Chapter 2 - Weird Happenings.

Abu Dhabi International Airport

Floor 3 Parking lot.

Time was flying really fast it was 6 AM already by the time he freed and loaded the parcel into the truck, and he still had to deliver it at Tarif by 9 AM, it was a good thing he came there rushing without stop and had left by 3:30.

'Now, I'll just have to take the Abu Dhabi-Ghweifat International Highway and arrive at Tarif in 3 hours' Bilal planned as he drove the vehicle at 50 kmph.

10 mins later, he left the Abu Dhabi area and proceeded toward the International highway, but his progression had to come to a halt because of some barriers in the path.

There were barriers, literal barriers in yellow and black; they cut off the road ahead and beside them stood a green plastic banner with something written in Arabic.

[Due to the sudden appearance of a sandstorm further commutation is restricted from here onwards, Kindly reverse your vehicles and go back ~With regards UAE Government ]

"What the hell!? A sandstorm? Why haven't I heard of it in yesterday's news?" Bilal blurted out.

He then looked around and saw a few cars facing the barricade with the same blank expression as him, getting off the truck he walked towards them with a worried face.

"As-salaamu Alaikum by any chance do you guys know why the road is blocked? I sure haven't heard of a sandstorm in yesterday's news" asked Bilal to strangers.

"No idea, I just came here I'm just clueless as you are" random stranger 1 replied.

"I'm quite surprised too, it's my first time seeing this highway being blocked" random stranger 2 replied while sighing.

"I haven't heard of a sandstorm either" random stranger 3 replied with an unusual expression on his face.

After failing to get any answers, he quickly thought for a solution 'There's no use waiting here anymore, they are as clueless as me'

Hastily he ran back to his truck and set the gear in reverse while driving it away in the opposite direction.

'Even if I were to be late I can just apologize to the client' he thought as he chose to go for the longer, alternate route.

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10 mins later,

Abu Dhabi - Liwa Road.

He drove the truck at its fastest speed and arrived at the Abu Dhabi - Liwa Road within just 10s of minutes, but a scorching flame of anger rose within him when he saw the same barricades and the same green board.

[ Due to the sudden appearance of a sandstorm further commutation is restricted from here onwards, Kindly reverse your vehicles and go back ~With regards UAE Government ]

"Are you kidding me right now? Is every path to Tarif blocked? Damn this sandstorm" Bilal cursed the supposed 'sandstorm'.

'It's not like it's my fault that the parcel isn't gonna be delivered at the time, I shall inform Riyaz first' Bilal thought as he took out his phone and dialled Riyaz's number.

"Hello Riyaz, it's me"

"Have you delivered it?"

"No, some trouble just came up"

"What happened?"

"I freed the parcel from the customs and was on my way to Tariq but the situation here is not good," he said.

"Not good? You mean?" The voice from the other side asked.

"Yes, every road to Tarif ahead is blocked, they've put up huge barricades on both the routes, I'm afraid the parcel wouldn't be delivered anytime soon" Bilal tried reporting the situation with the best of his ability.

A few seconds later Riyaz replied back to him "Take a photo of that barricade and send it to me, I'll call you back in a moment, you can have your breakfast till then"

"Okay" Bilal said in a dull voice and disconnected the call.

Immediately he snapped a picture of that barricade and sent it to Riyaz via a messaging app.

'Now it's him and the client' Bilal thought as he fired his gaze around 'Ah, let's see if a restaurant is open'

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After driving for quite some time he finally arrived at a good restaurant that was open.

The name of the restaurant was 'Kings of Middle east' it was quite an ambitious name nonetheless and at the same time very controversial and dangerous to the owners, but this had nothing to do with him as he was just there to get his breakfast.

Bilal parked his truck in the lot and went inside, and to his surprise, despite being just 6:30 in the morning it was almost full, the restaurant was filled to the brim and no empty seat could be seen within that hustle and bustle. He had to wait out for a couple of more minutes before he found himself an empty seat beside the window.

Taking a deep breath of relief, he stopped every existential worry he had for a moment and swiped his gaze at the menu which sat flatly on the table, he found the menu wasn't that diverse but it still had most of the commonly eaten dishes at affordable prices.

'Maybe they have an eye for budget here' he speculated and quickly decided what to eat.

Bilal gestured towards the waiter and the he came running with a smile.

"What can I get you, Sir?"

"Bring me one shawarma, one raqaq with some date syrup"

"OK, just 2 minutes" the waiter quickly wrote that down and ran towards the kitchen.

A few minutes later, another waiter came to his table with a steel tray held in his hands, on that tray there were two plates containing the shawarma and 2 Raqaq breads within it and a small porcelain bowl having the Date syrup.

Just when he was about to munch down on the food, his phone started ringing.

"It's me, have you eaten your breakfast?"

"No, I was just going to do it, what happened with the client? What should i do?"

"The client didn't pick up my call, so I reported it to the main branch, just come back to Dubai with that thing"

Cutting the call, he put the phone in the back pocket of his pants while wholly concentrating on the food before him. He averted his eyes towards the Date syrup, its composition was very viscous and had a dark brown tint to its colour. Unable to wait anymore in front of this appetizing breakfast, he tore a piece of a big piece of the Raqaq bread directly and dipped it into the bowl.

