5:05 am, and in the bedroom of the Aforo residence, where Bruce and Nana Asor lay, uncovered and cuddled up, there was a stillness in the atmosphere as they dozed. A few minutes lay ahead of them before they had to get up for another day, but for now, they were just enjoying the sweetness of each other’s body warmth…
Bruce’s ringtone started up, rudely interrupting the sweet, quiet moment they were having. Grumbling to himself, he reached over to check who it was.
Ah, but why is Didayy calling at this time? He wondered as he saw his friend’s caller ID. He answered, regardless. “Helloooo,” he answered groggily.
“Chale, Bruce, sorry ooo. I know sey by now, you give Asor some hot rounds wey you dey recover. Sorry, wai.”
Bruce shook his head. Even in his super drowsy state, he knew Deladem was being his regular silly self. “Massa, don’t be silly over there! What be the matter wey you dey call me early like this?”
“My guy! The movement source ooo, the movement source!”
Still quite drowsy, Bruce wondered. “Ah, what movement?”
“Massa, inobi sakeof this bedroom exercise you dey come forget! The job thing, lah!”
The last sentence immediately drove the grogginess from Bruce’s system. He sat up. “Seriously?”
“Yeah! Chale, the man call me a few minutes ago ooo. E check like he be them early birds some. He say he dey search somebody e go serve as Financial Director for one new company he set up. Ibi like them start operations only two or so months ago. So I give am your contact san send your CV give am. Bruce, the man say your credentials be what he dey search!”
Bruce’s mouth went agape. “Bro! Are you serious?”
“What’s wrong?” Nana Asor asked, also sitting up. He quickly put the call on speaker.
“Damn serious! I send give am, wey he call me like 5 minutes later. He say that be the kind of credentials he dey search waaa, so he make interested. Wey I tell am sey oh, this be my tight paddy from primary school and all, wey he say make I give am your number. So chale, ibi like your breakthrough arrive be that!”
Nana Asor’s eyes popped wide open. “Oh my God!” she shrieked. “You don’t mean it! You mean Brucie’s gonna get a new job?”
“Yes oo, Mrs. Aforo. With the way the man dey talk di33, your husband will soon be free from that alukumi wizard and his BS.”
“Oh, glory be to God!” Nana Asor cried out, her hands in the air. Bruce just sat back, beside himself with joy. He never would have guessed that early phone call would bring such good news.
Finally! Finally, his Sandfeld nightmare would be over.
“Chale, bro, I no know what make I talk. Thanks, chale, thanks!” he whispered. “Bro, the way man suffer under this Lorenzo guy, eh…”
“My guy, ibi history now. This man go sort you out better. And no need to thank me, chale. I just make happy sey I dey fit help you. What are homies for?”
Bruce shook his head excitedly, while Nana Asor flung her arms around his neck. “Bro! The way I make happy wey I dey here, eh! Chale! Finally!”
“Finally ooo, finally!” Nana Asor echoed. “Didayy, thank you oooo, thank you! Ah, chale! You’ve put a smile on my baby’s face. Thank you!”
Deladem snickered. “You’re welcome. But Asor, as your man excite di33, abi you know sey the second round e dey come di3, gyata-die basabasa! Oh Lord, I dey fear give you!”
Bruce and Nana Asor looked at each other, then shook their heads and chuckled. Deladem just couldn’t resist some misbehaviour, could he?
“Young man, it’s 5 a.m. in the morning, and I’m in a very good mood. Don’t make me call you to order.”
“Ashock! It’s too early for this mischief, Mr. Fugah. It’s too early!”
***
“Well, well, well,” Lorenzo Martinique drawled, his voice dripping with mock surprise. “Look what we have here. A masterpiece. An absolute masterpiece, I must say.”
He looked up, his eyes narrowing on Bruce, who simply stood there, an expressionless look on his face. He had just arrived at the office and had barely settled when the big man called him and ordered him to report in his office.
Obviously, something was wrong.
And when he went and saw the market research report, he knew the man was about to rip him apart. And it was no surprise, to be honest. With the kind of pressure the man piled on him before the end of the day, he was bound to produce absolute garbage just to beat the deadline.
“Bruce,” Mr. Martinique continued, his tone dripping with sarcasm, “I must say, this report is truly awe-inspiring. I mean, who would’ve thought we needed a market research genius to tell us that our customers prefer quality products? Or that our competitors are trying to grab a piece of our market share? Utterly groundbreaking insights, wouldn’t you agree?”
Yep, here we go, Bruce said to himself. This was the end goal: to just embarrass me. Because what else was I supposed to do in that short space of time?
“But you know what truly amazes me? Your ability to cram so much nonsense into one report. I mean, I never knew a single sentence could contain so many buzzwords without actually conveying any meaningful information. I truly am impressed.”
