Song: Come and See My Moda – MzVee ft. Yemi Alade. (This song fits this chapter perfectly and Elorm really relates to it!)

**Unedited** (Dedicated to CookieAdu)

"Have you been following me?" I asked him.

The dimples pricked his cheeks as he smiled. "You've caught me." He handed the change to the vendor.

I didn't know whether it was all in my head but the middle-aged woman gave me the stink-eye. I presumed she was one of the women who gossip about me in the market. By the end of the day, all the market women would know that a 'white' boy paid for my tomatoes.

I pulled him away from the woman and into a corner of the market where I reasoned people wouldn't focus on us, but it was hard to camouflage when the colours don't blend. Chris' skin was much lighter than everyone else's. When you spot him from the corner of your eye — especially in a crowd of dark-skinned people — he looks like a fluorescent lamp that always makes people do a double take. They were bound to see me when they looked at him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"Good morning to you too. How was your night?" He asked. "It's good to know you care about me."

Even though I was agitated that we were spending too much time talking, I laughed. "Don't fool around. Why were you following me?"

"You didn't come for tutoring last night. Did your date wear you out?" He asked.

I sensed the tightness in his voice.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it," I told him. "My house had unexpected visitors with unfortunate news."

"Why didn't you tell me that you have a boyfriend?" He asked.

"I didn't know that I was supposed to," I replied.

I was a little bit offended that he expected me to know that he had feelings for me. Apart from a little flirting, he hadn't done anything to convince me that he liked me.

"I'm sorry," he frowned, "I don't mean to sound like that."

"Do you like me?" I asked him.

He laughed. "Does it matter? You are already with someone else and besides, that girl I met the other day, Stacey, I think we have something going on."

I wasn't expecting to hear that. I knew that I was contemplating marrying my boyfriend, but I couldn't help but crush on Chris a little.

It wasn't my fault. We had spent a long night together in a room with poor lighting. That was enough to get any girl's heart racing. I knew it was selfish to wish that nothing would come out of his relationship with Stacey, but no human being is perfect.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked. He was smirking as if he could read my thoughts. Perhaps he didn't need to read my mind to know what I was thinking.

"Like what?"

"Like you want to kill someone," he smirked. "I don't know about you but I don't like to share."

"Share what? I assume you're referring to an object," I said, indignant.

He laughed. "Will I see you tonight?"

"I don't think so. I don't think we'll be seeing each other anytime soon."

"Why?"

"The night you sent me home, my parents had the wrong idea. I'm not allowed to see you anymore."

"I thought they knew of our lessons," he said. He just didn't want to ask me why I didn't tell them about our lessons. "Do you want me to speak with them on your behalf?"

"No!" I said too quickly. His face twisted with suspicion and I hurried to amend my mistake. "I mean no. I'm leaving."

"Leaving? Where to? And why now?"

"I'm going to the city," I said. "Well, if all goes well."

"Oh," he said, scratching the back of his head uneasily. "When are you going?"

"I don't know, but it'll be soon. I don't think I'll be returning."

If I moved to the city with Michael, I'd only return to rub my new found wealth in parents' faces.

"I guess this is the last time I'll be seeing you then?" He asked.

I nodded, the thought not having crossed my mind. Leaving would also mean leaving everything behind. The family I had just began to mend and my cousin Edinam. Who'd protect her from all those hungry vultures?

"About not seeing me again, you can visit me in the city," I suggested.

Terrible idea, since I was crushing on him.

"Of course," he said, his face lighting up once more. "I'll leave you my number and my address so that you can contact me when you get to the city."

I nodded, though I had no idea how I'd find his house with 'an address'. He pulled a sticky notebook from his pocket and with a pen, inscribed some letters and numbers on it and handed it to me.

I'd seen people talk about 'addresses' and 'numbers' on television, but looking at them right in front of me, I had no idea how they worked.

"Don't worry about that," Chris said. "Just show those to someone and they'll teach you how to contact me."

Heat flooded my cheeks and all the blood rushed up to my face when he said that. He had realised that I didn't understand what was on the paper. Perhaps it was because of the way I was holding it and staring at it. I quickly shoved the paper down my skirt pocket in embarrassment.

