I looked twice and crossed the street as I spoke to my cousin on the phone. As I turned around the footpath, I saw him standing close to the pick up truck I was driving as my temp car. I ran across, half afraid he had hit my car with his and was inspecting the damage. Didn't want him to run because the insurance company would be a devil to deal with in a hit and run case. Anyway, I reached and was inspecting the car's rear fender near where he stood and it was all intact. No damage. I looked at him.
"Yes? What do you want?"
He smiled and said, "Just want to talk to you my brother"
I half rolled my eyes and said, "Yeah sorry I got a run" too many people want to talk in Dubai. That's one of the things of this place. No one openly begs here. But they want to "talk" so they can give you a sob story. Could be real or could be one of those guys who makes a cool 20K per month selling sobs. I didn't have time to check. I had to rush to the place I had to book my car at.
As I turned the engine and put the car in gear, he hops into the front seat. Ideally this is where my arm should have reached out into a jab and a punch but this was way bigger and could have kicked my face into retirement. But he didn't seem like the violent kind. You know.. The ones you can tell?
So I pull out from the mud and onto the road, sitting quietly thinking which police station I should stop by and drop him off surreptitiously. I think Satwa would be closest. Not to mention its a busy place so he wouldn't get any funny ideas if he got angry at me.
"I think God wanted us to meet," he said.
Uh-huh.. Sure I was thinking to myself. I didn't realize that I was picking up all the loose notes of 5s, 10s and 50s I had lying around my gear box area and putting it in my top pocket. When I did, I saw him hold the big envelope in his lap a bit tighter. "I don't want money, my brother" he said a bit sadly.
I kept quiet. If he was selling a sob story, this wasn't one I'd heard before. My mind kept rerouting to the Satwa police station and I wanted to make sure he didn’t know where I was taking him before we got there.
“My wife. She studied to be a Doctor,” he said. I gave myself a “huh!!?” but kept it quiet. “Okay..that is nice” I offered to say instead.
“Yeah. She wants to come here and work in a hospital. A nice hospital where the facilities are nice so she can learn and maybe someday go back to our country and replicate that so our people also have nice hospitals”. He said.
“He was telling something positive, why is his voice all low?” I thought.
“Mary…….” he trailed off.
I glanced at the envelope he held so tightly. It was a white envelope which one usually carries documents in. The logo looked familiar. I’d seen that before. But where?
I asked him, “Your envelope, where did you get it from?”
“It isn’t mine. It is Mary’s. From her university.”
“Where did she study. I know that logo”
“It is a small city in India. It’s called Mysahore” he said.
“Mysore!! That’s my city!! My Dad is from there” I quipped. “Oh Gosh she studied in Mysore Medical College. That’s the logo. I remember it now. Wow!! Small world” I couldn’t believe i’d said so much in a few seconds. Now we both knew I was invested.
At Least he smiled when he saw that we shared something in common. “Have you been to Mysore” I asked.
“Yes” he said. “My father was a rich person. So in her student days, our families visited India and we went to see her. Nice city. I love the palaces and the greenery there. Reminds me much of my own home. We have a lot of palaces too, but not a lot of people know about it”
“Well, it’s nice to know that. Next time you come, let me know. If i’m there, i’ll show you around” I said, as I turned the car towards Bur Dubai instead of the Shurta’s. “Can i drop you near Al Seef? I’m sorry I have to go pick my family after that”
“Oh yes, I’m sorry I didnt tell you where I wanted to go. But yes, Seef would be fine I’ll take an Abra.” He apologized. “Please, I need your help though”
“Sure, tell me how can I help” Clearly he didnt plan this, he wouldn’t even know I’m from Mysore. Weird how familiarity can change perception,even if it is seconds old.
“Mary won’t live long. She’s got a terminal illness. But she has not let go of her dream to make a nice hospital for our people back home. Her inheritance details, her savings, her certificates and plans for the hospital which she worked on with some people are all in this envelope. I wish to see to it that this happens as she had dreamt. Can you help?” He asked.
I was flabbergasted. “Me? How can I help. I don’t even work in construction.” I said. “Also I’m so sorry to hear about your wife. I cannot imagine what you are going through.”
“It’s okay. I’ll get through it. We all will. I know you do not work in construction. But I just need to give this to someone who would listen to me. You are the 17th person I tried today. And the first one who heard me. Take your time with this, I know you can manage to delegate this responsibility to someone. The funds are sufficient to ensure the project is completed well. And there are contacts of my family’s lawyers who can help with the red-tape.”
I kept staring wide-eyed at the signal as metro commuters piled out en-masse towards Burjuman. “What fresh hell is this? How can I do all this? How do I say no to him?”
“Do not say No to me my brother. The fact that you were the only one to listen from 17 is a sign”
“No it isnt, i was almost the 18th too” (inside voice)
Anyway, I have to go. You can stop over right there, I’ll be off. I have packing to do, Mary and I fly back tonight.
“Mary is here?? Which hospital? Can my family and I see you guys?”
“Sorry, I don’t think it would be possible. We have a lot to do before we leave”
“If you’re going back home to your country, why dont you give the plans there to someone in your family” I asked. Maybe i could still be excused of this.
“No, i cannot. I do not trust what they will do if they see the amount of money there is at play. Don’t worry. I know you can do it. My heart is calm.” he smiled.
I parked the car and hit the hazard lights. “Okay my friend, I’m so sorry for not being more polite. I hope and wish you and Mary a lot of happiness. My name? I’m Syed. Sorry, should have started off with that haa. What’s yours?”
“Cameron Prince” he said, as he opened the car door and stepped out, carefully leaving the envelope on my passenger seat, as I felt an anvil being gently laid on my heart.
“Okay Cameron, my pleasure to meet you. I hope I can do justice to this dream of you both” I mumbled. “By the way, which country are you from? I didnt want to assume”
“Nigeria” he said, and smiled, before closing the car door.
