Seventy-Seven

"Welcome back to GIRL VIBZ. The shocking videos our main guest, Mr. Wachipa Sey, has shown us reveal that on the night Miss Sylvie Palmer was knocked down, Mr. Chris Bawa was indeed not driving the car," she says, and her voice is very sad. "Rather, behind the wheel was a drunk and doped up Mr. Jonathan Afful, a man you all know is my husband. With them that night was Mr. Steve Hollison, a man you all know is going to marry the former Mrs. Effe Bawa. We've also seen that Mr. Jonathan Afful tossed a package that Mr. Sey suspects to be cocaine into the back seat of the car. Are we going to see more intrigue? I know we all can barely wait. So, let's bring Mr. Wachipa Sey back, and see what his list of videos has for us."

The camera swings to Wachipa Sey.

He is still smiling, and he is looking at Elaine with blatant admiration. He had expected her to break down totally under the unexpected onslaught of his attacks, but she is showing remarkable and unbelievable resilience that brings out his admiration. Indeed, she has a strong spirit.

Wachipa Sey clears his throat and goes back to the folder on his laptop containing the videos.

"Thank you, Mrs Afful," Wachipa says with a chuckle. "So now Mr. Hollison and Mr. Afful have left the scene. Mr. Bawa goes back to check on the little girl who was struck down by the car. Her father, who ran off and left her alone in the face of danger, has now come back."

The camera swing first to Sylvie Palmer, who is sitting in her wheelchair and whose head is downcast, and then it falls on her father. Agya Attah Palmer rubs a hand across his face which is shiny with sweat. He is shaking visibly, and it is pretty evident that he is under a lot of stress.

Here is a man who has accused Chris Bawa of not even apologizing for knocking down his daughter and making her lose a left leg. Here is a man who had been interviewed countless times and whose story had been that he tried to save his daughter but the distance between them had been so great that by the time he got to her Chris Bawa had already run her over.

"You see, this man always claimed that he tried to save his little girl, but he didn't," Wachipa says sadly. "He fled and left her alone in the street. You should be ashamed of yourself, Mr. Palmer."

Agya Attah Palmer suddenly looks down at his feet, and shame and guilt are now written all over his face.

Wachipa double-clicks on a video file, and as it begins to play the camera swings back to capture it for the thousands of people watching across the country to see.

Chris is seen putting Sylvie Palmer in a comfortable position as her father hovers around. And then Chris takes his phone and calls the police to report the accident.

"The police will bring an ambulance soon, okay?" Chris says gently. "You'll be fine. I'm so sorry for your pain."

Agya Attah Palmer is now sitting on his haunches looking at his moaning daughter. Chris is seen leaving the camera angle for some time, and then he returns with a black bag and a bottle of water.

"Some painkillers, sweetie. Until the ambulance arrives," Chris says gently. "That leg is bleeding. I'm praying they arrive soon."

Chris helps the girl to take the tablets, then he covers her with a blanket he had brought. And then he sits down on the grass beside her. After a while, the girl who is moaning with acute pain, smiles weakly at Chris.

"I know you. You're that boxing fighter," Sylvie says shyly.

Chris looks at her and smiles.

"GojuFist fighter, but now retired. I'm Chris Bawa."

"I know. My name is Sylvie Palmer. My father is Agya Attah Palmer."

Chris reaches over and shakes the man's hand, and then he feels Sylvie's forehead.

"My car is broken down. It wouldn't start up, otherwise, I would've taken you to the hospital myself. But the ambulance will be here soon."

"Thank you very much," Sylvie says, moaning with pain.

Chris looks at her and smiles gently.

"I'm rather sorry you are hurt, Sylvie. But don't worry, you're going to be alright, okay? I'll take care of you."

He picks up the black bag he had brought from his car, opens a zipper on it, and then he begins to take out bundles of money. It is a lot of money. He spills it on the grass, and then after a moment he sighs and puts all the money back in the bag. He zips the bag up and then gives the bag to Agya Attah Palmer.

"That's a lot of money, my friend. It represents the money I got from selling my company. My wife didn't want me to have any part in GojuFist. She's scared I might get hurt," Chris says with a sad smile. "I was going to use that money to set up a new company to make her happy. But I guess I might not need that anymore. Go on, old man, take it. Use it to take care of this girl."

Agya Attah Palmer snatches the bag like a hungry hawk that has sighted a wounded chick. Sylvie Palmer shakes her head fiercely.

"No, no, no, Mr. Bawa! That is too much!" she says, distraught. "You can't do that, please! That's a lot of money! I beg of you, take it back!"

