That hot Saturday afternoon, NEPA had just taken light as I stepped into the bathroom. I had just plugged my phone in before going into the bathroom, so I didn't care to unplug it. Besides, it was almost dying and I had a whole lot of stuff I needed to do with it.
I was still bathing when NEPA restored the light. This time, the voltage was higher than before. O stepped out of the bathroom to the smell of burnt rubber mixed with wire. Of course, I knew I wasn't roasting anything. I checked outside to be sure my neighbors were not burning any stuff but all was clear. Then it dawned on me to check the new appliances I had just bought after months of rejection, jumping Keke, and going for different interviews and side gigs.
My fridge was safe. Same with my TV and other kitchen appliances. Then I remembered to check my charger. When I got to it, it was already up in flames. I quickly switched off the socket and unplugged the charger. It was burnt beyond repair. Luckily for me, my phone was still intact.
I didn't mourn my charger much. Besides, it was something I bought too cheap from a phone store down the road. Just a mere sum of one thousand five hundred naira. I could easily afford another one. It was way cheaper than the one in the bigger stores that sold for over four thousand five hundred naira. Even though I could afford that kind of luxury I felt it was wasting money when cheap could get the same job done.
I quickly dressed up and walked down the road to get a new one. It was a small stall made of wood with a wooden table outside a paint store, with a big umbrella and a scattered display of chargers, cords, and earphones. The seller smiled as I entered his shop.
“Na original (it's original.)” he said, handing me another charger as I told him what I wanted. “Trust me this one will serve you well. It has a step down inside. I use it too.” he continued. He had a sweet mouth and was capable of convincing a blind man to buy a television.
I should’ve walked away. I should’ve asked more questions. But when my economic instincts kick in like that, I barely listen to anything other than that inner thought dragging me to a big mistake.
"That's what you said the last time. But anyway, I'll take it." I replied smiling. I paid him and left feeling like I had beaten the system again.
The charger worked like magic for the first few nights. My phone jumped from 5% to 50% in ten minutes. I even plugged it overnight. Somehow it charged faster like those expensive ones.
The next day, I came back from work after a busy day, tired and sweaty. I quickly freshened up and made dinner. Then I sat in bed, eating my big bowl of eba and Egusi soup with one hand and flipping through my phone with the other. When my phone suddenly warned.
"Battery low."
I got up and plugged it in. I hadn't even made the trip back to my bed when I heard a loud spark. It was a snap, sharp like a whip. I turned to see my extension socket on fire. Blue flame flashed like a camera light, and smoke began rising from the wall.
I jumped up, my foot knocking my food to the floor. My soup splashed on the wall. The fire was gradually burning through the wire to my phone. I yanked it off quickly from the joint and threw it away smashing its screen. My phone was boiling hot and had burned my hand. The smell of burnt plastic filled the room.
“Jesus! Jesus!!” I shouted, yanking the charger out with shaking hands. I rushed to the socket and turned it off. But the fire didn't stop.
I quickly rushed outside to the main switch and turned it off. Then I ran to get the fire extinguisher at home. But by the time I could come back. The fire had spread to the wall just close to my TV.
I put it off using the extinguisher and sat on my bed staring at the mess it had just made. My eyes were wide, my breath was high.
My extension socket was ruined, my phone lay there on the floor, hot and with a cracked screen. My room stank of burnt rubber, and my wall was blackened with smoke. One part of my TV had melted already. To top it all up, my phone wouldn't come on.
I couldn’t speak. My hands were vibrating. My heart was beating fast. A meagre charger of one thousand five hundred naira had ruined costlier stuff in my room.
I didn’t sleep that night. I rolled in bed, cursing, sighing, and muttering to myself.
The next morning, my phone wouldn’t come on. I went to three phone repair guys and all of them said the same thing.
“Your motherboard is burnt. Just get a new phone.”
And as for my television. It could be repaired but that would cost me almost the same price I bought it. So it was better that I bought a new one that hadn't been repaired before.
It took me roughly two months of my small savings to buy another phone. As for my TV, well, that will be till I find that grace again.
Since then, I understood that sometimes, cheap can be expensive. Just a waste in disguise If I had bought the real charger, I wouldn’t have lost my TV, phone, or even my peace
Truly waste not, want not.