Song: Hold Me Now—MzVee (Misandrists are giving feminists such a bad name)

*Unedited* (I didn't even read through, I'm so tired)

"Careful, careful!" I hissed, moving out of Edinam's reach.

"I'm being careful," she laughed. "It's supposed to hurt." She put the swab of cotton wool back on the bed and capped the bottle of methylated spirit. "You shouldn't leave open wounds uncleaned. It's dangerous. Imagine dying from tetanus because of such a tiny knife wound."

"How embarrassing. If it did happen though, you'd pay someone to change the cause of death on my death certificate, right?"

She smiled, showing off her pearly whites. "Of course."

"Is she going to be okay?" Tsey asked, coming to sit beside me on the bed.

"Yes, of course," Edinam laughed at his expense. Her gaze shifted and focused on Atsu. "You're just going to stand there and ignore me?"

Atsu frowned. "You mean the same way you ignored us when we were starving?"

Edinam shifted her glasses on her nose, sniffed and looked away. She didn't say anything. She opened the first aid box and took out a plaster, then placed it over the wound. "All done. Now rest. Look at your leg."

"What's wrong with my leg?" I looked at, turning it over.

"It's swollen."

"No, it's not," I frowned.

"It is. Touch it and see if you feel no pain. No wait, let me do that," she leaned forward and applied pressure to the back of my thigh.

I didn't expect it to hurt as much as it did. I yanked it away from her out of pure reflex, cursing under my breath. "Well, son of a beach."

"Exactly. Get some rest."

"I can't," I sighed. "Michael just arrested the guy who's been helping me, for no reason!"

"What? Michael, the love of your life Chief Michael?" She frowned. "It did strike me as strange when he told us that you killed his father. It sounded so weird. You were supposed to be executed if you ever came back here though."

"Love of my life," I repeated, ignoring every other thing she said because I already knew that. "You have a lot of catching up to do."

"He's abusing his power," she said.

"I know right. He threw Kofi in jail for defending himself when he was the one who threw the first punch."

"Still, no matter what, you can't keep hurting that leg. What happened to it anyway?" She edged closer to inspect the limb.

"I broke my femur. It was a stress fracture."

"Stress fracture? What were you banging your leg against a door repetitively or what? Please, go ahead and lie to me."

I giggled. "Oh, how I've missed you," I shot forward and tackled her into a forced hug. She groaned, laughing a little bit and complaining about how heavy I was. Atsu rolled his eyes and left the room.

"What's with him?" Tsey asked.

I shrugged. "Eddie, um, can you come with me to visit him or something? Can we though?"

"It's just jail, you can visit anytime. Come on, let's go," she helped me stand up in a way which wouldn't put too much strain on my leg. "You should be resting that leg. When I heard that you'd gotten attacked yesterday, I couldn't fight it anymore. I had to come and see you. If I'd known you were in such a state, I would've come earlier."

"You didn't hear that I was almost lynched at Michael's wedding?" I asked.

"I didn't go to Michael's wedding, and I don't talk to the village girls. My relationship with them hasn't gotten any better since you left. I did hear about it though, but that was the same time I heard about your attack from a couple of loud gossips. I made up my mind that I had to see you."

"Why didn't you come earlier?" Tsey asked.

Edinam smiled ashamedly. "I was scared, I guess? I didn't know what to expect. Not to talk of that hunk that followed her everywhere she went. Too intimidating."

"Kofi? He's a teddy."

"Is he your boyfriend?" She asked as we got out of the house.

I ignored her, not knowing whether I could trust her with the truth, yet not wanting to lie to her. "Tsey lock the door and don't open it unless you hear my voice, okay?" I repeated the drill.

He rolled his eyes. "I know, you don't have to say it every time."

"Nice to know that you haven't changed much," Edinam said, smiling and ruffling his hair.

"Ah, stop it! Go and come back quickly, it's almost late afternoon and we haven't had breakfast yet."

"You mean you didn't save any of those huge balls of fufu for today?"

