CHAPTER 1

GONE FOREVER

ASABEA LEAVES NIMAKO

Asabea with Delphina her mom and Spencer her dad stood on their porch and waved good-bye to Nimako and her family as they drove away.

Tears sprang from Asabea’s eyes as she watched her best friend, who had been her neighbor all her life, leave. Asabea and Nimako had known each other since infancy. They went to school together and ate together at school. You would never see one without the other. They were known as “Two Musketeers”.

In fact, their friendship was something to emulate. Suddenly, they had to separate. For Asabea, it was an agony she had to go through. ‘When your best friend moves to Nigeria on the last day of school, it’s a sure bet that you are about to experience the worst vacation ever,’ she thought. Asabea’s mom watched her daughter’s face carefully, seeing her look of dejection and misery; she hugged her and said, ‘You know Nigeria isn’t that far away. Perhaps if you save some money, you could afford to visit Nimako this vacation.’ At this time, Asabea couldn’t know what to do. Tears dropped from her eyes like ice cubes falling on a roofing sheet. The more she tried to control her tears, the more they came out.

After hours of crying, when no more tears were coming, Asabea asked her mom half jokingly, ‘Am I about to get a substantial increase in my allowance?’ She had been asking her parents for more money for a couple of months now. Asabea whisked her hand behind her back and crossed her fingers hoping today might be the day.

‘Well, I’ll talk to your dad about finding ways to earn some extra money these holidays,’ said her mom. At this thought, Asabea was optimistic because she knew who her dad was. Though Spencer her dad was a bit difficult, anytime she asked for anything from him through her mom, she always got it. ‘Come inside, in a few minutes diner will be ready,’ said Delphina her mom and then she vanished into the house.

Asabea sat on the front steps alone. The familiar neighborhood was suddenly different without Nimako. The air was fresh. The wind was whispering. The sky was blue and the atmosphere should have influenced Asabea’s mood, but she was not moved. There was no panacea which could heal her wounded soul once and for all.

The more she tried to forget Nimako, the more her picture appeared on her mind. Asabea overturned a rock with her foot and inspected several worms as they wiggled to escape the afternoon sunlight. She picked up a few of them and moved them into the flowerbed next to the daisies. ‘Do worms have best friends?’ She asked the worms.

‘Now am l ever going to see Nimako again?’ she asked herself. Then a brilliant idea flashed through her head. She went to ask Spencer. ‘Dad, how much does a sachet of water cost?’ He raised his eyebrows and looked at Asabea with curiosity. ‘Do you want to go selling pure water?’ ‘Well…, yes.’ She had finally thought to raise some money on her own so that she could buy an air ticket to go and see her best friend Nimako in Nigeria.

Asabea explained to her parents her idea of going into the sale of water. It was not welcome news to them. She became moody and neither ate nor talked to anyone. Her parents tried to brush off the idea of going into the sale of water since it could jeopardize the family’s reputation, but she did not understand them.

For her, the end justified the means and she had to see Nimako by all means. She then asked her parents if they could take her to see the family doctor the following day. It was only God who knew what was on her mind. They agreed to take her to see the doctor.

When they got there, Asabea expressed her feelings about the relationship between her and Nimako and the distance between them to the doctor. She asked the doctor to plead on her behalf so her parents would allow her to get into the business she had set her mind on doing. Finally, they agreed that she could sell the water in front of their house.

Asabea was given the chance to study the market to know how much capital she could start with and to find out whether she could get more market if she sold the water in front of their house.

Lo and behold, Asabea came out with a positive response. She started the sale of the water with Five Ghana Cedis and by the end of the week; she had made a profit of Twenty Ghana Cedis. For her, it was the best experience she could ever have, though occasionally she could not forget her problems. She remembered the good times she shared together with Nimako. At times, it appeared as though she was in control of her problems then all of a sudden, she would break down and weep.

In fact, this continued for a year and she had still not heard anything from Nimako. She then thought of writing a letter to him about her latest venture. At that time, the postal systems were very poor. Could you imagine posting a letter to Nigeria could take you between two and three months to reach its destination? Asabea wrote about the problems she had gone through since their separation and how she was eager to see her whether rain or shine. She recalled one fateful day after school when Nimako said it would not rain so they should run home. Luck eluded them.

The rain caught them in the middle of the road where there was no shelter nearby to protect them from the onslaught of the rainstorm. In fact, they were whipped by the raindrops. To add oil to already burning flames, a wind storm lifted Nimako and dropped her on the ground as if a ‘Macho Man’

a well built man

had pushed her.

After a while of this ordeal, luck smiled on them. A taxi cab came to pick them up and took them home. It took about two weeks for them to fully recover from the injuries they sustained from the rainstorm. Asabea told Nimako what she had gone through in her absence. She told her how much of herself she had lost. She had lost her appetite for almost everything she used to enjoy doing. Food had turned into a bitter pill.

Her attempts to find a solution to her problems had failed. She remained convinced that having Nimako near her was the only solution. When she finished writing the letter, she sealed it and gave it to her dad to post it for her. Each passing day, Asabea peeped into the mail box anxious to find a response from her friend. Four months had elapsed and still there was no response. Her anxiety rose to fever pitch. She certainly couldn’t wait any longer and was about to write another letter to him when a thought struck her.

One Sunday afternoon, she asked her dad whether he actually posted the letter. Though offended by the question, he was worried about his daughter’s state of mind since she and her friend separated. Knowing fully well how much Nimako meant to her daughter, he assured her that the letter had indeed been posted. This confirmation did a good work of calming her nerves and made her hesitate to fire another letter to her friend.

After about five months, a letter from Nimako arrived in their mail box. The last few lines caught her attention. ‘I can’t believe you are selling pure water. This, I have to see. Send me a picture!’ She told Asabea about her new experience in Nigeria. She told her about her smooth flight to Nigeria and the new friends she had made. According to her, Nigerian food, its music and the Ibo language was just superb. What touched her most was that her new friends wanted to know more about Ghana and since she was also willing to tell them more, they were highly excited.

At this juncture, Asabea wept as if she had just been told of her mom’s death. Receiving a letter from Nimako, everybody thought that could solve some part of the problems confronting her. Unfortunately, the content of the letter had rather pricked her wounds. She couldn’t stop herself from weeping. Her parents had to talk to her to calm down. She then went to bed. The following day, she took a picture while selling the water. When the picture was ready, she added it to the letter and posted it to Nimako. A week later, Asabea went to bed and had a dream.