Song: P-Square — Chop My Money Remix ft. Akon & May-D.

*Unedited*

"Slow down, slow down, my ribs hurt!" I yanked my hand away from his, wrapping an arm around my ribs.

He stopped, turning back to glare at me. "They weren't hurting when he had you against the wall."

"What... how does that relate to you dragging me around?" I bent over slightly to catch my breath, resting my weight on my uninjured leg.

"You keep forgetting that you came here..." he trailed off, looking down the hall to see if anyone would hear, then he came closer to me, "for a reason, and it was not to be a cheating bitch."

"I'm not cheating on anyone."

"Don't act like you don't know what I mean! That," he pointed to the room that we just came out of, "right there was someone's husband!"

"What is it to you?"

"Did you ever consider how that would make her feel?"

I scoffed. "You're not my moral compass, leave me alone."

He averted his eyes with his lips pressed into a thin line. "You're just a whore," he didn't wait for me to reply before he started walking away quickly.

I waited to catch my breath and was about to follow him and insult him back, when the queen herself appeared in my line of view. I don't think she realised that I was there, she nearly walked past me before she really looked and saw who I was.

"You..." she took a breath like she was mentally preparing herself to talk to me, "where's the chief?"

I really really didn't like this girl. Maybe I just never liked girls who were close to Michael, but I hated her even more than all the other girls. No one with a British accent had the right to rule over anyone in my country. Heck, her ancestors colonised and brutally murdered our people. Her being the queen was such an insult and a harsh reminder of everything we've been through.

"Why don't you find out yourself?"

"You were just in there with him."

"And?"

She sighed and came closer to me, folding her arms. "I can sense that you don't like me, and I don't particularly know why—"

"You don't know why? Maybe it's because you have the audacity to call yourself a 'queen'. You are not and will never be queen of anywhere in this country or in the whole of Africa."

"What are you talking about?" She frowned. "Maybe my accent is a bit misleading? I'm Ghanaian born, I studied in the United Kingdom but I am very African."

Well... how could I have expected that Michael would let a foreigner be queen? He was stupid, but not that stupid. I felt stupid too but I wasn't about to let that show. "There is nothing wrong with the education here."

"I never said there was," she sighed, "I studied in the UK just because I got a scholarship and my family wasn't doing so well then. We're back on our feet now but I can't just get rid of my accent like that."

"I didn't ask for your family's history," I retorted, trying to leave.

She didn't let me leave, of course. She grabbed my arm just as I was about to walk past her. I quickly snatched it back and turned around to glare at her.

"Look, you must be the sweetest person ever, and at one point, the most important person in Michael's life based on the way he talks about you, but please, allow him to move on. You two aren't good for each other, you'll never work! All you're doing is causing each other heartache. Just look at you and your boyfriend, you obviously have something special—"

"You have no right to tell me what to do," I spat. "If you're done wasting my time, I have somewhere to be."

"I'm his wife! What do you mean I have no right?"

"He told me that your marriage is an open one, hence you have no right over him."

A frown crossed her face and I spied how her shoulders sagged. "He said that?"

I smiled. "Yes."

"Wow, I—I didn't think he was serious," she stepped back, turning her head away.

"Yes he was, if the make-out session we just had wasn't just part of my imagination."

"What did you just say?" She suddenly met my eyes again, her hands clenching into fists.

"He kissed me. By the looks of things, he was hoping to do much more but—"

"You have no shame!"

"Like I said, open marriage," I emphasised the words for her. I knew I was being petty and disgusting but I just didn't care. Michael had been in love with me for as long as I could remember and thinking about him losing his feelings for me was not a pleasant thought.

"But don't you have a partner? You know that you're cheating on him too, right? Or that's an open relationship too?"

"Mind your own business."

"You know, you're not even that important in Michael's life if you two haven't slept together yet."

"Really? That's the best you can come up with?"

She folded her arms and put a smug smile on her face. "Michael and I have slept together already."

"That's a lie," I frowned. "He..." the words disappeared from my mind, memories of the last few minutes resurfacing. I seemed to have forgotten what Linda and Jake told me, but that meant that even if he slept with her, it didn't mean anything.