He stared at me blankly.

I sighed. "You know, we should probably make some food for them and him. He must be hungry. Um... can I use your kitchen?"

"Yes of course. My parents aren't home," she replied.

"Can I come?" Tsey asked, smiling sweetly.

Edinam shot me a look. I remembered that most people hadn't seen the interior of her house and knowing their situation, she probably wanted to keep it that way. "No, no, stay here with Atsu."

He pouted but didn't complain and slammed the door with more force than necessary.

"That was rude," Edinam laughed.

I nodded, linking my arm with hers. "Let's go."

The walk to her house wasn't far at all but it was as uncomfortable as it'd always been. So many eyes, so many hushed whispers, the silence that struck every happily chattering group when we passed by, I would never stop hating it.

She unlocked the door to her house and we both moved in quickly. Once more, I was surprised by how simple yet elegant the place was.

"You have a nice house."

She laughed. "I know."

"I will teach you how to accept compliments one day."

"Look who's talking."

"Touché."

The kitchen was another marvellous sight to behold. So many gadgets. Heck, they had taps. "So all your trips to the borehole to fetch water, they were for fun or what?"

She smiled. "Yes."

"I'm not sure why anyone would willingly put themselves through that, but okay. You do you."

She rolled her eyes, going to remove various pots and pans from the cupboard. "What dish are you going to make?"

"Fried rice, of course. With baked chicken and beef sauce."

"Oh," she cooed. "He must be someone special."

"Oh, come on. It's just fried rice."

"How many times have you eaten fried rice in your life?"

"I've been in the city Eddie. Now, I can't even count."

"Yeah, right. I heard prostitution is a profitable business."

I winced, turning away.

She laughed. "I'm not judging you Ellie. I mean, it's not the safest or most decent way to make money, but I get it okay? Your family needed—"

"I didn't go to the city to become a prostitute. Heck, I didn't even 'go' to the city. I was forced, but that's another story for another day." I took a sack of rice out of their small storeroom, inspecting it.

"I understand. Whenever you're ready," she replied, like the understanding fellow she was.

"Thank you."

We spent the next minutes preparing the food and when it was ready, I was tempted to eat my share before going to visit Kofi.

"Your husband is going to be such a lucky man! Even the smell of this is enough to give me stomach ulcer!" Edinam said, standing just above the rising heat of the food and inhaling it.

"Um... I don't think that's a compliment."

"You won't understand, you fool," she turned to glare at me, then went back to inhaling the food.

"We should go," I had packed Kofi's food in a one of those bowls that kept food warm and the twins' in a separate normal bowl.

"You're sure we can't eat first?" She asked.

"N—" My brain was slow, to be honest. How could I have forgotten that Edinam's parents were a part of the syndicate? It was a good thing we weren't able to search her house yesterday since she'd been home, but now, if I could convince her to stay in the kitchen, I would have time to search her house. "Okay, you can start having yours. Do me a favour and send my brothers their food yeah? I'll just stay here and... um, serve Kofi. And clean up a little bit."

"Okay," she replied, taking my brothers' bowl.

I watched her leave. As soon as the door was shut, I began walking down the hallway. I recognised her parents' room from the large double bed. It was a little bit rumpled, proof that they'd slept on it the night before.

I lifted the mattress first. It seemed like the most obvious place that someone would hide something. There were a couple of papers there, but it was nothing suspicious. There were some exam papers belonging to Eddie. She was home-schooled.

I went on to search a couple of drawers. I didn't even manage to get in three minutes of searching before Edinam came back. I heard the door open, and I rushed out of her parents' room into the hallway, thanking God that her house wasn't made in that way where she'd be able to see everything immediately she entered.

"Eddie, I'm in the bathroom!" I yelled.

"Okay!"

It was a good thing she was so hungry. She went to the kitchen without asking anything else and I went back to her parents' room, closing the door softly. I went back to rummaging through the drawers, taking time to read all the papers I was seeing.

