picture is mine
"Grrrr, Grrr" My phone rang loudly in the dead of the night. With sleepy eyes, I reached my hand to the bedside table and picked it up. Without checking to see who it was.
"Hello," I answered with a voice filled with tiredness.
But on the other side was a cry of distress. "Dude, Dude, I've messed up. I just crashed my boss's car", the voice cried.
I quickly got up from the bed. My sleepy eyes were wide awake now. I glanced at my phone to see the caller 'Michael' it read.
"Dude, what do you mean?"
"I don't know what happened, but I just lost control of the car, and it skidded off the road", he continued with a teary voice.
I rubbed my face with my hands, trying to understand what was going on. "I thought your boss travelled. Is he back? How did you get the car keys?" I asked, confused.
"He did. But you know this thing, na. I took the keys and..." he stuttered.
"And what? Micheal!" I yelled over the phone because already I knew where he was going.
"I drive it to the party in school. Just on my way back, I crashed it" I could hear him crying over the phone.
I took a deep breath, I was already fuming with rage, but I did my best to control myself. Getting angry was the best solution at that point.
"Where are you?" I asked, getting up and putting in my footwear. I checked the time, it was past nine in the evening.
"Just a few clicks from the school," he said.
"Hang on, I'm coming" I hung up. Got out of my apartment with Michael's location in mind.
I got to Micheal, to see the mess he had made. Luckily enough, the car didn't hit anyone, nor was the damage much. Just a dented bumper and windscreen and busted front tyres. He must have hit a pothole hard.
Immediately he saw he walked towards me
"Bro I don't know what happened... I was just.." he tried explaining but I cut him short. His breath reeked of alcohol.
"Save the explanation for your boss. How many times do I have to warn you not to touch your boss's car when he's not around? Because he trusts you sometimes to leave his car key with you or even send you on errands in his car doesn't give you the right to drive it when he isn't around or without his permission. This should be a wake-up call to you to do the right thing even in his absence. " I sniffed his mouth to be sure I perceived well the first time. "And you reek of alcohol. You get yourself drunk and decide it's okay to get behind the wheel this night." I fumed.
"But I just...."
"Just what? You're old enough and educated too to know what's wrong and right" I paused. "Well, you do buy market be that (you got yourself some expenses). I don't know much " I added.
Micheal stood there stunned and probably thinking of my last sentence.
"That's the reason I called. I don't have any cash with me, please what do we do" he asked.
I stood for a minute looking at him. Then I got out my phone. "Call your mechanic. Let's tow it to his garage; by tomorrow, we decide what to do. It's not safe here."
"Who will pay? Bro, I don't have the money. You know this already, please," he pleaded, looking me in the eye.
"Call him jor. I'll pay, but you'll pay back every single dime" I warned.
Micheal called the mechanic, who declined to come by that night. But after several pleas from us, he obliged but with the condition that we would pay an extra charge for making him work at night.
A few minutes later, the mechanic arrived, and we towed the car to the garage.
The next morning, I made sure Micheal called his boss to notify him of what happened. His boss, kind in his nature, was angry at first, but later calmed down and was thankful to God that no life was lost. He instructed Michael to make sure his car was in good condition before he got back from his travel. He didn't care where he was to get the money for the repairs from.
"If you are brave enough to drive my car without my permission, then you should be able to bear the cost of repairs without my help,", his boss said.
Luckily enough, we were able to raise some cash for the repairs just before his boss got back. Micheal nearly lost his job, but as J said, his boss, being too kind, forgave him after he pleaded and only suspended him for a month.