I mirrored the smile on her face. "That's because you don't matter to him. Just a few weeks to your wedding but he couldn't wait? You know why? He doesn't care about you. He was willing to wait for me, he wanted our first time to be special."

"I think he just doesn't love you enough to bond with you that way." She replied, unfazed.

"You must not know much about Michael's past," I laughed. "He's been with so many other women, you're no different. Sex is a form of entertainment to him, of course, except when it's with me."

"You're really not as different as you think. Maybe he just wants to sleep with you too," she shrugged with a sly look on her face.

"I also thought that you were different. I thought you would have some respect for yourself and not force yourself on a boy who clearly has no feelings for you. I never imagined you'd be bragging about sleeping with a boy who would sleep with anything in a skirt."

She suddenly stood up straighter, her smile falling and a regal look replacing it. "I'm not forcing myself on anyone. When we met for the first time, there was something special between us. We both felt it, just that he's too hung up on you to realise it. I must admit that he's far from perfect, and he needs someone who he'd want to change himself for. That person is not you."

"So it's you?" I scoffed.

"Yes."

I laughed lazily, drawing it out just to annoy her. "Keep dreaming, plantation princess."

"I've already told you that I'm Ghanaian! How did the chief stand you? You're so infuriating!"

"Watch how you talk to her." We were probably too loud to hear him come out. Our argument died out as soon as he made his presence known. He was watching Diamond with a very displeased look etched onto his face.

I really loved it when Michael ridiculed other girls because of me. It somehow made me feel better.

I knew she wanted to say something about how she was his wife and it was her he should be defending, but she didn't. She looked back at me and I smiled sweetly at her. She scoffed, spared him another glance and walked off angrily.

"I'm so sorry about her," he sighed, coming closer to me.

He tried taking me in his arms just like before but I shuffled away from him as quickly as I could. "Stop it, don't touch me."

"Don't... don't stop me from getting close to you. Please."

"Why did you lie to me? Why did you tell me that you were a virgin?"

His eyes briefly widened and his mouth formed into a small 'o'. "Who... who told you this?"

"It doesn't matter who told me, I just want to know why you lied."

"Does it matter though?" He asked sadly, trying to touch my shoulder.

I quickly moved away. "No, your body count really doesn't matter. I just... don't understand why you had to lie about it. I would've accepted you either way."

He sighed, stepping back. Surely he'd made up his mind that I wouldn't allow him to touch me. "You know how our village is crazy about virginity."

I scoffed. "You're a man, stop talking like they would've cared. It all stems from misogyny. Besides, you know I don't really think like the rest of them."

"Yes, I know you're different," he ran his hand through his hair and took a breath. He didn't want to say whatever it was that he was about to say. "I just thought... I thought that it'd be easier for you to trust me if you thought I was a virgin. I dated someone back at school. She tried, but she couldn't find it in her to trust me. She just couldn't believe that I could somehow just stop sleeping around to be with her."

"I'm not her."

"That's what you'll say too," he smiled sadly. "If you knew about my past, I don't think you would've trusted me. You probably would've felt pressured to sleep with me since you would've thought I somehow needed it or I'd cheat on you."

"I..." I dawdled, finding that I couldn't even lie anymore. He was right. Perhaps I wasn't sure what I would've done in a situation like that, but not thinking or reacting the way he was saying I would've reacted seemed farfetched.

"You see?" He turned his head. "If I could go back, there's so much I would change."

I went to him. I grabbed onto his hand and squeezed lightly. He quickly buried his face onto my shoulder as his chest heaved. "I'm so sorry," he whispered. He put his arms around my waist and drew me nearer, until there was practically no space left between us.

"Elorm!" I shook involuntarily at the authority behind Kofi's voice, jumping away from Michael as quickly as I possibly could. How he managed to say my name like it was an insult or command, I would never understand. "I already told you that we have somewhere to be, it's important."

"Can't it wait? We're busy," Michael told him.

"You should be busy doing your wife," Kofi retorted sharply. "Elorm come. Now."

I was torn between the two of them. Kofi and I had come here for a reason, but I couldn't tell if he was just bluffing to get me away from Michael. If he was though, why?

