Can’t believe the holidays are over! You know how much I love Christmas!!! ‘Tis the season to remember how God came to this earth and dwelt amongst us as a baby; it is also the season to eat, make merry and spend time with the people we love. Hope you did all 4! Writing during the Christmas holidays sucks! 😩 Everybody is chilling and you are sitting behind your PC, punching keys. No be easy 😓. Last time we were here, Queen Kess was slaying on all fronts. This week, it is Nii Okai who’s in the spotlight. Happy new year, guys! Too much love from this girl!❤️️

P.S: Shout outs to all the silent readers I met at Joyful Way’s Explosion of Joy. Thanks for breaking the silence and saying hi. 

P.P.S: I did something that I have wanted to do for a while- import characters from other series that we have come to love. This time it’s our beloved K Beck of Capital High fame. Enjoy! 

The woman’s voice was becoming dimmer and dimmer. It had become an art- this ability to drown out the voice of whoever was lecturing and think about Joan. It was more rampant on days when he had classes that Joan hadn’t signed up for. He had really come to love the girl. They were always together- in his room or hers, or at a church event, or in the study room. The thing was when he was with her, he was fixated on her- the way she squinted when she could not see anything on the board, the way her baby hairs clung to her forehead when she was sweating, the way she made faces when she was hungry or sleepy or sad. He had even started hearing her custom message tone in his mind’s ear; he would jump up and pick his phone only to realize that he was just imagining things. When he wasn’t with her, he was thinking about her.

‘Herh Nii Okai!’

Dennis’ voice brought Nii Okai back to reality.

‘Ah! Is everything alright up there? I should call your mother and tell her that her hard earned money is going down the drain. How can you come to class and daydream the entire time? She take you do for boys eh? What is this? Or you have started sleeping with her?’

Nii pursed his lips and used his torso to lean his chair back slightly.

‘Ei guy! You change oo! This is not the Nii I know.’

‘Why are you guys always overreacting? I know that you guys don’t like Joan. You have never even taken the time to know her but you all have your own theories about why I should not be with this girl. First Esenam, now you.’

Esenam’s complaint was more emotional.

‘Nii, I need to tell you something.’

She looked like she was about to cry. They were walking back to their hostel from a prayer meeting.

‘Is everything okay?’

He stopped and gestured for her to sit on a bench.

‘What’s wrong with me?’

Wait, what? Is this supposed to be a trick question? Geez girls!

‘I am not sure I understand, Es.’

‘This is what I mean. You have pet names for me. You do nice things for me. Everybody at church knows I have always liked you, everyone except you. As if you being oblivious to how I feel isn’t enough, you had to end up with that girl. Jesus forgive me, but everybody is wondering what you see in her. I was right there in front of you but you didn’t see me. The person you chose to see is nothing like the girl we’d expect you to end up with. What is wrong with me? Why wasn’t I good enough?’

Nii Okai was dumbfounded. Her tears were getting louder and everyone who passed by them looked back with concern. He shifted uncomfortably- he really didn’t need the extra attention.

‘Es. I mean, Esenam. I asked you out a month after school began. You told me that you were not ready for a relationship and that you even prefer older men. What exactly were you expecting from me after that?’

‘To try again. I didn’t really know the type of guy you were but once I got to know you, it didn’t matter how old you were. I wanted to be in your life.’

‘And I was supposed to read this from your actions? I read from your actions the first time I asked you out and I read wrong. Why would I do that again?’

She didn’t say anything in response.

‘So you say you saw her in a dream? How do you know that it wasn’t a trap from the devil?’

‘Wow, Esenam, the devil? That’s where we have gotten to?’

K Beck was right. Girls are weird sometimes, throwing mixed signals left, right, centre. I remember when he told me about that Akpene girl. One moment, you are head over heels in love with him, next moment you just vanish without a word. Wait till I tell him this!

Nii Okai had met K Beck on the first day of school. He was sitting on the short wall in front of the hostel. It was when Nii Okai met Joan that he realized that there were levels to this accomodation thing. Joan had three roommates in a room that was three times the size of his room. They had a very spacious balcony, a kitchenette and a bathroom all in the room. All they needed was a maid servant on call 24/7 for the luxurious life to be complete.

This was like 5-star hotel Kempinski compared to the matchbox of a room he and his seven roommates lived in. Yes, seven, if you were not counting the guys who came to bath and eat every day but weren’t neccessarily assigned that room number. And yes, even though there were only four beds- three actually. The fourth one was broken and had become the holding area for the suitcases and jute bags. K Beck shared a bunk bed with him- they were the first two to arrive in the room.

