Excerpt
“My good boy, I just want to make sure you are treated well by the
management.”
“I’m quite happy here, my uncle, you need not worry.”
Jennifer leaves them to help her mother get dinner ready and Hakim finally
finds his privacy with Ibrahim for a while.
“How is our stock? What’s the price of the shares these days?” Ibrahim asks.
“Apparently, they are doing very well, my uncle. The price is around two
dollars and seventy cents.”
Hazim Ibrahim Madhi smiles with obvious satisfaction on his face before he
comments.
“Well then, it was the right move to invest a year and a half ago, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, uncle, it was right. Thank you for putting the funds together.”
“What are you planning to do with this money, nephew? It’s quite a sum.”
“Well, it’s your money, my uncle. Remember you put the money up to invest
in these shares to begin with. What do you want me to do with it?”
Ibrahim Madhi takes a deep breath, looks at his nephew, and one can see all
the love he feels for this young man. He says, “My dear boy, I have enough for
myself and Mara to last us two lifetimes. These are your shares, your money to do
with it as you please. Use it wisely; it’s there to give you a hand in starting your
life in this world, as money is very important in everyone’s life.”
Hakim is overwhelmed by this statement and feels overtaken by such a warm
sensation. A sentence so simple, yet it replaces the old Hakim with a new man, a
millionaire. He has all this money! Yes, he’s a millionaire.
“I thank you very much, my uncle. Now I have one more question and it’s
about your health. Talal tells me you are not well. Is it true?”
“My dear boy, I’m diagnosed with a rare cancer, one the doctors don’t come
across very often, since it’s a new form of the disease. The diagnosis was made in
Baghdad not long ago. I’m here for some tests to verify that and at the same time
talk to the doctors. The oncologist at the Southern California Medical Center has a
new experimental chemo cocktail which apparently works miracles in mice.”
He stops for a minute and catches his breath. Then he continues to tell
Hakim that this form of cancer is slow-growing; it’s in his liver, but there are still
various options available, and ultimately, according to the doctors if nothing else
works, an operation will be the last resort. However, if this new chemotherapy
cocktail works as well in humans as it does in animals, he may not need an
operation. This is what he is here to explore.
Hakim’s face darkens as if a heavy cloud passed over it, but despite that he
tries to give the old man and himself courage.
Libros Libertad 