419

Mechi, a well-known mason in a small city called Palm-Hill, was called to a site in a neighbouring town to come and restructure the defaulting foundation of a building. The work was urgent, and he needed to attend to it that early. After the call, he checked the time and saw 9:00 a.m., which was considered far off because the journey to the neighbouring town takes 2 hours and also because it's the raining season. He wanted to object to going for the work, but when he gave it a second thought, he decided to go in order not to enlist his name among the disappointing Masons in town.
He arranged his tools inside the hangable bag, and he zoomed off to the bus terminal to take a direct bus.
He got to the terminal and saw all the buses empty with not even a single passenger while the bus conductors were busy shouting, "one more person to go! One chance, one chance!"
After using his eyes to check on the buses from where he was standing, he became curious. He walked to one of the shouting bus conductors and asked, "Where is the one chance bus you're referring to?"

"Oga, enter this one; people will fill up soon", the bus conductor replied, and Mechi couldn't hold it but to hiss out his disappointment and ran off from the scene to use 'along'(passing by vehicles) because that's the only option left for him if he wants to meet up with the work.

Immediately he got to the spot on the road where people stand and enter passing vehicles. A five-seater vehicle with three mature men inside, stopped for him to enter and the driver said, "Enter if you're going to NDC"

Mechi hopped in without negotiating a price with them because he was already late, he sat at the back seat in between two guys.

Along the line, the driver broke the five minutes silence and asked one of the passengers in the back seat where Mechi was seated, "As I was saying, do you know of a gold dealer around? Because I still want to sell these three pieces of gold."

"Yes, I know of a place close by, but before telling you or leading you there, I must be assured of my percentage of the money," the passenger replied instantly, and Mechi was as confused but found the topic interesting because how can a driver like that be with gold?

"Okay, there's no problem. We'll head there as soon as we drop off the passengers first," the driver responded with a convincing tone and very much concentration with the stereo.

Then the second passenger chipped in, "What if you guys carry everyone of us along and tip us at the end of the sale? Wouldn't that be better instead of getting to the destination first before going to meet the gold buyer?"

"That's a nice idea too, but I don't know if the other guy would be interested." The driver responded, and the ball was played into Mechi's court.

Mechi ran a brain quick calculation on what he would get from the work he's going to and what he would get at the end of the gold sale."Driver, I'm interested; let's go", Mechi concurred without much hesitation"

As soon as he said that, soft smiles appeared on the faces of the driver and the two passengers.
The driver hauled the vehicle, took a reverse, and drove back in the direction the first passenger gave.

Ending number one:

Within 10 minutes of driving, they landed in a half-finished building where a man in his 50s dressed in a white Muslim gown came out and welcomed them.
"You're welcome, guys," he said as he led them inside the one room building. Mechi was a little bit sceptical, but his quest to have his account fattened overshadowed his double-mindedness.

"Baba, I have the three pieces of gold with me. How much are you going to buy?" The driver asked the man after they'd all sat down.

"Gold has depreciated, but I'll be considerate enough and buy the three for 27 million naira; that's 9 million naira each."

Upon hearing this, Mechi's body got filled with goosebumps, and he quickly pictured how much fortune would get to him after the deal.

"Okay, it's fair enough. Let's deal", the driver dipped his hand into his pocket, brought out three pieces of black stones, and handed them to the Baba

"Haaa! It's still coated? I can't buy it like this. You guys must pay the sum of 2 million naira to uncoat it; if you're not paying, then take it somewhere else." The was at the top of his voice like he just saw an abominable substance.

"Baba, please use 2 million naira from what you're going to pay us to uncoat it." One of the passengers pleaded, but the Baba refused; he said it must be their own money.

Mechi, looking at the interesting drama before him, finally uttered, "Let's find a way to pay up and sell off the gold and get our money."

As soon as he said this, the four of them looked at each other and gave a sharp smile.

"Okay, since we are four, we are all going to pay 5,000 naira each. Are we ready? The driver said to the three of them, and they all echoed, "Yes!"

The Baba called out his account number, the three passengers of them (driver and two Passengers) clicked their phones and told the Baba to confirm that they'd transferred their money, and Baba confirmed instantly. "Yes, I've seen it."

Mechi logged in to his bank app; there was just 500,000 naira there, and it wasn't his personal money but money sent to him for a project. He didn't think twice; he transferred it to the driver; after all, he's going to get 10X of that money at the end.

"Okay, received," the Baba confirmed as soon as he got the credit alert.

Baba got up from his sitting position, took a calabash containing a white liquid, dipped his finger inside, and used the white liquid to touch the three guys without touching Mechi.
Mechi was getting scared because the process seemed diabolic, but he didn't care much, as far as the money would come out at the end.
Baba got back to his position after touching them. He picked up a gong and hit it once, and before Mechi's eyes, the three of them disappeared.
He became scared; he ran outside and wanted to run away, but what about his money? He bravely went back inside the room, checking and checking, but no one was found. Tears dropped from his eyes, and that was when the blindfolding enchantment at work in him was cleared off. He stayed there, crying and rolling on the floor. He's been duped.

Ending number two:

After he was done crying, he reached out to his phone to meet '17 missed calls' from Mr. Solomon, the client to whom he was going for his work before he decided to chase money. He stared at the phone for minutes, not knowing whether to call him back or just snubbed because it was 5:00 p.m. He soberly got up, put the phone back in his pocket, dusted off, walked outside, and began walking towards an open road where he could see a bus.

He finally got one immediately he came to the road, he described his destination, and luckily for him, the small vehicle was heading the same way.

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While on the moving vehicle, feeling quiet and sober, the next guy close to him cleared his throat and asked him, "Do you know of any guy that buys gold around this area?"
Mechi screamed with anger, "Driver, stop this vehicle!" The loud voice scared the guy who asked him the question, and the driver pretentiously turned his head to face him and asked, "Why?"

Mechi was mad already, he was shaking the seat of the driver aggressively with his hands and legs. "I said, Stop, I want to come out!"

The driver noticed the seriousness in him and stopped the car. Mechi, with anger, quickly pushed off the door, came out, and slammed the door. "Gbim!"

That was how he saved himself from falling into the den of the 419 the second time.
He took another cab, got home, and borrowed money from his elder brother to pay up the client he wasted his money.

Yeah, he didn't tell any of his friends until one year, when he had balanced up.

Thanks for reading.