"I don't really need it, Sylvie, believe me," Chris says, his voice sad and haunted. "Today has been a very bad day for me. A most painful day. I feel like dying. I don't need that money. I just feel like I'll make a clean start in life because my heart is broken."

And the stunned watchers see Agya Attah Palmer putting the bagful of money under him and sitting on it with a greedy look in his eyes.

The video ends, and the studio camera swings on Sylvie Palmer and her father, and both of them are looking absolutely shattered! Sylvie refuses to look up as tears of shame drown her.

Her father's head is bowed too, and his body is shaking rather terribly. Elaine gets up from her seat, and her face is stunned as she looks at Agya Attah Palmer.

"He gave you almost how much? A million Ghana Cedis? And you lied to the whole world that he never said sorry, and he never gave you a pesewa?" Elaine asks, stunned. "Dearest God, how could you be so callous, Agya Palmer? How many organizations have donated monies to your daughter simply because you portrayed that Chris just walked away after making your daughter lose a leg?"

Agya Palmer cannot speak. The sweat is pouring off his face, and his eyes are haunted. Some of the people in the audience are now booing the father and daughter. Sylvie is inconsolable in her grief. The handkerchief she is holding is very wet. She blows her nose and finally looks up dejectedly.

"I'm so sorry! I've never wanted to hurt Mr. Bawa. He was so kind, and he told me intimate things that day. But my father... he warned me to keep quiet about it otherwise he would disown me and send me to the village to live with my Grandma, and I wouldn't be able to go to school!" she says tearfully.

Wachipa Sey laughs.

"This man is the most despicable monster I've ever seen!" he says with disdain. "In fact, when I saw these videos, I was so very disgusted I told myself that if I ever see this man I will give him a promoted slap!"

Elaine looks at the animal watcher.

"She speaks of intimate things. Did Chris talk about intimate things?" she asks, a little apprehensively. "Did you capture it? Also, the police report claims Chris smashed Sylvie into a coconut tree, but I don't see any of that here!"

Wachipa Sey looks at Elaine, and once again he is filled with admiration for the woman. He knows that Elaine is very afraid.

He can see the fear lurking in Elaine's eyes, but she is being very brave again, seizing the moment and manoeuvring it nicely to suit her survival instincts. He is quite intrigued and wonders how Elaine will react when she hears about what Chris said about her in the video. He shakes his head, selects another video, and plays it. In the video, Sylvie Palmer reaches out and touches Chris' arm.

"Thank you, Mr. Bawa. Why has today been a painful day, Mr. Bawa?" she asks shyly.

Chris shrugs and gives a sad chuckle that sounds like a bark.

"I'll tell you a story, Sylvie. I had a brother once. He was called Roland. I loved him more than any living person in the world," Chris says with a haunted expression on his face.

"Yes, I know," Sylvie says with a nod. "He got burnt in a tree house, together with three of his friends. A lot of people say you killed him."

"How old are you, Sylvie?"

"Eleven, Mr. Bawa."

"Do you think I really killed my brother, Sylvie?"

The little girl, still in obvious pain, shakes her head.

"No, Mr. Bawa. I've never believed that. I always defend you at school," Sylvie says bravely.

Tears come into Chris' eyes as he reaches over and tussles the girl's hair.

"Thank you, Sylvie. You're right. I didn't kill Roland. He was my God!" he says, his voice extremely sad. "I hero-worshipped that brother of mine, and I still do. I'll tell you what happened, Sylvie, because you believe me. I'm never going to be able to tell this to any other human being, but because you're a wonderful girl who believes in me, I'll tell you. Promise me you wouldn't tell anyone."

"I promise, Mr. Bawa."

Chris looks into space for some time, then he reaches inside his jacket and brings out a Compact Disc in its golden case. He waves it at her.

"This is my twenty-fifth birthday present from my brother Roland, Sylvie. He was eighteen when he died. I was then twelve years old. He made this CD and left it with our family lawyer to give to me when I turned twenty-five. Our lawyer brought it to me this morning. It is a special video he made for me. Now, I don't know why I'm telling you this, but I have to tell somebody, otherwise, I'll go mad. Listen, when Roland died, we were all sad, okay? I think that evening I was so sad I couldn't eat or sleep. I was in the living room at the mission house where I was staying with my parents and my siblings. You know, Roland and I always sit on the floor behind the chairs and fool around. He was like that, you know? He was the oldest, but he loved me so much and went everywhere with me. Well, I was behind those chairs, and I fell asleep. When I woke up my parents, my siblings and that old fart Ruben Essel were in the living room talking. They didn't know I was behind the chairs."

Chris stops.

He is seen throwing his head back and looking into the sky, but when he lowers his head tears can clearly be seen on his cheeks.