Max Arena (49 page)

‘Yes, it was,’
Abdullah replied. ‘He is a most remarkable man. His physical
superiority is without question, but every day, he reveals more and
more glimpses of his natural leadership. When he chooses to, he not
only speaks eloquently, but he speaks from the heart and it is
pure. Our old foe, Charles Ingot the Third was right to fear Max.
If we are successful and Max survives the arena and he chooses to,
he could well initiate a new world order and bring other nations
and institutions crashing down. Billions would follow him as a
Messiah. He could command vast armies and unlike any other current
leader or general, actually lead his armies into battle himself.
The man has the potential to be a colossus. Fortunately and I do
believe this to be true, Max harbours no such ambition.’

‘I agree,’ Joe
said. ‘He is a family man and it is exactly that humility, which
makes him great. I envy him. Not for his incredible traits and
skills, but for knowing himself and for his humble pursuits.’

A silence
enveloped them. Joe replaced his pipe between his teeth. Abdullah
breathed in the night air. Neither man knew it, but the same
thoughts filled their minds. Their childhoods. Their parents. Their
siblings and where all of these dear people in their lives were
now. The silence persisted, comfortably.

‘Gentlemen,’
sounded a familiar voice. ‘You’re hiding.’

Both Abdullah
and Joe broke from their reveries and turned to see Max striding
out over the threshold and onto the balcony to join them at the
railing. Max popped a large slab of Christmas cake into his mouth
and then repositioned a handful of rum balls in his other hand as
he came up next to them.

‘Hiding, yes,’
Joe said, ‘but happy to be found.’

‘Good, because
you’ve both been AWOL for the last two weeks,’ Max said as he
sorted through his rum balls.

‘It is a
conundrum,’ Joe replied as he turned back to the view, ‘but
political life has actually intensified as the end of the world
looms. I would have expected all of us politician’s to have been
lynched or stoned to death by now.’

‘I’m sure that
has actually happened in some parts of the world,’ Max said as he
selected his next morsel, ‘and it’s just that here in the civilised
world, our morals are lingering a touch longer. And you, Your
Highness. Duty calls?’

‘I have been at
home,’ Abdullah replied. ‘My final voyage.’

‘Not if I’ve
got anything to do with it.’

Abdullah smiled
and cast a quick glance at Max. Max flicked his eyebrows up and
popped a rumball into his mouth.

Joe took his
pipe from his mouth and turned to the other two men. ‘Gentlemen,
before I go and avail myself of some ridiculously expensive
champagne and mingle with the troops, Max let me just say that
today you were nothing short of marvellous with Ms Sainsbury. I
know you have been uncomfortable with the entire media campaign,
but that discomfort has in no way affected your contributions.
Today you spoke like a statesman. No, that is an understatement.
You spoke like a leader and it is a voice like your’s with
conviction and weight that the world needs right now. Our world is
teetering once again, but today, I am already seeing evidence that
you have pulled us all back together again, better than any way
either I or Abdullah could have managed. You know there are already
over fifty t-shirt designs around the world with variations on the
theme of, “Alone we lose, but together we win”? You are an even
bigger global phenomenon now than you were twelve hours ago and
that I honestly thought would have been impossible, but apparently
nothing is beyond you.’

Max held his
gaze on his Prime Minister for a few moments and then looked
sideways to find Abdullah’s piercing hazel eyes as well. He then
looked down at the rumballs in his hand.

‘You know,
Mister Prime Minister, sure those words came out of my mouth today,
but they were inspired by someone else.
Two
someone elses in
fact. Yourself and His Royal Highness here,’ Max said, waving an
arm towards Abdullah. ‘You two are the architects of Team Max, so
if I sounded magnificent today, it’s because I’ve got two of the
best mentors around. You’ve not only guided us successfully to
where we are today and that includes keeping the entire world on
track, but you’ve done it with compassion and kindness and if we do
all fall at the arena, I’m glad of one thing, we’ve become friends.
Before Macktidas carved my face all over the planet and caused all
this trouble, I had no desire to really know anyone else. I didn’t
need friends. I had my family and that was all I needed and wanted.
Well, I was wrong. You’ve both opened my eyes and I know I’m a
better person for knowing you both, so for what it’s worth, thank
you. You’re good men. Thank you.’

