When the doctor returned, he announced that Mama Hannah was stable, but that her body was suffering from too much long-term hunger, exhaustion, and trauma, and that she needed rest, good food, and constant security.
Jerry promised to give her all of that, whatever was necessary, while the doctor added that, upon waking, Hannah kept calling for him, repeating her son’s name as if she feared losing him.
They only allowed one person in; Jerry wanted it to be Amara, assuring that his mother would feel reassured by seeing first the woman who fed her and treated her like a person.
Amara entered with trembling steps; she found Mama Hannah pale, connected to monitors, but awake, smiling weakly as she called her « my daughter » and asked about Jerry, convinced she was still dreaming.
Amara told her that Jerry was alive, that he was there, that it was all real, while Hannah cried thanking God and asking why someone like Amara had stayed by her side without anything in return.
Amara replied that kindness doesn’t ask for details or documents, that everyone deserves food, a bed and respect, and that she had simply done what she would have liked done for her own mother.
Jerry came in next, knelt beside the bed, and promised to take her home when she recovered, assuring her that now they would have time to talk about lost years and heal old wounds.
Then she turned to Amara with an excited voice, announcing that she would return the next day with a big gift, something capable of changing her life as she had changed her mother’s.
Amara tried to tell him that she didn’t owe him anything, that his help hadn’t been an investment, but Jerry replied that, being a multimillionaire, he would never walk away silently when someone saved his family.
That night, back in her small one-room apartment, Amara could barely sleep, wondering what such a man could offer a woman who only knew how to cook on the street.
Jessica, already dressed in her school uniform, asked him if he thought Mama Hannah would get better and what that « great gift » Jerry had spoken about so seriously really meant.
Amara replied that Hannah’s health was in the hands of God and the doctors, and that anything Jerry brought should be received with humility, remembering that true kindness expects no reward.
In the morning, the sun came out bright as they prepared the stew and set up the stall, surrounded by curious neighbors who asked if the billionaire would return and what exactly he had promised.
Under the same torn awning, Amara lit the charcoal, Jessica lined up the chairs, and people gathered earlier than usual, some for food, most to see if the miracle would continue.
Then the deep roar of the engines resonated again; the three black SUVs reappeared, moving slowly forward, while the neighborhood shouted that the billionaire had returned, asking for space on the road.
The vans stopped in front of the stand; the doors opened and Jerry got out first, dressed this time in an impeccable white suit, as if he carried light in his very clothes.
Amara immediately asked for Mama Hannah; Jerry smiled, saying she was fine and that he was calling her constantly, before ordering his guard to bring « it » from the van that was following behind.
A guard returned with a thick, heavy brown envelope, clearly important, which Jerry took before walking towards Amara, while the entire community held their breath awaiting the next move.
And there, in front of the same food stall, in front of the same torn awning, Jerry knelt down again, extending the envelope towards Amara and saying in a trembling voice, « Amara, you changed my mother’s life. »
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