my success. Azuka was just stupid.’
He hissed and kept quiet.
‘But, Cash Daddy, isn’t there anything we can do?’
‘Of course, there is. Why not? First thing tomorrow morning, you can go to the Iranian Embassy and tell them you’re looking for one of your brothers who went to Tehran to collect from a mugu. Tell them that both of you do jobs together, that your brother hasn’t yet come back and you’re missing him at the office.’ He paused. ‘Or, you can go all the way to Iran and try and find the mugu. You have the man’s address, don’t you?’
I sat there, gripping the arms of my chair. My head was woozy, my palms were sweaty, my heart was thumping fast. Azuka was gone. Vanished. Just like that. And there was nothing any of us could do about it. Not even Cash Daddy who usually had a solution to every problem.
To think that Azuka had been so gay and confident on his way to doom, like the moth as it dances into the flame. What if disaster suddenly overtook me while I was feeling safe and smug? What if the FBI or Interpol were waiting when next I turned up at an airport? What if a disgruntled mugu somehow traced me back to Nigeria and did my family harm? I could almost feel my hair whitening with fright.
‘Don’t you?’ Cash Daddy repeated.
I jumped.
‘Yes, I do,’ I replied slowly.
‘Good. You can go tomorrow. If you leave for Lagos tomorrow morning, you should be able to catch the first flight to Iran. But before you go, make sure you tell me what story you want me to tell your mother when you don’t come back. Which reminds me. Why have you been having problems with your mother?’
‘What problems?’ I asked, surprised. I had never discussed anything about my mother with him.
‘This woman phoned the other day. What’s her name? That mad woman who left her husband’s house.’
‘Aunty Dimma?’
‘Yes, that’s the one. I couldn’t talk to her, but she left a message with Protocol Officer on my phone. She said your mother is very worried about you, that I should leave you alone to go and find a job. What’s the problem? What’s happening?’
Aunty Dimma and her uninvited opinions yet again. But there was something about the atmosphere, something about the realisation that Azuka might be gone forever and Cash Daddy’s swift change of subject beyond that problem, that made me gush. Like a geyser, I vented everything, complete with my mother refusing my gifts and better medical treatment when she was ill.
‘Sometimes when I go to visit her,’ I concluded, ‘I wonder if all the money I’m making is worth it. I think she was even happier when she had nothing except the hope that I would one day get a job and start taking care of her. Honestly, I don’t know what to do. Sometime ago, I was considering maybe going back to school to do a postgraduate or something. I really don’t know.’
‘There’s a pimple on my cheek,’ Cash Daddy said. ‘Press it.’
‘Sorry?’
‘There’s a pimple on my cheek,’ Cash Daddy said again. ‘Press it.’
I realised that he was talking to his Indian girls. Apparently, none of them expected that talking or listening would be part of the job description. They ignored his instruction.
‘Kings, I don’t think these girls understand English. Explain to them what I’m saying.’
I reached out and tapped one of the girls. With fingers on my face, I puffed out my cheek, and showed her what Cash Daddy wanted.
‘Ahhnnnnnnnnnnnn,’ she said and smiled, then went to work.
‘So how is your mother’s health now?’ Cash Daddy asked. ‘Is she feeling better?’
‘Yes, she’s a lot better. She eventually saw the eye specialist and they did some tests. The medicine he gave her seems to be working.’
He nodded.
‘Kings, I don’t believe that at this stage in your life you’re still talking about going back to school. Look, don’t burn down your whole house because of the presence of a rat. You know what we shall do? Just hold on for a while. Just hold on. Once I become governor, I’ll find you one small political appointment that will keep her happy.’
He flapped his right hand in the air like someone flicking through a bulky file.
‘Maybe something in the Ministry of Education or Ministry of Finance,’ he said, arriving at the page he wanted at last.
‘How about the Ministry of Works and Transport?’ I asked. Since my father had worked there, my