PLAYERS

She looked simply ravishing. It was a Friday night and it was time for yet another escapade. She had decided about two years ago that she needed some adventure and fun in her life. She was tired of the routine in her school life so one Friday evening; she had dressed up and gone to a pub with her friend, Oforiwaa. As they sat in a corner minding their own business, a gentleman came up to them.

“Hello. Are you two lovely ladies here by yourselves?”

She did not know what business their sitting down and enjoying their evening was to him. Oforiwaa thought the same so none of them paid him any attention but he went on anyway with why he was being a nuisance.

“Well, my friends and I were wondering if you girls would care to join us at our table.”

She and Oforiwaa turned their heads in the direction at which he pointed; they saw three young men sitting around a table grinning at them. She was appalled just looking at their grinning faces.

“No thanks." She responded.

The gentleman tried to be persuasive but it was like talking to the wind so he left them alone. A few moments later, another older gentleman had come around their table to try and hit on any of them or maybe both of them. The evening had continued that way till they left the pub. She was horrified at how men, both young and old, had come around their table to get them into their beds. She wondered what was coming over the world.

The next Friday had seen her and Oforiwaa at a different pub. The situation had been no different from what happened at the first pub. They just wanted to go to a place and relax after a week of endless lectures but these men kept coming at them. After the second pub they had tried three different pubs and the situation was no different. She was amazed at the number of lonely hearts out there. Was it really that they were lonely or they were just promiscuous? She recalled having seen some men with their wedding bands but was not afraid to hit on them. “A very crazy girl could make money out of these men”, she had thought. It occurred to her she could be that crazy girl. She shook her head in an attempt to take that thought out of her head but it would just not leave. So she told Oforiwaa of her intentions who branded her crazy. She, Oforiwaa, tried to persuade her to forget such a ridiculous idea but it had already settled in her mind.

She had gone to three different pubs in three months and had been successful at ripping off three men of huge sums of money. She had made sure to completely change her looks to avoid any trouble. She also made sure to choose a place where it would be easy to see her but it would be difficult to see her face. She was careful to let some ample time pass if she would visit one pub twice. It was funny how the men were not interested in the face but the body and that was how she was able to escape a disastrous situation.

She had gone to a newly opened pub about forty minutes ride from campus to prey on someone. As she found the perfect spot and sat down sipping on some chilled wine, she saw a man moving towards her. She could not make him out as he approached since the place was not well lit. As he drew nearer, light was thrown on him and that was when she realised he was the second man she had preyed on. Putting her hand in her bag, she brought out her phone and pretended to be talking to someone as she passed through the darkness and made her way out.

She sighed and felt the cold wind on her face which cooled the sweat she had experienced as the man moved towards her. As she stood there feeling the cold winds on her and thinking of how close she had been to prison, she heard a voice behind her.

“Hello sweetheart. I have found you again.”

The sweat came back as she realised it was the man she was running from who had come up behind her. What did he mean by “I have found you again”? The answer rang in her head; she had been caught. She could no longer stand straight as she felt some weaknesses in her legs. She bent a little bit to prevent her from falling.

“Do you need help? Are you alright?”

She got confused as she heard the man. Had he seen her or he had not?

“I’ll be alright. Thank you. I... I just need some fresh air.”

She could feel him drawing closer and wished he would stay where he was. Just then, they heard a big bang. Some drunk had hit his car into another man’s car. They both turned their attention to the accident and the man rushed to the place. The drunk had hit his car. Seeing this as an opportunity, she quickly left the place. Unfortunately, this situation was not enough to deter her.

So as she looked at herself for the last time in the mirror, Asantewaa could feel within her that she was going to hit it big time this evening. It had been six months now as she went out on such jaunt and had therefore taken her time in picking out her dress and putting on her makeup. She had opted for a wine boob straight dress which was three inches above her knee. She accessorized herself with gold (chandelier earrings, chain, bracelet, belt and a four inch shoe). She was what would be described as dressed to kill and she was, in every sense of the expression. She felt good as she stepped into a sleek 4x4 Toyota range rover belonging to Oforiwaa. That was the gift her father had given to her for her 23rd birthday. Asantewaa was able to persuade Oforiwaa to give her the car. She sat in and drove to the newest pub, Escape, which was a fifteen minutes drive from the international airport.

