My dad had too many people who called him their friends. I didn't like it, but there was nothing I could do to reduce my dad's excessive love for mankind. He was the kind of man who would sacrifice all he had for someone else's benefit, but one day, he had an experience that tormented him for a long period of time.
Peter, was the new unexpected friend my dad introduced to us. One evening, he called my mom and requested that she prepare an exceptional dinner because he was bringing someone home with him. My mom shared the news with me, and my mood turned sour immediately.
"Mom, this is too much already. How many people will he bring to this house? Is it until one of them robs us, or probably does something worse?" I complained bitterly.
"Jane, your father is just too kindhearted. It doesn't sit well with me too, but I can't stop him from being good." My Mom replied.
"If he wants to be friends with every single person he meets, he should hire a chef to prepare meals for them. I can't be doing this all the time." I said again.
"Help me, let's get this over with. They'll be home soon, and we need to be done before that." My mom replied, and I fell silent.
After some minutes had passed, my dad returned home with his guest, and I and my mom served dinner. While we ate, I kept throwing glances at the new man at the table. He spoke as though he'd been with us before, and it annoyed me. Something didn't seem right about the way he kept asking questions, especially questions about my mom's travel.
"So, you'll travel the day after tomorrow for the business proposal?" He asked my mother as he dug into his food.
"Yeah. She's the sales manager at the company she works in, and she's attending a meeting on behalf of the company." My father replied as he saw that my mom was reluctant to speak on the matter.
"Whoa, that's wonderful to hear. We could probably travel together; I have a business to attend to there." Peter said, and my mom gave a dry smile.
Three days later, my Mom traveled with my dad's new friend. Later that night, my dad called her line only to hear that the phone had been turned off.
"I can't reach your mother; I wonder if she arrived safely." My dad said to me.
"Her phone was already going down when she left. It has probably gone off by now. I'm sure she's okay; we'll just call her again tomorrow." I responded.
The next morning, as early as 7 am I heard my dad scream, and I rushed out of my room to the sitting room where he sat.
"Dad, what's wrong?" I asked him.
"Peter just called now. He said your Mom got into an accident and she needs surgery. I need to leave now; pack a bag for me." My dad said. I heard the panic in his voice, and I understood his fears, but for some reason, I had a feeling that the news was probably false.
"Dad, calm down. Call your friend back and hear what he has to say first before we can do anything." I advised him.
I was glad when he calmed himself a bit and dialed Peter's line. The call was on speaker, so I was able to hear all he said about the surgery for my
mom's broken bone. It sounded unreal to me, but my dad panicked more and asked him to send his account details so he could send a deposit of three hundred thousand. After the call, he rushed into their bedroom and began to pack his bag. I picked up my dad's phone and copied out Peter's number, which I transferred to my phone, then I called him. At the second ring, he picked up.
"Hi, it's Jane. How bad is my mom?" I asked him.
"The doctors say she needs blood, so they've started a blood transfusion. Once your dad sends the money, the surgery will begin." He replied.
"How did you manage to be with my mom at the time of the accident?" I asked him.
"Well, I'll call that fate. I was in the car at the back of the one she was in, so I was able to identify her at once." He replied.
"I'm sorry that I'm asking too many questions, I'm just worried about my mother. Do you know the blood type they're infusing into her?" I asked him. He was quiet for a while, and I hoped to God that he would fail this test, so I would stop my dad from making rash decisions, and he did.
"It's O+. They said she was lucky to meet the last one." He responded, and I smiled.
I looked back to see my dad coming down with the bag he had packed.
"Dad, this is a scam. Your friend just scammed you; Mom is alright." I told him.
"How do you mean?" He asked.
"He said they're infusing an O+ blood into mom, but she's O- so that can never be possible." I said to him, and a look of shock spread on his face.
Peter started calling again, and I told him not to pick up the phone. He decided to trust me and ignore the call, and at exactly 6:30 pm, my Mom came home, with no single scratch on her body. She was surprised when she heard the story.
"You really need to stop all this friend-making." She said to my dad, who was busy sending all manner of threatening text messages to Peter as he couldn't pick up my dad's call anymore.
"From the moment I saw that man, I smelled a rat and I knew he was up to no good. I hope Dad learns from this one." I said to my Mom, but she sighed and said nothing.
