Episode 6

As much as he wanted to stop going to Joe’s house, there was pretty much no option for him. His family had united with the Oduros into a large family. Now his parents could leave him with the Oduros until they returned from evening services. So Kwame had to see Bro Frank almost every day. On this particular evening, the lights were out. Power cut wasn’t a strange thing in the neighbourhood and the surrounding towns. All the kids had gathered in Bro Franks’s room, waiting for the lights to come back so that they could continue watching their action movie. As they waited, they all fell asleep. Kwame couldn’t sleep. He was so scared to blink.

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As his eyes became heavy, he felt a hand around him. He prayed so hard that it was his father who had returned from church to carry him home. –but he knew these hands so well. They didn’t belong to his dad. They were Bro Frank’s. He whispered that he wouldn’t hurt him and he shouldn’t be afraid. He lay down and put Kwame on top of him. He hugged him tightly and rubbed him on his body. He kissed him at different places. Kwame wanted to cry. He sobbed. Bro Frank told him that, if he continued to behave like that, he won’t let him come and watch movies in his room again.

-But where else would Kwame go when he returns from school? He was afraid and confused. He began to hate Bro Frank. –and he couldn’t tell this to Joe or any of the kids at Mrs. Oduro’s house because they all liked Bro. Frank. What if he was doing the same thing to them and they liked it? What if he told his parents? Would they believe him? Would Bro Frank hear about it? He thought about these until sleep caught up with him that night.