Though the security men let us go after the rain had died down, they still informed Coach Sarah and the entire Sports management about our fight.
So I wasn't surprised when I was summoned by Penfield's Disciplinary board to report to the administration block early Monday morning.
The word was finally out that Akunna's death was caused by misuse of drugs. The police, after conducting an autopsy, revealed that the cocaine Akunna had unknowingly consumed, reacted with the diabetes medication in his bloodstream and that resulted in his seizure.
To think that all this happened because Ethan, my so-called childhood best friend, was trying to drug me, but ended up killing my roommate made my blood boil. How could he be this cruel and selfish?
The large antique clock on top of the wall let out a soft ping the moment it struck eight. I had already faced the disciplinary board earlier with my account of what had happened. Ethan was currently in there, dishing out his tale, which I already knew was going to be riddled with lies so no one would suspect him.
When it came to crafting convincing stories, Ethan was as cunning as a fox.
The doors to the boardroom swung open and out stepped Ethan and his pot-bellied dad.
At some point during my narration session, the Mayor of Accra suddenly barged into the boardroom, demanding that I should be expelled for beating up his son. Of course, the members of the disciplinary board had him escorted out, but not before he threw me a nasty look of disdain, like the one he was shooting my way right now.
It was only when Coach Sarah, along with Detective Frimpong, who was in charge of Akunna's case, appeared at his side that he peeled his gaze off me. The three of them exchanged a few words, then the Mayor and his son parted ways.
"Akwasi."
The familiar voice had me turning to find Mr. Ignatius Dery, the man who had granted me the opportunity to study in Penfield. "Sir." I stood up.
"I heard everything, son." He gave me a gentle pat on my shoulder. "Sit down and tell me how you're feeling."
"Honestly." I plummeted back down on the seat. "I feel worse than I've ever felt in my whole life." And as Coach Sarah and Detective Frimpong drew closer, the feeling swelled in size.
"What's the verdict?" I quizzed, trying to ignore my racing heart.
"Well..." Coach Sarah began. "Thanks to your impeccable track record on the swim team, as well as your good academic performances, the board denied the Mayor's request to have you expelled. However, they put you on probation. One more fight and nothing is going to stop them from expelling you."
Relief traveled through my veins. "What about Ethan?"
The look Coach shared with the Detective made me shoot up like lightning.
"Please don't tell me they're allowing him to go scot-free?"
The tall, dark-skinned detective scratched his beard before speaking. "Since everything you said was merely an accusation, the board didn't see the need to punish Ethan."
"But he drugged Akunna!"
"Do you have proof?"
"No, but he was at the party!"
"A lot of people were at the party, " the Detective stated, then laid a hand on my shoulder. "Look kid, I know you're upset that your friend died, but you can't go round, pointing fingers at random people because you think they had something to do with it."
"Think?" I immediately shook his hand off. "I don't think! I know he had something to do with it! He admitted it during the fight!"
"Look, as far as I know..." the Detective slid his hands into his pockets, assuming a casual posture. "Ethan barely knew Akunna. He wasn't even on the swim team or any other sports team for that matter. So it doesn't make sense that Ethan would try to drug him. Until there's actual proof that he did something foul, we can't accuse Ethan of anything."
My gaze locked on the bearded man's face, and it took all the self-control I had to not inflict pain on his hairy cheek. "You're unbelievable!"
Pivoting on my heel, I walked out on the three adults, hands balled into tight fists that I wished I had pushed into that stupid detective's face. He was refusing to see where the arrow was pointing and it made me really angry. What if they never figure out that it was Ethan who did all this? What if he walks out of this free, like this whole fight thing?
I barged past the doors, racing down the stairs and onto the pavement.
"Hey! Akwasi! Wait!"
If I hadn't remembered that I came here with two other people, I wouldn't have stopped.
Shola was the first to reach me and pulled me into a tight hug. Last night, when I returned to the hall, she and Deon nearly died of shock at the sight of my bloody nose, swollen knuckles, and wet clothes. Since then, both of them vowed to never let me out of their sight.
Shola pulled out of our embrace, as Deon and Seth ended their brief jog in front of me.
"Hey, I heard about the fight and came to check up on you," Seth panted out. "You ok?"
"No!" I snapped, unintentionally. "We need to find a way to prove that Ethan drugged Akunna or else he's going to get away with everything!"
"We can talk to Princess," Shola suggested. "I saw her at the vigil last night, and she looked really sad about Akunna's death. Maybe we can play on that."
"The fact that she looked sad doesn't mean she'll talk," Seth countered. "Ethan has got that girl in the palm of his hand. The moment he flashes money in her face, she'll do everything he wants."
"Yeah, but we still have to give it a shot." My bottom lip found its way in between my teeth for a minute. "Right now, Princess is our only source of proof. We at least have to coerce her to say something before it's too late."
¤¤¤¤¤
B53
The last time I was here, it was to pull Princess out of a breakup gunk. If someone had told me then that I'd come back here a second time to solicit Princess' help in proving that her "boyfriend" killed my roommate, I would've given that person a dirty slap.
