Okezie sat on the bench in front
of his house as he wondered what he would do about the situation he had found
himself in.
“They will
find out.” He said to himself and sighed.
It happened that few months
before, he had gotten a new job as a cleaner in a government office and was
excited. Even though the pay was small, it was enough to cater for his little
needs. He lived in a one-room apartment in a relative’s house and so he didn’t
pay rent. Feeding was not a challenge also because his village was 30 minutes
drive away so he went to get food stuff from time to time from his grandma who
was still an active farmer. There was nothing much he needed money for at that
time so he worked with all his heart, hoping for something better.
With
time, he won the affection of his employer and the workers there because of his
diligence to work, his cheerful disposition and his integrity. On few occasions
when he had seen money or documents left carelessly, he kept them safe till the
owners claimed them. They loved and trusted him. Things were going smoothly until
he met Nkechi, a tall chocolate-colored girl with dimples which made her smile
endearing. At first sight, he fell in love with her.
Nkechi
was a lovely girl, fine and elegant. She was a third year student of
Microbiology in the university in town. She had come to the office where Okezie
worked, to see her uncle. Okezie made a move on her when she came the second
time. She didn’t like him but Okezie persisted and kept trying to woo her. He got
her phone number and kept calling her. He even traced her to her hostel. She
kept putting him away but he kept making advances. After weeks of trial, Nkechi
was not falling for him; Okezie was frustrated. He expressed his frustration to
Ebuka, his friend, when the later came visiting one day.
“I don’t
know what else to do,” he told Ebuka.
“Leave her
if she is not responding,” Ebuka told him. “There are many fish in the sea.”
“Not this
one o. I don’t know why I feel this way about her.”
Ebuka
thought for a while and then asked, “Have you bought anything for her?”
“No o,”
Okezie responded. “Where did I see money?”
“That is
the problem. Girls are moved by gifts.”
“But I
don’t have the money.”
“If you
really want her, then find money somewhere. Borrow if you have to.”
“Do you
have?”
“I don’t
have o. Even if I did, since I know what it is for, I won’t give you because it
will turn bad debt.”
“I don’t
have anybody else to borrow money from.”
Ebuka looked around to be sure
they were alone and then whispered into his ears, “Then take it.”
Okezie
shuddered.
“God forbid,”
he said.
“Reduce
your voice my friend. God forbid ko, forbid ni. Then forget about the girl.”
Okezie
clicked his fingers.
“Where will
I take it from?” he asked in hushed tone.
“From your
office of course,” Ebuka said.
“I will
never do such a thing.”
“Then
forget about Nkechi. You will never get her.”
“What if I get
caught?”
“Are you a
learner? How will they catch you?”
“They trust
me o.”
“Exactly
why they will not suspect you.”
“Chai,
steal because of woman. Something wey I
never do before.”
“Nothing is
too much for a woman you love.”
“Think
about it. It is either you want the girl or you don’t. Let me be going.”
Ebuka
got up to leave.
“You are
not seeing me off?” he asked Okezie.
“Guy be
going,” Okezie said still in his confused state. “We will see later.”
“Water don pass garri,” Ebuka said
laughing as he left. “Life na choice.”
That
night, as Okezie lay on his bed, he couldn’t sleep. He kept seeing images of
Nkechi and picturing how wonderful they would be together. He thought of other
ways he could win her affection but came up with nothing concrete. After long
thinking, he made up his mind to try what Ebuka had suggested.
“Just this
once,” he said to himself, rolled over on his bed and went to sleep.
The
following day, Okezie was in the office early as usual to clean up the place
before anybody came. There was no one in the office so as he cleaned, he
carefully checked the drawers whether someone had left money there. He did not
have peace of mind as he did it but the thought of Nkechi spurred him on. This
made him spend more time than usual in the cleaning. Soon, staff started
coming. The first to enter was the office secretary.
“Good
morning ma,” he greeted her in an uneasy manner.
“Morning
Okezie,” she answered. “You are still cleaning?”
“I..i..”
Okezie didn’t know which excuse to give. He had lost track of time as he was
more focused on the search than on the cleaning.
