Anne: Lost in Transit

Chapter 1

Was it necessary? I was already buying Ebere three gifts that will cost nothing less than twenty-five thousand naira and there I was, entertaining the thought of adding a ten thousand naira suede slippers. There was no denying that Ebere deserved every gift and even more, but adding the slippers will put a hole in my pocket I may not be able to patch in a few months.

   Chinyere barged into the room, hurrying towards me. When she got to where I was sitting, she pushed the screen of her phone into my face. ‘I've seen the shirt! Ghuyyyyy! I searched for this shirt for eight days!’ She inhaled deeply before continuing. ‘This was the shirt Davido wore for his concert at the 02 Arena! The same shirt that he later gave to a fan! The yeye fan is selling it sef, mtchw!’ I widened my eyes as my gaze went to her face where a big smile was planted.

   ‘Relax e! This one na the fakest one of that shirt.’ I removed the phone from her hand and gave it some distance from my eyes scrolling down the page for the price. As I saw it, my eyes wanted to leave their sockets but I closed them immediately.

   ‘Ah! Fake or not, I cannot afford this shirt! Have you checked the price?!’ Chinyere was a big-stepper and I envied how it always got her whatever she wanted. The same fate did not apply to me so I handed her phone back to her. ‘Thank you but no!’

   ‘Na wa o. How much is the shirt sef for a big babe like you?’ I shook my head and logged into my bank app. ‘This shirt is really nice and you know Ebere will like it because he has taste.’
‘So that is why I should buy him a shirt of 30k minus the other gifts?!’ I bellowed.

   She didn’t give me an immediate answer. ‘But babe, if I'm being honest, your boyfriend deserves these gifts. He takes good care of you, omo, the guy spoils you no be small. More importantly, you can afford it. You that if your money finishes now your father will wire you more funds. Dangote money!’ She raised fisted hands jogging on the same spot as she teased.

   I laughed despite my intuition to ignore her. ‘Dangote ke? If my father was Dangote, you think I’ll be here with you? Mtchw!’

   ‘See eh, the girl is doing sales. If you buy the shirt and a pair of trousers, she will give you a discount of 5k. So instead, you pay 40k for the shirt and trousers.’

   ‘Ah! No oh! It is still too much! How much are jeans normally that I’ll pay 40k for a pair of Jean trousers and shirt? My papa no dey thief money and if I wasn’t already buying him other things, I won’t have minded. Abeg rest for the matter.’

   ‘Hm. Okay o.’ She walked to her side of the room and sat on her bed. ‘But remember that Ebere did a lot for you on your birthday and he is not stingy. After the whole showoff at his party, you can swindle the money out of him. Just tell him you need money urgently because something came up at home and he will give you the money. What I do is I calculate every penny I spent, multiply it by two, then divide it by one. It’s a win - win situation.’ Chinyere was a sweet talker and applied it where reasoning was incapable of doing the trick. I decided to buy the shirt and trousers but play tough a little longer so she didn't rub it in my face later.

   ‘Okay. I’ll buy them but I have to remove other things from my list.’ I said through clenched teeth. ‘Please tell her I want the blue jeans. Don’t tell your boyfriend o! You know you have a problem with keeping secrets. I'm pleading with you now o!’
She was laughing as she dialed the seller's number. ‘The only problem I see is that when it comes to men's clothing, you have refused to accept that I know what's what.

   'Na you sabi. Abeg don't forget to tell her I want blue jeans and not the black in the picture.