I was in my workshop one morning when one of my customers came in the company of Mr. Abel. On a closer look, I concluded that they were siblings. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me that he might be related to Mr. Abel. Immediately Mr. Abel noticed that I owned the workshop, he turned to take his leave. I quickly ran to him.

“Mr. Abel please don’t go. I don’t know how I offended you and it had been giving me concern. Please tell me my offense so that I will apologize to you.“

His brother was watching us in amazement. I knew he was wondering what was going on between us.

“It’s like you knew each other?” he asked.

“Yes he was my company’s mechanic.”

“Company mechanic in his dream or in reality? I was not a mechanic to any company when I knew him,” I thought to myself.

“Let’s go,” Mr. Abel beckoned on his brother.

“Mr. Abel, you will surely go. But before you go, please tell me how I wronged you.”

”Iyk the truth is that you did not offend me. But you were careless. That is all I have to tell you.”

“Thank you sir. But was it because of the carelessness that you left me?” Mr. Abel was reluctant to answer me till his brother intervened.

“Please open up to Iyk. He has been my mechanic for about three months. I must confess that he is the best. Not only that he is a genius, he is also truthful and straightforward. Tell us what he did to you.”

“Iyk did not offend me but he offended my benefactor.”

“Who is that? Please,” I quickly asked.

“You offended the CEO of the company where I am working. He is Chief Linus Onoh.”

I tried to rack my brains to remember who he was talking about. I could not remember having a deal with any one named chief Linus. I could only remember Mrs. Linus, the rich woman that made me to arrest Nedu with the police. But Mr. Abel is talking of a man. I couldn’t remember having any dealing with a CEO of company.

“Sir I don’t really know who you are talking about. I only remember One Mrs. Linus who used to be my customer.”

“Is she tall and fair?”

“Yes,” I quickly answered.

“Then she is the one. Mrs, Linus told us to be patronizing you. An expensive car that her husband bought for her suddenly developed fault. Our former mechanic could not fix it. So, one of our customers, Mr. Jude told her about you, so she decided to try her luck. I remember that she came back that day and was dancing in the office”

“What! I can’t believe this,” I shouted .

“You better believe it. She instructed all the workers to be patronizing you because she felt you were an expert. Her plan was to convince her husband to make you his company official mechanic. Whenever you repair our car, we normally demand for receipt. That was because we submit it to the company. Iyk grace found you but you took that grace for granted. Do you know what it takes for people to secure contract in our company. But you were on your own when our MD’s wife saw you, loved you and decided to do business with you. She told our MD that she trusted you and would love to do business with you. Our MD however insisted that you must go through the route that others contractors go through. That was what caused the delay in informing you .“

“What route was that; sir?”

“Whenever our company’s MD wants to sign a business contract with a person, organization, or company, Our MD will instruct us to be patronizing such people. We are searching for three Keys qualities, which are Trustworthiness, Reliability and Quality Service. Another thing that our MD does, is that he hold his staff in high esteem, He does not allow anyone to insult a member of his staff. He expect his business partners to give each of his employee respect due to them notwithstanding the level of the staff. He can call off business with you simply because you insulted the cleaner in his office. In the same manner, he expects his staff members to be of the best behavior both in and outside the office.”

“That means that anybody that is not straightforward cannot transact business with your company,” his brother asked.

“The truth is that you cannot hide it. Each member of our staff would pay you a visit. They will be demanding for both the services you offer and the ones you don’t render. At the same time, they would be monitoring you. The person’s real character must be identified. Iyk collected money from one of our staff, ; Mrs. Linus younger brother, to buy parts for his vehicle but never did. When the man couldn’t endure the delay, he asked for a refund but he refused to refund the money. He reported the matter to his sister, but she didn’t believe that Iyk could do such thing. She wanted to call you on phone to find out exactly what happened but her husband did not allow her. Instead , he directed the company’s management to wade into the issue. The Management decided to verify and discovered that it was true. They send him to Iyk and ask him to record the conversation. Iyk insulted him and his entire generation. Charlse came back and played the recorded tape for his sister and her husband. That was how Iyk used his hand to remove mouth from food. Our MD made a law that anyone found doing business with Iyk must be sacked. I almost failed victim but God rescued me through a phone call by one of my colleagues.”

I breathed down. All the puzzled on my mind was cleared immediately.

“You are right sir. I remember the incident. I am very sorry for that. I will surely search for that man and apologize.”

“That’s nice please do that .It’s unfortunate that another person, have already taken your place. I wish that incident never happened. After Charles had that encounter with you, Nedu your colleague called him aside and promised to buy the part needed for the car and fix it. He told Charles not to pay until the car was in good shape. That was how Nedu became the company’s mechanic. The workers are missing your expertise. Nedu is not as experienced as you are. It is just that he is honest. I wish there is a way to recommend you again to my boss.”

“No Sir. Don’t worry about me. God is taking care of me. Nedu is good at the job too. Besides, he is my friend. He is trustworthy and I believe that job is for him. God is taking care of me on daily basis. I was the one that misused the opportunity God gave to me. For now the only regret I have is the people I offended. Apart from that, I will boldly say that God has restored my wasted years. I am a consultant to many companies. In fact, I screen companies now before I agree to work for them. I don’t even do most of the work by myself. My workers do it.”

“I’m surprised to hear this. How did it happen?”

“I gave my life to Christ. I stopped playing pranks. I stopped causing people heartaches. That was what happened. My way became pleasing unto the Lord and he made even my enemies to be at peace with me.

Watch out for the next episode