The sixty year old sturdy man got up from the sofa and tossed the Sun newspaper he was reading on the footstool. Chukwuma Nnaji was a billionaire who lived a luxurious life and seemed to make more money as the days passed. His wife had died thirteen years ago and his only daughter, Ifeoma, was happily married and living with her husband in Rumuomasi.

Despite the distance, she still visited him once in a while. As for his money, he was either putting it into another business venture; or giving it out on loan to close associates; and most times he gave it out to those who really needed it: the sick, the orphans, NGOs and the low-charge hospital he had built in honour of his late wife who had died of lung cancer.

Despite the fact that he was alone, he was happy. One more place his money went to was his church; partly for show off and partly for the growth of the church or remission of whatever sin God had held him ransom to. As a businessman, he had always tried to be honest in his dealings but there were still a few loose ends but they never ended up in bloodshed –that was a good thing.

He put on his suit and walked to the front door when he remembered something –the main reason he was still at home –and brought out his phone. He switched it on and with its warning of low battery, he dialed the number.

“James, I don’t think you’ve heard of that short saying: time is money” he was trying his best to hold his anger. “Listen to me” he said before James could say anything. “I’m leaving now, on my way back, I’ll let you know so that you can send him over”.

“But sir, can’t your butler or any other help in the house recie-”

“I’ll give you a call when I get back” he said and hung up and his phone went off immediately.

He looked around for the umpteenth time and closed his eyes in disbelief. It had been lights out in his house since 3:00am and he had made all the calls he could but his lazy assistant, James had showed how incapable he was of doing anything good. Chukwuma scanned the room once more; his power bank was nowhere to be found. His helps had not shown up either. They were in so much trouble.

As he stepped out of the house, he stared angrily at other houses; what would they say about Chief Chukwuma Nnaji?

He also wondered why none of his helps had shown up. Joseph at least had served as a butler for more than 15 years and rarely asked for a sick leave. He was surprised and angry at the same time. The cook, cleaner, gardener and even the driver had all been employed after Joseph aged and his productivity reduced. He had prepared tea by himself and to him, Tonye, the chief cook, was fired.

As he opened the door of the car, he reminded himself to call Sola, his secretary, to get him a new cook before the end of the day.

As he started the car, he realized he had also not seen the gate man that morning. With a hiss, he alighted from the car and walked towards the gate.

“Yusuf” he called out but there was no reply. He banged on the door of his little house and turned the door knob but it was locked. The fool was not around…just like the others.

Angrily, he opened the gate as he swore beneath his breath. He was soon on his way to his new building under construction; an upcoming factory for the production of beverages and since his phone was switched off as a result of power outage, he had not received any call from the constructor or his secretary.

It was a 45-minute drive to the factory but about 20 miles from the building; he saw thick black smoke in the sky. He had seen the smoke from a farther distance but a few more metres and he knew it was close to his factory. He could hear wailings of sirens and fire trucks. There were no houses close to the factory, what on earth was on fire?

He did not need to ask much. As he approached the building, he gasped as he stared at it. The fire had been put out but the smoke was choking. He could not believe his eyes, that project had lasted for six months and had already cost him sixty million naira.

“Chief” he heard and turned to see the contractor standing by his car.

“W…what?” He managed to ask.

“Nobody knows sir. I personally saw it on the news at seven this morning and rushed here. Everyone tried calling you but…”

His voice trailed off as Chukwuma opened the door and alighted from the car. People were running in all directions but his eyes were fixed on the building.

His sixty million naira was staring him in the face and choking him like poison in his system.

to be continued........
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