Bitter Sugar

"I'm going to kill the two of them!"

Lamlei's voice cracked as the words left her mouth. She paced the sitting room, heels clicking against the tiles, while Korkor trailed her with soothing nonsense. Her thumbs flew over her phone, scrolling, trembling, reading the same messages twice. A whole gamut of feelings rose and fell in her chest until, exhausted and emotionally drained, she flung the phone onto the leather couch and pressed two fingers to her throbbing temples. Right now, all she wanted to do was shoot the people who had betrayed her.

She couldn't believe it. Two of the most important people in her life, her best friend and her fiancé, had been running some twisted affair she was only just hearing about. It had to be some kind of joke. This couldn't be happening to her. It was probably some bad dream she would soon wake up from. She'd only heard of things like this in movies and on the gist pages she scrolled through at night.

"Lamlei, please take it easy…" Korkor consoled, but rather than soothe her, it only agitated her further.

"How long have you known about this, Korkor? How long!" She cried, making a futile attempt to wipe away the tears streaming down her face.

"I knew you would be hurt." Her friend tried to explain. "And the last thing I want is for you to be hurt like this. I thought if you found out, you would know the kind of man Kojo is and cancel the wedding."

"And Zainab! Of all people? My best friend! Zainab that I trusted with everything! I wasn't afraid to share my feelings and everything I had with her. Korkor, Zainab was like a sister, and she heartlessly did this to me?"

"Lamlei please… just calm down. Let me get you a glass of water while you sit here and relax. You'll be fine. I'm really sorry you had to find out this way."

"She was sitting there, on his lap, when I caught them," she went on, infuriated. "In his office! Kojo didn't even look like someone getting married to me in a few months' time. He even had the guts to lie to my face, like I'm blind. You know what? I can't even think right now. How am I going to survive the next few weeks? I'm going to be the laughingstock of Accra. What are my parents going to do about the invitation cards and the wedding plans?" She seethed. "How could Kojo do this to me? With everything I did for him…"

"He's a gold digger and a womanizer."

Lamlei knew Kojo was no gold-digger. He'd womanised in the past but that was all it was. He was a chartered accountant working in one of the top banks in the country. His father was late but his mother was a prominent fashion designer and had been chosen to design her wedding gown. Kojo was well employed and had enough to take care of the both of them. If he wasn't capable, her parents wouldn't have blessed their engagement in the first place.

"I need that cup of water." Lamlei marched toward the kitchen and Korkor followed behind. While her friend reached for a glass to fill, Lamlei snatched a knife from the kitchen counter and sl*t her wrist.

Korkor screamed.

❖

Dedei was staring out her window when her roommate Ama Owusu barged in and sank into the bed, disrupting her thoughts. She'd been trying to meditate on the Word earlier but her mind wasn't settled. There was a burden she'd been praying about for a while but she still couldn't place her hands on it.

"I have to go home this weekend. My cousin was involved in an accident and my parents obviously need me around for support," Ama blurted out.

Dedei noticed the sarcasm dripping in her friend's voice and turned to look at her. Ama's words stirred something inside her and she searched within. A girl had been bleeding in her dream this morning. Could the accident be related to the dream she'd had?

She had never seen Ama's cousin in person, but Dedei knew the cousin she was talking about. Naa Lamlei Kumah was the prettiest girl she'd ever seen. Her face was littered on the media and blogs and her roommate wouldn't stop talking about her; from the things Lamlei owned, to the guy she was getting married to, and how she was running the show in terms of her father's oil company.

As the only daughter of the Kumahs, Lamlei was the second heir to the dynasty. The first heir, Kwei Kumah, had refused to take on his role, so it was only natural for the second child Lamlei to take on the responsibility. She was in charge of Kumah Oil and Gas. Dedei had seen her appear on several TV shows and she had a huge following on social media where she dished out tips on becoming a successful entrepreneur and a very fashionable one. Men adored her and ladies admired her. She was a role model to both young and old. Dedei was only aware of this because her course mates wouldn't stop ranting about it and Ama enjoyed the perks of being affiliated with the Kumahs.

