A Dark Trade - S01 E04

Story 3 months ago

A Dark Trade - S01 E04

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 4

Episode 4: A Dark Trade

Chidi was no longer the man who sat in a dusty market. He was no longer the man who sewed leather with tired hands. Wealth had changed Chidi very fast. It changed him faster than the weather changes from the dry season to the rainy season. He did not live in a small room anymore. He lived in a very big house. It was a mansion. The house was so big that you could get lost inside it if you did not know the way. The front of the house had giant gates made of heavy iron. These gates were not normal gates. They were plated with real gold. They sparkled so brightly in the sun that people had to cover their eyes when they walked past.

Chidi liked his big house. He liked the soft chairs and the cold air from the machines on the walls. He liked the way his voice echoed in the empty halls. But even though the house was full of beautiful things, Chidi was always worried. He was always looking over his shoulder. He did not let anyone go into a special room at the back of the house. This room was always locked. Chidi kept the key in his pocket at all times. Inside that room, sitting on a fancy table, was the brown pot.

The pot was still humming. The sound was low and steady. It sounded like a heart beating deep inside the clay. Chidi would go into the room every morning to look at it. He would count the money that appeared on the table. He felt powerful. He felt like he owned the whole world. He forgot about the dust. He forgot about the hunger. He even started to forget about the friends he once had.

One afternoon, the sun was very hot. Chidi was standing on his high balcony. He was wearing a silk robe that felt like water on his skin. He was looking down at his gold gates. He saw a woman standing there. She looked very small next to the giant gates. She was wearing clothes that were old and torn. Her shoes were broken. She looked very tired.

Chidi squinted his eyes. He realized he knew this woman. She was his elderly aunt. She was the one who had given him food when he was a little boy. She was the one who had looked after him when he had no one else. Chidi felt a small spark of something in his heart. It was a memory of kindness.

His aunt looked up and saw him. Her eyes were full of tears. She reached out her thin hands and grabbed the gold bars of the gate.

"Chidi! My son!" she cried out. Her voice was weak and shaky. "Please, Chidi. I have come from very far. I did not know where you lived, but people told me about the man with the gold gates. I had to find you."

Chidi looked down at her. "Why are you here, Auntie?" he asked. His voice was not as kind as it used to be. It was loud and proud.

"It is your uncle," she begged. She was crying harder now. "Your Uncle Peter is very sick. He is lying in bed and he cannot breathe well. The doctors say he needs special medicine, but it costs a lot of money. We have sold everything we own. We have nothing left. Please, Chidi. You have so much. Just a small amount of help would save his life. Please, for the sake of the family."

Chidi looked at her. He saw her grey hair and her sad face. He remembered how Uncle Peter used to tell him stories. For a second, Chidi wanted to help. He reached for his leather wallet. He thought about the piles of money in the locked room. Giving her a little bit would not hurt him. He had so much that he could never spend it all.

But as his hand touched his wallet, something strange happened. The air around him changed. It was a very hot day, but suddenly, the air turned icy cold. Chidi could see his breath in the air. He felt a shiver go down his spine. It felt like a ghost was standing right behind him.

Then, he heard it.

From the locked room deep inside the house, a sound came out. It was not a hum this time. It was a growl. It was a low, deep growl. it sounded like a very large and very angry animal was waking up. The sound moved through the walls. It moved through the floor. It shook the balcony where Chidi was standing.

Chidi froze. He felt a terrible fear. He remembered the rule. You must never use a single cent of this wealth to help another soul. Not even a starving child. Not even your own blood.

He knew the pot was watching him. He knew the pot was listening. If he gave his aunt even one coin for medicine, the pot would be angry. He thought about the message in the dust. The second year is a debt. He did not want to know what happened if he broke the rules.

He looked back at his aunt. His face turned hard. The kindness in his eyes died away. He replaced it with anger. He had to be angry so that he would not be afraid.

"I have no money for beggars!" Chidi shouted down at her. His voice was trembling, but he tried to make it sound strong. "Why do you come to my house to cry? Do you think I am a bank? I worked hard for what I have! I do not owe you anything!"

