Walk Away From Foolishness

Several years ago I met a European girl right here in Ghana. This was whiles I was still a student in Cape Coast. She was tall and attractive. Honestly, I no longer recall her name. She told me that she was very adventurous. I told her I was a maverick. We paired for an adventure. First fact is that I was not the first 'local guy' she had met and taken as her boy friend. Even though she was a foreign volunteer teacher in a local nursery school, you could describe her as one of those sex tourists. She first met a 'London burger' who returned to Ghana on holiday. This guy seemingly 'spoilt' her with all the good things in town at all the good joints and hangouts. He paid all the bills - and he did with alacrity. Their affair lasted a couple of months until the 'London Burger's' wife - who by the way was back in England and the main source of the burger's money and power - got informed about the affair. She threatened to leave the burger. It became scandalous. The 'London Burger' had to advice himself quickly. He fled. This is where I got into the picture. I inherited a 'brand new second hand' European girl from the burger. But that is not all that I inherited. I also inherited the burger's burdens. My European girl friend had acquired not only new tastes but also new spending habits. She had obtained a relief from the 'cost sharing' culture of Europe among men and their women through the 'London Burger'. And it was easy for her to mistake me for the burger. As a student at the time who didn't have a golden spoon in my mouth, I was almost always broke. My wallet was constantly lean. Sometimes I went without a wallet for lack of money to keep in it. Yet, I wanted adventure - money or no money. We started it quiet nicely. It was no love affair although we shared the benefits of lovers. It was adventure designed from the onset. We went to many places. I was the natural tour guide. To my dismay, I was also the sole financier of our adventure. Can you imagine a man without a wallet sponsoring an adventure with a European girl with a combination of European and African tastes? you have to be creative. And well I did it - but not for long. I was constantly now more broke than ever. I lost priorities. I spent school bills money with her. Unconsciously, I was trying to measure up the the burger's standard - naively deceiving and ridiculing my self in the process. When I was completely without money, I had to go into 'by force' solitude. She always wanted to go out and enjoy like she used to have with the burger. One day I had a rude awakening from my adventure. We went out. We chilled very well. We indeed had a lot of fun that night. I mean outdoor fun. We went deep into the night. Finally, we went to her trotro station where she will pick a ride home. One good thing about that girl - she always took trotro which cost less. She got a ride and left for her house. I stood there all alone drunk and weak. I still had a working mind though. After more than five minutes of searching my pockets, I was faced with a reality - I had no more money to transport myself back to school. Indeed, I had no money anywhere. I was completely and shamefully bankrupt. I could not walk because it wasn't a walking distance. I had to devise a plan B. I went on the road but could not find a trotro. I could not take a taxi from the road side either since I could not afford it. I got an idea. I went to the taxi station where there are many taxis in a queue for passengers. There was one taxi with a sign 'ready going'. There was no passenger in it so I made myself the first. I sat in the front seat whiles the driver kept on with his noisy advertising for three more passengers. He kept saying 'last person....last person' though he needed three more passengers. Whiles he was at it, I put my plan to work. The driver didn't hide his coins displayed in a tray close to the gear lever. I found enough coins. I picked out exactly the amount that the taxi driver will demand from me as cost of transport. I then closed my palms tightly and waited. In a jiffy, three more people joined me in the taxi. The driver got in quickly and ready to move. But before he will get to his ignition, I was already handing my coins over to him. He smiled gladly at the alacrity with which I was willing to pay even before take off. What he didn't know was that I was paying him with his own money. I was getting a free ride on his blind side. I smiled back at his naivety as he received 'my coins'. Did I face moral dilemma? absolutely not. I had no time for that at that moment. I was faced with the question of prudence not morality. I woke up the following morning full of emptiness and the truth staring at me. I concluded that this whole adventure was utter folly. The adventure was too costly for me. I couldn't afford it anymore - unless I was prepared to become a petty thieve. I was not confused - not even for a second. I had to walk away from it - walk away from foolishness. If you don't have money, you don't have it. Don't pretend you do - not with a woman.'' culled from the book - PANAFEST IN THE DUNGEONS - An experience of a natural mystic: A narrative by SaCut Amenga- Etego (coming soon to your book shelves)