Days Like These
Kamsi remembered his mother telling him that there would be days like these: when you put in your best and find that your best is not good enough; when you put in so much work only to be deflated like a balloon by the ungratefulness of those for whom you have laboured.
"Those are the days you have all the more reason to say 'Thank you' because no matter how bad things get, there are always more reasons to be thankful than you could count," Mrs Bundu Ohale would say. But this was no time to wax philosophical, Kamsi thought. It was beer time, and he hoped to figure out a way out of his office situation after he has had a couple of Budweisers. They did not call it King of Beer for nothing.
Kamsi Ohale had worked as a business development executive at Figo Trust Bank since he was twenty-three years old. Two years after, he was still doing the same job he was employed to do initially with no promotion and no raises, but he had no reason to complain because most of his classmates were still unemployed or studying for the Masters degree. He wished that he had the luxury of studying for a second degree, but he did not. His three younger siblings were in the university with nobody to pay their tuition but him and their sickly mother. Her health had deteriorated slowly since their father's death nine years before. The way his mother became a shadow of herself after their father's death made Kamsi wonder about love. He was beginning to think that the cost may outweigh the benefits. He was willing and able to take care of his younger ones. All he wished was for the life of his once beautiful mother to be preserved. But that night, Kamsi had an entirely different problem, a problem he had nicknamed office problem.
It was a problem that came in the shape of Mrs Allison Muson, the new regional manager for Lagos. She joined the bank from a competing bank six months before at the rank of Deputy General Manager. She was a very educated woman. Her father was a former military head of state in one of the states in the country during the military regime, and she married Senator Ali Muson, a long-sitting senator. If the bank was Mount Olympus, Mrs Allison was Aphrodite, so even her husband, the senator, was subject to her tricks. For reasons which were not yet clear to Kamsi, Allison did not like him very much. At the time, the bank performance appraisal system was subjective. That meant that Kamsi's boss could decide that his performance was below average and appraise him accordingly and there would be no authority to overturn the decision. When Allison insisted that Kamsi had not achieved his target, there was no way to prove her wrong since there was no objective performance management tool deployed in the bank. For two quarters in a row, Kamsi had received poor appraisals from his ultimate boss. Even when his immediate boss rated his high, Allison would refuse to approve the rating and insist that Kamsi's boss change it.
Nobody wanted to have problems with Allison, so everyone obeyed. According to the group policy of the bank, Kamsi has just one quarter to improve his performance, or the bank would have to let him go. The last appraisal was completed a week before and, Kamsi was filled with trepidation as he thought that no matter what he did, it was not up to him to decide if he would retain his job in less than three month's time. He felt like a man under water and he was running out of time. He knew that corporate drivers had privileged information so he asked Sammy, his branch driver if he knew why Allison hated him and what the solution could be.
"Oga, I think the madam like you. You cause the problem. Try and get closer to her," he said with an air of a man proclaiming that grasses are green.
But how could that be, Kamsi wondered. He had never spoken with the woman more than three times before and each time was during the monthly performance review. He could not imagine there was anything amorous about his office problem but he could not be very sure. Even if he was sure, Allison was a married woman, almost twice his age and she was a beautiful woman. No way. He would ask Bassey at Baba's Place when he comes to their Friday rendezvous. He walked for fifteen minutes to the bar, but it seemed like two minutes because even though his body was weak from the day's work, his mind was busy, wrestling with the problem. He looked up and realised he had arrived at the bar. He walked in and ordered a chilled bottle of Budweiser. As soon as the beer was uncorked, Bassey came.
"Hey, pally. Were you planning to start without me?" Bassey shouted from across the bar.
Bassey was Kamsi's friend and classmate since university days. He worked as a data analyst in an oil exploration company. He was the most carefree person Kamsi had ever met. In spite of his natural ability to treat everything with laxity, he seldom got into trouble. There was a time Kamsi thought he was not going to graduate, but Bassey proved him wrong and graduated with a second class upper degree. They drank their beers in silence. After two bottles, Bassey could not hold it in any longer.
"Bro, what's with the furrowed brows? Did Alex break your heart?" he asked, laughing. His eyes closed whenever he laughed. There were times Kamsi really liked it but not today.
