THE CALL (3)

The Penultimate Call

 

She opened her eyes and turned some more in bed, it was morning already. She felt tired, a bit weak too, but she had to get up. Picking her phone up, Promise looked at her phone and saw a credit alert of ₦20,000 from this sender that she couldn't trace, not like she needed to trace it though. She was a typical Nigerian lady, all for credit and none for debit, so why worry about her miracle money? It had been a week since she had gotten the mystery call from John X, as she now called him, and she had grossed about ₦110,000 from him.

Five errands, and a ₦5,000 package for each errand she ran for him meant she didn't have to touch the accumulating credit alerts. She didn't have a clue who he was, and neither did any of the contacts she met through him. No matter how she tried, it appeared that they probably didn't know anything about John X, and they were only just following orders or playing by the rules of the game. 

Her first task last Friday at Elite Hotel wasn't what she'd expected at all. She'd dressed herself to look sexy, and covered all the hard work with a coat, so she looked decent. No one was going to spend 15 minutes with her and give her any money without wanting something in return, and since it was a man, she was sure the exchange was going to be of a sexual nature. Even if she was going to play their game, she wasn't going to make it easy for them, and anyone who wanted her was going to have to work for it. 

When she got to the hotel, she was directed to the reception desk and was informed that she was indeed expected at a table and was led by a waiter. 

The contact was friendly, but revealed nothing personal. John X had given him a package for her, and she was to take it home and deliver it to a certain location exactly two hours after she left the hotel. He gave her three envelopes: one with the address and instructions, another with the main package, and the last one contained her transport fare. She was not to open the second envelope under any circumstance, or there would be consequences.

They were now done with business and the contact attempted to move on to pleasure. He was rather nice, and Promise found herself flirting with the idea of flirting around with him so she could get more information, then she remembered what John X had told her, she wasn't to stay longer than 15 minutes. She had been seated for 12 minutes already, and she was almost done with her drink. In less than two minutes, she finished her drink rather hurriedly, thanked the contact, who still didn't have a name, and stood up to leave. He was surprised at the sudden urgency, but she had no time to stay, and she left. 

Taking a cab back home, Promise went through the envelopes one more time. She had seen the money, the first ₦5,000 she would get from John, and had gotten the receiving address and instructions, but the obvious mystery was the other envelope. She felt around it and it was small but strangely heavy, it felt like they were stones, but why would a person have her deliver stones? 

Then it hit her, if these were truly stones, they had to be precious stones and they had to be valuable. Were they diamonds or even better? She knew little about gemstones but even an illiterate knows that just one stone of some of these things could be worth millions in naira. Couldn't she just play smart and disappear? 

She knew she couldn't, and that someone like John would be watching her every move, maybe there was even a tracker in the envelope, she couldn't tell. She concluded that she couldn't outsmart John X and she resigned to playing by his rules. She just had to go home, and rest for awhile before she would proceed to deliver the package about two hours from the time she left the hotel. 

Delivering the package to the location was swift and she was on her way home in less than five minutes. There was no little talk, it was just business; drop and go. 

It was roughly on her way home that she got a text message. All it said was: WELL DONE, YOU DID WELL, THE PACKAGE WAS SEALED. AWAIT FURTHER TASKS.

How did he know that she was done with the task? What other tasks lay ahead? She was about to find out, and she knew she had to brace herself. The first task was easy, she could certainly handle the others. 

Six days and another four tasks later, and Promise was beginning to enjoy the game, a well rewarding game for her. 

The second task was her most challenging, one she feared she wasn't going to complete. Her job was to deliver two briefcases at different locations. She was sure that the content of the cases was money, but she had no proof, only feelings. 

She delivered the first in the afternoon, but the second was to be delivered before 10 pm and she wasn't to leave her house before 8 pm. She had no problem with this and was confident she was going to be successful just like the previous day, not until the cab she took that night developed a fault. 

It took roughly an hour to fix the vehicle and by the time her trip continued, she just stopped of going behind the wheel herself, for she was in a hurry. 

She eventually arrived by 9:58 pm and was out of breath when she got to the drop off point. 

The briefcase was received from her and as she turned to leave, she was asked to wait behind while they inspected the content first. A key was manufactured and the case was opened. Promise couldn't help but look and she was surprised to see that there was no cash in the briefcase. All she saw was a portrait painting of an unknown person. 

While reflecting upon the past week, her phone rang. It was John X, and she wondered why he was calling her. 

"Hi, Promise. I trust you're doing great," he greeted

"Yes, I am. Good morning"

"I've got one last job for you, expect the details later."