If there is any spiritual gift I seriously
crave for, it is the gift of prophecy; the ability to be able to see or predict
the future. Now, I don’t mean predictions that don’t come true or those that
come true in parts, leaving people skeptical on whether a prediction was actually
truly inspired or was just guesswork. For instance, I know of some preachers in
my nation who have made predictions (or prophecies) on a lot of issues ranging
from ‘being instructed by God to run for political positions’ to things that
would happen in the economy, the death of political figures etc. Unfortunately,
so many of these predictions never came true and I’m forced to wonder if indeed
the ‘gifts of prophecy’ these men were supposed to possess had somehow gone
soft or something.
Recently, it was alleged that
another preacher predicted the outcome of the final of the Champions League
match. I watched that match and I honestly have to admit that I was ready to
laugh at the prophecy once the game was over. Reason: From all indications
during that game, it hardly looked like the prediction would come true. The
team that was foreseen as the winner was seriously outplayed and they were at a
disadvantage by all standards – going into the game, during the game and even
during the resulting penalty shootout – but alas, the prophecy/prediction came
true and I’ve been in awe ever since.
Now, I’m not implying that the
alleged prophecy/prediction makes the preacher a superman or something but that
feat actually got him trending on Twitter for two days in a row and I laughed
my butt out at the numerous posts that were hash tagged with this preacher’s
identity and the funny questions that were thrown at him regarding events that
would happen in the future. The reactions were further influenced by the fact
that this man had once predicted that the national team wouldn’t make it to the
Nations Cup and indeed they did not. Now, with these prophetic achievements,
why won’t people literally make this man the Nigerian version of Nostradamus? I
have begun to wish I could be Geebeestradamus and indeed see the future and all
that would happen. If only I could see the future, I would take advantage of a
lot of situations and likewise avoid a lot more. Life would be perfect! I’ll keep
praying anyway and maybe I’ll get my wish someday.
The phenomenon called regret
comes about when sometime in the future we wish we had taken or not taken
certain actions. If we had an idea of what would happen if we did some things,
we would know better to do or not do a lot of things. Unfortunately, life is
not meant to be that way so we are stuck with making our decisions guided by
our personal experiences or those of others among other factors. Usually, we
have a voice in our heads that either propels us to do some things or warns us
against it. The strength of that voice is usually a function of the personality
of the individual and while it is highly active in some people, it is inactive
in others. Usually, every time we disobey that voice, it gets weaker and
ultimately loses its effect. I believe that voice could be sometimes referred
to as our conscience.
As much as the voice in my head
warned me against venturing into the Yahoo-Yahoo business, I constantly resisted
and tried to justify my actions and before long, the voice hardly mattered to
me. In fact it was barely audible to my spiritual ears. I was deeply involved
now and things were beginning to look up. With five magas and counting, prospective ones in the works, a new partner
and more prospects I was yet to actualize, I could not imagine quitting at that
stage. I had since decided I would not do it forever but I was not as convinced
about that resolve as I was at inception. However, with my firing of Nuel as my
partner and Cher’s entry, things took a totally different dimension and if
indeed I could see the future, I would have simply held on to Nuel or better
still, quit the business altogether. It was a wrong way of life, anyway! Like I didn’t know!
I had only met Cher on about
three occasions and spoken with her on phone prior to the commencement of our
partnership so naturally, I felt a little clumsy around her for many reasons.
One, she was my pregnant girlfriend’s sister. Two, she was quite breathtaking
in her own way. Of course, I had met more beautiful girls but Cher had a
confidence about her in her carriage and speech that seemed to accentuate her
beauty. Three, she had a serious attitude problem. Unfortunately, as much as I
would have loved to put her where she belonged with a good deal of
tongue-lashing, I couldn’t. I figured BG and I owed her. She, it was who had
lent her moral support while we attempted to terminate the pregnancy even
though I had to overlook her irritating behaviour all the while. Furthermore,
she had been the one who broke the story to her eldest sister and saved BG the
stress of having to do it herself. One way or the other, we owed her and I was
sure she was the kind of lady who wouldn’t hesitate to rub that fact in. Four,
she was four years older than I was and that fact made me understand that it
would be difficult to relate with her just as a partner. There would be a
number of issues I would have to bear with and I would have to maintain an
extra measure of calmness with her.
