Dial episode 23

DIAL
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Sequence 23
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©Aaron Ansah-Agyeman
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I tried to look at Nana Bosomba with accusing eyes, but the hands were holding my head fixed straight at Dede!
She didn’t know that I couldn’t speak, and she smiled at me lovingly.
“Come on, my love!” she whispered. “Tell me something! Tell my brother how sorry you are!”
I tried to speak, but nothing came out.
I watched, dying inside, as her face slowly lost its glow and became a badly broken vessel!
Dear Lord, I couldn’t speak!
“Yao!” she whispered with horror. “Do you love me? Do you want me to stay? Will you marry me?”
I tried.
Lord, I tried.
I meant to say yes, yes, yes, yes, my love, oh, yes!
But I couldn’t open my mouth because the evil hands were pressing my mouth shut, and all that came out of my tortured throat were strange words:
Mmmmph, mmmph, mmmph!
Her tears fell faster as she took a step back.
“You won’t talk,” she whispered, sobbing in a heart-breaking way. “You were only using me all along, like you used Akos! Oh, Yao, how can you be this wicked?”
Oh, please, Dede, my love! I love you, Oh Dede! Please don’t leave me. I love you, I love you, I love you! Please yes, I’m so sorry…
I tried to say all that, but what came out of my lips were the words:
Uuuumph, mmmph, mmmph
And my tears fell in great amounts!
“Yao, speak, please!” she cried. “You’re hurting me bad, Yao!”
I could not move a muscle because the evil beings were wrapping my body hard, not even allowing me to take her in my arms.
She looked down at her feet, and I could see her shoulders shaking with her pain.
“If you don’t love me, that’s understandable, Yao,” she said tremulously. “Maybe it is too much expecting someone with your background to love this fast. So, if you can’t say it, I understand. But if you want me to stay, just tell me, Yao. Just nod. Do you want me, Yao, please? Do you want me to stay?”
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, Dede, yes, yes, yes!
My heart sang it desperately, but it came out differently through the evil hands blocking my mouth:
Mmmph, mmmph, mmmph, mumu,mmmph, mmmph!
I moved my head up and down desperately, nodding my head vigorously, violently…but to no avail.
The evil hands had a strong grip on my neck, my chin, my skull, my face! They kept it strongly rigid, so that my head could not even move a minuscule half inch! My head remained stiff, and because Dede could not see the evil at play, she only saw me staring at her with tears of anguish raining down my face.
She looked up, and her face was drenched with tears of pure unadulterated anguish. Her jawline was set tightly as if she were really grinding her teeth and gnashing them in agony. Seeing her like that tore me to my very core, and my eyes fixed on the calm face of Nana Bosomba with malice.
I was no longer afraid of him at that very moment in time. If I had my gun I would’ve shot him dead where he was sitting.
“You were using me all along,” she whispered, shaking her head, and I could see her soul dying within her.
She turned away from me.
I struggled violently, and shouted desperately….
Mmmmmph, mmmmmmm, muumuu, mmmmph!
Nana Bosomba was on his feet, and he met his sister.
Dede fell helplessly against her brother, shattered absolutely, and the most wicked man on earth put an arm around her shoulders and consoled her gently.
“It is okay, my dearest sister, it’s okay,” he said calmly. “He doesn’t deserve you. I see you outside of this country, and I see you meeting a very good man who is going to love you for who you are.”
And when I heard that the pain became a living nightmare within me, and I struggled fiercely, but I was powerless. The thought of Dede, my Dede, with another man was so unbearable that for a moment I couldn’t breathe!
Dede nodded, and brushed tears off her face.
“Yes, my dearest brother,” she said in a tiny voice. “Indeed, he is not worth it. Please, release and let us go.”
He shook his head slowly.
“But I can’t release him like that, my dear,” Nana Bosomba said sadly. “I wish I could. I wish he had a changed heart, but he doesn’t.”
Dede looked up into her brother’s face.
“It doesn’t matter, please,” she said painfully. “I care a lot about him, although he’s just a wicked boy. Please, for me and Akos, release him and let’s get out of here.”
I was finding it difficult breathing.
Even in her pain, even when she thought I had badly hurt her, she was still begging for me, still seeking my well-being! What a girl, what a woman!
Dede, Dede, Dede, Dede…
I called.
But it came out like pumpu,pumpu,pumpu, pumpu!
Nana Bosomba looked at Dede and smiled, his expression sad.
“I’m not punishing him, my dear!” he said gently. “I just don’t want him to do to any other girl what he did to Akos, my dear! Suppose we release him now, and tomorrow hear that another girl had committed suicide because of him, what do you think will happen? He needs to stop his selfish ways!”
Dede looked at him miserably.
“I think he has learnt his lesson,” she implored. “I don’t think he’ll continue doing that, please.”
“He just did it to you!” Nana Bosomba said harshly, and then he smiled at her. “Look, I’m sorry for being hard on you and on him, dearest sister. Okay, here’s what I’m going to do. I want him to go through his list, okay? And I want him to pick five of the names in there, just five, and then go and look for the women whose names he picks. Now, he should confess to them, and tell them the truth. If one, just one of the women forgives him, then the spell will be broken!”
Dede looked at her brother desperately.
“So, if I understand you, he should search through…this list he keeps, and select five of the women?” she asked quietly.
“Yes, just five, but of course you’re not included,” Nana Bosomba said.
She smiled wanly, sadly.
“Of course,” Dede said. “And after that he should look for the women, the five he selects, and confess what to them?”
“First he should show them his grey hair and tell him it was because of what he did to Akos, and then he should beg them for forgiveness.”
“And if one, just one of those five women forgives him, the curse on him will break?”
“Instantly,” Nana Bosomba said. “Instantly.”
Dede smiled sadly, her expression still crushed.
“Thank you, darling brother,” she said in a broken voice. “At least, I have hope that at least one of them will genuinely forgive him, and he will be fine, for the sake of Akos. Goodbye, Yao.”
And then without a look at me she began to walk toward the doorway.
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To be continued