Goldfish Bowl

Chapter 24

The suite was on the third floor and as she and her father stepped out of the elevator into the quiet corridor, he began to speak again, loudly and animatedly. He spoke of how he and Kojo had grown up together, living in scum and determined to make a name for themselves, he had lost his parents when he turned ten and Kojo's family had treated him like their own son, he told her of all the trouble they got into as mischievous teens, how he went on to study medicine on scholarship at the university of Accra and how Kojo ended up getting pregnant in her first year and how despite it all, she had been strong, and went on to graduate with a degree in journalism.

Time had tried and failed to separate them, Kojo had been there for him when Vera had shattered the pieces of his heart, and together the both of them had tried for years to trace the runaway woman and the daughter she had hidden from him, during that time, Kojo had gotten divorced, Hector had fallen into alcoholism and together they had struggled out of that hole of depression.

They had been in that accident together and he had escaped barely alive and Kojo stuck in a coma, Hector spoke of how much he had hated himself because he had been the one to live and that Kojo's daughter had had to grow up without a mother. He spoke through the tears of how he had been lonely without his soulmate and Alisha felt a piece of her heart crack every time he cried and wondered if she would ever find friendship like that again after August.

"I remember announcing excitedly to her that the private investigator had found a lead on you, she had dropped everything and insisted on coming with me that evening, and I remember the last thing she said to me. . . before that fucking truck switched lanes and hit our car, she was making me swear to make her your godmother." Hector scoffed a watery laugh and Alisha smiled. They had reached the end of the corridor and he stopped behind the last door on the right.

"I told her I would let her hold you first. I want to honor that promise today." He said, wiping his face harshly, he took in a shuddering breath.

"She sounds so strong, so fierce." Alisha said wistfully, thinking that she would have loved Kojo.

"She is — was." He stammered over his words before sighing. "Her whole family is in there and I'm afraid to see them again, mostly because they have never blamed me for what happened."

"Because it wasn't your fault." Just like August's death wasn't mine, she thought.

He nodded and knocked at the door, it creaked open a second later and a buxom woman with a big afro and dark skin that was almost black, peeked her face outside, smiling slightly and bending to hug Hector.

"Uncle Hector." She muttered softly, pulling back with a little wobbly smile in Alisha's direction.

"You must be Alisha, I'm Esi." She said, shuffling awkwardly. Alisha smiled slightly too, unsure how to greet her.

"Esi is Kojo's daughter." Hector said quietly.

"We've been waiting for you." Esi said, opening the door fully so they could enter.

As they did, Alisha noticed two elderly men, one was her father's age and the other had an afro full of white hair. She was partly surprised, were these people the only ones that cared enough to come say goodbye to Kojo?

The men looked away from the hospital bed where a still woman lay and smiled tired smiles at Hector and Alisha. The younger man who looked a lot like Esi came forward to greet Hector with a handshake and a nod in Alisha's direction.

The older man seemed to be holding himself together. Barely.

"We've said our goodbyes, Hector, we will leave you alone with Esi to say yours."