There was a particular period I was very broke(financially down), I had just 3,000 naira on my account and I needed to buy foodstuffs, at least not to die of hunger.
I sat down and wrote down the things I needed to buy at the market, making sure all the items were reasonably touched. Out of this 3,000 naira, withdrawal charges of 600 naira and transportation fees of 400 naira were there. When I saw how little the money was left after deducting those amount, I decided to trek instead of taking a public motorbike, just to save that 400 naira.
After my draftings, I wore my shirt and went to a POS center to cash out the money, and the charges were taken just as calculated. I went back home to pick up my bag to leave for the market.
The place was far but trekable, I closed my door and began my journey. The worst thing is that there are no shortcut routes, so I passed through the main road, sweating and greeting everyone that I knew along the way.
I got to the market after 35 minutes of trekking and headed straight to my regular customer. She welcomed me and asked what I would buy. I pointed at all the things, and she brought them out.
She summed everything up and told me the cost. I placed my hand on my pocket to bring out the money, but it wasn't there.
"Where is the money?" I said to myself as I began to place my hands on all the pockets, but I still couldn't find anything.
"It seems you've lost your money," the market woman asked after she had pretended not to notice what was happening.
"I don't understand because I put the cash in my pocket before coming to this market," I replied, still searching in the already searched pockets.
It dawned on me that I had lost my money, my last hope of feeding.
I began to think about what might have happened.
"When I was walking, did I get robbed without knowing it? No, It can't be... I didn't even get close to anyone along the road, I only greeted from afar."
"Did I stop to buy something along the way that the money might have fallen out when I wanted to pay? No, I didn't buy anything."
And so many thoughts...
With shame, I had to explain the situation to the woman and begged her to give me a little time,let me go and find means to pay.
"Please, keep it wrapped, I'm coming back to pay for them," I said to her as I shamefully left the spot.
I trekked back, moving slowly to see if I could see the money lying on the floor, but I couldn't.
On getting home, I met the cash lying pretty on my table.
I took a deep sigh.
"Thank God!"
I quickly took a sachet of water and poured it down my throat because I was very thirsty and tired. I jumped on my bed to regain a little strength before thinking of the next step to take.
After 10 minutes of rest, I was still confused about what to do.
"Should I go back to the market to pay for the items, or should I just buy noodles in a nearby shop and eat?" I pondered heavily, weighing the two options.
I finally settled for going back to the market, but this time around, not trekking. I used N400 to pay for transport, and when I got there, the woman was surprised to see me come back.
"I thought you would not come back," she said, with smiles written over her face.
"Mama, I'm not like that, na," I respond in a big boy way.
I explained everything to her (the everything but the sweet part of it🙄), and I had to plead with her to remove some portions of what I had already selected. I told her that those portions were at home already and Iwouldn't want to make them double. She agreed without insisting that she bring a different item to replace it. What a win for me because she didn't know I was cutting down expenses to match with what I have.
I paid and left home.
Thanks for reading.