BEAUTIFULLY CREATED MONSTER

Teehee! I wrote something after all, I know it’s been awhile, I promise to make up. Monsters are real and yes they can be beautiful, not all beautiful things are cool and all that. 

 Let’s read this together and share together. 

Peace O’ Cake

She crouched back and shuddered at the fear of feeling his cold hands on her cheeks one more time. She had been on the receiving end for so many a times and knew just how much pain those hands could cause. She steeled herself and started picking up pieces of the shattered glass on the floor.

Kwaama glanced back and her gaze fell on the wedding picture on the wall. What had changed? How did She end up here? Why can’t She just walk away? How long will She be able to take this?

Her mom told her, He would change after the baby comes. The first girl came, all was bliss for a while and then the beast came crawling back. She carried on a second, and prayed to the Heavens for a boy, out came a bubbly little girl. He grumpily and grudgingly accepted her.

Kwaama started the fasting and prayers, maybe her family were against her progress, surely this could not be nothing, there had to be a reason for this. And oh She FASTED!, at dawn she rolled on the floor and cried in pain. She screamed her voice hoarse, Her neighbours asked her for mercy, for She disturbed their sleep with her prayers.

She carried for 9 months another life in her, surely this was the promised one, the answer to her prayers, the end to her anguish but out tumbled another GIRL! He left her at the hospital, both She and her baby. He called her useless and good for nothing.

She still found her way home, She soldiered on, ready to take the Bull by the horn. She was determined to make this work this time around, even when He refused to name the new baby.

She was informed, another baby was in the line now, a baby BOY for her husband. He killed a cow, called his friends and made merry.

Kwaama asked Him meekly, what happened? She asked him ‘MEEKLY’, that was the only way she knew how. But he beat her black and blue and left her a bloody mess.

This was the only answer He gave.

Was that her Peace O’ Cake in life?

WHEN YOU SMILE

What I See,

I see beyond those succulent lips,

that stretch to produce that heart warming sensation,

I see eyes that twinkle,

I see paradise in those eyes,

I see cheek bones  rise up to grace the occasion,

I see beautifully etched lines carefully drawn by )boade3 Himself,

I see the moonlight,

I see the Sun,

The untold stories,

I see you,

For all you are worth,

Your Heart,

Your Being,

Your Soul,

I see pain and joy,

Fire and Ice

I see you,

Every little bit of you,

When You Smile…..

 

 

Beautifully Created Monster 3

A blurred vision of the hospital room came in view, and the scent of her ward nauseated her, She wanted to puke badly. She tried getting up, but the pain from the left side of her face made her wince and wish She had tried not getting up. Her mouth was sore and there was a hospital bandage at the left side of her face.  She closed her eyes again and inwardly prayed for relief. Tears clouded her eyes and seeped through her closed eyes. She wondered how long she could keep up with this charade of a marriage, one that had not been of her will, but of a necessity. She hated the prison she had created for herself, the web She had woven for herself,  yet there He was, the  familiar figure she so desperately wished had never existed. He was her Achilles heel and he knew it, all the plans She had made in her life revolved him. She felt his presence even before she opened her eyes, his touch confirmed it as he had reached out to brush a strand of  hair away from his face. His perfume was still the same and the light touch he gave her awakened her senses. He gave her a gentle kiss on her lips and brushed his finger on her bottom lip. She was his pawn and he made sure She knew that. Gloria loved and hated him,  which one had the upper hand, she wasn’t sure. The bastard who dragged her into this mess, the love of her life, Joel Woods. 

Joel Woods was the daredevil younger brother of Theodore Woods, the mischievous and cunning fox of a brother. A year younger than Theodore, Joel made sure he made his elder brother’s life a living hell. From their nursery school throughout to the university, Joel had tormented Theodore. They bore a striking resemblance and this had been Joel’s major stronghold. He impersonated Theodore several times and had forged his signature on several occasions. He was the care-free guy who had the great looks and could woo all the girls. He was an intelligent schemer but he had no time making money,  he was busy spending his brother’s. Being the last born of Jane Woods, their mother overlooked Joel’s faults and always chided Theodore whenever he raised concerns about his brother’s behavior. Jane was of the belief that her youngest son will outgrow his behavior and turn over a new leaf. 