Kamsi explained hiss office problem in as much detail as he could. Bassey's expression did not change. When Kamsi finished, Bassey stayed quiet for a minute, then he spoke.
"In other words, your ass is hers unless someone removes her from that position?"
"Precisely."
"Say no more. I know a guy that knows a guy," Bassey said, laughing.
"What nonsense are you talking? You cannot know someone who can do anything about that woman!"
"Don't worry. You'll see. It is not as if you have a choice. Call this number and say your name. He will understand," he said, scribbling a number on a napkin.
"I have to go, man. See you tomorrow." He patted Kamsi's shoulder and walked out of the bar.
After six bottles of beer, Kamsi was drunk when he left the bar an hour later. He did not intend to call the number Bassey gave to him, but he decided it could hurt nothing to try it. Someone answered from the other end.
"My name is Kamsi," he drawled.
"Okay, Bassey told me about your office problem. Consider it fixed. Find a pen and paper and write this down: 706-456-1421. Call that number now because it may not be available after tonight," the voice said.
Kamsi was about dropping onto the bed when he decided to do as Bassey advised. He dialled the number and listened to the dial tone. No one answered. He called again but still no answer. He dropped heavily on the bed and immediately, his phone rang. It was the number he just called, and he answered it.
"What do you want?" asked the hoarse voice.
Kamsi's mind was slow, so it took him a lot of effort to answer the question. "My name is ..."
"I don't care what your name is. What do you want?" he said impatiently.
"I erh... I want to get rid of a problem in the office," Kamsi stuttered.
"What problem?"
"My boss wants to get me sacked, and I have not done anything wrong, so I want my boss out of my life," Kamsi said.
"Do you have a name?"
"I thought you said... anyway, never mind. Kamsi Ohale"
The voice asked him the address, and Kamsi told him the address. That was the last part of the conversation he could recall by the next day. As soon as the call ended, he collapsed on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
Kamsi woke up the next morning with a nasty headache. Suddenly, he remembered the events of the night before even though they were blurry but he remembered saying the address of his house. As he thought about it, he realised that might not have been the address the man wanted. And why did he need address in the first place, anyway? He picked up his phone and saw a payment notification. Apparently, he had paid fifty thousand Naira to one Samuel Jackson. He could not recall making the payment, but he must have done it the night before because the payment went through his mobile banking application on his android cell phone. He called back the number and as he expected, the phone was switched off. The number Bassey gave him was also unreachable. He was beginning to panic when he called Bassey. He answered on the first ring.
"Hey, man, shouldn't you be sleeping now after getting plastered last night?"
"Bro, I have not been able to reach that number you gave me last night and the other one is equally not available," Kamsi said.
"Which other number?"
Kamsi explained how he called the first number that Bassey gave him the night before and how someone answered and redirected him to call someone else. Bassey listened in silence until Kamsi finished his narration.
"Keep your pants on, man. What's the worst that could happen? You still want your office problem fixed, don't you?"
"That's the problem. How are they going to fix it and why did he need my address? I'm afraid I may have put out a contract on Mrs Mosun or worse, myself," Kamsi said, physically shaken.
"You've seen too many Hollywood mafia movies. Relax," Bassey tried to wave it aside, but he did not sound convincing, not even to himself.
"But where can we find that your friend whose number you gave me?"
"Oh, no he is not my friend. I don't even know his name. I met him in a strip club a fortnight ago. He said he was a fixer and his job description is providing solutions to problems and outsourcing the ones that are not within his area of expertise, on commission, of course," Bassey said with a grin.
"Jesus Christ! Bassey, you're unbelievable," Kamsi exclaimed.
They agreed that Kamsi should move into Bassey's apartment, at least until they could reach the man.
Three days after, the two phone numbers were still unreachable. Kamsi could not go home. His office problem did not seem like such a big problem compared to the fear he now felt every minute of the day. He could not decide which one scared him more: that the man he had hired would find Mrs Mosun and kill her or that he might go to his address and kill him. At that point, he was willing to give up his job and his next employment to have a means to call the man off. But there was no way to reach him.
