The Struggles of Life and Migrations

By Lilian Adusu

Magic realism has always been my thing well before I learnt what it is called. My story Alans Jinx came to me while lying on my bed one cold winter morning when I was expected to visit a site for a site-specific assignment. I was amused at a comment made by my then lecturer Nina.
Lilian, did it really happen? she asked, and it amused me a lot. I also read a number of stories which gave me even more ideas into the encouragement of mixing reality and fiction. One or two of the stories are close to reality though, but I had them livened up to make them more fascinating. The titles, I think, befit the stories because, without planning, it appears they all talk about the changes that have happened in the main characters lives at some point or other.
Short stories appeal to me more than novels, so I opted to major in that, rather than in novels at my final year in Uni. I was very determined to publish a book, no matter how hard or impossible it might prove to be, because lots of my mates gave up their Creative Writing courses to go and do other things, mainly because, one lecturer ungracefully inferred that some of us would never become writers. I was not in that class, but when I heard that, it made me rather more determined to become a writer, no matter how badly I wrote. So if you are reading this today, it means I overruled his prediction. Glory be to God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Sep 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483616551

Lilian Adusu

I am Lilian Adusu, born in Ghana in West Africa. I am the third born of a family of two brothers and four sisters. I lost my father, Mr Joseph Tetteh Zoe Adusu, in January 2008. My mother, Mrs Felicia Adjoa Adusu, is still alive and well. My dad called me ‘Mother’, saying that I look like his mother and that made me feel quite special. I had a set of twin boys, Keli and Elike, and Tenu, a girl who was born one year and three months after the twins, making them look like triplets. I studied Creative Writing and English at the University of Greenwich as a mature student. I graduated with a Second Class Uppers Degree and took a postgraduate study to become an Early Years Professional, but I still love to write. Most of my inspirations were from my childhood ability to write stories in my head even before I grew up and thought about studying to become a writer.

Book preview

Copyright © 2013 by Lilian Adusu.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 06/25/2014

Xlibris LLC

0-800-056-3182

www.xlibrispublishing.co.uk

521237

Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Talluta, the Zulu Boy

Vanished

Jeffrey and Nikkita

A Home in London

Love Is Great

Cassidy and Holly

A Fright in the Night

Did I See It! Or Did I See It?

Mullah’s Ride

Wandering About at the London O2 Arena

Allen’s Jinx

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my three children: Keli, Elike, and Tenu.

They are my world, and thoughts of them have motivated me to achieve

something for them to make them proud of me. I love you loads.

To my mum and to my six siblings, I did this for all of us.

Acknowledgements

First of all, I give all the glory to God for giving me the chance to fulfil my dream. I believe there is more to come.

I wish to acknowledge my mum who, right from my primary school days, got me interested in books. Because of her motivation, I can read the most boring book ever printed once I start it, and even if it takes me months, I always go back to it till I finish reading it. I read a storybook on archaeology once, and it took me nearly a year. Maa, your motivation hasn’t been in vain. Thank you.

I also want to express my sincere gratitude to Dr Harry Derbyshire of the University of Greenwich for believing in me after reading part of my story Talluta. It was my first ever attempt at writing a story. It wasn’t finished then, but he saw a potential in it and gave me admission to study as a mature student at the university. Also I remember his phone call to me one afternoon to invite me for an interview as though it was yesterday. Thanks, Harry, for all your support during my three years’ study time.

I heartily thank my first creative writing tutor Dr Ronnie McGrath who got me interested to study Creative Writing after a taster at the Summer University session in July 2007. Reading through some of the comments he made on my paper while marking made me see what he saw in me then. I may publish it one day. Thank you, Ronnie. You’ve been an inspiration. I also want to thank Ms Nina Rapi for her encouragement during my first year at the University of Greenwich. She made me believe in myself and know that I could also become a writer. I thank Dr Paul Brimm, who encouraged me to learn some academic writing after going back to the classroom after over twenty years’ interval of study. I thank Dr Peter L. Humm and Dr Emily Critchley. And a big thanks to all my other lecturers who supported me throughout my studies and helped me become a writer today. Thank you all. I also thank Christine Pratt, who also encouraged me during my study with her at the Summer University English class, September 2007. A thank you goes to Dr Nkongho, who spent hours with me to edit my drafts.

