“We have a lot of birthday messages coming in this morning… this one is to Francis Adjetey, from your loving wife Mary, and she says, ‘Happy birthday to a wonderful husband and an amazing father. You are everything I have prayed for, and I thank the Good Lord for your life…”

Clarence was in the kitchen, busily at work on the stove while his phone radio was on Velvet FM’s morning show. He hadn’t been listening for a while, but there was a special thing he needed to hear on the show while he made himself a nice little breakfast.

While he waited, he beat the eggs he had cracked in the bowl, sprinkled a little bit of salt in the mixture, and added a few drops of Maggi Arome. “Just the way Dad taught me,” he chuckled to himself.

Pouring the beaten eggs into the frying pan after checking its temperature and being satisfied, his attention was caught by the sound of Deladem’s voice.

“Yes, so before I read these ones, I have a birthday wish of my own, and it’s going out to one of my guys. Mr. Clarence Nii Ayi Addy! Very fine guy. Short fine guy. In fact, the finest short guy you’ll meet in this country at the moment!”

Clarence laughed. “Herh, Didayy, you be f**king boy!” he snickered at the radio as Deladem’s fellow panelists laughed.

“But yeah, on a serious note, I’ve known this guy for many years. In fact, since class 2. I remember it quite well. Clarence sat in front of me, and Bruce was my sitting partner. And on the other side, to our left, Nana Asor and Becky, with my sister behind Becky. Our teacher, Mr. Koduah of blessed memory, made that sitting arrangement, and since then, we’ve remained solid till date, and I’m glad to have him around, so, happy birthday, Clay, and may the Good Lord continue to bless you and grant you your heart’s desires. Next year by this time, then chale, you dey chop life ankasa!”

“Amen to that ooo, amen!” Clarence cheered in response to Deladem’s wishes.

Yeah, this was definitely needed.

Turning 31 was supposed to be a joyful occasion, but in the early hours of that morning, it had not felt that way. It had felt like a commemoration of how badly life had gone for him.

In the past two years, he had lost his mother to a hypertensive crisis, lost his job, and lost the girl he really liked. That dawn, all these losses weighed heavy on his mind, with voices in his head doing their very best to convince him that there was nothing to celebrate. That life had been cruel to him, and he was better off moping.

For a while, those voices achieved their aim. Clarence lay in bed, fighting tears and berating God for making life so hard for him. Why did he have to let him go through all that pain? Why did he have to lose his mother? Why did he have to endure this agonizing cycle of unemployment? It just wasn’t fair!

But then, as he sat up at a point and checked his WhatsApp, he noted the squad’s group chat.

The group name had been changed to ‘HAPI B’DAY CLAY!’ with his picture as the profile picture. He opened it and saw all the birthday messages from the others. He looked at the numerous pictures of himself with the others on their various statuses.

And it hit him. He was being very ungrateful.

Yes, he might have lost all these precious things, but had he lost his support system? The group of friends he had known since his days as a class 2 boy?

Clearly not!

They had been with him and supported him during his mother’s funeral. During this long, painful period, they were doling out a bit of money from their pockets to keep him from drowning while he continued to search for a job. They had been good to him, without a doubt, showing that they were no fair-weather friends, but those that stick closer than a brother.

And now, in hindsight, losing that Veronica girl was a bigger blessing than he had thought. She had already revealed herself to be an opportunistic snake who only wanted him when it was convenient. So crying over her was a most foolish thing to do.

So as he busily made himself a king’s breakfast, Clarence had chosen to embrace the day with a grateful heart. There were many things to be grateful about. His father was still alive and very much willing to help him out in this current state. His friends were doing their best to help him out of the pit. He still had the breath of life in his nostrils. There was still hope yet that he would get a job. There was a whole lot to be happy about.

Plus, the squad would be coming over on Saturday to help celebrate properly, with pizza, some FIFA games and a whole lot of fun. That was definitely worth looking forward to.

While he flipped the eggs over, his phone rang. He looked at the phone screen, and smirked.

Oh yeah, and lest he forget, the caller ID on the screen was another reason to be thankful. It might have been just a few days, but it was still worth being happy about.

He picked it up and answered. “Hello?”

Happy birthday Clarence!!”

He laughed. “Thanks so much, girl.”

“Awwww, you’re welcome! You’re a pretty awesome guy, and I wish nothing but the best for you!”

***

“Dear Lord, this is beautiful!” Delasi breathed, spellbound by the video playing on her phone. She had hit the repeat button about two times already and just could not get enough of the beautiful melodies emanating from it.

Olivia had sent her a video of herself and her two sisters harmonizing in their little rendition of ‘Cornerstone’, and to say that it was breathtaking would be putting it mildly. It was glorious, the way all three of them passionately sang their parts with all their hearts. Any by passer who heard it would have assumed they were professional musicians.

Once she was done with the third play, she quickly called Olivia.

“Hello, Delasi?”

“Olivia, Mind. Blown. That is my state of mind right now. My goodness!”

Olivia laughed. “Hehehehe! I’m honoured, on behalf of my big sissies and I.”

“Seriously, like, that was so amazing! You ladies killed it! Absolutely killed it! How come you’ve kept it from the world like that?”

