Today is a good day.
I can feel it in my bones. I feel like I am going to be extremely lucky. You know that feeling where the spotlight smashes your face, you can feel the heat of that bright light under your skin. You can feel every eye piercing on you from the stands.
That's how I feel today. I feel like everything is just aligned for me to get something huge today.
I am walking down home from dance class where Mr Kwame seemed to have taken an oath to make me miserable. Every move I make needs to have more finesse.
Andrew, that jump had no finesse. You need to remember that in order to make a mark on your audience you must add that touch of finesse to your dancing.
He made us dance 4 straight hours last week. You know what he said?
Your muscles need to get accustomed to the rhythm and the flow...
What?
I am tired of the rhythm and the flow sir. It irks me.
I didn't say that though... at least not out loud.
Today, he made us dance in circles, he wanted us to mirror the circle of life in some way I am yet to understand.
Anyway, that's all behind me now. I feel really jolly and lucky today.
Wait...
What's this?
It looks like money on the side walk.
I told you I was lucky.
Wait, how many bills are there..? It's a lot.
It's strange that no one's even on the road at this time...
Fullan, the homeless man that used to be around this corner has gone on his 20mins evening stroll.
Well, let's see how much this baby's worth...
OMG!
250 dollars...
wait, I am in Nigeria... The acceptable currency is naira, I need to change this to naira first...
wait, I need to know if it is genuine first.
Oh no! I don't know anyone I can trust to verify the authenticity of these bills...
Wait, Andrew, aren't you stealing?
Oh no, not this voice again...
No one knows owns this money... It is a free gift...
What do you mean by free gift, did it just drop from the sky?
As a matter of fact, I think it did.
Stop deceiving yourself, Andrew, this is not your money...
It is mine now!
No! it isn't
You know what, Mind? I am tired of having this argument with you. Think about it... what should I do about this money, the owner would probably never get it, and you know why... someone else would take it if I don't. That's how things work in these parts. And don't you tell me about people who picked money from the street and were used for rituals... they don't work on me.
Well I think I would take the money to the bank tomorrow, they are already closed now. Let's hope these bills are as real as they look right now.
PS: this is all fiction, but that's what I would do if I found 250 dollars on the sidewalk. I know what you must be thinking, I am a bad guy, I would take money that doesn't belong to me... meanwhile the owner might be languishing in pain of the loss that he/she must have just incurred. I know,
But here, in Nigeria money lost on the road is lost. If you give it to the police, the probability of the funds finding it's owner is actually less than 1 percent. So, in the end, it is either I take it, or someone else does.
Thanks for reading.