Everything was the same, nothing had changed. The girl in the corner, the boy on the bed and someone holding her hand tightly. In the dream she hadn't seen Lydia, she had just felt the hand. Naa remained transfixed.
In the dream she had seen dark images around the sobbing girl and had had a flashback where the girl was in a compromising postion with the boy who was seated on the bed.
'What is wrong Naa...you seem shocked. Lydia interrupted her thoughts with a question.
'I ... Don't worry. What's your daughter's name again.' Naa regained her composure.
'Andrea.' Lydia stated.
Naa slowly walked up to Andrea and squatted. She was secretly grateful she had opted to wear low sandals before leaving the house. She stretched out her hand and said a simple prayer.
'Andrea, come let's sit on the bed.' Naa invited.
Andrea looked up with bloodshot eyes and croaked,
'It's filthy...'
'What is filthy?' Naa asked.
'The bed ...the bed is...' Andrea began and broke out into loud sobs again.
Naa went on her knees and hugged Andrea,
'Stop crying, we will change the beddings so it's neater for you.'
'It's filthy... It's dirty...' Andrea said and cried louder.
'What is all this eh....one man...o God! Why did I marry this man...just look at all this nonsense!' Lydia paced around the room.
'Get up from the bed Nana...your sister says the beddings are dirty...let's change it so she can come to bed.'
*** *** *** ***
Nana remained frozen. He didn't like the way Andrea was speaking. What if she ended up saying the truth.
His heart beat faster, he felt he was in deep trouble now.
'Nana!' Lydia exclaimed startling Nana in the process.
'Did you hear me at all?! This is not the time to remain frozen in time. Go and get new bedsheets! Your sister says her bed is filthy!'
'Yes please.' He replied rising up from the bed and heading towards the laundry room. They had a small cabinet there where they stored all the beddings.
*** *** *** ***
'Lydia calm down please. You have been going back and forth for a while now.' Naa coaxed from Lydia's bed.
Nana and Lydia had changed the beedsheet and pillow cases and Nana had helped carry Andrea into bed. At first Andrea had been violent when Nana tried touching her but Naa had told her everything would be fine. Naa had prayed again for her and watched her fall asleep before leaving her side and ushering everyone out of the room.
'You don't understand Naa...you don't... Andrea is acting up because her father just appeared out of nowhere.' Lydia said in anguish.
Naa let out a loud sigh from her mouth and replied.
'What if that isn't the case Lydia...what if something else is causing her to act up?'
'You think she is ill...like she has a fever...but she didn't have a temperature.'
'Calm down Lydia! Please! And come and sit down!' Naa said in frustration, pulling Lydia to the bed in the process.
'Just allow yourself to breathe.' Naa encouraged her friend.
Lydia let out a deep breath and rubbed her nose.
'I am so angry at him.'
'I know you are Lydia, but you shouldn't be...your anger towards him is wrongly channeled.' Naa said.
'Who should my anger be channeled at? My children?...I can't...:
'Lydia...calm down please....I think we need a change in scenery. I will call my meeting off so we can go to my house.'
Lydia forcefully got out of bed and angrily said,
'Naa...you must be joking.. You can't expect me to leave my daughter here like that... In her present state...I can't...please no...'
'We can take her along if...' Naa began
'No Naa...we are staying here...I can't leave her like that... You yourself saw ...'
'I am sorry... But I will still call off my meeting. I want to spend the whole day with you and your family.'
'Ok...' Lydia replied and allowed herself to fall onto her bed again.
'There is no food though or ingredients...so...' Lydia continued.
'I will go out and get some stuff so we cook..don't worry.' Naa assured Lydia.
After staring at the ceiling for a while, Lydia softly spoke.
'Thank you Naa...'
*** *** ***
Nana stood in front of his hoisted LED TV and stared at the blank screen. His mind was hard at work. After a moment, he walked out of his room to Andrea's ,leaned against the door post and looked at her as she slept on her bed
'Don't spill anything Andrea....we would stop...I promise...please just don't tell mum or anyone all we have done. Dad knowing our secret is enough.'
