PRAYING FOR THE BEST

Tolu came around eleven that morning and the three of us went over the plan again. Eric and Tolu thought the plan was flawless and they both gave me a hi-five at the end of my presentation. But a nagging unease lingered in my mind; I couldn't place my hand on what was wrong, but it was there—teasing me, warning me.

'Dominic James is your scammer name?' I asked Tolu. 'I saw it in the email.'

He smiled. 'Yeah; that's the name Mr. Potter knows me with. Don't call me Tolu in his presence or he will know we are up to something.'

I nodded. 'Is that the name you use in all your scams?' 

'No!' he said. 'You use a different name and email for every scam. That way no one can keep track of you.' He smiled and looked fifty times more handsome. 'Once you are done, dump the name and the email.'

'How do you keep track of all the names?' Eric asked.

'That's easy,' Tolu said. 'You read the previous conversations so you can remember what your name was.'

Eric smacked his hands together. 'You guys are smart. If only we can use this knowledge to invent machines—but the enabling environment is not there.'

Tolu took us out to buy what we needed for the job tomorrow. We bought Gala sausages, a pack of Coke, two packs of Fanta and a carton of Indomie Noodles. We also got fuel for the car and then we headed back to Eric's place.

'I think we should pray,' Tolu said immediately we got into the stuffy room. 'So, we don't get caught. It's being on my mind for a while now.'

Eric and I stopped and turned. We stared at him as if his intestines just popped out of his stomach. Eric held the carton of Indomie Noodles while I held the pack of Coke in my right hand and the carton of Gala between my left arm and ribs.

Eric found his voice first: 'Come again?'

'What?' Tolu said. 'What's wrong with praying?'

'You want us to pray,' I said slowly. 'You want God to help us to...to kidnap the white man?'

'There is nothing wrong in praying,' Tolu said in a defensive voice. 'It's for God to help us and to keep the police away.'

Eric laughed. 'You can't be serious. You are about to kidnap a man and you want God to help you do it? That's unbelievable.'

'What's unbelievable about it?' Tolu asked and sat on the settee. 'Politicians and civil servants do it in this country and they are getting blessed day after day, what can you say about that?'

Eric dropped the carton of Indomie Noodles to the floor and walked outside, shaking his head in amazement. I dropped the packs in my hand and stood over Tolu.

'We will bring a curse upon our heads for doing this,' I said. 'But to pray to God to help us to do what's wrong is to bring double curses on ourselves.'

'Don't look at me that way,' he retorted. 'Most politicians do it and get away with it. They take from the treasury and build mosques and churches to appease God for the wrong they have done. I don't know about you, but when I get my share, I will take a portion to the church.'

'It's better you keep all,' I said. 'It won't do you any good. Bribing God or giving alms wouldn't absolve you and I from what we are about to do. It doesn't matter if you are a Christian, Muslim or a pagan.'

Tolu shook his head from left to right. 'If politicians and civil servants do it and get richer in the process, why shouldn't we? See the assets they have all over the country and around the world.'

'Paul,' Eric said from the bathroom. 'Let Tolu do whatever he wants with his share. It's a semi-free country, after all. Let him eat it, if that's what makes him happy.'

I chuckled. 'Tolu will give it all to the poor.'

'And God,' Tolu said.

'Keep God out of it,' Eric shouted from the bathroom. 'The hottest part of hell is reserved for those who steal from the country and then turn around to give a tiny portion to the masses and God and think they are good. They will surely rot in hell.' 

Tolu laughed. 'What makes you different from the looters of our treasury? We are taking money meant for someone for our benefit. How are we different?'

Eric came into the room with a glare on his face. 'We are not the same. We are trying to survive. The looters have jobs and earn salaries and yet steal from the money meant to develop the country. We don't have a choice; we are fighting to stay alive. They are stealing for their great grandchildren that are not yet born. We are not the same.'

Tolu pointed his hand at Eric. 'That's your opinion. I will give a portion to God—you do what you want with yours.'

'Alright guys,' I said, picking the plan we had written. 'Let's go over the plan again instead of fighting over how we are going to spend the money. We haven't gotten it yet.'

We went over the plan again and Tolu left some minutes before four that evening. Eric and I remained in the stuffy room.

'Are you ready?' Eric asked. He sat on the bed while I sat opposite him on the settee.

I raised my eyes from the paper and looked at him. I could hear the music coming from the beach. A shiver ran through me. 

'I think so,' I said.

Eric nodded. 'Okay.'

Tomorrow would change our lives forever, I thought. 

It did.