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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

“Who is your dad, then?” Dazz asked.

Edwin gave a dry laugh. “I knew that was coming next. I’m not even sure if I should say. You’ve already had quite a few surprises for one night. Are you ready?”

The other two nodded.

“You know my father quite well,” Edwin said. “He’s Commissioner Andoh.”

They were struck dumb for a moment. Then Courage said, “Wow, you are right. You have a lot of surprises.”

“I’m truly short of words,” Dazz muttered.

“Mummy met Daddy before she met Mr. Akrofi,” Edwin continued. “I was an accident, to put it in a frank way. The commissioner wanted to marry Mummy, but she was already in love with Mr. Akrofi. So, now you can imagine the way my father treats me.”

“I guess not well,” Dazz said. “You represent the woman he lost.”

“You could say that,” Edwin said, with a hint of bitterness. “He hates Mr. Akrofi, but I don’t think the IGP knows that. And me? I’ve spent a long time waiting for the day my father will approve of me. That’s why I became a policeman. But I’m done with trying. I don’t care about him anymore.”

Dazz and Courage looked at Edwin with some—not complete—understanding. They could see why Edwin was sometimes moody and introspective.

“We aren’t worried about any of this, Edwin,” Dazz said. “You are still our good friend and colleague, okay? In fact, I feel our friendship is even stronger.”

“Agreed,” Courage said. “Let’s have some more beer and drink to that.”

NINETY-ONE

NINETY-ONE

The Saturday after Edwin moved, he held a housewarming party, which gave Courage an excuse to invite Emma out. She accepted. Although not authorized to do it, Courage had told Emma beforehand about Edwin’s secret: the parents very few people knew he had and his formative years growing up as a kind of adoptee.

“That’s quite a story,” Emma had commented. But honestly, it wasn’t that remarkable, she reflected later. The Ghanaian’s concept of “family” was quite fluid. Kids often went away to stay with aunts, uncles, grandparents, and even distant relatives for financial, catastrophic, or other reasons. It was normal. Words like brother, sister, mother, father were used quite loosely.

Around thirty people were at Edwin’s party, most of which he held in the backyard. But the guests spilled over into the sitting room and the kitchen. Emma recognized a few faces from CID, but apart from the host, Courage, and Dazz, she knew very few people. Edwin introduced Emma to Ginger, a glamorous woman somewhat above his age who appeared to be his girlfriend—well, for the evening, at least.

Plenty of lavishly catered food and drink were on hand, accompanied by a loud hiplife music playlist. Emma chatted within reach of Courage. He was being neither possessive nor indifferent to her—somewhere in the middle—and Emma was fine with that.