Thirty-Nine

Chris nods, because at that particular moment his heart is so full with love for his son that he does not trust his voice. He takes the smaller helmet and tries to put it on his son's head.

"No, Chris. We're going in my car. You can leave your motorbike here. I want to leave Junior with my Mom, so if you don't mind I'll drive you," Effe says softly.

Chris' eyes harden, and his look is full of acid.

"I'll bring him back. You know I'll bring him back," he says coldly.

Before Effe can reply Junior grabs Chris' left middle finger again.

"I want Mommy to come along too, please, Daddy! Please, okay, please?" he says earnestly.

Chris sighs, and then he reluctantly puts the helmet back, turns and walks outside to wait. Effe unlocks her car. Junior hops in the back, and she makes sure he is strapped in.

She goes around to the driving side, deliberately avoiding her mother's angry stare. She starts the car as one of the security details opens the gates for her.

She drives out and finds Chris waiting. She parks with the front door near him, but he ignores it and tries to open the back door. Junior locks the door and rolls down the window. He pops out his head.

"Daddy, you're supposed to sit in front with Mommy," he says, bright-eyed.

"I want to be in the back with you, Champ," Chris says calmly.

Junior shakes his head vigorously, so fast that his cheeks bounce rather comically

"No-no, no-no, no-no! Back is for me! Front is for you and Mommy!" Junior insists with a slight frown. Effe looks away, trying to hide her smile. She sees the child-like look of confusion on Chris' face, and she finally chuckles to herself. She knows Junior will never unlock the door for his father.

With a final look of resignation Chris opens the front door and gets in. He fastens the seat-belt, and Effe looks at him, and he looks at her, and his eyes blaze his resentment and show that he is still hurting. She begins to drive. Junior sticks his head between their seats and looks at his father.

"Are you angry, Daddy?"

Chris looks at his son and shakes his head.

"No. I'm fine, Champ."

"Good, because I want you to sit with Mommy and I will not let you sit in the back with me because I want you to sit with Mommy and you should not get angry because it is really, really, really good to sit with Mommy and –"

"Hey! I'm sitting with Mommy, okay?" Chris cuts in.

Junior begins to giggle, and Effe laughs. She reaches over and places her hand on Chris' left hand. He looks across at her, and she is afraid he will push her hand away, but instead he grips her hand, and a slow warmth spreads through her, taking her quite by surprise. She withdraws her hand slowly and puts both hands on the steering-wheel.

She does not look at him again. As Effe leaves the residential area behind she looks into the driving-mirror at her son.

"So, my sweet boy, where are we going exactly?"

"Didi's," Junior replies.

Effe looks surprised. She glances at him again and sees he is almost crouched on the seat and clutching his blue piggy bank because he is too excited.

"Didi's? The fast food joint?"

"Yes, Mommy."

Effe shakes her head with confusion.

"But they stopped selling food. There's a FOR SALE sign on it."

"I know! Didi's stopped working because when they opened that new giant restaurant down the street people stopped going to Didi's," Junior says, exasperated.

"So why are we going to Didi's? Or you want us to go to the new restaurant, TASTE BUDS?" Effe asks, confused.

"Nooooo! TASTE BUDS food is hoooooooorible! It made me pooooopoooo the whole night!"

And that is when Chris' laugh fills the car.

It is that laugh which has captivated Effe's heart in the past so much. It is rich, it is deep, it is from within him. It lights up his face and dimples his cheeks, and transforms that handsome face into something of ethereal origins.

It is a laugh Effe hasn't heard in a very long while, and as short as it is, she is greatly surprised when it brings sudden tears to her eyes. Sometimes, when Junior is very happy, he laughs like that, but his voice is yet to attain that bass quality his father has, and always that laugh from her son brings a lump of remembrance to Effe's heart.

She turns her head and looks at Chris, but his head is on the headrest and his eyes are closed, and he does not see her looking at him. Junior pops his head forward again, sees his father's happily shining face, and then he sits back and grins wolfishly. When they get to DIDI'S, Effe parks in the now abandoned car park.

There had been a time when there had been cars on that car park almost constantly. DIDI'S had been one of the best food joints.

However, a little over a year ago, a super food joint called TASTE BUDS had opened just across the street from DIDI'S, and with its offer of spicy continental, Asian and Italian cuisines, it had slowly strangled DIDI'S and put them out of operation.

There is a white KIA Sportage parked in front of the abandoned food joint. The wooden structure that forms DIDI'S is still standing intact, though. It is huge, and has a functioning kitchen, an interior eating space, an external veranda eating space, and even a semi-circular drive-through. There had been a huge FOR SALE/RENT placard in its front glass window, but it is gone now. Effe turns to Junior, still looking confused.

"Well, here we are, my love. What now?"

