Mr. President and his protocol officer stooped to some documents on his desk as they brainstormed together. Already they had a lot of work to do that he could barely see his deck.
When the door creaked and the minister’s thunderous face shone at the door, the president knew it was time to let his protocol officer leave their presence.
“A minute, please. We will continue later,” he intoned softly to his protocol officer, who bowed in agreement , picked up few of his belongings and greeted the minister at the door while leaving.
Mr. President heaved an uneasy breath as he gazed upon the mountains of disappointment and troubles which stood on the face of his beholder. He wondered why the minister couldn’t stop sighing.
“How did it go? Do we have the loan now, huh?” his husky voice asked at a breath, while impatience coveted his eyes.
He tossed his head as he sounded, “It didn’t go well, His Excellency. If I could have access to God Almighty I would ask him never to bless Mike Don with excess wealth.” His lips curved at those words. “That rich kid is causing so much trouble for us…”
“Speak I am all ears.” His Excellency took a seat and winked out of thought of the loan being declined.
The minister hummed, “His terms and conditions are too stringent. I wish you were there; you would have spanked his ass. Do you know that Mike Don is demanding that you give him the supreme power to free five prisoners every month?”
“What!” His Excellency stood up furiously, his eyes flitting with rage and chin wobbling within his red face. “What did you just say? What has come over him?” His gaze fell upon the newspaper by the corner and it was on the headline which spoke of the congestion of Rio Hondo prison. “Is it because of the trending news about our prison?”
The minister flung his tuxedo to a corner after squeezing out of it. He was drawn and exhausted, “What else could have inspired him to make such demands. If we give into that rich kid, he would be so powerful that we would be missing in the crowd.”
“What on earth did I get myself into?” He thought. “What does prison congestion got to do with the loan? Does he realize the economy melt down we are faced with and it is ironical that a trillionaire like him exist in the same country?”
The minister sniffed once thought of his experience with me banged him in the head. “Mike Don wouldn’t even stop insulting me. Most times I wish I could avoid meeting him for anything. Do you know that he thinks I can’t afford the ten million dollars? I am definitely crazed over this…”
He didn’t want to roll his eyes at him, but the president found himself doing it even more intentional than he thought .
“If the insult he gave you was the only problem I wouldn’t be worried, but the bad news is that we don’t have the loan.” He picked up a paper from his desk, “This is a memo from virtually all the firms and ministries. They are being owed salary. We need this money to pay up. Time is running out. Our economy is crippling!”
The minister’s brow thickened as he shot a thunderous gaze at the president, “I don’t want to believe you want to consent to granting Mike Don the supreme power to free prisoners.”
The president paused for a while and stares at the minister thoughtfully as though he was already considering my terms.
“Mike Don is already biting more than he can chew. This is a boy we know his history this is a poor ragged smelling boy who wandered away in the poverty until he found his true identity.” The president’s throat tightened as he groaned and swore evilly under his breath, “I can see Mike Don wants to be powerful than even me, the president.”
The minister interposed him harshly, “That is exactly what I am talking about. He demanded for the oil well and we gave it up as collateral and now he is demanding for the supreme power to free five prisoners every month.
“No!” he beamed and shook his head in disapproval , “We can’t allow that to happen,” he widened his gaze at Mr. President and trudged to his side as though to make an emphatic statement, “Mr. President if we allow this to happen he would become more powerful and influential …”
The president’s gaze dimmed at the minister, “You don’t need to tell me. I know already. But I am going to show Mike Don I can do without him. I will show him with or without him we will get the loan and his terms will be ruined.”
The minister let a bewildered gaze spread across his face as he asked, “How do you intend to do that, His Excellency? Mike Don is the only richest man in the world who can afford to loan us thirty four trillion dollars, even I don’t think neighboring countries can summon the guts to give us such money…”
Through clenched teeth, he sounded, “It is a high time we confronted his father, Saint Don. He is my very good friend. We started seeing less of each other after he made so much money and became too proud of himself with the boys.” He let a challenging chuckle and added, “Saint Don is my pal. I believe if we confront him, he will give us the money even without a maddening collateral as the oil well.” He gazed upon the ministers. “Get the entourage ready. We are going to the Saint Don Villa at the island, we are going on the private jet …”
The minister protested, “Uh –oh, His Excellency. The private jet broke down. They are demanding for two million dollars to fix it and we don’t have such money now…”
The president fumed, “You see, that is what I am talking about. Poor economy has consumed us. We need the loan urgently. Isn’t it shameful that we can’t fix the private jet …”okay. Fine, get the Rolls Royce ready,” he barked and fell back in his chair