The Final Day (Part 1)

The day was Saturday...

It was getting to the end of November and Seun had not yet been paid his salary. Seun was a very impatient young man, and he needed the money as urgently as fish out of water needed its hydrogen. He was up to his neck in debt that he owed so many people who he'd borrowed from and had promised to pay when he got paid. When the time finally came for him to get paid, the bastards told him that they were still trying to balance the company accounts before any staff could be paid. That had been a week ago. Seun had been stretched to his limit. He was hungry for money and could surely do anything for it at that moment.

While Seun was going through his shirt and trouser pockets for the umpteenth time that week, trying to find if he might have left some cash in them that he could at least feed with, his phone began to ring. He was always apprehensive of the sound of his phone ringing because of the many people he owed who usually called to ask him about their money. He knew it was one of them calling him again. He didn't bother checking it till it stopped ringing. But a few seconds later the phone was ringing again. Seun walked up to where the phone lay on his bed and picked it up to check who was calling. It was a strange number. He suspected that it was one of his creditors calling him with an unknown number since he had been avoiding their calls all week. He still didn’t pick. He dropped the phone back on the bed and continued searching his pockets. But the phone rang and rang and rang...until Seun decided it was time to face his fears. He picked up the phone, answered the call and listened...

“Hello, is this Mr Seun Alako from Okota?”

Seun was more apprehensive now than before. Who could this be that knew him by his full name and knew the area where he lived as well? Was it the police? Had one of his creditors decided that the debt he owed and couldn’t pay was now a matter of National Security?

“Hello? Is someone there? Hello?”

“Yes, yes, this is Seun speaking. Who is this?”

“This is Mr Patrick calling from the Customs Unit at MM1. We need you to come over and clear your parcels, Sir”

Seun was not sure what he’d heard, so he asked again. And Mr Patrick repeated the same thing he’d said before. There were two big boxes of items that had been sent from the United Kingdom with his name being on the recipient section. He was expected to come to the airport as soon as he could to clear his things, that any further delay would attract more charges. Mr Patrick also told him that clearing the boxes would require just a minimal amount of N15, 000. Even though Seun knew that he didn’t have as much as N500 to his name at that moment, this news was too good to not be true. These were no scammers or 419ers. Mr Patrick had sent him pictures through Whatsapp to his phone and he saw the two big boxes and his name, Okota (where he stayed) and his very own phone number written boldly on the sides of the boxes. What could be in those boxes, he asked himself. But the sooner he got that N15, 000 naira and go claim them...

The only person he could ask for that money who would give him that very day was Gloria, his ex-girlfriend who owned a boutique down town. But he already owed Gloria N30, 000. He still went ahead and dialled her number. Told her he needed to see her. She told him to come over to the boutique and Seun went there, sat down with her and told her everything. He even showed her the pictures. Gloria was extremely sceptical about everything and warned him about scammers and the things they do. Seun convinced her that scammers would never go through such trouble just to get N15, 000 out of somebody. She saw reason with him, and agreed on just one condition; that she would follow him to the airport to clear the boxes. Seun didn't want to agree at first, but when he saw the look on her face and the fact that he already owed her a lump sum already, he did agree...

They got in Gloria's car as she drove them to the airport. Seun was restless throughout the drive there. He didn't know if to be happy or overjoyed, and he hadn’t even prayed to God that morning, but it seemed He was being good to him despite all of his shortcomings. He clasped his hands together, bowed his head and said a short prayer of thanks. Gloria saw him do this and chuckled. She liked the man sitting beside him in her car right now, and would even like him more if they succeed with getting whatever it was that was within those boxes...

to be continued