To Survive

7: PRESENT BERNA

Ally Halle decided to go for lunch at the KAS Food
branch at Asofan. Her morning had been rough and she
needed calm. Alessia had gone to her therapist and her
mother had left home as usual to God knows where. The
plate of rice and meat stew in front of her looked delicious
but then she had lost appetite for it before she could even
begin. The waiter noticed it too. She took a sip of the
glass of juice in front of her and before she could put the
glass down, someone sat on the chair opposite her. It was
the guy from the nightclub.
"Hello, beauty. Do you remember me?"
"Eli," she said subconsciously.
"Gosh! You remembered my name. Beauty with
brains."
"Get out of here." he smiled at her getting her angry.
"I prefer the juice version of you. It looks better than
the tequila version of you. You were off the last time I met
you but who knew your eyes could be so demanding and
attention-seeking in the light."
"Have you been paid to annoy me because I don't
meet fools on the regular."
"Guess what, this is the first fool that is meant for
you. Just like Snoh Aalegra said, I'll be a fool for you."
"What do you want?"
"Your name."
"I've had enough on my plate for the day."
"I can handle you if you want me to. You'd feel hungry sooner than you'd expect." Ally Halle poured the glass of
juice on his face and then walked away. He wiped it off
and screamed back at Ally Halle who was walking away.
"I'll give you a glass of milk next time!"
*
"I frankly think I don't need you anymore but then I
have to see you till the end of the month," Alessia said to
her therapist. He smiled back at her.
"What makes you think so?"
"The person that needs this therapy is my
mother. She's going through a lot and today she voiced a
part of it out to Ally Halle in tears. She said something
factful that made me cry," he didn't comment. He stared at
her in a way that told her to continue and that he was
listening, "She said that she has her first daughter drinking
the night away in a nightclub and her second seeing a
therapist and wondered if she was cursed."
"There is no sin in seeing a therapist," he said and
she looked back at him with her you've-gotta-be-joking
look and he smiled.
"If you say so."
"Do you want to help them?"
"I do."
"Apart from your mother, who is the closest
figure in your sister's life?"
"My father's ex-girlfriend, Nicole," she laughed.
"Let Nicole convince Ally Halle to stop going to the club and that way your mother is relieved of one problem.
What do you think of that?"
*
Sabella got back to her senses when she spotted
Lawrencia and a gentleman got out of the manager's
office that was opposite the kitchen. Lawrencia saw her
and got closer to the man. They hugged each other.
"What brings you here, Sabella? I thought you owned
a food company so what brings you into another."
Lawrencia as usual, did not know when to say what.
"What food company?" the man asked.
"She's the wife of the deceased owner of KAS
Food..."
"And the current general manager of KAS Food as
well." Sabella corrected giving Lawrencia a friendly but
tough stare. The man pulled his glasses up a bit.
"O I remember the face! Aren't you Kofi's ex-wife?"
"Ex-wife?" she questioned with surprise, "No, I'm his
wife. We never got divorced."
"Maybe he didn't get the chance to divorce you."
"We were not planning on a divorce, mister. What
makes you think the both of us wanted a divorce? I love
my husband." Sabella raised her tone a bit feeling insulted
by the man's play of words. Lawrencia came in.
"Sabella, let me introduce you to Chris Foster, the
manager of the Bocelli Restaurant. I was in the same
Church with his wife in the States, that's how I got to meet him."
Sabella
stared
with
the
how-the-fuck-is-that-of-concern-to-me
look
but
then
smiled warmly.
"I knew your husband back when he was in KNUST.
He was a friend of mine and I never agreed to his marriage
to you. You were such a whore."
"Excuse your language. And what makes you think
you know me so much to call me a whore?"
"I was in KNUST too. I saw you. I saw how you played
around with people like William and Kerron and I advised
Kofi but he was head over heels in love with you so I was
glad when he started bringing another woman here
regularly during the year he died. He told me he divorced
you and the lady told me she was his new lover but then
look at you still being in the picture." Sabella swallowed
hard.
"Do you know who she was?"
"Of course, we were in the same History class
together, Trina Kena." it was Lawrencia's turn to be
shocked.
*
"Tell me sincerely, what do you plan on doing with
Macey Tengey because I know you do not fully trust her."
