Chapter Eleven
Hussein sped up the lone street between the trees. He followed the signs. They were supposed to lead him to a house owned by a man he had discovered could be instrumental to him. He prayed with all his heart that it would be so. It was not by chance that he had stumbled on that piece of information that had made him drive halfway across the country to this secluded place. He had searched long and hard for clues. Twice in a week he had travelled out of the country in pursuant of what he hoped would be a clue to the whereabouts of James Greene, and twice had he been disappointed. Still that did not deter him. If anything, it only fuelled his need to find the truth.
He was determined to have Kimberly no matter what and if having her meant that she had to overcome all her fears first, then he was going to help her.
The house he was looking for was hidden in lots of greenery. A quiet stream strewn with lily pads snaked by the house, all around birds called out to their mates as they hopped from one tree branch to the next. Everything looked like something out of a children’s fairy-tale. The house itself, hidden in the greenery, was painted green as well. It was so small and created the illusion of the house not really being there. It was as if the builders did not want it to be easily recognised.
He walked the narrow stone path that led to the door. A doorbell was installed. He pressed the button and waited. He was anxious —almost nervous —to meet the man who held the key to the solutions he sought, but he was more determined than nervous. On the second ring, a petite woman with wire-rimmed glasses perched at the tip of her nose opened the door partially.
“Good morning,” Hussein greeted.
“Good morning,” the woman replied all the while looking at him from the top of her glasses. How may I help you?”
“I am looking for Mr. Kevin Annan.”
“That would be me,” a voice said from inside. “Let him in Matilda.”
The woman opened the door wider and stepped aside. “Come in,” she said.
Hussein entered.
“Hussein Mubarak Daniels,” Kevin said, “I have been expecting you. Please follow me.”
Hussein followed the man through a hall into a grand and spacious living room. Everything else in the house was large. From the furniture to the life size paintings on the wall to the mannequins. The house was obviously larger than it appeared from the outside. One of many architectural wonders.
“Please sit.” Kevin indicated a two-seater sofa.
“Thank you,” Hussein said. “Your house is –”
“Deceptive?”
“I was going to say impressive,” Hussein said, “but deceptive also works fine.”
“I call it a compromise house,” Kevin said. “My wife wanted a small house, a cottage to be precise.” He rolled his eyes as if the very idea was ludicrous and laughed. “I wanted a sprawling mansion. This was the result.” As he spoke, Matilda served them water.
“A wise solution,” Hussein said.
“Just like what you’re here for. It’s surprising what we men can do for the women we love.”
“It is.”
“I always knew that this day would come. Honestly, I expected it about two years ago. I guess my cousin is more stubborn than I pegged her to be.”
“If you knew all along that she was your cousin, why haven’t you shown yourself to her. She lives her life thinking that her father did not want her anymore.”
“Hussein,” Kevin said, “I can assure you that no day goes by when I don’t think of what she might be going through, but it is for her own good that I remain unknown to her.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Things are not always as easy as we want them to be.”
“What things?”
“If you have the time, I —”
“I drove halfway across the country. I have all the time.”
“Okay,” Kevin pressed a button in his chair and spoke into an intercom. “Bring something for us Matilda,” he said.
After Matilda had finished serving, Kevin began. “Many years ago, maybe fifty years or more when my grandmother died, she left a huge fortune behind. I am talking big money with lands, factories and companies. She had inherited all of that from her own mother who was the only surviving child of a rich but cruel British lord governor in old Gold Coast. This wealth attracted a lot of greed both from local people and my great grandfather’s people. Basically, the British part of the family did not understand why the black part should get anything, but we Greenes are tougher than we look. We did not leave them a penny of what was rightfully ours.
“Unfortunately, when the time came for my grandmother’s inheritance to be shared among her only two children, who were my father and Kimberly’s father, a lot of issues arose as to how a huge fortune like that was going to be shared equally. It was suggested that a good number of the factories and companies should be liquidated and the money equally shared by the two sons. But uncle James did not agree. He did not think it was necessary for so many factories and companies to be sold just so they could have what they wanted. He proposed to take all the companies and a good number of factories and let my father keep the rest of the factories together with the liquid asset.