“It’s my sisters ooo, Delasi. They’re not very comfortable with putting stuff online, because of their jobs. Which I don’t understand, but well, that’s how they feel. The way I had to stress them before they agreed to record this one mpo.”

Delasi raised an eyebrow. “Really? But they weren’t in their uniforms, right? And it’s not like they’re engaging in anything against the standards of the police service and army, or? Unless singing gospel songs breaches their code of conduct…”

“Hmmm. Of course there’s no problem with them singing gospel songs. My dear, I’ve said it saaaaa, they’re still someway about it. One of these days, I’ll do some serious blackmail on them, eh…”

Delasi shook her head. She knew too well how Olivia loved to torture her sisters. “Seriously? You really think blackmailing two members of the security forces will work?”

“Oh, tweaa! They were my sisters before security diendien. I can handle them.”

Delasi laughed. Crazy ol’ Olivia.

“Okay ooo, all the best in handling them, please. But on a real note, that was beautiful. Like, you all were so in sync. It was magnificent. And it’s so obvious you all have a wonderful bond. It is so beautiful, it really is.”

“Aww, we’re honoured. And yeah, we really do. I love my sisters so much, and I know for a fact they love me too.”

“Mmmmmm…” was all Delasi could let out, feeling a pang of sadness at that. It was so sweet to hear that, yet… it was also a reminder of the fact that she could not really boast of such at that moment. Not that Deladem absolutely despised her, of course, but that assurance of a solid sibling bond just wasn’t there. Not when he was ignoring her at every turn and acting super formal whenever he had to directly engage her.

The awkward silence that followed lingered on for a few seconds. Then Olivia gently spoke.

“Um, Delasi, anything wrong?”

Delasi was a bit startled. “Uh… no, no. Why?”

“The way you suddenly went mute and all. Is anything wrong?”

“Oh, no, no, I… I was just distracted by something, th-that’s all,” Delasi fibbed. The sight of a busy Nyla passing by her desk was certainly not a distraction.

“Oh okay, okay. I thought it was something else on your mind.”

“Oh, no, no, no. It’s all good, seriously. Nothing’s wrong. Nothing at all,” she insisted, knowing she sounded very unconvincing.

A few seconds later, and after another bout of silence, Olivia spoke up again.

“Delasi, I know it’s about you and your brother. I know.”

Delasi doubled over in surprise. Was her attempt to hide that hurt so transparent to her? “Umm…”

“I know, Delasi. He’s opened up to me about it all. Trust me, I know.”

At that point, the walls of pretense crumbled. There was no point hiding it anymore. She sighed, and covered her eyes, trying her best not to let tears spill. “I’m sorry, Olivia. I wish I hadn’t done it, I just…”

“It’s okay, Delasi. I’m not mad at you about it, there’s no point in being mad anyway. I just… I know things aren’t exactly back on track between you two, and that concerns me.”

Delasi nodded slowly. “Yeah, yeah. Umm, we don’t talk like we used to… ugh, who am I kidding, we rarely talk. He’s as formal as can be with me. I’ve told him I’m sorry, and he claims he’s over it, but… it’s so clear he’s not. He’s still angry with me about it. Ugh, I wish I hadn’t brought that crazy girl over in the first place. Definitely one of the biggest errors I could ever make, honestly.”

Olivia, who silently listened to her, simply gave a little sigh before speaking.

“Delasi… there’s really not much I can say. I mean, you already regret bringing that weirdo to your home, so, I don’t need to harp on about that. But listen: I love your brother so much. He means the world to me, and I always wanna see that he’s doing good in every aspect of his life. And it bugs me to see him keep nursing resentment like this, especially against his own sister. I really wanna see him move on totally from this. But then, with his claims that he’s over it, I obviously have to be tactical with how I talk to him on it. So yeah, that’s there.

“But, I want you to know that I know it all, and I want things to get better between you two. Whoever that girl is, she doesn’t have to be the winner by keeping you two apart with those ridiculous claims, and whatever I can do to ensure that she doesn’t win, I will do it. You can trust me on that.”

Delasi sighed, a small smile appearing on her lips as her fingers absentmindedly traced patterns on her desk. What a relief to know her brother’s girlfriend had seen this and was so ready to do what she could to get them back to the bond of old. Maybe this would help out somewhat. After all, she knew without a doubt that her twin deeply adored his girlfriend; maybe she would be a point of breakthrough.

“Thanks, Olivia. I really appreciate.”

“Oh, you’re welcome, my future sister-in-law. And by the way, I may not have encountered her, not that I’d want to, but I’m real glad that weirdo never encountered my sisters, coz Lord knows she’d have suffered some major discipline from those ladies!”

Delasi couldn’t help but slightly snicker at that. “You heard about her soldier and police nonsense?”

“Yep.”

“Ha! Yeah, that was one of many crazy ones. It’s true, it’s good she never met them. I don’t think they’d have spared her if she did that to them.”

“Oh, they wouldn’t, trust me. They may be some banging babes, but they’re some no-nonsense banging babes, and they do not take disrespect lightly, so yeah, she’d have left the house crying her head off…”

Good on Clarence to be positive! That ending, though, suspicious…