After one month, he realised why they say that the mind is an amazing thing. He had lived with the fear so long that it became a part of his being. Soon after, he convinced himself that there was nothing of which to be afraid. On one Saturday evening, Bassey drove him back to his home after one month of absence. It felt great to be home.
Meanwhile, Mr Samuel Jackson had been spending the past sixteen days and nights in Kamsi's house, patiently waiting for his victim. His reputation was at stake. What would his clients think of him as a professional hitman if it ever came out that he took a job without completing it? Even though he prided himself on his patience, the long wait was beginning to get on his nerves, and he was willing to shoot anything that walked through the door in order to have it all over and done. It was dark, and he was seated on the only sofa in the living room which faced the entrance to the apartment and remained like he had waited for every day since the past sixteen days, his gun readied in his right hand. There were no words to describe the joy in his heart when he heard someone turn the key to the entrance.
As soon as Kamsi opened the door, he dropped his bag when he saw the silhouette of a man seated on his couch and raised his hand, but he could not out the word "wait" before the bullet tore through his raised left palm and passed through his left shoulder. Bassey was just a few steps behind him when he heard the shot, he dropped the bags and ran downstairs. The killer must have thought he saw what happened because he went after him. Bassey was across the road from Kamsi's apartment and behind the wheel before the killer came down the stairs. He looked down the lonely street and disappeared into the alley beside Kamsi's building. As Kamsi bled, he realized that the gift of life was all-sufficient.
Authored by: @churchboy
Interested in joining us? Come join our Discord server at: https://discord.gg/gXMH3qu
@churchboy do you know Mum also told me all this?
Kamsi had quite some burden in his concerning the fact that he wanted to further his education, have a 2nd degree and from the story his mum had quite a health challenge, the family had suffered from some serious financial challenge.
It got really bad when I read that Allison didn't like Kamsi I knew there was gonna be some serious bank issue/problem.
Oh my word when I read Sammy's advice to him I didn't see this coming, he thought she hated him but here is Sammy saying the opposite.
The story gets interesting.
Oh even Bassey knew the language of Allison, Kamsi's ass was hers.
Interesting
Damn the dude was a fixer and fixes problems
Omg I feel for Kamsi right now.
Now here goes A SAMUEL JACKSON waiting for his victim.
Oh my word poor Kamsi
This story really ended up making me sober
Kamsi finally realised the value of life.
Thanks @churchboy for this fiction story I enjoyed reading through every line.
Thumbs up.
I can already tell that you are an excellent storyteller yourself. Of course mama used to tell that too and other things like, "This too shall pass" or "Only for a short time". There is no way to write these things without injecting personal experiences here and there.
Thank you so much for your comments here and discord. You are awesome.
Thanks for the compliment
The awesomeness of this story made me give you a thumbs up on discord you deserve it.
💓💯
@Adsactly rocks
@churchboy rocks
Very good post @adsactly, your story can be a very good motivation for all of us in living this life, I think, sometimes life is not like we want, sometimes there is when we are hard, and there is also when we are happy , but all that is a destiny in our lives. But to determine a happy life, we are the decisive ones, so we must think what we should do, and where we should go to be able to get that happiness.
I think that to be successful requires a great struggle, and has many challenges to be able to get that success, like the story that Kamsi Ohale experienced to be able to make her mother happy, even if she has a little salary she stays for work there, because he knows it's the first step to success, as the saying goes "failure is a delayed success."
In essence, if we want to succeed, we must have a strong principle, always be optimistic, and stay focused on one goal, and never look at what others are doing, we must stay focused on our goals, even if it fails, try again, so I'm sure, whatever we do will get good results. Thanks for sharing @adsactly, and hope you have a wonderful day. Greetings to you...
Thanks for your comment. Yes, failure is just delayed success. Thank you and have a great day.
thank you again @churchboy, for all the good you have done, and I hope you will be more successful to work...
I found this story very interesting, and I also think it leaves a very good teaching.
I think many of the readers would agree with me that Kamsi made several mistakes.... Mistakes that were made because of the pressure of forced labor, a boss who didn't "want" it, having to take care of her mother and siblings, and living without overcoming her father's death. No doubt his mind was more focused on his family and his work than on himself.