In Theodore’s last year at the medical school, Joel used his credentials to apply for a loan from Theodore’s bank. He took the loan from his brother’s account and absconded with it. All efforts to reach him proved futile. Theodore was deeply hurt and infuriated with his brother’s  actions and threatened to have him arrested and bailed when he finally returned home. He moved out of his parent’s house in Sunyani and settled in Accra. He changed his signature, passcodes, and issued instructions to his bankers to always confirm with him for a special code only known to him and his bankers whenever there was a transaction to be made to his accounts. He had to pay for that loan, for three years of his working career.

Gloria Akuoku, was the heartbeat of Joel, his delightful sugar and they were both good together, trust them to always find a way to make money, with the least opportunity that availed itself. What Gloria, lacked with brains, she made up for it with her beauty. Joel was her mind and she loved him so. Joel travelled to Koforidua with the loan he had acquired with his brother’s account. He went with Gloria, and had a great time together. They partied away the money, gambled,  went sight seeing, bought a car and rented a place together. Gloria’s parents had signed her off as a “bad debt” and cared not for her, all She had been to them was pain. 

Joel and Gloria spent the three year loan in 2 months and still incurred huge debts,  they sold all they had acquired with their ill-gotten wealth but still had more debt to pay. Their Creditors had been on their neck and Joel had been arrested once already for non-payment of his debts. It was midnight they sneaked out of Koforidua, only with the clothes they had on, to Sunyani. 

June, welcomed her son back and gave him some money to run off with and asked that he keeps a low profile as his brother was looking for him, to arrest and have him jailed for impersonation. He only chuckled and promised his mom that his brother was just bluffing. It took the empty room his brother had lived in, to confirm what his mom had told him. He tried using his brother’s credentials to cash some money,  only to be told by his “messenger” that the account was closed. He knew, he was done for and had to come up with a plan to keep his grass green. 

Joel took Gloria on a weekend  trip to Accra, he doted on her and “spoiled” her senseless, gave her more than she could ask for, all at his mother’s expense. On their last evening in Accra after a hot steamy “session”,  Joel asked Gloria to go on a stroll with him, they went about with arms intertwined and talked about their lives together and how fun their future will be like. 

It was at the poolside however,  that Joel went on his knees and proposed to Gloria,  he gave her an engagement ring and asked that She marries him. She immediately said “Yes!” beaming with smiles and laughs and gave Joel multiple kisses on his lips. She was over the moon! 

On the morning of their departure however,  Joel asked that they have a heart to heart talk. He spoke at length of how an amazing woman Gloria was and how he loved her to death and how he wanted to give her the world and all that She could ever think of.

He held her hands and looked into her eyes and kissed her passionately, he gave her a sad smile and dropped the bombshell.He said “Gloria,  you know you are my world and I’d rather die than lose you,  but Glo you deserve better,  I want to do better for you but I  have no money and we can’t feed on love forever, however, I have an amazing plan, you can marry Theodore and milk him dr.. and “Kpa!” the slap resounded across the room,  Gloria had given Joel a hefty slap and was reeling with anger! She was shaking with so much running through her mind. She was to marry “Theodore? That boring man?  Joel’s brother? ”

She packed her bags and planned on leaving Him behind,  what does he take me for ‘a toy to be played with?’ She hurriedly snatched her red bag from the armchair across the room and left the room. Joel was at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for her,He was on his knees and with tears in his eyes. 

She intended to shove him out of her way and walk past him to the reception,but he grabbed her wrist firmly and pleaded with her to listen to him. She knew that She was going to marry Theodore anyways,because Joel had said it and as usual he had everything planned out for them. She needed to explanations and quickly told him She was going to marry Theodore.

Jane Woods sent for Theodore, and when he came home, She told him She was not getting any younger and needed to see him and his brother married,however since He was the oldest, He had to get married first. And She had just the perfect lady in mind, Gloria. He needn’t worry at She has already spoken with her and with her parents. Everything was set and all they needed now was  his presence and some money to perform the marriage ceremony. Theodore was deeply baffled and tried to explain to his mom that He wasn’t yet ready but Jane would have none of that and insisted He marry her or He count himself as motherless. 

