Straight boys 35 A Spoilt Man Barrister Z: Chief, why did you have to go and negotiate with these young men? They have deceived you! Allow me to go and do the negotiations. We couldn't have given them more than just one or two million. What is all this? Chief: It is fine. They are not just ordinary young men; they are highly intelligent. And anything you do to jeopardize this agreement—I will be very angry with you! I promise you, you will lose your job. Leave this case and let it be. I have decided to pay them the 20 million, and so let it be like that. Barrister Z: Chief, I promise you that if I speak to this young man, they will change their mind. This is not something that is going to happen. I will not be here and allow you to pay this huge amount of money just like that to mere young men. They will use it to buy cars and go play; they will use it to chase after young girls. They will use it to buy clothes, shoes, and hair. They will not do anything meaningful with this money. I promise you, Chief, I am telling the truth! Chief: Zach, please leave them alone. I want to handle this matter myself. It is already resolved. I don’t want it to go outside, I do not want it to enter the courtroom, and I do not want it to appear on social media or any platform where my family name will be dragged through the mud. I have a title and a family to keep. Please, let it be. Barrister Z: Okay, as you wish. There is no problem. Chief: I know you, and I know what you can do. The only reason I still have you as my lawyer—or part of my lawyers—is because I am married to your sister. No firm would want to take you in because you have shown how ill-mannered you are. You are only here because the barrister allowed you into his firm—which I permitted—and then he told me you cannot work on any other cases because you are very irresponsible. Now, they have placed you on my family case. I don't want you meddling with those boys, and I don’t need you doing anything that will give me high blood pressure. Stay away from the case, and stay away from those boys! Barrister Z: Chief, you're my brother-in-law! You're not supposed to be insulting me. Chief: I will insult you because you don’t have sense! You barely graduated from the university—I had to pay your way through! You could barely enter law school—I had to pay for that! You barely even graduated—I had to pay for that too! Do I have to pay for everything?! What is wrong with you? Now, I had to use my own hand to get you a job—a job in a law firm that you cannot even keep! You can’t keep the job, and the only thing they found you fit for is to handle my cases, which you still cannot manage! If you do anything to jeopardize this case, I will make sure I clear my hands off you, and I don’t care what your sister will say or do about it! (Chief went to sit down. He did not want to listen to Barrister Z, who was bent on achieving his goal. He was a stubborn human being—very stubborn.) At the close of work, Barrister Z went out to spend some time with his only friend, the only person who agreed to be with him after everything that had happened to him when he was younger. He was just a young law studentbarely out of school—before his father died and left his property to him, his mother, and his sister. His sister got married to the Chief, but he squandered his family’s wealth of over 900 million naira, buying things that were of no use. He and his mother used it all up, leaving nothing for their sister. Until the whole money was gone, they didn’t remember they had a sister who had entered into a rich family. Now, they depend on her—through her husband—for every single thing they want. He now lives in an apartment because his mother couldn't stay in their old house—he had sold it, and he and his mother shared the money and used it for their own selfish gains. As he sat at the bar resting, his friend Mark came up to him. Mark: Oh boy, how far na? Barrister Z: I'm fine. I'm okay. What about you? Mark: Omo, I dey oo. Just dey hustle. Barrister Z: Well, I have this business idea… Well, it's not a business idea, but my brother-in-law wants to waste a lot of money on just some useless young boys. Mark: Okay, give me the full gist. Let me understand where you are coming from. Barrister Z: So, you know how my sister got married to this guy from a wealthy home, like us before? You remember when he used to come to our house? Well, he has a younger brother who is kind of stupid, but I am proud to say I am wiser than him because I can never do the nonsense he did—he still does. That’s why the kind of put himself in a deep corner, and to get him out of that corner, we had to bribe the police, bribe so many people. And now, to keep the case hush, these young guys that he had wronged want 20 million. Twenty freaking million! Can you believe that? How is my brother-in-law supposed to give them that kind of money? He wouldn’t even give my mother and me up to one million! He is so stingy with us since we lost everything! You know, we really helped them when they were not even as rich as we were—by giving them our sister. We really helped him and his family. Now, he won’t help us. My mother wanted to spend the holiday in Canada. He told her to go to Canada with what money? Imagine! Somebody telling their mother that kind of thing! He wouldn’t even give her enough money to travel by plane. If she wants to move around the country. He would tell her to go by bus! Imagine! Since we were born, we have never entered a bus before! And now, he just dictates to us every time. This content is the intellectual property of OurStory TB and the author, Whiteman Micheal. