SECTION E – African Prose
FACELESS – AMMA DARKO
Explain Kabira’s presence in the hairdressing salon at Agbogboshie.
Explanation
Agbogbloshie market is where Kabria shops for her vegetables. On the Monday following the discovery of Baby T's body behind a hairdressing salon, she and Fofo get acquainted under curious circumstances; disguised as a boy, the girl has attempted to steal Kabria's purse.
She is moved to rescue the 'boy' as a matter of conscience when 'he' is about to be lynched by the crowd that apprehend 'him', and 'he' restores Kabria's purse.
Earlier at the office of MUTE, the foursome officials — Dina, Vickie, Aggie and Kabria have discussed Fofo and Baby T and reached a consensus that Kabria ought to honour her appointment with Fofo at Agbogbloshie market to get to the bottom of the death of Baby T and Fofo's predicament.
All the above scenarios trigger Kabria's visit to the hairdressing salon. Kabria therefore goes to the salon at Agbogbloshie not to have her hair done, but to primarily conduct investigation to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of Baby T. Therefore, Kabria's presence in the hairdresser's salon is purely in her private capacity as an 'investigative reporter'.
Unfortunately for Kabria, her visit to the salon is initially a disappointment. She is unable to obtain information of any substance from the hairdresser. She is terse: 'To tell you the truth, my sister, what at all am I supposed to know?', and she shrugs. `Actually I didn't come to meet the body." Instead of information about the dead girl behind her salon, the hairdresser pours out her frustration about her broken marriage, which has saddled her with the responsibility to cater for the children of a runaway husband. Kabria wins her sympathy after telling her of a worse situation in her own marriage. She then directs her (Kabria) to see her senior apprentice for some details about the dead girl.
Kabria approaches the hairdresser's senior apprentice who makes interesting revelations: It appears Baby T is killed somewhere else and the body is dumped near the kiosk. The head of the Kayoyoos says Baby T is, not one of them. Three days after the corpse is dumped near the kiosk, pacification rites are performed at the spot by unknown persons. These, among others, leave more questions unanswered on Kabria's mind.
This, however, gingers Kabria and her colleagues into more actions. Eventually, Kabria's presence at the hairdresser's salon leads to a host of investigative activities that trace the murder of Baby T to the door step of Poison and Onko.