Kamsi had so much pressure and so little time to solve her problems that her mind could not evaluate what her options were and what was the best choice. For this reason, I do not judge him, as he was not in a position to choose the best. He simply chose the quickest and easiest decision.
In addition to this, he decided what he would do, under the influence of Bassey and under the influence of alcohol. And this was the biggest mistake he ever made. Diving into alcohol to drown despair and pressure is undoubtedly the worst decision you can make. Here is a clear example of this.
The consequences were undoubtedly catastrophic. It was to be expected that something like this would happen.
Moral: Never make decisions with a cloudy mind... Because you may make the worst decision.
Thanks to the @adsactly team for sharing this story and thanks to @churchboy for writing it...
A greeting!! See you in the next post ;)
Thanks a lot. Yes, making decisions with cloudy mind got Kamsi. I think he made it out alive this time and learned the lessons associated with his mistake.
It was a pleasure reading your story.... I hope to be able to read another one soon!
Kamsi Ohale’s story reminds me situation all over the world. Even though he should consider himself lucky having job, his friends are not that lucky🍀. Some of them are unemployed and some continue in their education. That’s why he is so greatfull. As a matter of fact, he didn’t have much of a choice since his income covered most of his three sisters tuitions. With his father’s passing away and his mother’s health deteriorating, it all as well didn’t make his situation much easier. When Allison Muson arrived as a new manager reminded me why I left my country and imigrated to US, why I quit my job and opened my own business. It’s really tough to work in the environment where you work so hard and there is always someone who enjoys backstabbing you. In this part of reading I would advise Kamsi to set his mind to look for a better job. Until then, he has to hold up and be patient. While I continued to read about Kamsi meeting Bassey at the bar while getting drunk. First I thought he would help him to get a better job. Couldn’t cross my mind he would give him contact to a hit man 😮. Not until he mentioned his phone payment notification. Unfortunately while being drunk he gave his name and his address...
The only question remains. Kamsi’s office problem solve?
I could easily see this story happen in real life. With that said I’m curious, is this story real or is it a fiction?
Hahahahaha. Of course it is fiction. Thanks for your beautiful comments.
Your stories are always filled with an atmosphere and evoke emotions. I like your style and then to what thoughts you encourage your readers.
Kamsi needed time and was under great pressure. Therefore, he made mistakes. All people tend to make mistakes, but being in the situation of Kamsi it was a bad coincidence. He had to choose the "right" decision in his opinion. But the use of alcohol is the worst solution to the problem. It really looks like a trend that takes place in society. Many people under the influence of problems sublimate their emotions with alcohol. Alcohol does not solve problems, it only helps you to relax. But this is the way to nowhere. This is a vicious circle that leads to bad consequences. Anyway.
Your story is instructive for many. Failures happen to everyone. Failure is a chance to understand what you did wrong and try again. Persistence and a "cold" mind is the best solution. Thank you!
I appreciate the comment. Yes, a cold calculated mind is often necessary to treat certain situations.
I look forward to reading your posts! Keep up the great work!!
Thanks for sharing @adsactly, and I am interested to read the Story you post,
In our lives we interact with people in our environment every day, be it in the office, neighbors and even in other neighborhoods,
Everyone has different thoughts, hair may be black, but the mind is not the same, sometimes what we think is true not necessarily in the eyes of others is true, but we have tried as much as possible to make it but still wrong in the eyes of others.
All we have to do is be patient and keep reassuring others that we do not hold us wrong without having to fight it, and accept the opinions of others maybe so others will accept our opinion,
Always do good to others it will make the heart calm and life will be happier ..
Thank you for your comment and support.
Your story is a good reminder of what is important. We so often take life for granted, pollute our bodies with overeating, smoking, drinking, getting stressed out, and at the end of time the only thing that matters is trying to cling onto life.
Yes, we take life for granted most times but life is the ultimate gift. Thanks for your comment.
Really nice. Khub valo hoyeche.
Loved it! Upvoted and resteemed
Many thanks for your support.
what a perfect short nice story full of information and moral lessons
A very good story @adsactly..
May I join your community.. ??
