The Iced Water Seller – Chapter Two Part 2
15 Sunday Nov 2015
Posted Novels
in15 Sunday Nov 2015
Posted Novels
in15 Sunday Nov 2015
Posted Novels
inAuntie Mabel took me to a local clinic and after having a blood test and some other tests the nurse confirmed that I was pregnant saying “she must be about five to six months already”. This made my Auntie angrier; “What”, she shouted, “you must have been pregnant when you came to me” I wondered why your mother asked me to come for you urgently. Wait till I speak to her” “Can this be removed?” she quietly asked the nurse, “I am sorry, but it is too late for that, she is very young and the baby is fully grown”.
She took me home and brought some herbs and made a concoction forcing me to drink it all, but they only made me sick and still nothing would budge the baby growing in me. She went to two other clinics and they said the same, “sorry, we can’t help you”. Even the local quack doctor said because I was very young and because of my small size he would not help in case I died. “I don’t want to go to prison” he said shrugging his shoulders.
As fate would have it, I had to be taken out of school and sent across the country to stay with some strangers in a village who treated me like an outcast.
They were extended family members who kept preaching and raining curses on me. “Look at you, a small girl like you already chasing boys and look at the result”. I continued to weep every night and got weaker from the lack of good food and care. There was no one to guide and help me when I was struggling to bend down or lift something up. Even a bucket of water to take my bath felt like I was carrying a barrel. I used to go out of the house and sit under the cashew nut tree that was by the side of the house. My only companions were the chickens and sleeping dog who had made this place their own, because of the leaves of the tree which spread out widely like an umbrella, there was good shade, and because of the hill, there was quite a refreshing breeze. This stopped small insects from disturbing the dog. He barely raised his head when I came to sit down. He had become used to me.
The house was halfway up a hill and from where I sat I could see the town’s folk going to and from the market. The narrow road meandered through the valley below. I made no friends and was told not to go far from the house. There were no children my age in the houses nearby. Groups of children coming from school always passed by on their way home and I longed to be with them but in this condition I had no option but to remain in this mini prison. When it got nearer to the time for me to deliver the child Auntie Mabel brought a woman to be with me, she called her a local birthing woman.
For two days I suffered the pain of labour when the baby could not come out because I was very small. This was because I will still a child and my body had not developed fully as a woman. The women of the house just kept praying and walking around while the birthing woman massaged my stomach with hot towels and gave me okro soup to drink to help with the delivery. I screamed and screamed and the other women just shouted “If you want to do what big women do then you will also have to suffer like they do, foolish girl.” Finally the baby came out and I fainted.
The birthing nurse, I never knew her name, was the only one who showed me any kindness and after bathing the baby gave her to me to feed. She was lovely with long curly hair and small fingers. She never cried much and had these big brown eyes with long dark lashes. Two weeks after the birth of my daughter Auntie Mabel came down and took my little girl away. I was sent back to Kumasi. I was taken to a hospital because I was bleeding heavily and it was there the doctor said I might not be able to have any more children because the large baby had caused problems to my womb and pelvis. Milk continued to trickle out of my breasts and I used pads to cover them.
After I got to Kumasi I was told my mother had died the month before. First I have my child taken away and then my mother dies without me seeing her. What more could happen to me?
My brothers and sisters were shared out among relatives and I never saw them until we were all grown up. Nothing was left of the home I knew. I was sent to stay with Auntie Joyce and her family in Accra. She had promised to take care of me since I was the eldest of my mother’s children. She and her husband did all that they promised they would do for me but there was no emotion or love. I was treated like an unwanted family member, and when her husband left with another woman, I was blamed for all the bad luck. My cousins treated me like the maid and I had no choice because Auntie Joyce continued to pay for my education.
The boys, Fifi and Joojo – my cousins, were so horrible to me, always putting the blame on me when they did anything wrong so I was constantly being punished. Pulled ears and knocks on the head were routine. Only Ekua, the daughter, who was my age, treated me like a sister but she was away in boarding school.