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution without proper credit to the author or the page is strictly prohibited. Permission must be obtained before any use. Mark: I am so sorry that you have to suffer like this in the hands of your brother-in-law, but you know that the reason why I am still your friend is because I am the only one who tells you the truth and nothing but the truth. I'm sorry, but your brother-in-law is right. Imagine all the wealth your family had, and if what you have said now is true, that means you are even more to blame than the person you're calling stupid. Eh, Zakariah, Zakariah, how many times did I call your name? Imagine—your family had businesses, houses, and you wasted all of them. I remember when I was asking you to stop and call somebody who knows about business to help you, but you wouldn't listen to me. You were listening to Michael and Simby. Now, where are they? She has gone, he has gone—you can't find them anywhere. They are probably somewhere swindling another rich young boy. Or enjoying your money. Barrister Z: I come to this bar every day just to rest, relax, and have a good beer. I do not come here every day for you to keep reminding me how bad my past was. I know that! I did not give you a lot of money so you can keep talking sh!t about me, but then remember that I am still better than you. Mark: How are you better than me? Right now, the place you are working is because of your brother-in-law. If he fires you right now, the senior advocate in charge of that place will throw you away. There is no firm in this country that wants to employ you, Zakariah. You are unemployable. Nobody wants to be with you. The house you're living in—it is your brother-in-law that is paying the rent because you are his brother-in-law. Nothing else! He even refused to let you stay in his mansion with your mother. You cannot pay the house rent even if the law firm you are working at is currently paying you money. And look at your hand now—a new iPhone! You are still buying iPhones when you are not even sure of a job, when you are not secure in your job. I am telling you now, you should stop doing that. Barrister Z: If I remember correctly, some years back when I was still young and had all the money, I gave you two million naira—two million naira! Just because I liked you. That time, though, you were always dressing poorly and smelled sometimes. You still smell, though you have changed a little bit. But I gave you two million naira! And on another occasion, if I remember correctly, I dashed you one million naira. So you don’t have the right to be insulting me, Mark. Mark, respect yourself. Mark: Zakariah, you are my friend. You gave me two million naira because it was your birthday, and you were throwing money, saying anybody that caught it could have it. You did not give it to me—I caught it that day and I kept it. You gave me one million because I was sweeping your room when I found the money and gave it to you. You said you did not need it and that I should take it to buy myself something because I was smelling. So, if I calculate correctly, you have never dashed me money. It was by chance that I got those ones. You were giving your friends back then millions to buy cars and buy things. You wouldn't even give me anything. Even your old clothes, you refused to let me wear them. You said you could never, in your life, imagine me wearing your old clothes. No problem. But today, I am going to tell you one secret. But before that, the beer on this table—you have to pay for it. Barrister Z: Come on! What is wrong with you, this guy. Just because of this little squabble, this little quarrel, you are now asking me to pay for beer? I’ve been drinking here with you for like one year or more now, and you've never asked me to pay for beer. Now you want me to pay? Alright, I'm sorry. Everything you said is correct. I'm very sorry. And I need an extra bottle to cool off. Mark: The only reason why you are my friend right now is because of this free beer. If not, you would not even be speaking to me at all. You would have told me to get out. There would be nothing bringing you to this type of local place. Have you forgotten the type of places you used to go to with all that money? I don’t imagine how you were able to blow up all that cash that your father had saved for you. There were only two of you, yet nothing to show for it. Well, you are on your own. Just know that after today, if you must come here to see me as a friend, we will sit down and see each other. But anything