A Token From Grandpa Chapter 14

Mama Aku was on her way to Mass when she received the letter.  She was very delighted.  She associated letters with good news.  When they were children, they somehow associated letters with affection.  Whenever a girl received a letter from a boy, it was assumed that it contained words of affection.  For most illiterates it was the idea of receiving a letter, not the contents of the letter, which mattered.  Telegrams, on the other hand, were 'supposed' to contain bad news.  There was a story of a woman who had started wailing and rolling on the floor as soon as she was informed she had a telegram about her son, who was at a boarding school in Accra.  As it turned out, the telegram was informing her that her son had been offered a scholarship to a school in London.  Her face beaming despite the tears still running down her face, she had gotten up and declared; “They made a mistake.  Why did they send such good news in a telegram?”

Mama Aku was so eager to know the contents of the letter she decided that church can wait.  She went straight to see if Efo Etse was home.  The retired school teacher was also preparing to go to church when he saw Mama Aku through his open window.  He knew she had never missed early morning Mass since her daughter left for Accra so he wanted to know why she wasn’t moving in the direction of the church.  He was poking his head around the door to see where she was going when he heard her ask whether he was home.  He quickly pulled his head back and responded that he was in.

After the formal exchange of greetings, she politely asked him to read the letter for her.  While Efo Etse was still examining the return address, she anxiously asked whether it contained good or bad news.

            “It is either from a lawyer or a lawyer wrote it on someone’s behalf,” he said in Ewe.

            “But I don’t know any lawyer in Accra.  Do you think Emi is in trouble?”

Efo Etse slit the envelope open, took out the letter and looked at the signature.

            “It is from your daughter.”

Mama Aku thought she had only one daughter who could write to her from Accra.  She had another daughter whom she bore when she was only sixteen with a Medical student at the University of Ghana.  Although she loved and missed her dearly, she felt certain that she could never have any contact with her.  So the daughter on her mind as she waited for Efo Etse to read the letter was the one she had with her husband, Avorgbedor.

Mama Aku felt guilty that she had not been able to send Emilia to Secondary School.  She wondered whether it had something to do with why she hadn’t heard from her in such a long time.  She hadn’t  heard from Emilia for more than four years so she had been nursing the idea of going to Accra to find her.  However, raising the money to make the journey had not been easy.  Moreover, she had vowed, when the law snatched her first daughter from her, that she would never set foot in Accra again.

Indeed, it was her daughter who had written to her.  But, it wasn’t the daughter she had hoped to hear from.  After all these years, the daughter she had with Dr. Dadzie was writing to tell her that she recognized her as her mother and was planning to visit her with her daughter and husband.

            “…however, our plans have been suspended as a result of the kidnapping of our daughter, who is also your granddaughter.  This is to inform you, nonetheless, that I found out you are my mother and I think of you all the time.  The abduction of my daughter has given me an opportunity to feel what you felt long ago when you were not allowed to take me with you.  As sleepless night after sleepless night passes over me, the meaning of the tears you shed so many years ago becomes clearer to me.  Mother, at least you now know that I am not dead.  Please, let me know that you’re also alive.

                                                                              Your daughter,

                                                                             Nana Ajoa Quansah (Mrs.)

                                                                                Barrister-at-Law”

The retired school teacher’s translation of the latter part of the letter had a dramatic effect on Mama Aku.  The long years of reading letters for the illiterate village folk had caused him to develop a rare talent for conveying the mood of the letters with a clarity that could be missing even if the person could read the letter on his or her own.  When he finished his task and turned to look at the woman, she had her hands on her chest and was staring almost lifelessly into space.  Tears were trickling down her cheeks but she made absolutely no sound.

Efo Etse could hear the sound of African drums beating to Christian choral music in the distance.  He was going to be late for church but he was willing to wait for Mama Aku to be completely purged of her emotions.