“Herh! Chale, chale, chale, chale, chale… goosebumps come my body sef. My goodness!”

“No be you alone ooo. Ei! This kind singing di33, herh! Ntokozo Mbambo levels oo!”

“Hmm, chale. Ibi like today ankasa, issa miracle Sunday. First of all, Becky decides to go to church, unprovoked. Then we see Sister Akpene singing like some Black American chorister with pipes.”

“Ah, my dear, what God cannot do does not exist ooo.”

The Aforo couple were on their way back from church, and were heartily discussing the video that had been waiting for them and the others in the group chat. Becky had wasted no time at all sending them the video of the choir’s ministration of ‘Great Is Your Mercy’, and once everyone had watched it, the group chat was buzzing.

The three major points of discussion: Delasi’s delightful turn, which had them all showering accolades on her. Irene’s turn, which led them to relentlessly tease Clarence. And Akpene’s turn, which had them all stunned. None of them knew her to be a singer, so that rendition from her was jaw-dropping, to say the least.

“Wait, so Delasi is typing,” Nana Asor mentioned, eagerly looking at the screen while Bruce kept his eyes on the road. “Okay, so she’s saying that Sister Akpene has been doing underground lessons with the church’s voice coach for a while now… ohhh, okay, okay, they’ve been planning this for a while now. Akpene wanted to surprise everyone. Especially Bishop.”

“Well, it definitely worked out. Coz chale, that was mind-borsting ankasa!” Bruce commented. “The passion, the voice… everything. Chale, she really spoil there!”

“She spoil there ampa!” Nana Asor agreed. “If you no take care sef, you’ll forget the others were so good. Like Delasi.”

“Herh, chale, Delasi too really show levels. My goodness! She was on form roff. Then that girl after her, the one who sang ‘Jireh’ when we went there, she was good too. And Clay’s geh too…”

“Oh yes, that cute baby girl! She was good too. See, Clay for treat that girl well ooo. If we hear small ‘fi’ from her about him, eh… unless Ga Mantse come beg we.”

Bruce laughed out loud. “Babe, ibi like you mean Clay too much for this one ooo.”

“I mean am forkin!”

The couple laughed as they made their way back home.

***

Almost half an hour later, and they were home. As Bruce killed the engine, he sighed and nodded in satisfaction, pleased at how the morning had gone. “Okay! Now we can go and enjoy some Oseikrom Aduane fufu, then do Premier League for the rest of the afternoon.”

Nana Asor only nodded, staring at him as he stepped out of the car and opened the back doors to take out the food. Suddenly, he was looking so damn fine in that kaftan of his. Like some regal prince or something.

Those hormones had suddenly decided to kick into gear, and now her mind began to wander to more playful thoughts. Playful and naughty thoughts.

My God, what a fine man I have for a husband, she smirked to herself as he closed the door. Mmmmm, I’d love nothing more than for him to strip me and useless me for all I’m worth…

Suddenly, a reminder popped up in her brain.

And then the excitement died down.

“Oh yeah, of course. We can’t. it’s almost that time of the month,” she sighed, unbuckling her seat belt. “Ugh, just when I was thinking of climbing him like a tree. Ah, this Red Sea kraaa. Why did it have to come at this time? Just when I need him to play with me well well? Hmph! Oh well, there’s always…”

She stopped, then frowned.

Now that she thought about it, was it supposed to be that day? And by the way, she hadn’t experienced any of her usual premenstrual symptoms. There was always that dull feeling and crampy sensation in her belly that preceded the beginning of her period, but none of that this time.

And when was the last time she checked her Flo app?

“Am I missing something?”

She quickly pulled out her phone and searched for the app, her heart racing slightly as she prepared to check her cycle history. Maybe she had miscalculated the time or something. Maybe it wasn’t supposed to come now.

She found the app, and opened it.

Her eyes widened at the information she saw.

“Ehhh? Are you serious?”

***

Amankwaah stepped out of the ward, a pale, shocked expression on his face.

What had just transpired in there was an absolute stunner to him. One he had not expected in the slightest, especially after storming out of the family house the previous night.

It had been about thirty minutes after he left that he saw a call from the nurse. Too annoyed to even hear what she had to say, he ignored it. It was only when he got home that he reluctantly answered her seventeenth call and discovered that the old man had experienced an out-of-pocket seizure and had been rushed to the hospital. He had promised he would come by the next morning and see him, even though he was not enthusiastic about actually fulfilling that promise.

So after attending the early morning service with his wife and little one, he had dropped them off at his mother-in-law’s house before proceeding to the hospital.

And as he had just stepped out, his mind was reeling in total disbelief at what he had just heard. A combination of outright strange and stunning.

He took in a few deep breaths, then took out his phone. Considering what he had just heard, and what he could see, this had to be done. It was not going to be easy, or cheap. And there was honestly no telling if this would all come together in time.

But it had to be done. And he had to do it now.

***

“So, this is Becky. She’s the Ashanti babe I’ve been mentioning in my childhood friend group.”

