The Journey from Africa to America (part 2)

Ken spent the rest of the day still thinking about Abigail; how so soon they have lost contact. He committed a blunder by not devoting much of his time to their friendship. He now felt somehow smitten. Was it love he was feeling? His conscience questioned, "What is Love?" he felt disgusted whenever he heard young people of the opposite sex talking about love. "Do you really understand the word love? what do you know about love". His father's infidelity and polygamous life made him lugubrious and deaden to love. This was the main contributing factor to their suffering. He had always ever devoted his time to self-discipline and hard work, thinking and finding possible means of making his own life better and here he was, wasting time thinking about an illusion called love. "No, no!!" whether hardships or no hardships, life must still go on; at a stage in life, one must find love and ought to be loved," he comforted himself. Abigail wasn't just an ordinary girl. She was of a class: brilliant, noble, well-mannered, beautiful and above all she was from a rich family. He would give love a chance, this could pay off. Would this be possible? Would he ever come into contact with her? Perhaps this could happen in a dream. This was impossible but Ken wasn't perturbed; he knew everything was possible with time.

Gazing from afar, Ken heard human commotion and hoots. The noise kept approaching; he walked to catch a glimpse of what was happening. There was a horde of school boys and girls standing in the hot sun. He drew closer, and got a better view of the scene. It was a fierce scuffle between two boys. It was a seamy fight but the spectators stood aloof having fun amidst shouting. The two rivals looked scruffy. Ken managed to separate them and enquired what the cause was. They both refused to give explanations but one finally talked. He was laconic so Ken could not clearly get what the cause of the fight was. One of the onlookers narrated the story: "the short boy is a senior to the big boy; he instructed him to kneel down during morning assembly because he was late which he refused to comply. The big boy thought he was older than his senior so he showed no signs of obedience. The short boy reported him to the teacher on duty and he was given six hot lashes at his back. This infuriated the big boy; he threatened to teach the short boy a lesson after close of school" Ken found their names to be Philip and Kofi. He gave them a strong warning to desist from fighting and if he again found them in the same act, he would report them to the school authorities for internal suspension. Kenn vividly remembered he encountered similar incident when he was in Upper Primary Six. That was the power of seniority; but he was smallish. "Eh bullying," he reminisced.

Two days later, Ken went to the market to purchase few items. On his way back home he caught a glimpse at a poster just before the main entrance to the market. The poster announced the earlier celebration of the Hogbetsotso festival. This year's celebration was shifted forward unlike the normal annual date. This was because there was a change in the chief's program for the year. This year was an exceptional; there were going to be some developmental projects. Public toilets were going to be constructed for the village. Copies of the letter were dispatched to the chiefs and queen mothers of other villages and towns, relatives and family members who have traveled outside the town, and dignitaries such as the President of Ghana and the Regional Minister were also invited. The people celebrate this festival annually to commemorate their past and to honor their heroes who had fought hard and brought them out of captivity into their present land. Their ancestors migrated from Ketu in Benin to Notsie in Togo . They later escaped to Ghana from the reign of their wicked and cruel King called Agorkorli. The festival was also used to mark the beginning of a harvest year. The gong beater, two days later went round the village to confirm the celebration as he announced that the day fell on the day after the second market day. Soon preparations were in place; the chief organized a communal labor which consisted mostly the youths. They cleared and swept every corner. The fellow who did not show up was fined. The town looked serene.

To be continued...