"Don't be ashamed. There was a time when we all didn't know how to do any of this. You know a lot for someone who has been so closed off from the rest of the world," he said, reading my mind again.

I stared at him, wondering whether he had superpowers. Perhaps he was a demonic spy who was sent to make sure I make the wrong choices, like cheating on Michael.

"I'm not reading your mind. You're as easy to read as an open book," he laughed.

"You need to stop now. You're scaring me."

He was not normal.

"It's true! I'm as normal as you. I know what you're thinking from your facial expressions."

I laughed, guessing that was credible enough. I might've been good at bottling up my feelings, but not around him. I didn't have anything to hide from him because I knew he wouldn't judge.

"I'll miss you," he said coming closer.

His cologne was intoxicating. It wasn't too strong but it was strong enough to be noticed.

As soon as my mind registered my thoughts, I jumped back as if shocked.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," he apologised with a rueful smile on his face.

I wasn't the only one who felt the charged atmosphere then. "I should go."

"You should," he smiled. "I'm glad I met you Elorm. When my uncle said he was coming to Africa for missionary and charity purposes, I was horrified that he wanted me to come along. I thought I'd meet illiterate, malnourished children living amongst lions and giraffes. I didn't even know that Africa was a continent, I used to think it was a country."

"My continent has a really bad reputation in your parts, doesn't it?" I laughed. "I'm glad you realised that you were wrong. Though in this village, most of the people are illiterate. If you want to see the luxurious places with refined people, you should go to the cities and towns."

"I'm glad I didn't. I wouldn't have met you," he said. The ambience was becoming charged again. "Besides, you can't save the already saved. I've seen the wealth amongst the rich people, they need no more charity. Plus, the number of believers is astounding there."

"Oh please," I rolled my eyes. "Those fake Christians who go to church on Sunday but spread hate and malice everywhere."

I had no right to judge — because that in itself is a sin — but it annoyed me how people could call themselves followers of Christ when they were so evil.

He laughed. "Yes, but you can't force Jesus on anyone, can you?"

I was about to say something but it quickly escaped my mind when my eyes strayed to the market square. The rickety car that could barely move was now surrounded by speakers that I noticed it had been carrying all this while. There were four people in the middle of the barricade of speakers and one of them was carrying a megaphone.

"Are those some of your missionaries?" I asked. They were all black, but some of the urban citizens of the country had volunteered to aid the foreign missionaries.

My question was because I'd never seen those ones before, and the missionaries had always travelled comfortably, not in a death trap like that one.

Chris turned around to look at them. "No, they definitely aren't. I haven't seen them before."

The man holding the megaphone held it to his mouth. When he began talking, his voice boomed throughout the whole place.

"What is he saying? He's barely intelligible."

"If you can't hear him, how can I? I find it difficult to understand your accent sometimes," he divulged.

"I find yours difficult to understand too. I think I hear something now. Quiet."

The man's voice wasn't any clearer but I realised that if I paid attention, I could hear what he was saying. I had no idea why he'd use a megaphone when all it does is make his words inaudible.

"We're a non-governmental organisation called CWO — Children's Welfare Organisation. It has come to our notice that the rights of some girl children are being infringed upon."

"They're saying something good," I said.

"I know," Chris laughed. "I can hear them too."

The man paused for a linguist to translate the sentence to Ewe for the people who didn't speak English.

"The main aim of this project is to bring to your notice that human right infringement is punishable by law, and ignorance is not an excuse."

When the linguist translated to Ewe, more people began paying attention to them. After all, no one wants to pay a fine or go to jail.

"However, it has come to our notice that you natives aren't aware of the benefits that come with educating all your children, irrespective of gender," the man said and the linguist interpreted. "Therefore, tonight, we are holding a registration for children to go and live and school in the city. We accept both males and females below the age of eighteen for this project."

"They can't be saying what I think they're saying," I said, awestruck. Goodness gracious, I couldn't believe my luck.

That was my alternative, that was my main plan to avoid having to get married to either Michael or that drunkard. And it arrived just when I needed it, a day before I turned eighteen!

