The Orphan Child

Chapter 15

At the sight of a metallic shiny grey car arriving children began to gather in eagerness and excitement. It wasn't everyday such a sleek looking car made appearance on their plain lands of dirt and soil.

In their town they preferred to use animals-mainly horses-as it was how their forefathers and ancestors had lead their lives previously-even with the existence of cars. They did however use the cars and caravans for long distance journeys here and there but no one noticed them as they were all white and covered in dust looking exactly the same.

The young boys jumped and clapped in joy as the car parked directly besides the Masjid where they got a pretty good view of the magnificent metallic bodywork of the car. The windows were blacked out making it impossible to see the owner of this magnificent vehicle.

A few more little boys gathered making the arrival of the passenger inside more broadcasted than he would have liked. It seemed that his arrival was well noticed by all the people by the little crowd of children outside gawking as if they have never seen a car before.

The driver who was a thin man wearing a drivers cap exited the car after turning the engine off, he made his way to the passenger as courtesy, unaffected by the audience in await. The driver was accustomed to such situation and it wasn't the first time a crowd waited outside his bosses door in eagerness.

The eagerly anticipating crowd outside set an exceedingly high expectation as they held their breaths for someone of rich taste and value to exit and was happily satisfied as a man in expensive boots and suit stepped out fulfilling the standard that the car had set. He and his driver was unique in their looks but this was overlooked by the children as they had something far more of interest than the man in the designer suit.

Harris who was already late for the janazah prayer climbed the steps two at a time until he disappeared inside the Masjid. The driver followed thereafter and only then did the children feel comfortable enough to get a closer look at the car surrounding it like a swarm of buzzing bees.

It just so happened that Harris was just in time for the Janaza prayer and he took his place in the last row as the Imaam began with Allahu Akbar (Allah is the greatest)

The driver however kept a fair distance behind watching the congregation in fascination as they moved in sinc doing all the exact same actions. He was even more so fascinated by his Boss who seemed to know exactly what he was doing, fitting in just perfectly. Perhaps this is what his Boss does in the small room that everyone often wondered about. The room always was completely empty besides a beautiful mat that lay there yet his Boss would make frequent visits in there for small amounts of time during the day.

When asked what he would do in the empty room Harris would simply respond with a smile 'this is the secret of my success.'

With the Janazah finished and the body buried, Harris was done with the journey, only just one last thing remained. He was to meet with the Imaam to discuss some important issues.

Without lingering by the grave for too long he made his way back to the Masjid in long strides smiling at the group by his car that seemed to only grow in number.

Taking his shoe off he immediately finds the Imaam surrounded by a group of men as usual. Imam Abu Bakr looked the same but with only his hair that had changed drastically. It was completely white. Imam Abu Bakr speaks slowly attending to all the men until his eyes catch the sight of a man that was dressed very different to the rest. His eyes stood out reminding him of a man he once knew 25 years ago.

"Assalamu Alaykum brother. Are you perhaps the relative of our loving brother Yousef?"

"Wa AlaykumAssalam." Harris responds as the rest of the men turn to face him in acknowledgement. "Yes.  My name is Harris. I am his nephew." The frowns of some of the men deepen as realization now sinks in that this could very possibly be the same orphan now standing before them. He had changed massively within the years and was now a total opposite of the boy he used to be.

"Ah Harris, yes. I do remember you. You are impossible to forget. Ma Shaa Allah. You have grown so much."

"I was told that there was something important to be discussed regarding my Uncle."

"Yes. Yes. Indeed. There is much to discuss. I shall call our brother Farooq and he will be with you shortly."

Farooq who was once a man Harris feared entered through the Masjids main door. He was still the big muscular man but this time less intimidating as Harris was now equally as big.

"Harris?" Farooq called out, but even though Farooq expected a young man of foreign background, he was slightly taken aback by Harris's physical presence. Even a man of no class could tell an ordinary from a rich. Even the fragrance radiating off his body was rich.

"Yes." Harris responded to the man stood in front of him. His blue eyes penetrated through Farooqs brown eyes recalling this face from many years ago and for a moment Farooq was paralyzed and terrified, that is until Harris smiled a beautiful set of pearly white teeth that relaxed all the muscles in Farooqs quivering body. 

"Come this way. We have much to discuss."

Harris followed the man who seemd to have made a sudden 180 in the short time that Harris spent time in his company.  In fact every single person he had met that day was showing nothing but hospitality and kindness. He couldn't quite place a finger on what exactly had triggered this reaction. His car, his suit, or just his mere presence?

If only this was the treatment he had when he was a lonely lost boy, without a mother or father. Surely Allah the Most Generous would have rewarded them for their kind acts towards an Orphan. If not in this world then certainly in the next.

They walked down a road stopping short of a small house with neatly trimmed trees and flower pots lining the pathway to the front door.

"This was Yousef's house. It is now yours. Do as you like." Farooq held up a key that would give Harris the access to this house.

Harris took one look at it and had decided within that same second he was not in need of the house. In the brief walk to the house Harris had learned that his uncle had suffered depression after losing his own wife and kids. He died alone with no one by his side. Although Harris did not have many good memories with his Uncle he felt a dull pain in his heart for his mothers brother. 

"I do not want it. Please find a family that is in need and gift them this house for me." Harris briskly says glancing down at his watch. He had wanted to visit his grandmothers grave before he was to set off home and found that time was not of issue, even so, he showed great haste in his actions to leave so as to get some distance from this man Farooq who showed keen interest in every aspect of Harris's life.

"But Sir..."

"Please. Find someone and gift it." Harris said one last time leaving in the direction that he assumed was to the graveyard.

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