Just like Adel 3

"Finally I get to meet Doris." I heard a familiar female voice say. I knew it was Adel. I turned to look at her and froze. I thought I was looking in a mirror. She looked just like me. She was startled too but masked it well. Dean laughed and said he had been waiting for this day for so long. I shook her hand and managed to smile. Besides our skin colour and bust size Adel and I looked too alike. She even wore glasses like me. Dean was about to pull a chair for me when I signalled to him not to. I lied about something I needed to do for my boss at the office. "You work this late?" A slim guy sitting next to Dean asked. I shrugged. I said a quick goodbye to everyone and left.

As I walked out a number of things run through my mind. All the times when Dean's friends thought I was his girlfriend now made sense. I stood in front of the restaurant waiting for an empty cab and saw a familiar face walking towards the entrance. Henry said a quick hello when he saw me. I nodded without even smiling and turned away. I wasn't interested in his unfriendly things at this time. My mind drifted back to my 'twin' immediately. Who knows maybe that was why Dean liked having me around. I shook my head. He was an idiot for not telling me. After 10 minutes of waiting in vain I realised every car that came to the restaurant was a private car. I probably had to walk to the main road to get a taxi. I reluctantly started walking. It was a pretty long walk.

I tried not to think too much about the issue. After less than 5 minutes of walking on the rough road I insulted myself for wearing heels to work. Just as I contemplated walking barefoot a car pulled up next to me. It was Henry. "I could drop you off at the junction if you like." He offered. I hopped into the car without wasting time. "My feet are killing me." I said unconsciously. Henry shook his head and drove off silently. His car was so comfortable, I got a little upset we were nearing the junction. Just then Henry's phone rang and he answered it. "What? How did that happen? I told Maria to wait. Just wait for me. I will be in the office soon. Call Ofori to see if he has another number for them." He said. He didn't look amused at all. "Are you going back to your office?" I asked with my fingers crossed. "Yea I need to get some issue sorted out." He replied. I tried to hide my smile. "Can I get a ride there? I don't live far from your office." I requested shyly. Henry just looked at me and when we passed the junction I guessed that was just his rude way of saying yes.

"You are not much of a talker are you?" I asked, adjusting my seat to feel more comfortable and noticed Henry staring at me. "Ei so the free loader isn't allowed to feel comfortable? " I said and he gave a faint smile. I giggled. "I should have dropped you off at the junction." He teased. I laughed and hit him playfully. "I'm a damsel in distress." I added. He seemed to be warming up to me. "No, you are a damsel who decided to wear uncomfortable shoes." He added. We both giggled and before we knew it had arrived.

Henry dropped me off just in front of his office and I took a taxi home. Honestly I could have walked but my shoes wouldn't have let me. When I got home I saw a text from Dean. "How did it feel meeting your twin?" it read. I rolled my eyes. "Dean, I'll get you on Monday." I said to myself. The best thing about the day was Henry. I was glad he was finally warming up to me. I could smell hope in the air.

To be continued... 

Grace of fear 2

 The bikers rode around yelling at each other for about 10 minutes and left. When all was clear Baaba looked for her keys and made a run for it. Luckily for her they didn't return. She breathed a sigh of relief when she entered her Auntie's house. Her hands were still trembling with fear when she laid down to sleep. After another 30 minutes she managed to fall asleep.

 Baaba went about her morning chores very quickly the next day. It was Saturday and she wanted to tell Ralph the good news. As she did her usual trip to the market for her auntie, she was so tempted to buy herself a thing or two with the money. She knew her Auntie would suspect her if she did so she left praying that where she hid the money was still safe. She called Ralph and asked him to meet her at the market. When she saw him she smiled and told him to guess the good news she had for him. He didn't seem amused at all. In fact he was quiet unhappy. This was strange.

   Ralph liked meeting up with her and was usually happy when she initiated it. "Ah, what's wrong? Did Bra Yaw ask you to pay for something again?" Baaba asked concerned. Ralph shook his head and shrugged. Bra Yaw owned the fitting shop where Ralph worked. He was very stern and would make his workers pay for every tiny mistake they made. Bra Yaw was another reason why Ralph wanted to leave for Kumasi. "What is the surprise? I have a lot of work to do." Ralph snapped. Baaba felt offended. Why was he taking all her fun away? Just then, Ralph's phone rang. He signaled at Baaba and walked away to answer the call. He was speaking very low so she wouldn't hear what he was saying. When he walked further away and turned his back to her she left. "I'll keep everything to myself then." she muttered as she walked away, a little heart-broken. B

 Baaba took the long route on her way home. She wanted to think. It was hard to think with her auntie yelling and screaming in the house over trivial things. As she walked home she couldn't help thinking about Ralph. He was the first friend she made when she moved to her auntie's house. She enjoyed his company because he was always full of smiles. He would always listen to her complain about her auntie and reassured her. Baaba didn't understand why he was acting strange. Maybe there was another girl. One who entertained his leaving town plan more than she did.