There was a lot of stuff, bank receipts and things, but nothing serious. I was ready to give up when I found a phone. My first thought was to go on Instagram, but I quickly shook my head, dismissing the thought.

It wasn't even locked. How wasn't it locked? Who has a phone and doesn't put a passcode on it or anything like that? What, were they trying to make their spouse trust them? I shook my head, laughing at their own stupidity that would benefit me.

The first place I went to was iMessages, and boy, how I wasn't disappointed! Edinam's parents were definitely part of syndicate. They had a contact saved as 'Boss' and another one as 'Boss.'. I wondered what the full–stop was supposed to signify.

I opened Boss' chat.

They were talking about me.

They were talking about Kofi and me. Who was trying to protect us? Were their intentions pure? How did they even know us? Was 'Boss' Kofi's father, Justus' father, or someone else that we weren't aware of? And what did 'Oh that's nice. Very nice' mean? We were supposed to get together.

Wow. We had spies watching us. What if they were watching me right now?

Immediately, my head snapped up and looked in every direction. There was a window, but it was covered by curtains. If a spy was indeed watching me, that meant that they knew that I was here and obviously, they would report to my uncle.

On seeing a pen on the bedside table, I snatched it and wrote down "Boss'" phone number in my palm. I was about to go through the second number's chat when I heard the door burst open, like whoever entered was in a rush.

I couldn't even react when I heard the voice getting louder as the speaker got closer. "I think I left my phone, honey."

Even though it was such a terrifying situation to be in, I smiled. Of course he would come before I could leave. I mean, it's the life of Elorm Enam Nutsugah being narrated, why won't this happen?

Then I snapped back into my senses and put the phone down again, and dropped to my belly, sliding underneath the bed. I couldn't describe in words how grateful I was that it was the kind of bed that had enough space to hide under.

The door burst open again, and it was hard for me to refrain from jumping up and yelling at him to take his time. He was rattling the whole house. He let out a sigh of relief, obviously having seen his phone.

"Here it is," he said.

"You see, you're getting old. It won't be long until you forget your name," Edinam joked, making them both laugh.

I rolled my eyes, hoping that she'd let him leave.

"Were you trying to tidy up?" He asked.

Oh snap.

"What?"

"The room is messed up. It wasn't like this before we left."

"No," she said slowly, "I haven't been here since you left today, but Elorm is around. Maybe she came to your bathroom, I don't know."

Wow. This can't get any worse now, can it?

"Elorm? Here? Bring her to me, I want to say hello."

Oh boy.

"Elorm!" Edinam called.

I just sunk into the carpet, pressing my palms over my ears. "God, this is the perfect time to bring me to You," I thought.

"Where is she?" Her father asked.

"She was supposed to be in the bathroom..." From the sound of her voice, I could tell that she was frowning. "Never mind, I'm sure she'll stick around till you get back."

"Bummer."

"Come on, you'll be late for whatever you're going to do. Leave," she urged, a slight teasing tone to her voice.

"In a hurry to get rid of me, are we?" His voice faded more the farther he went.

I didn't hear her reply, she'd probably gone to see him off. I waited for the door to close, then let out the breath I knew I was holding because I thought the sound of my breathing would give me out.

I crawled out of the dark space, freezing immediately upon seeing Edinam standing before me with crossed arms. That vicious pull at the bottom of my stomach due to shock attacked me, virtually causing me to faint.

"Why are you in my parents' room and why did you ransack it? What are you looking for?" She wasted no time in going straight to the point.

I scratched my head. "How did you know I was under here?"

"You're not very good at this thing. Your foot was sticking out from under the bed. My father just didn't see you because he was in such a hurry," she explained. "Now tell me what you want from me. Wow, did you come here just to... to steal from me?"

"What? No! Eddie," I scrambled to my feet, "I would never!"

"Then what's going on here? Why are you in my parents' room and what were you looking for? Answer me or I promise, I will tell my parents and you won't be allowed back here ever again."