She lingered at the entrance for a while scanning the place for the kind of person she wanted. She had seen a couple of people who fitted her kind of prey so she entered and found herself a seat. She ordered for a wine and sat down to wait for her victim.

He had seen her at the entrance; standing and gazing into the room for awhile before she made her way to her seat. She was breathtaking and looked loaded. He had gone past her into the parking lot. He had been successful to find her car by bribing the guard. He was happy with his findings.

Owusu had moved away from his friends and had made his way towards Asantewaa’s table. He was a half-caste (a Ghanaian father and a French mother), tall and lanky. His dressing and perfume portrayed him as a foreigner and he had the accent of a Frenchman. She had seen him coming towards her and she knew he would make a move on her. His body language and the twinkle in his eye as the light shone on him convinced her.

As he got closer, he fixed his eyes on her. She could feel the excitement within her. She was not too sure if he fitted the kind of person she wanted to claw. There was one way to find out and it was just some minutes before she was sure. She lowered her gaze and could feel that his steps had slowed as he got nearer. She started to count his steps...one, two, three, four, five...nine, and the last one, ten. But he did not stop. He kept moving till he got to the next table that was occupied by two hotties and there he stopped to sit and converse with them. She felt like cold water had been poured on her. She felt angry, stupid and disappointed at once.

Owusu knew she was expecting him to stop by her table and so he had led her to believe it would happen and pulled a fast one on her. As he sat talking to the two girls, who proved to be quite foolish and naive by their line of conversation and giggles, he made sure he was able to see her reaction from where he was seated. He had seen the look of disappointment and he felt quite good about it.

Asantewaa recovered and continued sipping on her wine. As she waited for someone else to come around, she fidgeted with her bag which fell off the table. She drew her chair back to pick it up and she heard someone curse. Ooops! She had hit someone with her chair. She quickly turned to attend to the person and she saw that it was Owusu. While she was sorry for hitting him, she was glad it was him. It gave her some satisfaction because for some strange reason, she knew he had purposely passed by her table.

The excitement within her was back and her heart beat faster. She kept on saying sorry so much that it irritated Owusu. Then she offered to buy him a drink. He had refused but she passionately insisted. Eventually, he gave in. She had him where she wanted. She smiled triumphantly within. Owusu also smiled within himself. So far things were working for the better. The chair had not touched him but pulling it backwards just when he got there had helped matters for him.

They hit it off talking about themselves. They had both given false names. Owusu had talked a lot about himself and his “businesses”. He had opened his wallet to pick out something, making visible the amount of money he carried. Asantewaa’s eyes had bulged at the sight of the money. Can someone really carry that much on him? She had not taken him too seriously when he kept on about his businesses. She needed to see some evidence and it was as if he had read her mind. At this point she cared less about whether he was lying or not. All she wanted was to get her hands on that money.

Owusu had also sensed her mood and knew exactly what to do to perk up her interest. Noticing her interest after displaying his cash told him that he had succeeded and it was only some few minutes before he got what he wanted. He had told Asantewaa that he had come with some friends in their car. He had made suggestive comments to show that he would like to be alone with her. Asantewaa was in a hurry to get things done and over with. Having sat talking for an hour, they got up and headed for Asantewaa’s car.

They arrived at the hotel some few minutes to midnight. Asantewaa was all ready and perked up for action. Owusu could sense it and he felt excited as well. She had yawned a few times on their way but Owusu did not think that would hinder the activities planned. Thinking through the situation, he knew he was going to kill two birds with one stone. He had made sure that her chain, earrings and bracelets were pure gold as he had sat talking with her. He had an eye for precious stones.

