A Treacherous Journey to Reality

By Nii Kojo Addy

This book is the sequel to "A Dangerous Journey to Stardom." It follows the story of Paa Nii Roland, who initially crossed the Sahara Desert with his best friend Shaka. Unfortunately, Shaka was lost in the desert, but Paa Nii Roland managed to survive the perilous journey across the ocean. He was eventually rescued after their raft capsized and ended up in a medical centre. However, his life takes a dark turn as he becomes entangled with drugs, prostitutes, and the local mafia. Paa Nii finds himself in a much more dangerous situation than he had anticipated, caught in the middle of a planned heist with no choice but to escape or die.

This fictional story, set in 1999, aims to depict the challenges faced by many young Africans attempting to illegally reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean. Many migrants discover that the reality is not as promising as they had hoped. Some fall into the hands of human traffickers and perish while crossing the Sahara Desert, and those who manage to survive may end up in refugee ghettos in Libya or, in extreme cases, forced into slavery and disappear for years. Migrants who successfully cross the Mediterranean either end up in refugee camps or face deportation back to their home countries.

The local mafia in Sicily often takes advantage of the situation by exploiting migrants for cheap labour, drug trafficking, or prostitution. Many young African women are coerced into prostitution to repay debts they may have incurred back home. Non-compliance often results in the abduction of their close relatives in their home countries.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vike Springs Publishing Ltd
• Release date: Mar 14, 2024
• ISBN: 9781739095178

Nii Kojo Addy

Nii Addy Kojo Addy was born in Accra, Ghana. He studied Psychology in University but has since reverted to his childhood passion of sports blogging and writing short stories. A Dangerous Journey to Stardom is his first book.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

Paa Nii woke up in a medical facility for displaced immigrants. He did not know how long he’d been out for. He opened his eyes but shut them quickly when he saw a couple of immigration officers talking with the nurses. He didn’t rue his decision to keep his eyes shut. He heard some people crying for mercy, not to be transferred to a detention centre. After a while, he decided that to ensure he was not deported to his homeland, Ghana, he had to make a quick plan to escape the medical facility.

Chapter One

Paa Nii had been convalescing at the Lampedusa medical facility set up for migrants who had survived the perilous journey across the Mediterranean. He felt a bit stronger but felt compelled to hide his recovery. The immigration officers had been frequenting the wards to pick up recovered patients. He needed to work out a plan to escape his impending fate. Paa Nii had been awake for a week. He silently studied the routine of the nurses. He made a couple of mental notes, lights out at nine, courtesy of the clock hanging on the wall.

They were cared for by three nurses during the day, and a skinny nurse called Talia covered the night shift. His eyes roved around the ward as he plotted his escape. He wondered what lay outside the ward. He didn’t have a clue because he was brought in unconscious. Even though he didn’t hear a word of Italian, he knew he couldn’t stay in the ward to be taken back to a holding facility or deported. He needed to cook up an escape plan.

Chapter Two

It was a cold, dark night. A white Fiat Punto drove up. It slowed down when it got to the spot where the prostitutes lined up. There was a large group of men standing by; some were pimps, and some were customers. Most of the ladies were immigrants who had crossed the Mediterranean. They had been forced into sex work, while their pimps were also under the control of the local mafia. The white Fiat stopped. The man in front got out. He beckoned to one of the girls to come over. He was the most feared enforcer in Lampedusa. He worked for the Grosso family.

‘Aysha’ Vieni Qui,’ he bellowed in Italian. The frightened, slender-looking girl meekly walked over to the car. The deep scar on his right cheek made him look even scarier at close range.

‘How many customers today?’ ‘Five.’

‘OK, where is the money? It’s our turn to take the takings.’ He stuffed the cash into his front pocket.

‘I’ll come for the rest later. Let your madam know.’

‘Drive me to the medical centre,’ he barked at the Nigerian driver.

Paa Nii waited for Talia to close the door. That meant she had finished her last round of checkups for the night. She wouldn’t be back till dawn. He silently slipped out of bed; he just had a pair of socks but still felt how cold the concrete floor was. He felt a bit groggy after a few steps. He had not done anything physical for a fortnight. He ignored his light- headedness and slipped out of the ward. The sleuth in him urged him to survey the medical facility. He needed to plan his escape. He didn’t want to be carried away when he recovered fully.

Chapter Three

He peered left and right before he got out of the ward. There were six doors on each side of the floor. The ward was the first room on the left. The hallway smelt of fresh paint. Even though it had been painted recently, it still looked ugly. The doors were painted blue, and the walls lime green. He peered through each room; all the lights were out. He saw a flight of stairs leading towards the upper floors. He realised upstairs had the same layout. The glazed doors on the right were bathroom facilities but were locked. The first three doors on the left side of the hallway had their lights on. The next three had their lights off. He looked through the glazing to find out what was behind the doors. He couldn’t see a thing because they were tempered with privacy glass. There was an elevator at the end of the hall. Paa Nii breathed in and out and thought to himself; here goes nothing. He opened the door carefully. At the sight that met his eyes, his jaw dropped. It was a morgue! It was filled with covered bodies lying on the tables. He swiftly closed the door and silently checked what was in the next room. There were a lot of mortuary fridges on both sides of the wall. Unlike the first room, there were no visible corpses. Instead, there were two large tables in the middle of the room. There were scattered scalpels, pritchard elevators, scissors and other surgical tools on the tables. There were large white sacks under the table, bits of paper, and some white substance littered on the white terrazzo floor.

As he thought to himself, a horrifying idea crossed his mind. He hoped that the people downstairs weren’t involved in any illegal activities like killing patients or engaging in organ harvesting, as he had heard about in the Libyan ghetto. The mere thought of such actions left him feeling deeply