Forty-One

Effe quickly walks out to the car again, and she feels elated that Chris is with Junior. Her mother follows her to the car, and there is a look of great concern on her face.

"Listen, Ef, my darling, I don't want to be the overbearing mother, but I believe you're making a great mistake. You shouldn't entertain that man here!" Ivy says pleadingly.

"Mama! I'm not entertaining him! Junior wants to be with him. He's his father! I don't see anything wrong with that!" Effe says, evidently exasperated.

"I know, my dear. But how would you explain it to Steve? You spent the whole morning out. I don't even want you leaving him alone with Junior. The man is a drug addict, abuses alcohol, raped your friend, assaulted an old man, probably killed his senior brother, he even –"

"Mama!" Effe breaks in, aghast. "Please, that's enough already!"

"Just warning you, dear, just warning you. You shouldn't leave that boy alone with that man!"

"He's not a stranger! He's my son's father, and he loves Junior fiercely, and one thing I'm certain of is that he's not ever going to do drugs in front of the boy!"

"I'm just telling you to be careful. You've got something beautiful going with Steve. I saw how devastated you were when Chris broke your heart. He's not capable of loving you as you should be loved. Just be careful, my dear."

"Alright, thank you, Mama," Effe says with a sigh.

Effe gets angrily into her car and drives to her office.

She works at SLOAN, MENSAH AND KEDEM. She spends two hours in a meeting with her senior partners. She had started as a lawyer at the firm, handling their corporate portfolios. She had been ambitious, smart and extremely resourceful.

She had taken her cases seriously, and so far had never lost a case in court.

The Attorney-General had started pushing sensitive and vital cases to her, and she has won all. With the growth in her resourcefulness and competence, she eventually made partner in the firm.

Later, Effe meets with some European, North American and Asian clients for an hour, and then she quickly goes to her luxurious office and calls home. Her mother informs her that Chris and Junior are still in the boy's room.

"They went to the kitchen and ate, then they went back to Junior's room," Ivy replies.

"I see. Anyway, I've finished what I came to do. I'm coming home so that Chris can leave."

"Hurry up then, dear. I want to send some lunch to your Dad," Ivy says.

About forty-five minutes later, Effe drives through the gates, gets down, locks her car and hurries inside. Her mother is ready to leave.

Effe hugs her.

"Thank you very much, Mama. Been a hectic day."

"I want you to send Chris out, Effe. Your father is hungry, so I have to run, but make sure Chris goes. Now!"

"Okay, Mama. Be on your way already, Dad must be hungry."

Junior appears on top of the stairs, looking unusually radiant in his jeans and sleeveless vest.

"Mommyyyyyy!" he shouts with delight.

He races down and embraces his mother, and then he immediately turns and runs to the kitchen.

"Well, do it then. I have to run."

Junior emerges from the kitchen, his face glum.

"What's it, honey? You hungry?" Effe asks with concern.

"Oh! Are you hungry, Junior?" Ivy asks. "I thought you were okay, so I took the rest of the Jollof. I wanted to give it to your grandpa."

"But you ate two plates already, grandma. I wanted to eat the rest!" Junior says glumly.

"Oh, sorry. Here it is! Take it. I'll buy something for grandpa. So sorry. I thought you were done," Ivy says, flustered.

"Jollof? What are you talking about?" Effe asks, confused. "What Jollof?"

"Oh, the one you cooked, dear. It's the best Jollof I ever tasted! You must share the recipe! It was so fantastic!" Ivy says with a smile.

"Mommy didn't cook it! Daddy did!" Junior says with a giggle. "Didn't you see us in the kitchen in the afternoon cooking?"

"What?" Ivy breathes, shocked.

"Junior said he wanted some French fries, so I grilled chicken and left the fries in the refrigerator for you to fry for him when he got hungry. I told him to ask you to fry them in the afternoon for him," Effe says.

"I asked Daddy if he knows how to make really, really, really sweet Jollof, and he said yes," Junior explains. "We came to the kitchen and prepared the Jollof. Grandma was asleep in the chair. I thought she saw us."

"Chris? He prepared the Jollof?" Ivy asks, stunned. "No, no, I can't believe that!"

Effe also smiles.

"Chris learned to cook in prison, Mama. He was taught by an Egyptian cellmate," she explains.

"My God! He really cooked that Jollof? I'm... I don't ...wow!" Ivy splutters.

"Oh, Mommy! Guess what! Daddy is going to call his new restaurant JUNIOR'S! Can you believe that? He's naming it after me, his only begotten son whom he loved so much that he names his restaurant after... just like the Sunday school story about God and Jesus, right, Mommy?" Junior says, absolutely excited.

Effe chuckles, and just then the doorbell sounds. She and her mother look at each other sharply. Effe heads for the door with trepidation. Steve informed her he would be tying a business deal in Koforidua that day and wouldn't be in till late in the evening, probably.

Has he finished early? Or he hasn't gone at all? One thing is for sure, though. She does not wish Steve to be present now. Not that she is scared of him, but somehow, she feels there is a sudden opportunity for her and Chris to talk, and she does not want anything interrupting that.