you want—the beer, the meat, or the fish—you have to pay for it. Barrister Z: Why are you punishing me like this, Mark. I don’t understand. Why do you hate me so much like this? You used to like me so much; you would even do anything for me. I remember you trying to get me in bed with you. Don’t deny it! But I was not into that, and I’m still not into that. I’m a rich, spoiled boy, but I am not into guys. I don’t want boys. And I know that I did not like you, I was mean to you, but now you hate me more than I hated you before. Mark: haha hahah Okay, truth be said—yes, I liked you. But you did not reject me because you were not into guys. You rejected me because I was poor. Not because you were straight. I cannot say for sure if you are into guys or not, but I know that if I was rich, you would have allowed me to do whatever I wanted with you. You never hated people because of who they were or what they did—you hated people just because they did not have money. And right now, the world and nature are trying to show you that you are now in the category of people that you once hated. If you don’t get it right now, you may fall even lower than expected. This content is the intellectual property of OurStory TB and the author, Whiteman Micheal. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution without proper credit to the author or the page is strictly prohibited. Permission must be obtained before any use. Barrister Z: What do you mean by "lower than what is expected of me"? Are you trying to say that my brother-in-law will abandon me? He will never do that! My sister is going to pack out of her house—of his house. Mark: Ah, and when your sister packs out of her husband's house, where will she be going? Is it to her father's house that you have sold? Or her mother's house that she does not have? Or that apartment where you are staying with your mother, which her husband is paying for? And when the three of you finally start staying together and he stops paying for it, you people will be thrown out on the streets. So, where will you be packing to? Barrister Z: Stop! Don't put bad images in my head right now. Mark: The earlier you realize what is happening to you, the better for you. I have said my own. Barrister Z: Okay, I'm sorry. You were working in our house as a houseboy. We were not supposed to be talking to a houseboy, but I get you. I'm sorry I treated you badly. And you are right—it's somehow funny that you are the only friend I have now. Imagine all the friends I had on Instagram and TikTok—nobody is talking to me again, nobody chats with me anymore. Sometimes, I feel bad that I lost all that cash, but then… sigh… it is in my nature. It is in me. Forget about me for now. I'll be fine. I've always been fine. I just need a cute massage on my back right now. Does this bar have a massage? And I'm hungry. Can you please get me food? I don't think my mom will make anything at home. We mostly go to bed without eating in that house. You know that my brother-in-law would not even put my mother on an allowance. It's not fair. Mark: Why would he put her on an allowance? Is she his mother? Barrister Z: She is his mother-in-law. He should take care of her. Mark: He is taking care of her by paying for the house where she's living and by giving you a job so you can provide for her. He has done more than enough. Barrister Z: Alright, I'm sorry. I know you still like me and still want to do those things with me, but the thing is, I will tell you the truth—the same way that you are always saying you tell me the truth. I don't want to. I don't like it. It's not really in me. It's not something I want to try out. I'm very sorry about that. But don't start hating me and punishing me because of that. Mark: For two years, every day after work, you eat and drink free food here that I take care of. sometimes I even give you a little cash to buy something that you need. It's not because I want to get into your pants. I am way over that. It's because, in your wickedness, you somehow helped my life. Barrister Z: What are you talking about? How was I helpful to you? Mark: You see this bar and restaurant where you always come to eat and drink free beer? I told you that I was the manager, but I am not the manager—I am the owner. I bought this place with the little money you gave me. My mother was already cooking on the roadside, so I brought her here. She cooked the food, and I added the drinks, and before you know it, this is where we are today. I have even finished building her a house in this city—not even in the village—and she is comfortably relaxing in her house. She doesn't come here anymore. She is okay where she is. I have paid staff, and even the boy that comes here to serve you drinks and food is on salary. That is the secret I wanted to tell you. I'm not telling you so you can… I don't know what you want to use it for. But I'm telling you that from that little amount you gave me—so little it could barely buy the type of phone you need—I was able to achieve this place where you eat free food. If you had saved even a little, you