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The Waiting Game
Zubair looked around, just like he suspected.
Should I go for this or wait for someone else? Maybe this lady should go first?
His internal vibes nodded yes on this kind of decision. People who came after him even left for home, but still, Zubair was in the same lane. His mom had sent him to make a 20k transaction, but it was almost evening time.
“Hey boy, I saw you standing here this morning. Are you thinking of taking refuge in this ATM place?” The security guy concluded all his sharp-mind thoughts, and Zubair was too dumbfounded to answer him.
He left the place and came home empty-handed. When mom asked about the money, Zubair replied, “Mom, everyone said to me how I was going to say no to them when they wanted to use the ATM.”
Surprisingly, mom’s aim was missed. Only he heard a voice while running to the main gate:
“Next time, marry someone who will say Jan (love) to you.”
The First Transaction
Today he decided to make a transaction by hook or crook. That’s why he came to the ATM early in the morning. Now it was time to repeat the YouTube tutorial.
Maybe I should make the first transaction as five thousand.
“Well done, Zubair,” his mind appreciated him.
But how to insert the card? First, the card was at his feet as the machine rejected it. This time he flipped the card, and thankfully, it was successful.
Why does mom send me to do this? She knows I am so lazy in these things. She doesn’t send me to Uncle Gohar’s shop.
A sight of his daughter giving him grocery items flashed into his mind. She charged a few bucks extra along with giving fewer things.
After entering the PIN code, he entered the amount of 5k, and in seconds he made his first-ever transaction.
Mom will send me to Aunty Iffat’s home for change. I should make a 10k transaction now to get change.
And he repeated the same thing. For the last 5k, he received an error as per transaction there was a fee and unknown to this, he decided to take money in the form of thousand-rupee notes in five transactions.
Surprisingly, his last transaction wasn’t successful, and in order to take all the money, his method stuck the card into the machine.
Returning home with 19k, he thought,
Mom wouldn’t give me money for hair color and Rubi wouldn’t look at me with these grey hair. But what about Zara’s monthly package? She wouldn’t give me scented tissue paper in this case. What about the debt of Ghutka he and his friend have had daily? That Rafique uncle would knock on his door.
The Fall
I should give less money to mom in order to pay all the due bills of everyone, the last decision he took while entering home.
In his haste, he fell into the middle of the door, and all the money he had fell into the drainage pipe. Before he could take the money out from the filthy water, Nabiha dropped a bucket of used water.
Both were watching six money notes flowing into the water just like clownfish.
Before mom could scold him, Zubair decided to run away, and in his hurry, he forgot his slippers. Running in the middle of the street without shoes, having nothing on his head and a muddy face, people could clearly call him a goof.
The Blind Beggar
Sitting on the walkway, he felt thirsty. He had run many miles from home. With empty pockets, he decided to rob anyone. But to do this, he needed a brain, which wasn’t available right now.
He saw a blind beggar as his next target. People were dropping money into his glass, and he was shaking it whenever someone put anything into it.
Zubair took a few hundred-rupee notes from it, but when he shook it twice, he took more money. The third time he shook it, he took everything and left the glass not suitable for more shaking.
The Banana Peel
Now he had filled pockets. Heading toward the lemonade cart, he decided to save his money. He took the glass and moved his feet just a bit further away from the cart.
Before anyone could notice him, he felt something in his bare feet. As he jumped into the air, the glass fell to the floor.
Should I pay 200 for this 50-rupee glass now? he thought as he started running.
He took all the money into his hands while moving with the speed of a fighter jet, having three to four people following him. He fell into the air because he slipped on a banana peel.
His money was flying into the air and hailing down on the traffic.
“Money is not safe anywhere. That’s why I hate it,” he said to himself while watching all this.