Edward is a graduate of the University of Nigeria, a doctor, and a loving son to his widowed mother. He is an intelligent man, a hard worker who loves his work and loves his family equally. He is an independent young man with dreams in front of him and has no plans of backing down from them. His goal is simple; to live a comfortable life as a physician and then, hopefully, be able to provide for his family. He doesn't care whether or not certain requirements will hinder his goals or if he will be judged by society. In his eyes his family is everything, and they have accepted him into their lives without judgment or question. If it would make them happy, he's willing to sacrifice anything, even himself to get far in life.
After graduating from the university, Edward has been unable to find a job as a doctor, so he settled down with what he could find, Farming. Edward's family had a small piece of land where dey grew crops, and it was from this farm they got the farm produce they sold at the market. Although Edward hated that he had wasted his time in school only to become a farmer, he was still happy that he was contributing to the family so he spent most of his time either on the farm or in the market.
One Monday morning, as Edward returned from his farm, he decided to head over to the market and assist in the sale instead of doing nothing at home, so he took a quick shower and made his way to the market.
On his way to the market, he ran into a friend of his called Charlie who he had known since childhood. The two men exchanged greetings and soon enough began walking together towards the market. They were discussing things when a loud sound suddenly erupted through the air, causing them both to freeze in surprise. They turned around in shock to see what happened, hoping it was some sort of accident that caused it, but to their surprise, a red Toyota Corolla slowly parked in front of them. Its windows were tinted black, blocking any possible view of the inside, and all the windows on the other side of the vehicle were also tinted dark blue.
Edward watched in horror as the car came closer and closer to them, and before they could realize what was going on the car came to a halt.
For about a minute, there was no movement, Charlie and Edward stood completely still waiting for the owner of the car to alight. Eventually, the driver's door opened and a tall light-skinned man stepped out of the car. He looked at the boys standing in front of him and said, “Hey guys, sorry I'm late." He paused and smiled slightly, "But hey! I guess I'm here now,” he added, looking amused.
"Are you okay?" Charlie asked.
"And who do you think you are to just obstruct our movement?", Edward added infuriated by the stranger's reckless driving. "Oga, the road is big enough to accommodate this your small car. So why must you be stupid?!", Edward continued his rant.
The stranger didn't utter a word to Charlie or Edward. He just smiled and took off his slightly dark shades that cover his beautiful blue eyes which look eerily calm. Then finally, he spoke up saying something surprising, “I apologize if I offended you, Edward. You can call me Kofi,” he greeted politely and extended his right hand to shake the two boys'.
"Kofi ?!", Charlie exclaimed. "It's a lie!"
Edward who was still confused by the new information then asked, "which Kofi?".
"You remember the Kofi your childhood friend, that friend that promised to travel to Dubai. The one that promised never to return as a poor man?..... I am that friend"
"Blood of Jesus!! ... It's a lie!", Charlie screamed with excitement while Edward instantly grabbed and Shaked Kofi in full excitement.
The friends spent most of the time laughing, gisting, and catching up. They talked about how much they've missed each other and reminisced about old memories.
Finally, they changed their path from the market to a local bar. After they reached the bar house the conversation became more serious, and they had a long talk about the past.
"So...", Kofi started, "how are you, Edward?".
"Well... I'm doing well", Edward answered, trying to hide the sadness in his voice.
"Good" Kofi replied, taking off his glasses and cleaning them with the hem of his shirt. He put the glasses back on and faced Edward once again. "Let me explain why we're here".
He paused for a moment then continued, "we need to talk about something very important, Edward...” he paused for a while. "Edward, words are flying around the village about how a university graduate ended up becoming a farmer...Edward, I am your friend and I won't watch you go true such pain. So, I'm here to make you an offer...Let me teach you how to make money and in turn, stop all this your hard work nonsense that will yield you no real money". Kofi said managing to convince Charlie in the process.
Edward looks at Kofi and Charlie with curiosity filling his mind, asking himself "What kind of offer? What kind of business do these people want me to join?".
"Look Edward, it doesn't matter what you are, as long as your skill is profitable we don't care who you are. We will make you a millionaire", Kofi explained.
"I don't want to go to university anymore! Sir, bless me!!", Charlie exclaimed joyfully.
" I'm happy working at the farm!..", Edward shouted, starting to feel angry, "why should I change my life just because you say yours is better"?
