ARRIVAL
This is a true story, every word
of it. Not everyone who gets to read it will find that possible. I won't really
blame them for that; I too find it hard to believe some times had it not all
happened to I and my family ... and to others who were
unfortunate to be there with us. Some of it might sound untrue, like stuff born
out of imagination; some of it none of you will get to believe. I wish I can
find the words to make them seem more real than I'm
about to tell them. In the end, I leave that up to you.
***
Catherine felt someone nudge her arm. Murmuring a
grumble, she pushed up her sunglasses up her face, her eyes coming awake from
the slumber she'd slipped into more than an hour ago. It was her mother,
Pamela, seated beside her who was smiling at the same time pointing at
something out her window.
"I think we've just about arrived, honey,"
she said.
Catherine murmured a sigh under her breath as she
followed her Mom's pointing finger to gaze out her window, past the cluster of
wispy cumulus clouds that gave way for her to pick out the grand vista of the
city that loomed thousands of feet beneath them. The city was surrounded by a
wide expanse of green vegetation with rivulets of rivers cutting to and fro
like veins snaking towards the heart; the north-east corner of the city were
some hilly terrain which seemed to stretch farther and farther away. The sun's
rays penetrated the bank of clouds to add brilliance to the new world they were
in. As if to further make it real, the PA system came alive
seconds later with the flight captain's voice welcoming everybody inside the
airline to their imminent arrival to Cape City, informing them to please fix
back their seat belts as they would begin ascending in a short while. Catherine
did as instructed. Pamela turned to the aisle seat beside her and nudged her
husband, Tim awake and repeated the same instruction.
A flurry of excitement seemed to come alive amongst
the rest of the passengers as the stewardesses strolled back and forth checking
everyone into their individual seats and fixing them properly. Catherine yawned
as she gazed down at the city beneath her feet outside her window, imagining
what might be waiting for them once they arrive. Anticipation, fear and
resignation rode her mind. She was visiting Africa for the first time, her and
her parents. Looking at her Mom, she seemed quite happy and excited about the
trip, and her Dad too was well looking forward to it; he had to since he had
business to take care of down there. As for herself, the whole thing starting
from the day her parents made the decision to involve her, to the days leading
up to the planning and arrangement down to yesterday when they'd departed JFK
International, it all seemed like a blur to her. There
she was two days ago with her best friend, Meg, telling her about the trip: of
spending the next three weeks of her summer holiday off college with her
parents in some African country she hardly knew existed. The worse part wasn't
her being with her parents, but of being away from her boyfriend, Michael. How
she missed being with him right now and wished he was here seated next to her
giving her comfort. She felt so alone right now and would give anything just to
get him to be with her. Having him around would make her feel a lot better
about the trip; hard to know what to expect once they landed. Besides, this was
Africa. Where was she going to find any lonely college guy to be with,
especially one that was white?
The plane shuddered as it hit a pocket of cloudy
turbulence. Bank of clouds sped past her window as they descended towards the
earth. Pamela wouldn't stop chattering as the vista of the city came back into
wider view. They soared over the green vegetation and were now over the city
skylight. The houses and network of roads all looked like a child's play pen
from where Catherine viewed everything. They grew into size the more they
descended from their height. Two minutes later the plane's tires hit earth and
inside the plane a roaring cheer went up as they cruised speedily along the
runway en-route to their stop.
"We're here, honey," Pam said to her
daughter.
Catherine simply nodded, exasperated with her Mom's
sunny disposition. "Yes, Mom. We're there."
In her heart as she gazed out the window, she wished she was somewhere else.
***
There was some minor commotion for them to retrieve
their luggage as well as clear through the country's Customs. Much of their
debacle was resolved when Tim Morgan sighted a man who stood with a placard
that bore his full name. He approached the man who introduced himself as Elias.
He was part of the chaperone staff from Queensland Hotel & Resorts who was
there to welcome the Morgans to Nigeria, and to
escort them to their awaiting hotel booking. He was a slim man, dark-skinned
with a flashy grin of a smile and he wore a khaki shirt that displayed the
resort's logo on his breast pocket.
"It's a pleasure meeting you, sir," he shook
hands with Tim and assisted with taking two of their luggage to where the
resort's cab was waiting. There was a lot of haranguing happening in the
airport: too many people talking and milling about. Catherine noticed some of
the native men ogling her without shame. She felt nervous under their stare.
Elias took her bag from her and ushered her along; he told her not to be
mindful of the stares: such is how usually it is whenever foreigners come down
here. The men as well ogled her mother but Pamela made like it was all good to
her, as if they were in Disneyland. The same with her father.
