Chapter 5: 🌊~4

The next day.

I stood in front of the shabby wooden structure Pinto called his home.

With all the money he had cheated off of me, you would think he was living in a mansion. But no, he was living in this miserable construction whilst he spent all the money on alcohol and women.

A sigh left my mouth. Why did I ever agree to work for this man?

Then my brain chose to remind me of how desperate I was those years back. Fresh out of senior high school with nothing to do, had me sulking and searching for jobs; jobs I wasn't getting. So when my mother came home one evening to tell me that she'd managed to convince one of the local fishermen to hire me, I was beyond elated.

Not knowing I was going to be working for the biggest cheat and bully in the country.

My memories strengthened my resolve, and I found myself moving towards the construction with renewed confidence.

My knuckles rapped on the door. There was no response. I rapped on it a second time, hearing some muffled sounds, but no one answered the door. It was only when I knocked harder a third time that I heard a loud grumble coupled with a few shuffles.

I took a few steps back, expecting my boss' gnarly face to appear. But instead, a young woman with smeared makeup, bed hair and definitely not his wife, poked her head out. When her eyes fell on me, she tightened her hold on the cloth covering her chest.

I froze. The thought that I'd interrupted my boss in the middle of... something had me stammering, "Umm... uh... I'm... uh..." I cleared my throat. "Umm... Pinto wɔ fie anaa?" [Is Pinto at home or not?]

What a stupid question it was because I already knew the answer, though the woman nodded and retreated into the room to fetch him. My ears picked up on the rugged sound of Pinto's voice, as he complained about being disturbed this hot afternoon.

Taking another step back, I braced myself for the mountain of insults coming my way.

"Herh Akwasi!" Pinto stepped out, dressed in nothing but old faded boxer shorts that looked too small on him. I would've laughed if he wasn't glaring at me like I was some annoying pest in his life. "Ɛreyɛ den wa ha?" [What are you doing here?]

Happy that he'd cut to the chase, I dipped my hand into my pocket and pulled out the resignation letter I'd worked on after church. This wasn't a formal job or anything, but I wanted to do this the right way in case Pinto decided to send a report to my mother that I'd been rude and ungrateful after he'd generously pulled me out of unemployment. I'd worked with him for a year and a half now, so I knew he was very capable of something like that.

The paper crackled as Pinto opened it up, beady eyes glazing over the content. It wasn't long before a smile crept up his face, then he threw his head back, laughing so hard that anyone passing by could hear him.

I frowned. If there was anything I was expecting--which there was--it was for Pinto to get upset, throw a nasty tantrum and insist on keeping me. But here he was, laughing his heart out and wiping away tears of joy. For a minute, I began to wonder if someone had magically changed the words I'd written into some crude joke, until Pinto's voice yanked me out of my thoughts.

"Akwasi," he chortled out my name. "Do you know that you're a very foolish boy?"

My frown deepened at the insult.

"You want to quit this job, the job I humbly gave to you even though I knew how stupid you were." He paused, eyes running down my body. "Herh, may the good Lord have mercy on you, cuz you're never going to get a job like this anywhere. You hear me?" He drew closer. "No one in this town is going to employ a boy who likes to spend hours swimming instead of catching fish. I only put up with your useless behaviour because your mother begged me to give you a job. But now that you've decided to take matters into your own hands and quit, go!" He suddenly shoved the paper in my face, causing me to stumbled back.

"Carry your matter for your head and go. I don't want to see you anywhere near my shack, canoes or my other boys, you hear me? In fact, get off my property!" He tried shoving me again, but I dodged and ended up falling. Pinto, however, did not stop. He kicked me so hard that I felt it resonate in my bones. "Come on, go! You're infecting my surroundings with your stupidity."

Despite the harsh sting of tears in my eyes, I stood up just in time to dodge another of his kicks.

"Leave!" He yelled, drawing the attention of his neighbours. "Good riddance to bad rubbish!"

My vision began to blur, but I still tried my best to walk because staying here was only going to make me feel worse. Pinto's words had inscribed themselves in my head, and as much as I didn't want to accept them, reality did otherwise. It reminded me that come tomorrow, I'd have to go scouring the hot streets of Cape Coast for flimsy jobs just to get something to eat. That knawing feeling of regret added up to the lump in my throat, and a big fat tear rolled down my cheek. I was a stupid, useless, poor boy who had just thrown away his only source of livelihood. My feet came to an abrupt halt.

Maybe I shouldn't have quit. Maybe I should go back and beg Pinto to-

Don't you dare! My subconscious snapped so hard that the sentence rang in my brain. After the way he treated us, bullied and cheated us, you want to go back and work for him? No! The future looks bleak right now but under no circumstance are we going back to work for that big fat oaf!