……………………………………………

Joel smiled down at Gloria and apologized for his shortcomings.He assured Gloria, he’s got a major plan now to free her from Theodore and hastily explained that He had to leave lest Theodore meets him in the ward.

He made a dash for the door, flung it open and came face to face with his big brother.

To be continued.

Image Credit – Pinterest 

Single Sheet

There She stood, carrying her wares and gawking at the polished nails of the neatly dressed ladies, with hairstyles that could feed her for a month and wishing She didn’t look so dishevelled.

Truly, She could definitely match them up for all their worth, for what they had for brains, She makes up with her strength and it took her a long time to realise that, surely strength earns peanuts. 

Her Jojo stirred at her back and let out a loud cry, He had just urinated again, and She felt the hot liquid of urine trickling down her back, She felt the tears welled up behind her eyes and felt more flies buzzing around,but No, She wasn’t going to let them win. 

There’s been too many failures in her life already, failing to keep her man home by not been sophisticated enough, failure to beg Him come back home, as if She had thrown him out of the house. Failure to carry a healthy baby in her womb and only bringing forth a disabled child who could not walk but had to be carried around everywhere for the 4 years of his life. 

Surely, She can have this little victory of refusing to cry and shed tears for yet another failure, the failure of not being able to determine when her child wanted to urinate. 

So there She stood, the strong defiant ‘non crying ‘ Single Sheet, carrying all her life’s worth of goodies and burden with all the Strength a Woman could ever have. 

Image Credit : Internet

December 7

December 7th’s are best spent in compound houses. All the characters would be in your full glare, and you can actually have one of the most amazing times in your life during this period.

Before Elections are the best, you can actually argue out points and policies, make fun and tease others. Usually the minority of the other party in the house do not make much noise, worse is if you and your landlady or landlord are on opposing sides. You dare not argue out loudly or even attempt to win the argument and keep his / her roof over your head.You argue out quietly or even decide to agree with him/her just to keep sane (and of course you don’t want to upset him or her especially if you owe rent)

During elections, you either help or get helped during the electoral process based on your party affiliation and your general conduct in the house. When one tenant joins the queue on election day, all members of his party from his compound house, will be said to be before him/her.

After Elections, the whole atmosphere becomes charged as all members of the various parties dare not make fun of each other. It becomes a battle of emotions, one wrong word might Mar your day in entirety.
Usually die-hard fans of the various parties begin to collate the votes based on the reports from the media houses.

You quietly resign to bed when you realize your party is losing. You don’t wait for your other co- tenants to taunt you.
(my personal experience in December 7 (a recount of what I experienced on December 7 2008 and December 7 2012 respectively)

December 7, 2008

I was not eligible to vote in this election, I just observed and enjoyed the whole atmosphere of this election fever.

The Compound house I lived in was Npp dominated, in fact my whole neighborhood was. My landlady is not tolerant of other party views at all. It was Npp or nothing. Almost all the tenants in her house were her family members except for my family and another tenant.

My family had lived in this very house ever since I was born, the other room available for non-family tenants of our landlady always had people moving in and moving out. I had the privilege of living with different people for a long time, most of whom were Akans.

Somewhere along the line, (I don’t remember which year it was), our Landlady who had sworn not to admit any other tribe apart from the Akan tribe, grudgingly admitted a Krobo man (this was because he was her church member) and unknowingly to her, the Man’s wife was an Ewe and an Ndc sympathizer as well. Let’s assume the lady is called Afi.

Afi could not even speak her language with her son as much as She wanted to for fear of being accused by Landlady of indirectly insulting her. (Just imagine her trying to talk about Ndc or holding an opposing view to Npp in our house)

Prior Election

We shared the same kitchen with Afi, and usually when I am in the kitchen with her, the insults she metes out to the landlady undertones in so dehumanizing. She dares not talk about it. She praises Atta Mills in the kitchen and actually listens to Ndc adverts and programs in the kitchen with her radio on the low.

My landlady can stand in the middle of our compound and actually insult all Ndc members, and  call out Atta Mills as “Atta Miliki”. It was that bad. She would put her radio on a loud volume and dance to Npp songs, sometimes with her family members joining her. They will sometimes sing and hoot or taunt Afi, without necessarily mentioning her name.(who the cap fits let him wear)

Post Election 2008.

