The neighbours were furious. Wielding sticks, cutlasses and knives, they kept banging at Amihere's door.
"Open the door!" they screamed. His heart raced faster than a formula one-race car. It seemed this time, Hamilton was in the driving seat. What could have caused this agitation? He changed into clothes that were more appropriate and walked gently to the gate, rehearsing his speech in his mind, careful not to irritate anyone. Speaking softly in order not to give away his trembling voice, he said calmly:
"Can I help you?" as he opened the gate halfway to prevent them from barging in. The mob heckled him, took control of the gate and shoved him aside as if to say: 'give way! You're not the reason why we came'. It was like a coup d'état where the powerful suddenly became powerless and helpless before their successors. He prayed they would not barge into his living room to make unnecessary noise to attract the neighbours. They had already done enough to persuade a handful to turn against him.
"We are here to protect you from that strange woman!" said one of the men who was courteous enough to stay by his side to explain their unlawful entry, noticing that their entry was an effort in futility. "We hear she has been sleeping here for days!"
"You must be mistaken," he said, defending her. "Why would I keep a dangerous woman in my house? I'm not married neither am I attached to anyone."
"We are here to warn you! This woman has destroyed other men's lives. We don't want you to be the next victim!" If you wanted to warn me, was this the best way to do so? He thought to himself.
"Just let me ask you this," he said quickly. "Have you ever seen me bringing a woman into my house?" he turned to the men who had gone far ahead of him and were returning disappointed.
"You might have a way of hiding her somewhere? We won't put that past you!" they said as they drew closer to him.
"You know me well," he replied. "I have nothing to hide." Upon seeing the dejected look on their faces, he felt more emboldened to confront them for their unlawful entry.
"Did you see anyone?" he asked. They shook their heads.
"Am I not a good person to report you to the police?" he said, himself, irritated. They were on their knees begging him.
"We beg you. We have done you wrong. Forgive us."
"I do not even know you and you barge into my house with false claims. How else do you expect me to react?"
"We are sorry. We won't do that again. That woman is dangerous and crazy." "May I know her name then?" The mob leered at each other, passing the question on from one person to the other until it reached the last man's ears. Amihere shrugged. No one seemed to know the name of the woman.
"You should be ashamed of yourselves! Mind your own business and be sure of what you're doing before you make a fool of yourselves. Away with you!" The men walked out of his house shamefacedly. He heaved a great sigh of relief, At least, he had been able to give them something to make them forget her and their desire for revenge. He should be thinking about moving her away to safety lest people destroy her reputation before she was able to recover. Deliberating on this matter was a daunting task. It occupied his thoughts for the best part of the day. Having given most of his houses to tenants who would not be moving out soon enough, there seemed to be no other option than to keep her where she was and keep his fingers crossed that she would be all right. His thoughts gave him a fresh idea unlike those he discarded early on. Kwei Fosu, a good friend of his, came to mind. A friend in need is definitely a friend indeed. Although he had planned to keep everything a secret, it was prudent to allow someone to share what was in his thoughts with him to relieve him of the accompanying pressure and stress. The idea of opening up to this great friend of his did not appeal much to him though. If Kwei Fosu found out later on what he was really trying to do, he could lose his friendship. Perhaps he may not need to tell him the details of the matter but find a way of convincing him. Kwei Fosu would understand and not want to pry further.
Unknown to him, the angry mob had left a small message in his house. As he was away searching for solutions, it went off. The news of the damage it caused was all over the place. How cruel of them! Amihere could not fathom the motive behind their action. He was in a state of shock. Amihere remembered only one face. The rest were blurry. Perhaps, that was all he needed for an arrest warrant. Fortunately, the men had given him a very good alibi to approach Kwei Fosu, his friend to help him secure a place for Mamle easily since he would be sympathetic. Police investigations went on in earnest without respite and arrested one suspected notorious gang leader in the neighbourhood so he would not cause further havoc. Kwei Fosu gladly offered his house for Amihere to stay in as investigations went on and as he took pains to renovate his own house.
"This house carries many memories which are not good for you," said Kwei Fosu to Amihere. "Would you still like to proceed with your plans? I would have built another house somewhere to replace this one if I were you."
"I love the place, Kwei Fosu. I wouldn't trade it for anything," he replied.
"What about your neighbours? They are not too friendly, are they?"
"I believe they will change their minds soon."
"I love your faith in them. They seem like good-for-nothings to me."
"Please don't call them names yet. There may be some bad nuts but I wouldn't be too sure that all of them are the same." Kwei Fosu finally agreed with him. His friend had a good point. That same night after their conversation, Amihere drove slowly out of the house to Kwei Fosu's. It was an unoccupied story building with many flowers around it and a well-manicured lawn done by excellent landscapers. Kwei Fosu did not know yet that Amihere had secured the place for Mamle.
"Do not feel sorry for me," Mamle said, catching Amihere's empathetic face peering at her.
"Was I?" he asked innocently. To avoid seeing his sorry face, Mamle turned her face towards the wall.
"Where am I now?" she asked.
"In one of my apartments," he said. "I hope it shields you for the time being."