A silence
cocooned them and inside that silence, an unspoken bond cemented
itself. Abdullah stepped forward and extended his right hand out
into the space between them all, palm down. Max followed the
Sheikh’s lead and stepped forward as well to place his own hand
over Abdullah’s. Joe then followed suit last, his smile widening
around his pipe.

Then Joe said
with a small chuckle, ‘Your Highness, he just did it again.’

Abdullah nodded
and smiled also. ‘Yes, he did. Yes, he did.’

‘Thank you,
gentlemen,’ Joe said and plucked his pipe from between his teeth to
raise it in toast. ‘I am venturing inside for some champagne. Enjoy
the air.’

‘
Ma as
Salama
,’ Abdullah said. ‘Good evening.’

Max watched Joe
go and something struck him. His Prime Minister was sauntering with
one hand in his pocket and the other up holding his pipe in his
mouth. The man actually looked relaxed despite the potential end of
the world being closer than ever. Max smiled and looked up at the
night sky.

Abdullah spoke.
‘Joseph does indeed seem at ease this evening does he not and if I
could hazard a guess at the reason, I imagine it is because it is a
long time indeed since he felt the warmth of family. Joseph has
been alone in this world for a long time, too long, but in this
struggle we are all in, he has found all of you and that has given
him the comfort of family. You have all become his sons, daughters,
brothers and sisters and he is a more contented man for it.’

Max turned and
looked into his friend’s deep eyes, the hazel irises ebony in the
half light. A gleam of secrets glistened inside them, but wrapped
around the eyes, Max found the familiar reassurance of friendship.
Max could not help, but trust this man and perhaps now was the time
to find out some more truths? Perhaps there would never be a better
time to learn of the man beneath the robes?

‘Abdullah, can
I be completely candid with you?’ Max asked, stepping up to the
railing and turning his back to it to lean against it.

‘I would have
it no other way, my friend,’ Abdullah replied, turning to send his
gaze back out over the horizon and into the stars.

‘Good. Thanks,’
Max said, absently watching the crowd shuffle and move inside the
living room as he gathered his thoughts. ‘I have an observation and
a question and you don’t have to answer the question, but gee you
intrigue me, so I’ve got to ask.’

‘The feeling is
mutual, Max and I think it only fair you ask for some insights into
me considering what you have divulged of yourself over the last few
months.’

‘Alright, here
goes. The end of the world might be coming and with you and Joe’s
help, we’ve managed to hold things together pretty well. Not just
for ourselves, but the whole planet. You and Joe can’t take enough
credit for what you’ve done and if this all comes to a relatively
good end, you both deserve the highest honours anyone can grant.
However, here’s my observation, it’s been
you
and
your
quiet counsel that’s helped us all come to terms with
our individual fears and regrets and make peace with ourselves and
so now here’s my question, what about
you
? How do you make
peace? No one lives a life without some sort of regret or pain. Not
even you. Before you said Joe had lived alone in the world for too
long and the moment you said that, I looked at
you
because
if anything,
you
seem just as alone as Joe, if not more so.
Maybe your religion is your company? I don’t know, but what I do
know is that we’ve all got demons and for anyone who is alone,
those demons get even more nasty. Just ask Kris. So, how do you
make peace? What demons have you beaten down to be so content?’

Sheikh Abdullah
did not move. A few moments later, Max realised the man had frozen
and maybe even hardened a little. He seemed tense. Then Abdullah
dropped his head and looked down at the ground beyond the railing.
The silence held in place like a lock on a vault. Max wondered if
he should apologise and abandon the subject, but then Abdullah
spoke, quietly and not much more than a whisper.

‘Her name is
Fathiya and she is waiting for me,’ Abdullah said, not looking up
at Max.

The tone and
broken inflections of Abdullah’s voice instantly betrayed the depth
of his emotion and then he looked up and the gravity of the
revelation hit Max like a boulder slamming down onto his shoulders.
Even in the half-light, Max could clearly see Abdullah’s face and
what was etched across it. Pain.