I sighed, realising that there was no escaping this. We had to tell her where her parents' money came from. "It's a very long story, but let's go and see Kofi, he can explain. It's four, night will be upon us soon. We must leave now."

* * *

Edinam didn't talk to me for the rest of the walk. It was even more horrible than I thought it'd be. Imagine all those stares and hushed whispers along with that dreaded silence from someone you were laughing with just a few minutes ago.

The small jail was truly a laughable sight, but that was just because it wasn't supposed to hold a lot of people. If the boy wasn't abusing his power, it would hold only Justus and my father.

"We're here," she said.

"Let's go inside," I said, but neither of us moved. "Are we going or..."

"Just cut the crap and tell me why you were in my parents' room." She frowned, crossing her arms.

"Fine. Your parents are criminals," with my heart palpitating violently, I walked off quickly as soon as I said that. I wondered why I was so impulsive, regretting what I said as soon as I was done saying it.

There was a policeman behind a desk as soon as I entered. The cells were behind him, opposite each other. As far as I could see, there were only eight. The place itself wasn't in very good condition. One could easily escape if one tried hard enough.

I asked to see Kofi. As he led me to Kofi's cell, Edinam appeared inside the station looking eerily calm, yet obviously angry. I turned away from her, coming to stop in front of Kofi's cell. He was sitting in a corner, his head resting against the wall.

Due to some serious misfortune, he was sharing a cell with Justus and two other men. They were all shirtless, like they weren't allowed to wear shirts or something like that. They were all resting, either sitting or lying down with their eyes closed.

I was pondering how to get Kofi's attention without alerting the others when the police officer hit the cell's bars with his stick. The attentions of all the prisoners were perked.

"Elorm," as soon he saw me, Kofi ran to the bars, his hand reaching out to touch my wrist.

Justus watched me. The evidence of the hate he felt for me was burning within his eyes. His teeth were gritting against each other, causing his jaw to tick.

I tore my eyes away from him and let them roam, inspecting the other prisoners before falling on Kofi. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

"I'm fine. Are you? Why are you putting all your weight on one leg? Did you get hurt again?"

I smiled. "Maybe when I was running yesterday? The adrenaline must've caused me to be numb to the pain," I said, making him frown. "But I'm fine, don't worry about it."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Edinam come up behind me, and Kofi looked at her. "Is that your cousin?" He asked me.

I nodded. "This is Edinam, my cousin."

"You trust her?" He asked me.

I nodded again.

"I'm right here," she reminded us heatedly.

"I didn't say that in the heat of the moment. It's true. Your parents are criminals," I said, turning away from her and moving closer to Kofi. His grip on my wrist never faltered.

"I want to hear what you have to say," she said. "I promise to listen with an open mind."

Kofi nodded in approval, his lips curving into a small smile. "It's a long story, but all you need to know is that your parents are helping smuggle mineral resources out of the country. They're pocketing the money and using part of it to fund a syndicate that basically traffics human beings."

She stepped back, shaking her head. "I'm not surprised. Not really. I always suspected that there was something fishy going on."

"We need your help to put a stop to this," I said. I wasn't surprised either that she wasn't throwing a tantrum like that boy–chief after finding out that her parents were involved in crime. Edinam had always been very open minded and sensible. Maybe it was because she was so smart and studying to become a surgeon or an optician.

"Do you know anything?" Kofi asked.

"No, not really. They kept me in the dark about everything because they knew that I would never support them."

"I did find something when I went through their room," I said, shooting Edinam an apologetic look. "Look," I gave the bowl of fried rice to Eddie and opened my palm, showing it to him.

"Is this a number? What am I to do with it?"

"Do you recognise it?"

He brought my hand closer, scrutinising the slowly fading numbers. "No, I don't. Why?"

"I went through my uncle's phone and found him texting this person called 'Boss'. The conversation was very strange. It turns out that someone is keeping an eye on both of us and has asked my uncle to have spies watching us," I eyed the other prisoners in the cell. "They could be anywhere."