School was my escape, once I stepped into the classroom I forgot all the hardship and the daughter I would never see. I wanted to attend extra classes but my Auntie said she was paying enough for me and could not afford it. Everyone in the class had to attend these extra classes because the teachers used this time to teach what they could not finish during the day. It was also a way for them to make money. They sold snacks and other food and drink items to us, so for them it was beneficial to have all of us there for the classes. I helped the teachers every day after school so they would not pick on me because I was not attending the classes. I wiped the black board, sold their snacks for them, carried their books and washed the dusters.
I cried in the evenings and forced myself to study even harder. Sometimes when I was doing my homework or studying I would be called away to do some household chore. My cousins would be watching television and could easily get up and do what I was asked to do.
“Rabs” as they called me, shortening my name, “Bring me water”. The fridge was in the same room they were sitting in but they couldn’t get up and get their own water. I used to complain but now I realised that no matter what, I would never be fully part of the family. When I complained, Auntie Joyce always shouted at me and said “Do you think you can be here without helping? If you don’t like it I will send you back to the village”. I went to do the errand I was asked to do and brought the water.
“This is not cold” Joojo said” change it”. This was how it had always been; Auntie never taught them how to say please or thank you or even to speak respectfully to me. I was older than they were but from the way they behaved you would not know that. As they got older my cousins became more spiteful, sometimes even teasing me with the name “born one” a local slang for a young person with a child out of wedlock. TO BE CONTINUED…………………………..
06 Friday Nov 2015
Araba sat quietly watching the girl and her mind went back to when she was about the same age. Araba remembered one particular day.
“Araba, come here, you stupid girl,” said her Auntie Joyce, “I thought I told you to scrub the bathroom”, she got a slap around her ears “Go and do it now”,
“Yes Auntie, I was going to do it but Joojo was in there when I was ready to do it” she sobbed.
“Don’t give me any excuses you lazy girl! When you finish you should hang out the washing and sweep the kitchen floor then you can go to school”. This was a daily routine of chores, slaps and tears.
My life became hell when my father died when I was still in primary school. My mother couldn’t afford to look after all four of us, things had become difficult and she always had to rely on uncles and aunts to give handouts. One particular uncle, whom we all called Uncle Vikay, came around the house chatting and joking with my mother. Sometimes he would send me to buy beer and cigarettes for him and I also had to wash his clothes and sweep his room. His room was one big room divided with a faded curtain across the room to create a separate sleeping area. This separated his sleeping area from the space where he received visitors. He had a small television and a radio in one corner and a fridge on the other side of the room. His clothes were in three suitcases covered with a piece of white lace. His only table was a wide one covered with a flowery blue plastic cover and he had cups, glasses and plates pushed to one corner and a Bible in the middle of it.
My mother was so grateful for his financial assistance and concern for her and her children that she used to send me to him whenever she went to the market. She fried fish for him and made shitor on market days and it became my duty to take these to him.
On one particular day he sent for me and when I got there he said he had some clothes to be washed and after I finished washing them he would give me some money to take to my mother. Of course this was not unusual so I got the pan of water ready and soaked the white shirts in it. When I went to get the money to buy the soap powder for the washing he said the money was on the table. I looked and said I could not find it. Uncle Vikay said “Oh, I must have left it on the bed, just come for it. When I pulled back the curtain he grabbed my arm and pulled me onto the bed.
“Let me go, Uncle Vikay” I said and he pulled my hair and gripped me so tight that I could not breathe and tears sprung in my eyes. He threatened to beat me up. “Please Uncle stop, let me go.” “No” he said, “just sit here, and if you make any noise I will disgrace you”. I started weeping and he pulled at my blouse. “If you tell anybody I will destroy your mother, and all of you will go hungry, just shut up” he said slapping me across the mouth. He pushed me down and with one hand over my mouth he used the other to pull my blouse causing some of the buttons to pop off. He pulled my pants and tore them off and proceeded to rape me. I could not cry out or scream because he was covering my mouth and kept threatening me. The pain that went through me was so bad I felt like I was dying. When he finished he just got up and threw the money for the soap at me “Go and buy the soap and finish washing my clothes, I will be watching you and if you tell anyone about this, I swear, you will all suffer, especially your mother.
