Fifty

There are a lot of people milling around the private parking park below the Ghana International GojuFist Arena. The excitement from the fight is still raging fiercely.

There are some who are thrilled with the brutal display by Mike Crankson, and there are some who are saying he is too mean. Some are saying Mike is the best, whilst some die-hard fanatics are defending their views that Chris Bawa is the best GojuFist Grandmaster ever.

Effe follows Elaine out of the private entrance to the parking lot. Effe is looking absolutely radiant in a designer black evening dress that reaches her ankles and fits her like a dream. Elaine is in a short blue dress, and she takes Effe's hand as they walk towards the cars.

Mike Crankson and his entourage are already noisily getting into their huge three Hummers. Mike has changed into an all-white jeans affair: jeans trousers, white singlet, jeans jacket, white sneakers, white hat, and has a lot of gold chains and rings. He is walking with three women, one of them oriental-looking. He pushes her against a black Hummer and grossly fondles her breasts as he kisses her.

They scramble into the car, and soon they all leave the parking lot with a screech of tires.

"Lord, I dislike that guy! He's so uncouth!" Effe says with a shudder.

"Me too. But he makes money for my husband, so I have to tolerate him," Elaine says bleakly.

Elaine takes out a cigarette and lights it nervously. Afful and Steve emerge from the entrance. Steve takes Effe's arm and kisses her lightly on the lips.

"Come on, darling. Lemme take you home," Steve says with a slur.

They walk towards his shiny Lexus and he opens the passenger door for Effe. Afful walks towards Elaine.

"Sweetcakes, listen, are you coming for the victory party?" he asks

Elaine's face drops. She exhales cigarette smoke, drops the cigarette and steps on it viciously.

"You promised me, Jonathan," Elaine says, almost sadly. "You told me you would go home with me and spend some time with me."

Afful clucks with sympathy and holds her elbows, his face concerned.

"Yes, yes, I promised! But look, Micky wanted me to be present, ok? He's now making a lot of money for us, and a lot of promoters are after him. I have to please him. Listen, we can go to the party, spend about an hour and then leave. It will be fun!"

Elaine turns away from him.

"I'll be home waiting, Jon, if you change your mind."

"Don't be like this, darling. A few minutes, and I'll be home. I promise," Afful says, faking sadness.

He gives his car keys to a chauffeur standing by, and then he hurriedly walks to a waiting Mercedes. He gets in the back, and as the driver speeds off, a long-legged Chinese beauty sits up in the back seat. She is wearing a huge bulbous black fur coat. She throws the coat open and reveals her naked body underneath.

"Come to Mama, you bad boy!" she coos lustfully.

Jonathan Afful pulls his belt buckle open and unzips fast. He pulls out his inflamed organ from his boxers and as the prostitute's head moves down over him, he looks through the tinted glass of the window and sees Elaine getting into the back seat of his other car.

"Tonight is for bad girls, Elly, my dear! Not for home chow!"

In the back seat of the other, car Elaine puts a cigarette to her lips. She takes her lighter, flips it open, and cranks it several times but the flame does not shoot out. It seems the gas is exhausted in the lighter. She yells and throws the lighter. It smashes into the windscreen, and it cracks in several places.

The startled chauffeur almost loses control and the car almost crashes into a concrete pillar, but he recovers and continues driving.

"Is everything alright, madam?" the chauffeur asks, concerned.

"Shut the fuck up and drive!" Elaine screams.

She leans back, takes the cigarette from her mouth, and shuts her eyes, and after a few minutes, her shoulders shake as she weeps bitterly.

***

Steve stops the car but keeps the engine running.

He turns in his seat as Effe unbuckles her seatbelt.

"You sure you don't want me to come up for a bit, darling?" Steve asks tenderly.

Effe smiles at him and rubs his cheek briefly.

"No, Steve. I'm quite tired. Thanks for a wonderful night out. I'll see you in the morning."

She turns to open the door.

"Are we ever going to get married, Effe?" he asks quietly.

Effe stops. Slowly she sits back down and turns to him.

"It's a bit late, Steve. Can we talk tomorrow after church?"

"Just a simple question, Effe. Are we going to get married?"

"Oh, Steve! There's so much happening right now, and I've so much on my mind, frankly –"

"Nothing much is happening, Effe and nothing is going through your mind!" Steve cuts in coldly. "It is only Chris who is happening, only Chris on your mind! Stop playing me for a fool, Effe! It's him, isn't it? Somehow, you've failed to get him to sign the divorce papers! Maybe you don't even want him to sign it anymore!"

Effe can feel his frustration and feel his pain. He has been with her through it all. From Chris's deceit, his rape of Elaine, his assault on his uncle, the accident, the drugs found in his car, his trial, his imprisonment... through all that Steve had waited at her side.

He doesn't deserve her coldness, her confusion and her indecision. She reaches out and touches his arm.

"I'm so sorry, Steve! So sorry! You don't deserve to be treated like this. Please, just give me a little bit more time, okay? I promise to come to a decision, and you'll be the first to know!" she says in an unsteady voice.

"But it's Chris, isn't it?" he asks harshly. "You don't hate him anymore, do you?"

