Some decisions we make sometimes as a person, are borne out of personal experiences, not only things we have seen or heard but also things that have been done to us in the past.
All my life, I have always been conscious about my dealings with people especially when it comes to the area of money which is why I always watch the kinds of people I associate with. Overtime, In a bid to build connections with people, I started to let people in.
One Friday evening, I heard someone knocking on the gate of my house. I came out and saw Bunmi, an acquaintance of mine.
“Good Afternoon Rukkie”, she greeted me while I quickly went to unlock the gate to let her in.
“Good Afternoon Ma”, I responded, giving her a side hug. She came in, sat down and relayed the reason why she had come to see me.
Apparently she needed some money to sort out some things which are very important to her. It is a huge amount of money which I don't have but she pleaded that she would return it in about 5 days at most. According to her, she is expecting some money from a contribution she belongs to in about 4 days time and promised to return it as soon as possible. She begged that I help her get it any way I could as I was her last resort.
The money I had on me isn't even close to the amount she needed as I was also expecting to get my salary in about two days' time. The other money I have is staked here on hive which if I unstake it will take three days to be able to trade it.
“What do I do? Who do I call? I thought out aloud. I picked my phone and called my sister as I know she can lend me the money if she has it. She picked up and I told her what I needed.
“What do you want to use it for?”, she asked, catching me off guard. “Ermm… I racked my brain trying to think of a lie to tell her because I know that if I tell her I want to borrow that huge amount for someone, she would not give it to me even if she has it.
I ended up telling a good lie but she told me she would give me about a quarter of it as her money is also tied elsewhere. She quickly sent the amount to my bank account and I thanked her.
“How do we get the rest, Rukkie? Bunmi asked, looking sad.
“I will try to call one other person”, I assured her. I quickly called a friend of mine and told her what I needed.
“You have never asked me for money before, Rukkie, what happened? What do you need it for?” My friend, Adeola asked.
I quickly gave her the same lie I told my sister and promised to get it back to her in 4 days time.
“The money I have on me is to restock goods for my business and I will be going to a trade fair in about a week”, she explained.
“Don't worry, I would have returned it before then”, I assured her.
“I really don't give out money like that but it must be very important to you for you to have asked me. Okay, you will receive it soon”, she said while I heaved a sigh of relief like a heavy load has been lifted off me.
In no time, I received the money and I transferred it all to Bunmi. She thanked me and promised to get back to me soon.
Just like you guessed, the fourth day, I called her to remind her of the money and she told me she has yet to hear from the people she wants to get the contribution money from.
The next day, I called again and she told me to give her about two hours. About five hours later I called and she wasn't picking up. I called again and again that the amount of calls I placed became uncountable. Afterwards, I couldn't reach her anymore.
“Ha! I am in soup”, I exclaimed. It's a good thing I had the foresight to unstake my Hbd three days before. So I quickly converted to Hive and sold it.
Together with my Salary which I had received, thereby putting what I needed to do on hold, I quickly transferred Adeola's money to her on the 6th day before she would call to ask. She called to acknowledge that she had received it and I thanked her once again for coming to my aid.
My sister called and I had to relay what had happened to her as I was unable to get hold of Bunmi. To say my sister was disappointed in me was an understatement but she knew I am family no matter what. Without asking, she sent me some money since I told her I have used all my salary to pay up the loan.
Since, it became clear that Bunmi is trying to play games with me, I quickly went in search of her in her house which is about 10 minutes drive to mine. I got to her place looking very angry but met her absence. Her neighbors told me she is not at home but she is within the area. I decided to wait till she got home, which she never did. I had to go back home since it was getting late.
I called her again the second day and I was able to get through. Before I could speak, she interrupted with a raised tone that she will send the money in a few hours.
I got a notification of a credit alert on my phone but as soon as I checked my anger doubled as I saw that what I received is not even up to a quarter of the money. I called her and she told me I should hold on to that for now as she will try to get the rest to me.
To cut the long story short, she was able to pay me back in installments for four months with numerous calls from me and trips to her house.
The experience taught me a lesson and I knew I needed a clean sweep. Despite her actions,I am not totally ruling out rendering assistance to people nor loan out money if I could but something needs to change.
Never will I ever stand in line for anyone (unless they are close family) regarding money issues and I will only loan out the amount I know I can let go in case the person wants to play smart and doesn't want to pay me back.
Posted Using INLEO