Good Lord, I can’t wait to be out of here! I swear!
“You know what, take this back,” Mr. Martinique declared, tossing the document in front of him. “And remember, the next time you’re tasked with a market research report, aim for the stars. Or at least aim to produce something marginally better than this.”
Bruce nodded silently, then picked up the document and nodded. “Yes, sir. It won’t happen again.”
“It had better not. You can leave my office.”
Bruce quickly walked out of the office of the CEO, a smirk on his face.
Sure, the man had just embarrassed him with that sarcastic, biting critique. But after the call he had received a few minutes before driving into the parking lot of Sandfeld Ghana, Mr. Martinique could scream bloody murder at him and he’d still be fine.
Next stop: the office of the Human Resource Manageress.
Miss Elsie Charway was in her office when Bruce walked in. She looked at him, her eyes filled with sympathy.
“Good morning, Bruce. I heard everything he said to you, and I’m sorry, I just-“
“Oh, don’t worry, it’s not a problem at all,” Bruce replied cheerfully.
The HR manageress looked pretty puzzled by that response. Why would he say that? Had he embraced his plight?
He then reached into his back pocket and pulled out an envelope.
“Ohh! Uh, okay,” she said slowly, receiving the envelope and opening it. She took out the folded letter and opened it up.
“LETTER OF RESIGNATION” was written in bold letters. She breezed through the letter’s content, then looked up at him and nodded, the look on her face expressing approval at this decision.
“Well, I always wondered why you didn’t do this sooner, but… at least it’s done now. It saddens me to see you leave under such circumstances, but I think we’ve all seen what happens, so it’s for the best.”
“Yeah. I had hoped that things would change soon, and that I could prove myself despite all the challenges. But it’s become clear that my efforts are constantly undermined and I’ll just be his punching bag if I stay, so, it’s time to go.”
“I agree. I wish you all the best, and I hope your new workplace treats you way better.”
“Amen to that, Miss Charway. And thanks for everything. I know you’ve done your best. But yeah, enough is enough. Consider this my mic drop. I’m done.”
***
“Becky, I totally understand you. See, I wasn’t looking forward to having to tell you this. I know how angry you’d get. But… I don’t know. Maybe when he sees you… when he sees what his absence caused… maybe he’ll come to his senses…”
Sitting at her desk, typing mindlessly, Becky recounted the conversation between her and Amankwaah the previous day. She shook her head. As to how her older brother managed to access that soft side of her and managed to convince her to go and see her father, she had no idea. On her own, she would rather suck on a naked wire than ever go and visit him for any reason whatsoever.
But here she sat, mentally preparing herself for Friday evening, when she would be returning to the Owusu-Bempong house.
To meet him for the first time in six years.
What was she expecting?
Well, with what Amankwaah had stated, all she expected was a defiant and nonchalant Victor who would only try to justify his actions. And that made her even more angry.
His decision to walk out on them was heartbreaking enough; that evening she and the others came to meet an empty house and heard him dismissively declare he could not be ‘held down’ was one evening that left deep scars. After watching their mother give up her life to help him get better, this betrayal was so difficult to swallow. So the idea that he did not want to acknowledge the damage he had caused was even worse. Basically, he did not give an iota of a damn about what he had done, and that did not make him worth meeting for any reason.
Yet, there was this tiny flicker of hope within that maybe Amankwaah was right.
Maybe he wouldn’t be so dismissive of the pain he had caused once he came face to face with one deeply wounded victim of his folly. And the fact was, Becky was deeply wounded. Watching him take the easy road instead of being a man for his family stung like no other, and the fact that it accelerated her mother’s death made it even worse. She wore her emotions on her sleeve, and anyone really close to her knew how easily she could be set off by references to her father.
Maybe… just maybe Amankwaah would be right. Maybe he’d see his wrong and see how messed up it was to choose personal enjoyment over his family.
But it was a tiny flicker of hope in the midst of a glowing, flaming ball of rage.
***
“Eiii, boys no dey relax kraaa!”
“Hw3, no time to waste oo! Na as I go there this morning sef, he call me dey tell me trash about some nyama-nyama research report he force me sey make I do within one day. Guy, I no get time relax give am. I drop the letter for HR ein there. Sharp!”
It was evening, and Bruce and Nana Asor, seated in the living room with a carton of Ceres apple juice in front of them, were on a conference call with Deladem and Clarence, giving them the lowdown on what had transpired during the day. Mr. Martinique had not been officially informed about Bruce’s notice of resignation, but he soon would. And they could not wait to see what the man’s reaction would be.
For now, though, there were two essential facts. One: Mr. Abeka Manning had spoken to him that morning and was very impressed with him already, asking that he come and see him the next week. Two: he had tendered his resignation letter.
Things were looking up.
