My Third Cycle

1. The inheritance

We laughed and I acknowledged my brief moment of mediocrity. After a while, I remembered he had spoken of a diary and tried to probe further but he said nothing more, he just told me I was not ready yet.

"Soon, Michael. Soon."

Which of course, didn't kill or lessen my curioucity. It was heightened, I wanted to know what that odd statement meant but it didn't look like I was going to get anything more from him that day, so I left it for another day, hoping 'soon' would be soon enough.

***

Uncle Saad struck me as a very happy man, he was always smiling and always had time to play with the kids, so it came as a big shock to me when I was told he killed himself. I cried for a long time when I heard the news because we were too close, he was a friend, a father to me.

Three days after his burial, I was standing alone at the center of his library, the chandelier right above my head, trying to wrap my head around the fact he was gone, truly gone forever; trying to figure out why he would kill himself and trying to control my thoughts as memories played back in my head on a loop and the room seemed to start spinning...

Our family was a very little one. My mother, my aunties; Amina and Karajan, and my ever controversial Uncle Du. My father died while I was in my mother's womb, so I was trained by my mother and her sisters. I knew solely the members of my mother's family as she had lost contact with my father's family after his death.

Mum and Uncle Saad were the closest amongst their siblings which people considered weird; they didn't grow up together, they had only met 16 years back -Uncle Saad had rescued her after she had been captured and baited as a hostage. He did so unaware she was his sister.

While growing up, I heard rumors of a romance between both of them.

"Ridiculous!" , They said when I asked about it. They claimed people - including their siblings - misinterpreted the love they had for each other. His death really devastated her.

...Head still spinning in the library, I heard my mother call out my name. I was called to the parlor and asked to sit with the adults, which felt strange because I was only sixteen and this seemed a serious meeting.

Aunties Amina and Karajan and Uncle Du who stood the eldest of the siblings; were all present. They sat still in their chairs, yet i could sense an underlying friction between them.

Barrister Bola, Uncle Saad's lawyer was also seated in the room. He cleared his throat, picked up a document and began to read.

Oh! That's what this is, I thought, Uncle Saad's will.

I looked on as Barrister Bola spoke, observing my uncle and aunties; each appeared different, fear, tension, anticipation. They were all hoping for a share of the money. Barrister Bola completed a statement I didn't quite catch as i wasn't paying full attention, I only heard mention of a hundred thousand dollars and Uncle Du jumped up and punched the air as he screamed

"Yes!"

I felt sad and disgusted at how delighted Uncle Du appeared.

Well, the dead have no use for wealth, I thought to myself. I was shaken out of my thoughts at the sound of more than one voice talking at the same time. Apparently, my mother, my aunties and my uncle were willed just cash. Uncle Du began to enquire about his brother' assets but Barrister Bola had asked him to be patient.

"It has to be done the right way with all protocols observed."

Uncle Du lost his smile, he was getting suspicious. Barrister Bola turned to me and said,

"Finally, Michael, the statement reads that your uncle, Saad willed firstly Article A; the library to you and secondly Article B; every asset he owned. There is something else; a diary. A really old diary... " The barrister held out an old book to me.
"...with a note attached - 'Unravel the myth of a god and entity_ close to heart and blood and you shall find the key you seek'.".

I took the diary from the lawyer and studied it, turning it over in my hands as I tried to remember where I had heard or seen those words before. He continued,

"When you get the key, you get your inheritance, but there is a catch. If the key is not found one year from today, Michael's claim to Article B will be revoked and it will be donated to an orphanage of his choice."

"What!" Uncle Du exclaimed but no one paid attention to him, his sisters were murmuring in excitement to the lot they had inherited.

Uncle Du repeated himself, this time with a startlingly higher pitch. He really wanted an audience. We turned to meet his sadistic gaze.

"Now i know Saad was clearly insane, he overlooked me and willed the entirety of his assets to young Micheal; a sixteen year old nephew, only if he can solve a riddle which he definitely cannot... Shit! It's over. Saad has succeeded in having us loose out on his huge wealth, the stingy bastard. I never trusted him"

At this point my mother had had it up to her neck; she lost her smile.

"Hey!" She shouted, tossing him a withering look, "Insane you say! Perhaps Saad must have been insane to give your lazy, scheming, gambling ass a hundred grand. You deserve nothing, not even a penny!"

"Well, I suppose you feel your ass deserves all Zaleka. After all Saad was spending and giving a lot more than cash on that large ass of yours, y'all were working overtime." Uncle Du replied.

This was the first time I had heard him openly allude to an illicit relationship between Uncle Saad and my mother. Suddenly, the exchange of words erupted into a fight and they had to be separated. I was quiet throughout the exchange, focused
only on trying to understand Uncle Saad's motive for willing it all to me and the contract's clause.

After the long day, when everyone had calmed down a bit and gone home, mother decided we would stay at Uncle Saad's for the mean time, so I headed off to the library with the diary tucked in my arm.

I opened the door to the library and locked it behind me, walked in and sat at Uncle Saad's table thinking about how old the diary appeared, then I opened it and began to read.

****
If you liked this chapter, please vote! Thank yooouu!