Atta Mills won after the run-off and the “Tein Decides” votes were counted. Afi could still not jubilate. The atmosphere in the house was tensed as almost all the members in our household were tensed. Hopes were shattered and emotions were flared up. Even the Ndc members in my neighborhood got hooted at when they tried to jubilate outside our house.

My Landlady shouted at them Akor)nfo (thieves!) huuuuuu!!!!!!!!!! She never gives up. She never accepts defeat.

Afi still didn’t have peace. Rather her case got worse, as the family members in the house found faults with everything She did, including how she swept and how she scrubbed the washroom.

They kept taunting her, till She moved out with her family.

December 7, 2012

Election Day

We woke up around 12 am to queue, and as at that time some members of my neighbourhood were already in the queue. Some had their plastic chairs with them, others had stones standing in their stead. When you see one person in a queue around that time, just assume you are seeing about 7 people or more. We sat down on our stools and chat, sometimes we just walk about and stretch our legs. I was in the queue in with my cover cloth and stool.

Most of the adults in my household had requested that we stand in the queue in their stead. I was eligible to vote in this election and impatient to cast my votes. Some adults who came later on, sometime at dawn actually bullied their way through. Some actually claimed that they asked some friends of theirs who were already in the queue to stand in their stead.

All too soon, my number 7 position in the queue had moved to 4o something, even with that position I had to be firm and stand my ground. Talk of queue corruption.

What hurts the most was, when the Electoral officers came in the morning, they asked us to make way for the elderly ones above 60 to vote first, and it’s then you see able-bodied pensioners act all frail so as to enable their children and grandchildren accompany them and in so doing cast their votes as well. Some friends of mine who had actually slept off in their bed, whilst I was standing outside in the queue all night voted before I did just because they had a pensioner Dad or Grandad.

5pm and Beyond

We went back to the electoral polling station after the votes were casts and witnessed the vote counts. After we were certain Npp had won for our area, we started calling our family members to find out how the Npp had fared in their area. We then went back home and had all the radio sets in our home in action.

We had pens, calculators and note books ready. We recorded the votes counted from the radio stations. We call out to the other sides of the compound to confirm what other radio stations are saying as well.

Eg. Someone will shoutout to another person to confirm whether Joy fm had called out Ketu south as 91,000, just as Peace fm had. If it was confirmed we scribble down quickly and wait for Manhyia.

After doing this all through the night, we realized that the “going was getting tough”

Nobody had to tell us to go to bed.

Post Elections

We always listened to the radio with some sort of hope we didn’t hear right and hoped the results will change.

Haha!

Quite an experience it was! Let’s see what December 7 2016 will be like.

Ps. This is just my experience on December 7. This is not a post for any political party.

Hw3 wo asetena mu na to wo aba!

Image Credit…Yaa Frimpomaa Ayim Apeatse

Beautifully Created Monster 2

Dr Theodore Woods, was one who never stayed at home. He would gladly take on all the shifts at the hospital just to avoid his constantly nagging wife. She seemed never to be satisfied with anything he ever did and that made him resent her the more.

On the day Anuna was born, He was beside himself with joy. He’s finally going to be a father, after delivering “so many a babies ” he knew what a miracle a childbirth was.He wanted to hold his baby so badly that,  after the nurses were done with the cleaning up, he quickly asked them to give him his daughter. “His daughter? My daughter ?” He asked himself. I have a daughter?  Gracious Heavens! I am a father!  Woohoo!!!!

And there she was, right in his arms, his own little precious ‘mini him’,she had his nose and eyes and her  stubborn little chin was just like her mother’s. ‘My God, you are so beautiful my darling ‘ He said.

Her dark curly hair looked just like his, her chubby cheeks, the nicely shaped forehead and her cute little pink toes. His heart ♥ squeezed tightly and he was so overwhelmed with joy that he didn’t notice the tear drops that seeped out of his eyes. A tear drop escaped from his eyes and landed on his baby cheek, he brushed it off and gazed into her pure white eyes with the black brown pupils,  she looked back at him and he felt his heart flutter.

She yawned and started bellowing loudly, he started cooing and tried to make her stop crying. Her cries were fierce like a war cry. He quickly asked the nurses to take the baby to her mother, only to be told that they couldn’t find his wife anywhere.He became alarmed and quickly called the security officers at post to do a quick search of the hospital premises.

