If they had not realised it before, they had begun to now. The house was in a serious state. They could have it collapsing and falling onto their heads if they did not take the required precautions. The house was old and weak at the corners and there were cracks all over at vantage points which could not be ignored.
"Why did I choose this house at all?" asked Odartey's Mother as they surveyed it from a distance. "I never saw all these?" Odartey smiled. All it needed was a thorough reconstructive work which would be very costly. They had enough to rent a house and none to conduct any reconstructive exercise.
Koshie secretly approached the Assembly Man with a letter asking for help for the extensive reconstructive works. He promised to get back to her. He did. In no time, he had the Minister responsible for that constituency, Mr. Obinti sending a few men to assess the extent of damage. His ministry would bear the total cost of reconstruction. Her expectations had come to pass and she could now look forward to workers in their caps and machinery, tearing down the structures of the old house and building a totally new one.
Koshie waited for the workers who were to report to the site by 8 am. Although she was supposed to be in school by 7 am, she waited until her Mum scolded her for being late. Her mother thought it wise to inform her teacher about her interest in the reconstructive works.
"It's a good thing she is interested in it, but it should not hinder her studies in school," her teacher said. "We would seek permission from the principal, so we can use their activities to learn something concerning our subject." Koshie was excited.
"Mum," she called, tugging at her skirt. "I don't have to be late for school anymore"
"I'm so glad you know that, sweetheart," her mother replied. "You need to be serious with your studies."
"The whole class would be coming to see the building one of these days," she revealed.
"You're at it again, Koshie," her mother shook her head in dismay.
How could her daughter be concerned about such complicated things? Perhaps she might have an interest in architecture or engineering in future.
True to her words, she and her classmates came from time to time to the site to observe proceedings.
Odartey's parents were grateful for the kind gesture and overwhelming support of the entire community. On seeing Mother and Daughter in a heated debate however, the Obuo family rendered their unqualified apologies for all the noise and hullaballoo, presuming the two were arguing because of them. Koshie's mother assured them that they were glad to have them around and felt sorry for the state of the building.
"Don't worry," they said. "We only noticed it after we moved in. We did that in a rush. Our tenancy agreement had expired and we needed a place to stay ASAP."
Koshie was not convinced with her answer. She wanted more details. She would slip into her detective shoes once again and find out. This seemed like a great opportunity to find the real reason why they had to move in so quickly.
"If I may ask," Koshie interrupted. "Why were you in so much of a hurry?"
Odartey's mother's demeanour changed all of a sudden. Odartey tried hard to signal Koshie to be circumspect. Koshie's mother noticed how nervous her neighbour was and interjected to save the situation.
"You don't have to explain anything to her," signalling to Koshie that she might be intruding in her neighbour's affairs. Koshie just did not seem to get it. Her mother pulled her aside and explained the situation to her:
"She just said their tenancy agreement suddenly expired. Why would you want to disturb her any further?"
"I think they're hiding something, Mummy," she said
"You may be wrong, my dear," she said, defending Odartey and his mother. "Let me not hear you asking any more questions about their moving in anymore!"
"Can't I even ask Odartey?" she pleaded.
"No," she insisted. "Not even Odartey." Koshie's mother then offered to host Odartey and his family in her house for the time being as reconstruction works began in earnest.
"I am pleased to inform you of our interest in entertaining you and your family in our home for the time being," she offered, as she turned her attention to Odartey's mother.
"Yaaaaaaaay!" screamed Koshie. At least, she would not have to be strolling to Odartey's house to see him every day anymore. The grateful neighbours suddenly embraced her with tears in their eyes.
"Bless you! Bless you!" they said. "It would be our greatest pleasure to stay with you." Koshie jumped for joy. She was the happiest girl on earth to host Odartey in her own house.
During the weekends, at their convenience, Koshie and Odartey would help fetch wood from the mountains and transport them to and from the site singing
Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. This time, her mother could not stop her from offering her support with the excuse that she had to be in school. She and Odartey would separate the bad and worn out wood they found in the old house from the good ones and keep them for firewood for special barbecue sessions. They also helped to water the garden and green grass Mr. Atta was nurturing in the courtyard to pave way for a great landscaping job to begin. They filled every pothole in the driveway with the flat stones from the quarry and even joined the driver to fetch some on his numerous trips until Koshie's mother stopped them. She was taking the precautions the supervisor had spoken to her about seriously. He told her they could hurt themselves fatally if they continued helping the workers unguided. He explained also, that he had no time to be watching over children who kept running around. Unperturbed by Koshie's mother's admonitions, Koshie and Odartey kept themselves busy fetching water from downstairs and passing it on to the workers upstairs although there was a watering hose which could do that job perfectly. It was like trying to outdo a robot manually. It was highly impossible, yet they did it for the fun of it. Whilst they did so, they would laugh and chat. In the evenings, they would come back home in time for supper.
After completing their tasks for the day, they would sleep so fast that their parents would not even have the opportunity to say good night to them. They were exhausted from the several errands they ran. Soon, Koshie's mother would reconsider her stance. However, the more she thought of it, the less obliged she felt to do so.
The look on their faces when she was discussing this discouraging idea with Odartey's parents said it all. They kept those long faces as she met them on the staircase.
"What's with the long faces?" she asked.
"Nothing," they replied in unison, fearing that she might rebuke them for eavesdropping. She knew something was amiss, although she could not place a finger on what exactly it was. She guessed that they might become miserable with every attempt to limit their activities. She could not dispute the fact that the manner in which they seemed so willing to help was encouraging, though.
As the days went by, Koshie noticed a change in Odartey. He seemed to fall short of the strength and vigour he initially had to do the job. For a moment, Koshie thought it was fatigue; but it did not seem to be the case. She began to notice, at a point in time, that Odartey would stop working for a while, stoop low, and take shorter, deeper breaths. That felt a little strange. If he had incredible abilities, could he not help himself with it? She hated how fragile he looked when he stared her in the eyes and wished he would be stronger for himself and for her. She always wondered why he refused to prove himself strong in such moments, and watched him closely as she sat down and waited for him to recover from the breathlessness before proceeding. Koshie prompted her mother and she confessed that she had noticed it too and asked her to keep an eye on her best friend.