Read The Story
I walked into the inner chambers of the ATM hall to make a withdrawal; low and behold, an ATM card was in the mouth of the machine. Was that the mouth? I guess not! The mouth should be where it vomits the cash. So I can call it the eye, or ear….or….okk, not that! you know what I mean shaa…a card was in the card-entrance of the machine. The machine was blinking and sounding a light warning note, like a notification for the card waiting for collection. It wasn’t hard to decode what had happened. The last person to use the machine must have collected his cash and zoomed off without collecting his card.
I looked left and right, the other two machines were occupied. No one seem to notice what was going on. There was no queue, the fourth machine opposite mine was still empty. I pushed the card back in slightly. For the next 9 seconds or so, my mind was wondering what will be next.
The machine welcomed me…or welcomed the owner of the card with name displayed on the screen; prompting me for a password.
Passwords!
I calmly punched in the numbers… 1:2:3:4 and pressed enter key.
Wrong Password!
Well, what was I thinking! Which dunce in this information age will use such a weak password.
Would have been surprised if it worked.
“Do you need more time for your transaction?”
The ATM machine was prompting me to proceed or get-the-fvck out of its presence. I pressed the no button and it ejected the card. The other two guys making withdrawal from the other machines left. The hall was empty, just me and 4 ATM machines. I decided to get adventurous.
I looked at the ATM card in my hand. The name of the owner was written fully. I brought out my phone and searched facebook for the name. 2min later, I got the owners full profile and date of birth.
This was gonna be fun!
Born in 2nd february, 1979, there were only 2 possible password combinations and after that, no more!
2:2:7:9
1:9:7:9
For some unknown reason, I tried the second one first…it worked!
I was staring at the control panel of the account…Balance, Withdrawal, Inquiry, Transfer, Statement….
I heard the footstep behind me and my heart nearly jumped out of my mouth. I turned around just in time to see a man walk into the hall. He looked at me with a cold eyes, like he was about to jump at me. I felt a hard notch down my throat, like a fist trying to suffocate me. The man was approaching me calmly like he knew I had no place to run to; like a cat backed on the walls! I prayed the earth would open and swallow me! I was almost having a heart-attack; or a stroke whichever one kills faster. I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. I swallowed hard and felt my throat ache like I hard burning coal in my throat.
Then, all of a sudden, the man walked past me to the nearby ATM machine. He stared at me one last time like he knew I wasn’t all right; then he faced his machine and started his transaction.
“Do you need more time for your transaction?”
The ATM was asking me once more.
Then I got confused! What was I doing?
Adventure at first, but now this was crime! Pure crime! There should be a boundary between adventures and crime: I think I just overstepped the boundary. I wondered what would have happened if that man was the original owner of the card?! Well, the name on the card and the facebook profile was that of a lady. Could still have been the owner! A lady will raise hell if she happened on someone trying to rob her. A guy might be understanding but a lady will sure raise hell.
“Please take your card”!
The machine was tired of my bullshit. It vomited the card and continued its light warning note for me to collect the card. I contemplated on leaving the card there: just the way it was when I met it.
On a second thought, another person may stumble on it and wreck more havoc. I decided to hand it over to the bank security still on duty. One last thought occurred to me as I was walking towards the security post: I checked the owner’s facebook profile again and her number was there.
Well, if I was going to be a good samaritan, I better get some acknowledgment and a vote of thanks.
I dialed the number and she picked on the second ring.
‘Hello?’
It was a rich voice with no accent.
‘Hello…’ I replied and informed her she had forgotten her card in the ATM machine at the bank premises.
‘Really?’ She asked nonchalantly.
‘Yes ma’ I replied.
There was silence on the other line…
‘Hello?’ I wanted to make sure she heard me alright.
‘Yes, I’m still here.’ She said.
She informed me she was on a car to an urgent function and can’t turn around immediately.
‘I will call you later in the evening for it.’ She concluded.
I walked back to the atm machine. I still needed to make some withdrawals. I inserted my card and completed my transaction. Then, out of inquisitiveness, I decided to check her account balance. It wasn’t like she will be notified that someone checked her account balance: it was only during withdrawals that such notification is sent.
I inserted the card, punched the numbers, selected balance inquiry and then…
I needed to get closer to the machine to get a clearer picture: it was 8 digits in the savings account, another 8 digits in the current account.
Cool, solid cash in millions! So many thoughts rushed through my mind. I had to remind myself the difference between crime and adventure and to stay on the other side of the line. Moreover, I had made the call with my phone line.
“Do you need more time for your transaction?”
Damn this ATM machine! I was sure it had some evil spirits inside it. Who knows if it actually caused that innocent woman to forget her card.
‘Please take your card’
‘Fool…’ I cursed it before walking out of the bank.