"I don't know, it sounds like a hoax," Chris said, frowning.

"How can it be a hoax Chris? They are an NGO. They're doing what others aren't sensible enough to do. By educating the female population which may I remind you, outweighs the male population, the country will benefit by an increased labour force. It'll also lower the dependency ratio, relieving the labour force from too much of a burden."

Chris smiled proudly. "You watch the news a lot, don't you?"

"I like to see what's going on around the world and in my country."

He sighed, grinning. "Go for it then. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. Don't let it go to waste."

"You really think I should do it?"

"If I didn't, I wouldn't have asked you to do so. Go, ask questions before they leave."

"Okay," I said reluctantly.

In my mind, I had envisioned things differently. I was more courageous and I went right up to them to jot down my name for the registration later, but life wasn't as easy as it was in my mind.

I felt too timid to go up to the crowd — which at the moment, consisted of mothers trying to register their children for the project — even though I'd be an adult just the next day.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Chris asked.

"Yes, thank you," I replied. "Come on."

"Wait. What about your foodstuff basket?" Chris asked, referring to the heavy basket filled with foodstuff that I had purchased already.

Leaving it there was a bad idea because anyone could steal anything. I couldn't go home short of anything. We were cooking for royalty.

"On second thought, you stay here with it. I'll be back in a jiffy."

He nodded and folded his arms like a bodyguard.

Taking a deep breath, I went to the market square where the crowd was gathered. There was a swarm of people gathering around to schedule for the registration later that night.

Some people were also struggling to reach the front of the crowd where they could ask all the questions they wanted to ask.

The NGO volunteers were finding it difficult to control the crowd, so they backed them away from the speakers and created a barrier with traffic cones.

I was at the back of the crowd because I was too nice to shove people out of my way. Besides, the market women were sweaty and smelled disgusting and I didn't want all that rubbed against me no matter how desperate I was.

In exasperation, the announcer grabbed the megaphone again. "We are going to give out leaflets with all the information on when the registration is going to take place, so please step back."

The people didn't obey until the linguist translated it to Ewe.

I moved back quickly before any of the smelly people could crash into me. As promised, the volunteers began tossing leaflets with information on the registration on them.

One leaflet floated above my head and I gratefully snatched it from the sky.

Without taking a glance — because I knew what was on it by peeking at other people's pamphlets — I scrunched the paper into a ball and stuffed it in my skirt pocket.

"Did you do it?" Chris asked when I got back to our corner.

"I took the necessary steps. Hopefully, I'll be registered by tonight."

Chris frowned.

"What is it?" I asked.

"They said you must be below eighteen."

"And so? I'm seventeen."

"You are? But your boyfriend..."

"It always comes down to my boyfriend doesn't it," I chuckled.

He blushed.

"I'll be eighteen tomorrow, and before you complain, they said you must be below eighteen to register, they didn't say that you couldn't turn eighteen after registering."

He stared at me like I'd grown an extra head. "Even though that's true, I can't help but marvel at how diabolical you are."

"I'm taking that as a compliment."

He laughed. "As always, it has been a pleasure. I hope we'll meet again."

"I hope to see you soon too. Goodbye Christian Woods."

"My surname is Smith. Woods is my mother's maiden name. My uncle that you met is my mother's brother," he clarified.

It was my turn to blush, though he couldn't see it because of my beautiful dark skin. Hallelujah.

"Goodbye Elorm... whatever your surname is."

"Nutsugah."

"For your own sake and mine, I won't try pronouncing that." He said, making us both laugh. He gave me one last dimpled smile and helped me place the heavy basket on my head. He vanished into the sun just seconds later.

I purchased the last items on the list and returned home. Unluckily for me, just before I could enter my house, Sara and her clique stopped me.

"What are you doing here?" I queried. The basket was too heavy. I wanted nothing more than to put it down and relax my aching head. I wasn't about to let the girl waste my time.

"I heard that you're marrying Mr. Offei," Sara said. She and her evil clique burst into laughter.

"Please stop flashing your teeth Sara. It makes me want to lose my breakfast."

