Year 2020, Kumasi , Manso Nkwanta - Ghana ,
In an old hut, screams of a woman in labor could be heard, maidens gather around the hut, an old woman and two young ladies are with the woman in labor , the two ladies holding her hands ( right and left) and in between her spread legs lies the old woman who keeps asking the woman to push harder.

" Maame, push , push a little harder, the baby is coming" the old woman said.

She pushed and pushed , which turns into screams , startling the others outside. Her screams was making her husband and three other children outside fear for her life..

The husband kept walking in circles, with a worried look on his face, the others walk towards him to encourage him to have faith for his wife will be ok.

"I pray she bore a daughter this time , for I must keep my promise to the old chief" - the husband said to himself.

Suddenly one of the two ladies in the hut came out, wearing a confused look and spoke
"She has given birth ooo, a-and it's a boy again"..

"What !! - the husband yells, " no, no , that can not happen, I needed a girl this time." He paused after adding that and look back at the young lady and asked "but how come we didn't hear a child cry , are you lying to me or us??..

" No, Mr. Asante, she has indeed given birth, but the child did not cry, it came out without crying.." the young lady explained

Murmurings among the others could be heard , the husband was getting annoyed, he rushed into the hut and saw his wife with the baby in her arms and smiling.

"Kwame look, he is a beautiful boy, come closer and see .." the woman said softly

The husband chuckled and moved closer , asked the old woman and the other young lady to leave , he took the baby from his wife's arms and looked at the baby observing his features.

His skin dark yet beautiful as night fall, his curly black hair covering his eye brows, his small but beautiful brown eyes that could catch any man or woman attention , his tiny fingers closed so tight Like  it was holding something dear to him, he was neither smiling nor  cheerful. But he was indeed a beautiful boy .

"He is indeed a beautiful boy, but we needed a beautiful daughter instead , remember we needed a daughter as we promised the old chief". The husband explains.

The woman tried to get up even though she was in pain and bleeding out, her husband asked her to stop but she refused and moved a little closer to him and said

"He is our boy, the gods  wanted this child to be born , we have no Control in this so don't blame our child for being born a boy kwame.." she said in a brittle voice.

"Hmmmm, aaah , I can't with the pain, I -I -I .."

The husband noticing the pain in her voice called for the old woman and the young ladies, they quickly rushed in and helped her, her husband was in distress, he was getting scared and panicked at the sight of the blood coming from his wife lower part.

The women in the room tried their best to calm and help his wife , but they were losing her, her body was getting cold and cold until finally there was no breathing , they signalled the husband , he instantly fell on his knees with the baby still in his arms.

Suddenly the baby started to smile and giggle , it looked so happy, seeing this made the husband look at him with angry eyes, he thought of something evil, he wanted to kill his own child.

he got up and fled the room, the old woman , read his expression and followed , she called him and asked him to stop, everyone looked at his direction, murmuring among themselves, his other sons in tears for the lost of their mother , he was devastated , every pain and anguish he felt he laid it down, holding the baby so tightly almost strangling him.

" take him away, I don't want to see it again, take it away now!!, he yelled. "he was born on a Thursday night , a night that he laughed at his own mother's death , he is no child of mine"... he said as the old woman came for the baby and took him away.

From that day , the terror that occurred was never forgotten, for its changed the life of Jon Asante forever..

Five years later..

Jon was the name given to the child who was labelled the child who laughed at his own mother's death, it followed him everywhere, his brothers hardly played with him, they will drive him away anytime he wanted to play with them, he was but a five year old boy in a small town with a population of about 109,000. Everyone knew of his birth, he was known as an outcast of the town.

Once he tried to play football with his brothers , but his elder brother pushed him hard on the ground, which made him hurt his knee, blood was oozing out but he wasn't scared nor frightened by the sight of blood, his brothers and witnesses were in shock , the old woman was the only one who stood by his side , she quickly got him up and took him to her hut and treated him.