Kofi must've been so tired of this same thing happening repeatedly. "Did you hear what your father said, just before he tried to burn you alive?"

"What?" Michael's hands went to my waist out of pure instinct, while I tried to remember what he said just before trying to set me on fire.

I frowned. "He... he said..." a chill erupted from the tip of my toes and spread throughout my body. How couldn't I have realised what that meant? How could I be so daft?

"You see why we have to go now, don't you?"

I swallowed and hugged myself to hide my shaking hands. "Where's my mother? Michael, where's my mother?" I turned to him, dislodging his hands from my waist.

"Come with me Elorm," Kofi repeated calmly.

I spared him a glance but returned my attention to Michael. "My mother, where's she? Michael, don't tell me that you left them in isolation even after you found out everything."

"No, no I didn't," he replied, but he didn't even seem certain. ­

"Where is she then? What did he mean by what he said?"

"I don't even know what he said!"

"Michael," I grabbed a fistful of his shirt, "where's my mother?"

"I don't know, okay? No one does. We think she's dead but we can't be sure."

I let go, staggering back. "You told me that you'd help them. You... you said..."

"I did! I let them have their old house, but you had to ruin their lives again by killing my father!"

"Will you let that go? I already told you that I did that," Kofi butt in. "You just want to pin it on her that's why you won't believe me."

"You have no motive to want him dead. She does."

Kofi smiled and came close, holding onto my shoulders. "I have no motive? The chief wanted her and no one can have her but me."

"What are you even talking about?"

I sighed. "Your father tried to sleep with me. I resisted and he beat me up. He died of a heart attack. It was natural causes, okay?"

"You're... you're lying. My father would never lay hands on a woman!"

"Déjà vu," Kofi laughed. "I told you already, we have to go. Don't you want to see the rest of your family?" He asked me.

My mother wasn't at the house. She was missing. I didn't even know if she was dead. We couldn't even bury her if she was because no one knew where she was. I didn't say that though. I didn't want to be vulnerable in front of them. "I don't want to see that man right now."

"Don't worry about your father. He's in jail right now, along with your rapist," Michael said.

"My rapist?"

"Justus," it was Kofi who answered.

"You had him thrown in jail?" I asked.

Kofi nodded, but Michael said, "Yes, I did."

I ignored him and squeezed Kofi's hand. "Thank you."

"You think I was going to let him get away with drugging you?"

"I didn't think you cared that much," I replied solemnly.

"I care about putting criminals behind bars," he rolled his eyes.

I smiled, because I knew he cared about me but he just wouldn't admit it for some reason. My smile quickly faded when I remembered my mother and her disappearance.

"I put him in my jail, for the record. Your father is also going to be tried for his crimes against Etornam."

"How nice of you to prosecute people who are actually criminals," I said bitterly.

"You're not off the hook either. I haven't forgotten what you did."

"Idiot," Kofi laughed. "Prosecute her if you can find her."

"I've already told you that you can't leave."

"Okay chief," Kofi replied, saying his title in such a sarcastic way that we both laughed; although mine was so fake that I winced after.

"I'm serious," he was suddenly morphing into the regal sounding, responsible chief he was supposed to be and could've been if he wasn't raised the way he was raised. "If you try to leave, you will be thrown in jail as well."

"We hear you. Bye." Kofi's nonchalant attitude to his title was actually very funny.

"Don't you have any respect for yourself? You just caught her cheating on you," he decided to say just as we were leaving.

Kofi stopped. I could feel the hostility radiating off him. "Mind your own business."

We were finally in Kofi's car and I was struggling not to have a panic attack. I leaned back on the seat and closed my eyes. I thought about the most calming thing that there could be and my mind went back to that blue lake, for some reason.

"Elorm," I felt the weight of Kofi's hand on my thigh. It was more of a shock than a light sensation. I ended up shaking his hand off. He'd already touched me so many times but I couldn't stand that touch for some reason.

"Can we go there? Right now?"

"We would've been there already if you weren't busy making out with someone's husband."

"What is your problem?" I quizzed as he began reversing out of the palace gates. "No really, I want to know."

