Shattered Bonds

Paying evil with evil is one thought I don't entertain but sometimes, you have to make people have a taste of their medicine because until they do, they won't realise how much they hurt the people around them.

I met Akorede in school back in 2013, he was a guy with a tough upbringing just like me and I couldn't say no to helping him with accommodation even though it wasn't a wise thing to do. He approached me after lecture one faithful day and asked if he could spend the night at my place because he had been squatting since we resumed. I had a big empty room where I stayed so that wouldn't be an issue.

We went to my place and after two weeks, the person who helped me with the apartment came around because someone hinted her that I brought my friend home. I almost lost the apartment but after a long discussion with the landlady, she permitted us to stay on the condition that I would be responsible for Akorede which I didn't say no to.

I was happy to help him and also treated him like a brother. It happened that I ran out of foodstuff earlier than I should because of Akorede so to make things easy, I told him we needed to start contributing money for food which he agreed to but didn't make any moves about it. Honestly, I barely asked him because I thought if he had, nothing would stop him from giving me money whenever I requested.

"Akorede, we need to talk about this feeding thing. It's beginning to affect my savings and I don't feel cool about it anymore," I told him one Saturday morning because I couldn't cope any longer.

"I am sorry for inconveniencing you but things are tight. My allowance is not coming as expected but I promise to do the needful once I get money from my brother," He replied.

I thought he was been unserious but there was no way I would eat and not share with him. I just can't do it because my conscience won't let me rest. We continued living as we did until it was time to pay for that semester's tuition fee. I had spent too much from my savings and needed some money to make the payment.

"How far have you gone with your payment?" I asked Akorede.

"I have not seen anything yet but God will help me," He replied.

I felt bad for him immediately and prayed that I get more than I needed just to help him. A few days before the deadline, Akorede made his payment and mentioned that his uncle sent him some money. I was happy for him and unfortunately for me, I couldn't raise my balance but it wasn't an issue because I was able to write exams even though I went through some troubles.

Akorede gave me some money for foodstuff and it lasted us just a week. Immediately after we exhausted the money, nothing came from him again and I continued striving to feed us but something happened that made me realize that I had just been used.

"Hey, George. I didn't see Akorede around," Seun, one of our friends in another department asked me.

"He is around, what's up?" I asked.

"I got a phone for him and just wanted to drop it off before heading home," Seun replied.

"Akorede bought a phone?" I stuttered.

"Yes, I wanted to tell you that my brother sells phone. You can patronize him too," Seun replied and stretched Akorede's new phone to me.

_Source

I didn't believe my eyes and just told Seun where Akorede could be. I kept wondering where he got the money but didn't ask him, I just waited patiently for him to tell me the story behind the phone.

"George, check this out. My brother sent me this phone," Akorede broke the news to me when we met at the school gate.

"Wow, this is good. I wish I had an elder brother too," I replied and we just laughed about it.

From that moment, I knew the true person he was and felt betrayed. I was hurt because I had taken a lot of risk for him only to discover that he had been taking advantage of me all this while.

That night, I didn't cook or make any moves. Akorede volunteered to do so and he came asking me for what to cook.

"I don't have a dime on me," I replied.

"I am broke too but there is a particular money a friend kept with me, we can borrow it for a while," Akorede replied.

"Okay, let's use it. I will refund you once I have it," I replied.

I knew the money belonged to him but he just didn't want to take responsibility so I played along. Akorede funded our food for a whole month and I kept promising to refund him. Another examination came and I just gathered my money to pay my school fees.

"I have paid my school fee," I told Akorede after returning from the ICT and the look on his face wasn't good.

"How? You still said you didn't have anything last night," Akorede replied.

"Yes, I didn't and a miracle just happened. God did it," I replied.
"Okay, that's good. I am yet to pay mine because we have been feeding with my school fee," he replied.

"I thought you said the money belonged to someone," I replied and he just started covering up lies with lies.

Akorede expected money from me but I didn't refund it and he started holding grudges against me. He left my place and after some weeks, I approached him in class.

I made him realize that I only treated him how he treated me. It's not like I don't have other things to do with my money but it's hard to see him hungry. I told him about the phone and he couldn't deny it. We stopped staying together but I didn't treat him like an enemy and paid him some money to cover the food he paid for a month. He rejected it but I insisted because I didn't want him to have anything against me.