"Do you have any idea who that person could be?" He asked.

I shook my head. "That's why I wrote the number down. It could be your father or Justus'... or someone far worse."

There was a little bit of silence after that ominous note.

I inhaled and exhaled. "They're supposed to protect us from harm and they... um, want us to be together, I guess?"

"Together?"

I gazed at his hand that was still grasping my wrist. "In a romantic way."

More silence.

"This is all very strange and I don't even know the half of it," Eddie said, her arms akimbo.

"That isn't all. They're smuggling minerals out tonight. I don't know the where or when but it's happening tonight."

"How did you manage to find out all this, you're amazing," Kofi smiled.

Immediately, scorching heat raced through my body and pooled into my cheeks while I wondered how such a simple compliment could affect me as such. "I didn't manage to find out when or where."

"We'll figure that out later," he said. He looked down and licked his lips, his smile stretching from ear to ear. When he looked up, he asked me, "what is that?"

Following his gaze, my eyes found the bowl. "Oh... um, I... made you something. In... case you were hungry."

I hated that smile on his face, like he was teasing me. "You cooked for me?"

"No," I said quickly, making even Eddie quirk a smile. "I cooked food and gave you some of it."

"Okay," he nodded, still smiling. "Will they even let me have it?" At that, he looked at the police officer watching our interaction.

"They haven't complained yet, so I guess so. Do you need to come out or?" I went to the police officer and sought permission. Surprisingly, he allowed Kofi to get out of the cell and sit on one of the benches just a little bit to the side of his desk.

"Such terrible security," Kofi murmured.

"You shouldn't be complaining," I retorted.

He laughed again.

He took the food bowl and removed the cover, grabbing a spoon. He inhaled the scent of the food, eyed me and returned his eyes to the rice. "You made this?"

I made a sound, admitting to it.

"You can cook?"

I made the same sound again.

"Um, I'll be outside," Edinam said, retreating awkwardly.

Kofi watched her leave. "Finally."

"Ugh, you're so anti–social," I shoved him lightly.

He rolled his eyes, then took some of the rice. After swallowing the first bite, he began laughing annoyingly, wiping his lips with the back of his hand. He looked at me, then laughed again.

"What's so funny? Is it good?" I asked.

He ate some more, ignoring me. From the way he was eating, I could tell that he was enjoying it but I could never be sure with him. "It could be better."

I gasped, and he started laughing again. "How dare you? Give me my food!"

"No, it's mine," he laughed. "What, don't you want the truth? It's okay, could've used a little bit more salt and some seasoning and the chicken could've cooked a little more. The beef sauce could've used a little more pepper and a lot more vegetables. The beef itself is overcooked and under–seasoned. The rice is too soft for my liking and the spring onions are withered, not fresh. So yes, it could be better."

I put my elbows on my thighs and bowed my head, breathing deeply. It hurt more than I thought it would, to sit here and have the meal I was so proud of criticised in this manner. Even if he was joking, it still hurt. "If you don't like it, just leave it. I'll eat it myself."

"I didn't say I didn't like it. It's good," he said again. He had eaten all the rice and was now taking all the grains of rice off the vegetables.

"I shouldn't even have made it for you. Forgive me for being so caring."

"Elorm," he set the bowl aside and shifted nearer. "It's good, really. I grew up eating food prepared by five–star chefs so it makes sense that my tastes are a little bit advanced for your cooking, but it's good. The best home–cooked food I've eaten."

I rolled my eyes, not buying it. I absent–mindedly picked on a loose thread on my blouse, still feeling like there was a gaping wound in my chest.

"Hey," he shifted closer. "What do you want me to say to convince you? Look, I ate everything."

I peered into the bowl. "You left the vegetables."

"I don't like vegetables. At least, I licked them."

I cracked a smile. "Just to get the rice off of them."

"Proof that I liked it."

I shrugged, but I still wasn't buying it. "Don't expect me to cook for you again."