"I don't have any problem."

"Then why are you bent on judging me?"

"There's a difference between correcting someone and judging them," he said just as we left the palace. I remembered the route. I remembered running from my house to the palace so that I could get Michael to ask for my hand. I never knew that that stupid mistake I made would ruin my life.

I felt tired. I just wanted to sleep.

Maybe, never wake up again.

"Elorm."

"What? What? What do you want?" I snapped.

He sighed and didn't say anything for a while, until, "You know that I don't know where your house is, right?"

"Of course, what can you do right? Just follow the path you're going down right now."

"What the heck is wrong with you? How am I supposed to know where your house is?"

"Will you shut up and drive? I'm tired, I'm really not in the mood for all of this."

"In the mood for what? Why are you acting like I'm the one who caused what you're going through?"

"Oh you didn't? Do you think my mother would be missing if you didn't keep me in your stupid whore house?"

"Don't you dare try and blame your misfortunes on me. I didn't keep you there because I wanted to."

"Yes, of course. You feared the chief because he would've reported you to your daddy."

He was obviously very angry. He didn't say anything though, he just let that blank expression fall on his face. He was gripping the steering wheel too tightly and he suddenly started going fast. Too fast.

I laughed in a sort of masochistic way. This scene reminded me of the time right after I cheated on Michael. He was also driving fast but Kofi was driving faster. "Slow down Kofi. If you hit something, we both die."

"I should've never trusted you with that. All you do is throw it in my face whenever you're angry."

I rolled my eyes. "Just slow down."

"I'm done being nice to you."

It was really not my intention to throw his past traumas in his face like that. It was wrong, I knew that, but I couldn't find it in me to care. He didn't even deserve my consideration after everything he'd done. "You were being nice to me? I never noticed."

"I figured that they must have someone who does all the smuggling. It must be someone who they don't mind losing because eventually, they're going to be found out. Do you recall anyone in the village being richer than they reasonably should be?"

I was thrown off by the sudden change of topic. I glanced at him; he was focused completely on the road. Even his body movements weren't as rigid anymore, like his anger had somehow drained out of him. "I... there's... no one I can really think of. Nobody was rich."

"No one? Or you didn't associate with anyone? Did anyone ever wear designer clothes? Or did they have a nicer than average house?"

"N—" I stopped abruptly. No one had a nice house. No one but... my cousin, Edinam. "It can't be. No."

"You know, don't you? Who was it? Who was richer than they should have been?"

"You don't understand. It can't be them. They would never do this."

He didn't say anything. He knew how to make me talk. He just took a sharp right turn and parked the car underneath a large tree to shield us from the sun's heat. He turned off the engine and leaned back on the seat.

"Let's just go to my house first, then I'll take you to them," my voice broke at the end of the sentence and I hated it so much. Why was I so weak?

Why? Why did my mother have to go missing? Why did my cousin's family have to be involved with heartless criminals? Why? What did I ever do to deserve all of this?

"Let me make something clear. I don't need you to execute my plans, and I've realised that us parting ways will be the best option."

"What?" I turned to him sharply. He didn't even bat an eyelid. "I want to help you!"

"I don't need your help. I will come to you whenever I need information but that's it."

"You can't get rid of me like this! It isn't fair!"

"It's fair. It's efficient too. Do you know what you are? You're a burden. You come with so much trouble, emotions, heartache. I can't deal with that. This will be so much simpler if I did it all alone."

"Trouble? Emotions? Heartache? How does that affect you? How does that affect this?"

"Look at that boy threatening to put you behind bars, for instance."

"He's not going to."

"He seemed very serious to me."

"You can't even do this without me!"

"You're not as useful as you think."

"I am. You know I am."

"You're not. Forget about all this. Find your family and take care of them."

"I can take care of them and bring this syndicate down."

"Stop being so damn stubborn and just listen to me."

"You don't understand! My family is involved in this!"

"No, they're not."

"The people who are richer than they're supposed to be... it's my father's brother's family. Yes, Kofi. My family is involved in this."

He looked at me like he didn't believe me. "Are you serious?"

"Like a heart attack."

