I was getting confused now...which one would they truly need to pay off? $6,000 or $20,000? The man's face seemed serious, it didn't seem like he was joking at all.
But Mason and his sister wouldn't lie to me? It has to be $6,000 they were owing. Or did they lie to me?...
I glanced at Mason's face, and I could see a kind of scared expression on it. His expression screamed, 'What is this man trying to do?'.
Then his voice resounded, "Don't do this, sir, you know you're lying. It was $4,000 you lent me that day but added $2,000 interest to it, making $6,000...that's the amount I need to pay off".
"No, it's $20,000 you need to pay up, don't you dare try to deny it and change the amount". The man said once again.
I noticed the frightened expression on Mason's face increasing, then he uttered once again, "Okay, where's the paper I signed that day to prove how much I borrowed and how much I need to pay up".
"I thought we gave it to you".
"No, you didn't, why all these lies?".
"You must have misplaced it and forgotten".
..I noticed the frightened expression on Mason's face convert into a frustrated one.
And it was at that moment I knew Mason was the one telling the truth, the man was lying. As I was about to say something, the man spoke,
"I'm just kidding".
And he began laughing right after that. The moment he was done laughing, he voiced out once again,
"I know it's $6,000 you're owing, just wanted to play you around a little".
I breathed a sigh of relief at that moment 'cause if the man chooses to stand by what he's saying, then there'd be problem. And seems like the paper Mason signed when borrowing the money had been misplaced or something.
If it hadn't been misplaced, then the man doesn't plan on bringing it out...
I glanced at Mason's face, and I could see an annoyed expression on it, he wasn't finding it funny. Considering how frightened he was when the man was playing him around, he wasn't supposed to find it funny.
"You shouldn't play around with such a thing, I didn't find it funny at all". Mason said glancing directly at the man.
"I don't care if you found it funny or not, all I know is that I did what I wanted to do. I decided to play you around a little and scare you as well, would you be able to do anything about it? No".
..And truly, Mason wouldn't be able to do anything about it.
They were the ones that were supposed to do something to him, and the man was already planning to do so if not for the utterance I made.
"The real amount he's owing is $6,000, how do you plan on paying it?". The man uttered glancing at me.
"By transfer". I stated.
"Okay then".
And that was how I paid the money, that was how I cleared off the debt. I transferred the money straight to a certain account he gave to me using the account number.
I didn't know if he was the one that owned the account or not, what I knew was that I'd paid off the money...
"So, we're free to go now". I said glancing at the man.
"Yes, you guys are free to go now", He stated, then he glanced at Mason and inquired, "Didn't I try for you and your family? I think I deserve some accolades".
"What do you mean?". Mason inquired of him with a kind of confused facial expression.
"I gave you guys a lot of chances, I don't do this to everyone or every family owing us money. Though you guys didn't pay a penny out of the $6,000 for weeks, I didn't do anything,
I was just visiting from time to time and leaving, don't you think I deserve some accolades?". He explained.
..Mason just stood there glancing at him for a few seconds without a single word flowing out of his mouth, then he glanced at me and said,
"Let's get going".
And with that, the both of us began walking out of the room until we'd walked out of it completely.
And though we'd walked out of the room and were outside now, we were hearing the man's audible voice,
"You are seriously not going to give me some accolades?".
Mason didn't say anything, neither did I, we just kept on walking without glancing back for even a second. Then the man's voice resounded again, this time, more audibly...
"If you dare borrow money from us again and don't pay up on time, I promise you, things would be different this time. I promise to do a lot of things to you and your family, I promise to make life a living hell for you and them,
Just make sure not to borrow money from us again if you know what is best for you".
Though we were outside, we heard clearly everything the man said. And his words somehow got to Mason and triggered a kind of anger in him.
The fact that he said he was going to make life a living hell for him and his family was what made Mason more angry. But he wouldn't be able to do anything about it...so he just kept on walking.
'You wouldn't be able to make life a living hell for me and my family 'cause I don't plan on borrowing money from you ever again. I only did that the first time 'cause we were badly in need of it'. Mason thought to himself while walking.
The both of us kept walking until we'd walked meters away from the building whereby even if we glanced back, we wouldn't be able to see the building.
..The both of us did a good job, and the fucking debt has been cleared off.
"So the debt has finally been cleared, thank you so much once again". Mason uttered to me.
"Come on, it's nothing, just wanted to help out you guys". I stated holding Mason's right shoulder.
He only nodded his head, then his voice resounded again, "You said I was a relative when we were still in the building with the loan sharks".
"Yeah, I just decided to say that, there's nothing wrong with that, right?". I uttered.
"Not at all, it wouldn't even be bad if I started referring to you as an older brother from now on. You've done things that relatives haven't done for us, you can be considered as family,
Families don't have to be people related by blood, a person that helped you greatly can also be referred to as family. And you've helped us out a lot, you're family, you're a relative, you're everything". He stated.
..I saw that everything he was saying was coming genuinely from his heart, and I couldn't help but to be smiling as he was talking.
I placed my right arm over his shoulders, then we continued walking like that.
I had helped them out in another way, I had cleared off their debt. This was something that had stressed them out a lot, and I'd solved it. But was I done helping them out? No.
There was still something else I needed to help them out with before I'd feel completely satisfied. Now, in the process of helping them, I had already spent a good $16,000.
$10,000 for their mum's Hypercalcemia treatment, and $6,000 for the debt they were owing. And I wasn't done spending, I was still going to spend more money to finish helping them out completely.
Mason and I were able to arrive at the hospital minutes after leaving the loan sharks. We didn't trek all the way to the hospital though, we boarded the usual which was a cab.
The moment Jemima set eyes on us after arriving at the hospital, the first question she asked was...
"So, did you guys succeed in clearing the debt?".
"Yes, we did". Mason responded.
An elated expression appeared on her face at that moment as she ran toward me and embraced me. A lot of excited expressions had been appearing on her face lately, and I liked it.
After her brother traveled, she was the one that did suffer everything whenever the loan sharks visited. They couldn't disturb the mum 'cause she was sick, so they had to focus all their attentions on her.
They'd never faced their sick mum whenever they visited, but they don't care if their noise wakes her up whenever she was sleeping.
..Jemima went through a lot 'cause of their visits.
Now that the debt had been paid, she was so happy...at least, they were free from it now.