“As you might guess, my old man refused outright. He thought his brother was trying to trick him into settling for less than he deserved. Things did not end so well. In fact, it was so bad that they ended up not talking to each other. In the end, a good number of factories were sold and the liquid asset shared equally. Most ended up as payment for lawyers. Some years later, my old man found out that many of the factories which were supposed to be sold had been secretly bought by his brother. He was not very pleased and that only widened the gap between them. You may be wondering what all this has got to do with James leaving his family.”
“I am”
“Well, as it turned out, my father was so set against keeping the properties, the factories especially because they posed a threat to the safety of the owners, who in this case were my dad and his younger brother. Before my grandfather passed away, he was the one handling all the family wealth, and my father, the eldest son and lawyer, was his right-hand man. Only the two knew of all the threats that the family wealth posed. There were people who wanted the properties for themselves. People who were willing to kill to satisfy their greed. And these people were all around them as well as overseas. And holding on to the physical properties was a way of making my family easily locatable by people who wanted them out of the way.
“People like those who attacked uncle James on the night that he went out to buy ice-cream for his little girl and his wife. I know all this because I was there in my father’s house when my uncle appeared in torn clothes bearing a knife wound a few inches deep in his left shoulder. My father knew at once what had happened. He did not ask questions. We hid uncle James for six years.things had gotten so bad and out of hand that he could not go back, because that would have given the wolves enough power to manipulate him into giving up his properties. We knew that the best thing was for him to stay away from his family. Those people could not harm his family because all the deeds to his properties were in his name only. Harming his wife and daughter would have brought them nothing but trouble with the law. And people like that don’t like confrontations with the law.
“Also, they had no way of tracing James to our home because soon after my father got his share of the properties, he changed his name and published it in a science magazine that no one read, hence the name Annan. Having cut ties with his brother for so long only made it even more impossible to trace us. While uncle James was living in my father’s house, my father helped him draft a will to protect his wife and daughter. They also made changes to the names on the deeds to make the factories and companies look like they were jointly owned by uncle James and other highly placed individuals. This was to keep the wolves away, which has worked till now. Of course, everything will revert to Kimberly once she claims what is hers. I have a copy of the original will and deeds in a safe place. I used to think my father was wicked for not showing any concern towards his brother till I finally found out the whole story by chance. In the end that was what saved us all.”
“And her father, when did he pass away?”
“Two years ago, in his sleep.”
“So, in all those years he was alive and in hiding, he never even once made an attempt to contact his daughter? I can’t quite believe that.”
Kevin chuckled. “There are many unbelievable things that we Greenes will do to protect the people and things we love. Every day, I handle business affairs behind the scenes for a cousin I have never met. Truth is that it has kept me busy ever since my wife passed away but that does not mean it is not tiring having to run my own affairs and then some.”
“Why don’t you just hand everything over to her then?”
“Is that why you are here? Do you think that will solve your problem?”
“What do you mean?”
“Even if I handed everything to her, do you think it will be enough reason for her to choose to be with you?”
“That is why I am here. I need you to explain to her what happened. She has to understand that her father did not disappear because he did not want her anymore. I need her to understand that there is nothing wrong with her. That I am never going to leave her.”
“You talk about what you need but have you considered what she needs? She needs time and space. You should give her that.”
“I am not doing this only for my own selfish reason. Yes, there is a motive behind it but I also know that it is something she needs. Just as I understand that even if she finally accepts that her father did not abandon her, there will always remain the possibility that she will not accept me. But to me, it is important that she receives closure to be able to live a normal life. Even if it is not with me.”
Kevin remained silent for a while as he pondered over what Hussein had said. He had had misgivings about Hussein even though he had ordered a thorough research on the man. He still did not believe that there existed a man who could be so clean. But hearing, him now, he was forced to accept that Hussein was really honest about why he wanted those answers.”
“I think you are an honest man, Hussein,” he said, “and for your sake, I hope you achieve what you are hoping for though I cannot guarantee that. In the meantime, I shall prepare to take that long overdue trip to Accra to visit my cousin.”
“Thank you very much,” Hussein said.
“No need to thank me. I myself believe that I should have done this a long time ago. To be honest, I am a bit nervous about meeting her.” He laughed to cover his embarrassment. “Thank you for caring about her.”
“There is one more thing,” Hussein said.
“What is it?”
“I would appreciate it if you don’t mention to her that I have been to see you.” When she accepted him, he wanted it to be because she wanted to and not because she felt she owed it to him.
“I understand,” Kevin said. “She won’t know.”