Dedei knew Ama might not have befriended her if not for Ama's grades that had gone on a downward spiral in the first semester. Dedei and Ama's friendship bond had grown ever since they became study partners. When Ama saw an improvement in her grades, it was only natural for her to keep Dedei close.

"What happened? I do hope she's alright."

"I can't say exactly. It could be someone has offended Baby Lamlei, or she bruised her nail while doing her manicure," Ama chuckled.

"Don't be mean."

"I'm not mean; she's my cousin and trust me when I say she's the most annoying person to ever exist." Dedei was the only person Ama could rant to about the petty side of her cousin. "I could get home now and find out she just missed a step and I have to be at her beck and call because you know, it's 'Baby Lamlei.'"

Dedei sighed. "I do hope she's alright."

Ama shrugged, and headed towards the wardrobe to pack a few clothes. Looking back, she beamed. "Come with me."

"What?" Dedei looked up, startled by the turn of events. Perhaps she hadn't heard her roommate right.

"Please! It would be fun I promise. Don't be such a bore," Ama said, coming to sit beside her.

"No way, what will I tell my mother if she finds out I followed a friend to the Kumahs' Mansion?"

"Many things. That you're working part-time in one of their companies."

"Are you stylishly offering me a job?" Dedei asked teasingly.

"Will you say yes if I agree that I'm offering you a job?"

Dedei shook her head, suddenly appalled by the thought that they had changed the Lamlei-centred discussion to her search for an opportunity to work somewhere. Yes, she wanted a job, but this wasn't the right time to think or talk about it.

"We should be more concerned about your cousin and not what we seek to gain from her misfortune."

"I never said you got the job, I was just trying to entice you." Ama grinned more to herself. Her phone buzzed and she picked it up. Distracted by the messages coming in, she forgot her conversation with Dedei for a while.

Dedei, who was already used to Ama's short attention span, dropped her Bible and picked up her school notes. It was a wonder Ama had enrolled in a post-graduate program when she could hardly focus on one thing at a time.

Ama glanced at her. "Are you coming with me? Look at the bright side. We'll get picked from school in a chauffeured G-Wagon and we can wave at our course mates like celebrities." Ama wiggled her eyebrows, producing a smile from her roommate. "C'mon Dedei, just this once, or did you ask boyfriend Number one and he said no?"

Dedei nudged her playfully.

"Is it not you?" Ama teased. "I know you aa. The one who asks Jesus about every single thing. Team Jesus is my husband. I wonder when you guys are going to realise that Jesus cannot marry all of you and you need someone real and touchable, someone to give you some good loving like Fiifi, your earthly boyfriend."

"How many times do I have to tell you that there's nothing between Fiifi and I? First it was Serwaa and Bridget and now you. You see a guy with a girl and the next thing you do is come up with stories or conjure up a relationship that's not happening and will never happen." She snapped.

Ama saw the frown on her friend's face and blinked. "You need to take a chill pill madam."

"I'm sorry…" Dedei apologised. "It's just that when you do that, I subconsciously start thinking of him as an option when he shouldn't even be in the picture. He isn't God's will for my life. I have prayed about it to know if he's someone I should consider. God said no and I decided to close the chapter. Case closed."

"Oh right. I just worry about you sometimes, that's all. I mean you're a good girl and you deserve a good guy and you're not getting any younger y'know. I heard the best place to build a relationship is in school."

She smiled sadly. "And who says I'm good?"

"Uh, well, obviously if we are going to classify the good people, you would fall into that category for sure. You don't do drugs, no tattoos, no alcohol, you read your Bible like it's the next best thing after jollof and kelewele, you've never kissed anyone, there are no dirty linens in your closet and