He groaned, closing his eyes and slumping in his seat. "How do I get rid of you?"

"You can't. Stop trying."

"I have to."

"You don't."

"You drive me mad. I can't be mad."

"I..." I spied him. "I drive you mad?"

"You're a whirlwind of emotions," he groaned, "it's tiring trying to figure them out."

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't know," he sighed, "I really don't." He brought the car back to life and began to drive down the path to my house.

This part of the village was empty since every one of them had gone to celebrate Michael's wedding. It was better that people weren't staring at me. Plus, I had a feeling that my brothers were going to be home.

"Is this it?" He asked, pointing to a house on the left.

"Take that left turn and drive straight until you see a house with a red roof."

He followed my directions, only to stop at the left turn and frown at me. "Have you seen the number of houses with red roofs? And why are they so clustered? Is this a slum or what?"

I shot him a vicious glare. "I don't think the car can go any further. Get down."

He groaned and slumped again. "Why haven't these idiots heard of planned settlements?"

"Kofi," I removed my seatbelt, "get down. Now."

He sulkily got out of the car, slamming the door shut. I followed him, moving at a slower pace due to my injuries.

"It's the house in front of us."

"Just this one?" He pointed.

"Yes, I just said the house in front of us."

"Well hurry then. We need to get to your cousin's house before the people get back."

"What? What are you going to do?"

"Search it of course," he said it like it was so simple. Like we weren't going to raid my only friend's house to catch her parents in crime. "Hurry up."

"Can you..." I felt too embarrassed to continue, so I just decided to shut up. My boots were great for the sandy nature of the ground, but I couldn't take the next few steps into the house. It felt like walking into a haunted house, where ghosts and zombies and vampires were waiting to feast on me.

"You want me to come in with you, don't you?"

I wished I could dig a hole and bury myself in it. "When could you read me so well?"

"It's a recent development. I'm evolving," he said.

I managed a small smile. "Are you coming?"

He went as far as to open the front door for me. I wondered why it wasn't locked as I wandered into the familiar space. I was shocked, seeing how bare it was. Our single sofa was gone. The whole place was so bare.

"Where did you use to sit?"

"I think they sold everything," I replied. The familiar curtain that separated my room from the living room was gone now. I peered into the now empty room. "They even sold my bed."

"And? What did you think they'd save it as a memoire for you or what? It was probably the first thing they sold."

I shoved him half-heartedly and he managed a smile. He stumbled back a bit but bounced back and shoved me too. I just had to hit the wall. I hated how weak I was.

"Sorry, I didn't realise how fragile you were," he held out a hand to me.

I ignored him and quickly barraged my way into my room, trying to hide my embarrassment. "I think the house is empty."

I turned around and went into my parents' room. It was empty too. Kofi was leaning on a wall in the hall, trying to make himself scarce while I searched for any signs of life in the house. "No one is here," he said.

"Wow, thank you. I didn't realise that."

"Let's go to your cousin's house. We've wasted enough time."

He opened the door, but he didn't get out. A much smaller person was standing there, holding about three fish. An identical person was behind him, holding three balls of banku and tomatoes, onions and green pepper.

"Atsu, Tsey," I whispered.

Kofi turned around to look at me, instantly coming to stand at my side. I didn't need to see my face to know how pale I looked. My brothers were just as still as I was. They weren't even blinking. They probably didn't even know whether I was real or not.

"Elorm," Tsey ran to me, breaking the trance. He had the — probably stolen — food in his hands as he threw his arms around me.

They'd had a growth spurt since I left. They hadn't gained weight, but they were certainly taller. Being taller than me was not something to be proud of since I was pretty much a dwarf, but for their ages, they were getting close.

"Tsey, take the food to the kitchen. We don't have much time left," Atsu said, going into the kitchen himself.

We watched him leave, then I crouched to Tsey's level, which wasn't much lower. "What's going on? Where's dada? Why are you people stealing food, didn't the chief bring you back to the house?"

Tsey's eyes lingered on the kitchen. He probably didn't want his twin hearing what he was going to say next. "Fofo lost his job and no one wants to give us food, even if we have the money. They... they're saying you killed the chief." He averted his eyes.

