Cape Coast, Ghana.
It has occurred to me that I've grown used to my insecurities.
Gone are the days I used to hate my black oily skin, my tall, lanky body, and the tiny scrapes and scars littering my long bony legs.
I no longer cared about any of that shit. Because my wretched life stopped giving me the time to care about that shit.
"Herh Akwasi!"
The deep threatening tone of my boss' voice quickly yanked me out of my thoughts and I swam deeper into the cold seawater. The fishing net I spent all of last week dutifully fixing had caught on to a sharp rock. Before we could lose more of our third catch for the day, I dived down and unhooked the net, careful not to create any more holes for the fishes to escape.
Once I'd completed my task, I swam back up. Kojo and Manu sat at the rear end of the canoe, holding the other end of the fishing net. When my head poked out of the water, they began to pull, straining muscle upon muscle. Compared to my lanky body, the two of them were more suited for the job. I climbed back into the canoe to catch my breath, then a sudden smack landed on the back of my head. "Ajei!"
"Ma nnkakyerÉ wo dÉ menyÉ damaa mboadze ÉyÉ dabiara?" Pinto, my boss, looked down on me with a frown. "KÉyi adze no, Éda ho ridzi agor. ÆnnyÉ wo maame, anka meyi wo dzi, dadaada. Foolish boy." [Didn't I tell you not to do that stupid thing you've been doing all the time? Just go and unhook the net, you were down there playing. If it wasn't for your mother, I would have fired you a long time ago.]
I let out a sigh and brushed away the insult; another thing I've grown used to. Asking Pinto to hire me was one of the biggest mistakes my mother had made concerning my life. I understood that she did it out of good intentions, but this man was just too short-tempered.
Kojo and Manu had successfully hauled in our catch, which was mostly*mpatoa--a sign that we weren't going to earn much money today. I helped them collect the baby fishes into the blue and white medium-sized barrel we kept for storage and proceeded to inspect the net for damages.
The canoe moved steadily against the waves with occasional bumps. Growing up on the coast of Ghana, the sea had always been my friend. I found solace in its warmth and the ripples it gave my skin. It was probably why I lost myself in it, anytime I entered the water. That, unfortunately, did not sit well with my boss.
Pinto always complained that I was costing him a lot with my childish attitude. But being the most experienced swimmer out of the three boys he had hired, I had to do the job, whether he liked it or not, and he mostly didn't like it. He displayed it all the time with bucket loads of insults topped with frequent knocks and smacks on my head.
As the canoe drifted closer to shore, the usual fishmongers loitered around, wrapped in a variety of African cloths and holding their wicker baskets. They waited impatiently to buy the fish from us, then take them to the various markets to sell. My eyes scanned the sea of women in search of my mother, but it seemed she had already bought fish from other fishermen and had headed out to the market.
The boys and I climbed out of the canoe to push it further onto land. The fishmongers wasted no time hounding my boss for our catch. A greedy smile crawled up Pinto's face when he saw the crumpled cedi notes the women held. Our third catch today only filled one barrel out of the three that we had and *mpatoa didn't cost much. But Pinto had a very cunning way of making people pay more than they should. He was a certified master when it came to cheating.
"Hey," Manu swatted my arm. "Yi net no na yÉnfankÉ" [Pick up the net and let's take it away.]
Shifting my attention from Pinto's greedy sales, I helped my colleagues clear out the fishing gear from the canoe, washed them free of salt water, and took them to the small wooden shack that served as our storage. By the time we returned to the canoe, Pinto had sold all the fish and was happily counting our earnings for today.
"Boss, ye wie oo," Kojo rubbed his hands eagerly at the sight of the money. [Boss, we're done oo.]
Pinto looked at us, then his eyes drifted back to his money. "Mbo, ndÉ moayÉ adze paa." [Good, today you guys have done a really good job.] He slotted out two ten cedi notes from the bundle and handed them to beaming Kojo and Manu.
I wrung my hands, patiently waiting for my ten cedi note. But instead, Pinto gave me a frown and chucked a dirty two-cedi note in my face.
"Ah Pi-"
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Menkasa!" He bellowed out. "Menkasa kraaa. NdÉ edwuma ÉyÉ, oye?" He glared at me, shoving the rest of the bundle into his khaki pocket. "AyÉ lucky kraampo dÉ maa mawo sika. HwÉ, ne tsir bi. Fri m'enyim kÉ!" [Hey! Don't talk! Don't talk at all! The work you did today, was it good? You're even lucky I've given you some money. Look at his big head. Get out of my sight!]
I just stood there, holding the dirty money. Pinto didn't even cast me a second glance as he turned and moved towards the local drinking spot. Kojo and Manu wandered off, laughing their hearts out at my misfortune.
I looked down at the money in my hand. It was barely enough to get me a full meal for lunch. The only thing I could buy to satisfy my hunger was a loaf of bread and water. But I already had that for breakfast this morning. If I ate that again, I'd just be clogging my bowels.
Shaking my head, I pushed the money into the pocket of my shorts. My stomach could go a few more hours without food. I just had to drink more water and pray that something better than this lousy payment comes my way.
Turning around, I looked up to find a pair of unwanted eyes on me. I frowned, but the idiot watching me smiled and I didn't hesitate to flick him off. I hated it when Mensah sent his messenger boys to keep an eye on me. I'd already told him several times that I wanted no part in his uncouth business.