wouldn't be as broke as you are now. The young man became shocked, afraid, and quiet at the same time. He started looking around—looking at the chairs, the people happily eating and drinking. He started looking at the company as if he was coming there for the first time, but he had been coming there for two years or more. Barrister Z: Mark, you're lying, right? You’re playing with me. You mean you were able to achieve all this with that little money? That was like five years ago—or ten years ago, I can't even remember. How were you able to do it? Mark: Five or ten years ago, that money was very big money. It bought this place, and I started small. As things grew, I started getting new stuff for this place. My mother was doing the food, and I focused on the grills and drinks, and we grew the place together. Remember that I was the first son of my house. It was just my mother's hustle and my hard work that kept the family going. Today, I have trained four of my siblings in school, and I am proud of myself. I just need to think about my life now—if I'm going to get settled or if I'm going to leave the country. Barrister Z: Are you serious right now? You mean you want to leave the country? Take me with you, please! I know some interesting places I’ve been to. I can show you all those places. See, I know some places in Canada that you would really like to visit. I know some places in London—you don’t have to spend too much money there. It takes really little money, but you will relax very well. We can go to the Caribbean islands, you know there is this— Mark: Zachariah, you’re not even listening to what I'm saying. I said I might go to settle, meaning if I go, I'm not going there to start looking for where to spend my money. I'm going there to open my business—a branch—and I'm going to settle down there. This content is the intellectual property of OurStory TB and the author, Whiteman Micheal. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution without proper credit to the author or the page is strictly prohibited. Permission must be obtained before any use. Barrister Z: "Why? Why would you want to go there? Why? What is your plan? What exactly are you trying to tell me? Because I cannot really understand." Mark: "Our people say when a child knows how to wash his hands, he starts eating with the adults. I have taken care of my mother. I have a house. I have trained our siblings in school. I did not even go to school, but I have trained four graduates. What do you think is left for me to do? Spend money and go to all those places you are talking about?" Barrister Z: "So you're really serious about this? You are really into guys? So your plan of going abroad is to settle down with a guy instead of staying here? Well, who is going to manage this place? Who will take care of your mom from abroad? And your siblings—they just graduated—are you going to wait for them to get jobs first or something?" Mark: "My mother is fine. My siblings are fine. Two of them are serving, and the other two will join soon. And this particular place is not the only branch of this business—I have five more branches in this same Lagos. So I think I have taken care of all that. Now, I need to take care of the most important one—myself. In case you come and I am no longer in the country, just know that I have gone." Barrister Z: "But if you go, how am I supposed to buy drinks or feed myself? Do you know that this is the only place I get food sometimes for a whole day? What am I supposed to do? I'm going to die! Don't leave me! I will be your houseboy! I will do all those work that you were doing before in our house. Please take me with you!" Mark: "That is why I was telling you from the beginning to change your ways. The law firm you're currently working at pays you up to 300,000 Naira every month, Zachariah. What do you do with that money? Because you are not paying house rent. Your only major expense is transport to your office, which is not very far. I calculated it the other day—your transport to the office is 100 Naira going and 100 Naira coming. That is 200 Naira per day. 200 times 5 is 1,000 Naira for five days. You do not work on weekends. Multiply that by four weeks in a month, and that is 4,000 Naira. You have 296,000 Naira left. What are you doing with that money?" Barrister Z: "Things are expensive now! Look, I bought this watch for 150k. I need a good watch. Don't tell me that is expensive. Don't look at me that way—I need a good watch, at least one good watch! I bought these shoes for 80k. I need to dress well! It's a law firm, and I need to dress well to go to court. Look, everything is expensive. My suit was about 400k! Imagine—I had to save for like two months to get that! Don't look at me that way! That is why I said my brother-in-law is not really taking good care of us." Mark: "I like you very much. When I was younger, there were so many reasons for me to hate you—with all the attitude you gave me and even the way you behave sometimes. I tried to find a way to hate you and send you away from this place, but I don't know why I keep letting