Kofi looked at his hands and sighed deeply, "I know that you are young Edward and I respect that. However, if you keep living your life on a whim then you'll regret it later in life... Now that you're grown up, maybe it's time for you to start learning. Think about it", he urged, grabbing Edward's shoulder lightly.
Edward took a deep breath and nodded in disagreement, "no, I'm fine...thanks but no thanks".
Kofi gave him a sad smile but quickly left after telling the two men goodbye. As soon as he left, Edward looked at Charlie, who was watching Kofi walk away in shock.
"What are you thinking Charlie? Why would I want to become more than a farmer anyway?" Edward asked in anger. "Why would you want me to go and start working hard on making money that means nothing to us? I mean, really Charlie, what makes you think that I would choose Kofi's ritual money business to be my career choice, huh? I want to be a doctor like my dad.. who also started as a farmer!".
Charlie looked at Edward with anger clouding his features. "Don't ever compare yourself to your father, Edward. How could you possibly consider yourself unworthy to be compared to such a man? That man had no talent whatsoever and no self-esteem! He did not deserve you to follow in his footsteps! You deserve to be treated better Edward. Don't you understand?".
Edward looked at Charlie's face in confusion, wondering why he sounded so different than before. He didn't answer the question and instead questioned "are you okay?".
Charlie sighed softly, looking down, "I'm ok, just forget it", he replied with a small smile.
As Edward stared at Charlie's face he felt tears falling down his cheek. He didn't have enough time to react, however. Suddenly, Charlie pulled him into a hug and held him tight, rubbing circles on Edward's back soothingly..."I'm sorry bro..forgive me. God will bless us.."
A little later, Charlie let go of Edward and they both returned to the market.
Two weeks later Edward was at the market hopeful that customers will soon approach him, because for some unknown reason he seemed to be having a customer drought, one that he couldn't explain. So he kept his mind at peace, and within him, he sang like a hummingbird to his creator. A few moments later, his peaceful humming was interrupted by the presence of some stranger. He looked to see his friend Charlie dressed like royalty with hefty men beside him.
Charlie stopped to greet Edward who was still in shock. "What have you done Charlie?!". Edward asked still in shock.
"Edward, my brother. I worked for my money". Charlie replied with a smile and then dropped a bundle of cash at Edward's feet before leaving.
Edward remained standing speechless in place. The cash was huge, 200 dollar bills with hundreds and thousands of dollars in denominations. His mouth hung open as he gazed dumbfounded at the wealth laid before him. His gaze turned towards the men who were walking away from him. Kofi, Charlie, and some other men he had never seen before. The whole market people soon trooped out in their numbers to hail and celebrate the wealth of these men with songs and dancing.
That night Edward couldn't sleep, his mind kept drifting away to the event of the morning. He kept wondering how a graduate like himself would be stuck in the village farming while people who didn't see the four walls of a university were living large. He asked God why evil men always win the end. He knew Kofi's money wasn't legit because Kofi had only been gone for two months and returned with a bucket load of cash. As he was deep in his thoughts, a hand touched his shoulder, he looked up to see his mother standing behind him, her face beaming with smiles. "My son don't you worry. The lord I serve is not asleep", and with that, she ushered Edward to his room.
The next morning, Edward woke with a resolve to make as much money as his friends Charlie and Kofi. His mind was made up, he wanted to have a good life and share it with his mother, so, he left early before his mother woke and went straight to Charlie's home. But when he arrived Charlie wasn't there, so he left for Kofi's house which was just a stone's throw from Charlies'.
On arrival at charlie's home, he met the gates open, his mind sensed danger but his will pushed forward. Once he crossed the gate and enter the compound, he was greeted by the angry faces of the federal government police squads who were in the act of whisking Kofi, Charlie, and the rest of his group away.
On further investigation, Edward discovered that Kofi was involved in online fraud against a foreign company that didn't find it funny. They exhausted their resources hunting down Kofi and in the process they took his friends down with him, unfortunately for Charlie, he was one of them.
Edward returned home thanking his God and dancing like a man who just won the lottery. When his mother saw him in his jovial manner, she asked him what the dance was all about and he narrated his ordeal to her. And they both praised God.
Edward continued with his farming until he was able to get a better job for himself and finally afford the lifestyle he so desperately wanted.