As promised, within a week, I had
the drivers’ license ready with her picture and the cover-up name I had been
using for my magas. I was to be the
brain and ‘fingers’ of the business empire and she was to be the face and
voice. I was amused at Cher’s excitement when I visited the house and gave her
the ID.
“Wow! This is cool. So, I’m
officially AY now, right? BG, check this out!”
BG collected the ID and surveyed
it.
“I wish I wasn’t in this
condition.” She said, referring to her bulging tummy. “I would have been the
one in this ID.”
I smiled. “If you weren’t in this
condition, this ID would never have existed in the first place.” I said
sarcastically.
We laughed and while BG and Cher
chatted away, I sat in silence and allowed my gaze to stray to the bulging
tummy. The pregnancy was closing on six months and again, I was reminded I was
going to become a father in another three months. I would have traded
everything to be spared of that eventuality – even my ‘business empire’! I had
been praying secretly that a miscarriage of some sort would happen but nothing
of such was yet to happen.
“So what’s the first mission,
Geebee dear?” Cher said, interrupting my thoughts.
I hesitated before responding. “Well,
I chatted with Dean yesterday and promised to give him my phone details
tonight.”
“That would be my number, right?”
she asked.
“Yes. It’s going to be your
number but not your regular phone number.”
I reached into my pocket and
brought out a sim pack.
“Here, I got you a new line. You’ll
only use it to receive his calls and any other calls from any future magas.”
“Magas?” BG asked.
I was about to explain when Cher
cut in. “Those are the fools we are going to be duping, silly!”
I winced. She never had to make
it sound so bad, I mentally noted.
“Or am I wrong?” she probed, lightly
poking me in the side. “You’re right” I said.
“So I’m going to give you updates
whenever I chat with whoever is going to call you just so you know how to respond
on phone.”
“Wow, this is gonna be so cool. I can’t wait.”
“Meanwhile, we have some money to
go and pick up now. That’s why I brought the license anyway.”
One of my latest magas, Prakash, an Indian in U.K had
sent me £100 the previous day.
“Can I come with you guys?” BG
asked morosely.
“Are you sure you want to come?”
I asked after a moment of hesitation.
She nodded. “I’m bored here. I
just want to go out with you. Nobody knows me around here anyway.”
I sighed and was about to speak
when Cher cut in.
“No way. If she’s coming with us
like this, then I’m not going anywhere.” She said pointedly.
By ‘this’, she meant BG’s protruding tummy. I was too stunned to speak.
By ‘this’, she meant BG’s protruding tummy. I was too stunned to speak.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
BG lashed at her sister. “If not for this pregnancy, do you think we would even
need you for anything?”
“Oh really? Okay, fine then! I quit!”
To my utmost shock, she threw the
license at me and stormed out of the living room.
“Yes! Get out! We don’t need you.”
BG screamed after her angrily.
I picked up the license and
relaxed in the chair. I sighed and closed my eyes for a while. What the hell
was going on? I wondered.
“So what do we do now?” I said after
a few minutes.
“She’s too full of herself.” BG
lashed out.
“But we need her, you know.”
“I don’t care!”
I wanted to yell at her. I wanted
to curse her for putting me in such a situation. I wanted to tell her that if
not for her pregnancy, I wouldn’t even have thought about going into the damned
illegal business! I wanted to tell her to go to hell along with her sisters and
her entire family! I wanted to go into the room after Cher, beat her silly and
storm out of the house! I wanted to do so many things but I didn’t.
Thirty minutes later, the three
of us were on our way to a nearby bank that had Western Union Money Transfer
facilities. I had been able to pacify the two sisters and Cher had grudgingly accepted
that BG accompanied us. Cher had asked to come along with me to the café the
next day so she could ‘experience the action firsthand’ and I agreed. BG did
not ask to come along this time and I was glad to avoid another sisterly
scuffle. As we entered the banking hall, I wondered if bringing Cher into the
business was the right thing to do. Unfortunately, I had no powers to see the
future and had to rely on the passage of time to know for sure.
SEE YOU IN THE NEXT EPISODE OF
THE GEEBEE CHRONICLES
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