TRINITY (TWENTY-FIVE)

Then Akweley asked her what she had put into the drink. Now that she thought about it, Akwei opened the wine with ease. He was only interested in having a taste of the wine. If he had been a bit inquisitive as to how a full bottle of wine could be unscrewed easily, he would have been saved from whatever Adjeley had put into it.

‘Come on girls, it’s just Mist Sennaco! Don’t look at me like I tried to kill him? Only I didn't know that he was going to finish the whole bottle today. But that can’t be my fault.’

‘How much of it did you put into the bottle?’ Adoley asked.

‘Hmm….pretty much of everything?’ she said squinting and added ‘I wanted to punish for everything that he did to me and since you girls couldn't come up with any reasonable suggestion, I came up with this. At least it’s better than beating him.’

They listened to her attentively. She was right. They had not been able to come up with a good plan. The only problem with her plan was that if he continued to run for a number of days he might die if he didn't seek help quickly. It was funny what she had done but on the other hand very dangerous. The laxative,mist sennaco was a substance that promoted bowel movements either by irritating the lower colon or by bulking the stool.

They didn't want to argue with her furthermore. The harm had already been done and he could be cured. The thought of him rushing in and out of lavatory made her laugh. That couldn't make up for all the years of pain that she had felt but for some reason, she was relieved and had no intention of ever going back to him. 

She realized she didn't feel the same way, just pity.Their next stop was James town. Though the initial plan was for Akweley to go and stay for a while, her reason for going there was because of her friends and since they had found her, she had no reason of going back. Only she wanted to check out the place once more and they had agreed to go with her for old time’s sake.

As she drove through the streets, they noticed that the place was still the same with the exception of some few changes. There was still the lighthouse though but the streets had been tarred and the place was livelier as children roamed around whiles others played. She parked and they got out of the car and just walked around so they could have a better view of things.
They soon joined a group of people who stood around in circle as they watched some kids boxed.

They each wore the thick padded glove which had been tied at their wrist and was worn by boxers for fighting. As they fought, the people around cheered. Adoley made a pick on who was going to win and she was right. The young boy fought very well causing the opponent to quit was thus judged defeated.

They walked slowly to the beach when the boxing was over. The place was not how they pictured it would be but most people had used cement blocks and thus brought down the woods and just a handful had maintained the wooden structures.

As soon as they got to the beach, Adoley received a call. When she was done, she announced that it was Michael. She had agreed to meet up with him again. They were happy for her. The water was turquoise where it was shallow and royal blue in the deep. Fishermen casted their net and sang vigorously. They could hear only few gentle sounds, the whoosh coming from the turning waves. The women stood at the exact spot they had met years back. The calm peaceful sea stretched as far as they could see.

 The air was scented by fishes being roasted and the glittering, golden rays of heat warmed them from the cool coast breeze which hit them. Akweley stole a glance at her friends and smiled. They brought new meaning to the word friendship. She said to both of them still looking at the sea

‘Friends might come and go in your life, they might make you laugh and cry, but most importantly of all they love you for who you are. It doesn't matter what a person looks like or what kind of clothes they wear, but it's what's on the inside that counts and It's the actions they take, no matter how big or small, to show you how much they love you... You girls are the best.’

They held hands but didn't move. Then Adoley said teasingly

‘We can remain friends so long as Adjeley doesn't involve us when she gets arrested for poisoning.’

Instead Adjeley replied and told her ‘My being Friends with you is probably the most important relationship i will have in my life. Many of my favorite memories include times we have spent as friends.I love you too Adoley’.

‘Hey…what about me?’ Akweley inquired.

‘And you too my dear’ Adjeley added then they all burst out with laughter.

 THE END!!!

TRINITY (TWENTY-FOUR)

Adoley burst out laughing. They had remained close pals after so many years and as the days went by, their friendship and love for each other grew in spite of everything. They were best friends but more like sisters. For them it was like a triangle, just the three of them against the world. When the laughter seized, they left Adoley’s room and went into their separate rooms to sleep.

The next day they all woke up refreshed. Akweley had earlier on suggested that they go back to James town to check out the place once more. They would also pay Akwei a surprise visit in his house. Each was determined to face their problem squarely. Akweley had promised not to remain uptight. Adoley made breakfast. They headed off straight to Akwei’s house.

He sat on a rickety chair on the porch and held a magazine. Adjeley was indifferent. He kept fidgeting with the magazine as he spoke to them and welcomed them to his home.

 Apparently he had nothing to do as his children were being taken care of. The house looked really messy. There was dust everywhere especially on the nets that Adoley put on a frown and pushed Adjeley away from her. 

She fell on the tiles and was attached to the windows. The floor looked like it had not been cleaned for months.

He apologized for not being able to send them inside as there was no woman to take care of his house. They just watched him. Adjeley grabbed a bench and they sat down. He asked them what brought them to him. 

Adjeley was quick to reply. She told him that she had come to the neighborhood and thought it wise to see how he was faring like she cared. He expressed his gratitude and went on and on about how happy he was to see her again, and hoped that she would come back to him. The very idea made her sick to her stomach.

Adjeley didn’t say much to him. She just nodded at him and occasionally shook her head when he told them about how happy they used to be. She had already informed them about how much of a sweet talker he was.

 When he tried to sound funny, they would look at Adjeley and laugh in unison. Akwei felt proud for he was doing quite well with entertaining his guests. He offered to buy them drinks but Adjeley insisted that they wanted nothing. She however got him a wine he really liked. She took it out of her bag and handed it over to him.

 He wasted no time in opening the bottle. He grabbed a cup from a table beside him and cleaned it up using his hands. He blew air into it three times and poured the French wine into it. He gulped down half of the content before he placed down the cup.

He smiled and thanked Adjeley for the wine. All he could afford now was the local gin, akpeteshie and he was not ashamed to admit that. He knew Adjeley was pretending to be nice because of the friends that came along. He didn’t believe that they would just show up in his house without a purpose but as it were, they were having a good conversation; only he was doing all the talking whiles they giggled and watched him drink. 

Whichever way he was glad he had company. He didn’t realize what he had till he lost everything and had become very lonely.

In a matter of minutes, Akwei had drunk half of the content. He emptied the bottle and handed it over to Adoley and said ‘here, have a glug of the wine’ 

but she declined and asked that they leave with the excuse of meeting up with somebody. She was not too happy that they couldn’t do anything to punish him. She had not reported him either so there was not much they could do.

When they left the house, Akweley burst out laughing. She sat in the driver’s seat and sighed. They joined her in her car and Adjeley asked why she laughed.

‘I didn’t believe that was you over there. I didn’t expect you to be quiet….the normally talkative champion refused to utter a word but in sign language’ she said amidst laughter and Adoley joined in.

Adjeley shook her head and smiled. If only they knew what she had done. Akweley stopped and watched her through the rearview mirror. She had that impish look and Akweley could sense that there was something she was not telling them.

‘What did you do?’ she queried firmly

‘Nothing that would get us into serious trouble’ she replied and smiled

Adoley looked a bit confused. She turned and looked at Adjeley who sat at the back. They both had their eyes on her now. She didn’t know what they went on about but whatever it was, it was obvious that she was also involved somehow. They waited for her to say something but she didn’t so Adoley asked her again. She was becoming impatient.

‘Ok fine…I may have slipped a little something into the drink.’ Adjeley finally said and their response came almost immediately in unison.

‘What! ? Are you crazy?’ and they gawped at each other and smiled.