Opana the coffin maker episode 15

Opana – Episode 15
 
© Akoto Alexander
 
Michael Ansah: Please how may I help you?
 
Visitor: (yelling at someone who was hiding behind him) Herh is this the man who seized my bicycle?
 
Young Boy: Bros please he is not the one, it is his father rather.
 
Visitor: Massa where is your father? I want to see him now and I mean now, go in,side there and get him for me before I start creating a scene here in this house. You people think it is everyone that you can easily intimidate like that? This evening one of us will end up at the morgue whiles the other person ends up at the police station if I don’t get my bicycle. Am really pissed off and the only thing that can calm me down is to get my bicycle.
 
Michael Ansah: Mr Man, you better take it easy with your mouth, did your brother or small boy tell you into details what happened earlier on before your bicycle was confiscated? Were you not taught manners in your house that when you go to someone’s house you have to be submissive?
 
Visitor: Massa don’t bite more than you can chew, this is not your battle so I will advice you stay out of this battle and find somewhere to hide your body. This is a fight for the elephant so you rat, find somewhere safe to hide before I trample on you.
 
Opana: Bernice who are those making noise outside there?
 
Bernice Ansah: I don’t know papa but I think I overhead something like bicycle been mentioned there.
 
Opana: Oh really? Since am done with my supper let me check who is making noise on my compound this Sunday evening. (walks to the door and before he gets there he heard a familiar voice)
 
Visitor: For the very last time I said go and get your father for me before I barge into your house and start breaking things in there.
 
Michael Ansah: Hmmmmm it is because of the police case I just got myself out recently that is why am been gentle with you if not like by now your mouth should have been covered with your blood for this nonsense you are spewing out from your mouth.
 
Opana: (from behind) Kwaku Mike what is going on out there with this exchange of words.
 
Michael Ansah: Isn’t it this rude person who is trying to get on my nerves. He said he is the owner of the bicycle you seized this morning.
 
Opana: (joins them outside) Oh really? Well!!! Well!!! Well!!! Who do we have here? So you are the one who wants to pull my roof down with your tantrums and threats huh? Well am here now so whatever you intend to do you can go ahead because am not releasing that bicycle today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow or even the years ahead.
 
Visitor: (goes on his knees and starts murmuring) Oh my God not again!!! Why is it that everything that will bring me happiness ends up with this man, please sir am begging you to overlook everything and kindly release my bicycle for me. I just got employed in a company as a messenger and this bicycle was given to me by the company and if I don’t go to work with it tomorrow, I don’t know what will happen. Junior have you seen the mess you have gotten me in?
 
Michael Ansah: Hehehe so you could be this submissive and you were here earlier on bragging and boasting like an Ashanti man who has been able to travel to Germany and back to Ghana, you see your wretched life now. Who say man no dey?
 
Visitor: Massa stop this nonsense you are saying over there can’t you see am begging your father to forgive me and release my bicycle for me, why are you throwing sand in my gari.
 
Opana: Kwame Fred or whatever you call yourself if you don’t leave my house in the next couple of seconds, I will let my son tear you into pieces. I don’t want to inform him of our little encounter close to my work place the other time.
 
Visitor: But sir I thought we had solved that problem long time ago so that is all in the past.
 
Opana: Really? Wait and see this my friend. Kwaku Mike this was the idiot I caught the other day with your sister in,side the uncompleted building close to my shop trying to rape her.
 
Michael Ansah: Whaaaaat? And he still had the nerves, impudence, temerity and tenacity to come to this house and exchange words with me. Hahahaha since you said today if you don’t get your bicycle, someone will either end up at the morgue for the other person to end up at the police station, wait for me right here because I will be back soon. (rushes to the house)
 
Opana: (chuckles and speaks in a low tone to Kwame Fred) My friend if you are wise enough, I need not to inform you to run for your life because I know what my son can do when it comes to protecting his younger siblings. He has been searching for you for a long time since the day I informed him of your illegal activity with his little sister.
 
Visitor: Am not a coward and I don’t back out on things I start, if your son tries anything silly, I will beat him red and blue. Junior run to the house because it is about to turn bloody here and you are too young to witness such thing, I will join you very soon in the house after I have finish dealing with this people.
 
Opana: Hmmmm my son has never loss a fight to his age mate before and looking at things, today won’t be his first time losing his first fight so if you want to die please be my guest. Hope your family haven’t bought your coffin already because I sell coffin.
 
Akua Yankey scre-ms in,side the room to ask Kwaku Mike where he was going with what he had in his hands.
 