Asantewaa started faking sleepiness. They had signed up for just a night. As soon they entered the room, Asantewaa slumped onto the bed. Owusu went into the bathroom to freshen up. He had left his wallet on the table with the dressing mirror. Asantewaa had given another fake yawn as Owusu went into the bathroom. She had smiled to herself as he entered the bathroom. When he came out after five minutes, Asantewaa was fast asleep, or he thought so. She had also removed her accessories and placed them in her bag. She knew his intention was to have a ‘good time’ with her. But she did not play like that.

At 2a.m, she woke up and tipped toed out of the room. The receptionist had looked at her with a scowl on her face. She hated girls who sold their body just for money. Asantewaa got into the car and drove away. She kept smiling and whistling as she drove off.

A few minutes after she had left, Owusu woke up. He could not feel her beside him. He heard that the shower was on. Thinking that she was in the bathroom, he dressed up and left the room. When he got to the reception, he took out his wallet to pay for the room. He only brought out papers which had been cut out like money. The receptionist was not amused. Owusu went back inside and the shower was still on. Then he started laughing. He could not believe what had just happened. In his hands he had a paper bag which was filled with Asantewaa’s accessories. He laughed out so loud that tears filled his eyes.

Asantewaa got to her room with a big smile on her face. She removed the wig from her head and changed into a house dress. She emptied the contents of her bag unto her bed. A stone fell out of her bag plus the money. In her hurry, she had not checked her bag to see if she had everything. She burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that her eyes were filled with tears.

Two months later, she went back to the pub. As usual, she scanned the place before making her way to an empty table. As she sat down, she turned her head and their eyes locked. He raised his glass to acknowledge her and she did the same. He made his way towards her table with a smile and twinkle in his eyes.

UNCERTAINTIES

“No wonder my husband was with her”, she thought. She was beautiful and much younger. She had a pretty face and a gap between the fronts of her upper teeth. She knew how much her husband admired women with these attributes. “This would be a tough problem to solve”, she thought again. She had no intention of leaving her husband for any other woman. She had accepted this saying from her friend, Esi, which was a man in his life time, would cheat on his woman; maybe this was her time to go through this situation. However, if this woman should think that she would leave her husband for her then, she had another think coming.

As she was going in her head about them, she realised they had got up and were making their way towards the entrance. She was hit with another threat. The woman was well endowed both behind and in front. One could say God had been in his best moods when he was moulding her. She knew that her husband had been attracted to her because she was also endowed both behind and in front. The real challenge was that this woman was young and her legs were bigger in the calf than hers. This woman was exactly her husband’s taste.

She had seen the way they had looked at each other with so much affection. She had seen how she had been swaying her head shyly like a woman with her lover. The funny thing was that she was with her lover. She had seen them holding hands when they entered and her husband had even shown her courtesy by pulling the chair for her; something he used to do when they were dating. She had seen his hand go up to her cheek and touch her affectionately. She cannot remember the last time her husband was this affectionate to her. She had seen all these at a safe distance in the restaurant.

Marie and Kwadwo had been married for five years. Two years into the marriage, her in-laws had been hostile because they had not yet put to birth. Kwadwo had not been very supportive in those years; he nearly married a second wife if she had not stood firm and bared her teeth. Now, in their fifth year, she was pregnant and yet Kwadwo continued to give her problems. It was true that sometimes, someone can be married to his/her enemy or destructor.

Esi had been her informant. She had suffered greatly because her husband went in for another woman younger than her. The story was told of how her husband had dragged her into a rainy night when she was pregnant with their son. He had denied been the father of the child and as such ignored his duties as a father. Many people advised her to take up her case with the Domestic Violence Unit but she had been so in love to do such a thing. After fifteen years, she still harboured the thought he would one day come to his senses and ask for forgiveness. She blamed herself for her situation because she had paid no heed to the tell tale signs. She had therefore made it her business to warn people if she saw anything suspicious, especially between someone and another person’s spouse.

This was exactly what she had done resulting in the private eye job Marie was now doing. She had no doubt in her mind that they were having an affair. She followed them at a safe distance. Kwadwo hailed down a taxi car for her. She saw him paying the driver after he had given her some money. Esi had seen them twice at different restaurants. Marie praised herself for having the insight to wait for them at Kwadwo’s work place. She had then followed them into the restaurant. She had seen enough so she turned to go home.

