THE STUPENDOUS MAN

HOW IT BEGINS

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    YOBEDIC is an acronym for Your Best Deal Insurance Company. This insurance company was created five years ago after an auto crash in Hawaii. The accident was so intense that it claimed the lives of 500 people and 300 people were injured. The fire had circulated to different shops and malls across the road. The fire accident occurred in a business part of Hawaii.

    After the incident, YOBEDIC was created to give insurance for people's lives and vehicles.

    It’s 11 am on the dot, a tall, slim and well-favored man is found in the front of YOBEDIC's building. He is wearing white shoes and a pale green cap. A thick greenish apron covers his shirt. This apron travelled down his knees.

   As soon as the man finished using the secateurs to remove the mushrooms and small trees, he clutched the shears. He held the pair of shears with both hands and started trimming the edges of the flowers. The flowers are made up of hibiscus flowers, sun flowers, rose flowers and other varieties of flowers.

    All of a sudden, his phone starts ringing. The ringing tune is one of those Christmas songs. As the phone sings “we wanna wish you a merry Christmas…,” he drops the shears on the carpet grass and walks in the direction of the phone.

    He quickly picked up the phone beside the trash can. He picks up the call and hears a man’s voice.

“Yeah, it’s Mr. Silas!” “What can I do for you?” Silas added curiously.

“I am Doctor Ryan. Emmett was rushed to the hospital after he fell down at school.”

“My son? He fell down…? “How?”

“Young man. This is not the time for bantering.”

    Silas is still at peace until he hears the doctor say, “Emmett fell down from the rooftop of a building in school. He is in a serious state.”

“I have told him to stop rough plays,” Silas muttered. “OMG! What shall I do now?”

“You have to come to the hospital now…”

“That’s not possible now. My employer won’t allow me to leave work at this time of the day. Don’t you get it?”

“If I were you, I would lose my job. My son’s life should be my priority.”

“Hello….” “Hello!” Silas said, but the doctor had already cut the call.

    Silas becomes worried. Different thoughts were running through his mind. He knows the kind of employer he has. A man who won’t take rubbish from anybody. The last time Silas left work without getting permission, the employer gave him three weeks' suspension from work. That was two months ago.

“Mr. Man, you have to leave for the hospital now. It’s either your son’s life first or nothing. Remember how you had the boy. He was given birth to through an operation. Remember everything you’ve passed through because of him. You’ve been married for six years and you’ve not been able to have another child. Would you now allow your only son to die like that?” All these thoughts ran through Silas’ mind. He was standing for six minutes without knowing what to do.

“Emmett..” “Oh, daddy's pet. Stay alive for daddy,” Silas said with apostrophe.

    Silas is about to leave when he remembers he never asked for the name of the hospital. He removes his phone from his left pocket using his left hand. He is still carried away in thoughts.

“Silas, where are you…?” “Our son is dying…” “Please, come and save him.” That was Rachael’s teary voice.

“I will join you at the hospital in a couple of minutes. Please stay strong for me.” “What’s the name of the hospital?”

“Specialist Hospital…”

“Alright!”

    Silas puts the phone gently inside his pocket. He is still worried because he doesn’t know what he will tell his employer.

“It’s Emmett’s life first!” Silas screamed. He pulls off his apron and his cap and runs in the direction of the gate. He had no money on him to take a vehicle. Thank God he was a sporty man and his legs were strong. 

    As if he is in a racing competition, he jumps different barricades as he runs to the hospital.

“Emmett, stay healthy for daddy…” “Emmett, daddy will get you out of the hospital. You are only an outpatient,” Silas said all along.

    Silas sees the inscription “Specialist Hospital” on the top of a building. He prays he will see a person come out of the building. 

    Luckily, he sees a nurse in uniform coming out of the building. Without hesitation, Silas ran in the direction of the nurse.

“Good morning, ma...,” Silas said, panting as a result of the run.

“Morning? It’s midday already.” the nurse smiled.

“I am sorry for that. Good afternoon.” 

“Good afternoon…,” the nurse said, hovering her eyelashes and looking at the handsome man standing in front of her from head to toe. “What do you want?”

“My son was rushed to the hospital after he fell down at school.”

“Oh, I know him.” “Let’s go!” the nurse gestured and Silas followed her to the doorway.

    The nurse pressed a button and there was a greenlight on the glass and translucent door. The door opened and both the nurse and Silas walked in.

“You are here at last. What kept you so long?” Rachel stops crying as soon as she sees Silas. She stands up from the pew and runs in the direction of Silas. 

“I had to run to the hospital. I used the last money on me to pay my tax as a good and law-abiding American,” Silas said, hugging Rachael passionately.

“I guess as much…”

“The doctor said he is coming right away,” the nurse said, clutching her smartphone with her right hand.