you in. I think going abroad and leaving you here is one of the best ways to stay away from you and end my infatuation with you. Thank you for clearing it up for me—that you are not into me. Useless! I have been sending you money and taking care of you, but you are not into me? You are just doing it all because of the cash? Zachariah, you can change if you want to." The waiter came and asked Zachariah to pay for the drinks he had taken, but he looked at Mark with fearful eyes. Mark: "Don't worry about that. I'll pay for it. Get my card from my office, and when you are coming back, bring him food." Barrister Z: "Please make it three meats. It's been long since I had good meat." That night, the barrister couldn't sleep well. He knew that if Mark left, there was no place where he would get free food again. He knew nothing about saving, and the next thing he did was to find a way of collecting 20 million from his brother-in-law and swindling the boy out of it so he could run away with the money or go abroad. He got Emeka’s number from the office and made a call. Me: "Hello, who is this?" Barrister Z: "This is the lawyer to Chief, and I would like to negotiate with you on the 20 million. We are sorry—the money is proving so hard to get to you because you don't have a job. How will you explain the money in your account? So we would like to start up another negotiation, and then we'll get you a form to sign—a non-disclosure form." Me: "Hahaha! Hahaha! Ahaha! This is so nice! I like this! I like this! This is wonderful!" Barrister Z: "Why are you laughing? I just gave you some serious information." Me: "Well, I'm so happy with your serious information. Just let the Chief know that whenever we are meeting with him to sign this non-disclosure agreement, we are coming with our own barrister. I hope you are okay with that." Barrister Z: "Are you accepting the terms that the money will be changed? It's not the amount that you were getting before—you will get less." Me: "Barrister, please, whenever you see us, we will be with our own barrister. You will not need to speak with me again—you will be speaking directly with our barrister, and we will be showing the Chief, so that he knows how serious we are. Thank you. Goodbye." By White Man Michael. Follow us on Facebook, Our Story TB. Morals: There is an existing saying that we do not learn how to use our right hand when we get old. It is better to learn it while we are younger. This applies to many aspects of life. As young as you are right now, do not make mistakes that you will regret in just a few years. If you are between your 20s and 40s, there is enough time for you to plan, enough time for you to make drastic decisions that will affect you for the rest of your life. Thirty is not a dying age. If you are 30 and have just graduated from university, it does not mean you will no longer make it in life. In fact, it is even a wiser age to get serious, take charge of your life, and start afresh. But be mindful—the decisions you make today will always affect your tomorrow, especially your financial decisions. Take a moment with me right now. Open your bank app and request a statement of account. Sometimes, your bank sends it to your email, but you have never bothered to check it. Look at all the money that entered your account in the past year. You will see that you have become a millionaire twice over! Now, take a closer look at all the expenses you made with that money. Then, you will understand how you keep losing millions and still end up broke. Tonight, do this for yourself—print out your statement of account or view it on your phone. Look at it carefully. See how hard you have been working all your life. See all the effort you have put in. Know that God did not abandon you; your hard work has not been in vain. You have actually been making money. All those ₦1K, ₦2K salaries, all those ₦10K payments, every little amount counted. When you add it all up for the whole year, you have actually made millions—twice over! But what you did with that money is the problem. Try to give yourself financial control and make the best out of your resources.\ Have you achieved some level of success? If you have, then it is time for you to start taking care of yourself. Look at what you eat. Look at what you drink. Reduce alcohol. Cut down on sugar. You cannot be good to everybody while being bad to yourself. Take care of your health. Try to exercise, even if just a little. Look after yourself. When someone makes a decision about their life, even if you do not agree with it, learn to respect their decision. When they say yes, let them have their yes. Do not force them to say no because if they end up regretting it, the blame will be on you. Respect people's choices. Do not force someone to be with you just because you have resources. Let them make their own decisions. Do not lure them into something they do not want. By Whiteman Michael Join us on facebook ourstory TB please like share and follow us. You can sponsor a chapter to make sure it comes everyday. Thanks to the Anonymous sponsor os this chapter.