Nicole asked The Don. He turned to her with a smile.
"She doesn't know much and now her major work is
to inform Sabella that it was Richmond that killed her
father and best friend, Obed. Sabella's reaction will
determine what I'll do to Macey next."
"I hope murder is not part of your plans." Kofi came in
next, as he climbed down the stairs.
"Macey doesn't know you exist in here. She comes
here often and doesn't know about you so about the
murder we'll see if it has to get there."
*
Jana went to visit her daughter's grave. Pious was
now handling things at Face Textiles and Jana had more
time to herself. She placed a new set of flowers on
Josephine's grave.
"It's been just a couple of weeks but it feels like years
since I last held you. I love you so much Josephine and
those monsters are surely going to pay for what they did
to you I promise you."
"Empty promises are not the best." Jana turned to the
sight of Isaac. He had the company of some of Nutifafa's
men. Jana smiled.
"I won't be so sure they are empty."
"You smile at the sight of me now, Jana Gyan." he
sounded impressed.
"What more do you have to take from me? Nothing.
You took my all and I don't care if you kill me this
moment." he pointed a gun at her and she didn't flinch. Her
smile broadened instead and Isaac put the gun down.
"I have no issue with you so I won't pull the trigger but
then tell my lovely Sabella that Mr. Nutifafa Costa wants to
meet up with her."
"Haven't you guys had enough? You placed her
daughter in a depressing state. What more do you
want from her? She needs to settle her scores with my
boss and with me too," he laughed, "Tell her the Labadi
Beach Hotel, 8 p.m, tomorrow evening. If she doesn't show
up we'll pay a little visit to her office and then her secretary
and then all the little useless employees and then we'll
jump to the apex and shut everything down. It's her call...
O and also, no Police, strict instructions otherwise one of
her daughters will pay for it. He hates the Police."
*
When Sabella got to the office she looked like she
had seen the dead and Gyebi noticed it. She rushed to her
office and shut the door behind her and Gyebi turned to
Julius.
"Hello muscled guard, what happened to her?"
"Let's just say it's not one of her good days."
"Huh, I've even forgotten what those days look like."
Kay saw it too. He didn't care that Sabella had shut the
door after entering. He walked in without knocking and
shut the door behind him too.
"I don't want to see anyone!" she screamed out loud
in tears.
"I'm not going till you tell me what happened."
"Didn't you hear me?!"
"I said I'm not going anywhere."
"Karma is working so hard on me. That is what is happening!" she cried out loud and then got over to the
other side and hugged Kay which surprised him. She
hardly or even never hugged him. "I'm tired of all this, Kay.
I just found out that Kofi sent Trina to the Bocelli
Restaurant and told the manager that he divorced me and
that Trina was his lover! Did he stoop that low? Is this a
man worth crying for?" Kay embraced Sabella tighter.
"How did you find out?"
"The manager told me himself and he was even
happy about it because he referred to me as a whore and
that he was glad that Kofi was bringing another woman
there."
"He's stupid but how did you find out that Kofi and
Trina went to that restaurant?" Sabella pulled away from
Kay.
"You were his brother. You must have known that
Kofi was cheating on me..."
"I swear on my life that I knew nothing about this. I'm
just as shocked as you are." he held Sabella again.
"I found out through Nicole's detective. He found out
that Kofi was there that night he died with another woman
and that woman was Trina. He also found out that the
camera records for that night were cleared before anyone
could get to it. Someone tampered with Kofi's car brakes
that night and that was what led to his death and I'll do
everything in my power to find out who."
"I want to be involved in this. If Kofi was
murdered I want to find out who did that to him. Kofi is my
brother and we have to find the culprit behind this. Did you know that Eugene tried to attack Sedem and Clifford last
night?"
"No!" Sabella replied in shock, "What happened?"
"I got there in time to save her from him and then I
gave him the beating of his life. I'm not sure he'll be near
them again."
"Thank you," she replied as she wiped off her tears.
"I have to focus now. Everyone needs my focus. Ally
Halle slept out yesterday and I spoke to her..."
"You mean you argued with her. Alessia
told me."
"I needed to get things straight to her."
"She needed it."
