Jailbird
Episode 8
Effe hesitates, and for a moment she wishes he had not
asked her that, of all things.
She wishes she didn’t have to answer him.
She wishes there is a way of minimising the pain,
because she knows him very much, and she knows her
answer is going to hurt him very much.
EFFE
(looking away from his sad eyes)
I parked them, Chris, everything that belonged to you,
and I took them to your new house at Haatso.
He nods, and when she looks up she sees the tears
shimmering deep in his eyes, and she sees his jaws
working hard.
CHRIS
I see. The new house I built. You took everything of
mine out of your home, the moment I was jailed, and
you deposited them in my house. You knew I was jailed
for ten years and you took my stuff to that unoccupied
house? That’s quite a statement, Effe, quite a
statement.
She reaches out blindly to touch him again, but he takes
a step back away from her hand.
She hesitates for a moment, and slowly drops her hand.
EFFE
I’m sorry, Chris, but you must understand that I was
very angry and very hurt then. I was shattered by your
betrayal, Chris, and I reacted with that pain.
CHRIS
Okay. At least you didn’t dump them outside. And the
house, you still have the keys?
Effe hangs her head again and takes a deep breath.
Once again she wishes she can spare him the pain, and
she resents the sudden feeling she is having.
He is making her feel like a heartless bitter wife, and
she hates it so much.
He just cannot absolve himself from blame. He has to
understand how it was for her, the bitterness she had to
endure.
EFFE
(harshly, tears in her eyes)
For God’s sake, Chris! Stop judging me! How do you
think I felt, dealing with so many of your atrocities at
the same time? You raped my best friend, someone I
considered a sister! You beat a poor old man almost to
the point of death! You sniffed your d–n cocaine and
almost killed an innocent little girl when you hit her
with your car! She lost a leg, Chris! I was at the crest
of my career, making a name for myself in a prestigious
law firm! And suddenly my name is all over television,
the wife of the crazy GojuFist coach! My career
suffered, my life suffered, your son suffered! Do you
think it was a bed of roses for me, d–n you?
Chris stares at her without moving.
He just nods again and runs a hand through his hair.
CHRIS
I just asked for the keys to my house, Effe. I have
nowhere else to go.
She wraps her hands around her upper arms and takes a
deep shuddering breath.
Yes, the keys to his house, a house he had built with
every cedi he had earned as a coach for the professionals
of the deadly kick-boxing sport known as GojuFist.
He had built it for them, and just when it was
completed life had taken a cruel twist, and he had been
arrested.
Out of pain she had taken all his stuff to that house,
locked it up, and given the keys to Chris’ father.
Oh, how she has come to regret that single act! Oh,
how she wishes she isn’t here now to give him the
terrible news.
His words reverberate in her mind over and over again!
I have nowhere else to go, I have nowhere else to go!
How can she tell him about what his father had done
when he got the keys and documents to the house?
How can she continue to hurt this boy who is suddenly
out of prison and is going to face the hatred of a lot of
people?
EFFE
I gave the keys to your father, Chris.
He just looks at her. He tries to speak, but he says
nothing again.
He silently walks out of the door and shuts it behind
him.
Effe stares at the closed door.
She puts a hand to her lips and sinks helplessly into a
chair.
She makes no sound as her tears fall hard, and her
shoulders shake.
JOSHUA
(kindly)
It’s okay, Effe, my sweet. It’s okay. It’s over now.
He signed the papers. It’s over now.
Allan Davidson shakes his head sadly, and wipes his
eyes as if he has tears in them.
COMMANDER
Is it really over, Josh? Divorces are always nasty.
Remember, matters of the heart are always a
b—h…sorry for my language, madam.
SOMEWHERE IN MADINA
The watch he had bought as a birthday gift for his son
had cost one hundred and fifty cedis, and he had paid
with the part of the two hundred cedis Reverend Jon Fii
had given him.
The taxi driver to Effe’s house had taken twenty cedis.
Chris therefore has exactly thirty cedis in his pocket.
Chris is feeling very hungry when he walks out of the
police station.
He has not eaten since leaving prison. He crosses the
street and walks along with a heavy heart until he sees a
‘hausa koko’ stand.
He sits down and buys three cedis worth of hausa koko
porridge and kose.
He eats slowly, and afterwards buys a bottle of water.
He joins two tro-tro cars, and by the time he reaches
Haatso he has twenty-three cedis on him.
From the roadside to where he had built his house five
years ago is quite a distance, but he walks.
He enjoys the walk, and the feel of the free air on his
face.
He drinks in the clean air, and enjoys every step he
takes.
Life in prison had been a life of death. Chief Inspector
Danso Cuger had ensured that his stay had been fraught
with danger and pain… and it had really been hard for
him.
This is his first free walk in a while, and the air of
freedom is his constant companion.
He is alive, and that is what is important.
He remembers a sermon Jon Fii had preached once in
prison, titled Dom Spiro, Spero. Jon had told them
the Latin phrase meant “Once I breathe, I hope.”
