She knew and learnt much about the lighthouse
after she stumbled upon a form two text book in her school. She read anything
she laid her hands on. It laid on the compound and after making sure that
nobody was looking at her, she picked it up, cleaned it and put it in her bag.
At
first it was difficult to make out the words but she made an effort to learn by
writing the words she couldn’t pronounce on a paper and gave it to the older
students.
Some wanted to know why she was so eager to learn the words and asked
her to be patient till she got to the stage where she would be taught
everything she needed to know.
She never took offence to what they said to her.
But went ahead to ask other students. She was able to read the difficult words
and after two weeks, she had finished the whole text book. Aku’s grandmother
had so many mouths to feed so they prepared different dishes every day.
She kept track of the time her grandmother
would return and always came back home before her. Aku always paid her mother a
visit twice a week so as to collect money for her upkeep. Her father had warned
her against going to the beach to see him since he had not taught her how to swim
yet.
He however visited her when he could and bought her sweets. She was always
happy to see him around. Her father believed in being patient and talking
nicely in order not to be misunderstood whereas her mother was hot blooded and
didn’t like to repeat her statements. She spanked and yelled at her whenever
she did something wrong.
Aku therefore tried not to end up in her
mother’s bad books. She always remembered the very first time her mother laid
her hands on her. She was seven then and had followed her mother to the market.
She sat down quietly beside her till she saw another girl, her age group eating
ice cream. She asked her mother who ignored her and went about her business.
Aku kept gazing at the girl and the girl’s mother on noticing bought one for
her.
Mrs. Tetteh shot a glance at her and her
heart skipped a beat. She was confused as to whether to take it from the
strange woman or not. Her mother thanked the woman and took it on her
daughter’s behalf. She said nothing but gave her the ice cream and Aku nibbled
till she was done.
When they finally got home, she had her bath
and slept off as usual but was slashed in her sleep. She sobbed throughout the
night and was warned not to accept gifts from strangers.
Aku came back to reality as cars behind her
honked and both drivers and passengers roared their anger. It was a scorcher
but the air conditioner kept the comfortable even when it was very hot outside.
She had been lost in her thoughts for close to thirty minutes. She immediately
drove on and stayed awake till she got home. She went straight into the kitchen
and took out a canned drink.
She went back to the hall and put on the
television. It was a Monday and the TV stations had nothing interesting to show
or so she thought. She opened up the canned drink and gulped it down.
Aku laid down for a while but soon became
restless. She had no friends in the area she could visit and moreover her
colleagues at work were the only people she really spoke to and spent much time
with. She decided to go for a walk and get rid of the boredom but then again
when she stepped out, she stood in front of the gate contemplating as to
whether she really wanted to go out or not. She stood there transfixed and
watched on as cars drove by.
Most
were very nice and she found herself admiring the choice of others. She closed
eyes for a while and tried to breathe in fresh air. It was almost 6:00pm and
the place was getting dark. Aku’s house was on top of the hill so she could see
the houses that had been built down.
As it grew darker, lights in these houses
were all turned on and it was nice scenery. She just stood and a smile
flickered across her face .A middle-aged man on a Toyota Camry slowed down and
waved. She waved back and he drove away.
Aku had no idea who the man was and felt a
bit baffled. He could be anyone she thought and let that pass. A few minutes
later, the lights that glowed began to flicker. She wanted to rush back in but
as soon as she made the turn she heard ‘oooohhhh’. The lights were off.
