The Wolf at Number 4. Ayo Tamakloe-Garr

Then I called after him, “Do you have any wine, Junior?”

      “Wine?”

      “Yes. I was having a glass when that guy came and interrupted me.”

      He laughed. “Don’t worry, we’ve got a bottle of red wine stowed away somewhere.”

      “My favorite kind.”

      Soon he was back. He sat down facing me with a leg on either side. He lighted the candle and stuck it to a saucer, which he set down between us. I turned to face him while he placed a glass in front of me.

      “What about you?” I asked as he filled the glass.

      He shook his head. “I don’t drink alcohol.”

      I took a gulp. “I rarely drink myself.”

      “So you were telling me why you came here?”

      “Oh yes, erm, there was nothing for me back in Accra,” I said.

      “Rather? When that’s where everyone wants to go because there’s nothing here.”

      My lips curled in imitation of a smile. “I lost a lot of things in Accra. My father died and we lost our property and I lost my job.”

      “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know.”

      “Don’t worry,” I said with a shrug. I took another gulp and set the empty glass down. “So here I am.” I picked up the bottle and refilled the glass. “Besides, I don’t like city life.”

      “Why? I miss Accra so much. We used to live there as well.”

      “Really?”

      “Yeah. We lived in Tema until ’88. My father then took a job as a lecturer at the university, so we had to move here.” He paused for a moment. “Shortly after we moved, my mother found out she was pregnant. It was an accident. It wasn’t planned. Well, she delivered and Kwabena was born and—”

      “Sorry, Kwabena?”

      “Wolfgang.”

      “Oh, Wolf. I see.”

      “He has managed to get you to call him Wolf, eh? That’s his new thing now. That boy, eh.”

      “I like him,” I said. “Anyway, go on with your story.”

      He did. “After she had given birth to him, the hospital gave her painkillers to help her sleep. They were expired.”

      My mouth dropped open.

      “She died.”

      “No!” I exclaimed. “And what happened to the doctors and nurses? I hope they went to jail or were sacked.” My emotions had me leaning forward.

      He shook his head calmly. “We gave it to God.”

      I sat back and pressed my lips together. The words which threatened to come out of my mouth would not be thought of as wholesome or becoming of a lady.

      “You can let your words fly,” he said with a laugh. “We’ve insulted them saah. Yours would just be a drop in the ocean.”

      Even though his words moved me to laughter, my eyes watered.

      “Are you crying?” he asked in disbelief.

      I wiped my eyes and took a large gulp of wine. “I’m sorry. I had a . . . a brother who died, that’s why.”

      “Sorry.”

      “He was just a baby. Don’t mind me, okay.” I took another gulp. “Let’s change the topic.”

      “Okay,” he said. “Look up.”

      I did and gasped. A brilliant silver shroud was spread across the sky. There seemed to be thousands upon thousands of stars out. I had never seen anything like it before.

      “It’s beautiful,” I whispered.

      “You don’t see this in Accra,” he said.

      “You certainly don’t.”

      He put out the candle. “We won’t need this now.”

      “Look, some have colors! That one is reddish.”

      He chuckled. “Yeah.”

      I tapped his thigh. “Look, look. Look at those three stars in a line there.”

      “That’s Orion’s belt,” he replied. “And that red one you saw, that’s his shoulder.”

      I looked back down at him.

      “In Greek mythology, Orion is a mighty hunter.” He took my hand and traced the outline of Orion’s body. “And that one there, the one that looks blueish is his leg.”

      “Wow.”

      “According to the story, Orion fell in love with Merope, the daughter of Oenopion the king of Chios, and wanted to marry her. But Oenopion was opposed to the marriage. Orion attempted to seize Merope by force, but the giant scorpion, Scorpio, stung Orion and killed him.”

      He turned me around and pointed to an even redder star. “And those stars right there, they are Scorpio. They are on opposite sides of the sky to avoid further conflict between the two.”

      I was impressed. “How does a medical doctor know this?”

      “My mother had a keen interest in the stars and also in the stories around them. She had many books on them. Kwabena has chewed them all and will never let anyone rest.”

      “Oh, okay. That certainly sounds like him.”

      “He’s a good kid. Want to hear some more?”

      I nodded.

      “Did you just nod in the dark?” he asked, trying to hold back laughter.

      I laughed as well. “Mmai! But you saw me, didn’t you?”

      He took my hand again and pointed at what looked like a small, elongated cloud. “It would be much easier to see with a pair of binoculars, but that’s Andromeda.”