From Pasta to Pigfoot (17 page)

Glancing at his watch, Rocky stood up abruptly, interrupting his sister's seemingly endless flow of chatter.

‘I have to go now, so I'll see you girls later. Amma, thanks for breakfast – and, if you've got any sense, you'll eat something yourself before you pass out.' He grinned at her, his expression teasing. ‘Knowing you, I don't think you can survive until lunchtime on a cup of black coffee!'

As her brother strolled out of the kitchen, Amma glanced furtively at the look on Faye's face as she watched him leave and, apparently satisfied with what she saw there, smiled cheerfully.

With the clearing up finished, the two of them went back to the living room and spent the rest of the morning playing some of Amma's extensive music collection.

‘Who's this by?' Faye asked curiously as Amma put on
a song that sounded like a mix of pop and reggae with a heavy horn section.

‘He's called Daddy Lumba,' Amma answered, dancing in time to the music. ‘He's been around for a long time, but I love his music – although the lyrics are a bit rude.'

‘Dad used to play highlife music when we were kids,' Faye said, jumping up to dance as the beat of the music became impossible to listen to sitting down. ‘He says that's the music he grew up with in Ghana. I like this much better – I must buy some CDs before I go.'

They danced around the living room, collapsing into giggles as Amma tried to teach Faye some of the popular dance steps. When Uncle Fred and Auntie Amelia returned home from church, they went to the kitchen to help make lunch – a simple meal of freshly grilled fish, rice and a rich vegetable salad, which Amma, all thoughts of her diet clearly forgotten, ate with gusto.

The sun was at its height and Uncle Fred and Auntie Amelia soon retired to their room to rest. Mindful of the heat outside, Amma and Faye stayed in the cool living room where they read magazines and newspapers for another hour before going up to get ready for the beach.

Faye changed into a navy blue and white polka dot bikini and slipped a pair of brief cotton shorts and a white short-sleeved shirt over her swimwear. As she came down the stairs, she glanced at Rocky's picture and shivered slightly, remembering the look in his eyes at breakfast that morning.

Oh Faye, stop it
! She berated herself impatiently.
You're here on holiday – not to get involved with anyone
.

For once Amma was ready first and Faye found her waiting in the hall. Her long braids were tied back and she had changed into a white cotton dress. She was carrying a plastic mat folded into a neat square, and a large bag.

‘I won't be swimming but I've brought a couple of towels and some body lotion in case you want to go into the water. I've packed some bottled water as well.'

She pointed to a wide-brimmed straw hat on the hall table. ‘You'd better take that, Faye. You really don't want to get sunstroke on your first day here – it's very hot outside.'

Faye seized the hat gratefully and followed Amma outside to where her car was parked. The humidity was striking after the coolness of the house and even the short walk to the car caused beads of moisture to form on her forehead and upper lip. She slid into the front passenger seat of Amma's small car and heaved a sigh of relief when the air conditioner started to hum.

‘It is seriously hot!' She sat back in her seat, letting the blasts of air from the vents cool her heated skin.

Amma drove skilfully, weaving her way in and out of the traffic and cleverly dodging the careless taxi drivers who stopped without warning to drop off and pick up passengers. Faye scrutinised the passing landscape with interest, amazed at the contrast between the smooth modern dual carriageway and the wide-open gutters alongside. At one point, Amma was forced to slow to a halt to allow some errant goats that had escaped their shepherd to cross the highway.

Imagine a bunch of goats crossing the North Circular Road as you're driving through Finchley
, Faye thought in
amusement, turning round to watch a young boy racing after the animals in his charge.

They turned onto another dual carriageway and sped down, past rickety shop fronts and kiosks, most of which were closed. Faye gasped with delight as the sparkling blue of the sea came into view. She could see the white foam at the edge of the waves curling into the sand, while further out to sea a couple of small boats bobbed lazily on the water.

Amma slowed the car down and turned off the main highway onto a narrow roughly pebbled road. They bumped along slowly until they reached a clearing where a number of other cars were parked.

‘Oh good, Edwin's here – look, that's his car.' Amma parked alongside the sleek dark blue car she had pointed out and turned off the engine.

