3. 200 Dolars
It is still at the dawn.Gilly had missed to
catch a sound sleep at night .This is a
result of his mind wandering all through
after receiving the 200 dollar from Ezekiel who happened to be one of
the missionaries who had visited the neighbouring church.
Before anybody else , Gilly woke up .He reassembled his
sleeping mat which always make a
tsakatsaka sound from the dry mangroves
leaves and heaped them in a sack at the
corner of their house .
Gilly
begins to have ambitions on how he could spend the two hundred dollars!
In his mind, he has a thought of how
rich people in different streets lived .He remembers the tattoos branded in
their different parts of their bodies. To him he thought of branding them on
his face.
" Aha! I am very lucky. Imagine sleepy poor and waking up when stingy rich. Tomorrow
morning, before anyone else , I shall dash to Bin To Bin street. I would meet
my friend Richard who is happens to be an expert on branding of tattoos. "
Gilly laughs at himself. " When I get to where Richard is, I would tell
him," Richard my closest friends, please help me brand the tattoos on
my face." I would therefore ask him
to add acrylic nails. Indeed I would look exactly like an Afro singer type. Oh , it will be
splendid . I would appear special before
the eyes of people."
Another idea came to his mind. It is at
seven in the morning. Gilly dashes outside their house. He is busy thinking
where he would hide so as to be safe together with his money. He sat on the log at the back of their house. He is very silent and
seemingly in deep thoughts as he clings
onto his briefcase.
He talks to himself that on so many times
and days he had slept hungry. He had been searching in bins placed in different
streets. On so many occasions he has heard of Burg Spicy Hotel, a classy hotel that attracts many customers
because of their good quality and instant services at ones disposal.
Its services ranges from concierge, complimentary breakfast, soft
snacks to chauffeur services .Gilly reassures himself that he was going for
such services ! At eleven, Gilly is already seated. All the customers who were
already taking their sumptuous meals begin to hold their nose.
They would want to shun away such a bad
smell. Others pretended as if everything was okay ,others twisted on their seats as though they were
witnessing safari ants bites!
Yuan
, the waitress, is now welcoming him. In a melodious soprano voice, Yuan
says," Customer, you are most welcome to our hotel. Please, what would you
like to have?"
Gilly has never stepped nor sat to be
served in such a classy hotel! He is seen moving from one table to another
trying to catch a glimpse of what other customers are having. Yuan hands him a
menu .
" I am pleased to hand you this menu. kindly go through it
and let me know what type of meal you
would like to have, please take your time to make yourself comfortable,"
Yuan told Gilly .His stench made everyone
to turn facing the direction of
this newest customer who is then Gilly.
At this very moment, Gilly is seen holding
his briefcase tightly onto his chest .One could easily sense some suspicions from his eyes. Gilly resumed to
his initial position. Yuan came and asks
him," Please customer, would you
not have some meals ? Here, for the
minutes spent, one pays for. The longer the time you take ,the more you pay
for."
Gilly asks what they offer yet he has had a
menu but he could not understand the type of meals. "What do you offer? I
think I am not even that hungry." He does not understand what is in the
menu.
Yuan told him , "Here, we serve simple
soup, salads, pasta sprinkled with cheese, truffles, caviar and saffron. Please
yourself and choose your favourite and what you would like to be served with .
It can be hot or cold as this is in accordance with your preference. "
Gilly
pointed at number two and
according to the menu was salads. Yuan headed
to the counter to get Gilly's
order. She begins by laying different spoons
on the table as her routine. These were the examples of cavar, slotted,
demitasse, dessert and salad spoons. She then
brought some food which was closed with a fitting lid. It was plain
salads which was Gilly's order .
On seeing , he wondered ," Which
spoon should I begin with?" Upon removing the lid , he realised it was
plain Salads! "Will this meal satisfy my
insatiable appetite. I am very hungry. Do they even know that this is the first
day I am interested in ordering food?" Gilly gripped
his briefcase and took a lightning speed
and heads outside .His quick steps are heard leaving customers asking themselves what could
have transpired.
The waiter is seen panicking. Her heart
throbbing .The manager shot out from his office .This is after he had witnessed
everything from the CCTV cameras which were installed in this hotel .These cameras had high levels of security. Its shape is difficult for
people to tell which way they are
facing.
Ouch! He blinked uncontrollably and
enquired to know what had happened, " Yuan, who was that. Who the hell is
he! Which direction has he taken?" the manager asked.
Yuan just shook her head and shrugged her shoulders." Please I do not
know who he is. He came but failed to place any order of the main meal even
after handing him a menu.
Apparently, he seemed illiterate. He
behaves as if he doesn't even
understands himself. He has a bad smell. It is like he has never taken a bath
for nearly a month! . He too cannot not
utter words clearly . The only thing he did was to point at the number 2
! When the order was delivered, he grabbed his briefcase and dashed out !
He has some
contents in the briefcase yet not known. But from the way he held , it
seems they are valuables." The
manager nods in agreement as this was exactly what he had noticed from the CCTV
sophisticated screens.
Gilly , by this time had reached at Luxury
Motor Industry. " Aha! He begins, " This money is just enough. Who
can be as rich as I am. This is my own
money. I would like to improve my life by owning a car of my choice and this is the right time to acquire one .
As he gets at the entrance of the Luxury Motor Industry .One of the two security guards stopped him. This was
Aury .He seems to be a nonsensical guy. He
is practical, very efficient and businesse - like. This was Aury ,"the
master ," as clients refer him.
He has
curly like hair." Hey ! Please stop there, " Aury alarms
Gilly. He then extended his detective machine and allowed Gilly to get in
to where cars of different costs ,
colours and efficiencies were .
Gilly began to speak to himself, " Look at this one ," he now points
at the first one , " I am going to buy it ! " Oh yes , the 200 dollar is enough !" Aaaah! It
appears very cheap. Let me leave this one. "
There were many varieties. He moved to the
second one. He then goes round it
scrutinizing." Oh no this cannot drive well on hilly terrains."
He continued doing the same till he got to
the fifth car. It was the Gordon Murray T.33. Wow! Here at last. A car of my
dream. He called Aury, " Where is the attendant ? Please don't imagine that I do not have money." He opened his
briefcase and whisppers ," Cool money, cool money. In few minutes , you
will see me driving." Aury
reluctantly dialled a receiver and placed a call. From the way Gilly had dressed and the stench he
has, Aury guessed that Gilly is not in his
right senses.
Jean
, a lady in her mid 20s arrives. She is the attendant in this Luxury Motor Industry...She is plumb and has
worn acrylic nails that are polished pink. Has bluish eyes with drooping ears.
As she gets to where Gilly is she shook her head vigorously but in a
manner the customer who is then Gilly did not notice.
"Good morning? How may I assist you. I
am Jean and in charge of this industry.
" Both shake hands as they go round exchanging in conversations. Jean kept
staring at Gilly in disapproval.
"Good morning too ma..da..m. I
ne...e...d to bu...y a car. This is the one I h...a...ve
com...e come for. " Gilly responded
in great hesitation. He is in fear his only
money could be taken by Jean who happened to be talking and looking
straight into his eyes.
Gilly pointed at Gordon Murray. Jean
informed him that the car goes for $ 2milion. Gilly looked at his briefcase and
remembers that he only has 200 dollar. He , without bidding Jean a goodbye, he
sped off at 120km/ hr!