WEB OF RICHES AND RUIN

"An unfortunate fortune"

It had been two days and Andie couldn’t think of anyone better to sell the seats for him. He had thought about it over and over and concluded that only one person could do it for him; Trizzie. He had reasoned with himself that she was a girl, therefore no suspicions would be there and that she dressed better than he did. “No, absolutely not”, she quickly refused. Andie had visited Trizzie trying to convince her to sell the seats for him, but she had repeatedly refused despite all his pleading. He had even tried explaining where he had gotten the seats from to shed some light, but it had proven futile.

He had a thought all of a sudden. If Trizzie was not going to do the sale for him, he had to do it himself, but first, he had to look presentable. He had to buy himself some clothes. ‘His clothes were the only problem, that was what Trizzie said’, he thought to himself. He left Trizzie but deliberately failed to mention where he was headed even after Trizzie’s several attempts to inquire about where he was going; he was not ready to be laughed at. “I’ve got some things I have to look at, see you later,” he said as he left. The marketplace was quite some distance but since he had nothing better to do, he decided to walk there.

It was Marcus’s birthday. His aunt had bought him a motorcycle as a birthday present but wasn’t sure about the specific date for the birthday so had sent it the day before. Marcus felt bored and decided to try riding the motorcycle. He didn’t know how to but had watched some tutorials and felt confident. Being confident was one of the first steps of learning anything. That was what he believed or at least what he had heard in the tutorial. Andie found him stranded, he didn’t know what he was doing. Andie wasn’t so bad himself; he had been saving up to buy one of them and had to have some knowledge and skill in operating them. He found it hard to believe that just because it was one’s birthday, one could be given a motorcycle just like that, not even having to request it whereas he had to save up every little coin he made just to try and get himself one and most probably a second-hand.

Marcus hadn’t mentioned his name to Andie. Andie couldn’t ask him, it felt awkward, and therefore had nicknamed him rich boy. “I could teach you how to ride it rich boy”, Andie said, laughing at Marcus. “It’s Marcus not rich boy”, said Marcus getting off the bike. Andie had found his ride to the market. “Let’s go that way”, Andie said pointing to the market. “You see, it's not that hard. You’re starting to get the hang of it.” Said Andie. Some time had gone by and Marcus was starting to get the skill. They were getting closer and closer to the market until they were not.

Marcus had just got a phone call and from the look on his face, Andie could tell that things were not good. His mother was on her way home for his birthday party but had gotten into an accident. “Do you know where Lady Bridget's hospital is?” Marcus asked in shock. “Yes, of course. It's not very far from the market. I could take you there”, said Andie. “Yes! Please do”, said Marcus. Andie took over the motorcycle and left at speed past the market for the hospital. He had to find another day to buy himself new clothes; well, not exactly new clothes, but… just clothes. It was clear that that was not the day.

Andie waited outside as Marcus went in. Moments later, a man who Andie could only think of as Marcus’s father followed in, he seemed important. Andie could only imagine the car’s worth the man had arrived in. It seemed pretty expensive. He had gazed at the car for quite some time but immediately stopped after realizing that Marcus and his uncle were out of the hospital. The man wasn’t Marcus’s Father but rather, his uncle. Marcus walked towards Andie, he seemed uncomfortable and avoided eye contact with Andie. “I am going with my uncle, take the bike home with you. You can bring it tomorrow”, he said and left hurriedly. Andie could tell that things were not so good but as far as he cared, he had the motorcycle for himself, even if it was for one day. He was so excited that he went back to the market but forgot all about the clothes, he was just there to show off.

He was to take the bike back to Marcus but had started getting second thoughts. Marcus knew nothing about him; neither where he lived nor anyone close or related to him, if he was to keep the bike, it would end up being his since Marcus had no way of reaching him. Andie thought to himself. This was his brilliant plan.

Several days had gone by and it seemed like his plan was going as planned. Strangely, he had not bumped into Marcus in his show-off rides around the village which had earlier seemed to be a trend. He had started earning from doing odd jobs in the village and this had encouraged him to continue with his plan. His legacy was starting or so he thought. He occasionally visited Trizzie and with each visit, bragging about how his legacy was just starting; his rich legacy. “You know that each time I ask you where you got the bike from, you just always avoid answering and change the topic. Did you steal it or something?” She had asked him after several attempts to know where he had gotten the bike from with no luck and at that moment, he was out of tricks. He couldn’t dodge the question and so decided to lie to her. “I was given by a friend, he is rich and doesn’t need it”, he lied. It was true that he had been given by a friend but it was just for one day not entirely but only he knew that. Trizzie didn’t seem to buy the story but it had to do. On one of his visits, Trizzie asked him to take her out for a ride, she was feeling bored. Andie couldn’t refuse, he gladly accepted and was now just riding around the village.

