Crime and Adventure

Crime and Adventure – episode 1

Crime and Adventure episode 1
Mazi Omenuko

I walked into the inner chambers of the
ATM hall to make a withdrawal; low and
behold, an ATM card was in the mouth
of the machine. Was that the mouth? I
guess not! The mouth should be where it
vomits the cash. So I can call it the eye,
or ear….or….okk, not that! you know
what I mean shaa…a card was in the
card-entrance of the machine. The
machine was blinking and sounding a
light warning note, like a notification for
the card waiting for collection. It wasn’t
hærd to decode what had happened. The
last person to use the machine must
have collected his cash and zoomed off
without collecting his card.
I looked left and right, the other two
machines were occupied. No one seem to
notice what was going on. There was no
queue, the fourth machine opposite mine
was still empty. I pushed the card back
in slightly. For the next 9 seconds or so,
my mind was wondering what will be
next. The machine welcomed me…or
welcomed the owner of the card with
name displayed on the screen;
prompting me for a password.
Passwords!
I calmly punched in the numbers…
1:2:3:4 and pressed enter key.
Wrong Password!
Well, what was I thinking! Which dunce
in this information age will use such a
weak password. Would have been
surprised if it worked.
“Do you need more time for your
transaction?”
The ATM machine was prompting me to
proceed or get-the-fvck out of its
presence. I pressed the no button and it
ejected the card. The other two guys
making withdrawal from the other
machines left. The hall was empty, just
me and 4 ATM machines. I decided to
get adventurous.
I looked at the ATM card in my hand.
The name of the owner was written fully.
I brought out my phone and searched
facebook for the name. 2min later, I got
the owners full profile and date of birth.
This was gonna be fun!
Born in 2nd february, 1979, there were
only 2 possible password combinations
and after that, no more!
2:2:7:9
1:9:7:9
For some unknown reason, I tried the
second one first…it worked!
I was staring at the control panel of the
account…Balance, Withdrawal, Inquiry,
Transfer, Statement….
I heard the footstep behind me and my
heart nearly jumped out of my mouth. I
turned around just in time to see a man
walk into the hall. He looked at me with
a cold eyes, like he was about to jump at
me. I felt a hærd notch down my throat,
like a fist trying to suffocate me. The
man was approaching me calmly like he
knew I had no place to run to; like a cat
backed on the walls! I prayed the earth
would open and swallow me! I was
almost having a heart-attack; or a
stroke whichever one kills faster. I
opened my mouth to speak but nothing
came out. I swallowed hærd and felt my
throat ache like I hærd burning coal in
my throat.
Then, all of a sudden, the man walked
past me to the nearby ATM machine. He
stared at me one last time like he knew I
wasn’t all right; then he faced his
machine and started his transaction.
“Do you need more time for your
transaction?”
The ATM was asking me once more.
Then I got confused! What was I doing?
Adventure at first, but now this was
crime! Pure crime! There should be a
boundary between adventures and crime:
I think I just overstepped the boundary. I
wondered what would have happened if
that man was the original owner of the
card?! Well, the name on the card and
the facebook profile was that of a lady.
Could still have been the owner! A lady
will raise hell if she happened on
someone trying to rob her. A guy might
be understanding but a lady will sure
raise hell.
“Please take your card”!
The machine was tired of my bullshit. It
vomited the card and continued its light
warning note for me to collect the card. I
contemplated on leaving the card there:
just the way it was when I met it. On a
second thought, another person may
stumble on it and wreck more havoc. I
decided to hand it over to the bank
security still on duty. One last thought
occurred to me as I was walking towards
the security post: I checked the owner’s
facebook profile again and her number
was there.
Well, if I was going to be a good
samaritan, I better get some
acknowledgment and a vote of thanks.
I dialed the number and she picked on
the second ring.
‘Hello?’
It was a rich voice with no accent.
‘Hello…’ I replied and informed her she
had forgotten her card in the ATM
machine at the bank premises.
‘Really?’ She asked nonchalantly.
‘Yes ma’ I replied.
There was silence on the other line…
‘Hello?’ I wanted to make sure she heard
me alright.
‘Yes, I’m still here.’ She said.
She informed me she was on a car to an
urgent function and can’t turn around
immediately.
‘I will call you later in the evening for it.’
She concluded.
I walked back to the atm machine. I still
needed to make some withdrawals. I
ins**ted my card and completed my
transaction. Then, out of inquisitiveness,
I decided to check her account balance.
It wasn’t like she will be notified that
someone checked her account balance:
it was only during withdrawals that such
notification is sent.
I ins**ted the card, punched the
numbers, selected balance inquiry and
then…
I needed to get closer to the machine to
get a clearer picture: it was 8 digits in
the savings account, another 8 digits in
the current account.
Cool, solid cash in millions! So many
thoughts rushed through my mind. I had
to remind myself the difference between
crime and adventure and to stay on the
other side of the line. Moreover, I had
made the call with my phone line.
“Do you need more time for your
transaction?”
D–n this ATM machine! I was sure it
had some evil spirits in,side it. Who
knows if it actually caused that innocent
woman to forget her card.
‘Please take your card’
‘Fool…’ I cursed it before walking out of
the bank.

To be continued

NEXT episode ➡️ 
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