*
"This is what you want, Thelma," Therod passed a file
over to his daughter and she glanced through.
"He's from Kumasi and studied at KNUST. He has
qualifications for land surveying."
"That's what surprises me," Therod responded. "He
can do more than being a guard."
*
Sabella was putting facts together. Some were
forming up and some were just not making sense. She
turned to Julius who was in the room with her, "So you
never found Ke Smith?"
"Such a name. I thought I'd never hear it again. What makes him so important to you?"
"I don't know if it's me or you tend to ask a lot of
questions of late."
"I kept mute and you requested I talk and then I talk
you requested for me to go mute again. I can go back to the
version I came in with." Sabella just stared at him. There
was a knock on the door and Sabella let the person in. It
was Gyebi.
"Ma'am Sabella, you have a visitor. It's Mrs Gyan."
"Let her in." Jana walked in soon and her attention
moved to Julius before turning to Sabella. "Don't worry. I'm
cool with him here. What's the problem?"
"Isaac approached me at the cemetery," Sabella
stood up.
"What did he want?"
"Nutifafa wants you to meet him tomorrow at the
Labadi Beach Hotel, 8 p.m. sharp, and I feel like he'll be
planning something mega for you. No Police, strict
instructions."
"Date night. I can't wait," she replied honestly.
'
"Be careful."
"I couldn't be more careful."
*
"Some thieves knocked my friend down and I want you
to find them. Pack them in front of a Police station with
their fingers chopped off." Gina said to The Don on the phone and then hung up the call.
*
"I don't know about marriage but I feel like every
groom should be happy about getting married at this time
and not looking as wasted as you," Terrence commented
as he watched Adel finish half a bottle of wine. He turned
to Terrence.
"What happens when you fall in love with someone
else right at the period you're supposed to get married to
the woman of your dreams?"
"OMG! I need to help you drink that," he jumped from
behind and sat on the sofa next to Adel, "Now tell me, who
is this other lady?"
"Is it important?"
"Are you willing to fight for that other woman?"
"I want to but I can't let Kira Halle. She put a lot down
to be with me."
"You meant she dumped the son of a member of
parliament to be with you." Adel turned to Terrence
knowing what he meant.

BERNA @ 43

Nicole came for her usual visits to see Kofi. He still
had no memory of them and not even a picture of Sabella
was helping him. Nicole came with a different photo this
time alone. It was the photo from the night Kofi proposed
to Sabella. He grabbed the photo from her
and tears
suddenly rushed down his eyes.
"I thought it was burnt too with no life so that's why I
chose it. At a point, we feel like there's nothing more we
can do but then the light shines through the burns and
through the dark. That light is always in us no matter how
dark it gets," he held his head and cried even more.
"Kofi, is something wrong? I'm sorry if I tried to force
you to remember again. Please forgive me." he smiled at
her.
"I remembered everything from that day. I proposed
to Sabella. I promised her happiness just to make her sad
with my departure," he held Nicole's cheeks, "I remember
you. I remember everything."
"O Goodness!" she sighed happily and hugged him.
*
Sabella sat in bed holding a picture of Kofi and
Juanita walked into Sabella's room angrily and then
slapped her. Therod rushed in too to the sight of his
mother and sister in tears.
"Get a hold of yourself, Sabella!" she cried even more,
"Your children need you. You were not the only one that
lost Kofi. They lost him too. They lost their father. It's been
three years. Gather yourself for Ally Halle and Alessia. You
are still a bright woman with a promising future. Don't
destroy it because of the demise of one man."
"You have no idea what he was to me."
"Do I look like I care? If I did this when your father
died do you think you'd have had a future? You'd have been
broken but then I stood strong for the sake of the both of you. I lost my husband and pretended as if it was nothing
because I knew that I had children that needed my love
and I couldn't forsake them and it's your turn to do that.
Ally Halle and Alessia are your life, treat them as such."
*
It was after a drama performance in the arts theatre
that Eli decided to pull this up. He rushed to the stage
when the drama was over and then took the microphone.
Someone rushed to the side of Kira Halle and held a
microphone as he gently stood by her side. She was
confused as well as most of them there but everyone
knew it was obvious before he got to say it. "I've wanted to
say this for a long time now and it's directed to you Kira
Halle," he wiped his hands while he stared at Kira Halle.