Ignoring the violent hunger pangs rumbling in my stomach, I trudged through beach sand, heading straight for the nearest pure water seller. I gave the two cedi note to the teenage girl and in return, she handed me my change and two sachets of water. Using my teeth, I tore off the corner of the sachet and proceeded to quench the blazing hunger pit in my stomach.
The familiar gong of bells from the Methodist Church nearby coated the air, signifying that half the day was already gone. I walked towards an old coconut tree and sat down, leaning against the rough bark.
The scalding sun burnt down on the busy and clustered shores of Cape Coast. Fishermen and their lackeys moved around, shouting at the top of their lungs, hauling fish, repairing their canoes, and fixing their nets. The whole atmosphere was chaotic. Fishmongers also wandered around, waiting for fish to buy. The recent hours of the day a replay in my head, and I couldn't help but wonder, is this where I'm destined to be? To spend the rest of my life on the seashore as a fisherman?
When I was in school, it was my dream to become a renowned engineer, one of the best in the country. But after I graduated from senior high school, I knew I'd come to the end of the road for my education. That dream of mine was going to remain a dream forever because my family's money issues were larger than the Atlantic Ocean. It was just by grace that we got by every day.
I tore off the tip of the second sachet of water and started chugging it down. I had no idea what the future held for me, but I could only hope and pray that it had absolutely nothing to do with my current condition. After everything I'd been through, I knew I deserved a better life than this.
The empty pure water rubbers crackled in my hands as I crushed and disposed of them in the nearest bin. I stood up, dusting beach sand off my shorts. It was time to head over to*WÉfa Yaw's mechanic shop.
My slippers trudged through the sand, slapping the fine grains against the back of my legs and I soon made it to the roadside. Several cars and motorcycles whizzed past. I was just about to stop an incoming *Pragya when my ears picked up on high-pitched laughter. I turned in the direction of the sound.
A few feet away sat an abandoned wooden shack that had been converted into a drinking spot. Some teenagers and grown men were perched on fallen tree stems drinking palm wine and billowing out huge puffs of smoke from sticks of cigarettes. Usually, scenes like these didn't bother me, but the sight of one teen girl, dressed in scanty clothing and sitting in a guy's lap, laughing her heart out made my nostrils flare.
"Herh Maadjoa!" I stomped over in a matter of seconds. My half-sister didn't hear her name until I shouted it again and she scrambled out of the guy's laps, nervously trying to extend the length of her mini skirt. We had caught the attention of a few heads, but I didn't care. Maadjoa wasn't supposed to be here, she was supposed to be in school.
"ÆreyÉ den wa ha?" [What are you doing here?] I quizzed with a vivid frown.
As a response, she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, which only made me angrier.
"Herh!" My hand latched onto her elbow and forcefully pulled her closer. "Merebisa wo asem!" [Hey! I'm asking you a question!]
"Ooh gyae me mu!" [Ooh leave me alone!] She shrieked, trying to tug her arm out of my tight grasp. "Akwasi gyae!" [Akwasi stop!]
"Hey, masa!" [Hey, mister!] The guy my half-sister sat on earlier suddenly decided to come to her rescue. "ÆsÉ gyae ne mu, entse?" [She said to leave her alone, didn't you hear?] His voice took on a threatening tone and he tried staring me down, but I wasn't going to be intimidated by the likes of a hormonal and drunk fifteen-year-old boy.
Pulling Maadjoa to my side with one hand, I shoved the teenage boy so hard that he tumbled over the tree stem behind him, eliciting several 'oohs' from onlookers.
"YÉnkÉ!" [Let's go!] I dragged Maadjoa behind me, ignoring her protests. "Me nye wo resan akÉ skuul." [I'm taking you back to school.]
"No! Akwasi, stop!" My sister screamed and planted her feet in the sand, attempting to stall, but I strained my muscles one more time and pulled her forward against her will.
"Herh! Akwasi, herh!"
All of a sudden, a large hand grabbed me by the forearm and ripped me away from my now sobbing sister. I turned around to find Mensah's messenger boy, the one who was watching me earlier, holding my sister against his chest. He shot me a frown. "Awo, egyim aa? Ennyim d'Érepra no?" [You, are you stupid? Don't you know you're hurting her?]
Maadjoa leaned further into him, crying and my heart burned with guilt. It was never my intention to hurt her, I just wanted to take her back to school.
"Maadjoa..." I reached for my younger sister, but the idiot holding her shuffled backwards.
"Mennfa wo nsa nnkan," he snarled, "Gyimii." [Don't touch her, fool.]
My blood boiled at the insult, hands curling into fists. Maadjoa was my sister. He had no right to hold her like that. I really wanted to punch him in the face, but our short conflict had drawn several heads, and I wasn't sure I had the strength to win a fight against a burly guy like him.
To save myself the trouble and embarrassment, I cast my sister one last remorseful look before turning on my heel and walking away.
Glossary
*mpatoa ~ small baby fishes that are mostly eaten with kenkey (fermented maize dough, rolled into a ball and cooked) and fresh pepper or shito.
*Pragya ~ a yellow and black auto rickshaw. It's often used as a taxi in the Cape Coast Metropolis. Other countries have different names for them. For example, in Nigeria, they're called 'keke'
*WÉfa ~ Uncle
*****
So, what do you guys think of this chapter? I'd love to get some feedback. I know this chapter was a little heavy on the local dialect, but I wanted to do that in order to build the setting. Now that it's done, I'll try mixing in some English in the following chapters to tone it down.
Thanks for reading and please be on the lookout for chapter 2. Have a wonderful day.