One Sunday evening I was relaxing with my family at home when I received a call on my mobile phone. It was Uche. And it was urgent; he wanted me to meet him up at his house. Uche was the Union’s link to the Ports Authority, he gave me information on when goods were to arrive or been seized. All that was in my mind was that the goods had arrived and soon too. When I got to his house, he was sweating profusely.
“Were the good seized?” I asked quietly.
That would have been a simple matter of money changing hands, but they weren’t seized, they were lost at sea. Nearly, two hundred and thirty five million naira worth of goods. My money and ……
What do I tell the union members, who had their money in it? What do I tell the bank? I wailed, sitting on the ground. For the next three days, sleeping became a hectic, tedious, dull and an unpleasant exercise. I became hopeless and helpless. I also couldn’t eat; my whole world had come crushing, heavily down on me.
Soon, the news of my predicament; poverty and bankruptcy spread like wild fire. The bank was first at my doorsteps, asking for its loan. I asked for time, but they heard I was in debts and so, they had to move quickly before another bank or persons did.
Richard was unavailable; it seemed he was avoiding me and when I finally caught up with him at about 11pm at his house, he said it had nothing to do with him. I was evicted by the bank from my house in Lagos. The union members also demanded for their money and there was nothing I could do.
Having nowhere to stay in Lagos, I was forced back to the village. My house in the village; a gigantic, magnificent two-storey mansion. The ten bedrooms, two-storey mansion was painted dark brown and yellow colours; with a roof made of imported asbestos roofing sheets. The dazzling tiled floor of the compound was beautifully dressed with flowers of different colours and values. The compound also housed an indoor and two outdoor Olympic standard swimming pools. The fence which measured over Eighteen feet had a stainless steel gate which wore rich architectural designs. It was a cozy paradise.
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His Demise
Short Story"Life is a miscalculated journey, we can only hope to aspire but only God knows our true destination". - Kem Ohiremen William Arthur Ward once said the adventure of life is to learn. The purpose of life is to grow. The nature of life is to change. T...