As she walked, she saw a large number of people in front of a house. She recognized one of the people, Agnes. Agnes used to work at the bar with her. Baaba walked to her and asked what was going on. "Some people robbed the man who lived here yesterday oh. They said the robbers used a special key to open all the doors. We are not safe anymore oh. The man and his daughter were asleep kwraa. They stole some plenty money the man had and shot him too." Agnes narrated. Baaba listened. "Ei, is he dead?" Baaba asked. "No he's been sent to the hospital. I feel sad for Nasara, his daughter. Her mother left the father last year. They said she preferred the father. Now she'll be forced to live with the mother. That woman is terror." Agnes continued. Baaba's heart sunk. She knew what living with a terror woman felt like. She noticed the time and rushed home.

 When she got home she was scolded for leaving a single plate unwashed. Baaba could not take it anymore. She was leaving, with or without Ralph. She went to her room after cooking the evening meal. She noticed Ralph had called her a number of times. She rolled her eyes and put the phone aside. She took out a pen and paper to write a list of what she needed to run away with. Then she locked her door and took out the money. She hadn't even counted it. The piece of paper around the money had something written on it. Baaba noticed it was a list. It read, "tomatoes, fresh fish, cabbage, light bulb, story books for Nasara..." Baaba froze.


 To be continued ...

My demons

I sit alone in the corner of my room

Through the window I can see the moon

When it gets darkest they all come, one by one

I'm in a dark room waiting for my demons to come

I always get startled, never see them arrive

Then again they don't knock or ask to join me

They just come, sit with me and we talk about me

I'm in a dark room and my first demon just came

"We should be drinking our head off so we dont have to think"

My first demon said. It's all about pleasure for him

Sometimes he makes sense so I grab a bottle

I'm in a dark room drinking with my demon

  Another came making noise so I told him to hush

"Oh come on, don't worry about other people"

That's what the selfish demon said. He had a point so I didn't

I'm in a dark room having fun with my demons

My demon of lies came when I was exhausted

"You guys I have work tomorrow", I said

"Call in sick. You worked hard last week", my demon said

I'm in a dark room listening to all 3 demons

When sunlight comes my demons will be gone

My head aches from the drinking.

My neighbour comes to warn me about my night noise

I was in a dark room but now I'm not so my demons are gone

I'm at work with a headache. I couldn't call in sick

Why do I entertain my demons? They hurt me

Maybe I should get rid of them...with the Light

No more dark rooms. I'm sending my demons away for good

Never again

"This is stupid." I said to myself as I tied my shoe lace. I yawned loudly and turned to look at my bed. It was so inviting. I looked away almost immediately and stood up. I stretched like a cat that had been sleeping all day and picked up my ipod. "Time for some motivation." I said to myself as I walked to the door. I found my Sarkodie album and plugged my earphones in. I locked the door behind me. I stepped outside and inhaled the fresh early morning air. It was still fairly dark. Yes, I was going jogging and no it wasn't my idea. My doctor recommended it. It felt stupid but it was either this or the gym and I wasn't ready to pay 200 cedis a month!

I started off with a brisk walk. It wasn't bad at all. I guess the music helped too. Before I knew it I was jogging. It was actually fun, well at least for a while. I looked around and saw a suit shop. The suits looked really good and it looked like the shop was having a sale. "Wow! How come I have never seen this before?" I asked myself as I passed it by. I always drove fast to work. Never checking my surroundings out. There was also a bookshop across the street. I stopped and looked through the glass. I saw tons of novels. The type my wife liked. I decided to come to the shop on my way to work when they would be open. I could get her some books as a present when she got back. I smiled faintly and started jogging again.

I was so carried away by the things I was seeing around that I run much further than I intended to. This was my first day so I planned to take it slow. I got to the bridge and almost screamed when I imagined how long the journey back was. I stopped and learned against a tree. I was breathing so hard. "Ah this doctor has worried me. Now I am going to be dozing at work." I said to myself. Just then I heard a sound. It was coming from the side of the bridge. It sounded like someone crying. I could see a figure. It looked like a girl. She had long black hair in a pony tail. It was still pretty dark and I wondered if this was a trick to have me robbed. I didn't know her anyways. It was none of my business. I turned around but still heard her. Her cry just sounded so genuine and then all of a sudden it stopped.