"Oh, I don't plan on staying here long," he corrected me, getting serious and moving away. He covered the bowl and handed it to me.

"How are you going to get out?"

"Bail."

"That corrupt chief won't let you out on bail, and where am I even supposed to get the money from if he does?"

"Search through my luggage, you'll find three cards. Take your friend to the bank and withdraw as much cash as you can—"

"They'll just let me take money from the card like that?"

"Your cousin will explain. Get the money and bail me out. Please, try to do it tonight so that we can find out when the smuggling is happening and stop it. We don't have much time left."

I nodded. "Don't worry."

"Please, I'm counting on you," he said.

I glared at him. "I just asked you not to worry, fool."

"I need one last favour," he continued, closing his eyes.

I had a feeling that this one was going to be tasking or something hard for me to do or something that he didn't like. "What is it?"

"I'm so sorry to ask this of you, but I need answers," his fists clenched and he looked away. "I want you to get close to the chief again and find out what he knows about my mother's death."

"Kofi, no. I refuse to willingly spend any more time with him. I'm sorry, but I can't."

"Elorm, please. I have so many questions about my mother's disappearance. I don't believe that she's really dead. I never met her, or at least I can't remember but according to my nanny, she was there one day and the next, she wasn't. Please help find out what happened to her."

"If I get close to him again, he might think that I actually want something to do with him."

"I will owe you my life if you help me find out what happened to my mother. Elorm, please," he said again. Even when he was begging me, it sounded like a command. Perhaps he just didn't know how to be meek or humble.

"Okay, fine. But," I held up a finger before the smile could break out on his face, "if he tries to kiss me or sleep with me, I will run and never look back."

"He won't. Just get close to him and ask him about her, yeah?"

"Then you'll also help me find out what happened to my mother," I replied.

He nodded enthusiastically. "I give you my word."

"Is that all?" I asked.

"Go and get the money and get back to me. You must get me out latest by six. Also, buy yourself a phone so that we can communicate."

I smiled mischievously. "Can I get an iPhone ten?"

"You can get ten iPhone tens. I don't care as long as you have a phone."

"Okay," I sighing, discovering rather strangely that I didn't want to leave him here. Going out of the building without him made me feel so alone and vulnerable. I didn't need his protection, of course, but I wanted it.

"Elorm, come here," he said.

I watched him strangely.

"Come here," he repeated.

I inched over slowly, stopping when our knees touched.

"Okay," he chuckled, "be careful, okay? Even here, there's so much hate for you. Stay safe."

"Like you care," I retorted, baiting him to heatedly reply that he did.

He was too smart for me though. "I need your help so yes, I have to care whether you're alive or not."

I was about to roll my eyes, when he touched my wrist again. I started. "I'm serious, stay safe. When all of this is over... I... I want to make things right between us," he said.

"W—what are you talking about?"

"Everything I've done to you, I want to make up for it."

"How?" I asked.

"I don't know. I guess we'll find out when the time comes. I'm truly sorry, I just want to make sure that you understand that."

I frowned. "Are you saying this because you believe that my uncle's spies may be listening in or watching us?"

He smirked. "Smart girl."

It felt like floating on a cloud, then someone just suddenly pushed me off. "I hate you so much."

"The feeling is mutual. Come, hug me," he said.

"What? No, ew," I began drawing away from him but he held onto my wrist, smiling easily.

"Relax. I just want to play along to find out what that 'Boss' wants from us, yeah? Trust me, I don't want to hug you either."

"Oh please, you're dying to hug me."

"Disgusting."

"You're disgusting. You haven't even showered. Nasty boy."

He shook his head. "I don't even want to hug you anymore," he suddenly lifted my hand and kissed the back of it. "This will suffice."

Thank God for melanin. I would've been so embarrassed if he could see how heated my cheeks were.

"I am sorry though. Very sorry. For everything," he admitted.

I rolled my eyes. "I must be going."

"I will be waiting for you."

* * *

Who do you think 'Boss' is? A new villain?

Don't forget to vote! 🌟