"Remember what we discussed in the presence of Mum, who was standing as a witness?" Chike said as he walked into the shopping mall.
"And what exactly did we discuss? Can you please remind me?" Dan replied, following his brother into the mall.
"I know you remember, but since you've decided to forget, let's see... why didn't we just make it an oath then, huh? Anyway, we agreed that we wouldn't pick up anything unnecessary. Remember now?" Chike asked, turning to his younger brother.
"Ooh, that's right! I remember now, but that doesn't mean I won't break the rules," Dan replied with a smile as he quickly grabbed a shopping basket.
"First things first, we need to get what I need for my youth service before your unnecessary shopping list takes effect," Chike warned playfully, holding his ears.
"Noted! Big brother," Dan teased.
After a few minutes of shopping at the mall, they were finally done.
"Good afternoon, sir. Welcome to our shopping mall! I hope you enjoyed your shopping?" the cashier greeted them, wearing a bright smile.
"Of course we did! Except for the fact that we have to pay for everything we shopped for—everything else was cool and calm, right, Dan?" Chike said, trying to tease the beautiful lady in front of him.
"Yes, big brother," Dan chimed in.
They placed their items from the shopping basket onto the counter. After a while of computation, the cashier asked, "Sir, what payment method will you be using?"
"Ooh, my debit card," Chike replied, pulling the card from his wallet.
He stretched his debit card toward the cashier, who then inserted it into the POS (Point of Sale) system. She typed in the amount to be deducted and handed the terminal back to Chike for him to enter his secret PIN. After entering the digits, he handed it back to her.
"Sir, your card isn't working," the cashier said.
"Wow, I used it this morning before leaving the house. Please try it again," Chike replied, feeling disappointed.
"It's still not working, sir. Do you have another card you could use for the transaction?" the cashier asked.
"I don't have another. Please keep trying until it works; this is urgent," Chike insisted, turning to look for his brother.
"There's nothing more I can do, sir. I think you should visit your bank to rectify the issue. Sorry for the delay," the cashier said politely.
"It's fine. Thank you so much," Chike said as he put his card back into his wallet.
That day, Chike and Dan returned home feeling disappointed about the debit card issue. Chike decided he would visit the bank the next day to address his complaint.
The next day came faster than he expected. Chike boarded a vehicle to the commercial bank. Upon arrival, he noticed a large crowd outside, making it seem like they were holding a crusade.
Just seeing the crowd almost made Chike change his mind, but he needed his debit card to be active for his financial transactions before leaving for his youth service.
Chike stood outside for a while, trying to build up his patience to face the crowd and resolve his issue. Seconds turned into minutes, and finally, he took a bold step and walked through the gate. He felt a bit lost and unsure of what to do as he entered the gate. While wandering around, he noticed a queue at the far side of the bank and decided to see what was happening there.
As he approached the queue, he became distracted by someone.
"Oga, why are you looking at my number like that?" the stranger asked, clutching a paper tightly.
"Nothing, I just wanted to know where you got that number from," Chike replied curiously.
"Oh, that security man over there is giving out the numbers," the stranger said, pointing toward the security personnel.
Chike walked over to the security area and took his number before returning to the queue.
"Oga, let me see your number," the stranger requested.
Chike showed him his number and muttered it silently.
"Ahh! I don't think that number will be called today," the stranger said, trying to tease Chike.
Chike stood patiently, waiting for his number to be called. Seconds turned into minutes, minutes into hours, and finally, his number was called. At that moment, he felt a mix of emotions.
He entered the banking hall and was asked to stand in another queue, this time without a number because the security personnel would collect the numbers after greeting the customers.
Chike stood in the second queue inside the banking hall, looking tired and frustrated. After a while, someone walked into the hall and was called to be attended to by a customer care agent. As that person stepped forward, Chike tapped the person on his shoulders.
"Hey, there is a line back here," Chike told the stranger.
"Allow him; he is different," the customer care agent said, calling in the stranger.
"He is different how? Like he isn't human like us?" Chike shouted.
Other customers in the queue began shouting and trying to create a scene in the banking hall. The bank manager heard the noise and came downstairs to see what was happening. He asked the customers, and they explained the whole situation. The manager instructed the customer care agents to attend to those in the queue.
After a few hours of standing, Chike was finally attended to; his debit card issue was rectified, and he could perform transactions seamlessly.
He got home feeling all stressed out, and all he needed was some rest; he couldn't engage in conversation with his family to share his experience at the bank because he was very tired, so after having dinner, he went straight to bed.
The next day came; Chike woke up looking all bright without the slightest stress from the previous day showing on him, so he called his younger brother, and it was time for shopping again. This time around with an active debit card to perform transactions seamlessly.
Thanks for reading 🧡
