Chapter 2 Jason's colleague on hot seat.

Alex was summoned by the account department to account for the fund that was disbursed to him to carter for his last field expenses. He had realized that one of his strengths in this work is his ability to keep records. Fifteen minutes later, he looked at their faces and couldn't understand whether they were happy that his record and theirs tallied or disappointed in their inability to nail him.

On getting back to his office,the first mail he saw on his system was from his manager who accused him of gross incompetence, indiscipline and negligence of duty. Startled by the content of the query, he had quickly gone to the man's office two blocks away from his to clarify himself and probably get an apology that the query was not meant for him but for another person. He however did not expect the outburst that followed, an encounter he will never forget.

He tapped on the door, gently opened it and entered only to be taken back for a moment by what he saw. Malam Yusuf was face deep in a bowl of rice and chicken with a bottle of whiskey sitting by him. Mr Alex stood by the door for a fleeting second trying to convince himself it was the right time to come. He heaped one more spoon of rice into his mouth. As he was half way into that he used his left hand to grab the full chicken lap on top of the food and tore through it like a hungry lion. He quickly dropped the chicken and grabbed his bottle of whiskey, gulping it down in quick succession...unbelievable. Alex' heart went back to the day the company policy was read to them. It was a gross misconduct for any staff to eat in the office instead of the. Eating during office hours is of course 'negligence of duty' Alex checked his watch and it was 10 am. He wondered why a manager should show such high level of indiscipline.

Malam Yusuf looked up from his bowl of food and as he tried to adjust his pot belly between the chair and the table, he released a disgusted belch and the strong smell of the alcohol filled the room...Jesu!! Mr Alex exclaimed inaudibly. 'How could a so called manager engage in such act of gross misconduct on a Tuesday morning '

he thought.

'Good day sir '

'Eberything is good about the day Alex ' he responded in his thick Hausa accent. ' You can see how lipe is treating some op us and we intend to enjoy it por a bery long time. Alex looked away from him and his eyes rested on the pile of work his table unattended to. He couldn't tell if the next sound he heard was from Malam Yusuf's mouth or anus but once more a very unpleasant smell filled the office. The need to escape from here back to the sanctuary of his office juggled his mind back to the reason why he came.

He dipped his hand into his pocket and produced a clean sheet of paper. He was wise enough to have printed a copy of the mail he got from the account department which clearly stated the time for the meeting. 'Here sir, I came to show you this' He stretched his hand to him but it was obvious Malam Yusuf has prepared his mind not to show him any friendly gestures

' drop it on the table ' From across the table, he ran his eyes non comittaly on the sheet of paper.

'Sir, I don't understand the reason for the query. This morning the account department has invited me to clarify some things on my last field expenditure. I was there for just fifteen minutes. I came back immediately I finished only to be served a query ' As he went on to explain trying as much as he could to sound civil even though he was hurting seriously and felt like challenging him in a boxing ring, Malam Yusuf suddenly stood up and tried to wiggle himself insides his trousers and one couldn't help but pity the piece of cloth. When he didn't succeed in joining the button to its hole, he simply drew the zip up as far as he could to avoid exposing his manhood whose size it seems has benefited so well from his gluttony. When he failed in his attempt to return the the button and zip back to their original position, he simply removed the rest of his shirt that was roughly tucked into his trousers so as to cover the rest of his defects.