Their friendship had been mutually beneficial- from the first day he said, ‘Yo! Kwamena Welbeck here but everyone calls me K Beck.’ They discovered that the best time to take a bath in the communal bathroom on their floor was right after the cleaners were done cleaning at dawn. The best way to eat to one’s satisfaction was to eat at the vendor’s shop. In the room, 6 other hands would appear from nowhere and eat with you till the very last morsel. There were also budget friendly meals that K Beck could whip up.

Gari is your friend– that was K Beck’s favourite go to saying when it came to food.

He was always asking for extra gari whenever they bought beans. He had an olonka’s worth of gari in his suitcase and he made a different gari dish everyday.

Gari with milo.

Gari with strawberry Cowbell.

Gari with shito and sardines and sardine oil.

Gari soakings.

Gari with shito plus Indomie and eggs from Sister Akosua.

K Beck was the best guy to teach Nii the ropes. He had elder brothers who had been through the school already so he had all the insider information one needed for these things. He also had a way with women- Sister Akosua, Mamaga (the beans seller), Grace (the cleaner who worked on their floor), Auntie Patricia (the very unfriendly porter who still managed a smile just for K Beck’s raps), literally every girl on the floor, etc.

‘Auntie Pat, you look gorgeous today. Did your husband see you before you left?’

‘Sister Akosua,  menkoa med), K Beck special baako wai.’ (Yes, he had invented his own Indomie combination and she made it for only him)

‘Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound!’

And it worked every time. It was only Mamaga that he did not flirt with. He called her Mama and he always said that she reminded him of Akpene, the girl he was in love with, back in Capital High.

Mamaga also treated him like her son. The boys always got extra zomi and plantain when they went to get their Wednesday morning beans. She gave them water as well. Ice cold. She was always telling them to get serious with their books and come and marry one of her daughters so that she could continue feeding them with her zomi goodness. K Beck always said this- I am already in love with one of your daughters. You just haven’t met her yet.

K Beck needs to hear this Esenam story mehn!

---

They were lying on her bed.

This was one of the rare days when they were alone. Sala was at a study group meeting. Kesewa had gone away for the weekend to be part of her cousin’s bridal party. Enyonam/Stacy the newbie had left early in the morning and nobody knew where she was headed and when she was coming back.

They were watching a movie and Nii Okai was absentmindedly playing with her hair. He told her about what happened with Esenam and in classic Joan style, she threw her head back and laughed.

‘I told you she liked you, didn’t I?’

‘You sound like K Beck.’

‘Oh my goodness! What did he say? It is bound to be funny.’

‘Yeah he is a funny guy.’

‘I like him. I wish I could get along with Derrick as well as I do with K Beck.’

‘Hey, look at me. I care about my friend’s opinions but he doesn’t get the final say. It’s me and you, no matter what.’

That was when she kissed him.

They had never kissed before. Nii had fantasized about it a number of times but he could always hear the prayer secretary Peter’s voice in his mind’s ear.

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.

It was easy to remember right after the prayer meeting or after the monthly Boys Boys meetups. It was a little more difficult to remember when your girlfriend was as fine and sexy as Joan. It was even more difficult to remember when you were lying in her bed and she was wearing shorts and a tank top.

Five minutes later, they weren’t just kissing. Their hands were flying in all sorts of directions and their breathing had gotten heavier. They didn’t hear the knocks the first three times.

The fourth time, it was a little more intense.

They stopped kissing abruptly.

Nii Okai looked at the bulge in his trousers and wondered whether to stay in the bed or to sit on a chair. He chose to sit on the chair.

Joan slid off the bed and opened the door.

‘Barima? What are you doing here?’

‘Where is he?’

‘Where is who? Don’t lie to me. I heard you guys in there.’

‘Barima, you are drunk and you are making a scene.’

At this point, Nii Okai wanted to see who it was.

‘Is there a problem?’

‘Yes there is. Come out here and face me like a man before you can lay your hands on my woman.’

‘Barima, I am not your woman.’

 

See you next week! Btw, this is my year of ‘shoot your shot’, aka Go for what you have always wanted to do. You are welcome to join me. I plan to host a blogging workshop for those of you who have always wanted to start a blog. Stay tuned to our social media pages for more on that. Also, more information about our meetup coming up real soon. Stay blessed!