I was perplexed by what my eyes saw in a woman who claimed to be rich.
I'm someone who sells foodstuffs. I sell to both those who do not have money but choose to pay back monthly and to those who always buy and pay immediately. Something that I love about myself, as well as those customers I had, is that I don't like letting them starve. I sell for them as they come, but I know how to get my money back. I have been seen as a hard nut to break, even with the countless creditors out there.
Even my friend, who is also selling the same foodstuffs, is suffering just because of her nature of being so sluggish; I'm collecting her debts. I'm not slow when it comes to that aspect.
Kevin Malik
Some months ago, a woman whose character almost got everyone lost on the street came to my shop to purchase some foodstuffs. She bought and paid immediately. She bought a good amount of goods, which left me in total surprise. I was happy that I had a new customer, as she had newly moved into our street with her kids.
Some days later, she sent the daughter to buy some foodstuffs and paid immediately without a doubt. Her next coming was when she was coming from the market. She branched and told me about how she always buys her foodstuffs. She said she's selective in terms of who she buys things from. She also said she had seen me as someone who does not look down at people.
After saying those words, she asked for some foodstuffs, which I brought out peacefully. She asked me to calculate her bills. After my calculations, her money was about twenty thousand Naira. She said she needed to make it to twenty-five thousand Naira. I was so happy to have made so much money at that time. She selected some other items, and her money was rounded up to twenty-six thousand Naira only. She looked at her phone and said, "Can you take a transfer?" Her question was so nice, and without thinking twice, I said "yes." Within me was great joy, and this kind of evolution of sweetness. She asked me to give her my account details, which I did. She started the transfer, and after much trial, she turned to me and said, "I have been trying to transfer the money to your bank account, but it's not going through", the sweetness in me dropped totally, but I was still left with a little hope that she might send it no matter what. She said she will keep trying when she gets home.
That moment turned into a day, and from a day to two days, and so on, to almost a week. After a week of promising to send the money, each time I saw her, she would tell me she was coming. She later stopped buying things from me just because of the money she owed me.
This same woman has been the one wearing costly clothes, pretending to be rich. The first time she came to my shop, she even said her children cannot attend any of the local schools around the town. One day, when I went to pick my children up from school, I saw her coming out of a weak school that I cannot even take my kids to. She was shocked, but then I moved on. She immediately said she would be coming to pay up her debt. I only threw my head in agreement. At that moment, I knew my money had entered its one chance.
After two weeks of hoping, I decided to trace her to where she was living. I met her absent. The next day, I went to her house, and luckily, she was at home. She was relaxing when I got there, and looking at her, the environment she lives in does not make a single statement related to her dressing and appearance. Her room smelled, and her kids were looking tattered. I was shocked, but then was unable to collect my money.
After a month or some days, I saw an alert of ten thousand Naira from her. That day, she came to my shop and said she had transferred some money.
In another two weeks, she sent another ten thousand Naira. She decided to come again to my shop and said she had sent more money to my account. She started ordering food stuff while I served her as usual. After buying, she said she would send the money when she got home. Maybe she thought I was a kid who did not know the value of money. I only let her use my money for a longer period because of her kids, and now she's coming to purchase other goods on credit when she hasn't finished paying for the last one she bought.
I bluntly told her that "Madam, I am not used to selling my goods on credit." This was how she left the foodstuffs, and for months, my remaining six thousand Naira was not paid. I just let it go and concluded that "all that glitters is not gold."
