Due For Inheritance (D. U. I)

Chapter 8

final chapter

*****

Few days later, Muhammad had contacted him. Baasim didn't realize that it would be that early. He thought it was all just a dream that he would soon wake up from but when Muhammad placed a call to him, he knew then that Allah's Nasr(succor) had come.

A driver was sent down to his house to pick them up to the general hospital in Abuja. Their neighbors all came out to rejoice with him. They had asked him about Muhammad's visit and he had no reason to keep it a secret from them. They had told him that Allah had sent an angel to him but he knew not to rely on humans so it was quite unexpected that the man was true to his words.

Muhammad had been feeding him ever since his father was admitted to the hospital and he wanted to give him an accommodation too but he insisted on staying with his father and he never left the hospital once since his father's treatment started.

Finally after weeks of treatment, his father was recuperating and regaining his sense organs slowly.

Baasim decided then that it was time to go home and handle the rest but Muhammad insisted that they come to his house.

His building is huge and he lived alone with his help, so he needed more companies and he had found a partner and friend in Baasim. He and Baasim had gotten closer and Baasim had asked him why he was still unmarried at his age and he had explained that he had been married several times but all his wives had left because of his sterile nature, he is incapable of producing a child and no woman was willing to live with his condition even though he suggested that they adopt a child and so he had stopped trying. Baasim felt bad for asking such question and because of that he decided to live with him.

They got discharged at the hospital and left with Muhammad. Muhammad had told his cook, whose name was also Muhammad to prepare them the best meal as important guests were coming around. When they got home, Muhammad saw that his cook had outdone himself and he couldn't blame him because he had given him daily updates about them.

Baasim found it hard to get down from the car that drove them down to the place. The house was too gigantic compared to what he had seen in his life so he was apprehensive about going inside the building. He felt too small and under dressed but Muhammad patted his shoulder and asked him to come down.

His father on the other hand, had no problem alighting from the car. He strolled towards the building as though he owned the place and Baasim was happy with his reaction. At least one of them has enough courage for the both of them. Baasim's father hardly talk to anyone though he's now able to talk albeit slowly but Baasim knows that he would be free with them soon.

The first thing they did as soon they got to the house was move to the dining area as per Muhammad's instruction. He then called out his cook to meet with his guest and dine with them. The cook, Muhammad rushed out to meet the new addition to the family which his family had talked endlessly about. As soon as he got to the living room and saw the guest, he felt a momentary dizziness and almost lost his footing. Baasim's father got to his feet and moved towards the cook in a bid to steady him but stopped when he saw that the man had controlled himself.

"Muhammad Aaqib, what're you doing here?" Baasim's father asked in a booming voice.

"Father!" the cook exclaimed and rushed towards the guest hugging him tightly.

Baasim's father couldn't help himself and hugged the cook back.

The other two that were sitting at the dining were shocked, looking at each other in confusion. Finally, Muhammad regained his voice and asked what was going on. He seemed to be totally lost about the situation more so than Baasim.

The two finally got off each other's embrace and replied simultaneously. "He's my father. "He's my son".

They looked at each other and laughed loudly.

"But how could that be? Muhammad asked. To my knowledge, this man was supposed to be Baasim's father. He said gesturing at the new guest but Baasim was the first person to speak.

"Actually, he isn't my biological father, I was orphaned at age fifteen. My parents were washed away by flood years ago and I searched for them for several days before they were found at a location far away for my home, dead". At the mention of this, they chanted inna lillah wá inna ileyhi raajiun.

"They were both petty traders and they had gone out to sell their market despite the heavy rain that fell that day. Baasim continued. They convinced me that they had go to their shops and wait behind so that when the rain stops and people needed to get food to eat, they'll be the first person to attend to them and that way, they would get enough sales than anybody else and my attempt to convince them to stay at home fell on deaf ears". Baasim paused to keep his emotions in check. He had begun tearing up. Muhammad quietly moved to his side to pat his shoulder.

"Long story short, I lost them at that age and whenever I missed them, I would go to the location at which they were found even though they were not buried there. I just couldn't forget about the place and in a way, I used to feel like I would be able to save a person that's about to suffer the same fate as my parents before they died. I went there like I used to one day after another heavy downpour and I met him there," He said pointing at his father.

"At first, I thought he was dead, so I went to call the local Malam to check on him and he was taken to my village. After giving him the traditional treatment, they found out that he wasn't in a position to identify who he was and they didn't know what to do with him. I pleaded with the community leader to allow me to adopt him if no one claimed him and he reluctantly agreed and since then he became my father". Baasim explained concluding his story.

"Masha Allah, you have such a good heart". Muhammad commended, I had also met my cook when I was returning from a trip. People were gathered around an accident site where a car was going up in flames. They had called the emergency center to evacuate the occupants of the car but after the fire was extinguished, there was no one in the car. The emergency crew had claimed that the victims probably had found a way to exit the car before inferno took place because the doors were unlocked but they kept searching for the victims with no results and when the rain began falling, they had to retreat, though I didn't know if they ever went back to search for them".

"I was also part of the audience that was watching the scenario unfold but when the rain started and everyone dispersed, I entered my car too to leave the scene but the car wouldn't start, so I had to wait in my car till the rain stopped. When it stopped, I got down from my car to check what was wrong with it, as I tried to raise the hood of the car up, it wouldn't stay, so I moved to the nearby bush in order to get a stone to use for support and that was where I noticed Muhammad whom they had been searching for.