‘Nice car,' Faye remarked with admiration, ‘What does Edwin do?'

‘Well, nothing at the moment,' was Amma's candid response. ‘We've both just finished our National Service.'

At Faye's enquiring look, she went on. ‘It's a year of community service that every graduate has to do. Edwin was away teaching maths at a primary school in the north of the country for most of the past year.' She turned off the engine and added with a wry grin. ‘The car belongs to his mother – she usually lets him use it at weekends.'

Faye opened the door, reluctant to leave the cool interior of the car, and grimaced as the relentless heat assaulted her once again. She jammed the straw hat onto her head and slung her leather duffle bag over her
shoulder. Her slim feet were encased in a pair of rubber flip-flops that quickly filled with sand as she trudged behind a suddenly energised Amma.

Amma wheeled round, seized Faye's elbow and pointed to a small group of people lounging on the sand a few feet away.

‘Look!' she said excitedly. ‘There's Edwin and the others. Let's go and join them.'

Wincing at the combination of heat, sand and slippery sandals, Faye dutifully stepped up her pace and was soon being scrutinised by several pairs of curious eyes. Panting slightly from the exertion of her near gallop across the sand carrying the mat and the heavy bag, Amma took a couple of deep breaths before speaking.

‘Everybody, this is Faye – our friend from London.' She pointed to a tall, rather lanky man lounging on a beach mat. ‘This is Edwin, my boyfriend.' He stood up, easily towering over her, and took off his sunglasses before wiping his hand on his shorts.

‘Welcome to Ghana, Faye. It's nice to meet you.' He shook her hand, his grip firm and slightly damp.

Amma continued with the introductions. ‘This is James Brown' – gesturing with a giggle at the man who had been sitting next to Edwin – ‘well, actually his real name is Kwamena Pratt, but we all call him JB.'

James Brown – alias JB – looked around twenty-five. He was small in build and very dark and wore his hair in a full, round afro. His only clothing was a pair of black swimming shorts and a heavy gold chain around his neck. A gold signet ring sat loosely on his thin middle finger and
as he smiled in greeting, a glint of gold was clearly visible in the gap between his two front teeth.

Unlike Edwin, he didn't stand up or try to shake Faye's hand. Instead, he tapped a skinny forefinger against his forehead before pointing it at Faye with a loud ‘pshoo!' as if firing a gun, all the while flashing his gold tinged smile.

‘How ya doin'?' His voice was high, with an accent that sounded to Faye like a cross between a Texan and a Korean.

The girl sitting next to him rolled her eyes, clearly not impressed by JB's performance. Her generous cleavage was almost spilling out of a low cut, stretchy black T-shirt that seemed to have reached the full extent of its elasticity. Even seated, her colourful wrap-around skirt could not hide what appeared to be very sizeable hips. Her hair was braided into short plaits that framed a small face with penetrating dark eyes and full pouting lips.

She smiled engagingly at Faye and reached out a languid arm encased in jingling gold bangles. ‘Hello. I'm Baaba,' she said. Her voice was surprisingly deep and incredibly sexy. Faye smiled back and murmured a greeting.

Her attention was immediately diverted by the sight of a new arrival. He had clearly been swimming and his low-slung black swimming shorts highlighted a muscular abdomen and perfectly sculpted muscles. He picked up a towel from the beach mat, wiped his face and then turned to smile at Faye, displaying a dazzling set of even white teeth.

Transfixed, Faye simply could not tear her gaze away. Ghana was definitely proving to be a very attractive adventure!

Smiling broadly, Amma slapped her hand against his raised one in greeting and turned back to her friend. ‘Faye, this is Sonny – Sonny, this is our friend Faye from London,' she said. She winked at Faye. ‘Sonny is our local hottie – women just melt whenever he's around.'

Sonny gave Amma a gentle punch on her shoulder and after unsuccessfully trying to dry his hands on his wet shorts, held out his right hand. Slightly dazzled by the high-beam smile he was directing at her, Faye shook his hand and mumbled something unintelligible.

‘Please take no notice of Amma,' Sonny said in a low husky voice that suited his handsome features perfectly. ‘She just likes to tease me.'

