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Back The Missing American Save as PDF
Chapters (109)
  1. Part One
  2. ONE
  3. One day earlier
  4. TWO
  5. THREE
  6. FOUR
  7. FIVE
  8. SIX
  9. SEVEN
  10. EIGHT
  11. NINE
  12. TEN
  13. ELEVEN
  14. TWELVE
  15. THIRTEEN
  16. FOURTEEN
  17. FIFTEEN
  18. SIXTEEN
  19. SEVENTEEN
  20. EIGHTEEN
  21. NINETEEN
  22. TWENTY
  23. TWENTY-ONE
  24. TWENTY-TWO
  25. PART TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY
  54. FIFTY-ONE
  55. FIFTY-TWO
  56. FIFTY-THREE
  57. FIFTY-FOUR
  58. FIFTY-FIVE
  59. FIFTY-SIX
  60. FIFTY-SEVEN
  61. FIFTY-EIGHT
  62. FIFTY-NINE
  63. SIXTY
  64. SIXTY-ONE
  65. SIXTY-TWO
  66. SIXTY-THREE
  67. SIXTY-FOUR
  68. SIXTY-FIVE
  69. SIXTY-SIX
  70. SIXTY-SEVEN
  71. SIXTY-EIGHT
  72. SIXTY-NINE
  73. SEVENTY
  74. SEVENTY-ONE
  75. SEVENTY-TWO
  76. SEVENTY-THREE
  77. SEVENTY-FOUR
  78. SEVENTY-FIVE
  79. SEVENTY-SIX
  80. SEVENTY-SEVEN
  81. SEVENTY-EIGHT
  82. SEVENTY-NINE
  83. EIGHTY
  84. EIGHTY-ONE
  85. EIGHTY-TWO
  86. EIGHTY-THREE
  87. EIGHTY-FOUR
  88. EIGHTY-FIVE
  89. EIGHTY-SIX
  90. EIGHTY-SEVEN
  91. EIGHTY-EIGHT
  92. EIGHTY-NINE
  93. NINETY
  94. NINETY-ONE
  95. NINETY-TWO
  96. NINETY-THREE
  97. NINETY-FOUR
  98. NINETY-FIVE
  99. NINETY-SIX
  100. NINETY-SEVEN
  101. NINETY-EIGHT
  102. NINETY-NINE
  103. GLOSSARY
  104. Acknowledgments
  105. Continue reading
  106. Part One
  107. ONE
  108. TWO
  109. THREE

The three of them laughed, but Emma noticed Solomon’s expression changed little if any.

“Mr. Zacharia,” she said, “we are asking if you can tell your fellow fishermen all about this. They should look out for something like what I described—a dead body, or a sack with something inside. Anything unusual.”

“By all means, madam,” Zacharia said, nodding vigorously. “I will start to look for something like that all around the weeds and the riverbanks near Adome Bridge. Please, give me your number in case I see or hear something. I will call you at once.”

Emma obliged, and Labram gave out his number as well. “Your boy is very quiet,” Emma said, smiling at Solomon.

“Yes,” Zacharia said soberly. “You know, he has some small problems. He finds it hard to communicate.”

“I understand.”

“But he fishes very well,” Zacharia said, brightening.

“Very good,” Emma said. She dug in her pocket and pulled out a couple bills, which she handed to Zacharia. At this rate, she was going to have nothing left. “Thank you, eh? We appreciate it very much if you can help us.”

“Not at all, madam,” he said. “I also thank you, and God bless you. If I find anything out, anything at all, I will call you or Mr. Labram for sure.”

FORTY-SIX

FORTY-SIX

May 22, Accra, Ghana

On the afternoon of his day off, Dazz Nunoo stopped for a couple of hours at Busy Internet on Ring Road to use their printing service. Having decided to find a part-time job to boost his family income, he had updated his resume. He was hoping he could find a position with an upscale security company. While waiting for his copies, he looked around the large, warehouse- like space occupied by row upon row of computer terminals and every seat occupied by people of all shapes and sizes. But young men predominated—students and otherwise. Dazz wondered how many of the “otherwise” were sakawa boys, and with some grim amusement visualized himself walking down the aisle to ask each of them who was their overseas mugu of the day.

Resume copies in hand, he stepped out of the air-conditioned environment into the humid warmth of the afternoon. Heavy, dark clouds gathering in the northern sky promised rain in short order and Dazz, like all bona fide Accra residents who pointedly reject the use of umbrellas, hoped he would reach home before he got wet. He hurried to the lorry park just before the Ring Road flyover, passing the Samsung electronics store he had once visited and promptly left on seeing the eye-popping prices. Now he slowed down as he spotted Courage, his SWAT buddy, exiting the store with two employees who were carrying a large rectangular box emblazoned on the side with the words, samsung smart tv 52”. They carted it to the bed of Courage’s pickup truck and secured it with cables. Wow, Dazz thought, a fifty-two-inch Samsung? That ran a pretty penny.