All I could do was to wipe the bloodstains off my thighs and stagger out to go off and buy the soap powder. There was no one around and it seemed that at that moment everybody had disappeared. I walked slowly to the corner shop and felt like everyone in the street could see what I had been through. I got back and with tears in my eyes I started the washing. After washing and hanging up the clothes I left with the money he gave me to give my mother.
“Remember, he said, ”If you talk I will destroy your mother and you will never be able to show your face here again”. He grabbed at my breast and I run out of the room. I was only fourteen! How could I tell anyone about this shame and embarrassment?
My mother saw me coming towards the house with tears in my eyes. I couldn’t look at her in the face and she asked me what the matter was. I felt so dirty and guilty. “Nothing” I said. She continued to press me but I refused to answer and look at her. I felt sure that she knew what had happened because she continued to watch me silently.
I went about the house like a zombie and finally when evening came I was so glad to huddle up to my pillow.
“Araba” my mother said, “Are you sick? I can get you some medicine don’t worry, it shall be well”. I wanted to tell her but was so afraid.
“I don’t want to go to uncle’s house again” was all I could say. She held my face, looked in my eyes and I knew that she knew. Her brother, Vikay, the town Assembly man, the man who could do no wrong had defiled her daughter. She was so dependent and fearful of him so could not do anything. If she went to the police, the family would disown her and she would never be able to go to them again. Uncle Vikay was the generous family elder who helped when they had family problems and financial hardship. She had no one else to depend on. What a terrible thing he had done, but she was powerless to defend her daughter, who would believe her?
Two days later Auntie Mabel my mother’s eldest sister, came and took me away with her. I heard her say that she would look after me and send me to school on condition that I helped her in the house. For over five months I felt safe with Auntie Mabel then I began to notice changes in my body. My breasts were getting swollen and tender, they were not normally big but the buttons on my school blouse were getting difficult to close up. “I am getting fat with all this town food” I said to myself It wasn’t until my skirts could not zip up that I got afraid that something was wrong. I hid my growing stomach and tied a cloth around my breasts and wore baggy shirts and tops and would not bathe with the other girls. My menstrual periods had never been regular anyway so I did not think anything was wrong when it stopped flowing. I never had morning sickness so no one suspected I was pregnant either, that was also the reason why Auntie Mabel never thought anything was wrong until one day she called me and said she had noticed I was getting fatter and tired all the time.
“Come here” she said and she touched my waist.
“Oh my God” Asem ben ni?” She shouted “you are pregnant, who is the boy?” “You are only fourteen”. She slapped me and shook me to get the information out of me but I wouldn’t talk. “Who have you been sleeping with?” she shouted. “Your mother will say I did not look after you well, how could you bring such a disgrace on yourself and the family? You sinful girl, God will punish you”. She whipped me with a belt whilst calling on God to have mercy on my soul. TO BE CONTINUED
03 Tuesday Nov 2015
Posted Novels
inAraba sat in her black Mercedes behind the driver on her way to town. She was slim and dark in complexion with natural hair that had been wrapped in a twist with a piece of Kente cloth. She had given up putting chemicals in her hair a long time ago and now had beautiful thick hair which people complimented her on whenever they met her for the first time. She wore beads around her neck with matching earrings and bracelet. She had white even teeth and clear sparkling eyes. She really looked after herself.
The weather was hot, sticky and annoying but she was lucky, the car was air conditioned. Her driver, Akwesi had been driving for her for over a year now and knew her likes and dislikes and she hated traffic, so he always found short cuts which took them a bit longer but gave a smoother ride. This day, their short cut was blocked by a truck carrying sacks of charcoal that had lost its load. Open sacks and black soot were scattered all over the place.
These trucks usually had their loads piled even higher than the truck itself and usually had some charcoal-boys balancing on top of them with no thought of danger. The load had become entangled in some overhead cables, which luckily were not electrical. Akwesi tried to reverse out of the narrow road but other cars also had the same idea and chose to use this short cut as well. They all ended up locked in one after the other. There was no way out but to wait. All we could hear was “beep beep” “hoot hoot”, “move that truck!”, “fools!”, “overload!”
