“The waters are coming…the waters are coming,” did Debs Bediako scream with the Spirit to survive in his Soul. His Soul commanded him to hold tied to the wooden wall avoiding the broken glass with Medication and bottles of Suspension, feeling the wetness of the warm waters around his feet. He shouted over to his young Helper, an eighteen year old girl from the neighbourhood in Adabraka close to the Police Station, the youngest of five and the star in her family loved by all her siblings, humble and intelligent, bright and beautiful. She had found the job in Bediako Brother Pharmacy through a friend that had recommended her to the owner, a Father of four little children out of which a twin couple, and a caring mother. The Pharmacy was located at the Circle in Accra, next to GOIL Petrol Station, opposite Vienna City, standing in the shadow of the GCB Tower standing high among the surrounding buildings like Barclays Bank and Mr. Bigg’s Restaurant.
“Hold yourself close to the wall,” instructed Debs Bediako his Helper being glad that his other Helper had gone out a while ago before the waters were coming. “Hold yourself…close to the wall and take…and take,” he was falling, swallowed water, saw his death in front of his eyes, refused to give up, came up again, took a deep breath, stood firm against the incoming waters. “I will make it, this cannot be the end of my life. My children need me and I need them!” did he tell to himself to encourage his Spirit to give his Soul the needed strength to fight and wisdom to take the right steps to come out of his misery hearing people outside crying in pain and anxiety.
Erica Osei, an elderly woman was shouting for her life, begging GOD for mercy to rescue her, sending a short prayer to heaven. Her heart was beating its heart out, pumping Blood Rivers after Blood Rivers against her chest and brain. In a flash back her life passed her memory, thinking of her late husband that had passed on one year ago, her children that had made it in life to establish themselves better, her little dog she cherished so much being like her one of her own children, the mother that had raised her as a single mother while her father had left her for another woman and the years of suffering in her village in the Eastern Region.
“I cannot make it,” responded Rose Quartey to the command of Debs Bediako to move on and walk against the increasingly incoming waters. “My strength is going, Boss…my strength is going.”
“You cannot give up. Your life is ahead of you. You simply cannot give up,” encouraged he her while himself struggling against the water level that was constantly rising forcing him to swim against it to find his way out of the Pharmacy unto the street.
The rains had set in this Wednesday afternoon, June 3rd twenty fifteen, like never before. Giant black clouds had come over the Gulf of Guinea to discharge their load over the Center of Accra with no way out for the floods to disappear back again into the Sea through orderly constructed and maintained Drainage Systems. To find shelter from the down pouring rain, over hundred people had gathered under the roof of the GOIL Petrol Station. Water increased around them, making all wet to their bones. Workers of the Petrol Station observed the scenery on their premises helplessly being trapped in the situation themselves. The GCB Tower stood like a Light House in the night unmoved from the unfolding disaster around.
A man gave Erica Osei a hand holding her tight to himself while he was holding himself tight to a pillar of the Petrol Station. The rain poured so loud it was hard to understand someone’s own voice. Erica Osei felt the warm hand of her Helper giving her comfort and hope to come out of a situation alive she thought would have never been possible in her life. With tears in her eyes, she looked into the eyes of the man helping her seeing peace in it and the determination to get both out of the dangerous situation.
“Boss…Boss…Boss,“ was Rose Quartey struggling with storm of waters flooding into the Pharmacy, one of many in the large family of the Bediako’s, once being seventy siblings, while left with fifty four from one father and wife wives, most of which working as self-employed Pharmacist.
“Do not give…,” was Debs Bediako fighting for his life while feeling the strength in his arms fading,” do not give…not up. You are too young to die now. It is not your fault what is going on now. So why should…why should you have to die now?” was he astonished about himself to say. He slipped again, went under water, and swallowed water into his lounges, pushed himself up again on top of the water filled with a strange taste. Nervously he tried to find out what caused the unpleasant taste. His brain started to work again telling him Petrol had injected the water. He opened his eyes in fears knowing the consequences of what was supposed to happen.
Behind the Circle lay the Odor River, forced into a massive concrete structure to form an open Drainage System out of it, leading to the Sea a few miles away. The River basin was chocked by broken cars, green plants, plastic waste, human remains, and ply wood, guarded by wooden structures of encroachers on the River Banks all along towards the open Sea, a guarantee for a human catastrophe, seen and known by everyone in the City Administration, the Accra Municipal Assembly and its Head, Major Doctor Alfred Oko Vanderpuye, a Man that had wanted to demonstrate Leadership in his City during the greatest Disaster in Ghana, the Melcom collapsed building promising into the Media Lenses that any person, regardless of who they are, would be brought to justice and pay for the loss of innocent lives only to demonstrate years later, after the release of the investigative report into the matter, that no justice was done as no action was taken by him or others responsible for the lives of Ghanaian citizens.
“I can see fire coming,” said Erica Osei with burning fear in her eyes. “It is coming so fast.”
Her Helper looked behind him. From the other side of the buildings fire had started to burn the water. He hold the hands of the old woman next to him even tighter forcing his brain to find a solution to escape their foreseeable death. It was not until this moment when he realized Petroleum from the underneath tanks had come to the surface and polluted the water they all were standing in for quite some time. His eyes were seeing helpless Workers from the Petrol Station trapped in the small Mart next to the Pumps with wide opened eyes scared to death like him.
“I feel the fire is burning me,” Erica Osei cried her heart and soul out. “OH, my GOD, is there nobody to help us. I do not want to die…it is not my time to go. Please GOD, I beg of you, do not let this happen to us.” She was sinking into her knees. Her Helper tried his very best to lift her up again still asking his Brain for a solution to make it to the other side into safety.
Debs Bediako looked around him, trying to see a sign of Rose Quartey, a hand, an arm, a leg, her jeans…nothing was for him to see while outside he looked into the burning water that got swept towards the Pharmacy. His eyes looked into a wall of water shining like Hell in the Darkness of the night, a scenery he thought for a second, that he had always imagined when bad people end their life and suffer with the Devil forever. He had set his mind on the goal not to be part of such people as his children and his wife needed him so much. His body got weaker by the seconds, his clothings dragged him down always while he struggled and struggled against the not ending incoming waters.