Chapter 13: The Mystery of My Missing Coins
When morning finally came, after a full night of fighting Kwame's diesel snore, I stood up from the floor like an old man.
My back? Finished.
My eyes? Redder than ripe tomatoes.
Kwame, on the other hand, was fresh like he just came from a spa.
He stretched, yawned loudly, and said:
"Chale, best sleep of my life ooo! Your bed be soft pass!"
I forced a smile that looked more like a funeral grimace.
As I was sweeping the room small, I noticed something strange.
My small bowl — the one I used to keep my "emergency coins" —
was suspiciously empty.
"Ei? Where's my GHS 12.50?" I asked myself.
I checked under the bed.
Checked behind the TV.
Checked inside my trousers.
Nothing.
Kwame sat there, whistling and pressing his yam phone, pretending not to see my confusion.
I cleared my throat.
"Kwame, you see some coins for here? I keep some money for emergency oh."
Kwame blinked innocently and said:
"Ah, no ooo! Maybe breeze blow am go somewhere."
Breeze?
Inside my locked room??
Was I living in a hurricane?
I didn't want trouble, so I smiled and left the issue.
But deep inside my soul, I screamed:
"Samuel, you have just been robbed gently by your own visitor!"
As if that wasn't enough, Kwame stood up, dusted himself off, and said:
"Chale, I dey bounce. Make you give me small transportation — anything you fit get."
I nearly fell down laughing out of bitterness.
So after snoring like a forest spirit, after stealing my coins, after occupying my bed —
this man still wanted "transport"?
I reached deep into my pocket, found one lonely GHS 2 coin, and gave it to him with the strength of a dying goat.
He collected it happily, shook my hand like we had signed a business contract, and disappeared down the street.
I stood at my door, watching him bounce away, and whispered:
"Samuel, next time, when they knock, PRETEND you are not at home."
End of Chapter 13