The Northerner

SAYEED(2)

Alhaji strolled into my office without so much as a Salam or a knock, I didn't even blink I was used to his ways by now, I stood up to greet him as he came barreling towards me with a big jolly smile on his plumpy face.
' sayeed my boy! You did it again! That's why I never doubted you! You my boy are a man of your words ' he said as he rounded my desk and grabbed my shoulder swinging me left and right in his excitement.i am not the smiling type but alhaji has a way of rubbing his Good mood all over you, In his presence you can't help but smile. I finally managed to extricate myself from his hold he didn't even notice as he went on chattering excitedly. Watching Alhaji like this is always funny when he is excited about something he starts gesturing with his hands making his Babar Riga Bellow all over, his gut starts jiggling like that of a fat toddler laughing,his happy go lucky ways and charming personality is what helped him become the success he is today ,from being a poor street kid to becoming one of the richest men in the country, Alhaji Idi Garba(IG) has done really well for himself.people get taken by his big smile and charm they fail to see all the bad things he has his hands in, nobody thinks the funny Alhaji IG can hurt a fly and most of the time they are right Alhaji doesn't have to do much hurting people naturally gravitate towards pleasing the smiling man,they do as he asks without question until you cross him that is when the smile is wiped off and the true man behind the smile emerges.
His smile is what helped him become the most successful human trafficker in Nigeria, he is so good at playing the game and has so many Rich people in his pocket that nobody would dare associate such heinous acts with a nice man like Alhaji IG. Anyone you ask would tell you what a kind benevolent man he is and they'll be right he might be one of the most dangerous men in West Africa but to me and he is just like a father,I might not call him Dad but he is my father in all the Sense of the word. He raised me since I was a boy, gave me all the luxuries a child could ask for, made me the man I am today and introduces me as his son to anyone that ask. So yes this man people will call evil if they knew who he really was is all I have in the world and I am forever loyal to him.
"What has you so happy this early in the morning? I asked after he has finally settled down a bit.
' oh! Don't be so modest my boy, I heard we have 30girls for the auction this year, I can't believe it, I knew you were the right person for the job! Didn't I say that! But nobody believed me,now all those that doubted you can eat their words. We have never had such a high amount I call it a good year if we can get 10 girls to auction off but because of you we have tripled that amount.i am so proud of you son' .
'well it's not that big a deal,the current insurgency situation worked in our favor that's all ' I managed to say before Alhaji cut me off shaking his head at me.
' a'a ba haka bane, if you hadn't come up with the idea no one would have thought to mask our operation as the terrorist's doing, we managed to snatch 15 girls from that college with no one being the wiser the police still think it's the terrorist cell that did it just like you said they would'
' well we only managed to get away with it because those pesky terrorist kidnapped those school girls a few months back. I just knew if we used the same tactics we would succeed, buy a couple face mask wave a fake gun at those terrified students who thought they were being attacked by the insurgents and we get to walk away with alot of girls without going to the trouble of snatching them off the street, it was taking too long to get all the girls we needed,you know how impatient I am, I hate waiting' I told Alhaji, he loves showering praise on me,I just want us to move on from this and talk about whatever business brought him to my office this morning, ever since he handed over the day to day running of this side of the business to me he has been forcusing more on the legit side of his empire IG Group of industries, he rarely shows up at my office unless it's important, normally he waits until we meet at home.He pats me on the shoulder in a ' I'm proud of you' kind of way before he finally took a seat.
' I know you don't take compliments well but you really out did yourself this time with your plan to kidnap the girls and the girls we bought from the street snatchers we have a well stocked stable for this year's auction,our clients will be pleased and we managed to reduce the money we spend on buying the girls off the snatchers its a win-win situation'
I don't respond I just sit and wait for him to get to the point. As usual it doesn't take him long to let me know what he wants.
" I need you to go to the warehouse and have a look at the girls, select the ones you know would fetch a high price, our European business partner has expressed interest in buying a few girls from us I told him he can have the rest of them after we pick the best selling ones, I know we don't usually cross international borders but he has offered a price I can't refuse. I gave him your contact information and told him you are the one handling the business now, you'll hear from him soon I trust you'll handle the rest of the transaction" when he finished speaking he got up to leave as always Alhaji IG speaks and you obey there is never a need for discussion. I walked him to the door just as he was stepping out he turned to say 'And one more thing pay attention when you're selecting I know you don't have much appreciation for our merchandise but I need you to get top sellers we can't afford any leftovers,we need to sell them all,most of the people coming this year are first time clients if we want them to become regulars they need to see our merchandise is top knotch, I don't have the time or I'll have gone myself but I trust you sayeed,don't let me down son" with that he left in the same flurry of Babbar Riga as he came in.
I really wasn't happy with this task I try to stay away from the girls, I never get involved I handle the business and strategic side of things and my minions handle the girls,I hate watching the despair in their eyes so I look away and that has been working well for me so far but now I have no choice Alhaji has given me a task and I never say no to my father.