Victor is a graphics designer whose old laptop has become more of a weapon fashioned against him than an actual work tool. Sometimes when clients chat him up for work, he gets frustrated and starts to think instead of being happy he got a deal because of how much stress his old and lagging laptop will first of all put him through before he is able to get the work done.
"I really cannot wait to change this laptop." Became the words that come out of Victor's mouth the most.
Whenever Victor is working on his laptop, it is expected that he hisses and hits the ground a number of times, showing his frustration and how much his laptop is stressing him. One time he almost hit the laptop on the ground but realised that will only make things worse for him; the laptop might be slow, but at least he still uses it to work for the few clients he has, and hitting the laptop on the ground means he will lose the few clients that are left because without the laptop he can no longer deliver at all.
"How about you save up and get a new laptop?" Royal asked Victor, who had hissed and hit the ground a number of times, if it feels unhealthy for him and people around him.
"It is not that easy to save when I have other needs and even wants." Victor said as he slapped his forehead.
"I totally understand you, bro; one can only save when the needs are less and the income is a bit more." I concurred.
"I am still trying my best, though; it's just that my best is not enough, and if I continue like this, then I will have to deal with this laptop for a very long time before I can get a better one." Victor lamented as he tossed the laptop aside.
Weeks went by, and we had to keep wishing we could help Victor out, even if not because we are friends and live in the same room but because we have also seen how frustrating using that old laptop can be. Doing an assignment on the laptop is one thing I don't even wish for an enemy, and an assignment that should take 30 minutes can take at least 3 hours with that laptop. What more, if Microsoft Word can be this slow, what about Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator?
One afternoon we came back from class and saw Victor smiling sheepishly; we have not seen him that happy in a long time.
"Hope all is well?" Royal asked
"Are you high? Did you drink alcohol?" I also asked because Victor's love for beer cannot be matched with anything.
"Brooo, my joy knows no bounds." Victor said as he came to hug us with arms wide open.
"Bro, are you okay?" Royal and I asked, looking at him and waiting for answers.
"I told my cousin abroad about my problem with my laptop; she did not even go back and forth; she just sent me the whole money for a new laptop." Victor responded with a big smile on his face, showing how excited he was.
"Woahhhhhh. "Congratulations, bro," Royal and I chorused as we celebrated.
"So no more hissing." Royal added as we all burst into laughter.
"I will be going to the tech shop opposite the school gate to get a new laptop now before I tamper with the money." Victor said as he put on his shoe and walked towards the door.
"Don't forget to buy beer for the celebration and launching of your new laptop, ooo." Royal shouted as he closed the door behind Victor.
About 45 minutes later, Victor was back home with a brand new laptop, inside a carton and with all the packs still intact. Just looking at the packaging, you'd know it was a brand new laptop, but something shocking happened: when he tried to turn it on, the laptop refused to come on. He plugged it into the wall socket since he assumed the battery was low, but still no response from the laptop, and at that point, the whole noise and celebrations in the room immediately died down.
"Did you check it at the shop where you bought it from?" I asked Victor.
"Yes, now I did. I shut this laptop down myself before we started coming back home, bro." Victor responded, pacing from the right corner to the left corner of the room.
"Immediately package this; let's take it back to the shop where you bought it from. We are going with you now." Royal said, and immediately we started packaging the laptop back since Victor could not because of how he was feeling.
We boarded a bike to the shop so we can reach there a lot faster and not waste any time.
"Good afternoon, sir." We greeted the shop owner on arrival.
"Good afternoon, how may I help you?" The shop owner asked
"Our friend here bought a laptop from you about an hour ago, but now the laptop cannot even come on?" We said since Victor could not even speak for himself due to the shock and how scared he got.
"Receipt?" The shop owner said as he extended his hand over the counter he was sitting over.
Royal and I turned to look at Victor, who was now searching himself, from the right pocket to the left, to the pockets on the back and the ones on the knee side since he was wearing combat trousers, but none had the receipt in them.
"But, sir, he bought it today. Why can't we just skip this protocol?" I asked.
"You think I am running a charity organisation?" The shop owner asked, "Receipt or Una, go leave my shop." He added in pidgin, and this time around, we were forced to help Victor search for the receipt.
After about 20 minutes of searching, Royal had to take another bike home. It turned out the receipt slipped into the new laptop, and we were with it all along and only saw it when we opened the laptop.
"Jesus Christ, thank God." Victor breathed a sound of relief when he saw the receipt.
"Na God save you, oo." The shop owner said in pidgin again, "If you had not brought this receipt, I would have done nothing for you because it could be that you want to scam me." He added as he took a glance at the receipt and then stretched to collect the laptop.
We all breathed a sigh of relief as we relaxed and waited for his response on what the next step would be as he checks the laptop.