In the cab, Tim sat in front with Elias with Catherine and her Mom sat in the
backseat. Elias honked his horn persistently to break through the traffic of
other parked and idling vehicles as they pulled out of the airport vicinity.
Overhead there came the roaring sound of a plane
taking off. Catherine stuck her head out her window and moaned from the heat
that pressed against her face.
They left the airport and drove into the wide turnpike
leading into the heart of the city. Tim threw questions at Elias who was accommodating
enough to answer them as he drove. Pamela took her camera out of her handbag
and took snapshots of just about anything exotic that passed them on the road.
Except for her father, both Catharine and her Mom were dressed in shorts,
sneakers and tank tops. Catherine couldn't stop rubbing off the sweat that was
building on her skin; the last time she had been this hot was when she's gone
off on a summer vacation last year with her friend Meg to Ibizia.
Obviously she was going to get a serious tan by the time they returned home.
The drive
through the city was a captivating one, minus the annoying spat of traffic they
encountered along the way. Tim wanted to see as much of the city that he could,
thus he instructed Elias to take a longer route around the city. Elias did as
he asked and more than an hour came by before they drove along a wide
expressway overlooking the Cape City beach; the Queensland Resort was at the
end of the road, occupying a wide hilltop which gazed over the city. They drove
in through the gates and came to a stop at the wide driveway next to the
resort's main building. Everybody alighted down and several porters appeared to
help with their luggage as Tim and his wife and daughter went inside to
conclude their reservation which he had booked for three months earlier on
account that there was a rush towards securing an expensive suite here at the
resort, especially since it was getting close to the city's carnival season.
Everything taken care of, they entered the elevator
and rode it to the sixth floor where their suite was situated. They past several white couples along the way. Pamela, being
her typical buoyant self wasted no time stopping one of such couples and
introducing herself along with her daughter to them; as always Catherine groaned
and in her mind pictured her Mom as the wicked witch from the land of Oz. They extracted themselves and went in the
direction of their suite.
It was more like an expensive apartment for a bachelor
than it was a hotel suite; Catherine and her Mom marvelled at its ample
spaciousness. There was a central living room and two master bedrooms and three
smaller ones. Their suite faced the west section of the beach. From all windows
they had a clear view of the blue waters splashing on the yellow sand. To Catherine
it brought memories of her time spent at Ibizia,
except there the water was turquoise and then she hadn't been alone. She stood by the living room window staring
out at the beach and the flock of people there while Elias returned from her
room, having assisted the porters in stowing her luggage.
"What do you think about the view, honey?"
said her father, grinning with her Mom hugging him. "Quite impressive,
ain't it?"
"Really Dad, it's grand."
Her Mom caught the sound of her voice. "What's
wrong, babe. You don't look all too happy about it?"
"Nothing, Mom. Just wish ... just never thought
you guys were being serious about coming down here."
Her Dad looked at her. "But I did tell you about
it, sweetheart, about the new contract I got. You know how important this is
going to be for us, don't you?"
"Yes, Dad. I know how important it is. I
just feel so alone here."
"But you aren't alone, honey," Pamela came
to her daughter's aid. "We're here with you, together, all three of us.
This is something we've always wanted: to travel and go places we've never been
to before. I know it might make you nervous, but we're here to have fun. Lots and lots of it."
"Yeah, Mom. Lots of fun," she mumbled.
"Well, I'd better go unpack and see what fun there is to have."
Pamela watched her daughter walk away towards her
bedroom. She wanted to call out to her, to give her solace, but Tim held her
back and told her not to worry that Catherine would come around soon.
"She just needs to wind down a little bit,"
he said. "Too much jet lag can do that to you."
"I guess you're right. I ought to kick myself
sometimes. I feel too much like a mother hen that's afraid to let her go."
"You worry too much," he kissed her cheek.
"But that's why I love you. Now, how about you and I go unpack and maybe
we can do some frolicking afterwards."
She grinned back at him. "Somehow I figured you
had that on your mind since we came down from the plane."
"Are you kidding? I've had it on my mind before
we even left New York. Can't believe how long the flight was. I ought to reset
my time, my watch is now five hours behind."
"No, what you need to do is grab a shower and
rest a little bit to let things wear off you, and maybe then if you're good and
stay so for half the day, you can get some hotness later."
"Uh-Uh. You're not going to trick me that way,
Pam. You too are going to get that shower. I'd like to massage your shoulders
for you."
"Naughty Tim Morgan," she chided. "How
I stayed married to you all these years, I'll never know."
