Nowadays, I walk during nocturnal hours between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m., primarily because exercising at that time of day helps me sleep better after I retire for the night. Since I hadn’t walked for several months due to a fractured fibula that I sustained in April of last year, getting back into the grind of walking regularly was quite challenging as well as gruelling. Before my injury, I would walk comfortably from Sofokyere to the Kato Forest and back. I had no need to rest, but when I resumed walking again, everything seemed to have gone wrong. There was pain in my calves, thighs, lower back, and buttocks. There was debilitating numbness in my feet. Therefore, I had to stop at least four times on my journey to the Kato Forest and rest for at least seven minutes during each break. On my way back to Sofokyere, I had to do the same.
During one such resting episode, I couldn’t help but notice that a black cat had snuck under a nearby bench and remained there. These rest periods had become vital to me because they afforded me relief from the pain in my lower back, buttocks, thighs, and calves. They also allowed the blood to resume circulating freely in my feet once more. I sat there comfortably as I observed this feline visitor. Based upon my past experiences, I knew that this happenstance was no unimportant, meaningless coincidence. But what exactly did it mean, I wondered. My most recent household helper was supposed to come to my house that very weekend to work. For some inexplicable reason best known to her, she never showed up. But accused me vociferously of having too many female friends. I said nothing in my own defence because I knew from past experience that the paranoid mind needs no evidence other than its own irrational belief to convince it that some wrong had been committed. The following weekend, Ms. Constance texted me on WhatsApp to inform me that she would definitely be at my house that weekend to work. I advised her not to bother to come because I would be leaving town to attend to an important business assignment.
All hell broke loose. “Mr James, why are you leaving just because I told you I would be there this weekend. Did I do something wrong? I don’t understand.” “There is nothing to understand,” was my response. I have to attend to some urgent business, and that’s why I’ll be going out of town this weekend. I was back home by Sunday evening, and I called her to let her know that since I had returned, she could come to work on Monday if she wanted to. She didn’t pick up the call, nor did she return it. Afterwards, I sent her a message on WhatsApp. “Ms. Constance: I don’t know what your problem is. However, I called you Sunday evening to advise you that since I had returned home, you could come to work on Monday if you wanted to do so. You did not pick up the call. Nor did you return it. I don’t know what your problem is!” There was an interval of at least ten days before I received any feedback. “Good morning, Mr. James. I hope you are doing well. When you stopped me from coming, I was on my way to my daughter’s home. My phone fell. After that, I can’t touch the screen. I sent it to the repairer, and the following morning, I had to leave Berekum for Sunyani.” It took her ten days to conjure up some kind of explanation. A somewhat interesting story, I thought to myself. Furthermore, the last thing I needed was to have a woman working for me who was continuously besieged by paranoid ideation. Because I couldn’t predict exactly what she would do under any circumstance.
My landlady lives in Belgium. However, she has many relatives living right here in Berekum, Ghana. One of them is her twenty-eight-year-old son. After residing in this apartment (which also has an attached garage) for five years, I was informed by her son and one of the landlady’s sisters last year August, that the rent that I paid each year did not include the garage and that if I wanted to enjoy that space, then I would have to pay the annual rent of 1800.00 GHS. I promptly gave them the money and executed a receipt. This August, the landlady’s son, Mr. Nicholson, called to remind me that the rent for the garage was due. I advised him to come and get it, and just as I did last year, another receipt was executed for the eighteen hundred Ghana Cedis that I turned over to him for the garage rent. Later that same month, he contacted me again to say that his mother needed an advance of 1500.00 GHS against the rent of the apartment. I contacted his mother to advise her about these developments. She was in shock and confessed to me that she knew nothing about these transactions. That is the nature of deception and treachery. They leave you in shock, not only because of the financial loss that has been inflicted upon you, but also because of the secrecy and callousness that your own relative could even think of perpetrating against you.
To further exacerbate this problem, Mr. Nicholson claimed that he never collected any money from me. However, since I already knew his identity and had the receipt that he had signed in my possession, it was very easy for his aunt, sister, and mother to see that he was lying. The appearance of the black cat was ominous of the coming perplexing events that were about to unfold. Although I could not see them in advance, I knew and understood enough from past experiences that under all circumstances I would need to exercise due caution.
I have a friend living in Kato. He works professionally as a barber; however, he also possesses skills in furniture making, interior decorating, and carpentry. For several months now, he has been trying to persuade me to finance a gold mining project that he is trying to start. Since I have known him for ten years, I have been continuously impressed with his punctuality (a characteristic that is uncommon in Ghana) and honesty. I decided to sponsor him in this endeavour. I called the Registrar of Companies office in Sunyani and, after making a few basic inquiries, was informed that it would cost me 3000.00 GHS to get the company registered. At the time I made the telephone call to obtain the needed information, I was sitting in front of my desktop. For some strange reason, I dozed off momentarily and dreamed that I saw a white haired old hag severely deformed and bent over like someone suffering from an extreme form of scoliosis. As soon as I woke up, I remembered the dream. I instantly understood this to be a severe warning to be careful, or I would suffer financial damages.
That’s one of the unique aspects of The Holy Spirit’s personality. He is interested in every facet of our daily lives. Furthermore, He sends us warnings when He sees that we are in any kind of jeopardy. However, we must pay close attention, or we will miss or overlook the red flags that are poignantly waved to provide us with the desperately needed guidance. When my friend and I arrived at the government’s office in Sunyani, I was surprised to be told that the actual cost of registering the company would be 6000.00 GHS. I informed the gentleman at the desk, who also claimed to be a lawyer, that since I had been previously told the total cost of the registration would be 3000.00 GHS, that’s all I had brought with me, but that I would return the next day with the balance. After leaving the office of the Registrar of Companies, I went online to verify the figures I had been given. To my great disappointment and consternation, I discovered that the head office in Accra was only charging a fraction of what I had been told. I got to the Registrar’s Office in the Regional Capital the following day and asked the lawyer exactly who he was working for. He pretended not to understand my question. I repeated myself, “Sir, don’t you understand elementary English? Who exactly are you working for?” “Let me make it very simple. Give me back every pesewa of my money.” He made a call, and soon a gentleman appeared with my 3000.00 GHS intact. My friend and I proceeded next door and were told that we could register the company for 1,600.00 GHS. We completed the required paperwork, paid the requested fee, and left.
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