 
Opana: I believe you are hearing what is going on in my house, hope you have already written you Will before your untimely death?
 
Michael Ansah: (pops up with a sharpened cutlass in his hands and uses the back of the blade to hit Kwame Fred over and over) Since you are brave enough to walk into this house to exchange words with me and my father, expect something aggressive that you will never forget in your life if you are able to survive it.
 
Akua Yankey: (scre-ming) My dear please stop your son before he kills someone in this house this evening. Kwame Mike please stop before you murder someone in this house, am on my knees begging you. My love please talk to your son to stop him from murdering someone’s child.
 
Visitor: (runs for shelter after he had been slapped with the cutlass on several occasions) So because I came to your territory you took the opportunity to molest me huh? The day I meet you outside without any weapon you will see the other side of me. (runs outside when he saw Mike approaching him).
 
Opana: Hahahahaha why didn’t you stand there like you will see how a desperate graduate can butcher and dismantle a human being within a minute but hey Kwaku Mike, what intentions were you having in your head as you went in for the cutlass?
 
Michael Ansah: Exactly what I did to him papa, I wanted to lash him with the cutlass which I did to my satisfaction. I will be right back papa, I want to see if he is still standing outside the house, I don’t want him to come anywhere close to this house.
 
Meanwhile Agnes Kyerewaa and her assassin friend were coming to her place so that she could get him adequate information of the target she wanted to deal with.
 
Agnes Kyerewaa: Ahaa, you see that guy who just came out from the gate? He is the target for our mission, he is the guy I want you to deal with.
 
 
Unknown Person: Oh okay, from where he is standing the lighting system is not that bright for me to see his face well but I believe he is the only young person with that physical stature in the house?
 
Agnes Keyerwaa: No there are about three or four other young persons in the house who have a similar physical stature like him in there.
 
Unknown Person: But don’t you have his picture or contact number on your phone? Those information could make things very easy for my boys and I.
 
Agnes Kyerewaa: I use to have his pictures and contact number but after the incident I deleted everything out of anger.
 
Unknown Person: Well I will come and lay ambush close to this place if I can personally get some important information myself but yet still try and see if you can also get anything for me.
 
Back in Opana’s House:
 
Opana: Ah today my son has proven to me that he is indeed and truly my son, see how he dealt with that foolish guy like a thief. He really gave me something to be happy about before the bad day I had this morning comes to an end.
 
Akua Yankey: So you are happy he pulled out a cutlass to threaten his fellow man? What if he went over board and did something silly, you know it was just yesterday that you helped secure his bail at the police station for assault charges. If there is any help you can offer him with, this is the time for you to do so, I don’t want this joblessness issue to eat into his head where he will start doing bad things in this town because you know the devil always finds work for the idle hand.
 
Kwame Fred also after running away from Kwaku Mike to save his life stopped under a street light to check on some bruises he had gotten on his body after Mike had used the cutlass on him. Herh so this fool did this to me? His father took away my money, made those hoodlums beat me up, took my girlfriend from me and to add icing on it, he made his stupid son to beat me like a thief. I swear by my mother’s grave that I will deal with this people even if it will take my life at the end of the day, no one steps on the tail of the viper snake and goes unbitten by the snake. I will access and attack them even if it will take 10years to get my revenge…….
 
What is instock for Kwaku Mike now because he is a top target for two people now?
 
Can Opana do anything to save his son’s life?
 
Time is the best judge here but man proposes for God to dispose.
 
___
 
Kwaku Mike walks back to the house when he was convinced that Kwame Fred was nowhere close to the house.
 
Opana: For the very first time, you have really made me proud my son. I thought all this while that you are a weak person but today you proved me wrong and am very happy because the lion doesn’t give birth to a dog.
 
Akua Yankey: I hope this praises you are showering on him won’t be a one day wonder?
 
Opana: Don’t be a carrier of bad news to the happy soul woman, if you don’t have anything to say I will urge you to go and sleep because I have a very important discussion to do with my son.
 
Akua Yankey: I will prefer to reserve my comments for now and talk when the time is prudent.
 
Opana: My son take a seat and let’s have an important discussion. I last told you that I don’t hate you and neither do I wish your downfall, whatever has happened is in the past and now we are in the present where we have to think about the future. Now I want you to tell me your plans as a man because day in day out you are growing, it is the responsibility for the parent to take good care of their children for them to get a proper teeth so that in the future when the parent is aging and losing his or her teeth, the children will help them also.
 