After several minutes of checking the hospital premise, they found his wife lying unconscious on the hospital bathroom floor, she had passed out after bleeding so much. The nurses did all the necessary arrangements and sent her to the theater. The doctors performed an emergency surgery on her and saved her life.

Theodore was scared to death, he surely couldn’t handle taking care of this little baby all by himself. He wanted to be part of the team that saved his wife, he wanted so badly to be there, even though he knew it was not allowed. He couldn’t keep still and kept pacing the corridors of the theater room for news about his wife. Thankfully, it had been a minimal tear, the doctors had no trouble during the surgery.

She was discharged after a week in the hospital. The following days had been mere torture as Gloria didn’t want anything to do with her baby. She denied her existence, didn’t bother about feeding her, clothing her and tending her little one. She just didn’t care about her baby.

Gloria’s behaviour saddened Theodore deeply, as he had to take some time off work to take care of Anuna, he did his best, trying to feed the ever hungry, always crying baby with tons of formula, changing diapers and singing non existent songs to make her sleep. He was exhausted none the less but very happy to have someone to show his affection to. His greatest worry was how to fend for his baby when he resumed work. His family members were out of Accra and he was surely not going to send off his bundle of joy to Sunyani. Gloria could not be bothered and he was at his wits end, when he called on one of the retired Midwives, Martha Brentwood at his hospital to help him out with the baby.

Martha Brentwood, a widow, who had lost her husband to a tragic car accident some twenty years ago, had four children, all grown up and living their lives elsewhere, far away from her motherly prying eyes. She was bored from idleness and was tired from travelling far off to visit her children and grandchildren. Living all alone, she sometimes yearned for company as her friends, most of whom were dead anyway also didn’t come visiting as much as she wanted them to. It was therefore a joy and also a blessing to have a little baby to care for as she was totally bored out of her mind.

Martha was a disciplinarian, a devout Presbyterian and a good mother. She took care of Anuna as her own. When Theodore came for her in the evenings, it was more of a torture, more of saying goodbye to her lifetime companion. It really hurt to see her go. Anuna was a beautiful baby, she seldom cried, was very noisy and always making her baby voice heard. When she was hungry, she never cries, instead she had an angry scowl on her face to tell you what time it was. Martha wondered what sort of a woman Gloria was, one who didn’t care about her own child. She often prayed to God to grant Gloria a loving heart, so she could at least have some affection for the child she bare. She hoped to God, she would.

The Woods family home was more like a graveyard. In the mornings there was no one at home as all the three Woods left the house usually at dawn. Theodore moved to the guest room in order to sleep with his baby. Gloria still slept in the master bedroom. She didn’t mind been on her own and knew her constant nagging would not bring her husband back to her bed till she accepts that dreadful baby.

Six months after Anuna’s arrival in the Woods home, Theodore decided he had had enough, Gloria will have to take care of their child and that’s it. He couldn’t bear the thought of having a bleak future with his family torn apart. He knew something had to be done and the sooner it was, the better for them both. He had called on the Elders of his family and Gloria’s as well as Martha to a family meeting that night to  enable them solve this issue once and for all. The meeting was successful as Gloria had been entreated by her family elders to either accept her baby or pack out of her matrimonial home. She had vehemently denied all what her husband had said about the previous six months and had accepted to take care of Anuna.  She blamed it all on the pains she had to endure during Anuna’s childbirth. She was traumatised and depressed, she said. It was also agreed at the meeting that Martha would take care of Anuna when her parents went to work.

Gloria was peeved with her husband, how dare he pull that little prank on her, asking her to take care of Anuna. She hated that child, with her all her being, she hated her, couldn’t stand the sight of her. The baby which had the power to break her marriage. The marriage she had so worked for, the marriage she had toiled for, that marriage was her investment and if all that it had to take was to pretend to love that brat then so be it, but this would not go without a fight. Theodore would have to explain why he didn’t seek her permission before calling on her family elders. She would wait till her family elders had left and then have him explain the nonsense he had created.

