TRINITY (SIX)

It was almost 4:00pm and the traffic was heavy. The public transport buses driving recklessly while some cars kept honking. She soon became weary. She always stayed at the office till it was very late so usually didn’t encounter any of this. They had been calling for showers all month, but so far it’s been dry. The cars were no longer moving and people were becoming impatient.

Aku was in no hurry to get home. She put on the radio in her car and changed the stations till she tuned in to an fm station playing cool music. She thought about her friends again and how they met. She met Adoley Lawson first at the ‘Salaha market’ where she stayed with her parents. It was a small market located close to Jamestown.

 The atmosphere was totally different as everyone there seemed to know everyone else. They lived in Jamestown for a while at their mother’s family house. The place was too small for the whole family so they moved away and got a place within the market. Houses there were built with wood and most had very rusted roofs.  

They couldn’t complain because they had nowhere to go to and moreover, they had peace in the single room that they were in. Her mother sold foodstuffs and the father was a fisherman. They were both hardworking. Being the eldest, Aku had to take care of her younger brother who was just three. Her parents were always out.

 She was nine then and went to a public school very close by. She would close at 12 noon then pick her brother up from the market take him home and stay indoors till the parents showed up very late in the evening. 

Her brother would be up most of the time because of the noise from the market ,women calling people to buy their stuffs. Children around those areas were sharp-tongued and disrespectful. They were always left alone to decide on whatever they wanted to do with their day because their parents were either irresponsible or were too busy. 

There was simply no reason for timidity in the area. Most of these children were either too poor to pay the meager fees that the government school charged or they had refused to go to the school. 

Those who were forced to go would either end up by the beach side or the Salaha market trying to make money for themselves even in their uniform. She was warned not to mingle with them since it would only bring her trouble.

 Aku had no friends then so would sit by their doorway and look on as the other children played. But that day even though the place was noisy as usual she managed to put him to sleep.                                              

She stepped out and closed the door gently behind her. She grabbed a chair and sat down and looked at some children playing ‘Ampe’ on the street. A ‘Trotro’ bus honked several times but they wouldn’t barge. The driver got down from the vehicle to drive them away himself but they sped off making faces at him. Aku laughed at the old man who went back to his vehicle insulting them.

 One girl who came from nowhere and was obviously stubborn stood in front of the vehicle and looked straight into the man’s face which made him angrier. He sparked the engine and started to move. She hit the bus with her small fist and shouted at him to stop the bus. He shouted her name and asked her to move away. Aku was bewildered.

‘Hey Adoley! I said move away…are you deaf? ‘He shouted in Ga a local dialect 

She didn’t know why the girl was doing that. She looked a little older than Aku who still had her eyes fixed on the two. The man got down but she wouldn’t move. He tried to push her but she was too quick and dodged his hand but came back again then he caught her by her skirt as if to hit her and she struggled then almost immediately a woman who also came from nowhere pushed him away violently.

 And they started to quarrel. Scenes like this were habitual so she rushed into the room and picked up an orange, came back to her seat and continued to look on.