Chapter 34

Muse
I am without doubt the happiest girl in the world. I had been so afraid of losing this father God gave me again. I care so much for him that I can't even imagine if he is going to die. This man came into my life under quite sad circumstances, but he managed to touch my heart. I think that the trauma caused by the death of my father must have taken its toll on me. As soon as a loved one of me is affected by a disease, regardless of its severity, I always get into panic at the thought of losing them. Indeed, this situation is due to the fact that my father, before giving up the ghost, had nothing of someone who could die. He had certainly been suffering from diabetes for years, yet he gave the impression of being in good health. If someone told had me he was going to die that day, I would have judged him as a liar. Moreover, the night of his death, we spent it all together as a family. He amused us by telling us tales and jokes from our village and we laughed out loud. I was then a thousand miles from imagining that he was going to die. However, that did not prevent us from finding him dead the next morning. Since then, I have lived with a constant fear of losing loved ones overnight. I pray that the Lord will keep Mr. Hawam alive as long as possible.
When Doctor Maurice judged that my father's state of health was enough better, he told us that my father could already have gone home. So, he was released from the hospital three days ago and he is recovering quite quickly. The doctor gave us instructions to follow so that he recovers as quickly as possible and that his blood pressure is good. Therefore, he does not have to work for long hours without taking rest as he is used to. This point was difficult for my father to bend. However, I don't intend to give him a choice. I can't let him play with his health. It's about his life. I intend to be on his back at all times so that he gets as much rest as possible. It's true that he is used to working hard, but he has to change this bad habit. What money is he still looking for at his age, and moreover with all the fortune he has already amassed in his youth? To believe that the person who said that the money was never enough for the man, was right on the whole line. In addition to the rest prescribed by the doctor, he must eat properly, and above all in a healthy way. He had a bad habit of skipping breakfast, eating very late in the day, and coming back to have dinner with me in the evening. But all that is over. I will make sure to serve it in a balanced way and according to all the recommended time slots for feeding during the day. I play my role as nurse to perfection. I don't let him escape the doctor's instructions at all.
"But my daughter, you heard Dr. Maurice right! I'm already cured, you don't need to continue in nursing." He complains when he sees me reminding him all day long of the doctor's instructions.
"Hey hey! The doctor said you're recovering. Anyway, I plan to play my role as nurse forever." I reply by signing mordicus.
"It's not fair, poor me! And besides, you're not even playing the role of my nurse anymore, but rather that of my mother. I feel like I'm going to get a spanking from moment to moment if I do something stupid."
My father gives me the look of a child making faces. We end up breaking into a fit of laughter.
"I love you dad! Consider me your guardian angel" I tell him giving him a kiss, then I leave.
"That's right yeah, you're more like my torturer!" I hear him ironically after me. That's how my dad and I used to tease each other.
Today in the morning, while I was sitting in the garden with my father, the caretaker comes to inform us that Euniel and Doctor Maurice are there. It didn't take me long to figure out that they must have come to tell us about the DNA test results. Indeed, we have already been waiting for these results for a week. I must admit that this situation is quite intriguing for all of us. Euniel, Mr. Hawam's son? It is simply amazing. I would like to understand by what alchemy, or should I say by what magic, these two can be father and son. However, the results of these tests will determine the truth and lift the shadows on this matter.
"Ask them to come find us here in the garden." I order the guard who doesn't take long to turn around to go do his errand. Two minutes later, Euniel actually comes in the company of Doctor Euniel.
"Hello!" They say in unison.
"Hello !" My father and I answer them in our turn just as in unison.
"Take a seat please!" I resume by pointing to empty chairs with my index finger. They do not need to be asked and immediately take their places on these chairs.
"So what brings you to my house?" My father asks them once they are comfortable. Doctor Maurice takes the floor and answers my father
"You have surely guessed the reason for our presence at your home this morning. It is in relation to the results of the DNA tests that we have been waiting for a week."
"So what do these results reveal?" My father questions him, losing patience.
"You'll never guess what that reveals Mr. Hawam, or should I call you dad?!" Euniel said. My father and I look at each other, surprise on our faces. Is it a joke they're playing here or what?! My father exclaims asking
"Does this mean that the results were positive?"
"Yes Mr. Hawam. As I realized, you are indeed Euniel's father." Doctor Maurice intervenes without batting an eyelid.