Marcus had decided to take a walk, he had deep thoughts and mixed feelings and had thought of clearing his mind by taking the walk. He had his headphones on and was just walking; he loved listening to music. He always argued that it helped him relax. Andie hadn’t seen him until it was too late, and was too close to him to turn back. Moreover, Marcus had already seen him. He thought of speeding up but he couldn’t. He slowly reduced his speed and came to a stop right in front of Marcus.

Marcus removed his headphones and got closer. Andie had to speak before the situation escalated. “Hi Marcus, I know it has been quite some time but I was planning on giving it back”. Marcus interrupted before he could continue. “I know you couldn’t bring it; God knows even I couldn’t have the courage to bring it after what happened. I am honestly glad that you didn’t bring it. I didn’t want anyone bothering me; thank you for understanding”. He suddenly stopped talking and looked at Trizzie, it was as if he had suddenly noticed her presence.

“Hi, am Marcus”, he said. Trizzie had been admiring him all along. One didn’t have to look at him twice to know he was rich and that made Trizzie admire him more. “Hi am Trizzie”, she said sounding very cheerful. Andie had never heard Trizzie speak that cheerfully. He slowly turned and looked at her in disbelief. He couldn’t believe it; her face was glowing. This was definitely new, Andie was used to her grumpy attitude, but that day, it was like she was a different person. “What?” Trizzie asked Andie smiling.

“I'm so sorry about your mother. It was such a tragedy. One shouldn’t have to experience such a thing”. Said Trizzie whose glow had suddenly faded. “Thanks, I still can’t believe that she is gone”, said Marcus whose mood seemed to get worse than it was. His eyes had become watery, he was on the edge of crying but he couldn’t allow himself to, at least not in front of Andie. Andie had now started to connect the dots. He had been wondering all along about Marcus’s earlier words but couldn’t bring himself to understand them, but now he was. He now understood why Marcus didn’t care about the motorcycle or why he was nowhere to be seen for the past few days. Marcus’s mother had died the night of the accident, which so happened to be his birthday. Marcus’s mother was never that much around in his life but after all, she was his mother; his flesh and blood.

Everyone in the village knew of the tragedy but Andie, who had even taken Marcus to the hospital after the accident didn’t know. He was so focused on keeping the motorcycle to himself that he didn’t seem to care about anything else that was happening. Trizzie had mentioned the tragedy several times during their gossip sessions but he was never listening. Andie just felt some pity for Marcus, he couldn’t blame himself for trying to steal from Marcus; he was only doing what most people do, trying to survive. To some extent, Andie believed that survival was of the fittest. Marcus and Trizzie seemed to be drawn to each other. Trizzie was comforting him and it seemed to be working. Andie did not like it; he joined the conversation bringing it to an end.

“Hey Andie, thanks for helping me back then. Actually, if you would like, you can have the bike, I don’t really need it. Insurance replaced my mom’s car with a new one and my father wants me to have it. Furthermore, bikes are so complicated to ride; am fine with the car.” Said Marcus. “Yes, of course, I would like it. Thanks, rich boy”, Andie said excitedly, but didn’t seem to believe what he was hearing. He had even forgotten the lie he had told Trizzie. He was caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t see Trizzie and Marcus exchanging phone numbers which would have greatly offended him.

Their encounter with Marcus had brought their ride to nowhere exactly to an end. Andie had complained that it was getting late so took Trizzie home. It was late but not as Andie claimed, he had suddenly been struck by an idea and was planning to act on it before it was dark. He had been keeping the bike in his scrap house but now that it was officially his, he had to build it a shelter. His legacy had started but it was now officially starting, the bike was officially his, Andie thought to himself in his crooked mind. He scrambled a tiny garage with the help of his little brother, which he didn’t seem to appreciate and in no time, he was done. He closed the door to the garage and went to his house, trying to figure out what he was cooking for supper.