It is not Steve at the door, though.

It is her father.

She almost breathes with relief as she hugs him briefly and precedes him to the living room.

"C'mon, honey pie. I came over myself. Got tired of waiting for your mother. I'm too hungry. Can you fix me something in a jiffy?" Ken says with a mock growl.

"Oh, dear. I was bringing you some Jollof, but Junior says he wants it," Ivy says.

Junior steps forward and snatches the polythene bag from his grandmother's hand which contains the rest of the Jollof packed neatly in a disposable pack.

"Junior!" Effe exclaims, aghast. "What's with you? Hand it back this instant!"

"But I want the Jollof! Grandpa doesn't even like Jollof!" Junior cries, perplexed.

"Hand it back this instant, Junior!" Effe insists.

"That's okay, Ef. I'll fix your father some food," Ivy says quickly.

"Grandpa likes noodles," Junior says. "I'll tell Daddy to fix him some noodles."

Ken Kedem looks from one to the other, obviously confused.

"What's going on here? And what father are you talking about?" he asks.

"Chris, of course. He came to visit them, and apparently, he cooked Jollof," Ivy says, and Ken begins to laugh.

"Oh, don't kill me! Chris? Cooking? Dear Lord, the guy can't even boil hot water!"

"Ha! You don't know! Just wait! Daddy will fix you the best noodles you ever tasted, Grandpa. For you, he will fix it, but he wouldn't fix it for Grandma because she hates Daddy and wants him in prison again and again and again and forever and ever and eveeer!" Junior says excitedly.

"Junior!" Effe shouts.

"True, true, true, true!" Junior says with fervor.

He flees up the stairs. Ken Kedem shakes his head and sits down heavily.

"Please, who's fixing me some chow? My wife or my daughter?"

"Let's see if Chris will cook for you, Daddy," Effe says quietly.

"Now would you stop that nonsense?" Ken says, exasperated.

His wife drops by his side and pats his hand.

"It's true, honey, if it's really true he cooked the Jollof. It was really tasty!"

"I'm not eating any man's concoction! Ef, please go and get me something to eat, and stop this buffoonery!" Ken says.

"Okay, Daddy. Just let me change first," Effe says.

She climbs up the stairs, and a moment later Junior appears on the landing holding his father's left middle finger and bringing him down. They meet halfway on the stairs, and Chris stands aside to let Effe pass. Their eyes make contact and hold, and at the point where she is just passing him she stops, and they are pushed very close to each other because Junior is pushing his way past her.

It is a split second when they are chest to chest, face to face, thigh to thigh.

His eyes drop to her sensual lips. She can see the top of his chest, where the hairs are showing, hairs that she had loved tweaking and running her hands through.

Their eyes meet, and for a fraction of a second, she feels his hand brush gently over the swell of her hip up to her waist, as if he means to take her into his arms.

She makes a little gasping noise, her knees going weak with sudden emotion.

"Effe!" Ivy screams.

The magic is broken, and her eyes look down painfully at her mother's upturned face. Chris walks past her, and she looks after him furiously, desperately, before her angry eyes focus on her mother with sudden and alien dislike. She turns and hurries to her room, closing the door and leaning against it, her eyes closed, her breathing fast and uneasy.

Oh, Chris! Oh, Chris! Why did you do this to us? Why in the name of God did you have to rape my best friend?

Chris enters the kitchen, and his huge hands ball up into tight fists. His breathing is unsteady. His face is screwed up into lines of longing and torture. Junior touches his wrist, and Chris looks down and fights the pain in his heart.

"You have started loving Mommy again, haven't you, Daddy?"

He smiles tightly at his son, and then he tries to smile.

"I never stopped loving her, Champ," Chris says softly.

He moves away and begins to cook. Junior leaves him and goes for his Jollof. A few moments later he returns with his Jollof, sets up his table, and begins to eat.

Mr. Ken Kedem pokes his head into the kitchen, and then slowly enters. He walks forward, drawn by the delicious aroma, and stands gaping with shock as Chris works with the dexterity of a master five-star chef.

"I'll be damned! You really can cook. Darn it!" Ken says, stunned.

Chris does not speak. Effe and her mother enter the kitchen, and they stand at vantage points watching him. Finally, he steps back and looks warily at his former father-in-law.

"It's done," he says calmly.

He has cooked Italian noodles with lamb and cattle chops and sizzled them in a blend of herbs and sauce.

"Go on, Chris, serve me, darn it. I'm famished," Ken says, his mouth watering by the scents seducing his nasal senses.

"I'm not serving you, sir," Chris says calmly but with no vice. "I'm not your wife."

Junior giggles with his mouth full of Jollof. He chokes, and Chris rushes to his side with a glass of water.

"Champ. Don't laugh when you're eating!" Chris says with concern.

Junior takes a sip of the water. Ken Kedem looks after Chris with angry eyes as he picks up a plate and a ladle, but Effe takes them from him.

"Let me, Dad," Effe says with a smile.

"Look at your big head!" Ken flings at Chris.