PRISONERS OF CITIZEN KWEKU (WORK IN PROGRESS)

Chapter 3

HOTEL KWESI

It surprises the sisters to see a well built man clad in all black stand by the entrance to receive them. He isn't the only man in black on the premises. To the left are a crew of about four or five heavily built men breaking into the granite ground. To the right are more men in black, it seems, that they are patrolling the premises... Naomi and Ruth frown their faces as they alight from the taxi, wondering at their rather incongruous military sort of presence, in a place of freedom and leisure. Ruth's dry sense of humour escapes her lips in a conspiratorial whisper to her sister, "Is the Iranian president lodged here today?"

Naomi shakes her head. That would be quite an oh dear moment. They're in Ghana but they're supposed to be under the radar, not in the spotlight! The view of the landscape is so memorable, from the top of the hill the sisters can see the entire city ensconced in the valley below, such a breathtaking sight, for a small but lofty looking hotel hinted at amazing back stories. Is the hotel a historical site? Neat and adorned with exotic flowers, two gates, one at the base of the hill as an entrance and the other nearly halfway up, as the exit, the hotel in itself looks like the property of a gold king's third or even fourth wife, not being big enough to intimidate but being a cosy cluster love nest of several interconnecting two storey buildings. It felt private, like, coming to a beautiful home. The kind of hideaway a gold king would stash his beauty queen. So romantic!

"Ok!" The rusty driver tells them, "We have arrived! So let me offload all your luggage!" And he moves to open his boot.

Naomi is quick to stop him, "Thank you Sir, very much, but please can you wait for us a bit, let's just verify if there is still an available room for us?"

"Extra time will attract an additional fee!" he warns, wagging a finger at them.
The sisters hasten past the man in black, who says something to them in Twi, to which they can only nod their heads, quite clueless, maybe he is greeting? Naomi bought a pocket book of Twi basic sentences with English translations at the airport, but neither of them has had time to go through it yet! At a front desk of the reception, the sisters meet a raunchy looking young lady who let's them know that they are an hour late.

"All our rooms have been booked for no less than a week, please. If you wish, you may check back in one week from today." Naomi glances at the little square board on the wall behind this receptionist. Their daily rates look very affordable. Will they find such a nice place again within the same price range?
Today is Tuesday.
The disappointing news shows on their tired faces as they walk back to the waiting taxi.
"It's not the end of the world, Naomi, let's go to hotel La Palmas!"

The Palms hotel is not far from Citizen Kwesi, just as Houda described, it's on the second street on the way down the hill, by the right. They still had a few rooms available.
"It's the start of the rainy season in Ghana," the taxi driver explained to them whilst offloading all their luggage, "The heat is greatly reduced! Some nights even get cold! It's the Tourist season!"
The sisters are lucky to get rooms at La Palmas. It doesn't feel like good luck as Naomi brings out her purse to pay for the next seven days. It's like a small motel, with only bushy grass for scenery in it's untidy, surrounding environs. Their rate is fifty percent higher than Citizen Kwesi, begging the question why.
Ruth squints her eyes at their display board and gasps, "Two hours? Thirty cedis? Without an air conditioner? Why on earth would any---"

"I got a room with AC so it's okay, RUTH!" Naomi's voice deepens when she pronounces her sister's name. She had a fairly good idea why anyone, in fact, why a man, will want to pay for just two hours. The receptionist looks at them with an amused glint in her eyes.
They turn to pay the taxi driver who has been kind enough to carry all their things inside to the foyer. He surprises them by beaming a smile,