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
The men played checkers in the gathering gloom until finally one of them switched on a bare bulb over the front door of the house. The time was almost 6:20 p.m. Bruno was wondering if he should wait any longer when one of the board game players received a text from Kweku saying he was almost there. In Ghanaian time, that could mean another hour, but fortunately he appeared after only thirty minutes.
In real life, Kweku was smaller than he had seemed to Bruno when he had seen him on YouTube. He walked quickly and his carriage was so erect as to appear angled slightly backward.
He glanced around the compound and spotted his guest. “Are you Bruno?”
Bruno stood up. “Yes please.”
“You brought the hens?”
Bruno pointed at the sack.
“Okay,” Kweku said. “You can leave them there. Come with me.” Bruno followed as Kweku unlocked the door of the house.
“One moment,” Kweku said. “Let me turn on the light.”
The naked bulb revealed a single room with a bed, an old chest of drawers, and in the corner, a battered chair to which Kweku pointed. “Have a seat.”
With legs crossed, Kweku sat on the floor opposite Bruno and reached left to a pile of objects.
He held up one of them. “Do you know what this is?”
It was dull tan in color and shaped like a hammer with a short handle and rounded head.
“No please,” Bruno said.
“It’s the thigh bone of a child,” Kweku told him. “We do many things with it.”
Bruno hesitated. “Please, how do you get it? The bone, I mean.”
“From the hospital morgue.” Kweku’s diction was languid, quite unlike his rigid physical bearing. “We know people there. If we ask them for something, they bring it to us.”
Bruno nodded. “I see.”
Next, Kweku showed him another item, which was obviously the well-worn skull of some kind of bird.
“It’s a hen’s head from one of our sacrifices,” Kweku said. “Like what you brought today.” He put that down. “We also have special beads and cowry shells. Later, you will know what we use them for.”
“Yes please.”
“I know your friend Nii Kwei very well,” the priest went on. “It’s good you are here, but what is your mission? What do you want?”
Bruno cleared his throat. “I want to be powerful and get plenty Internet money.”
“Have you started doing the Internet thing?”
“Not yet. I have been training with Nii.”
“Good,” Kweku said, scrutinizing Bruno. “You want to be rich?”
“Yes please. I want Range Rover and Bentley and three houses.”