“Hey! Hey! Hey! Charle” shouted the other drivers in Pidgin English “make you remove your load quick, aba! “The road no be for you”
“Aaah” Araba sighed to herself looking around and realising that they just had to stay until the road was cleared, she picked up the daily newspaper to read.
Suddenly a teenage girl selling chilled water sealed in 500 gram plastic bags came up to the car calling out “Yes, Ice, Iced water, pure iced water”. She dragged on the word ice and it sounded like a hissing snake. Normally the sellers avoided fancy cars with rolled up windows because “these rich don’t buy from the street” but this girl, did not know the rules. Maybe she was new on the job or just ignorant of the street rules. Akwesi got irritated by the girl and glanced in his rear view mirror to see what Madam Araba’s reaction was but she was only concentrating on her reading. Akwesi said “Excuse me Madam, I am going to check the road”, Araba nodded and replied “Sometimes short cuts become long cuts” and she smiled to herself.
Akwesi got out, smoothed his trousers and shirt and looked towards the iced water seller, “Hey you, iced water girl, move from the car aba!” he shouted across to the girl. She stood there looking at the car and admiring the woman inside so did not hear Akwesi properly. “I say, hey you girl, move” Araba raised her head just in time to see Akwesi push the girl away from the car. Unfortunately an ice cream seller was cycling by ringing his bell “ting a ling, poorpii poorpii” and the girl tripped against his bicycle and fell into the gutter behind her.
”Aw! Aw! My leg ooh my leg, my ice water ooo, all my water is spoilt” she wailed. People started to gather round shouting and helped the girl up. “Foolish man” ‘kwasea’ they shouted “shame on you”. Araba got out of the car and there was silence, while the bystanders waited to see what she would say or do.
“Akwesi” she said “help the girl up, there was no need to push her”.”She went towards the girl and asked her name. “My name is Sisi Yaa” she said while sobbing, “My Auntie will kill me now that all my water is spoilt, oh I am dead”,
Araba asked “What about your leg, Isn’t it more important than the water?”
“Oh my leg will be ok” she said “but my water, ooo my water” she wailed.
“Come, we will take you to the clinic and I’ll pay for your water”.
“Madam”, an older lady came forward and said “I will come with her, after all I am her Auntie’s friend and I want to know where you are taking her, you can’t trust people these days.”
“Akwesi”, Araba said raising her voice, and at that moment Akwesi knew she was angry with him. “Sheeeea me wu oooooo, asem aba” he said to himself, “asem a to me” I have caused big problem ooo. “Akwesi, help the girl into the car and put her head pan into the boot”.
The girl sat on the back seat of the car and the Auntie’s friend sat in front with the driver. The Auntie’s friend said “Madam, my name is Pat, Sister Pat” and she perched herself in the front. Araba chuckled to herself, it sounded like she had said, “My name is Bond, James Bond”.
The scattered charcoal had been swept aside and now irate drivers were blowing their car horns for them to move. “Beep beep” “beep” they hooted. Araba got back into the car and took out her mobile phone to make a call to her best friend Maggie.
“Hi Maggie, it’s me, I am going to be very late for the meeting so start without me. I know you can handle it. I’ll explain when we meet”.
“Akwesi, take us to Dr. Peter’s clinic” Araba said. After Sisi Yaa sat in the car, her eyes opened wide and her mouth dropped open, what a car! The seats were soft and clean and the inside of the car so cool, the dashboard had all these green and red fluorescent lights showing and there was cool music playing and TV screens behind the driver and front passenger’s seats She had never seen the inside of such a car let alone sat in one. It smelt like roses as well.
“So Sisi Yaa, do you go to school? How old are you?” “Madam”, she said “I am sixteen years old and I am in Junior High School. I would have finished by now but sometimes my Auntie refuses to pay my fees or give money for my exams so I have repeated my class three times. During the evenings and holidays I sell water for my Auntie. If I don’t sell I won’t get my fees paid and other things for school”.
“What about studies? What subjects do you like? Do you have any special interests?” Araba asked showing a lot of interest. ”I like science, but I am not allowed to join in the extra studies class because my Auntie says she cannot pay the teacher’s charges”.
