Junkyard Blues

Chapter Fifty-four

231 C Chapter Fifty-four t was easy, more than he would’ve thought it would be. He had thought about the idea of taking a loan and the procedure that it entailed as something that was going to take forever. But it was an easy task and it was evident even in the eyes of the young loan officer who looked like he was his age (though a lot swollen), as he shook his hand with a small smile that meant all business on his face. “Please have a seat,” the loan officer said offering him the client’s chair. In less time than Jude would have expected the man was before him with a form, and told him, “All you need to do is fill this form, the amount you want, how you’re going to repay it and all other information about you and I think everything will be fine.” When Jude started looking at the form the loan officer continued, “The amount you want is not a problem if it’s double your savings but if it’s more than that then you’ll need some collateral or a surety.” Jude told him about the amount he wanted and what amount was in his account, the loan officer smiled his business smile and said, “Then I think you won’t need a surety or any collateral.” Then the man went on to tell him about the interest rates. It was eighteen francs per thousand after every month, the man said to him, and that every month that he did not pay it was bound to accumulate. Jude ran a calculation in his head and came up with something like twenty-one thousand per month for the 1.2million he had requested. It was not a small amount he thought, and if situations arrived when he could not pay in time then it was bound to accumulate and that would be a serious amount. But he did not think that was a problem, he was going to repay the loan before the end of six months, he was sure of that. All that he needed was to find himself out there in Europe where it was easy to get a job even while going to school, and he would work and pay the loan easily. “You won’t pay any interest this month, that means the interest will start counting only after next month,” the loan officer was telling him. That was another good news, Jude thought, it meant he could scrub out the interest by one month which meant if he was going to pay the loan in six month’s time as he hoped, then he would only pay interest for five months. That did not sound bad at all to him. Another interesting I 232 fact was that when he would’ve paid all the loan he would still have his account, and that was a big plus, for something like that could always come in handy. “Good,” the loan officer said when he finished with the form, “I’ll take a look at it and then validate it and send it to the cashier, you can just wait outside.” The man shook hands again with him before he left the office. It took just a couple of minutes and he found himself before the cashier who counted the clean banknotes and handed them to him, that usual business smile on her face as she handed him the money. “Thank you,” Jude said as he pocketed the money, it weighed like a ton. And his heart started to beat… Niba was waiting for him outside and he smiled at him, actually feeling very happy. He told himself that it was official now, that he was definitely going to Belgium to pursue his education and a future, a future that was going to be bright. “How did it go?” Niba asked as he reached him. “Good, very good,” Jude said his hand unconsciously reaching for the bulge in his pocket. He suddenly felt very naked as he stood there with Niba by the roadside waiting for a taxi. It was like every living soul walking pass could see that bulge in his pocket and know exactly what was there. It was like every living soul was staring at him as he stood there by the roadside. “Where to?” Niba asked. “Cow Street,” Jude said. He was going directly to pay the money to the organization...