"That is not true. The chief was a horrible, horrible man, but I didn't kill him."

"Oh thank God Elorm," he wrapped his arms around my head and hugged me again.

I was dying to ask more questions but I let him hug me for a while.

"Elorm," Kofi urged, reminding me that we still had to search Etornam's house.

Tsey withdrew from the hug to stare at Kofi questioningly as Atsu emerged from the kitchen. "Who is you?" He asked in his awful English.

"I'm the man who's going to help your sister get the justice she deserves."

I glared up at him. "One, they don't understand you, and two, filter. They're still just kids."

"Kids," Atsu repeated curiously. "We're not children. We've grown up a lot since you left."

"It doesn't matter what you've been through. You're still children."

"Tsey, let's go," Atsu repeated, bored. "If you don't know, because of what you did, we have to steal to survive. The prince is getting married and everyone is at the wedding ceremony so we have a lot of time to gather as much food as we can."

"Yes, Elorm. We must go. Please don't go away again okay? Stay with us," Tsey begged.

It took a lot not to break down into tears in that instant. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, then opened them again and forced a half-hearted smile onto my face. "I'm not going anywhere. Well, I have something to do, but I'll be back soon."

"Tsey, where is fofo?"

I froze.

"He said he was going to the wedding. He wanted to keep guard and come and warn us when they were coming back," Tsey replied.

I shot a worried look at Kofi, then remembered rather regretfully that he didn't understand them. "Their father was supposed to be on the lookout. We threw him behind bars."

"He deserved it. He tried to kill you," Kofi retorted. "What really is going on here?"

I could tell my brothers were startled by his deep voice, or the authority with which he spoke. They stopped talking when he opened his mouth, their attention being focused on him alone even when we were engaging in dialogue.

"They're stealing food because no one will sell it to them."

"That's what's going on here?" Kofi looked at me like I was the stupidest person alive. "Tell them to stop. I'll get them some food."

"No. We don't need—"

"Don't be stupid. Yes, you need my help. Or do you have any money?" When I didn't reply, he continued to taunt me by saying, "I didn't think so."

I sighed. "You don't have to steal food. I have plenty money, I can get us food."

"If they don't sell to us, how much more you?" Atsu asked.

"That's what my friend here is for. They will sell to him. You two should get some rest."

"We sold all the furniture. It's not fun to sleep anymore," Atsu said. He wasn't as meek as Tsey and he never really liked me. Every word he said had a lot of aggression behind it. He probably wasn't done blaming me for the family's misfortune.

"Really? I slept without a bed for as long as I can remember. You never heard me complaining." I retorted. Childish to be fighting with my starved younger brother, I knew, but he was being a pain.

"Atsu, stop. No matter what happened, she's still our sister."

Atsu huffed and made for the kitchen. "Give me the ingredients and let me grind the hot pepper."

I shot Tsey a surprised look and he smiled impishly. "We've had to learn how to do a lot of things including cooking since... since dada left."

I wanted to find out more about her disappearance, but with the way his shoulders sagged, I decided to take my time with them. Besides, Kofi's hand was squeezing the life out of my arm. He was trying to remind me that we still had to search Edinam's house.

"We have to go, but we'll come back with food and maybe some mattresses."

"Promise?" Tsey asked with wide, innocent eyes.

"Promise," I smiled. He returned my smile.

"Let's go," Kofi said, tugging me to my feet.

"Be gentle, dammit," I jerked my arm away from him.

He smiled slyly. "It's not part of my nature."

We'd barely taken two steps out when the distant murmuring of approaching ­­­— seemingly angry — people filled the quiet atmosphere. I stopped, but Kofi went forward a little bit and peered. He frowned, and I knew it was the people.

"They're back," I murmured regretfully.

"They're back?" Tsey exclaimed. He rushed to the kitchen space and grabbed his twin, bringing him inside and locking the door as quickly as they could. Both boys then began breathing heavily and Kofi and I looked at each other, wondering what that was.

* * *

This chapter has been sitting in a Word folder for a long time and I'm proudly saying I didn't publish it just because I didn't want to. 😊

Don't forget to vote! 🌟