“Chale, finally!” Clarence cheered. “Me, ibi the reaction I de wedge. As he dey torment you wey you resign now, I dey want see how he go react.”
“Oh, abi I go give you guys live update as it comes! I get sef, like I go video the whole thing give you,” Bruce laughed.
“Ayyeeeeeeee, like he go bore ooo! He go bore brutal!” Deladem chortled. “Anka the vawulence e go pai for the office, eh! Stoppp!”
“I swear!” Clarence laughed. “Asamankese power versus Valencia power!”
The four roared with laughter at that.
“Ohhh, boyy!” Nana Asor giggled. “Oh, Lord, I’m so glad, guys! I’m just so happy we can joke about this now. It’s been such a strain on us. I mean, I wake up and I see Bruce looking all gloomy, and automatically, me too, I make basaa. Now I can see the relief in his eyes and I’m so happy. I really am.”
“Awwwwwwwwwwwww!”
“Most romantic wife!”
“Most caring wife!”
The Aforo laughed at the light-hearted appellations the others rained on Nana Asor and snickered.
“Anyways,” Deladem started up, “the way Mr. Manning give me feedback, issa done deal for Bruce. So Clarence, the focus all dey your top now. As Bruce get ein own, now I dey come make sure sey you too go make sorted. Abi you know sey this group di33, nobody gets left behind. So chale, I dey top give you kraaa. Very soon, we go celebrate your own.”
“Most def, chale! Most def! That one sef, we for call for special sitting for Cues,” Bruce declared.
“You no dey see?” Clarence agreed. “Ibi very necessary. But thanks, chale. I dey hope and pray for the best. Wey as Bishop talk, I no go waste this waiting period. Still preparing myself for the blessing.”
“Amen and amen!” Nana Asor responded. “It shall be well. In fact, it is well. We’ll be rejoicing some more very soon. Amen, somebody?”
“AAAAMMMEENNNN!” the three guys enthusiastically replied.
“Praise the Lord. Well, it was great talking to you guys. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to end this call and climb my husband and give him some good-“
“Hey, hey, hey! Mrs. Aforo! Too much information! Why do you want to move out of order?” Clarence retorted.
“Ashock! Do we need to know what you want to do? Please, young lady, please!”
“See Didayy! Talking as if he wasn’t talking about gyata-die this morning! Mr. Fugah, don’t try me!”
“Madam, please, I beg. Issokay.”
***
Laughing as he put the phone down once the conference call ended, Clarence shut his eyes, inhaled, then exhaled deeply.
“Well… Bruce has got something new. I guess… I’m next on the list. At least, I gotta believe that.”
“You are, sweetie, you are,” she encouraged, holding his arm. “Just hold on and keep believing, okay? Now that Bruce has got his blessing, it’s clear God is in the neighbourhood. So don’t worry, yours is coming.”
Clarence nodded, then put an arm around her. “Indeed. Even though there’s this tiny bit of… butthurt that I didn’t get it first, I’m relieved for Bruce, coz his boss is really just a demon in flesh. Disturbing him for no sensible reason. So yeah, I’m glad he’s got it. And I’m just trying to remind myself that Didayy is definitely gonna do his best to get something for me. There’s nothing to feel bitter about. It wants to rise, but I won’t let it.”
“That’s good, Clay. Don’t let it,” she continued, taking his hand in hers and squeezing it. “With the little you’ve told me about your friends, I can only believe the best about them. And with the way they spoke, they’re definitely gonna ensure you are catered to. Didayy said nobody gets left behind in your group, so… I know it’s gonna happen.”
“Yeah. That’s no lie. Nobody gets left behind. We’re always there for each other. Through thick and thin. Whether it’s a wedding like Bruce and Nana Asor’s own, or a funeral like my mother and Becky’s mother, we’re always there. So there’s no need to doubt them. I know my squad.”
She looked up at him and smiled. “That’s sweet. I can’t wait to get acquainted with them soon. Of course, I already know Delasi, but the rest…”
“Oh, sure. I know they’ll love you too, once it’s time to let them know.”
He tickled her chin and smirked as she giggled in response.
“I really like you, Irene.”
“I like you too, Clay. Dunno what it is about you, but I just feel so safe with you.”
His smile grew bigger as he held her tight.
He might have said he’d stay away from relationships after the Veronica debacle, but that day he and Irene locked eyes at the restaurant at Shalom Temple, he knew this was a girl he could not ignore.
And it had been only a few weeks, but boy, was he glad he hadn’t!
“Umm, by the way, is Bruce’s wife that raw?”
“Oh, what you heard is comedies. You no see nothing yet. That girl? Nana Asor. Hw3333! She dey like out-of-order things pass!”
So it’s Irene! Well well well! And good news for Bruce! I definitely can’t wait to see his boss’ reaction! Quite a first season it’s been. Let’s see how it ends…