About the Author

I am LILIAN ADUSU, born in Ghana in West Africa. I am the third born of a family of two brothers and four sisters. I lost my father, Mr Joseph Tetteh Zoe Adusu, in January 2008. My mother, Mrs Felicia Adjoa Adusu, is still alive and well. My dad called me ‘Mother’, saying that I look like his mother and that made me feel quite special. I had a set of twin boys, Keli and Elike, and Tenu, a girl who was born one year and three months after the twins, making them look like triplets. I studied Creative Writing and English at the University of Greenwich as a mature student. I graduated with a Second Class Upper Degree and took a postgraduate study to become an Early Years Professional, but I still love to write. Most of my inspirations were from my childhood ability to write stories in my head even before I grew up and thought about studying to become a writer.

Talluta, the Zulu Boy

On turning the corner, I saw Talluta, the Zulu boy, standing in the doorway with his fist tightly clenched; I wondered what he might be holding, but there was no time for that as I had to stop him fast before he caused any harm to anyone, including himself. ‘How am I going to do that?’ I wondered. I remembered very well from past experience that matters like these shouldn’t be taken lightly.

‘Talluta,’ I called. He turned with a start, which quickly confirmed my suspicion that he was up to no good. ‘I have come to keep the promise I made you.’ That was the first thing that came to my mind to say, and it did the trick.

I saw his white teeth flash with a rather funny look on his face, which, I believe, was meant to be a smile. He put his hand in his pocket, and it came back out, unclenched. Whatever he was holding had found a resting place in his pocket. Curious though as I was, I wasn’t daring enough to ask any questions, to talk about it, or to even acknowledge it, fearing I might worsen things if I did.

Nobody really knows what goes on in that mind of his half the time.

‘Is madam in?’ I ventured to ask.

Talluta does my sister’s gardening and other household chores from time to time and had, more or less, become part of the household. Occasionally, issues arose which were not very pleasant, and I hoped against all hope that this wasn’t going to be one of them.

‘Madam, she is gone out.’

‘Out, where?’ I asked.

‘That man, he come, take madam out again, and me am here.’

‘Really, did you want to go with them?’ I asked, not really expecting a positive answer.

‘No, I should take madam out, not him. What does he do in this house? Me, I do everything for madam.’

A tense feeling surged up inside me as I saw anger flash across his face, and that frightening look came back.

Suzette, my sister, is a medical doctor, and she believes in treating everybody equally, no matter their status or background – which has gone to Talluta’s head to make him dare to nurture those amorous feelings for her.

Standing on the landing now, with only a couple of yards between us, I couldn’t obviously move away without him sensing my fright of him. I had to find something to say, and fast too, so as not to create any vacuum in the flow of our conversation. Any distraction at that moment would be a godsend, and then it came; there was a buzz on the doorbell. I could have prayed aloud in gratitude for the timely intervention, but only self-control prevented me.

‘Who could this be? Whoever it is would be more than welcome at this stage.’

‘Talluta,’ I said, ‘could you answer the door, please?’ He did, and it was Curtis, the very person accused of taking my sister out.

I asked, ‘Is everything all right?’

‘Why, what’s wrong?’ Curtis asked.

All the questions flooded out at once as I saw Talluta’s expression change and change again.

‘Where is Suzette?’ I asked. ‘I thought you went out with her.’

‘Oh no, she is the very person I’m looking for. I’ve missed her so much. I am just returning from a conference I attended in South Africa, and I left my car in her care.’

‘Your car? Ooh! That answers the question,’ I said.

‘What question?’ he asked.

‘Well, we thought – no, I thought you had taken her out when I saw your car drive away.’ I quickly changed the ‘we’ in order not to aggravate the situation, knowing what could happen if things got out of hand.

‘I wish I had. I’ve missed her so much. I didn’t realise how much I’ve come to depend on her for everything. I believe this tells me it’s time to do something about it.’

I wished he wouldn’t say those things in front of that boy, knowing how he felt. ‘But, hey! At the end of the day, it is his woman, so why not.’

I had to quickly find something for Talluta to do in the house to keep him busy.

Apparently, Talluta had come to the United Kingdom after disappointing two girls with whom he had relationships in his country, Congo. He put both of them in the family way around the same time, and the parents of both the girls wanted him to marry them. He realised that he did not have the means to cater for either of them, so he ran away to the United Kingdom to hide from them. Because of his French background, he needed to polish his English before he could even think of furthering his Engineering career that he was pursuing before leaving his country, and that had been a hindrance to him. Due to that setback, he couldn’t get any proper jobs. Knowing that, my sister Suzette paid him a reasonable wage and treated him as decently as possible in order not