She smiled at the public gesture. A lover of much
amusement and it was going to be the topic of discussion
for a while because he was the son of a member of
parliament, "I love you and I want you to be my girlfriend."
she seemed surprised. Some murmured and some let out
wonderful looks at both Eli and Kira Halle. The guy put the
microphone to her lips ready for her reply.
"I'm sorry, Eli. All I can be is your friend. I love
someone else and I don't even think he loves me." she
looked around the theatre and then her eyes met with Adel
Arthur. He stood there with his brother and even though he
wanted to move he knew he couldn't. It was as if Kira
Halle's gaze had glued on him, "I prefer Adel Arthur."

PRESENT BERNA

"The truth finally came out although in the worst
possible place and time," Aaron admitted. Macey sat there thinking for a while before moving to Aaron's side.
"One truth revealed and now there is another to be
revealed."
"What is that?"
"I want you to find a means of telling Sabella that it was
Richmond that killed her father and Obed."
"How the hell do you know this?!"
"I found out later on."
"Is there something you're hiding from me?"
"I wish," she replied honestly.
*
Later that evening the Cudjoes were having dinner
when someone pressed the doorbell. "Did you welcome
anyone?" Sadat questioned his wife.
"No, I didn't." the maid went for the door and Berna's
mother walked in cheerfully. They all stood up and David
and Daniel rushed to their grandmother. Berna found it
hard to recognize her mother. The holy mother figure had
disappeared. She wore a hot pink mini skirt with a tight
African print spaghetti strap blouse. She walked in pin heels
and her deep black hair was in a pixie cut. Even Berna
wouldn't have loved to be in that but the 68-year-old
woman slayed as if it were nothing. Sadat had his eyes
wide open in shock. This wasn't the Gloria he knew.
"Mother, you should have told me that you were
coming. I'd have picked you up from the airport and what
happened to you?" the last part just rushed out of Berna's lips.
"Don't worry. I came with my boyfriend..."
"Boyfriend?!" everyone screamed together including
the children and she laughed.
"Yes, I'm currently dating. His name is Kenneth and
we'll be getting married soon. Trust me, you'll love him. He
went to his friend's place so we'll see him tomorrow. The
the main reason why I came was because Kerron invited me
to his daughter's wedding and I couldn't miss it." she
walked forward to the dining table, "I'm starving, what do
you have here?" she took an empty plate and began to
serve herself while Berna and Sadat stared at her
speechlessly.
"Is this Mrs Gloria Manu?"
"In flesh and blood," she responded and smiled.
*
Ally Halle was about to drive in but then she spotted
Adel stood out of his car and walked straight to hers.
She stood out of the car and walked to the other side,
"What are you doing here?"
"I can't get married to Kira Halle. I love you."
"Are you insane? What happened today was a
mistake. I am not going to destroy someone's marriage
because of what I did when I was drunk. It was just a mere
fantasy so forget about it."
"It was more than a fantasy to me, Ally Halle."
"I'm sorry but I can't help you. Forget that I ever said that I loved you. I respect Kira Halle's union with you and I
don't want it destroyed because of what I did," she knelt
down in front of him and he raised her.
"Stop what you're doing."
"Please get married to her." Adel embraced Ally Halle
and she cried and he cried too. Julius was driving Sabella
home around that time and she came to meet her
daughter hugging Adel in tears. A sharp pain passed
through her as she imagined the unimaginable. Was her
daughter in love with Adel? Ally Halle turned and noticed
their presence too and let go of Adel. He walked back to
his car and drove off and Ally Halle wiped her tears and
rushed back to her car.
"Isn't that the guy supposed to be getting married
tomorrow?" Sabella didn't respond. She remembered
herself in Kerron's bed a night before her wedding to Kofi
and the guilt rushed back to her face. That grievous
mistake.
*
Birgitta slept in bed next to her husband beaming
with smiles, "Tomorrow our son will be getting married
and our last baby will be legal."
"Good for Saffron but I won't be so happy for Adel."
What do you mean?"
"I just see another woman joining the family to live a
life without love." he turned to the other side and slept
leaving his wife to think.