Transactional Relationship: The Bitter Truth -By Usama Abdullahi

Our car got stuck in a poky traffic when I was heading home after paying a visit to our ailing mother at the National Hospital last night. The motion was really slow and that instantly made me feel bored. A young lady was sitting close to me, making some annoying phone calls and eating popcorn. I looked at everybody in the car and they were all engrossed in their smartphones except the driver who remained focused while driving. I brought out my phone, rushed to my gallery and played a Hollywood clip. That’s how I decided to kill my boredom. While watching the clip, the young lady, who was sititing next to me, tapped me on the shoulder- indicating that she needed to talk to me. I felt her tapping but hesitated to turn until she tapped me for the second time.

This time I turned and stared at her curiously. She then asked if what I was watching was interesting.” Oh, yeah. It’s an interesting clip. Would you love to see it?” I briefly spoke. “Ah, no.” I thought it’s a movie”, she responded. After learning that what I was watching was just a clip and not movie, she continued to make her phone calls. She’s holding an Iphone. Even though I didn’t see her face clearly, but I could attest to her gorgeousness through the softness of her voice.

She was happily on the phone with her boyfriend when one of her broke guys called. Unluckily for him, she didn’t hang the call to attend to his call until she’s done talking to the rich boyfriend. When she finally picked the broke guy’s call, she didn’t even greet him, rather she began to yell at him for not sending the money he had promised her the other day. I keenly listened to them till the very end. Mind you, I wasn’t eavesdropping because she put the phone on speaker. So, I did hear every single bit of their heated phone conversations.

I was disgusted by what she said to the broke guy. I pitifully imagined myself in his shoes. Although I’m hopeful that I will never be entangled in such type of unavailing relationship, still I felt for the poor guy. This encounter has taught me a bitter lesson, which is how transactional relationships have become these days. Today, only a handful of women love their men unconditionally. Most of them love their men because of their monetary status. I’m not saying that money doesn’t play a significant role in relationships. It does but it’s saddening how some women have reduced relationship to lucrative business where they earn big money without even investing a dime.

And it’s equally saddening that some men too only entertain sexual relationships. This is why we are fast losing our modesty as a society. Any relationship that’s sorely built on material gain is doomed to fail. The most important things that usually keep relationship going are loyalty and patience. Money cannot possibly keep your relationship afloat, but loyalty and patience can.

Usama Abdullahi writes from Abuja and can be reached via usamagayyi@gmail.com