THE LION'S SHARE

  • 29 Aug - 04 Sep, 2020
  • Salaar Laghari
  • Fiction

“The year 2017 was quite a difficult one for the entire family. The rivalry between the siblings was getting intense; therefore, the year was severe for the three of them.

Hannah surprisingly, hadn’t spent a single penny from her father’s inheritance. Almost everyone in the family knew this but none of them was ready to believe this.

Ronald who had started his business of e-commerce trade had slowly come to realise that he did not have enough budget to sustain his business for quite long. Therefore, his intentions got dirty once again and he decided to talk to Hannah regarding his financial issues.

One day, he had a brief conversation with his sister on the phone call, as he asked her:

“Hannah, please tell me honestly. Are you or are you not satisfied with our father’s distribution?”

“Yes I am. I am perfectly satisfied with how he has distributed his wealth. And I will stick to my opinion, no matter how you justify against it.”

“Justify against it?” Ronald asked getting confused. “I don’t even know what it exactly means.”

“I’m just saying that our father’s will shall not be revised. It will remain what it already is.”

“Hannah, the thing is that I’m running a business of my own, you know about it, do you?”

“Yes, I heard about it. So, what’s about it?”

“The thing is that it’s not running quite successful. I need a little more budget.”

“Look, if you want some loan then I can lend you some. But there’s no part of our father’s property that I am going to lend you for free.”

“Hannah, you have to think a little more wisely. Your brother Alfred is absolutely jobless. I am also having financial issues. Can you please for the time being consider that our father would be happy if he would see this generous side of yours?”

“No, he wouldn’t call it generosity. He would call it cheating and dishonesty.”

“Oh, come on!” Ronald said getting fed up.

“Good bye!”

Saying this, she hung up the phone. Ronald was literally angry on this.

***************

Next day, Alfred who was sleeping in his room, heard his house’ doorbell. First he wasn’t considering answering the door, so he kept on lying even though his eyes were open.

As the second bell rang, he sat up slowly and said,

Who is it?

He stood up the next moment and started walking slowly. He put on his robe and reached the door. He opened the door and saw Ronald standing outside.

“You?” Alfred uttered looking at him.

Several minutes later as the two brothers were seated at the dining table, Alfred responded to Ronald after he had spoken for quite a while,

“So, this is why you need my help. Now that you are running short of money, you want me to help you persuade Hannah?”

“Look Alfred, what has happened is past. Now, we have to work together.”

“Why shouldn’t I remind you of how you reacted when I needed you to help me on this?”

“Alfred, you want me to apologise. Alright, I apologise. Can we move on like adults now?”

Alfred chuckled and said,

“Okay, now what?”

“Well, now we have to convince Hannah kindly. She should, she must understand what her brothers are going through.”

“If only, it was that easy.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll do something. We’ll talk to her initially; if we would be unsuccessful then we’ll take the matter to court.”

Alfred gave his words a thought for quite a long moment, so he finally responded by saying,

“I can suggest a plan B.”

“Plan B?”

“You suggested that if she won’t cooperate with us nicely, we shall take the matter to court, right?”

“Right, so?”

“So, my point is that we should try something else instead of that.”

“Okay, I’m waiting for you to speak it out.” Ronald answered impatiently.

“I suggest that we should approach the natural death approach.”

“Oh, come on Alfred, please don’t go there.”

“Believe me, I can. Now, I can.”

“You were really close to her Alfred, if you will say this then I might not be able to trust you.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m just saying leave this topic.”

There was an awkward silence for a moment until Ronald said,

“Alright, now we are discussing how we can persuade Hannah. How we can make her think out of the box.”

“…Sure,” Alfred replied after a pause.

“Now look I have a plan, okay? I am thinking of a way how we can satisfy her with what we are planning to do with all the money.”

Alfred was listening to him without responding too much.

Ronald shared his plan which Alfred didn’t seem to like. However, they continued their discussion until they reached a conclusion.

***************

One Week Later

The two brothers who were standing outside Hannah’s apartment were surprised to see that her house was locked from outside. Ronald uttered,

“What the hell is this?”

“I think she has sold this house.”

“No, I think she has moved temporarily. She is on a vacation or something.”

That moment a neighbour from next door came outside his house. Ronald asked him instantly,

“Excuse me? Do you happen to know where Hannah has moved?”

That man looked at them and answered,

“Yes, she is admitted to the hospital.”

“Hospital?” Alfred asked.

“Yes.”

Alfred and Ronald looked at each other with surprise, and Ronald asked looking back at the neighbour,

“Why? What happened to her?”

“She has some kidney issues. It seemed critical.”

“When exactly did she get admitted?”

“Apparently about two days ago.”

“Two days?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, well, thank you.”

“No problem.”

The neighbour left them and walked towards the elevator. Ronald asked Alfred,

“What should we do now?”

“Tell me, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“I beg your pardon.”

“I mean to say that haven’t you realised something special just now.”