"Shields me from what? Are you hiding me from someone?" she asked, amazed. For a while, he felt like opening up to her, yet something told him to hold back that feeling and keep her in the dark for the time being.
"You are better off in the dark than being bothered with what is happening around you," he whispered. Though she heard exactly what he said, she fell asleep soon afterwards, weary from all the trips she had made from her former place of residence.
Due to start life all over again in this new house, mainly indoors before she was courageous enough to face the whole world, there she was peering at herself in the mirror, seeing a woman more beautiful than herself staring at her.
"What are you staring at?" she inquired. "Who brought you here?"
"Were you talking to me, Mamle?" Amihere asked. They were the only two people in the house at that moment and safety was the watchword after his bizarre experience with the mob.
"Come see a lady who keeps leering at me and saying nothing but everything I say," she said. After pausing for a while, still leering, she asked him: "What's my new name?"
"Errrr…..haven't thought of it yet," he replied softly trying to search his mind for some clues.
"I need to be able to respond to a name, you know?"
"Certainly, certainly," he replied.
"Would Oforiwaa do?" he asked.
"I don't think I like that name much. Let's find some other name"
"It might help if you would consider it as one of the most likely names."
"It sounds odd."
Pondering over the chance to have a new name both excited her and gave her the creeps at the same time. Several names came to her mind, some of which she immediately rejected. Those that seemed fit however, she kept for the time being. Watching fashion police and shows on DSTV also gave her an unusual interest. With this new interest, she was likely to raise Amihere's spirits.
"Amihere," she called softly.
"Yes my dear."
"You would love me to be a model, won't you?"
"Yes, I would love you to and very much."
"Am I still starting my own line after our previous discussion?"
"Yes, that would be a very good idea."
Amihere refurbished the outhouse to begin work on Mamle's designs. Every day, her mind was set at fulfilling a particular target, which she did impressively. Food became her least priority on the list and as usual, Amihere kept complaining about that habit which grew worse by the day.
"You're going to have an ulcer very soon in your stomach if you continue this way," said Amihere to Mamle. "I know you're set on meeting particular targets but think about your health first" Mamle wanted very much to listen to his advice but was inclined more to completing her tasks than to caution.
"I will help you complete your targets if only you will eat," he said.
"I wouldn't want you to help me so I wouldn't eat," she replied.
"Maaamle!" he cried. "You're just impossible!" Mamle developed a severe stomach ulcer and necessarily had to recruit more people to help her.
"I don't want to say 'I told you so'" he said. "Just let me help you." Soon, Mamle had several hands willing to help who would even stay overnight to meet targets. Those who did so wholeheartedly, Amihere gave some incentives. Now, all the workers got interested in receiving these benefits so much that Amihere needed to slow down on giving incentive packages.
Mamle's designs sold out fast and the patronage was amazing. Advertising on YouTube was the best decision she ever made. Her live presentations and artworks gave her a vast following. It was so hard to keep up with them. It meant more employees and experts at her service. Now the owner of a factory to produce fabrics for her various designs, some other industries came to her aid, supplying her directly with paint and other essentials.
Mamle secured a place for herself to expand her activities and did same in other regions of the country to display her products and cut short travel time and expenses. Amihere had a lengthy conversation with a modelling agency after which all the options lay before him. He also in turn needed to take it upon himself to coach Mamle thoroughly before throwing her to the 'lions'. Amihere spoke with Kwei Fosu concerning his find.
"Forget about those ones, my friend," he said "Don't you remember that I own one of such? And reputable for that matter?"
"Yes, I totally forgot," he replied.
"I'm going to be responsible for her upkeep; virtually everything."
"Take it easy. You may be my friend, but business is business. Let's be real and talk like real businessmen would."
"If you say so."
Amihere knocked on Mamle's door. There was a lot on his mind when he was doing so much that he didn't even notice when she opened the door to let him in.. His hand almost knocked her forehead.
"Watch it Amihere! lest you'll have me bleeding in no time," she said, warning him.
"Sorry, Mamle,"
"Come in. What's on your mind?"
"I found a place where you could be trained as a model," he said. Mamle pulled a chair from those in the dining hall to the sitting room.
"Tell me all about it," she said, enthused.
"Some of it, I will tell you, but some of it, you might have to learn from experience," he said. "First of all, it's good you're building your self-esteem. That's very important, Mamle."
"Tell me more, Amihere."
"Be proud of your skin colour and don't let the discrimination that accompanies it get to you."
"Okay, I am proud of my skin colour?"
"We'll see when you get there. I hope you pass that test.You're dark in complexion and most people would choose fair girls over dark ones in this industry."
"I will survive. Trust me," she replied. "Wait! If you say skin colour, I'm in my own African country. Why do I need to contend with people of the same skin colour as myself?
"I knew you would say that. Remember we have dark skinned blacks and fair-skinned individuals in Ghana. There still is some discrimination even amongst ourselves. Please, under no circumstances should you take drugs. I beg you. Never give in to that temptation."
"Amihere, you are talking like you don't know me." These were some pertinent issues Amihere discussed with Mamle, and truly, with time, she would learn other things no one would be able to tell her.