Junior cranes his neck, looking at the abandoned structure.

"Well, can I please use your phone, Mommy?" he requests, his voice uncertain.

Effe raises her eyebrows.

"Who are you calling, dear?"

Junior scratches his head.

"Well, the other day, when we were coming from Abel's birthday party, you remember?"

"Yes, I remember very well. What happened?"

"You remember there were a lot of cars here, on this road?" Junior says with a big sigh.

"Yes, I remember. There was a terrible traffic jam. There was an accident on the road. And?" Effe says patiently.

"Aha. See. I saw the sign in the store that they're selling this place? So because there was traffic, I wrote the number down in my jotter. Then, on Daddy's birthday, in the evening, I used the phone you gave me to call the number."

Chris is now fully erect and looking back at his son. Effe is watching her son too, and she feels a coldness spreading over her. She can understand where the conversation is going, and it chills her to the very core.

"Champ. What happened?" Chris asks.

Junior starts to speak again, but just then the main glass doors of DIDI'S flies open, and a smartly-dressed elderly woman of around sixty years comes out. She is in black trousers and a blue top, and her hair is iron grey and tied back in a homely bun. With a cry of joy Junior opens his door and bounds out, running towards the woman, holding out his piggy bank.

Effe and Chris exchange startled looks, and then they both get out of the car hurriedly. The woman, now holding the piggy bank Junior has given her, notices them and begins to meet them with a huge smile on her face, and tears glistening in her eyes. She stretches out her hand to Chris first.

"Hello, I'm Didi. And you must be Chris, and you Effe," she says brightly.

Chris shakes the woman's hand.

"Yes, I am, Ma'am. Glad to make your acquaintance. Quite frankly, I'm a bit in the woods here," Chris says.

Madam Didi laughs and wipes traces of tears from her eyes.

"Well, then let me explain. I used to run this place. I own it, I must say. Now my daughter in the UK wants me to join her permanently, and I'll be leaving in a month's time, and so I put this place up for sale," Madam Didi says. "I must say I had a lot of offers, but the money just wasn't right, if you know what I mean. Well, a couple of days ago I received a call from a brave young boy who told me his father just came out from prison and has no work, but his father knows how to cook now, and he saw the place is up for sale, and so he wants to buy it for his father!"

Effe's mouth falls open and she stares at Junior who is now looking down at his feet and swinging both arms in wide arcs in obvious discomfiture.

"Well, Madam Didi, we're terribly sorry," Effe says with a sigh. "We didn't know he was bringing us here. He said he had a surprise for his father and so we came. I'm terribly sorry. Please forgive us for wasting your time."

Madam Didi laughs and then she puts an arm around Junior's shoulder.

"Oh, you have a wonderful boy here! I'm so very impressed with him. I told him he would need a lot of money to buy this place, and he told me he will buy it because if he doesn't his father would go and fight Goju and he might get hurt," Madam Didi says with a warm smile. "And so he promised me he has a piggy bank filled with a lot of money which can buy the place, and so I said okay, bring the piggy bank and your father and let's negotiate!"

They all laugh, and Chris moves forward, looking at his son with wonder. He bends low and puts a loving hand on his son's right cheek.

"Thank you, Champ. I appreciate what you tried to do very much."

"Once again, our sincerest apologies, Madam Didi. Now, if you don't mind, we'll leave now. We wouldn't bother you any longer," Effe says.

"Well, it is a deal then. I mean, I'm leaving Ghana in a month, and I've settled all my financial obligations to my creditors and my family. I love this place, and I want it to be filled with love and hope, and no love comes bigger than a child's love for his father, and no hope comes bigger than a man who has lost it all and come back from prison to start life afresh! So yes, this place is sold to Mr. Chris Bawa Junior, for one piggy bank full of money!" the woman says with a flourish and the widest smile in the whole world.

Junior looks at her, stunned so completely that his eyes seemed to bulge.

"Oh! You mean it? You're really, really, really giving it to my Daddy?"

There are tears in Madam Didi's eyes as she pulls Junior close and hugs him.

"Oh, yes, my dearest boy! Oh, you're such a special boy!"

"YAPPITY YAPPITY YIPPPEEEEE!!" Junior screams with elation.

He throws his arms around Madam Didi and hugs her tightly. Effe is touching her lips with a trembling hand as she looks at Junior and at Chris. There are tears in her eyes. Chris is shaking his head sadly. He drops to his right knee and looks earnestly at Junior.

"Champ, listen up! When I learnt how to cook from my prison pal, I was learning to cook for you and Mommy at home alone, okay?" Chris says painfully. "I am so touched by this gesture, my son, and I love your golden heart, but I'm not a chef, Champ. I'm a fighter, a Goju Warrior. I'll never cook. How can I work in a kitchen, cooking for a living? No. Not me!"