There was silence while the music played in the background “I wish I was rich like her” Sisi Yaa muttered under her breath. They drove into the clinic’s car park. Araba and Sister Pat, the Auntie’s friend helped Sisi Yaa out of the car. She limped in pain.”Adjey” she said when she had to bend her knee.
“You stay here” she said to Akwesi, “you’ve caused enough problems for today and while we are inside I want you to do something for me”. She spoke to him and then they went inside and Araba spoke to the receptionist who seemed to know her and within five minutes they were in the doctor’s office. The doctor looked at Sisi Yaa’s leg, felt around her knee and asked several questions and sent her for an x-ray. When the results came back there were no broken bones, just a few scratches and a deep cut. He gave Araba a prescription for the pain and antibiotics and the nurse bandaged her wound to keep it clean.
“Just go to the injection room for an anti-tetanus shot before you leave and come back in two days time for a change of dressing and a check-up and don’t get the bandage wet young girl” the doctor said.
“Thanks Peter” Araba said as they walked out of the room “I hope to see you at the next highlife dance evening” “Sure, this time I won’t miss it” said the doctor, “Oh Peter, you always say that” she said, “I know duty calls at strange times but you have to relax sometimes and meet new people. It’s always home, patients, lectures and home again. This time I won’t let you give any excuses, I will come and pick you up” They laughed together. After all the bills were paid and medicines bought from the dispensary Araba said “Sisi Yaa, let me drop you and Auntie Pat off home now and meet your Auntie to explain” Sisi Yaa said quickly “Madam, she will punish me when you are gone I know, and her iced water money, Oh I am in trouble” she lamented. Araba replied “I will pay for the water, don’t worry, OK and I will make sure you don’t get into trouble”. They all got back into the car.
“Madam” said Auntie Pat from the front seat of the car “What about something for me and my time? I accompanied you to make sure Sisi Yaa was ok”. Araba looked at her, thinking to herself that this woman didn’t even care about the girl and just wanted to feel important and get some money off her. Auntie Pat had taken off her slippers and was rubbing her feet on the carpet enjoying the soft woollen feel. If the windows were not rolled up she would have had her arm out the window like a “car owner”.
“Don’t worry; you will be taken care of”. In silence they drove towards Okponglo where Sisi Yaa said she lived. “Driver, Auntie Pat said “this music is good please turn the volume up small”. Akwesi turned to Madam Araba and she nodded with a funny look on her face.
Sisi Yaa said, “Thank you for helping me Madam. Araba asked “Do these accidents happen often?
“Yes Madam, but other people are not like you. They just tell us to go to the clinic when we get hurt, give us money and then they drive off. Many of the girls take the money and just buy something cheap from the walking medicine sellers vendors in the market to treat their wounds and spend the rest of the money on things that they fancy. They call it their “Cocoa Season.”
“It is dangerous for young girls to be swerving in and out of this Accra traffic hawking you know” Araba said.
“If I don’t do it I won’t get any food to eat or school fees paid so I have to come out every day”, Sisi Yaa replied.
“Hey, Sis Yaa”, said Auntie Pat, “Don’t say bad things about your Auntie Caro, she has sacrificed a lot for you.”
“Auntie Pat, she didn’t say anything bad” said Araba. She turned to Sisi Yaa and asked, “Where are your parents?”
“They are dead. I was told they died when I was very small. Many years ago Auntie Caro came and asked my Auntie Mansa, with whom I was living, if she could help the family by taking care of one of the children in the house and also send the person to school in Accra, there were six of us in the house, her children and some other relatives she was caring for and Auntie Mansa was struggling alone. They chose me because the others were too young to leave and I was hardworking and good in school”, she paused.
“I thought I was coming to live with Auntie Caro and go to a good school. After I got here I found out that I had to sell in the street every day before or after school, and I can’t go back to the village because Auntie Caro gave my Auntie Mansa money to buy things in return for me coming to Accra. How will she be able to pay her back if I leave now?” Auntie Mansa is always praising Auntie Caro and telling me to be a good girl because of all that is being done for me”.TO BE CONTINUED…….
03 Tuesday Nov 2015