Olumide watched members of staff huddle and stare out the transparent door that led to the car park. More men braved the rain and dashed out of the comfort of the building. Women were more concerned about their hair, clothes and shoes.

His eyes strayed to the fair skinned woman at the back of the crowd by the door. As soon as his eyes met hers, she looked away. She'd been avoiding him ever since the confrontation in front of his office. Had he made the right decision by alienating her? She seemed interested in helping his search for Romola

"Nothing is ever right in this country. Sun is too hot. Rain too cold. What kind of country is this?" The man beside Olumide swore, stuffing his files into his briefcase.

Olumide didn't mind the chill weather but he wasn't used to waking up alone in his own house. Part of the reason, he had been crashing at the hotel was because Dami wasn't in the house—Muyi’s house—and even though he knew it was impossible, he expected Muyiwa's ghost to appear in the room demanding retribution.

He picked his phone again and refreshed the conversation between him and Matthew. Foolishness was his middle name. The girl had offered to give him information about Romola for free but he had chosen to go his own way. Now, he had transferred 50,000 naira to a man he didn't even know from Noah. He could almost imagine his sister standing over his shoulder and wagging her fingers.

"Sir?"

He faced the old man with a stooped back and hair that greyed beside his ears.

"Let me walk you to your car." The man held out an umbrella.

Olumide shook his head. "No, don't worry."

"I insist."

"I still have a couple of things to finish. I just came downstairs to clear my head."

It wasn't to clear his head. He was waiting and hoping that Matthew would send the pictures. Two days was enough time to deal with any possible delays but there was no response yet, except for an acknowledgement of receiving the cash and a promise to send more pictures.

Olumide knew it was stupid to believe that the man’s internet service provider was the problem but he had come downstairs nonetheless looking for better reception.

He refreshed the conversation again but the result was the same. He clicked the number on Matthew's page.

"Hel-lo," A rough thin voice answered the phone.

"Good afternoon. Am I speaking to Matthew Ajayi?"

"Yes. What is it?"

Olumide drew the phone from his ear and frowned at his screen before responding. "Yes, this is Mr Olumide Makinde. Remember me?"

"Maybe? Maybe not."

"You asked me to pay you some money for," Olumide's voice dropped to a whisper, "Some pictures."

"Ogbeni, talk well. I cannot hear you."

"Romola's pictures. You were supposed to send them to me."

"Oh. Is you sef. I forgot."

"If I forget to pay you, it would be a different story."

"Oga, be calming down."

Olumide's comeback died in his throat as he heard the sound of a beep. The he-goat had the effrontery to end the call on him.

His phone vibrated with some notifications and he clicked on the Instagram bar leading to his inbox. Seven pictures of Romola sat in his inbox. The first was an unflattering picture of a much younger Romola. It looked like a photo of a hardcopy photo. The other six were pictures he already had.

OJMakinde: What is this?

Ajayi_matt_023: The pictures you wanted.

OJMakinde: These are the same pictures on your profile and I already have them.

Ajayi_matt_023: 😁 Refer me to your friends.

OJMakinde: Are you crazy or something? I paid 50k for this.

Ajayi_matt_023: It is just business bros. No vex. The girl no dey take picture again.

OJMakinde: You are stupid. Why did you charge me when you knew you didn't have new pictures of her?

Ajayi-matt-023: You asked for pictures. I delivered.

OJMakinde: You better return my money or else.

Ajayi-matt-023: What can you do? Who will believe that you paid 50k for porn?

OJMakinde: Don't push me.

Olumide waited for a reply. None arrived.

OJMakinde: You better not think you will go scot free with my money.

Olumide clicked on Matthew's profile picture. Some things were better solved by phone calls. His eyes nearly popped. The only thing on Matthew's profile was his profile picture. The bottom half of his page displayed ‘User has no post.’

Olumide shook his head, "No. No. No."

He clicked on the message button but nothing worked. He returned to his page and clicked on the messages there. His conversation with Matthew had vanished.

"This boy better not try nonsense."

Olumide got to his feet and headed for his office. His anger tank brimmed and the last place he wanted it to overflow was before his colleagues. He got to his office, unlocked the door and shut it behind him. The volume of the rain hitting the off was more here. He rested against the door before clicking Dami's number.

"Hello?"

"I need you to do something important for me."

"Can it wait? I am due for a session right now."

"Please. It won't take long. Can you help me check this Instagram page and tell me what you see?”

"Which page? What is happening?"

"I'll explain when you're done."

"Alright." Dami's voice sounded further away. "Please, excuse me this is a very important call. I'll be back in a minute."

"Who is it?" Olumide heard Vicky whisper.

Dami had mentioned something about a couple's counselling session a day ago.

"Mide, just give me two minutes."

"Come on, Dami." Olumide screamed through gritted teeth.

"Alright. What is the name of this page that is giving my friend so much stress?”

"Just go to Instagram. Check for Ajayi underscore matt—"

"Mat?"

"No. Matt. M.A.T.T."

"Ehehn, Ajayi underscore matt-"

"Underscore 023."

"Which one? Matt or 023?"

"Both! Just hurry. Ajayi underscore matt underscore 023."

Dami was silent for few minutes before he broke the silence with continuous exclamations of, "Hmm."

"So?"

"I don't like what I am seeing here."

"What can you see?"

"If Vicky gets me looking at this page, I'm in hot water."

"Can you see the pictures on his page?"

"I will need to baptize my eyes after this."

"Dami?"

"I can see the pictures. I don't know why you would want to see them but I can see them."

"Send me a screenshot."

"Why can't you screenshot this yourself."

"I think he blocked me."

"Who is he?"

"The owner of the page. After I paid him 50k. He sent me the same pictures of Romola that I already have."

"Oh, is that what this is about?"

Olumide swallowed. "I had already paid.

"I don't think this is the way to go."

"How else?"

"Dami!" Olumide heard Vicky yell.

"Look, we'll talk later. I'll send the screenshot." Dami cut the call.

Olumide's jaw tightened as Dami sent him three screenshots via WhatsApp. His blood boiled as he stared at the pictures on this phone. The pictures on Matthew’s page still existed.

So, this Matthew boy liked to play games. Olumide would give him something to play with. Something that would make him cough up that 50k and maybe more.

Olumide reached for his phone and scrolled down the list of names till he came to the letter B—B for Balogun—An old friend of his father; now a respectable man in the Nigerian police force.

"Good afternoon, sir."

"Ah, Olumide? Long time. How is the family?"

"Very well, sir. Please, I need a favour."