 I turned around and looked at her. She was standing up now. She put one leg over the rails. I run towards her and yelled, "stop!". She heard me and stopped she looked at me with fear in her eyes. "Don't come near me! No one is supposed to know!" She cried. I wasn't sure what to do so I stopped. "Why are you doing this?" I asked to buy me some time to think. "Why should I tell you? You don't care." She shot at me. Hmmm I wasn't sure what to say. "I just want to know why you are going this far?" I said. It seemed to work. She was silent for a while. "God took him away from me. I loved him so much." She said with tears forming in her eyes. "I'm sorry but this isn't the best thing to do." I added. "Why not? This was where I saw him. I knew he was perfect. He was cute you...it has to be here." She said, getting really emotional. She had a black bag around her hand. Probably some weight so her body won't float. I had thought long and hard enough. I had a plan.

 "My goodness what is that?!" I yelled, pointing behind her. This was the decoy. I run fast and pulled her away from the edge of the bridge. We both fell and I held her back. "You may not want me to but I will save your life. I can't let a young girl like you kill herself." I said. "What? What are you talking about?!" She said trying to break free. "Weren't you trying to jump off the bridge?" I asked, rather uncomfortable. "No you dimwit! I just wanted to throw my dead dog into the river." She replied pointing to the black bag. I turned and saw the tail of the dead dog sticking out. How embarrassing  I stood up and she managed to do that too. "You are strange." She said. I screamed, "I am strange?!" inside my head. "Sorry." I said and turned around and left. I was too shocked to tell her my piece of mind.

The next day I bought a treadmill and never went out jogging again. Forget the gym, I was going to stay home and workout. This world is full of strange people!

That neighbour in my hood 2

"Oh hi." I replied. I leaned on my gate. "Are you back home yet?" He asked. I immediately looked around. There was no one there. I smiled. "Yup. I just got home." I said and entered the house quickly. He sounded different on the phone. He was talking a bit faster. Maybe he was nervous. Hehehe. I was just about to ask a question when the line cut. I smiled again and put the phone in my pocket with plans to call back when I got into my room. Just when I got to my room my phone rang again. "Julian?" I asked myself and looked at the phone, but it was another number. I raised my eye brow small and answered the call.

 "Hello?" I said. “Hey, Juliet right? This is Julian." He said. I smiled. He probably run out of credit on the other line."Hey, what's up?" I said taking off my sandals. “You know, I've been meaning to ask you. How did you get my number?" I asked, slowly lying down on my bed. He giggled. "Oh I thought you knew by now. You left your phone in my car." He replied. I naturally put my hand in my pocket. My alternate phone wasn't there. "It must have slipped and fallen. So its with you right?" I asked again. He said yes and I calmed down a bit. That made sense. Interesting way to play out. "But hang on, that doesn't answer my question oh." I said, coiling into a spoon position. "Yea, that's right. I called a number on there to ask if the person knew your house so I bring it to you. The person, ehh Rita gave me some directions and said to call you on this number to confirm. I'm sorry if it’s weird." He explained. He sounded really nice. He had some low voice be like that. Lol. "Oh no. Thanks. I mean you went through all of this for me. I'm grateful." I replied. Awww he was so nice. 

We spoke for a bit. He told me where he lived and vice versa. “Hey I’ve got to run. Will bring your phone over in a bit, alright?” He finally said and hung up. I laid down on my bed for a while and got up to do some work. After my late lunch I couldn’t keep my eyes open much longer. “Chale what kwraa?” I said to myself and hit my bed. In no time at all I had fallen asleep. “I can play the background…” My ringtone played. I opened my eyes and slowly put the phone under my pillow. Sadly enough I could still hear it ring. I took a look at it and saw the number. It was what Julian used to call me the first time. Then I remembered. He was bringing the phone to my place.

 “Hello?” I answered reluctantly. “Oh did I wake you up? I’m so sorry.” He said. “No, no it’s ok. Are you at my place?” I said. There was a brief silence. “At your place?” He asked. I opened my eyes fully and checked the number again. “Isn’t this Julian?” I asked. “Yes, oh you should go back to sleep. I insist, you sound so tired.” He said again. Me naa I love me my sleep so I didn’t mind. We hung up and I turned to sleep some more. “Angmans!” My mother called. I had just started my second dream. I gave a feeble ‘yes’ and forced myself off my bed. The helper came to my room and said someone was looking for me. 

I did the slowest quick fresh up ever and went outside. Then I saw him, Julian. He was standing outside the gate. Seriously? “Hi.” I said, with a mix of surprise and gladness fused with a little confused. "Hey, hope I'm not interrupting. I should have called before I came." He said. He had a nice smile. I smiled too. "Oh it's fine. When you called I didn't think you would come any time soon. I thought you were allowing me to sleep." I replied. "Oh you slept?" He asked, handing the phone over to me. "Yup, but you told me to." I teased. His smile seemed to fade. "Really? I ...I don't remember telling you that." He said with a slight giggle. "Ah, when you called me like 10 minutes ago." I said folding my arms. "Huh, I called you just once. In the afternoon." He said, and I froze.  

To be continued...