‘show me your friends and I will tell you who you are’
Obi couldn't believe his eyes. He knew that it was a small world but not as small as ever seeing emeka again.
Obi grinned as he glared at emeka who wasn't aware of his presence, he didn't need to even look twice to recognize him, because emeka was still the same with nicely done dreads and his goofy walking and standing posture.
He watched as Emeka opened the front seat and brought out a suitcase and then walked or rather galloped as Obi and Emma used to say and opened the back door for his boss.
“Obi wash the car so emeka can use it and pick up my wife" the boss said as he took the casing from emeka and went into the mansion.
“Wait a minute, am I seeing double?" Emeka said on seeing who the person going by obi was.
“My guy!!!" Emeka ran and hugged obi.
Obi on the other hand was irritated and tried his best to act happy to see emeka.
“Emeka what are you doing here?, long time,” obi said
"long time indeed, I was looking for a job and happened to know someone who told me the boss was looking for a new driver,”
Emeka said excited to see Obi after so many years.
"Okay, we will catch up later. Let me do what the boss told me before I lose my job, "Obi said as he went on to do his work.
That night obi laid on his bed in the one room flat facing the ceiling watching the fan that was bad turn slowly and make creaking sounds, although he couldn't really hear the sound because his mind was in the past recollecting all the bad memories emeka’s face brought back.
He felt the huge scar across his arm as tears rolled down his eyes.
The boss had gone to work that morning, his wife took the children to their school and it was only obi and the three house maids in the house.
Obi was at his post at the gate when he heard a car horn from outside the gate. He checked and was surprised it was his boss's car, his boss never returned from work so early before.
The car drove in and it was only Emeka that highlighted the car.
“Where is the boss?" Obi asked emeka.
“He is at work and said I should get one of his bags he forgot," Emeka said as he hurried to get the bag.
Obi followed him to the boss's room because he never trusted him and wasn't shocked to see Emeka hacking the locks of a drawer and stuffing some dollar notes into his pockets.
“Emeka keep it back,"
“Jesus," Emeka turned in fear and horror of being caught but the fear all over his face changed into a smile the moment he saw it was obi.
“Obi, my guy" he said with a shameful smile
“Don't call me your guy, just return the money" obi said looking at him with disgust
“Why are you behaving like this? This money can change our level in life. We will just do it like in the good old days"
“Good old days that almost took my life! and gave me an everlasting scar on my arm, I have changed and you should too,” obi said with so much anger.
Emeka saw he meant everything he said and put the money back.
But still later that week obi resigned from his job and took another job at a bakery. His job as a gateman gave him six times the money he earned at the bakery but he couldn't stay with emeka because he knew that if the incident that happened in the past couldn't change him then his words couldn't either.
Not even up to a month later he heard that Emeka was caught and jailed for the attempted robbery on his former boss.
Obi felt a little sympathy for Emeka, his childhood friend but was happy he left because who knows, maybe if he stayed Emeka would have dragged him along into his mess like he did the last time.