The adage all that all that glitters is not gold proved true once again in a tale of double tragedy as told to MEMORY SICHINGA by a close friend. Read on…

I ARRIVED at work a few minutes before 08:00 hours.
There was heavy traffic that morning on Great East Road, which was not unusual, but thank God I reached my work place on time.
My name is Chileshe, (not real name) and I used to work for a boutique as a sales assistant in town.
The boutique used to open at 08:30 hours, but our boss always emphasized punctuality and we reported for work at 08:00 hours sharp to put things in order before opening the boutique.
It was a busy day with lots of customers coming in and going out; some bought clothes and handbags while others just did window shopping and left.
Around 11:00 hours, my cousin Esnart (not real name) called me to tell me that she needed me to go to Villa Elizabetha residential area and view a house that she wanted to rent.
She’d seen the advert in the (Zambia) Daily Mail and communicated with the owner of the house, but she couldn’t go herself because she had an appointment at her work place.
After giving me the contact numbers of the person she’d talked to, I told her I could only go there around 12:30 hours, lunch hour.
She emphasised that after I viewed the house, I should call her so she could make arrangements.
She did not want to lose the house because Villa had always been her favourite residential area.
So at exactly 12:30 hours, I informed my workmate, Betty (not real name), that I was heading to Villa to check on the property that my cousin wanted to rent.
Once there, I dialed one of the numbers Esnart sent to me.
A man answered the call and I introduced myself, explaining that my cousin had asked me to view the house on her behalf.
The man who introduced himself as Rashid (not real name) gave me the directions to where he was exactly.
After about 15 minutes’ walk, I linked up with Mr Rashid.
His vehicle, which had flickering hazard lights, was parked by the road side.
I greeted him and another man whom he introduced as his driver.
Mr Rashid told me to wait for a few minutes as he was waiting for the person who had the keys to the house to show up.
About five minutes later, as I stood by the Toyota Harrier, a tall, slim and dark man came to me and asked if I knew any Chinese company owned by two Chinese brothers in the same area.
I told the man to ask around as I had no idea of that company.
As he was about to leave, Mr Rashid, who was seated in the back seat, asked me what the man wanted
I told him he was looking for a company owned by two Chinese brothers.
Mr Rashid said he knew a lot of people around Villa whom he could call to find out. He asked the man what his interest in the company was and the man said he had precious stones for sale to the Chinese brothers.
Mr Rashid got interested in the stones and asked the man to produce them as proof that he was telling the truth.
The man then got the stones from his black bag and showed them to Mr Rashid.
There I was standing astonished, looking at precious stones.
It was the first time in my life that I had seen precious stones.
I just used to hear about them and see them in movies or documentaries.
I just couldn’t believe my eyes; it was as if I had seen millions in fact trillions of dollars.
My eyes almost popped out when the man first removed the stones from his bag.
The stones were small and purple and I could see Mr Rashid had noticed my reaction.
So after viewing the stones closely, Mr Rashid asked his driver to hand him his small machine which is used to determine whether a stone is real.
From the expression on his face, I could tell he was highly convinced that the stones were genuine.
Mr Rashid told the man to do business with him instead and not the Chinese.
The man told Mr Rashid that if he (Rashid) was serious, he should give him K12,000 guarantee.
He would then give him the stones and thereafter collect some more from the place where he kept them.
Mr Rashid asked to talk to me in private; he told me he only had a K6,000 on him and wondered if there was any way I could find another K6,000 to meet the shortfall.
I told him the only fast money I could produce was the money for the sales at the boutique, but I didn’t want to put my job on the line.
He assured me he would share the money equally with me once the stones were sold. He told me to be the one to keep the stones that the man showed him as a guarantee that he was telling the truth.
He assured me that once he collected the other stones from the man, he would contact me so that I should keep them until he found a buyer.
At that moment, so many thoughts were going through my mind.
It was as if my job was hanging on a hair strand; what if I got the money from the boutique then my boss suddenly showed up?
I had a lot going on in my head.
I thought of my siblings who were constantly asking for money from me due to the problems that they were going through.
My brain felt like cracking.
I imagined myself working in my own boutique, driving a nice new car and taking my siblings to better schools.
I finally made a decision. I told myself that this was a once-in-a-life-time opportunity that could change not only my life, but that of my family too.
This was going to be a sink or swim kind of business, I told myself.
So I told Mr Rashid to take me to my work place so that I could collect the money.
I was praying my boss wouldn’t suddenly show up because she would normally show up on Fridays or weekends.
I was all smiles on the way to the boutique.
I was very excited as I kept on imagining how greatly my life would change in a short time.
We agreed that after I gave Mr Rashid the money, he would take the man to the place where he was keeping the remaining stones and thereafter Mr Rashid would come to my workplace and give me the stones to keep as he looked for a buyer.
To be continued next week….
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