He sat across from me in a white shirt, protruding tummy and a big head.
He slid the white sheet of paper across the table and dropped the biro
Edgar, we don’t have to work together. You are a great personality and brilliant marketer, but you are culturally unfit…
I immediately felt a lump in my throat and felt like puking all over his table
This imp had just castrated me. I was down and out. How would I survive with 5 kids, a father who just had a stroke and a mother who was in retirement
I was lucky, though; my brothers were doing well. One was in Ecobank, the other Shell and my sister GTB so that load wasn’t that heavy
But I still had five children in Lagos’ most expensive schools – Greensprings, Avi Ceena and St Saviours
I looked at this imp and he smiled sheepishly
To him, this was one routine sack but he didn’t know that he had declared war
A war that would never end. Cos his actions went against my very existence, my children’s future and my parents’ lives
I stared at the HR whose head remained bowed and looked up at him
I suddenly felt like a clown with my Bowtie still on
So was I going to grovel and beg for my job, or was I going to be a man and just sign the fucking thing and be a man?
If I begged, I would be fucked for life and my children would hate me but I will still keep the job and bid my time to get another job
But if I signed, I would maintain my dignity and walk away with my head held up high
I grabbed the paper and wrote the danm thing and walked away from the stupid office
The emotions of it all got to me on the drive home
I let out a huge scream and my driver was scared
On my way home, I asked him to stop on the Third Mainland Bridge.
I came out stood by the railings and watched the water flow very calmly, as if it didn’t know that I had just been sacked
I cried at the humiliation and felt like jumping in
My driver came and stood beside me, ready to catch me in case I wanted to jump
His eyes were sad. He knew what had been going on but was also not sure of his own future since his oga was out of a job
He too stood by the bridge, two lost men with no real hope
He was a Muslim complete with an Islamic beard and he kept reciting lines from the Koran as I cried
Then he said, Call mummy….
That was my saving grace.. My mummy was a stubborn mule. She liked a good fight and was always eager and ready to jump in
We went back into the car and I called her…
Mummy, they have sacked me and she said, What happened Ini and I told her all
She kept quiet and said, Good, you didn’tt beg, cos if you did, I would have disowned you.
Come home and don’t tell anybody until you see me, come home and I said yes ma…
To be continued
Kai
Duke of Shomolu