"Give me those results so I can see them first." My father replies, looking unconvinced. Doctor Maurice hands him an envelope, the one containing the test results surely. My father opens this envelope almost shaking. He takes out the result and looks at it, I come close to him to do the same. Incredible as it may be, the result is positive. All of a sudden, my father is seized with a deep emotion, just like Euniel. My father opens his arms and Euniel leaves his place then comes to throw himself into his arms. The emotion is at its peak. Who would have believed it? Since all this time that they rubbed shoulders, neither of them had imagined the filial relationship that bound them. It took this illness and my father needing a blood transfusion for the truth to come to light. After my father and Euniel manage to calm their emotions, I question my father looking confused.
"But what explains these results? Dad, do you remember having a child in your youth without you recognizing it?"
"No, not that I know of in any case. I just remember that I had known two women in my youth. The first and I separated after my trip Abroad. But before I left, she didn't tell me she was pregnant. Since my return to this day, we've never met again. I don't even know what became of her, whether she's alive or dead. You know in time, there was not the ease of communication as there is nowadays. Telephones were non-existent in our country and to think of writing letters to send by post, it was a luxury that one did not couldn't afford. So that's why before my trip, she and I had ended our relationship. I didn't want to sacrifice her happiness and keep her waiting for a long time when I didn't even know for how many years I was going to stay abroad. So that's how we broke up. Being abroad, I met countered the second woman who was my classmate. We were from the same country and it was with her that I was finally able to marry after our return to the country." My father briefly tells us his story. According to his words, there can be only one explanation. first woman must have been the one who is Euniel's mother. Or he slept with a girl in the past and he did not consider her as his girlfriend. One-night stands often have serious consequences.
"So what happened to your wife? Why haven't I seen her?" Euniel asks looking curious. He probably figured my dad's wife might have a place with him. It's possible, who knows if there were transactions between her mother and her. My father lowers his head, his face changes with sadness. Nevertheless, he gathers his strength and decides to make this very painful story which still reminds him of not very cheerful moments.
"She died more than twenty years ago already. She accompanied our daughter who had come to spend the end of year celebrations with her daughter at our house. Unfortunately, she will never come home, because the car will have a accident and the three will die on the field. It was a quite traumatic period for me. I came close to suicide."
"I'm sorry for this sad story!" Euniel mumbles apologetically.
"But if she's not your mother, what is this link between you? There must surely be an explanation for your filiation!" I reply more and more intrigued.
"And if Euniel gave Mr. Hawam his mother's name, that might be the key to this riddle." Doctor Maurice proposes by putting us in agreement. All eyes are now fixed on Euniel. He takes a deep breath and then decides to embark on a story that captures our full attention.
"To tell you the truth, my mother, I don't even know her. Just a picture of her that I carry around on my travels. She left my father since I was just two years old. I don't know anything about her But my dad told me that I was just a drag on her and that she decided to abandon me to go on an adventure. I guess he was getting revenge on her in some way through me. I don't know what I did to her, but that's how since that day she left the house, I never saw her again. I don't even know her name, because my father refused to give it to me. Talking about her was a taboo subject. I don't know her village or her family either. But what I can't understand is why my father doesn't tell me. never said he wasn't my parent. Yet he never showed me paternal love. On the contrary, he behaved as if he had nothing to give a damn about me. I think that 'he would have chased me out of his house if he I wasn't his son."
"Maybe he didn't know you weren't his son." Doctor Maurice looks pensive.
"That's a guess. However, I'd like to know if you still have your mother's picture on you. In that case, dad might be able to recognize her if she's the one he had an affair with in the past." I intervene, turning to Euniel.
"Yes of course! Here is that photo." He hastens to reply, rummaging in his pocket. He takes out his purse, which he searches immediately. He finds the said photo there, which he hands to my father. The latter looks at her briefly and exclaims
"But it's Cécile! She's my first companion I told you about earlier."
"Wow! What a story!" I exclaim in my turn. However, looking furtively at the table where the photo is placed, I am challenged by a detail. Although the photo is quite old and is taken in white on black, this face reminds me of something, or I would say, a person. I take it to look at it well. I stare at the picture for at least a minute, then I scream in surprise at all eyes on me
"But it's mama!" I would put my hand in the fire that it is her. Everything is explained now!