‘How long are you staying in Accra?' The silky voice so close to her ear startled her and Faye spun round in alarm. Her hat fell forward over her eyes and pushing it back, she found JB standing only inches away from her. In her flip-flops, they were almost the same height and now, up close, she could see the faded marks of old scars on his face. Faye took a step back before answering.

‘I'll be here for about three weeks.' A rare gust of wind almost blew her hat off and she held it down firmly with both hands.

‘Oh man, that's just
great
, man!' he said. His accent was so strange that she could barely make out what he was saying. Of greater concern was the fact that whenever she took a step back, he would take another step forward, oblivious to her efforts to create some space between them.

Seeing her discomfort, Sonny pulled JB's arm and dragged him backwards, ignoring the angry glare his
friend directed at him. ‘Heh,
abongoman
! Give her some space. Can't you see you're crowding her? Seriously, bro!'

He turned his back on his friend and flashed another high-wattage smile at Faye. ‘Don't mind JB – he's just a bushman with no manners.'

Sonny's eyes were hooded like those of a sleepy serpent as they travelled up and down the length of Faye's long rangy legs. ‘Do you want to swim?' he drawled, his tone slow and husky. ‘The water feels great, especially in this heat.'

Faye looked at the sparkling water and agreed enthusiastically. Moving over to where Amma was laying out their beach mat, she quickly stepped out of her shorts and removed her shirt, conscious of Sonny's brooding gaze fixed on her as she undressed. Tossing the hat onto the straw mat, she tied her hair back and followed him down to the water's edge.

They trudged past groups of children laughing loudly and splashing each other in the shallow waters and dodged around a large black horse that galloped past, its rider holding on to the mane and balancing on the strong bare back of his mount with just the grip of his calves.

The water was warm as Faye surged forward against the deceptively powerful waves. With strong lazy strokes, she swam out into the sea, closely followed by Sonny.

Back on the beach, Baaba watched them with narrowed eyes. Slipping on her sunglasses, she turned to Amma who had wriggled onto the beach mat between her and Edwin.

‘She seems nice enough,' she remarked.

Amma was leaning back against Edwin, her braided head nestled against his shoulder.

‘She's really nice,' she agreed airily. Without thinking, she added with a laugh, ‘and from the way he's behaving, I'm beginning to suspect Rocky rather likes her too.'

Baaba's expression froze. She smoothed out her brightly coloured skirt and kept her tone neutral. ‘What makes you say that?'

Amma, now totally relaxed, had shut her eyes and didn't notice the change in her friend's demeanour. ‘Well, it's hard to describe,' she murmured drowsily. ‘I think it's the way he looks at her – it's, like, really intense, you know?'

When Baaba didn't reply, Amma sat bolt upright in alarm, suddenly aware of what she had said. She seized Baaba's arm, noting in panic the grim expression on her friend's face.

‘Now don't go getting worked up,' she said, switching to
Fanti
, the Akan dialect that Baaba spoke. ‘She's only here for a short time. Anyway, you know Rocky has just finished with Clarissa – he's not likely to get involved with someone else so soon!'

Edwin burst out laughing. ‘Amma, you don't know much about men, do you?' Ignoring the angry glare Amma shot his way, he leaned back on his elbows and added, also in
Fanti
, ‘Baaba, if you're wise, you'll keep a close eye on Rocky now that he's free,' he said. With a nod towards the sea, he added with a sly grin. ‘It looks like she's got Sonny hooked as well.'

Amma pushed him in exasperation as Baaba's expression darkened. Taking a bottle of iced water from her bag, Amma took a long sip and offered the chilled drink to her friend.

‘Baaba, don't mind him! He's just messing with you. Anyway, I've told you before; Rocky won't go out with you because you're my best friend – he says it would be too close to home,' she added diplomatically.

As her friend looked at her sceptically, Amma carried on, her breathless voice earnest as she tried to sound convincing.

‘Look, I even asked him to come to the beach with us today and he refused – he used the usual work excuse to get out of it. Besides, he thinks my friends are too young for him to hang around with.' She took another long drink from her bottle.

‘So if he's so
anti-so
, what's he doing here, then?' Baaba asked sweetly, gazing past Amma at a tall figure approaching their group.