“It is
okay. I guess you came a bit later than usual today. Just hurry up before our oga comes.”
“Okay ma.
Please don’t tell him.”
“Don’t
worry. I will not do that.”
“Thank you
ma.”
Okezie
heaved a sigh of relief and rushed his cleaning before others came. His plan did
not work that day. As the nature of his job was, he hung around the office till
they closed, doing cleaning from time to time as and at when required and the
final cleaning at the close of work. All through that work day, he still
battled with his mind on whether to do what Ebuka suggested or not to do. When
he saw how well they treated him, he decided to forget about the idea.
The following day, Nkechi was
among the first people to come to the office. She came to see her uncle as
usual.
“Hi” Okezie
said, grinning at her.
She responded absent mindedly and
walked past him before he could try making conversation. He was angry and the
desire to ‘take something to impress her’ rose up again. Nkechi did not waste
time that day unlike before when she would hang around the office for a while
before leaving. She barely answered him as she left.
“She comes
to collect money from her mother’s brother.” He said to himself after she left.
“So if I give her something, I will get her attention.” He hoped an opportunity
would come out that day and he would ‘take something’ to impress her. He was
alert but throughout that day, no opportunity came up. He hissed and went home.
Days
passed by and no opportunity came up. Nobody committed lose-guarding. From time
to time, Nkechi came around and stirred up his passion to ‘take something’.
Then one day, an opportunity presented itself.
Okezie
was cleaning as usual when he noticed a brown envelope in a drawer. He looked
around but no one was there. He touched the envelope and it felt like money. He
went and locked the main entrance door so no one would come in suddenly. Then
he went back and picked up the envelope. It was not sealed so he opened it and
was shocked by what he saw inside it; bundle of five hundred naira notes. He
thought of what to do, whether to take or not.
“This is
the opportunity you have been waiting for,” a voice told him. He remembered
what Ebuka had suggested. Thoughts of Nkechi falling for him flashed through
his mind. These made his resolve stronger. Immediately, he removed some notes
from the money and put in his pocket. Then he kept back the envelope properly
and finished the cleaning in a hurry.
Moments
later, office staff started coming. Okezie thought of how he could avoid being
caught.
“If they
start looking for the money,” he said to himself, “they will ask me first
because I was the first to enter the office.”
He
decided to feign sickness so they would let him go home. He sat at a corner and
shook his body as though he had fever. He barely responded to greetings.
“What is
the matter with you?” they asked him.
He
managed to say he was not feeling well.
“Oga is not
here yet,” Damian, the second cleaner told him. “Maybe you will wait till he
comes then he may let you go.”
“But who
will clean for me in the afternoon?” Okezie asked him.
“Don’t worry.
I will do that for you.”
“Thank you
so much.”
Okezie
turned his face away and smiled to himself. He just hoped the missing money
would not be discovered till he was gone.
Soon
the oga’s assistant came and he permited Okezie to go. Okezie shivered mechanically
and left. When he was far away from the office, he walked fast and kept looking
back to see if someone was running after him to call him back. At the major
road, he entered taxi drop back to
his house. In his house, he locked the door, brought out the money and counted
it. It was Nine Thousand Five Hundred naira. He thought about what to do with
it, whether to give it to Nkechi like that or to buy something with it. After a
while, he picked his ‘torch’ phone and called Ebuka who told him to hold on
till he comes.
After
Okezie left the office, office work continued as usual. No one noticed any
wrong doing. The office accountant came later in the afternoon and that was
when the missing money became an issue. She needed to take it to a bank and
brought out the envelope. The envelope was not exactly how she left it the
previous day. She was surprised. She hurriedly opened the envelope and counted
the, and noticed that some money was missing. It was then that she raised an
alarm.
“Some money
is missing from here,” she announced.
All
the staff around were shocked.
“Where did
you keep it?” One staff asked her.
“Inside
this envelope in this drawer,” the accountant replied, pointing.
“But there
is money in the envelope,” another staff pointed out.
“Yes but it
is not complete.”
They wondered what had happened to
the money. Their Oga heard the shout
and came out of his office.
“What is
happening here?” he asked.