He is breathing now.
Life is upside down, because without Effe and Junior,
life is not worth living.
But as long as he is breathing, there is hope for the
future.
The house he has built is a thing of beauty. He had
wanted his wife and child to have the best, and he has
put every cedi in it.
It is a flat house, but it is huge, built with intricate
state-of-the-art designs and inputs.
He stands in front of the house and admires its upper
terraces which are visible above the walls and the gate.
He frowns suddenly when the gate suddenly rattles, and
then it slides back gently on electronic rails.
At the same time a huge dog inside the house lets out a
furious bark.
Chris finds himself looking at a fat, short man in an
expensively-cut suit.
He is bald and has a great moustache which is
completely grey.
The dog is making a lot of noise as a middle-aged
woman appears behind the man and heads for a sleek
Toyota V8 parked in the yard.
A fat teenage girl also hops excitedly towards the car
and opens its back door.
The man is startled to see Chris, and he raises his
eyebrows with an unsmiling face.
MAN
(voice unfriendly)
Hello? Looking for something?
Chris looks at him coldly and with a little
incomprehension.
CHRIS
Sorry, I didn’t know it was occupied.
The fat man frowns darkly and with sudden suspicion.
MAN
Didn’t know it was occupied? What’s that supposed to
mean, young man?
Before Chris can speak the woman, obviously the man’s
wife, walks forward and stands beside her husband.
WOMAN
(looking shocked)
My God! It’s you really!
MAN
(turning to his wife)
You know him, sweetheart?
WOMAN
(still looking shocked)
Yes, yes. He’s pastor’s youngest son.
MAN
(equally startled now)
Pastor Bawa?
WOMAN
Yes, dear.
MAN
His last son? Didn’t I hear he’s in prison?
The woman digs an elbow into her husband’s side gently
to shut him up, and she smiles at Chris, but it is a
false smile.
It is evident that she is suddenly very scared.
WOMAN
Chris Bawa, right?
Chris nods without speaking.
WOMAN
(giving a shaky laugh)
Well, I’m Sandra Bediako. This is my husband,
Fred. We’re members of your father’s church.
Chris nods again, and he feels the pain rising up
somewhere deep in his chest again.
He is suddenly a little scared, and he feels the
desperation rising up in his stomach.
CHRIS
Glad to make your acquaintance. Are you renting the
house?
MR. BEDIAKO
(with a hard angry chuckle)
Renting? What in the name of hades is that? Look
here-
His wife digs an elbow into his side again, this time a
little bit harder, and the man gulps with a little pain,
looking at his wife with bitter eyes.
MRS. BEDIAKO
Cool down, darling. Actually Chris owned the house,
you remember, don’t you?
Mr. Bediako glares at Chris, and then his expression
softens a little.
MR. BEDIAKO
(brusquely)
Look, son, I understand your discomfiture. Well, let
me elucidate you, and bring you up to scratch, because
I can see you’re obviously distraught. I’ve heard about
you. I only joined your father’s church two years ago,
but my wife has been a member for more than ten
years. Yes, I heard you were in prison, quite
unfortunate, quite unfortunate, really. But the truth of
the matter is that your father, Reverend Brand Bawa,
sold this house to me four years ago.
It hits Chris hard.
It hits him so hard that for a moment his legs go weak
and he almost crashes to the ground.
His breath comes in short wheezes, and he fights hard
for control.
He stares at them with impotent rage and desperate
despair.
This is his home, his house, built with his sweat, with
every cedi he had earned.
Sold! By his own father!
Mrs. Bediako and her husband exchange little looks of
worry.
MRS. BEDIAKO
I’m very sorry, Chris. But yes, that’s what
happened. You can pick up the issue with your father,
if you want.
Chris fights for control. He looks at them after a while.
CHRIS
I see. You’re right, it’s my father I have to confront
over this, not you. But, my things were put in there.
At least that’s what my ex-wife told me. Would you
happen to know what happened to them?
Once again the couple exchange scared and guilty looks.
The dog in the house lets out a series of deafening
barks.
MR. BEDIAKO
Susan, shut up that mad dog!
The fat girl gets out of the car and races around the
house.
MRS. BEDIAKO
(softly)
Well, yes, Chris, there were stuff in there. Two days
before we moved in we came here, and your Dad had
brought everything out of the house and dumped them
right here, outside!
MR. BEDIAKO
(worried)
Gee, sweetheart! Is it necessary to tell him all that?
MRS. BEDIAKO
Yes, honey. He deserves to know. People came for
your stuff, Chris, when your father dumped them
outside. Maybe he felt you would need new things by
the time you came back.
This time Chris hangs his head.
His house is gone. All his possessions are gone.
His wife and son are gone.
He is free of prison, but he has just entered a more
terrible prison, a worst kind of he..ll.
His heart beat with a pain so terrible he feels he is
going to faint.
Without a word he turns and walks away, and they
watch him go with guilty expressions on their faces.
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