Chapters (109)
- Part One
- ONE
- One day earlier
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- PART TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- EIGHTY
- EIGHTY-ONE
- EIGHTY-TWO
- EIGHTY-THREE
- EIGHTY-FOUR
- EIGHTY-FIVE
- EIGHTY-SIX
- EIGHTY-SEVEN
- EIGHTY-EIGHT
- EIGHTY-NINE
- NINETY
- NINETY-ONE
- NINETY-TWO
- NINETY-THREE
- NINETY-FOUR
- NINETY-FIVE
- NINETY-SIX
- NINETY-SEVEN
- NINETY-EIGHT
- NINETY-NINE
- GLOSSARY
- Acknowledgments
- Continue reading
- Part One
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
Nii sat back and looked authoritative. “For example, if I’m doing a romance scam, I can use your picture for it, or use you to answer the phone or Skype with the mugu.”
“Oh, I see.” Emma became as wide-eyed as possible. “Have you had one like that before?”
“But of course,” Nii said smoothly. “Many of them.”
“And you made a lot of money?”
“Anyway, somehow,” he said cagily.
“So, when can I do one?”
Nii winked at Bruno. “Will your sister make a good sakawa girl?”
Bruno nodded. “Yes, of course. You can trust her and mugus will like her paa. Like, we should make a company, the three of us.”
“Yeah,” Nii said as the idea immediately began to grow on him. “It’s true.” He looked at Emma. “What do you think?”
“I’m in. What should we call it?”
“Our initials, NBE,” Nii suggested.
“No, why not NEB?” Emma said. “Or BEN. The BEN Company.”
Nii nodded his approval. “Nice. Then let’s shake hands.”
After that little ceremony, the sakawa entity of BEN was born.
SEVENTY-EIGHT
SEVENTY-EIGHT
After Emma and Bruno had left Nii, they walked in silence for a while toward the closest tro-tro stop. Their footfall crunched rhythmically along the unpaved sidewalk. Somewhere, a nightclub was blaring music.
Then Bruno said, “Are you investigating something for Mr. Sowah? Because I know you really have no desire to be a sakawa girl. You’re trying to find something out. What is it?”
Emma looked at him and then at the ground before answering. “Yes, you’re right. I’m trying to find out what, if anything, Nii knows about the death of that American man, Gordon Tilson, last April. Nii met Tilson at a sports bar sometime in March.”
“Oh, really. That I didn’t know. I see you’ve been working diligently on this case.”
“To be honest with you,” Emma confessed, “Mr. Sowah told me to drop it, now that Tilson’s body has been found.”
“Then why are you disobeying him?”
Emma blew out her breath through her cheeks. “I don’t know. I can’t let it go.”
“My stubborn sister,” Bruno said knowingly. “You get something inside your mind, and you won’t let go of it. You’ve always been like that.”
“I used to annoy you when we were kids, right?” Emma said with a laugh.
“Yes!” Bruno exclaimed, affecting abject despair. “Very much. But it’s okay. You’re still my girl. Let’s sit here for a while.”
Outside a Stanbic Bank, they sat on a low wall after acknowledging the night security guard patrolling the grounds. Security guards don’t like to be ignored. Traffic sped by. The aroma of kelewele wafted over from somewhere, reminding Emma she hadn’t had much to eat all day.
“Look, I know my looking into Nii and the sakawa thing might be a problem for you,” Emma said.