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
Bruno was unlocking the door when he had a sense that something was wrong. He began to turn around but never completed the motion. Something struck the back of his head and he thought his skull had been split open. He fell forward, hit the door frame and bounced backward onto the ground. He rolled over and tried to sit up, briefly glimpsing the silhouettes of two powerful men. They half dragged, half lifted Bruno to the rear of his shack.
“We know what you are doing,” they said together in Twi, punching him repeatedly in the face. His nose cracked and he tasted his salty blood. He fell back and they kicked him in the head and in his guts. “You better stop or we kill you next time.”
Bruno waited for the next strike, but it didn’t come. He was suddenly alone. His mind told him to get up, but his body refused, and he sank into unconsciousness.
EIGHTY-TWO
EIGHTY-TWO
On Saturday morning, Emma went to Madina Market to shop for the week. The frenetic hustle and bustle were typical of any Saturday and everything was selling from pots and pans to freshly butchered goat meat to wide-screen TVs and microwave ovens. At a fabrics shop, Emma was irresistibly drawn to a gorgeous purse made of red leather and a contrasting black-and-white strip of kente along one edge. She bargained obstinately with the vendor until she got the price she wanted. Returning home laden with heavy shopping bags, Emma wondered when Bruno might call her. Perhaps in the afternoon after he had viewed his secretly recorded video with Sana Sana.
Having put her provisions away, Emma texted Bruno and waited about twenty minutes before trying both a voice and video call. Still no response. She began cooking, but not hearing from her stepbrother was bothering her. After trying one more time, she made up her mind. She needed to go to Cocobod to find him.
Emma knocked on Bruno’s door, but no one responded. She looked around and then walked over to the marijuana-smokers’ corner. Bruno was nowhere. She went back to his door and banged harder this time.
“Are you looking for Bruno?”
Emma turned to find a man in his mid-forties. She remembered him as one of Bruno’s neighbors. “Yes,” she said. “Good afternoon. Do you know where he is?”
He looked pained. “Oh, sorry to tell you. They found him this morning at the back of the house and took him to the hospital. Somebody beat him very badly last night.”
Emma drew her breath in sharply. “Awurade.”
“I think they took him to the Military Hospital.”
“But, but was he okay?”
“Anyway, I can’t say exactly. He could talk a little bit, but his face was very bad.”
Emma felt sick. “Thank you for letting me know. I’ll go there now.”