*************
Samuel Antwi allowed his knees to hit the cemented ground which served as the entrance to the church. He couldn't take the pain in his chest anymore. This wasn't how everything was supposed to turn out. He grabbed his chest as the pain increased and groaned softly at first. The pain intensified giving way to louder groans before he finally passed out.
*** *** *** *** *** ***
Samuel could hear beeping and the shuffling of peoples feet. It felt distant at first but drew nearer. He didnt want anyone knowing he was awake- Samuel was in need of no fuss. His mind began to wander to the happeningof the past few months and how in a bid to regain respect from his wife and children, he had gone more than the extra mile. Samuel had not told anyone of his ordeal or why he had been off the grid for so long. Some months back, while he stood beside a coconut vendor, he had met an old time friend and had partially narrated his current crisis to him highlighting how he had become jobless and divorced. Samuel had been desperate since all his friends had shunned him after his job loss. Paa Kwesi, his friend, had assured Samuel he would get him to Italy with no passport so he could begin making some good money again. On the spur of the moment, Samuel had laughed at the idea but had still stretched out his hand to grab Paa Kwesi's business card.
Upon returning to his ramshackle apartment, he had looked around and at himself. His clothes were all old and he lived on minial jobs which honestly didn't provide much. His daughter Andrea and son Nana seemed to be a bit out of touch. He wished all this conspiracy had never happened- he felt so inadequate everytime he had to appear in his wife's house to visit his children or grace an occasion in connection with them- he wanted to do more.Taking out Paa Kwesi's card from his back pocket- he had looked intently and finally decided to call and enquire how exactly Paa Kwesi was going to help him get to Italy. His visa had expired a long time ago and he remembered visiting Italy a couple of times during his numerous business trips while he worked with his former company.
A few days passed and Samuel paid a visit to Paa Kwesi's office. There he had found out he didn't need a visa afterall because they would use an alternate route. The mention of alternate route hadn't made him any comfortable but he knew he had to leave the country if he wanted to make some money. Paa Kwesi had informed him the last batch of people would be leaving within the next three days and that if Samuel wanted to join, he had to pay quickly to ensure he went along with them. The only alternative if he couldn't pay quickly was to wait another six months while they gathered the next batch of immigrants. Samuel didn't think he could spend another six months in the country going through the same sad routine which barely fetched him anything.
He had left Paa Kwesi's office and headed to the bank to empty his last savings account, sold his phone and a couple of appliances in his room as well in order to gather money to pay.
Twenty- four hours to the deadline, he had barged into PK's office and dropped off all the money. Everytime Samuel had sat to reconsider this decision- he remembered Lydia and how she thought low of him and how his children didn't seem to be able to look into his eyes.
The pit in his stomach grew larger as the journey continued but true regret about his decision began when they got to Niger and he saw the expanse of sand and the scorching sun. Paa Kwesi had not accompanied them but had left them in the hands of another dark, bulky gentleman.
Samuel had approached the gentleman to enquire if continuing the journey was safe but that hadn't gone too well. The bulky gentleman felt Samuel was questionung authority and had meted out some slaps to Samuel's sunken cheeks. Samuel had withdrawn and refused to continue the journey. A couple of the immigrants tried convincing him to stop being a coward but he had refused. The immigrants moved on, leaving a malnourished Samuel stranded in Niger with no money, phone or means of transport back home.
*** *** ***
Samuel struggled to open his eyes-there seemed to be too much light wherever he was. And the place smelt funny.
He blinked a couple of times so his eyes could get used to the light.
'I see you are awake now.' He heard a male voice say.
'Where am I.' He struggled to say without turning his head.
'At the hospital. I brought you here after you collapsed in front of the church.'
'What happened to me?' Samuel asked.
'You had a mild heart attack.'
YOU ARE READING
Brotherly Love
Spiritual#6 in Restoration There is always the overbearing question about how deep your love for your sibling should be. How strong? Should there be boundaries? What then happens when you get sexually attracted to your sibling? Can God change that? And will...