Kwadwo gets home close to midnight as he had been doing for the past month. She was always asleep when he came home. When she had asked for an explanation to the late night arrival, he had only said that some clients were on his neck for their products. “What a liar! If your clients are that hard on you, will you have some time to sit and be affectionate to another woman for that long?”, she had thought. Kwadwo was amazed to find her up when he got home this time.

“What are you doing up at this time?”
“I could not sleep with you not in.”
“But I always find you asleep when I come in.”
“I guess I am much too worried today.”
“Worried? That someone will abduct me? You know this is the first time I’ve heard you use that word.”
“Kwadwo, that is not fair and you know it!”
“But you know I’m right. When I come in from work and meet you not asleep, hardly do you ask how my day was. Hardly have you met me at the door as I come in from work and even plant a kiss to my cheek. With this kind of attitude, a man will be driven to another woman who shows much care.”
“Oh so you think that just because a man is not been shown enough attention is an excuse for infidelity?”
“What I’m saying is that the woman should take part of the blame if her marriage fails and not take it all out on the man.”
“Are you telling me that you are cheating?”
“Come on my dear wife, cheat on you, never!”
“Hmm!”
“So how was lunch today?”
“Lunch?”
“Yes, lunch!”
“Why do you ask of lunch and nothing else?”
“Well honey, you were just complaining that I do not show how much I care for you.”
“Not that I am saying you should not ask about lunch, do not get me wrong. It’s just surprising that it was the first thing that came to your mind.”
“You should try to understand dear, these days the kind of food they cook outside is not very good. I was even thinking that maybe I should be making lunch for you to send to work. Won’t that be great? Then there will be no need for you to go out during lunch for food and you can trust the quality too.”
“Sweetheart, I know you are trying to show how much you care, but really I don’t think you should fret over the food I eat. You can be rest assured that yours truly gets the best of service when it comes to good food.”
“And company.” (as she fakes a yawn)
“What did you say?”
“Nothing, I am just tired. I think I’ll retire to bed.”

Marie went to bed thinking about the woman trying to take her husband. She had a dream where she was in a squabble with the other woman. Then suddenly she was out of the house with the other woman smiling sardonically at her while Kwadwo brings out her bags. The look on the other woman’s face was what woke her up with a start. Kwadwo was still sleeping with a smile on his face. Looking at him, Marie could not help but wonder if he was dreaming of the other woman, if she was in his arms in his dreams. She decided to take action.

She was cleaning, singing and whistling as Kwadwo was leaving the house in the morning, the next day. Just before he stepped out he had a call on his mobile. Minutes later, he put the phone to Marie’s ears. It was his sister who had been leaving in the States for a decade now. They have not had the opportunity to meet but she showed much interest in Marie. She always talked to her when she called her brother. Marie felt much closer to her than Kwadwo’s relatives who were closer to home. She had cut the line when she was done talking to Marie. But just when Marie was handing the phone over it started to ring again. She instinctively pressed the received button and just then Kwadwo snatched the phone from her. He quickly talked into the phone as he left the house. Marie just smiled and shook her head.

Since she was pregnant and could not do most of the fighting herself, she had ‘hired a lawyer’ or ‘the lawyer’ had offered herself. Esi had volunteered to help Marie teach ‘this woman’ a lesson. They had kept taps on Kwadwo and had found out where the woman stayed. The lesson they would teach her would surely keep her away from other women’s husband.

Kwadwo had left the office at 5pm and taken a different direction. They knew where he was going so they followed him. When he got to his destination, he parked the car in front of the house and brought out some carrier bags. It was obvious that he had gone shopping for the woman. They knocked on the gate when he had entered the house for some minutes. They were allowed into the house. The woman had come out to find out who they were looking for and Esi had started her verbal abuse. Kwadwo heard the commotion and rushed out with a baby in hand.