And it was with that thought, that I wiped away the second roll of tears that had started to seep past my eyelashes. My subconscious was right. I might not know what I would eat tomorrow, but the fact that I was no longer tied to Pinto should be enough to fill that void. Determination mixed with a dash of perseverance swelled inside me. I can make it on my own.

Chanting the sentence in my head, I proceeded to move forward. There was no way I was going to turn around. I was going to face whatever life threw at me head on, regardless of whether it was worse than the previous condition. Like Wɔfa Yaw had said the last time. This is my life... and it's time to make the best out of it.

Pulling in a deep breath, I followed the narrow path to Wɔfa Yaw's house, ready to tell him the good news.

¤¤¤¤¤

Ignoring the rusty creak of the gate, I let myself into the mechanic's yard, surprised to see that he'd opened up the garage.

Wɔfa Yaw never worked on Sundays. He usually took the day off to rest and spend quality time with his family. As I drew closer, spotting the Black Toyota Land Cruiser sitting in the garage with the bonnet open, I began to suspect that its arrival was what had interrupted Wɔfa Yaw's weekly routine.

A bout of laughter met my ears, then a very tall, broad shouldered man appeared in my line of vision, and in front of him stood my boss.

"Oh Akwasi," Wɔfa Yaw called out once he saw me. "I didn't know you'd be coming around today."

"Yeah, I just came over to tell you something." I entered the garage, greeting both men with a small salute. Wɔfa Yaw decided to take over with introductions.

"Ignatius, this is Akwasi, my student. I'm teaching him everything I know about mechanics," he smiled. "Akwasi, this is Mr. Ignatius Dery. An old school mate of mine and a very good friend."

"Pleasure to meet you, sir." I shook hands with the broad-shouldered man who looked a few years older than Wɔfa Yaw.

"Likewise," Mr. Dery smiled, expanding the length of his moustache. "I hope you've been taking your lessons seriously."

"Yes, I have." This was the only postive thing happening in my life right now, and I'd be a fool to throw it all away.

"Good, then maybe you can help your teacher." Mr. Dery gave Wɔfa Yaw a good pat on the back. "He seems to be having problems getting my car to work."

"Oh..." I scooted past them to the open bonnet. "Maybe it's the starter?"

"That's exactly what I thought too," Wɔfa said. "But when I checked the compartment everything was still intact."

"Hmm..." The cogs in my brain began to turn. The thing about automatic cars was that, as much as they were so easy to drive, they were a bit harder to fix compared to manual cars. If this was a manual car, I would've spotted out the issue in no time, but now I was on the hunt for it.

"Car keys?" I turned to Mr. Dery, who watched me with a wonderous gleam in his eyes. For a minute, I thought he wouldn't give the keys, but in the blink of an eye he tossed them to me. "Thank you."

I hopped into the leather seat and pushed the key into the ignition, expecting the engine to roar to life. But instead, it gave out a whirring sound then sputtered loudly. Realising that I was damaging the starter, I turned the car off and returned to the engine with a socket wrench to loosen bolts and to fidget with the wires.

Wɔfa Yaw and Mr. Dery stood at the side of the car, watching intently as I worked my magic. At some point, I started feeling nervous. I was used to Wɔfa Yaw watching me work, but not the owner of the car. The owners usually left the car to attend to other activities, but this man... Mr. Dery was still standing here, arms folded and rubbing his chin. Doesn't he have anything else to do?

Trying my best to ignore his stare, I spent the next twenty minutes working on the engine, and once I was sure I'd located the problem and dealt with it, I stood upright. "Ok, please spark the car."

Mr. Dery's eyes were still narrowed, but he entered the car and turned the key. The engine didn't hesitate to jump back to life with a rumble that made all its compartments vibrate. He revved it a couple of times, and when he was certain that the car was fixed, Mr. Dery stepped out of the car. "And the student becomes the master."

Wɔfa Yaw chuckled genuinely. "Well done, Akwasi."

"Thank you," I smiled at my teacher.

"So which school do you attend, Akwasi," Mr. Dery suddenly asked out of nowhere.

I hesitated. "I uhh... umm..."

"He's not in school at the moment," Wɔfa Yaw answered for me. "He completed senior high a year ago... but due to financial issues, he's been at home."

"Huh." Mr. Dery rubbed his chin, eyes glued to me. "That's a shame."

Feeling uneasy, I turned to my teacher. "Wɔfa, I should be heading home now. Kukua asked me to help her with her homework this evening. I just came by to tell you that, I did it. I quit working for Pinto today."

Wɔfa Yaw's eyebrows flew up. "Really? That's good news, Akwasi." He put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "It may not sound like it right now, but trust me, it is. And don't worry about finding a job ok, I'll ask around for some vacancies."

Upon hearing the statement, I felt relieved. With Wɔfa Yaw on this case, I was definitely going to get a job. "Th-thank you so much."

He nodded with a smile. "You're always welcome, son."

After saying goodbye to the two men, I made my way out of the garage.