men in their fatigues. From flight lieutenant up, every air force person feels he is a big man. And they beat up the small constable at the gate. But then of course, the rest of them took out rifles and stood there quarreling, and maybe there was a punch. But the man’s brother was crying too, because he said that people make mistakes, so why would we do him like that? I know my brothers wanted to be firm and hard, but because of what I did to him, well, every man would feel that I went too far, because I know that when they said it they wanted to hold themselves too, and I understand that, but I told them that they should understand that that is what my vagina felt like when the girl was telling me what happened to her, what he did to her, and when I saw her breasts with the slash, and when I saw the lacerations on her vagina, and when I saw how her eyes were so deeply wounded, well, it was me, and it was the same thing. Why must a woman have to suffer without revenge? I know in their heads they knew I was correct, but they could still only think of themselves with their penises. That is why nobody asked questions. I know that. A woman who does that to a man, and then leaves him to die like that, bleeding . . . Well, she is dangerous. But you know what I kept asking myself? The whole time, I kept asking myself, Where is this man’s mother? Maybe she was there, but I had this idea that if she was with him, if she was looking after him, I don’t know, maybe he wouldn’t . . . Isn’t it terrible how even we women take the blame for what our boys do? Even as I was thinking this, I was ashamed of my thoughts. But I had a son, and I could not say where he was that night. This is what a woman in my position must ask. I was a dangerous woman. Is that why you are here, now? Are you his brother?
13
A Man, a Woman, and a Boy
—They want you back on the force.
—Is that what they told you?
—We need strong officers. You know that. They want you back.
—You are here to ask me to leave my perfect life to go back to that life?
—I am.
—I left because I knew after I did it that I was dangerous. I did not even breathe heavily. I found the cutlass, looked at the blade. Then I took his pillow and put it over his head.