His aunt looked shocked. She stepped back from the gate. "Chidi? It is me. Your aunt. I fed you when you were hungry. How can you say this?"

"Go away!" Chidi yelled. He felt the cold air getting even colder. The growl from the room was getting louder. "Go away and never come back! If I see you here again, I will call the guards! Leave my sight!"

He watched her through the gold bars. His aunt put her hands over her face and sobbed. She turned around and began to limp away. Her shoulders were slumped in despair. She looked so old and so broken. Chidi watched her until she was just a small dot on the road. He felt a pain in his chest, but he told himself it was just the cold. He went inside and slammed the glass doors shut. He did not want to see the world. He only wanted to be safe with his money.

While Chidi was hiding in his big house, life was very different for Emeka.

Across town, in the noisy market, Emeka was still working. He did not have gold gates. He did not have five luxury cars. But Emeka was happy. He was still whistling his slow, happy tunes. People liked coming to Emeka’s shop because he always had a smile for them.

Emeka had been very careful with his money. He did not look for shortcuts. He saved his pennies, just like he always said. Now, his hard work was starting to show. He had saved enough money to buy a second stall next to his first one. He now had a bigger shop with more suitcases and bags.

But Emeka did not keep all the success for himself. He saw a young boy in the market named Tobi. Tobi was an orphan. He had no mother or father to look after him. He used to sleep on cardboard boxes. Emeka saw the boy and felt pity in his heart.

Emeka hired Tobi to help him in the shop. He taught the boy how to clean the suitcases. He taught him how to talk to customers. Every day, Emeka paid the boy a fair wage. He also bought the boy a hot lunch of rice and beans every afternoon.

"Eat well, Tobi," Emeka would say with a kind smile. "A full belly makes for a strong mind."

Emeka’s business was growing slowly. It was like a tree growing toward the sun. It took time, but the roots were deep and strong. He was building something that was good and honest. People trusted him. Chidi’s wealth, on the other hand, was like a firework. It was very bright. it was very loud. But it was also very dangerous. It had appeared in a flash, and it could disappear just as fast.

As the sun began to set, Chidi felt a strange pull. He could not stop thinking about the locked room. He could not stop thinking about the growl he had heard. He wanted to make sure the pot was still there. He wanted to make sure the money was still safe.

He walked through his quiet mansion. His footsteps made a loud clicking sound on the marble floor. He reached the locked room. He took the key out of his pocket. His hand was shaking so much that he had trouble putting the key into the hole.

Finally, the lock clicked. Chidi pushed the door open.

The room was dark. The only light came from the moon outside the window. Chidi walked toward the table. He wanted to touch the pot. He wanted to feel the cool clay and hear the hum. He wanted to feel like a rich man again.

But he stopped before he reached the table. He saw something on the floor.

At first, he thought it was just a shadow. But then he saw that it was moving. It was a liquid. It was dark and thick, like oil. It was seeping out from the bottom of the brown pot. The liquid was blacker than the night. It looked oily and greasy. It was slowly spreading across the white table. It was dripping onto the floor with a slow, heavy sound.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

The smell in the room was terrible. It did not smell like herbs anymore. It smelled like something was rotting. It smelled like something old and hungry was waiting in the dark.

Chidi took a step back. He looked at the black liquid touching his expensive shoes. He looked at the pot. The hum had stopped. The room was perfectly silent. The only sound was the dripping of the black oil. Chidi felt a cold wind blow through the closed room. He realized that the first year was almost over. The gift was gone. The debt was starting to show its face.

Chidi wanted to scream, but no sound came out of his throat. He could only watch as the dark, oily liquid began to cover the entire floor.

Why do you think the pot started growling when Chidi tried to help his aunt?

Was Chidi right to protect himself, or should he have risked everything to save his uncle?

What do you think the black oily liquid is? Is it a sign of wealth or a sign of a curse?

How is Emeka’s way of getting rich different from Chidi’s way? Which one would you choose?