TRINITY (TEN)

It was very typical of Ghanaians to express their dissatisfaction in unison whenever the lights were put out. She stayed back and looked at the skies. There was a dazzling lineup of stars and the moon shone bright that night. She stayed out for another thirty minutes and went back into the house.

She didn’t bother to put off the refrigerator but sat on the couch in the hall. She put her hand in her pocket and pulled out her Samsung galaxy and played her favorite game ‘angry bird’ and eventually got tired so moved on to the play ‘jewels’. After a while, the phone alerted her that she had a low battery.

She immediately placed it on the center table and laid down. She wished the lights could be turned on again and as if God answered her wish, she heard her neighbors’ yell ’’eeeeiiiiiii’ .the lights were back.

She smiled at the thought that God still listened to her prayers especially since she couldn’t remember the last time she set foot in her church.She had made her work her main priority and though that was not enough, she couldn’t help it.

 she worked on Saturday and had made Sunday, her day of resting. There were times that she would take some work home in order to complete it before the weekdays and did that on Sundays.

When she finally got up to put on the television, the lights went off again and again she heard the chorus shouts of people. After ten minutes the lights came on and Aku hoped it would stay like that since she was bored to tears.

She just laid on the couch and forgot about the TV. Her attention was drawn to the phone when it beeped again. She had to charge it before it went off so even though she as feeling lazy to get up, she dragged herself from the couch and went to her bedroom where she had placed the charger.

She laid on the bed, pulled a pillow from one side and clamped onto it.Aku would at a point in time feel very lonely. Deep within her, she knew this was one of the reasons why she always kept herself busy with work and it’s been a while since she felt like that. She closed her eyes and tried to force herself to sleep hoping that it would keep her from thinking about how alone she was.

Adjeley had kept on and on that they go to the beach as the other children did. Being with her grandmother, Aku had the liberty to go everywhere except the beach and more so because her father might be there and he had warned her against coming there. But then again, it was a Tuesday and fishermen don’t go fishing that day.

 She had been there a few times but that was when she followed her mom who kept a close eye on her. She gave it a second thought and gave in to Adjeley who still stood in front of her pleading.

It was almost 3pm.and went into the house to tell her grandma that she was going out to play. Her grandmother as usual gave her the nod and asked that she returned home soon. Adjeley waited impatiently and when finally she came out and asked that they go, she was elated.

There were no fishermen there as expected. Only a handful of kids were playing in the sand. Nobody went near the sea since they all knew the myth about going to the beach on Tuesday. They could only play but none attempted to swim. Adjeley seemed overly excited and Aku didn’t know why.

 She told Aku that she wanted to swim but Aku cautioned her against it almost immediately. Adjeley as not too happy with what she said. She didn’t believe that something could happen to her if she went into the sea and Aku couldn’t give her any tangible reason as to why she could not swim. All Aku knew was that it was not good to go to the beach but didn’t know the main reason. Then Adjeley said

‘Ok…I won’t swim..i just want to feel the sea under my feet.’

She blurted out but didn’t wait for approval and hopped away. When Adjeley got closer she stood there on the shore and watched the sea waves .she admired it for a while. It was vast and unfathomable. She raised both hands as if to hug the sea breeze. The reflection of the sun on the sea was shimmer.

 Aku walked closer to her and before she knew it, Adjeley started to walk into the sea. Aku stood there for a while transfixed. A boat that had been left on the sea surged in the rising swell. She opened her mouth for close to thirty seconds and then she covered her mouth with both hands.