The morning after the meeting had resulted in a big fight, it had been so fierce that Gloria had caused Theodore to raise his hand against her. She kept jabbing her index finger on his chest and calling him names, hooting at him and making strange noises. She kept calling him “Salomey” and was pushing him for a fight. It took all his will power not to strike back, till she pushed him to the ground and called his bluff. That was the final straw, as Theodore hit her hard on her right cheek and she hit her head against the cream wall of their bedroom.

Theodore stared in horror as he looked at the red liquid that slid down the wall and the figure on the floor.

To be continued…………..

Image Credit – Pinterest

 

THE MATE’S COMPANION

It’s a handkerchief first,

A napkin for wiping hands after eating,

A rag for wiping the seats,

An umbrella when it rains (and the troski roof leaks),

It’s a shoe polish rag,

It serves as an adhesive when the troski door is faulty,

It’s used to block raindrops from the leaking roof

It serves as a headgear for some mates

An armpit wiper (perhaps it serves as a deodorant)

A pillow,

It’s used as the “Troski” wiper blades,

Does he wash it,

We cannot say,

If He is a “Dadabee Mate”,

He might just discard it and buy another

We all know “Chobo no be problem”

There may be more to the love affair between a “Troski” Mate and his  wonderful friend

But we all know,

There’s no other faithful companion than a “Troski” Mate’s

DUSTER.

 

 

Barbara Takyiwah Gyan

29.08.2016

 

Painfully Sweet

Her arrival had caused such a stir, almost everyone knew who she was before she actually landed, the expectancy rates were high.

She called to tell us, She would be arriving on 29th February 2016 which is in 273 days time, given that today is 01st June 2015. I was over the moon when I received the news, I had to get an extra room ready, She surely would be here to stay, I bought the finest china sets, I scrubbed all the rooms clean, and acquired some extra bedding.

We had been waiting for her since God knows when, together with my husband we made enquiries about her, how she would look like, how to get in touch with her, how to contact her and what to do to actually have this amazing personality in our home.

Our neighbours gave us so much information, at first it was confusing and we tried so many times, we made so many calls, we called all the right people we knew could help us. We sought their counsel, we did all they asked us to do. We spoke to some agents who gave us some new lines to try, tried as we could we couldn’t get in touch with her.

I had all forgotten about our usual flight attendant, whom I know has very good connections, it took a painful memory down the lane to remember how he had helped me on my previous flight. I quickly dialed his number J.E.S.U.S. it was and quickly asked to speak to him. I was all but ready with my “I am sorry’s”and “will you please forgive me’s”,  but he wouldn’t let me speak, He quickly narrated every detail about my ordeal to me, the word ‘shock’ is an understatement, I was completely astounded as I could only open my mouth in wonder.

He said ‘Carol, I never intended for you to have that wonderful visitor, you were meant to be all mine, praising and telling others about me (yeah I’m jealous like that), but you are so desperate to welcome her into your home, so much that you’ve completely forgotten about me’ I would let her call on you, your time with her would however be short as you would soon be on the next flight to be with me.

HER ARRIVAL

I checked in to the arrival hall at exactly 6:00 pm on the 28th of February 2016. I was so excited that I couldn’t even hear my name, when I was called. I went in with my husband to welcome this amazing being.

After three long hours of waiting, pushing and puffing, she finally arrived. I quickly asked to see her, as I was getting very weak, I knew my time had come to be on the next flight.

Holding her was indescribable, she was so pure, with those huge Bambi eyes, she had my stubborn chin and she looked heavenly. Her pink toes were dainty, and her smile was just something else. I had just about enough time to giver a name, Neveah it was.

MY DEPARTURE

My husband took Neveah from me as he saw that the next plane had arrived. It was time to let me go. I had already seen the chariots and I saw how beautiful the other place looked, it was a serene place with the most prepossessing environment ever.

I wanted to be at the other side but a part of me also wanted to be on Earth, I gave my hubby a hushed goodbye as I hurriedly went on my way to catch the next flight but not without hearing a loud cry from Neveah, my painfully sweet bundle of joy.

Neveah -Heaven spelt backwards.

Number One!

You’re my Numero Uno, My delicious sensation My ‘kiss me quick’ Alomo, I never want to let go, But for our own good, I have to say goodbye. It was a beautiful journey, The sweet k…

Source: Number One!