Please join our discord https://discord.gg/gXMH3qu
Thank you.
I've joined in discord, but I also do not understand how it works..
Days like this are one in a lifetime.
Hmmmmmm an extremely touching story
Indeed the gift of life is all sufficient
Thanks a lot.
Nice story @adsactly! Thanks for sharing inspirable thoughts friend!
Thanks for your comment.
Much welcome friend!
Interesting story ,keep it flowing adsactly
This story reminded me of some advice from my father:
This story has filled me with nostalgia my friend, Kamsi lived under constant pressure, the problems overwhelmed him, and because his decision was very accurate to reality, the same decision that many people would make, was the easiest for him, drowning in the vice of alcohol, but got there under the influence of Bassey.
The outcome was extremely catastrophic, as expected, you can never expect good deeds from acts not well done, this happened to Kamsi, which not only hurt him, but also ended up hurting his family even more....
Thank you @churchboy friend @adsactly community writer for sharing this wonderful story, which has reminded me of my father!!
Greetings from Venezuela my friend, I hope to see more of your content and hope you can continue to share your stories with all your readers, including me @churchboy.
Thank you so much for that wonderful comment. Yes it is safer to make decisions with serene mind. Another bad time to make decisions is after midnight. Lol. Thanks for the support. I shall do my best to keep the stories coming.
hahahahaha is true, my friend, I hope you have my support!! @churchboy
It was a story of much suspense and drama, it is true that many times we have people around us trying to see us drowned and in a bottomless hole, many times we are harassed without reason, at times like this we must make decisions that balance our lives, alcohol was a bad counselor and made a bad move, life is wonderful, with the problems and difficulties we may have, just put a little bit of love and patience, with faith in God the best will always come.
Nice write up, great work
Thanks for sharing
This is extremely interesting
Well written and poignant story.
Thank you. I am glad you liked it.
Very thought provoking. Just like Kamsi we all fail to realize that the gift of life is the ultimate gift and no matter what problems we all might have, we should know to treasure the value of life that god gave to us.
Loved the story!
Thank you. I am glad you loved it.
very good story, can you help me @adsactly
informative post. hope to back such kind of post.
Nice story. It quite took me some time to read it. I thought it's another boring "story thing" but my curiosity kept me away from clicking any button!
Thanks
Great
Thanks for sharing @adsactly. These words got to me;
"Those are the days you have all the more reason to say 'Thank you' because no matter how bad things get, there are always more reasons to be thankful than you could count"
There are always reasons to be grateful because we came into this life with nothing. Thanks for your comment.
You are welcome my friend
great content, beautiful story its long but worthy reading thanks @adsactly. you have my vote for steem witness
Very good story friend I liked reading it. You have a lot of talent to write and I hope you keep publishing more things like this. Regards
verry nice story,thank you for share it with us
really nice .. continue please
Great story the truth is there are many people who go through similar situations and depression or the question is why me? see things in a positive way and fight for what you want there are always reasons to live and move forward.
thanks a lot for sharing the information
Congratulations @adsactly!
Your post was mentioned in the Steemit Hit Parade in the following category:
"As Kamsi bled, he realized that the gift of life was all-sufficient."
Best ending ever. Our offices today are characterized with such wicked acts. From the use of charms to the use of assasins.
Evenone in paid employment should read this story. The lesson at the end is so educating. The gift of life is truly the ultimate not the job.
This is what we call opportunity ! Thanks forThe moral
This is what we call opportunity ! Thanks for the moral.I will always remember that!
Wow! This is such a good read. Too may lessons to learn here, where do I even start. In all though, my heart goes out to Kamsi who realised too late that he had a lot to be grateful for.
Good post @ adsactly. More of this.
I have read your whole story. It made me have one more look at life. Sometimes life pushes people into trouble, deadlock, and alcohol is not something to solve it. The story has a sad ending, but the lesson it leaves is very expensive. Thank you
Contact (([email protected])) for any form of ethical hacking, he is the best, he can help catch cheating spouse via hacking into text messaging, facebook, what's app, clear criminal record, upgrade school grades, upgrade credit score. contact him now!!!
You have a 3 rating and still advertising? Not working. Flag for you.