I nodded my head a little before saying, "I've heard you, I inspired you guys. It isn't hard to follow my footsteps. Just start saving, and you guys would be able to buy like the kind of clothes and shoes that I'm wearing".
They nodded their heads a little to my utterance, then all of us burst out laughing at the same time because of what I just said.
We laughed for a few seconds before stopping. We conversed about other things as we were walking.
Now, it got to a time when I became detached from their conversation. I was hearing their voices, but I didn't know what they were conversing about.
I was completely immersed in our conversation a few minutes ago, so why did I become detached from it all of a sudden? Well, it was because I was thinking about something right now.
What was I thinking about? I was thinking about the fact that I needed to reach the bank today to withdraw money. That was the very reason why I took my debit card before leaving for school this morning.
I needed to withdraw money, so I could complete the payment of our house rent...
I could simply complete the payment by transfer. But no, I wanted to hand over the rest of the money to our landlord in cash.
Yes, I wanted him to feel the money in his hand, I wanted to be glancing directly into his eyes as I was handing the money over to him.
Apart from that, there were some other things I wanted us to buy and keep at home, and I wanted us to buy them with cash. For example, I wanted some foodstuffs to be bought at home.
And to round up everything, I needed some cash of my own, so I could stop collecting pocket money from my mum.
I wanted her to be using those pocket moneys she was supposed to be giving to me to handle other things. I wanted to make life easier for her.
So I needed to reach the bank today to withdraw money...it's a must.
I was still detached from their conversation as we were walking because I was still thinking about the fact that I needed to reach the bank today to withdraw money.
And you know what? Eric had already noticed it. So he called out my name,
"Lucas".
And I glanced at him immediately with widened eyes. It was just like I just came back to reality.
"Are you with us?". Eric inquired of me.
"Yes, I'm with you guys". I responded to his question.
"Have you been with us?". He inquired again.
"Yeah".
"What were we conversing about then?".
..Shit! That's where there'd be problem. I didn't know what they were conversing about currently because I hadn't been with them.
I only knew what they were conversing about when I hadn't detached from their discussion. Guess they'd find out the truth now that I haven't been with them.
A few seconds had passed since Eric asked me that question, but I haven't answered it. And that was complete evidence that I haven't been with them for minutes now, I got detached from their conversation.
"You haven't been with us all this while, Lucas. What were you thinking about?". Eric's voice resounded again after I couldn't give an answer to his question.
"I wasn't thinking about anything". I responded.
"You were definitely thinking about something. And it must be something serious because it got you detached from our conversation completely".
"Okay, I admit it, I was thinking about something. But it wasn't anything that serious, can we not talk about this again and talk about something else?".
Eric refused to talk about something else and kept persuading me to tell him what I was thinking about as Dean and Edwin were just glancing at us.
Well, I promised myself not to tell him what I was thinking about no matter how much he persuades me. And I was able to keep to that promise...
******
I was heading toward my bank right now to withdraw money. None of my friends were with me anymore since they'd all gone to their respective homes.
Some had to board buses to get to their homes since their homes weren't that trekkable. While some trekked because their homes were somehow trekkable.
Apart from that, they also had the strength to trek. If they weren't in the mood to trek, they'd have boarded buses even though their homes were trekkable.
As for me, I boarded a bus that drove me straight to the boulevard where my home was situated. But instead of me to begin heading toward my home, I began heading toward the bank.
Yes, I wanted to withdraw money from the bank as planned before heading straight home.
I'd already arrived at the bank, and I didn't plan on entering the bank to withdraw the amount I needed. I planned on making use of my debit card to withdraw from the ATM.
But there were little queues at the ATMs when I arrived there, so I had to wait a little before it got to my turn to withdraw...
According to what I remembered, the amount needed to complete the payment of our house rent was $2,300. And I needed to withdraw money for other things that our house would need as well.
Not forgetting that I also needed to withdraw money for my personal use. So after some calculations here and there, I decided to withdraw a total of $7,000.
And I didn't waste time to do so, I withdrew the money making use of my debit card before putting it into my pocket and walking away from the ATM giving others the chance to make use of it.
I was walking on the road right now heading straight to my home. And you know what? I was bouncing on the road to the extent that it even caught some people's attention.
..Why wouldn't I be bouncing on the road when I had a good $7,000 on me right now? I was a fucking big boy.
Apart from that, some girls were also stealing glances at me as I was walking past them due to my handsomeness and swag.
Well, I liked the fact that they were stealing glances at me, but I didn't give any of them attention because I didn't have the time for it.
I kept on heading home with so much swag until I reached it. And according to what I was seeing, no one was home...even Julia wasn't at home, she went out.
Well, I unlocked the door and stepped foot into the house. And upon entering the house, the first thing I did was to take off my school bag and drop it where it was supposed to be.
Then I undressed and walked into the bathroom to shower. I came out of the bathroom feeling so refreshed after showering.
Then I dressed up in casual clothes...
******
It was dusk currently, and I was heading toward the landlord's house to complete the payment of our house rent.
I was with the $2,300 in cash while heading toward his home. He was living in the same building with us, so heading toward his home and reaching it wasn't something that would take time at all.
I'd already informed my mum and sister that we'd be completing the payment of our house rent this night, and I wanted to be the one to go hand over the money to him.
They were so surprised when I showed them the cash of $2,300 we were going to use in completing the payment of our house rent. They were shocked just as I expected.
They had some questions to ask me, and I told them they could ask me whatever questions they wanted to ask me, and I'd answer them after I'd given the money to the landlord.
I'd arrived at the landlord's apartment by now and was standing in front of his door. Then I began knocking on it even though I was feeling the urge to bang on it just as he always bangs on our door whenever it was concerning house rent issue.
I knocked on the door about three times before the landlord opened it. And the moment he set eyes on me, he was like,
"Why are you here? Did your mum send you here to tell me that she'd be coming to complete the payment of the house rent soon, and I should be patient?".
"No, it is actually the opposite. I'm here to complete the payment of our house rent". I uttered glancing directly into the landlord's eyes.
A kind of surprised expression appeared on his face at that moment before he voiced out, "Seriously?".