Seriously, I would.
Seth's knuckles rapped against the wooden barrier, blocking the entrance to Princess' room.
Muffled sounds seeped out, but no one answered the door.
Seth pounded harder, threatening to punch a hole into the wood, and that seemed to have worked because not long after, the door flew open, revealing a goth girl with bed hair. Her make-up was smeared and she wasn't bothered by the fact that she was standing in front of three guys in a very revealing bra and booty shorts.
"What?" She snapped.
Deon's face turned beet red, whilst Seth loudly cleared his throat, trying his best to keep his eyes on her face because her boyfriend was lurking around in the room.
"Hi, uh, sorry," Seth smiled politely. "But we're looking for Princess."
Her eyes flitted from Deon and Seth's faces to mine and Shola's at the back, before she shot us with a bullet of pure disappointment.
"She's not here."
Awkward pause.
"Ok umm... any idea where we can find her?" Shola queried.
"I dunno," the girl snorted. "Probably on the highway to *Kumasi."
"Kumasi?" We all repeated out of surprise and the girl blinked at us like we'd each grown a second head.
"Yeah, Kumasi. She took off this morning. Said she was going home to handle some mental health something something, I wasn't really listening. Anyway, good luck finding her." She slammed the door in our faces.
All three of my friends turned to me with gaping mouths. I wanted to believe it was from the girl's rude behaviour, but come on... who am I kidding?
Without a word, I stormed down the stairs, back onto the ground floor, and out of Princess' hall of residence. A cool late morning breeze whizzed past me, attempting to cool off the heat of anger and frustration, wafting off me.
"I can't believe it!" I rubbed a hand over my face. "I can't believe she just got up and left like that!"
"Well, you better do." Seth followed after me. "Cuz I just texted Akweley and she confirmed goth girl's story." He held his phone up, showing me the chat. "Princess sought permission from Coach Sarah to take a mental health break from the team. She's going to be away for two weeks."
I plopped down on an empty bench, covering my face with my hands. Oh God, this cannot be happening...
"Hey, hey." I recognized the voice as Shola's. "Don't let this get the best of you ok? It's not over. There has to be someone else who was with the four of you at the bar that night."
Four. The number made me sit up. We weren't four at the bar that night, we were five. And just like that, the fifth person's face flashed in my eyes. "Nana Kwame."
"Who?" Shola asked.
"Nana Kwame. He was at the bar with us that night."
"Great." Shola stood up. "Then let's go talk to him."
"Oh hell no." Seth shook his head. "I've known that dude for a very long time, and trust me when I tell you that he's as loyal to Ethan as a dog! Even if he knows that Ethan is a hundred percent guilty, he'll not rat him out."
True. I remembered asking him once if Ethan was using drugs during a meet. That guy looked me right in the eye and lied, then tried to guilt-trip me into feeling bad about asking that question. There were also times that Nana Kwame went the extra mile to cover up Ethan's dirty deeds so no one would find out. Seth was beyond right. Even if Nana Kwame knew Ethan was guilty, he wouldn't say anything. I shouldn't even have thought of him in the first place.
"Hey, guys!" Deon called out, jogging in our direction. "Have you all seen this? I just saw it in the lobby." He rolled out a copy of The Penfield Daily and my eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets at the sight of the bold headline.
"The finals for the Annual Swimming Competition is coming back on." Seth read out loud. "And it's happening this Friday?"
That last part made my heart jump. "Wait? What?"
"Isn't that too soon?" asked Shola. "I thought the whole reason why the finals were postponed was to allow the police to conduct a thorough investigation of Akunna's case."
"Yeah, that's what management said initially," Deon replied. "But now, it says in the papers that the sponsors of the competition are getting restless. They don't understand why the entire competition has been put on hold when the student who passed away wasn't even a swimmer."
"But the suspect is a swimmer," I blurted out. "Ethan is a swimmer."
"Yeah, I don't think they're considering him as one, Akwasi," Seth said, allowing his eyes to skim through the newspaper article. "Look..." he bent a little to let me see. "It says here that after two days of investigations, no suspects have been identified. So it's either they checked Ethan and found nothing on him, or they did find something, but they're keeping it out of the public's ears, which to me, makes sense."
"How does that make sense?" My eyebrows furrowed.
"Umm, hello, did you forget who Ethan's dad is?" The big guy quipped. "If the public gets to know that the Mayor's son has been labeled as a suspect in a crime that happened on the Mayor's property, how do you think that's going to look for the Mayor himself?"
"So they're choosing to protect the Mayor's public image, instead of seeking justice for an innocent person's death?" My tone flared up. "How can the police be so cruel?"
"You think it's cruel, but they'll tell you that they're just doing their job." Seth closed the news piece in his hand. "Whoever said no one is above the law was a complete liar, cuz in Ghana, some people are above the law, and it includes all the family members too."
*****
*Kumasi ~ a city located in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
Thanks for giving today's chapter a read. God bless you!