" don't be too hard on yourself boy, if they don't want to play with you then let it be.." the old woman said to him

" but who would I play with if not my brothers , they are all I got , yet they treat me like an eyesore, I know of the stories about me , and it's -I-t hurts.." jon says almost in tears.

The old woman, noticing something strange about the wound on his knee, the scar was still there but the swallowing had subsided , it was strange, he wasn't supposed to be healing so fast , and moreover she had notice how Jon did not fret nor panic as a five year old child should , he is different she said to herself..

She closed the doors and quickly bandage the wound with a neat cloth and asked Jon to come closer and said to him..

"Jon , remember this , you must not remove this bandage at any cost, wait for a week or two before you do, you fell heavily on the ground so you need to be careful"..

" but gram-Maa I am ok, I don't feel any pain, it's li.." Jon tries to explain but she interrupted him

" shhh, don't say anything, that is exactly why you mustn't remove the bandage ok, so get up and make sure nobody knows you don't feel any pain.." she said to him and smiled.

After this incident , things started to change , the woman was noticing more strange things about Jon , she was getting worried, what if the people catch on , most importantly his father, he would either lose his life or be banished from the town, She thought to herself as she keeps observing Jon.

A visitor payed Kwame Asante, he was a man in his late fifties, bald head, big stomach and a white beard, wearing a Ghanaian traditional chief attire, his neck covered with heavy traditional necklaces, two men holding a big stick and an umbrella followed him, upon seeing who his visitor was he immediately asked his workers to prepare something.

He wasn't rich nor poor but good enough to fed for his family , the old chief was here and he needed to impress him for he had disappointed him not long ago. They came in he offered them a seat but the chief refused and asked one of his men to deliver his message ..

" kwame, kwame , the old chief wants you to know this, not only have you failed to give him your daughter as a wife but also proven how unproductive you are , no income from your farms, so therefore your rights to the farms will be taken from you, you are no longer the owner of the lands.. the man delivered the message and turn to the chief , the chief stood up and started walking towards the door.

Kwame panicked and asked to be pardoned, but nothing could change the chief's mind, he pleaded and pleaded but to no avail.

Things became hard for Jon as his father place all his anger on him, he will beat him and locked him up without food, he would cry for help but his brothers never came to his rescue, It was getting harder and harder for him, nobody cared , actually they wanted him to suffer, his wounds did not hurt him, but the cruelty of his family broke his heart into pieces.

This went on for years, the old woman had passed away, and now he was on his own, he hardly talked to anyone, he had his favourite spot under a mango tree , which he sat for hours and look up the stars, he had also notice something strange about himself, after all his struggles not once did he break down or fall sick , he kept his secret to himself but things were about to change..

CTV news reporting live ,
There is a rumoured virus circulating in the air , people are to take heed to the precautions provided , the ministry of health encourages individuals to be conscious about their surroundings and safety, be alert and stay home, this is sandra Oklay reporting live..

" Jon wake up , wake up, papa is not well we need to take him to the hospital.." His older brother said to him as he tapped on his shoulders..

"What?, Micheal what are you saying , papa is sick". He asked his brother , noticing that he was coughing heavily.. " Are you ok Mick , it's seems you not well either". He asked his brother with a concern look on his face.

" I am alright , let just get to papa now" Micheal reassured him.

They quickly went out to find their father, their father was laying on the bed , his body stiffen like a dead body , Micheal called Jon to get closer so they can take him out , suddenly Micheal coughed and blood came out from his nostrils and mouth...

An hour later..

In a hospital , 13 km away from his town , he arrived at the hospital with his brother on his back and his left hand covered with his brother's blood..

" somebody help!!, please my brother is dying !!" He yells yet his voice breaking ..

But to his surprise everyone stayed away from him and his brother, the doctors and nurses were wearing nose masks , there he realised they were protecting themselves from him and his brother...

"How come you not infected when you are so close to an heavily infected person..."

AUTHORS NOTE
hi guys , do you want to know what happens next , then read , vote and comment and wait for the next chapter, coming next Sunday ..

See you then..❤️❤️