Fake Transfer Because of Plantain? Me?

imahe source

Yesterday, I had an experience that was both embarrassing and hilarious at the same time. You know those moments that make you question life choices and laugh at yourself afterwards? Yeah, this was one of them.

So, at home, we cooked beans, and if there's one thing I’ve eaten too much of in this life, it's bread. I mean, at this point, I’m probably 30% human and 70% bread. So when I saw the beans sitting in the pot, I just knew I couldn’t do another round of beans and bread. My mouth literally rejected the idea.

So i decided to go out to get to see if i could get something else because it was Sunday, and i also didn't want to eat it with garri. But then, as I was heading out, I saw three kids by the roadside hawking. Two of them were hawking plantain while one was hawking coconut. Immediately, i saw them, my brain just lit up: “Beans and plantain!” It had been such a long time since I ate that combo. Honestly, it used to be one of my favourite meals — warm beans, soft ripe plantain... oof, nostalgia hit me hard. I decided that was it — I was going to recreate that childhood joy.

Now, the problem was that I didn’t have a single kobo on me. No cash at all. So I approached the kids and asked, “Do you guys accept transfer?” and then they said yes. I was like, okay, perfect. Then I asked for the price.

₦1,000.

I looked at the plantain. I looked at them. I looked back at the plantain again. ₦1,000 felt like a bit of daylight robbery, but I didn’t want to stress. I tried negotiating, of course, but these kids were not having it. They stood their ground like mini business moguls. On top of that, they wanted me to add ₦50 for “transfer charges.”

That one annoyed me.

I mean, you’re selling plantain, not running a POS shop. So I told them straight up — I’ll pay the ₦1,000, but I’m not adding any ₦50 extra. With a small attitude, I collected their account number, sent the transfer, and even showed them the account name to confirm. They nodded. All was good.

I entered the house, happy to finally eat my beans with dignity.

Ten minutes later, I heard banging on the gate. Loud knocks. Followed by a shout:
“Debtor! Come and pay your money!”

At first, I was confused. Who is the debtor? Next thing, one of our neighbours went to attend to them, and from upstairs, I heard the kids telling him I refused to pay them and that I even did a fake transfer. At this point, i was so furious, and I was highly embarrassed

Fake transfer? Me? Because of ₦1,000 plantain?

I came out immediately and asked them what the meaning of all that noise was. I brought out my phone again, showed them the same receipt, and reminded them they had already confirmed it earlier. After inspecting the receipt again like security agents, they finally accepted and left — no apology, nothing.

Honestly, I felt disrespected. It was like they were trying to pressure me into paying again or maybe adding that extra ₦50 they initially wanted. Either way, I learned something: next time, if I’m going to buy something from little kids like that, I’ll just hold cash or avoid the stress entirely.

Because being called a debtor over 1,000 plantain? That’s a new low I never expected.

Thanks for reading.