“Alright, ma. Thank you for your love and gesture.”

“What’s the essence of humanity if there isn’t liberality?” the nurse said, gazing at Silas’ pink lips as if she should give him a kiss. She halts her lustful thoughts and moves closer to Silas. She is standing beside Rachael, who is glaring at her with disdain. “Be a strong man. You hear…?” the nurse said, patting Silas on the back. 

“Alright, I will,” Silas replied as the nurse turned to leave.

    Rachael holds Silas’ right hand and they walk in the direction of the pew. This large room was jam-packed with people who were waiting for their turn to be called into the doctors' offices. This must be the waiting room, since it has many pews and three-sitter chairs, artwork and a big plasma television.

    As soon as Silas sees the doctor coming down the stairway, he runs in the direction of the doctor. The doctor shook hands with him and said, “Are you Mr. Silas?”

“Yes…, yes, sir,” Silas said. Rachael is already standing behind him. She wants to know what the doctor will say. She will ensure that her hearing is not impaired by other people who are inside the waiting room.

“Good. But what kept you so long?”

“I am sorry, doctor. Please, what happened to my son?”

“Well, he was rushed here by two men in the morning. I guess they were his class teachers…”

“Alright, doctor. And what happened…?”

“Calm down, Mr. Silas.” “Your son fell from the rooftop and he lost consciousness.”

“He lost consciousness?” Silas said with a quavering voice.

“We’ve been trying to resuscitate him, but his unconscious state is prolonged. I think he is in a state of coma…”

“Coma?” Rachel screamed.

“Yeah. Sorry, I never told you before, madam.”

“What shall we do now, doctor?” Silas said.

“Your son is badly injured because of the fall, you need 500, 000 dollars to save his life.”

“500, 000 dollars?” the couple screamed.

“C’mon, this is a hospital. You should learn some hospital etiquette.”

“We are sorry, doctor,” Silas said.

“Pay the money into the hospital's account in the next 24 hours, if you want your son to stay alive. He could even kick the bucket if something is not done on time.”

“My son will not give up the ghost. He mustn’t be sent out of this world untimely,” Silas said with tears.

“Then do the needful,” the doctor said and gazed at his wrist watch. “It’s 2:01 already, the money must get to the hospital's account before 2:02 pm tomorrow.” “Good day, sir!” the doctor said and walked away.

    Silas is only a cleaner, so where will he get such an amount of money?

    Silas’ father disowned him because of some misunderstanding six years ago. At that time, Emmett was one-year-old. Mr. Alex loved his grandson. He would always buy ice cream, snacks and barbecues for him anytime he visited the restaurant. Mr. Alex had planned to take his grandson to a park before he had a disagreement with Silas. Despite the disagreement, Mr. Alex still sent money to his grandson from time to time, using Rachael’s account number. Rachael had been pleading with Silas to reconcile with his father, but Silas wouldn’t listen. She had called Silas a proud pauper one of those nights. Silas would have slapped her if not for the intervention of their neighbor. The neighbor was sitting outside before he heard the disagreement between the couple. He ran inside only to see Silas raising his left hand up in an attempt to slap Rachel.

So going to Mr. Alex borrowing money is never an option for Silas.

    Rachael was born with a silver spoon. She used to be her father’s favorite daughter and child because she was the last born and she takes after her father in appearance and sense of humor. The only noticeable difference between Rachel and her father is her height. Rachael is twice as tall as her father. “Dad, you could have been a dwarf if not for beans that made you gain some height,” Rachel would tease her father most times.

    The love between father and daughter vanished when Rachel introduced Silas as her spouse. “You can’t marry him. He isn’t a Muslim. He doesn’t attend our mosque,” Rachel's dad, who was a rich Islamic cleric, said the first day Silas visited him inside his mansion. Silas left the mansion sadly.

    However, Rachel and Silas got married. Malam Yusuf attended his daughter's wedding because of the love he had for her. It was after the wedding that Silas gave his wife a Christian name. Rachel tried her best to bring love between her father and Silas, but it turned out to be abortive.

   So going to his father-in-law is never an option for Silas.

“How do we get money before 24 hours?” Rachel said with tears on her face.

“Don’t worry. Go home. Let me just rush to a friend’s company.”

    Silas runs out of the hospital. When he gets outside, he sees a woman riding a sports bike. Silas strangles the woman and the woman falls from the bike. Killing humans is not a big deal to Silas. After all, he learned it from his biological father. And if killing a human being is the only option to get his son back to his feet, he will do it willingly.

    Luckily, nobody sees him. He wears a helmet, climbs the sports bike and drives the sports bike away. Silas ensures that he runs fast. He doesn’t want Rutherford's Rice Company to close because it’s past 2 already.