“Hi, Susie. Can you come over? I need to talk to you.”
“What happened? Should I bring your usual coffee?”
“I don’t think I can afford coffee today,” Susie said. “I need to save that money for transportation tomorrow.”
“What’s going on?”
“I lost my job.”
“Oh, Susie. I’m sorry. How are you going to manage?”
“I’m three months behind on my car payments. They gave me six months to catch up, but without a job, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
I wanted to help, but I wasn’t sure what to say. Then I remembered something my husband had mentioned that day.
“Wait. I think I heard him say something about a job at his friend’s company. Let me call him.”
“Hi, dear. Yes, honey. I’m here with my bestie, Susie. She just got laid off, and she’s nearly losing hope. I’m worried about her and trying to see how I can help. Do you remember telling me about a job at your friend’s company? Could you check if he still needs someone?”
He said he would check. Then he called back almost immediately.
“Yeah, I just double-checked. The job is available. Ask her how soon she’d like to interview. Hold on—let me talk to her.”
I handed Susie the phone.
“How soon could you interview?” he asked.
“Maybe in a week or two,” she said. “Can I borrow some change from you so I can survive until then?”
We laughed. We used to borrow money from each other all the time—she’d borrow from me, and soon enough I’d borrow from her.
“Come on now,” I said. “We’ve gotten past that. I’m not going to borrow money from you just so you can lend it right back to me. Don’t worry. I’ve got you.”
“Let your husband come over,” Susie said. “We can talk it through, he can make suggestions, and he can call the CEO from here.”
“Let me wash my face first. I don’t need him seeing me with swollen eyes. You know how bad his mouth can be.”
“Are you telling me? I live with a clown. His sarcasm is on another level.”
“Well, good for you. You’re married. I’m not, so I’m fine without his sarcasm.”
“Don’t worry. He won’t do you dirty. We’re trying to help you.”
When my husband arrived, Susie greeted him with a smile.
“Hey, you made it. That was quick,” I said.
“I was on the phone with him while I was driving over,” he said. “He’s ready to have you on board. I told him you were a first-class graduate and had studied in the UK. Now we need to get you ready. Take a deep breath. We’re here for you. What do you have for a résumé? How soon can you get everything together?”
Susie began talking about how much she loved telecommunications.
“Tell me honestly,” I asked her. “Did you really love the field?”
“Of course! It was my first love. I went to Europe for a master’s degree in telecommunications. It’s my niche. It’s what I love to do. I just got bored with it.”
“Are you going to get bored again?”
“After almost losing my car?” she said, laughing. “You know how much I love my Highlander.”
Susie knew the field well. After returning to Lagos, she worked for a telecommunications company around Opebi Allen. She never became the manager, but she was almost an assistant manager. They trusted her with a huge assignment that took her to different states. She left with awards and letters of appreciation. She and the manager had also handled serious situations that brought the company accolades.
After the original owner passed away, his children and their friends took over. People were shuffled around, and Susie left. She had thought they wouldn’t do a good job—but the company was still there. She had grown tired and changed paths, even though she used to think she was a GOAT at telecommunications.
“Why don’t you check in with them, too?” I suggested. “See what they’re doing. Ask if they have training coming up. If it’s in-house, you could pay for your part. Update your résumé, find those letters, and ask what happened to the managers you worked with. Just humble yourself and make the call.”
Susie nodded. “You have a point.”
My husband reminded her to think about the future, too. She had been worried about her car and how she’d manage without work. If this new job paid well, he said, she shouldn’t stretch herself just because she could. She should save for tomorrow as well as today.
“So are you saying I should sell my car?” Susie asked.
“No,” I said. “Thank God you still have your Highlander. Just don’t eat all your seed. You’ll have nothing left to plant for tomorrow.”
“Oh my goodness,” Susie said. “You and your idioms.”
“And when was the last time you went to the village to see your mother?” I asked.
“Why do you ask?”
“Where else would you get all this wisdom? You don’t even have gray hair. Sometimes I could mistake you for an old woman.”
Susie laughed heartily. “I can never forget you. You make a statement, then add an idiom.”
The interview came, and Susie did well. Her friends were proud of her. They had worried she might flunk or embarrass herself, but she didn’t. Thank God, she got the job.
Before my husband and I left, we made one thing clear: “We’ll help you with everything else, but no more going out for coffee or red wine for now. We’re married with kids. We have responsibilities.”
Susie looked at me. “So I don’t have responsibilities? I should be getting you coffee?”
“Not right now,” I said. “But when you get settled in the job, you can take back your old responsibility.”
“And what’s that?”
“Coffee on me. Remember? You used to get coffee for us every Friday.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
“Get me the job, and coffee’s on me—as always.”
What would we do without friends? Sometimes they feel like siblings; sometimes they feel like gifts from heaven.
The job loss had frightened Susie, but it also brought an old love back into view. The pain itself may not be the gift. Sometimes the gift is the strength to breathe again, live again, believe again, and hope again. The prettiest things can come in ugly jackets. Don’t despair too soon—the gift may be hidden inside the pain.
Scripture to carry with you
“For your shame ye shall have double.” —Isaiah 61:7
“All things work together for good to them that love God.” —Romans 8:28
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for.” —Hebrews 11:1
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” —Philippians 4:13
