The Phone Thief

"Hello, Abubakar"

"This is not Abubakar"

"O...kay, did Abubakar lost his phone or something?"

"No, I stole it"

"What?"

"Yes I stole it yesterday, and I have changed my mind, I want to return it to him, so I will like you to give me his address" says the thief."

Umar was hesitant "wait, why should I trust you"

"If you can get him through any other line, call him and ask him whether his phone was stolen. I stole it from his pocket when we were moving out of the jumaat mosque. Please call him and confirm, I will be waiting for your call." The thief hung up.

After about ten minutes, the thief received a text message by Umar detailing the address of Abubakar.

Forty minutes later, the thief was strolling through the street where Abubakar resides. "The house with Red door by the right" the text said. Reaching there, he saw two guys standing in front of the house. He went straight to them and shook their hands.

The thief then put his hands in his pocket and brought out the phone. Abubakar and the other guy exchanged a quick glance out of surprise.

"Here's your phone" he gave Abubakar the phone saying "please forgive me, am very sorry." With that, he took a step backward and started leaving.

"Why did you decided to return it?" Abubakar asked.

The thief stopped walking but didn't turn. Abubakar and the other guy walked up to him. He then turned. He looked pale, as he blinked his eyes continuously. He started to say something but his lips were quivering. "Please don't beat me" he managed to say with his head down, looking at his toes.

Now, to the other guy's added surprise, Abubakar hugged the thief, held his hand and took him to his room. The other guy followed.

Abubakar sat on a chair in the room, Umar leaned against the cupboard and the thief was asked to sit by the bed side.

Umar gave the thief sachet water. He drank little and kept it gently on the drawer close to him.

"What's your name?" Abubakar asked the thief.

The thief nervously sat with his both hands tucked between his thighs, he was not comfortable from his composure, it was expected anyway.

"My name is Adam, Adam Isa"

"Okay Adam, see, this is Umar" Abubakar was explaining "he was the guy that you called. We are amazed. I have never seen a thief returned what he stole just like that. We want to know why. See we don't have any intention of harming you. Please feel free"

Adam was just looking at them with wide eyes. He didn't say anything. He kept swallowing saliva.

"Why did you return the phone?" Umar asked.

Adam opened his mouth. They thought he was going to explain but what came out was "please give me food"

"Food?" Abubakar asked not sure of what he heard.

Adam doesn't look like he's starving or even hungry. Abubakar felt sorry for him anyway.

"O...Kay, you're hungry. And sadly, I don't think they're done cooking. There might be nothing to eat right now in this house, but let me check.

He was back after like three minutes and shrugged. "Nothing" he said.

Umar then said "Let me get him egg roll and doughnut from madam Faith".

When Umar was out, Abubakar kept asking the thief - Adam, some easy-to-answer questions.

"How old are you?"

"I'm 20" Adam answered, examining his nails.

"Do you go to school"

"School? No"

"Why?"

"I'm done with secondary school"

"You flunked jamb?".

"Jamb? I didn't write Jamb"

"why?"

Adam then looked at Abubakar without saying a word. Then he started to talk "Because...because I...I...no one will pay for my school" His kept blinking his eyes as if he want to stop tears from rolling down.

"Okay" was all that Abubakar said.

Silence ensued.

Umar returned with egg roll, doughnut and a bottle of viju milk. Adam ate very fast without paying mind to the stares shot at him by Abubakar and Umar. Nevertheless he raises his head every now and then to look at them one after the other.

To Abubakar and Umar, they find everything surprising and even funny. They can't wait to hear Adam's story.

When Adam was done eating, he burped, a loud burp that made all of them laugh.

"Looks like you haven't eaten in the morning" Umar said.

Adam frowned his face. "The last time I ate in the morning was...like.... many weeks ago"

"Why?" Asked Umar.

Adam looked at Umar straight in the eye and said "the last time I ate in the morning, I stole the food" That brought the issue of theft to its freshness and even added magnitude to it.

"So you steal everything" Abubakar asked.

"No, only phones, expensive things that will enter my pocket and important documents"

"Important documents like what and why?" Asked Umar.

Abubakar pointed at a drawer in the room "like the documents in that compartment or that bag"

"What!? Abubakar exclaimed. "How....how... do you know there are documents in that drawer?"

"Because its the lower compartment and it doesn't look like its being touched very regularly. The painting on the handle has not faded like the rest and you know....people often don't know how to hide things. Sometimes, the best way to hide something is by not hiding it, at least if you're suspecting theft"

Both Umar and Abubakar were listening with very good level of attention. Adam was waiting for another question and it dropped.

"How do you then know there are documents in the bag?"

"Well, if you're a student, there are chances that you have split your documents for easy access. And where else will you keep them, if you're working, your office documents will still be in that bag". Adam answered just like a veteran would.

"Oookay. Looks like you're an expert in stealing then" Umar snapped.

"What do you expect from a dozen years experience?"

"So you've been stealing for 12 years?"

"over 12 years please" Adam corrected.

"And you've never been caught?" Umar asked.

"Caught? No. I have stolen things from people as they watch but they wouldn't know I stole it. I can steal many things from this room before I go" Adam was talking with just enough pride.

"So is this some kind of confession or something?" asked Abubakar.

"Confession? No. Am just not used to lying"

"So why did you return my phone?" Abubakar demanded.

"okay, I'll tell you but first, let me use the toilet, want to piss"

"Okay, go ahead"

He went into the toilet and spent some five good minutes. When he was coming out, he was smiling.

"Adam we don't have much time, tell me, why did you decide to return my phone?" Abubakar asked.

As Adam was about to sit, he nearly fell. His hand landed on the sachet water that he kept on the bedside drawer, as he groped for support, causing the water to ooze out of the sachet. Abubakar and Umar swiftly supported him. He then asked for a rag to clean the water. "Don't worry I'll take Care of it" said Abubakar.