Becky cocked her head sideways and stared at Delasi, who had a big and slightly mischievous grin on her face as they sat in the cafeteria, with Lovia, Felicia and Irene before them.

The three eagerly waved at Becky. “Hi, Becky!”

She nodded and smiled back at them. “Hiiii!” she replied.

Delasi continued with the introduction. “And Becky, this is Felicia. Your fellow sweet momee.”

Felicia and Becky laughed at that as they shook hands.

“This is Lovia, everybody’s madam.”

Lovia shook her head as she shook Becky’s hand. “Please don’t mind her. I’m nobody’s madam.”

“And this is Irene, our Jamestown cutie and our small girl.”

Becky had to keep from grinning uncontrollably as she shook the hand of Irene, who looked extremely excited to meet her.

“Hi, Becky,” she greeted. “I’ve heard so much about you, and yeah, Delasi wasn’t lying. You are a proper babe! Like, proper, proper babe!”

Becky couldn’t help but feel good about that compliment. “Aww, thanks, Irene. I can see why Delasi called you a cutie as well, before you certainly are. You’re all lovely, in fact.”

The compliments then flowed among themselves for a moment or two before the three excused themselves and headed to the counter to get their usual snacks.

Delasi then turned to Becky. “So, now you’ve seen Clay’s girlfriend.”

Becky nodded excitedly. “The girl is cute ooo! Eish! This one di33, Clay has chosen well paa. Thank God that useless girl broke his heart.”

“Ah, say it again ooo! Nanka by now he’s still holding on to that silly girl in the name of love. This is a correct girl with cuteness and sense. See how she was with him and praying for him even before he got the job. This is the kind of girl our boys deserve.”

“Amen to that. Not some foolish girl who is only thinking about herself. Anyways, we thank God.”

Delasi nodded, then leaned back in her seat. “Uh-huh. So, fill me in. What happened this morning?”

Becky looked confused for a moment.

“What made you decide to come to church today?”

Becky smirked and shook her head. She knew that question would come. “I dunno, I… I just woke up and… there was this strong feeling in me to come to church. I dunno why, but that’s just what happened.”

Delasi nodded. “Interesting. The Holy Spirit made you come, then. Well, we thank God. I hope you enjoyed the service, though.”

“Oh yeah, I did. Definitely. The music. Bishop’s preaching. All very good. I guess I wasn’t expecting what followed after that, though.”

Delasi laughed. “Oh, as for that, none of us know when it’s coming. That’s how this church is. We can go from two weeks of revival and people being slain in the Spirit to three months of normalcy. As Bishop always says when it comes to our services, expect God to do what He wants.”

Becky nodded. Just as she was about to say something, though, her phone began to vibrate.

She stared at the caller ID. Her jaw clenched.

It was Amankwaah.

It looked Bishop Gordon’s word of wisdom was already coming to pass.

But oh, how this was already pissing her off! She had no idea what was coming up, but she was already mad at all this.

But then, with what had been said, she wouldn’t feel good disobeying God, so… time to hear what her big brother had to say.

***

Delasi watched on in concern as Becky excused herself before rising to her feet and answering the phone. She had seen who it was, and of course, she was no stranger to the madness in Becky’s family. She knew how dark Becky could get whenever anything concerning her father came up, and as she spoke to her brother, she could only hope Becky wouldn’t lose her cool.

“Yeah, Amankwaah… yeah, I’m good. I’m just done with church… yeah, yeah, I know, you’re surprised. I dunno, I… I just felt like coming today…”

Delasi watched on, bracing herself for a possible explosion while praying and hoping that wouldn’t happen.

“Uh-huh… oh really? I see… why, what happened?… Wait, what? Are you serious?”

She watched as Becky’s facial expression slowly transformed from dark and brooding to stunned and surprised.

“Nah, nah, Amankwaah, are you sure of what you’re saying? Coz if… oh, my God… oh, my God… ei, you’ve called them too? But will they get to Accra in time?… Wow, wow. Hmm, God knows I wouldn’t have come, but… you, no worries, I’m coming. Okay, I’ll see you in a bit. Okay, bye.”

As Becky hung up, her face had turned very somber. Whatever she had heard from her brother was extremely humbling and worrying.

She rushed over to the table for her keys. “Delasi, I need to leave right away. Something’s come up.”

The concern on Delasi’s face had grown even more intense. “What’s wrong, Becky? Is everything okay?”

Becky’s eyes were starting to water up. She shook her head. “No. Something’s wrong. Can’t talk about it now. I need to go.”

Delasi nodded, her eyes full of worry as she rose to her feet. She opened her arms, and Becky duly obliged, hugging her tightly. “Whatever it is that’s happening, it is well, okay, Maayaa?”

Becky sniffed slightly, then nodded. She then separated from her, turned and walked out the restaurant briskly.

As Delasi watched her walk out, she could only wonder what Becky had just heard.

“Hmmm. Lord, whatever it is, please be with her and her family. Please…”

So what exactly is happening with that awful old man? And is Nana Asor actually… is it finally happening?