Marie was greatly surprised to see her husband with a baby in hand. Something within her just snapped. She could feel herself falling but she could do nothing to stop herself from falling. Esi caught her just in time before she hit the ground. As she was going down she said: “ah Kwadwo, you’ve killed me!”
At the turn of events, Kwadwo gave back the baby to its mother.
“Sister, I’ll have to rush her to the hospital!”
“Sister?”
“Yes, Esi, sister! My sister!”

SORES FOR THE EYES

As I sat in the front seat of my father's car going home yesterday, I felt content. Why? Because the previous day I had to go home on my own and I encountered so many discomforts. First, I was engulfed in dust as I stood at the Legon bus stop waiting for a "trotro" or vehicle. I stood there for some thirty minutes with dust all around me before I fought my way into a vehicle. My perfume on me had changed to dust scented when I finally sat in a vehicle. Second, I had to sit close to this girl who was bigger than me and who had actually relaxed so that I had just a little space to hung my buttocks. Third, the vehicle I sat in had this metal attached to the door. As I was getting down from the "trotro", I hit my right knee against it and it got swollen. I still have my knee swollen. I hope it goes away without giving me any knee pain. So yes, I was really relaxed and contented in my father's car. As we drove home, we listened to the football match between Ghana and Egypt on Peace Fm (one of the many radio stations in Accra).

Getting closer to Kwabenya Atomic Junction, we got into a bit of traffic. So we were now moving quite slowly. I sat in front looking around and my eyes were feasting on everything. I mean everything. I was looking at number plates of cars, thinking of which one was easy to memorize. I was looking at cars and thinking which one I would love to ride some years to come. Oh! I was feasting my eyes. But you see, just as people who buy groundnut and put all in their mouth without taking the time to select the bad nuts from the good nuts, go ahead and chew the bad nuts plus the good nuts, I also went on feasting my eyes on everything until I saw what I should not see. It was like nothing I had seen before. The time was around 6pm. Hmm! I do not even know how to describe it. There stood in the full glare of day light with people going about their work, a grown man, quite sane, bathing. Yes! He was bathing butt naked and he had some friends standing next to him! I had to quickly avert my eyes. Is this not sore for the eyes?

Today we see a lot of sores for the eyes. When it started, there were a whole lot of people talking against it but now, it has become “normal”. Now we call it FASHION. Yes! If you are not doing it, then it seems you are out of touch with the real world. Is it fashion, if on a hot afternoon, suddenly your eyes come into contact with a pair of protruding breasts on some daughter of Eve's bosom begging to come out because they are feeling oppressed? Or is it fashion that as a woman gets out of a car, most if not all her assets from the waist going down is exhibited for people to see? Is it also fashion, when boys, men or males wear their clothes, especially their trousers, with their underpants showing? Call me old fashioned or whatever you like but that is not fashion! We no longer know how to dress for occasions anymore. All one has to do particularly in the case of the females, is to wear something showing your breast and you are in fashion. These are all sores for our eyes.
NB: I know not all will agree with my opinion on how people dress but feel free to comment. This article was written on February 12, 2009.

Hello

Thank you for visiting my blog. I’m still thinking of what to write in my first post... perhaps I can write about what inspired me with the name for my blog.

I’m sure you’ve heard of the expression: “what’s cooking?” aha! That is what gave me the name. If you are thinking “what has food got to do with writing?”, then let me help you. If you do not have food in your stomach, it could distort your thinking, leaving you to write only rubbish lol.

Anyway, on a serious note, what generates that expression? It can be that when you get home, you can smell something pleasant from the kitchen or it can be you did not smell anything. Whatever the condition, the situation of an aroma or no aroma or hunger may cause people to use that expression.

Transferring that meaning to my blog name, I intend to make my blog trigger people who visit it to ask “whatz writing”? That is, I hope my blog will satisfy the reading hunger that my readers will feel when they visit my blog and smell the stories, poems and articles. I hope that it will also make them come for more and will cause them to ask “whatz writing?” when they visit and find nothing new. But I hope to write more and more so that my readers and friends will find something new when they visit my blog.

Thank you once again for your visit. Please visit again.