FRY PAN TO FIRE

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Hello! Hello!
How are you all?
Here's a little something to cheer you up.
Enjoy!

For the second time that day, Tari had gotten himself in trouble. The first time, he had attempted to throw up his little brother's plastic ball in the living room but when he tried to catch the ball, it skipped his hands and landed heavily on something laying on the center table and crashed it. When he looked closely, it was his father's barely two months old Samsung phone.

The second time, while trying to balance his plate of hot pap on three fingers inorder to impress his younger ones, the hotness from the plate burned his fingers and before he could try to properly hold the plate, it slipped off his hands and all the hot content landed on his brother's leg.

That night, he crawled into bed without having anything for dinner. That was his punishment.

When he woke up the next day, his stomach growled loudly. "Thank Goodness it's Sunday. I don't have to wait for mother to finish cooking" he had thought to himself. Breakfast in his house on Sundays was tea, bread and akara(bean cake). He hurried out of his room into the living room and noticed everyone looking at him a certain way. He thought they hadn't gotten over the misdeeds of the previous day but suddenly remembered that he hadn't shown up for their general morning devotion that morning. He was in soup! He had plugged in his earphone the night before so he may not heard the fellowship going on. His father would be so angry. The ill luck from the previous day was probably still lingering.

When he requested for breakfast, his mother reminded him that they wouldn't be having any as that was the first Sunday in that month(it was a ritual in his house that the family fast on the first Sunday of every month). He almost collapsed. He was both hungry and tired but knew that his parents were devout. Meanwhile, it felt like there was a rally going on in his belly.

An idea came to him. He decided to skip going to his church and opted instead to go to his friends church because newcomers were always given packs of food as refreshment.

The church held different services and when he arrived for the fist service, he had missed receiving food as they were done sharing. He decided he was going to stay for the second service and so he lied to his friend that he was enjoying the service and did not mind staying for the next. His friend who had come earlier left him and headed home.

He barely understood anything that was going on around him. His stomach had taken over his sense of reasoning. When it was time for newcomers to be welcomed, he was excited. He saw the ushers bring in packs and began to salivate. When he got his own and opened it, what he saw inside almost made him cry. The pack contained biscuit and a bottled water.

Immediately the service ended, he stood up, picked his bible and left angrily. This was probably his worst day ever. The weather was beginning to look cloudy and dark. When he arrived at the bus station where he was to board a taxi home, the were so many persons waiting to get a ride and few cars in sight. He knew he had to brace up because there was going to be a rush when a bus arrived.

When finally a bus arrived, he fought to get a room inside to no avail. Fortunately for him, he found a #200 note on the ground. Someone must have lost it during the bus-rush. He was very happy. Atleast, for the first time that day, things were going well.

He bought snacks and drink from a roadside store and while he was munching gladly, a bus showed up and he managed to get room in it even tho he did not like how haggard-looking and razz the bus conductor was.

When he was close to his destination, the conductor requested that all the passengers remit their fare. He dipped his hand into his trouser pockets but couldn't find his. He checked his breast pocket too but it wasn't there.

At this time, the conductor had gotten to him and seeing how he was looking all over, had began to flare up. Tari tried to explain that he had the money with him but the conductor would not hear of it.

Trust the other passengers to add salt to injury. Most were already saying that that's how young boys like him behave, that they dress decently to decieve and dupe people.

He was very confused. How would he escape the wrath from the bus driver and conductor. How did he even lose the money? Then he recalled that while in church, the money had fallen off his trouser pocket when he had wanted to take out his handkerchief and he had picked it up and put it inside the Bible.
Which means the money he had picked up at the bus stop and used to buy the snacks belonged to him and may have fallen off the Bible during the bus rush.

Thanks for reading.
Good-day!