“Honestly, I don’t know what you’re talking about. You need to be clearer.”

“Ronnie, you are either too dumb or you are just pretending to be.”

Ronald was really confused and he gave a deep thought considering what if he was really missing something. He said after a long pause,

“Alright, I give up, what do you want?”

“I don’t want anything, I want you to realise that Hannah is sick, and Hannah being sick means we are closer to the lion’s share.”

“Oh…Now I see,” Ronald understood at once, “Oh, come on Alfred, how could you even think that?”

“Don’t try to fool me, I know that you want the same.”

“No, I do not want that. Really, I don’t!”

“Really?” Alfred asked trying to mock him. “So, you’re telling me that if our sister dies a natural death, then you won’t demand your rightful share.”

“Only if she does, but I would never want that to happen.”

Seeing the reluctance in his tone, Alfred laughed out

and said,

“You Ronnie, you are just pathetic. You are so full of…”

“…Alright, alright I get the point,” Ronald replied getting agitated.

Alfred looked at Hannah’s house’ door and said,

“I suggest that we both should treat her kindly, just to show her and prove that we are her well-wishers and we want whatever is best for her.”

“Okay.”

“Then after convincing her, we shall bribe the doctors and end her up in deathbed.”

“Oh, my God, Alfred!”

“I have had enough of this!” Alfred exclaimed. “Just answer me, are you with me or not?”

“No, I am not. I’m strictly not with you in this.”

Alfred gave an expression indicating as if it didn’t really matter to him if he was helping him out or not.

Alfred changed his position and started walking towards the staircase. Ronald called him out from behind,

“Alfred?”

“Yes,” Alfred replied without turning back.

“Can we find another way?”

Alfred turned and looked at him with a smirk on his face.

“What do you have in mind?” he asked Ronald.

“I think we should…”

“…Keep in mind, convincing her is not an option.”

“Oh, come on!”

“No, I am willing to see her dead. If you are not then, I simply cannot force you. Her death is the only way we can have some amount of our father’s property.”

Ronald replied hesitantly”.

***************

That moment, the phone’s battery died. Alfred was really upset as he saw that the phone had shut down.

Oh, Damn it! Alfred uttered angrily.

He kept the phone aside and thought of seeing the doctor. He wanted to ask regarding his condition and how soon he could leave.

He waited for over an hour for someone to come. Finally the female doctor came inside and he asked her sitting up,

“Ma’am, I want to talk to you.”

“Yes, what do you need?” she answered politely.

“I want to ask you when will I be discharged.”

“Oh, well don’t worry about it. You’ll be released really soon.”

“I will be?”

“Yes, maybe in a day or two.”

“Oh, that’s great!” he answered getting really excited.

“Should I call your brother to come and get you?”

“Yes, please do. Please do.”

“No problem.”

The doctor turned and left the room.

Alfred said kind of delightfully,

The moment, I step out of this hospital, I am going to ask my relatives clearly. I want to know what exactly happened. There are parts of story that I disagree with, or maybe I am unable to comprehend.

He looked at Hannah’s diary and continued speaking,

There’s still one question unanswered and that is why I changed so much just because of the wealth. I was desperate to kill my sister and Ronald who wasn’t quite close to her wasn’t. There has got to be something.

He picked up Hannah’s diary and opened some random page. He read it and the words in that diary only made it worse for him, because they made him actually believe the story he was told through Gwyneth’s narration.

He turned the diary to next page and read further. All the notes on the diary simply justified what he was told earlier. He was getting upset the more he was reading this diary. He simply shut the book and also shut his eyes and said,

Oh dear, this just can’t get any better.

After a long moment of staying like this, he opened the diary again and this time he read,

Today, it was a really sad and horrifying day. I just discovered that I have some serious issue with my kidney. I have also been told that if I won’t get the operation immediately then the things would get worse. I can’t expect my treacherous brothers to look after me. In fact, this disease of mine would simply make them happier. What I need to do is find someone who genuinely cares about me and can look after me whenever I need him to. I miss you dad.

Alfred stopped reading

and said,

I would have been there for her. I think if all of this would have been happening right now then I would have been there for her. I wouldn’t have demanded anything in return.

He opened the diary to the page that was before the one he just read. In that page he read:

Today something very unusual happened. My elder brother Alfred came to my house and forcefully demanded his unrightful share from our father’s property. He created a scene in front of all my neighbours and friends. I had no option but to slap him. I did this unintentionally perhaps. The truth is I was provoked. So, anyways I did it and shut the door right on his face. God knows what my neighbours would be thinking, but the truth is I’m upset about the fact that I insulted Alfred in public.

Alfred stopped reading and said with astonishment,

Oh, my God! When did this happen?

He held the diary tightly in his hands and guessed,

Maybe, this is why I was planning to see her dead.

Suddenly, he heard someone knocking his door. He said,

“Who is it? Come in!”

The door opened slowly.

to be continued...

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