The laughter ceased at once. She hated it when people made fun of her misarranged teeth.

"Your family members came to beg for my brother's hand," she said, her voice laced with nothing but venom. "You should have seen the devastation on their faces when we shot them down. Their feet were cracked from trudging through the whole district in search for a husband for you, and all you got was darling Mr. Offei."

"I'm marrying prince Michael," I told them.

I wasn't sure of that anymore, but saying it just to annoy the girl pleased me immensely.

"In your dreams," Sara said. They laughed. "Especially after we saw you in the market with that white boy."

"How quickly you spread gossip! You remind me of a mosquito. You could certainly make that sound they make with those teeth." I cocked my head to the right as if I just noticed something peculiar. "It strikes me now. You do resemble a mosquito very much. A large smelly one."

The girl frowned. "At least my family doesn't have to beg for men to propose to me."

"Of course they don't. They know that you're a hopeless case," I laughed. "Now, if you would excuse me, I need to prepare a meal for my prince. His family is coming to ask for my hand tonight."

With that, I swerved their queen mosquito and went into my house.

In there, I saw Edinam, her parents and my parents engaged in a lively conversation. They all smiled when I entered. It was nice to have the approval of my elders for once. It made me feel good.

"Good, you're here. I was beginning to get worried," dada said. She and Edinam's mother helped take the basket off my head. They carried it all the way to the back of the house.

"So Elorm, I heard that prince Michael is coming to propose to you," Edinam's father said.

From the corner of my eye, I saw dada give me a look. She had already told everyone of the incoming marriage proposal even though I hadn't told Michael that he was supposed to propose yet. She was begging me to play along.

"Yes, he told me that he'll bring his family over. They'll be here anytime soon."

Fofo and efo nodded, with bright smiles on their faces. Though my father knew that I was lying, he decided to play along too.

I shook my head and marched up to my cousin. "Hey Eddie, can you come with me?"

The girl had been sitting on the living room's sofa and staring at the floor all the while.

The house was in a flurry, distant family members had come and the women were all busily preparing meals. Her sadness was probably because the women wouldn't let her into the kitchen for fear that she might break something.

She followed me outside the house. Queen mosquito and her baby mosquitoes were long gone.

I smiled wearily, preparing for the insults she was going to hurl at me when she found the truth out. "The thing is that, Michael did propose to me, but it wasn't anything official. The worst part is that I shot him down."

"What? Why? So is this all a fallacy? Elorm! Do you know what the family will do to you?" She asked, her eyes wide with fear, and filled with concern for me.

"It's not. Well, not if we can do anything about it. We need to get to the palace right now and I need to talk to Michael to ask him to propose to me!"

"Elorm, I used to think you were smart," she said.

I frowned.

"Asking for your hand isn't something the prince can do in an instant. There are so many things he has to do!"

"For now, all he needs to do is show up and I need to speak with him before that can happen!"

"I don't like this at all," she shook her head vigorously. "You're playing with fire Ellie."

"I know, but the more time we spend here arguing, the hotter the fire gets. Let's go now before it's too late."

"It's my fault," she muttered. "I didn't pray for you last night."

"Come on," I laughed, grabbing her by the arm.

The chief's palace was far from my house. They lived in a more upscale area than where my house was. By the time we got there, I was sweaty and panting. So much for smelling nice.

Edinam banged on the palace gates.

The courage with which she managed to do that, I had no idea. The gates were huge and black. They stretched out as far as I could see and the palace itself was another sight to behold. I wondered how many people they must've employed to keep the place neat.

The sheer animosity of the wealth portrayed in the place made me want to turn the other way and run. Wasn't funny how he got to live in such wealth while his people lived in half completed houses?

A small speaker attached to the wall sparked to life. I believed it was called an intercom.

"What do you want?" The voice was female and sickly sweet. She sounded as kind as a Barbie doll.

"Tell the prince that Elorm is looking for him. It's very urgent, it's a matter of life and death," Edinam said.

I rolled my eyes at the exaggeration.

"I'm sorry, the prince travelled this morning. He won't be back until next week."

* * *

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