Rami spent most of Sunday confused and anxious. She couldn’t talk to anyone about this because she didn’t know who to trust. Besides, everyone would think that she was crazy. Could she speak to the police? Inspector Kuma had been very helpful and good to the family after Aba disappeared. Perhaps it was because he knew Mr. Hormeku, Aba’s father. Rami and Aba had different fathers. Aba’s father had been missing from her life until about three years ago, when he had appeared in their lives to beg for forgiveness for abandoning her mother when she was pregnant with Aba. There had been a lot of back and forth within the first year while he tried every means possible to earn their forgiveness. Rami had a feeling that the main reason her mother had finally forgiven him was because of his sons, who had also made the effort to get to know Aba and even Rami. Mr. Hormeku had been benevolent ever since, even making arrangements for Aba to study abroad for her Master’s. A lump formed in Rami’s throat when she remembered that Aba was supposed to travel to the UK to further her education in two weeks. She will never get the chance to do so.
Rami knew that she needed somebody to talk to about this before it made her crazy, but nobody came to mind.
“Damn it, Lilian. Why can’t I trust you?” Rami cursed. Lilian was spiritual enough to believe Rami if she told her she had received a message from her dead sister. She was the one person who wouldn’t think that Rami was going batshit crazy for even thinking that Aba had called her. For the rest of the day, Rami tried to remember and wrote down all the things she remembered from the midnight call.
The answer you’re looking for is right in front of you.
the last day
Ask the right questions.
Listen to the answers carefully.
Active listening
I believe in you. I’ll be waiting.
Drunkards may sound mad, but sometimes, they speak the truth. Hear them out.
Don’t trust anyone in the last group photo I took.
Rami read the words over and over again. The answer was right in front of her. But how could she find it? She didn’t even know where to start looking from.
The last day. Ask the right questions.
Suddenly, she knew exactly where to begin. The last place where Aba had been seen alive, before her body was found at a motor-accident site, was Trudy’s, a mini-restaurant that they all frequented. Aba had told both Rami and Lilian that she would be eating there that evening instead of the usual takeout they did because she was meeting somebody. Trudy’s was the first place they checked when Aba didn’t come home that night and couldn’t be reached. The good news was that because Aba was a regular, she was a known face, and the staff remembered her coming in. The bad news was that they didn’t know who she was meeting because she didn’t eat there as she had told her sister and friend. Instead, she had ordered two packs of seafood jollof rice to go.
Rami knew that the police had interviewed the staff extensively, but nobody had been able to add any more information. Rami had not been to Trudy’s after Aba’s disappearance, and the idea of going there now made her feel a little anxious, but she had to go back there someday. After all, it was her favourite place to order takeout. And it wasn’t as if anything had happened to Aba there. On top of that, it was the only direct clue she had now. She had to suck it up and follow the clues to see where it might lead. Maybe it wasn’t even that Aba was still alive — because that was an unimaginable wishful thinking — but that something may have happened to Aba before she died. Until now, nobody could think of any reason why Aba’s body and car had been found in the Eastern region still wearing the clothes she had left the house in two days later. She lived and worked in the Greater Accra region and hadn’t told anyone that she was travelling. She didn’t pack any extra luggage either. There was so much mystery surrounding Aba’s disappearance and death that it was no wonder that Rami was receiving calls from the grave.
Rami ordered an Uber while she changed into something more suitable for public appearance. As she carelessly threw on a slightly wrinkled T-shirt and pulled up her jeans, she snorted. She could almost hear Aba frowning at her in disgust and telling her to iron her clothes and make herself more presentable for public consumption.
“I promise to care about my clothes if I do find you,” she whispered with a self-deprecating laugh at herself. She knew she shouldn’t hold her hopes up, and as a realist, she knew that it was impossible. But she couldn’t help the tiny bit of hope that had taken root in her heart. It was tiny and ridiculous, but she couldn’t help drinking a little delusional juice, at least until she finds some answers and gets some closure.
“What more closure do you need than your sister’s dead body being buried?” a little treacherous voice in her head said. Ironically, it was the voice she prided herself in listening to, and usually she would call it the voice of reason. But not today.
“Shut up,” Rami told the voice, jumping up in relief when she received a notification that her Uber had arrived.
During the ride to Trudy’s, Rami suddenly realised that Aba had disappeared on a Sunday as well, which was fortunate because she just belatedly remembered that there were usually different staff on different days. It had been months since the incident, and she wasn’t putting too much trust in people having such long memories, but she was hopeful. Anything was possible at this point.
When she got to the restaurant, she paid her driver and steeled herself before getting off. She could almost hear Aba’s voice trying to convince her to try the seafood jollof at least once. Each time, Rami had promised to try next time, but she never did. Aba always joked about being surrounded by meat lovers who didn’t appreciate seafood. As Rami stood at the car park, something clicked for her. Two packs of seafood jollof rice. That was what Aba had ordered from the restaurant the night she disappeared. Who was she meeting that day who was willing to eat her seafood jollof rice with her? Rami shook her head. She was being ridiculous. Aba had probably just bought all two packs for herself to save one for later.
She turned to walk into the restaurant and bumped into someone. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t – oh, good evening, Seth,” Rami said, recognising the security/parking attendant at the restaurant.
“Good afternoon, madam,” the older man said. Both Rami and Aba had long since given up trying to get him to call them by their names instead of “madam”.
“I am sorry about what happened to your sister,” he said. “She was a very nice girl.”
“Yes, she was,” Rami agreed quietly.
Just as she was about to turn, Seth said, “You know, the last time, the tip she gave me helped me go home. I’ll never forget.”
Rami turned around. “Last time?”
“Yes. I didn’t have any money on me that evening, and when she was leaving, she gave me GHS 20. I was so grateful because I needed money that day.”
“Wait. You saw her? The day she went missing?”
“That Sunday, yes. I think I already told the people who came to ask the ladies inside. I didn’t know that she was the one everyone was talking about until the other security man told me. I confirmed that she was here. She was holding a paper bag, so I assumed she came to buy food. Her car came just as she was taking the money out for me, so she left immediately after.”
Rami’s mind was reeling. “Wait. A car came for her? She wasn’t driving her car?”
Seth shook his head. “No. I didn’t see how she came; I only saw her when she was leaving, and a car picked her up.”
Rami didn’t know what to think. Aba had left home in her car, the same car that had been involved in the accident. But now, she has just learned that a different vehicle picked Aba up from the restaurant.
“Did you see the vehicle that picked her up?”
“It was a big silver Toyota. I didn’t look at the type, though. But I know that it was a V8,” the security man told Rami.
Now Rami was even more confused. She had thought Aba had used a ride-hailing service, but it looked like someone had picked her sister up. And in a V8, no less. There was only one person in their lives that she knew who owned a silver Toyota, and he had been out of the country when Aba disappeared.
Rami sighed. She had more questions now than ever, but at least she was starting to get a different picture from what they had assumed. She thanked Seth and forced herself to walk into the restaurant. She wasn’t hungry, but she wasn’t there to eat. She was there to find out if there was any more information.