Michael Ansah: Well papa am grateful you are having this very important discussion with me this evening because I was always looking forward for this opportunity to avail itself but it never happened. For plans I have a lot but to execute it, money is going to play a major role in it, papa for sometime now I have been communicating with a school mate of mine who is in the city and he tells me that, there are better and brighter opportunities in the city for me if I can get some gadgets I need to work with. He has offered to accommodate me at the place he stays so that we can join forces together and start working.
 
Opana: This sounds good but why have you never bothered to inform me about this decision all this while.
 
Michael Ansah: I was very much afraid to come before you because of the mistake I did when I was back in school. I know you have not yet forgiven me and making a mistake to come before you will rather cause me more problems in this house.
 
Opana: Hmmmm to an extent you are very right because if during those moments you made a mistake to come before me for assistance, possibly like you might be in a wheelchair or even in a hospital bed recuperating right now but at the end of the day I have come to understand that as a parent, I can’t impose a particular course or career on my child if he or she doesn’t like it, you can force the horse to the riverside but never can you force it to drink. My responsibility as a father is to guide and counsel you on what you want to do but I know at the end of the day, you are matured enough to make great decisions for yourself and I want you to know that, I am now solidly behind you and anything you want to do. Go and sleep over what you want to do so we talk about it tomorrow morning before I leave the house for the shop.
 
Opana goes into his bedroom and does as instructed by the beggar earlier on, before he slept he prayed to God to ask for a better future for his children especially his son. In his sleep, he had a dream where some people came to him for help because they were in die need of water, when he dipped his hand in his pocket the only money on him was a 1cedi note which he gave to them to go and buy water, when they took the money from him, one of them gave him a necklace for him to give it to his son and the other person pointed to the field closer to them, there were a lot of white cattle grazing over there and he said to Opana, the one who gives water gives life and for giving us money for water we also hand over those cattle to you. Take care of them and take it as a gift from us to you, they will help change your fortune but remember not to be mean to your fellow man or else you will lose everything that we gave to you. He turned to watch the cattle but when he again turned to the direction the people stood there was no trace of them anywhere, he went close to the cattle and started to count them, after counting he realised that the cattle were 90 in number and immediately he woke up from his sleep. The clock on the wall was exactly 1am as he checked, he pondered over the dream over and over but he couldn’t get any meaningful interpretation and in no time he was stolen by sleep again. Early in the morning he got a phone call that his shop was on fire which made him rush to his shop without even taking his shower, when he got there the fire service personnels were already there and were putting off the fire. After several minutes of aggressive work from the fire service personnels they quenched the fire but a better part of the shop had been burnt because of the weather condition and the materials he had in,side his shop. The fire service personnel took some informations from Opana and they left to conduct their investigation as to what caused the fire outbreak, when Opana was going back home he passed by a lotto kiosk which had the bold inscription of 1 – 90 and below was “Aben Wo Ha”. He passed the kisok and after a few steps he remembered his dream and the number of cattle he counted and then remembered the money he gave to the people in the dream before they gave him the cattle. He turned back and went to see the lotto agent to stake his numbers for him.
 
Lotto Agent: Master I heard about your shop and the fire that gutted the place. Please accept my sympathy because I know how difficult things are now.
 
Opana: Massa thanks for sympathising with me but please stake this numbers for me, single 1 – 90.
 
Lotto Agent: Wooow this is my number also that I took out from the lotto chart last night. This number must drop at all cost, please how much do I stake it?
 
Opana: Mmmm stake it for ten cedis.
 
Lotto Agent: Master if you have enough money on you I will advice you stake it big so that when you win, you win big time. The money can go a long way to rebuild your burnt shop.
 
Opana: (before he could say anything again, he remembered the advice of the beggar the previous day as to invest everything he had on him when he is taking steps to the dream he had) Mmmmm do you know what? Stake the numbers for an amount of two hundred and fifty cedis for me.
 
How to grow your business while you stay at home
Lotto Agent: Eeeiii master I can see you want to destroy the machine for good. Am very sure lotteries can’t even pay you all your money and that, they will put you on a monthly payroll till they finally pay you off. All the same good luck and please don’t forget my share when you win.
 
Opana takes the lotto coupon and heads back home to narrate his ordeal to his family but before he got home the news had already spread like wide fire in the harmattan season. Some were feeling pity for him whiles others were rejoicing on his lose, he walked to his house as most of his tenants were afraid to come closer to him because the were not sure as to how their landlord was going to receive them. His wife had developed a running stomach as he heard the news of her husband’s shop. Later on in  the day some things out of the blues took place in the compound of Opana and you won’t believe what the things were…….
 
To be continued