A deep sadness
flowed from the wells in Abdullah’s eyes. The man’s hurt was
palpable and Max suspected a lesser person would have been overcome
by the magnitude of this emotion, but not this man. The expression
on Abdullah’s face proved he had confronted his demons and beaten
them down, but still they haunted him.

‘She was
nineteen and I was twenty-one,’ Sheikh Abdullah finally resumed,
his voice low, but clear. ‘We were betrothed and a wedding date set
for her twentieth birthday. We had enjoyed each other’s love for
many years as younger, more innocent creatures and knew our
destinies were intertwined, so we decided not to rush. What did
time matter to us when we had the rest of our lives? So, even with
our families having already given us permission to marry, we held
off and waited till we were ready.’

Sheikh Abdullah
lifted his chin and cast a sightless gaze into the distance, tears
welling in his eyes and then he said, ‘Such is life when you are
young.’

The Sheikh then
closed his eyes and a single, fulsome tear, streaked from one eye
to run down his cheek and splash on the back of his hand as it
rested on the stone railing. The dam did not break though. Abdullah
held his composure and after a few moments of silence, he turned
back to look Max directly in the eye. He did not wipe the streak
from his face or in any way acknowledge the tear and even though
Max could see that the few moments of collection had eased the
pain, still it remained like the remnants of a wave on a rocky
beach, the swash ebbing away, but pockets of foam still caught
amongst the broken shore. Abdullah’s pain was deep. He continued in
his low tone.

‘Fathiya died
in a car accident, one month before her twentieth birthday. One
month before the day we were to be married. One month before we
were to stand before God and accept his blessing, but it was not to
be. I lost my dream that day, but Fathiya lost her life. God had
ordained a different design.’

Quiet descended
again and Sheikh Abdullah once more turned his gaze down to his
folded hands, his face creasing and his lips twisted. His demons
had stirred again. The Sheikh’s eyes grew hard, the deep wells
icing over. His eyes squinted and the tiniest of trembles flickered
in his eyelids. Then, Abdullah lifted his chin to cast his gaze
unseeingly heavenward again. The steel in his expression melted
away and the soft sadness of before returned. Taking a deep breath
like a man breathing in freedom after many years of incarceration,
he resumed his tale.

‘I searched my
soul for my faith through many dark nights and stark lonely days.
You speak of demons, Max. They came to me in great hordes, hacking
and biting, cutting and scoring, seeking to render me and bring me
undone. For a long time, a very long time, I floundered and flailed
and there were times when I did not care if I fell, such was my
misery, but through all the darkness, I had a beacon. A veritable
light that shone in the dark. Fathiya. Even though she had died,
she had never left me. She was in my heart and watching over me as
she always had. Fathiya saved me from my demons. It was she who
kept me alive and after I had beaten the demons away, I came to one
inescapable conclusion. One absolute certainty. Fathiya had entered
my life for one reason and that was to be my salvation and to keep
me alive and there is only one being in the universe capable of
executing such design. God. Allah had seen fit to give Fathiya to
me to keep me alive and why is that important you wonder? Why is it
important that I live while she died? I do not yet know that
purpose, but the last few months have perhaps given me a
glimpse.’

Abdullah then
turned and looked Max squarely in the eye.

‘To guide us,’
Max said slowly as the thought dawned on him like the sun rising on
a new day. ‘God kept you alive to guide all of us to the end?’

A soft smile
warmed Sheikh Abdullah’s features. ‘Perhaps, my friend? Perhaps? I
do not pretend to know the mind of God, but perhaps?’

Max and
Abdullah’s gazes remained locked together for a few moments longer
as the separate weights on their minds lifted like balloons into a
cloudless, blue sky, allowing broad, warm smiles to grace their
features.

It was Max who
looked away first, straightening from the railing and pushing
back.

‘Time for some
shut eye,’ he said. ‘Kris has me lined up for an early session
tomorrow on the beach. Sand training and I suspect she’s probably
going to wheel out that medicine ball cannon you built for her,
which by the way I haven’t thanked you for yet.’