When the date syrup-filled Raqaq entered his mouth, he felt an explosion of sweetness in his mouth with a tender taste of Raqaq bread as well. Within just one bite, he experienced euphoria, he couldn't help but be scared, suspecting that he unknowingly had entered a 3 or 4-stars restaurant and wouldn't be able to pay the bill. But the infrastructure of the restaurant didn't match the food served and was as ordinary it can be, as such he became somewhat relieved and continued ahead.

Bite by bite, he finished both the Raqaqs and drank the remaining syrup directly from the bowl. It was then the turn of Shawarma, he held it using both of his arms and tore off a huge piece of it. Unlike the Date syrup and Raqaq, this wasn't just sweet, it was a plethora of flavours. But the texture of tender chicken thigh meat got stuck to his head.

Eating this euphoric breakfast, he felt an urge to call the cook and give him a big reward like the 'Kings of Middle East'. Experiencing the pure delight, he comprehended the meaning behind the name of this restaurant.

He stood up from his seat and moved towards the cash counter with a refreshing smile on his face.

Sitting on the cash counter was an old man with a long beard, nonexistent moustache and a Thawb(1) on his body. The typical getup any Emirati would have throughout the year.

Bilal asked the old man "How much is the Bill?"

The old man looked at him and pointed his finger towards an acrylic standing signboard that was hanged adjacent to the cash counter.

On the signboard, three lines of Arabic text was printed there.

[ All the meals are provided free of cost to all the worker brothers and those who can't afford to buy one... ~ Sponsered by Raza Khatib charitable organization.]

Seeing the signboard he understood. That restaurant was a community kitchen which gives distributes free and quality food to those who can't afford it.

But precisely it was the quality of food that didn't let him believe it was a community kitchen, he interpreted if the owner were to do a good renovation and some revamping. It could effortlessly be altered into a high-class restaurant.

"So you still want to pay?" asked the old man with a curious expression on his face.

"Yes, I still do" Bilal said.

"Ok then, your bill is 70 dirhams"

Bilal took out 70 Dirhams from his pocket quietly and paid the bill "What is your name uncle? Are you the owner of this restaurant?"

"Yes I'm the owner of this restaurant, my name is Raza Khatib and you've guessed correctly, I'm also the founder of the organization"

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Although 70 dirhams for one breakfast was a bit heavy for him, he didn't mind paying an amount for such a delicious and flavoury meal. He wondered whether he should do more of these stumbled-upon restaurant trips, who knows if he finds something interesting.

Halting those thoughts in his mind, he walked towards the parking lot, dishing out the keys from his pocket he started the truck and left the locale.

Within his mind, he was making a 'to do' list for the day.

Just then his phone which remained dormant since Riyaz's call started ringing loudly again.

He picked it up in a flurry as he was driving, not expecting a frightened voice to come from the other side.

"Buddy, it's me Omar...I don't have much time...I just came to know it...Roads blocked..."

"Hey Hey Hey!!!!!! Don't cut the call, tell me what happened, tell me...."

By then, he was already screaming with the top of his lungs hoping for a response but what answered him wasn't Omar but the pre-recorded voice 'Your call has been disconnected'

'Shit'

He re-dialled the number within that instant but it was of no avail,

Omar, one of the few friends he had in this foreign land and now something had happened to him. How could he not panic when thinking something bad had happened to him? Instead of stopping the truck and calmly thinking for a solution he, with a hard stomp on the accelerator he started accelerating the truck began thinking of numerous routes to arrive Dubai faster.

'What could've happened to him? Roads blocked? What did that have to do with something? Did he get himself into some trouble?' his thoughts raged tempestuously within his mind.

Unable to stay calm, he sped the vehicle even further, pushing its engine to the limit.

The truck screamed with a screeching noise wherever it passed by, the Truck was almost like a speeding spear by then ready to pierce into anything, from the distance Bilal saw a steep turn yet he, had no intention of slowing down; years of Truck driving had given him that confidence, but his luck couldn't be any worse today, within the moment of action at the curve, a blinding light flashed into the corner of his eye causing him to flinch for a second.

Yet only one second was enough for the disaster to descend, things escalated pretty badly within a blink of an eye and he lost control over the truck, by the time he realized it; it was too late already, as uncontrollably with a 'Bam' the Truck crashed hard into the black and yellow guardrails, creating a sparky scene. It flipped over the guardrails itself and was dragged some good meters before slowing down eventually.

Luckily for him though the impact wasn't that great, since just before the crash, the airbags activated and safeguarded him from the majority of the crash damage and the shrapnels.

Still, conscious Bilal pushed the door open and exited immediately. Before collapsing on the asphalt floor, his ears ringed in pain and his heartbeat wildly, coughing loudly a few times he held his chest.

After a minute or so, Bilal got up from the road as he felt his condition stabilize and examined himself for injuries.

There was no visible injury on his body, just some blood oozing out of his forearms due to some scratches, nothing more than that.

He then realized how fortunate he was to get out of this deadly mishap with just some superficial scratches.