ShortStory I Unwelcome Good News (II)

UNWELCOME GOOD NEWS (II)

       “This is serious.” Dan lamented as they watched the lady depart.

       “Really serious.” Chidi concurred.

       “So, we are still coming back here on Monday?” quoth Dan, looking at Chidi. “We are not even sure if it would hold on that day.”

      “My brother, I am tired.” Chidi lamented. “I mean, very exhausted.”

       As they observed others take their leave in tattered moods, they walked to a closest corner and sat on the pavement of a façade, respectively supporting the crude seats with the paper files in their hands that contained the required credentials for the anticipated job. “My brother,” Dan called. “Job-hunting has really eaten me up.” He confessed.

       “I thought I was the oldest in this line until I met you.” Chidi revealed.

       “How long have you been searching?”

       “Eight years now.”

       “Hmm..” Dan sighed. “You are still far behind me.” He observed.

       “Yes I am,” Chidi agreed. “Ten years of job-hunting is enough reason for one to give up all hopes.”

       “My brother, not just ten.” Dan directed. “Ten years and some months.”

       “Wait a minute,” said Chidi. “Is it ten years after graduation, or NYSC?”

       “Which graduation?” Dan ranted. “NYSC of course.”

       “You don’t mean it.” quoth Chidi, dumbfounded. “If it is after NYSC, that means mine is even seven years, not eight.” he corrected, paused. “I finished my NYSC February 2007.” He supplemented.

       “I finished October 2003.” The 35-year-old Dan informed.

        The 33-year-old Chidi looked at him in silent awe. “This is really serious!” He exclaimed.

        “You can say that again.”

        “Bros, how have you been coping?”

        “Menial jobs of course.” Dan answered. “I relocated to this town three years ago after many years of frustration in Calabar.”

         Chidi shook his head. “Where did you finish?”

       “UniCal.” Dan replied, referring to the revered University of Calabar in Cross River State.

       “Discipline?”

       “BF.” He responded, meaning literally ‘Banking and Finance’.

        Chidi shook his head again.

        “And you?”

        “Auchi Poly.” Chidi replied.

        “Course?”

        “EE.”

         That’s the popular acronym for Electrical Engineering, thus didn’t require an exegesis.

        “Hmm…” Dan sighed, shaking his seeming big skull. “When did you come to Awka?”

       “Four years ago,” quoth Chidi. “2010.” He added.

        Two minutes later, a young man who appeared to be in his early forties walked out from one of the offices. “Please gentlemen,” he told Chidi and Dan. “You have to leave this place.” He notified. “You are not permitted to sit like this.”

        “We came for the interview but it has been postponed.” Chidi said.

       “I know.” The man responded. “But we don’t allow people to sit this way, not even our staff.”

       “Okay sir.” Dan replied, stood up alongside his file. “Thank you.”

        Chidi hastily followed suit. “We have heard you, sir.” He supplemented.

       “You are welcome.” the man said, turned and took his leave.

         Some minutes on, the two departed for their respective residences having exchanged contacts.

         When Chidi got home at about 2:40pm, he felt like fisting himself to stupor. He kept wondering what was actually happening to him. His miserable life, according to him, had gotten to a point when he had to travel to his ancestral home in Abia State to ask some certain questions regarding his lineage. He sat on his foam while still in his suit, and stood up. He repeated the action subconsciously for the umpteenth time till he became very saturated. He dished the jollof rice left in his pot to see if he could take some bites, but the appetite was far away. He sat, fixed his eyes on the well oiled half-plate rice positioned right before him. Some seconds later, he summoned courage and began to devour the meal. He was eating not because he felt hungry, but just to ensure that something was taken into his bowel for the day towards avoiding further crises.

       Three days on, the awaited Monday came calling. He dressed properly, as usual, and headed for the manufacturing company for the long awaited interview. When he got there, at 8:00am, everywhere was already flooded with the invited applicants. The current number seemed greater than what was recorded the previous week.

        He looked around to see if he could see Dan, to no avail. He called him on phone. Initially the calls weren’t reachable, but when the call eventually went through, Dan told him that he was no longer interested in the job, stating he wasn’t sure if the firm really wanted to recruit some persons.

       At exactly 10:05am, the job interview commenced to the utmost amazement of the guests; they were earlier of the view that there would be another postponement, probably till further notice. In thirty minutes time, Mr. Chidi Okafor was ushered in. He was therein interviewed successfully by a 5-man panel.            
        After all the applicants present were through with the oral section, a written aptitude test that lasted for barely twenty minutes was conducted among them. At about 2:25pm, all had been said and done as planned. They were asked to return to their various homes and wait for further notification.

       As Chidi was returning devastatingly, he was of the opinion that the interview was just a mere waste of time. According to him, if there was any hope, at least, he would have received a tip of an iceberg from the panel of interviewers.

       On his way as he walked toward the bus-stop where he was meant to board a cab that would take him to his destination, there was a scene where a group of people were crowded. It seemed two able-bodied young men who had a misunderstanding created the scene. The moment he got closer, he noticed a wallet placed in the back pocket of one of the spectators. He stylishly went nearer, surreptitiously grabbed the wallet and hurriedly took his leave.

        The victim immediately felt the anomaly, turned, sighted Chidi, and quickly raised an alarm. The latter began to run but his swift was like that of an amateur. Before he could run for about hundred metres, the crowd was already on him. He started begging, saying it was the first time he would indulge in pick-pocketing, but his plea fell on deaf ears. Within a few seconds, he was lynched by the mob, and his burnt carcass was left on the roadside to be enjoyed by vultures.

        Before he was killed, his cell phone was taken away from him by a member of the mob. The following day, a message came to the phone informing Chidi that he had been gainfully employed by the manufacturing firm. According to the SMS, he was instructed to resume work in two days time being Thursday 3^rd of April 2014.

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