“Huh. That’s strange,” he murmured.
“What’s wrong?”
Zelica’s heart beat wildly.
“The data isn’t coming up directly, ma’am. Our legacy system is sometimes a little slow. It seems this account is in an inactive or dormant state. How long has it been since there were transactions?”
“Maybe… twenty years,” Zelica replied hesitantly.
Kofi’s eyes went wide.
“Twenty years. One moment, ma’am. I’m going to try accessing the manual server.”
His fingers danced over the keyboard again. His computer screen flickered, showing rows of green code that Zelica didn’t understand.
Silence. Only the sound of the keyboard and the noisy air conditioning could be heard.
Zelica bit her lip.
It’s over, she thought. Surely the account has been closed, the money lost.
Kofi scratched his head.
“How odd. The balance isn’t reading, ma’am. But there is a sort of flag, an alert on this account. A high-level alert.”
“Alert? Does that mean I have debt?” Zelica panicked.
“No, no, not debt. I’ve never seen a code like this. One moment, ma’am.”
Kofi typed a series of commands. The computer seemed to think for a moment. Then on Kofi’s screen, something appeared.
Kofi’s face, which was relaxed before, suddenly changed. He went pale. His eyes opened wide, glued to the monitor.
“Mr. Kofi?” Zelica called out.
Kofi didn’t answer. He seemed frozen. He reread what was on the screen, his mouth slightly open.
Kofi swallowed hard. Suddenly, he stood up from his chair so fast that the chair flew backward, making a loud screech.
“Mr. Zuberi! Mr. Director!”
Kofi’s voice was shrill, breaking the silence of the small bank. He didn’t care about Zelica anymore. His eyes were still glued with horror to the screen.
A middle-aged Black man with a stern look—Mr. Zuberi, the branch manager—stepped out of his office.
“What is it, Kofi? Don’t shout like that. There are customers,” Mr. Zuberi scolded, his tone flat.
“I’m sorry, sir, but… but you have to see this. Account in the name of Zelica Okafor, inheritance from her father, Tendai Okafor.”
Mr. Zuberi sighed, annoyed at being interrupted, and walked toward Kofi’s desk, preparing to lecture his young employee.
He glanced at the screen—then he froze.
His professional, rigid face crumbled in an instant. His expression changed from annoyance to confusion and then to a deathly pallor. He looked at the screen, then looked at Zelica, and then back at the screen.