Silent tears now spill down Effe's lovely cheeks. She exhales tremulously.

"You're a good man, Steve. You're the kind of man every woman would love in her partner. Please, just –"

"You don't love him anymore, do you, Effe?" he asks painfully.

Effe flinches, and she clasps her hands nervously, but when she speaks her voice is calm now, and sure.

"I've never stopped loving him, Steve. That does not mean I'm going back to him, though. I'm just so terribly confused and I don't know what to do. Please, just give me a little time to get myself sorted out, I beg of you!"

Effe opens the door and runs into her house.

Steve guns the powerful engine and speeds away like the devil is after him. After some minutes he stops, gets out and walks to the back of the car. He takes out a small phial from the inside pocket of his coat, opens it, and then he pours a white powdery content from it unto the back of his left hand.

He sniffs the cocaine angrily, pours a bit more, and sniffs it again, inhaling deeply. He gets behind the steering again, and as the cocaine works its magic through his veins he relaxes a bit, but his heart is still throbbing with hatred. He screams insanely inside the car.

"Fuck you, Chris Bawa! Die, Chris Bawa! Rot in hell, you ugly motherfucker, Chris Bawa!"

***

Steve enters the noisy interior of the nightclub. The heavy-metal rock sounds are blasting. Excited revellers are gyrating violently on the dance floor.

The semi-nude women are lewdly dancing in their glass cylindrical booths. He takes the private elevator to the top floor where Afful and the others are. He is ushered into the private lounge. There are naked women, soft music, dimmed lights and a lot of drugs here.

Steve grabs a bottle of scotch from an ice bucket. He pours some into a glass and drinks it neatly. He walks through the deep seats until he reaches another door and throws it open. There is a stage mounted at one end of the room, and it has a shiny pole in its middle. Two Asian women are dancing around the pole in the most erotic pole-dancing routine Steve has ever seen.

Crankson and Afful are seated, watching the girls. Steve drains his glass and pours another shot. He goes round and stands in front of the two men. Mike and Afful shout in disgust.

"Get out of the way, Stevo! You're blocking my view!" Jon says indignantly.

Steve does not budge. He points a trembling finger at Afful.

"When is this damn Operation Darlett coming off? I need Chris outta the way now!" Steve says bitterly.

"Me too, bugger! Get me in the ring with that asshole and I'll kill him for ya!" Crankson says furiously.

Steve looks at Crankson.

"He promised his son not to fight again, and so he will never fight you. However, the only way to get through to him is through his son. You want Chris? Go and push his son around a bit!"

Crankson suddenly goes still, and a crafty look comes into his eyes.

"Wow, you're sick man! Thought you love the kid's mother? Anyway, brilliant idea. Why haven't I thought of that? That little brat hangs around that restaurant with Chris most of the time. Should be easy to knock that boy down!"

"Keep your coats on, you asshole. Darlett is coming out of prison on Monday. By next week Friday Chris Bawa will be back in jail or dead, Stevo!" Afful said disdainfully.

"If you don't do Chris, I will, believe that!" Crankson retorts.

"You two do what you have to do! I want Chris Bawa out, you hear?" Steve growls.

He pours out more drink and then notices a beautiful black woman at the far end of the room.

"That's Zeena from Zambia, old dog. She's one hell of a feline tigress! Take her, if you're man enough!" Afful says.

"Ohhhhh yeeeeaaahhh!" Steve croons.

He approaches the woman.

She smiles and purrs at him. She gets up to meet him. Steve kisses her hard, violently, and then he grabs her arm and drags her to a door at one side of the private viewing room. He opens the door as Zeena cries with pain, but he barely hears her. There is a bed in the middle of the room.

Steve pushes her onto the top of the bed. He reaches up, grabs her fur coat and rips it off. She is naked beneath, and her body is black and beautiful. She is looking angrily at him.

"Stop it now! I'm not ready yet! Take your time and stop behaving like a starved bull," she says crossly.

"Fuck you! I don't give a fuck about you, bitch!" Steve says harshly.

He rips off his coat and underwear, and then he jumps into the bed.

"No, no, no, Mr. Man! I'm not ready! You can't do this!" the woman insists, and it is obvious she is beginning to get angry.

Steve slaps her, and she falls back with a little cry of pain. He holds her knees and pries her legs apart. She tries to close her legs on him again, and he punches her in the face. She falls back, dazed, bleeding from a cut lip. Steve whoops maniacally.

"Yeah, yeah, bitch! See you bleed! Who's boss now, huh? Who's boss?" Steve cries ecstatically.

He holds her legs apart and falls between her thighs, thrusting violently into her. She screams with pain, and then suddenly she gets her knees into his lower abdomen and then she kicks up and out. Steve's body sails off her, and he crashes into the wall beyond the bed.

He cries out in pain and surprise, and a second later she drags a heavy metallic ashtray from the bedside table and smashes it unto his head. Steve groans, dazed and slips to the floor. She kicks him in the belly, and he screams.

"Pig!" she says fiercely.

She takes her fur coat and leaves the room.

Steve lies on the floor, groaning in pain, and cursing Chris Bawa.