When Friends Become Strangers.

I was busy at work when my phone started ringing repeatedly and upon checking, it was a friend I haven't spoken to in a while.

"Hey George, what's up?" Riri said to me immediately I picked up the call.

"Hi dear, I'm doing good. It's been a while," I replied, feeling excited to hear from again.

"I'm good too. Something came up quickly, and I had to let you know," she replied.

"I know there must be a reason because it's been a while since we spoke. So what's up?" I asked.

"I already sent the $150, but the contact isn't going through anymore," she replied.

I checked the caller's name on the phone screen quickly because I couldn't comprehend what Riri was saying.

"Did she call the wrong person?" I thought while staring at the name.

"It's George you called ooo," I said, trying to verify she wasn't talking to the wrong person.

"Yes, I know. I was talking about the message you sent to me on Instagram," she replied.

"Me? Instagram? I haven't used that app in over 6 months now and barely chat there," I replied.

"But you sent me a message not long ago, we agreed on something and I paid already," she replied.

I was still trying to get a clear picture of what Riri was talking about when her messages started pouring in on WhatsApp. I opened them, and they were screenshots of our chat from Instagram.

The conversation was about Ponzi and I was surprised because doubling money through those unreasonable ways wasn't my thing. I noticed there were other unread messages and upon checking, majority of the message had to do with my contacts asking if I was the one really chatting them up on Instagram.

"Honestly, I don't understand what's happening, but this is not me. My account must have been hacked," I replied and tried logging into Instagram but was denied access to my account.

"I can't access my account, it seems I have been hacked truly. I need to inform my friend not to reply to the hacker," I added, forgetting that Riri had paid the hacker.

"Is this a prank or something? So what happens to my $150?" Riri asked.

"Jesus! You actually paid?" I stuttered.

"Yes, I did think it was you. Even now, I am not convinced you are not the one. Please refund my money," she replied.

"I am not the one because if you look around, I am at work and couldn't just ignore your call," I replied, switching to video call immediately.

"George, please don't dare me. I want my money back," She replied and ended the call immediately.

_{Image was gotten and edited on Canva}

I was dumbfounded and didn't understand what just happened. I quickly dropped a message on my different social platforms warning my friends about the scammer and every effort to retrieve my account was futile.

About an hour later, I tried reaching Riri, but she wouldn't pick up my calls or reply to my messages. I immediately informed my family and friends who knew Riri very well, just in case things got out of hand.

While still contemplating how to reach her, a friend advised that I called her with a strange number. I took the advice, put a call across, and was surprised she picked up.

"You intentionally didn't pick up my calls?" I said immediately Riri picked up.

"Why should I? So you can scam me again," she replied.

"I am surprised you are reacting this way, like I have stolen from you before. You are not the only person the scammer reached out to, and you should have contacted me first like everyone else did before engaging with the person," I replied.

"Is that your defense? I promise you will cough out my money," she replied and ended the call again.

I didn't believe she could talk to me that way and for a moment, I had a flashback of how we became friends at school and how far we had come together. I have lost count of how many times I have assisted her with doing transaction and all the stunts she pulled on the phone were completely surprising.

A few days passed, and I tried reaching out to her, but Riri made it clear that she didn't want to have anything to do with me again.

She cut connections with me, deleted my number, and even blocked me on different platforms. I really don't have anything to do with her but wasn't cool with her thinking that I was behind the whole thing.

With each day that passed, I slowly forgot everything that happened, and most importantly, I wasn't angry.

I had something to do in Oshodi, one of the busiest places in Lagos, a few years later, and while going about in the bus terminal, I stumbled on Riri.

She pretended not to see me, but I couldn't do the same to her.

"Our paths cross again," I said to Riri.

"Oh, I was doubting if it was you or not. How are you doing?" She stuttered.

"I am good... We have not spoken since the incident, and I thought you should have gotten over it. I thought we were really friends," I replied.

"Yes, and that's all in the past. I didn't know how to bring myself to say sorry, and cutting you off that way meant so many things," Riri replied.

"I know how you felt losing that money, but it wasn't my fault," I replied.

"I was stupid and overreacted because someone scammed that same way of a huge sum some months before the one that happened. I was frustrated and just couldn't control myself," Riri replied.

"I totally understand, and you should be more careful next time," I replied and we chatted a bit about life before going our separate ways.

Riri texted me immediately after she got on a bus, and I replied to her, but that was the last time we spoke. I was happy clearing things with her but didn't see any reason to continue like we used to do.

The thought that she didn't value our friendship always crossed my mind, and it wasn't a good feeling for me.