“I left
some money in the drawer yesterday,” the accountant said. “Now it is not
complete”
“Why didn’t
you pay it in yesterday?”
“By the
time we were true, it was late and I didn’t want to go home with it. So I left
it in the drawer”
“And you
locked the drawer?”
“I think I
did.”
“Are you
sure of what you are saying?”
“Very sure
sir.”
The Oga asked every staff one by
one but they all denied knowing anything about the money.
“Who was the last to leave the office
yesterday?” he asked.
The accountant accepted being the
last. “I wanted to be sure no one else was left here because of the money I
left behind,” she said.
“Then who was the first to enter here today?”
“It is either
Okezie or Damian, the cleaners,” the secretary told him.
“Call them
here immediately,” he roared.
The junior staffs scampered out
in search of the duo. Damian was found in mama Janet’s kiosk sipping dry gin ‘on
code’. He was taken aback by the way he was told that oga was calling him. He threw away the remaining gin and rushed
with them to answer the oga.
“Sir..oga..good afternoon sir..” he stuttered, when he came before the
oga.
“Where is
the other cleaner?” their oga asked,
ignoring his greeting.
“He went
home early in the morning sir,” Damian answered.
“Why?”
“He was
sick so he left. I worked for him today. I cleaned everywhere for him today,”
he added, trying to curry favour.
“Who
permited him?” He looked around at the staff.
“I did,”
his assistant said. “He was so sick, I let him go.”
The
oga turned back to Damian and asked him, “You said you cleaned all the
offices?”
Damian answered in the affirmative,
grinning and expecting a pat on the back.
“Then you
should know what happened to the money that was left in the drawer this
morning.”
The
grin on Damian’s face disappeared.
“Money?” He
said confused.
“Yes, money.”
“From where
sir?”
“What kind
of stupid question is that?” The oga
was getting angry. “Where did you keep
the money you took from the accountant’s drawer?”
“Sir..i did
not clean the office sir?” Damian was shaking at this point.
“But you
said you cleaned everywhere?”
“Sir…no sir…I…”
“Rubbish.
Security!”
“No sir. I
swear I didn’t clean this side. Okezie cleaned this office before he left.”
Two
of the security men in the compound came to the office and stood waiting for
the next instruction.
“What are
you looking at?” the oga shouted. “Arrest this man.” He pointed at Damian
Damian
went on his knees begging.
“Sir I
think we should also ask Okezie,” the assistant said. “
“I thought
you said he was sick and had to leave?” Oga asked him.
“It may
have been a plan to escape.”
“So how do
we get him? Who knows where he lives?”
“His
address is in his file,” the secretary said.
“Go get him
immediately. Try calling him first”
“No sir,” Damian
said. “If you call him, he may know that
something is wrong and may run.”
“You call
him since he is your friend.”
“Sir…”
“yes. Don’t
let him know we are after him. One of you must go in for this.”
Damian
brought out his phone and dialed Okezie’s number. It rang but Okezie did not
pick. He dialed five more times but did not get any reply.
“Maybe he
is too sick to pick,” Damian said.
“Sick my
foot,” the oga thundered. “Guilty conscience will not let him.” He turned to
his assistant and said, “I don’t care what it takes, make sure Okezie or
whatever his name is, is brought here and the money recovered.”
“Yes sir.”
He
went back into his office and banged the door.
“How much
is missing?” the assistant asked the accountant.
“Nine Thousand
five hundred naira,” the accountant replied.
“Only?” Damian
blurted out.
“Shut up,”
one of the security men said and hit him on the head. “Thief.”
“It is not
about how much was taken,” the assistant said. “We do not condone stealing
here.”
He turned to the security men and
said, “keep him in holding, then you come let us go and pick up Okezie.”
“Yes sir,”
they replied and dragged Damian out.
“Tell the
drivers to get their vehicles ready,” he told one of the staff.”
“Yes sir,”
she answered and left.
In
less than five minutes, they were on their way to apprehend Okezie who was busy
planning the best way to impress Nkechi.
{to be continued}
(c) 2021. Nedu Isaac
PhotoCred: Canva.com
