I ran away from my job last week. I don’t know which feeling is worse — the disgrace I’m facing because of the stories at my old job or the sharp pain in my chest since my boyfriend (Edu) stopped taking my calls.
I worked at a Bureau, yes, the same one where Banke had dramatically exposed my mistakes.
I swear on it, the first time I manipulated, sorry, miscalculated the cost of diesel it was a mistake. I was rushing home that evening to meet Edu, he had just returned from yet another unsuccessful Abuja trip.
I was funding these trips and was getting tired of his promises to win a contract and finally take good care of me.
“Agnes m, obi m, believe me, this is our lucky chance”, he would say.
“Just pay for this one, this is the last one baby m, I will hit it big and take good care of you.”
And I obliged, time and time again.
I remember the day I noticed my mistake. It was an unusually slow Monday morning, the kind of morning where you could doze off at your desk.
Polycarp handed me cash for office supplies. To refresh my mind, I decided to go through the voucher I had sent to him on Friday and there it was, staring at me; I had typed in 33,000 instead of 13,000 for diesel purchase. Twenty thousand naira extra and nobody else noticed it or raised an eyebrow.
Edu’s gods must have been smiling that day because that was the exact amount he had asked me to borrow him earlier that same morning.
I told him I had no money and it caused a disagreement.
“Edu! Learn patience o, is this how you’ll walk out on me every time we argue? Girlfriend of eight years and you can’t even disagree with me gently”, I yelled as he slammed my door.
Edu is so lucky that I love him. He is even luckier that I have found this money; I will give it to him when he returns to my apartment tonight, I thought, as I placed the twenty thousand naira in my handbag.
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I was sure he would return to my apartment because he had been eating supper at mine for the past few days; times are very hard.
I hoped the money would yield something. He said he wanted to visit his uncle in the neighboring state, something about them trying to travel abroad. I aspired to be the wife of a man overseas. Agnes Foreign Lady!
I believe man is born with the capacity to do evil. It’s just there; innate, waiting to rear its ugly head. And like a weed, it grows, if left untamed.
I started to make these mistakes on the vouchers intentionally now, I moved from diesel to any other thing that no one else would easily notice or question. When Polycarp raised concerns about the rising cost of supplies, I started to alter receipts and connive with vendors.
That is the problem with lying, the more you keep at it, the harder it is to stop. One lie needs another, the other needs two others, and so on. The only way to be free is, to tell the truth, and I wasn’t ready; Edu was on his way to Canada! We were finally going to make it.
Everything was okay till that Banke girl started seeing our paper vendor. I don’t know how I missed it; I would have warned her. If a man was conniving with me to swindle the Bureau what is your heart that he cannot break? If you lack integrity in one aspect of your life, soon enough you will lack it in all.
They had a few good months till Banke found out he was married with not one, not two, but SIX KIDS (even I screamed when I heard! In this economy?! Oga Wale na you o).
His family lived in Osun while he ran a business in Lagos. I heard Banke fainted when his wife showed up at his flat with his children. Apparently, he hadn’t gone home to his family in months; innocent Banke had been keeping the father of half a dozen kids really busy.
Banke and Wale (I like to call him ‘father of many nations’ now) got into a big fight after the surprise visit from his family.
Poor girl, I think she loved him and had started to think of a future with him — the betrayal ran deep. I cannot say I was surprised though, if a person is involved in 419 what can’t they do?
Honestly, I didn’t feel bad for Banke, my sadness stemmed from the fact that she found some doctored receipts in Wale’s house when she went to take out her belongings.
When she confronted me about it, I was too stunned by her evidence to lie. I knew my game was up, I begged Banke — woman to woman — to please not expose myself and Wale (the man we both know she was in love with even though she had left him). I assured her that I would stop taking the money as I was planning to leave the country soon.
When Banke showed up at work after that and said nothing, I assumed we had made a pact (Women supporting Women, Yes!).
I started discussing traveling overseas and marriage with Edu — it was urgent and long overdue.
The day Banke resigned, my life went into complete chaos.
I dragged myself to work that morning. I was very worried — Edu had been incommunicado for two weeks straight.
Banke walked into my office briskly, dropped an envelope on my desk, and left. I paid no attention to it or her and just cried quietly in my office. Was Edu dead? How could I reach his family? This man promised to marry me, where was he when I needed him the most, where?
My thoughts were interrupted by people shouting. I wiped my tears and rushed out of my office. Several of the Bureau staff had gathered at the notice board, some were pointing fingers at me, some were laughing, some people hissed.
I rushed to see the reason for the ruckus and there it was, staring back me.
Banke had exposed everything in a resignation letter on the damn noticed board. Is this girl not mad ?
Before anyone got the courage or wit to detain me, I ran back to my office, grabbed my belongings and ran. I’ve been on the run ever since.
All hope wouldn’t have been lost if Edu was answering my calls. I spent most of the money I siphoned funding his travel to Canada. It happened so quickly and quietly; I doubt it was even legitimate.
Yesterday I went to the call centre to dial the foreign number he gave to me. As usual, all I hear is “You have reached my voicemail, please leave a message.”
The prompt is followed by a loud beep then sudden silence. That is how Edu broke my heart — suddenly but quietly.
