Sandra was my best friend of five years. We graduated from the same high school and somehow we ended up at the same university, and this strengthened the bond of our friendship. Our parents had suggested that we lived together as roommates, but we decided to stay as neighbors instead, so we wouldn't have a reason to quarrel.
Before we came to the university, Sandra had a boyfriend, Micah. Micah wasn't too buoyant, but he could afford a few things for Sandra, and at the time, I was convinced that she loved him. But when we got to the university, I noticed that the way she spoke to him on phone was changing. She no longer waited like a puppy for his calls, and the few times we visited each other, she never spoke of him unless I asked her, which was more than weird, because the Sandra I used to know was a girl who would always talk about her boyfriend without being asked. You could be discussing something else, and she would chip in her boyfriend now and then. Seeing that she was no longer like that, at first I thought she was doing what grownups would do, but I was soon to wave that thought aside because Sandra had someone else that she was always speaking of. This could only mean one thing, but I decided to ask her instead of rushing into baseless conclusions.
"Sandy baby, you've been glittering these days. Micah must've stepped up his game, right?" I hailed her jokingly. That was my own way of getting her to talk.
"Micah?" She repeated the name and laughed. "Jane, don't be a joker. Take a look at all these things that you see lying on the bed. Does it look like something Micah would buy? Does it look like something he can afford?" She asked me.
I already knew that there was no way that Micah could've gotten her those things. I touched the fabrics on the bed, the clothes and shoes with jewelries were all too expensive, and Micah couldn't have gotten her those things. Micah wasn't poor though. He had a well paying skill, but he was the sole breadwinner of his family after his father passed, and his younger siblings were all in the university, with Micah paying their bills, so I knew he wouldn't spend this much on Sandra.
"So if it's not Micah, and it's obviously not you, who got them then?" I asked her, and she laughed again. I narrowed my eyes and stared at her as she kept on giggling and touching her new clothes. "Sandra, you're not cheating on Micah. Are you?" I asked her.
"Cheating on Micah." She repeated and laughed again. "I'm only enjoying the outcomes of better opportunities, but if you would call that cheating, then be my guest." She said in response.
"So who's this new guy that's spending so much on you?" I asked her.
"My love, this guy is an embodiment of riches. He's the type of guy everyone should have. I don't even have to ask for anything before he gets it for me, unlike some other guys who would rather spend all they have on their siblings, and give you leftovers to scrape on." She replied.
"By the other guy, do you mean Micah, the same guy that helped your parents pay your school fees, or the same guy that got you the dresses you brought to school, or the same guy that paid for this very apartment. Is that the other guy you're talking about?" I asked her feeling disappointed that she'd refer to Micah in that manner.
"Well Jane, I won't deny that Micah has done a few things for me, but the world is evolving and I can't settle for less. I am happier with this new guy, and he's taking care of me. We are not even done with the session, but he has given me my next school fees already, so I need you to be happy for me, and let Micah be." She said. She went to her drawer and pulled out a box that she handed over to me. I opened it and gasped as I saw the shoes inside the box.
"Sandra, no way!" I screamed with excitement.
"Yes way, baby girl. I told you that one day I'll get you your dream shoes, and here they are." She said to me. I brought out the shoes and wore them with care. I hugged her and screamed as I walked round her room with the heels on.
"Sandra, these shoes are expensive. I goggled it last month and it cost about three hundred thousand Naira. That's like my school fees and house rent combined for next session. Did your new guy buy this?" I asked her.
"Yeah, he did. I wanted to wait till your birthday to give it to you, but I needed you to understand me and stop giving me that look that you were giving me." She replied.
I took the shoes off and placed them back into the box. I was happy that I had finally gotten the shoes I had always wanted, but I thought about Micah again.
"So when do you plan on breaking up with Micah. You can't be with this other dude with Micah still in your life. That would be bad, and disrespectful." I said out of concern.
"Don't worry about that. I and my new boo have it all planned out already. Micah will be coming this weekend, and it'll be over by the time he leaves." She said.
"Wait a minute. Are you saying that this new dude knows that you had a boyfriend?" I asked her and she nodded in response. "What does he do for a living? How does he get his money?" I asked her.
"For a living, he's rich and he spends money." She replied and laughed when she saw the look I gave her. "You worry too much, Jane. Chill out, and enjoy with me." She said in response.
Sandra later broke up with Micah and she became the richest girl in our lodge. She had everything any girl would want, and hardly would she wear a dress twice. She never gave me a reply to the question I asked her about the new guy's source of income.
One day, I was in my room when I got a call from Sandra's mum, saying she hadn't heard from her daughter for days. I thought it was weird for Sandra to disappear like that. She was always traveling with her boyfriend, so she was rarely available, but still she always made out time to call her mother.
I tried to call her number, but it was off just as it had been two days ago when I tried calling her. Her mother sounded worried and scared, and she begged me to look for her daughter. I couldn't think of anywhere else that she would've gone to if not her new boyfriend's house and I had no idea where he lived.
Days turned into weeks and Sandra was not back. I got worried and reported her missing to the school security, and a search for her was launched. The security raided so many houses, searching for Sandra but they couldn't find her and they concluded that she wasn't within the school premises.
'So where could Sandra be?' I asked myself day after day.
One day we heard on the news that a man was caught driving with a girl in the trunk of his car, all tied up and unconscious. The girl was identified as my best friend, Sandra. I ran all the way to the police station, and one of the officers took me to the hospital where I saw my friend still lying unconscious. I screamed her name and ran to her bed, but the nurses pulled me away from her.
"Your friend suffered severe blood loss, that's why she's still unconscious, but she'll survive. She's strong to have made it this far. Pull yourself together and call her parents." The doctor said to me.
I went back to the police station, and heard from one of the officers that Sandra was saved from being a victim of money ritualism. It turned out that her new boyfriend whom I never knew his real name was into money rituals, and he could have killed my friend to renew his wealth if the police hadn't caught him on time.
That night, I cried myself to sleep. I could've lost my friend because of her love for money. She had forgotten that all that glitters are not gold, and she fell into his trap. I was happy that she was saved, and I made a mental note to yell at her whenever she recovered fully.