There and then, I told myself that it was a relationship I should cherish. By the time we were set to leave the Sunday evening, we had exchanged cards and promised to keep in touch.
Even as I was leaving, I had it at the back of my mind that I would surprise Fred. At least I needed to reciprocate his friendly gestures. At the back of my mind, I was hoping I would do it on any Sunday because such gestures were supposed to be appreciated.
Somehow, God paved a way for me a couple of days later. Yes, one of my deals just clicked. As a property agent, I earn a commission of 10 percent on any property I succeed in selling. And that exactly was what happened that week. A plot of land I had in my brief for over four months suddenly turned hot cake. I got phone calls and some days later, payment was made for the land. It was just too fast and I was stunned but that’s how God does His things too.
When I met with the owner of the property on Friday. we worked out my commission. And it was one million naira! Well, it may not be a lot of money for all these money bags in town but for me Tunde Olubi, it was quite huge. Since I became a property consultant that was the most I had earned on the job. So you can see what the money meant to me.
By Saturday when I spoke with the property owner about my commission, he asked me to come over to his place the next day.
“But tomorrow is Sunday,” I reminded him, hoping he was not making a mistake.
“It does not matter,” he assured me and that was how I drove to his house that Sunday. He was sitting right at his balcony when I was ushered in.
“Tunde Olubi,” he started. “It’s nice doing business with you. I am going to pay you in dollars because I don’t have naira here. Is that okay with you?” “Perfect sir,” I said.
“The rate now is 150. So that makes your one million naira six thousand six hundred and seventy dollars. But I will give you 6,800 dollars.
You can keep the rest,” he said.
“Thank you sir,” I said as he rose and went into the house. He returned shortly after and handed me the notes. I was so thrilled. So thrilled that when I left his house, I placed a call to Fred.
“Where can we see Fred, I want us to respect what we did the other Sunday; I said.
“Sorry Tunde, today seems like an off day for me because I have less than N2000 on me; he replied.
“Why is that worrying you? Am I asking you to pay? See Fred, I have got cash and when I say cash I mean dollars. So hang up the phone after telling me where I can come to pick you up.”
“Well, if you insist, let us meet at that joint where we enjoyed the last time. Should I ask the girls over?”
“Definitely, it’s not proper to drink alone. Is that not your usual comment? Ask them over at once and leave the bill for me:
I said excitedly.
“First of all, I drove to one spot in town popular for foreign exchange because I needed some naira. But by the time I arrived at that joint, Fred was waiting with Linda and Rose.
I was surprised that they were not taking anything when I arrived. So I asked Fred why he did not offer the girls anything.
“The place is rather noisy today. I was thinking we should go to another place,”
Fred said.
“Suggest a place: I urged him.
Honestly, it seemed as if time was flying too fast.
“Tunde, let us leave that for the ladies; Fred said and when I looked at the two girls, they giggled before jointly saying ‘Kuramo Beach.’
“Kuramo Beach?” I asked, looking at Fred who simply shrugged.
“Yes Kuramo Beach,” Linda repeated.
“Okay, let us go there fast; I said and the next minute, we were on our way to the beach. As we were going, I was looking forward to a very sizzling moment with the girls. And they helped my imaginations to run wild with some stories about life at the beach.
According to Linda, the fine sand at the beach helps her to climax during sex. Such talks naturally flamed up my desires. In fact by the time we got to the beach, I was already drenched in my desires. My loins were drowned in fantasy. And I got what I bargained for. We were just drinking, eating and having sex. We had rented a booth, and that was all we needed to shield ourselves from the other people. At a point, Fred suggested that we should exchange the girls and without hesitation, they jumped at the idea. But that was the much I could remember. By the time it got dark, I just noticed that I was losing consciousness. I had started seeing Rose in Linda, Linda in Fred and vice versa. I did not know what was going on but I could tell that I was simply high on what I could not explain. That was all I knew. The next thing I noticed was the morning sun, as it shone its strong beam across the rifts of the booth, waking me up in the process. I rose and looked around but there was no Linda nor Rose nor Fred. Where did they go to? I came out to where I parked the car and the first place my mind went to, was the pigeon hole of the car. I opened it and the biggest truth confronted me. The 6,000 dollars I hid there had vanished. I tried to call Fred so I could know what was going on but I also discovered that my phone was no longer in my pocket!
That was when it dawned on me that I had been conned by a syndicate. This whole drama started on a Sunday and ended on a Sunday. I rose to the Zenith and fell back to the abyss. It was all too fast, all too swift.
…To Be continued
