Securing The Bag (The Lagos Hustle)

The G Cycle

FUOYO

It was during the last quarter of the 2nd year that I noticed a change in Lori, there was something in her voice when we talked on the phone. And also in the wording of her replies when we exchanged texts. I could feel something was different about her, she had become distant, closed off and more reserved with her feelings. A couple of weeks later, I asked her for a couple thousand dollars for a family emergency and for the first time ever, she refused.

I knew every detail about her life and knew she could pay the money without breaking a sweat. In fact I had become used to collecting money from her whenever I asked that I was shocked at her refusal. I reported the development to Shaq and he smiled knowingly. "E don burst"

"What do you mean it don burst?"

"Ah ah, bro for almost 3 years this woman dey pay you steady, it must end now. Nobody be mumu for life. She even tried for you, at least you see better money from her."

"Nawa o, so no more payment from her?"

"you can keep trying but i'm sure she's never paying you huge amount again. Maybe gift cards now and then but nothing heavy again."

"shit....well at least I can be using her to pick up and collect my percentage jeje"

"nope nope, don't try and use her as a picker. That's the worst thing you can do right now" Shaq warned

"why, she has delivered before hasn't she?"

"Bro I say the scam don burst, don't take the risk. You know how much she don send you? If you use her now and she run with the money wettin you wan do? Boys dey vex these days, if you lose person money nothing like sorry o"

I sighed. He had a point. In the 3 years I'd been with Shaq, I've heard many tales of how some ruthless boys track and kill pickers who ran away with their money. So I knew he was right, these boys had zero joy. Even if a bus hit your client on the way to the bank, nobody cared. You either delivered their money or you didn't. If you couldn't, it meant you were a ripper and a thief.

"So what now?"

Shaq smiled at me. "Congrats, your training is complete. We've shared huge sums of money together and I've taught you all I know, now you go be your own boss, hustle more and maybe take a youngin off the street too and show him the way. Every man gats hustle"

So almost 3 years after I moved in with Shaq with nothing but a box of clothes and less than 5000 naira, I left his house with a clean Lexus saloon car, overflowing boxes of clothes and shoes, and a recently liquidated fixed deposit account with a very comfortable safety net. Not too bad. Luckily I had paid my brothers tuition fees for the whole academic session so I decided to rent a house with the extra cash while I started catfishing once more. I got a place at Ikeja, furnished it to my taste and moved in. I made sure I had every thing at my disposal, internet, gadgets, comfort.

Remember it took me almost a year before I met Lori, well this time everything seemed twice as hard as before. And maybe I just wasn't as relentless as before. Afterall I had become used to a certain standard of life and I couldn't let it drop, before I had just been plain hungry to make it. Plus I wasn't a stay home and play video games kind of guy like Shaq, I was made to flex.