THE THOUGHT OF WHAT IF

"Wake up, wake up", my mum said, gently tapping me.

I groaned annoyingly, turning to the other side to continue my sweet slumber.

"Amarachi! Get your ass off of that bed" My mum said, a little more demanding this time.

My body felt as if a ton of bricks had fallen all over it. I was heavily tired, and the fact that I didn't get enough sleep last night didn't help either. Turns out choosing to watch a movie at night while everyone was asleep wasn't the best idea at all. Especially knowing the fact that the next day was work. Reluctantly, I forced myself off of bed and headed to the bathroom.

"Don't sleep in there, or I'll drag you out myself" My mum yelled from the other side.

I was definitely not a morning person, I said to myself, mentally fighting sleep as I lazily walked into the office. Today, I was supposed to stand in for my mum while she traveled for a friend's burial. That was why she insisted I wake up so early, so I would be on time. I have been thoroughly briefed on the business of the dos and don't, what to allow and what not to tolerate.

She ran a small mini-bank, as I'd like to call it. It was a Point of Sale (POS) store, where matters relating to monetary concerns were sorted out. Things like withdrawals, transfers, payment of bills and so on are done here. It was simple and efficient and many people preferred coming to our mini-bank for bank transactions rather than going to the actual bank. I think it has more to do with the fact that the current banks are ridiculously slow with their protocols and processes. .

Source

So, as I sat in the office, receiving and attending to customers with the best smile I could put on my face, even though I felt like shit inside. A man walked in.

"Good morning" I said, feigning a cheerful tone as I recalled my mum's words. "Remember to greet the customers in a warm tone".

"Morning" the man answered.

Taking in his appearance, I noticed that he was dark, short and looked a bit rugged. He plaited his hair in a gangster kind of way, and wore a white polo with blue jeans. He looked rough, like someone who was not to be messed with. Immediately feeling a bit weary of him, I decided to get this done quickly.

"Withdrawal?" I asked him.

"No, Transfer" he answered.

"Please could you help me transfer N50,000 to your POS account." He said, handing me his phone.

" I reluctantly took it."

"I'm not too good with this app transfer stuff" he said, offering me a smile.

"I simply nodded and went ahead to do it for him while he was observing."

I checked our official book where my mum told me she had written the POS account number and typed it into his phone before sending the money.

"Here" I said, handing him back his phone after transferring the money to our official POS account.

"Have a nice day" I said, giving him his cash.

After he left, I waited for some minutes expecting a notification from the machine to either accept or reject the transfer as it usually shows, but nothing came. I waited and waited, still nothing. I began to panic hoping I'd not been scammed, given how that man was looking. I decided to check the account number I sent the money to. Unfortunately, it wasn't the official POS account number. Puzzled, I cross-checked it, but it wasn't the right one.

"Where then did this account number which I used in sending the money come from" I asked myself.

At this point, I was already shaking with fear. The office suddenly felt so hot, even though there were functional air conditioners. My palms and face were all sweaty. I couldn't think clearly. I was pacing around the room, restless. The turbulent rush of adrenaline which coursed through my veins did nothing to calm my already raging nerves. What had I done? I thought to myself. The thought that I had transferred that money to the wrong account number scared the life out of me. I was definitely in hot soup.

Just one day of being in charge of the business and this happens. Was the universe out against me? Loosing that kind of money would definitely crash the business. My mum would skin the life out of me, I thought with fear. She had warned me about making such kinds of mistakes. I suddenly remembered some of her words while lecturing me about the dos and don'ts of business.

" Beware of scammers" she had said, dragging her ears.

"Matters relating to money should be handled with acute attention. No mistakes! " She told me early this morning.

I was in a big dilemma. It was now a little over one hour and that money had not dropped yet. What was I going to do? I started thinking where that money could have gone to. Who had that account number that was written in the official book? I clearly saw Moniepoint point account number. That was the name of our POS machine. However, as I looked down, I saw another account number, which was written, POS account number.

With shaking and sweaty palms, I desperately dialed my brother's line. He was always there with my mum running the business. Maybe he would know what to do.

"Hello" I said, my voice unsteady.

I quickly explained the situation to him, secretly wishing the account number was his and all this was just a joke. Unfortunately, it wasn't his, and he managed to add more pressure to me rather than proffering a solution.

It was now a little over one hour and that money had still not dropped. As if the universe was mocking me. My mum started calling me. She had told me earlier that she would call from time to time to check up on the business. I hesitated for some minutes, deliberating if I should pick the call or not. In the end, I decided honesty was the best policy, and so I answered.

"How is the business going" she asked, unaware of what was happening.

"Fine" I replied, feeling uncomfortable.

"You did up to fifty thousand?" she asked.

"How did you know? "I asked, worried my brother had already told her what happened.

"I usually receive some notifications whenever some transactions are done on the POS machine", she said.

I sighed with relief upon hearing her statement. If she was to find out about it, I wanted it to come from me.

"Yes, I did. Although I haven't received the money up until now", I said, deciding to come clean.

"Why! " She asked, shocked

I proceeded to explain everything to her. How I sent the money to an account number that was also written in the official book with the name Moniepoint account number but wasn't the correct account number.

I was expecting her to get mad at me. However, she was silent over the phone. Thinking it was the calm before the storm, I timidly asked

"Are you still there?"

"Yes", She said.

"Have you tried checking the Moniepoint app, if it has entered" she asked?

"No" I said, realizing I hadn't even thought of that.

"Let me go check it now" I said, ending the call.

Relief flooded me as I saw the money in there. It turns out, the account number which I used in sending the money was the one for the Moniepoint App, which was also connected to the official account number. That was why there was no notification or alert to accept or reject the money in the machine.

I've never been more thankful in my life than I felt that day. I was so happy that money wasn't lost.