Worth Every Step

by K. G. MacGregor

  “Tom Muncie talked us into it. We met him at a Christmas party last year and he was telling all these great stories. We got excited about it and decided to make it happen.”

  “That’s cool you met Tom.” She had talked with the tour organizer on the phone, but had forgotten the main office was in Seattle. “I saw a program on public TV and got excited too. But I couldn’t talk anybody into coming with me.”

  “They’ll all be kicking themselves when you get home with pictures.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” Deb was probably the only one who cared. Of course, once Mary Kate got home and broke up with Bobby, Deb would probably be the only one in town talking to her anyway.

  “Besides, Tom says a lot of people come by themselves. That list he sent us had people from all over.”

  Tom had promised to pair her with somebody for the safari part so she wouldn’t have to pay the single occupancy rate, but he hadn’t worked out anything firm as of the last update. There were eight of them slated to go on safari after the climb, including Neal and Mei, another married couple and three women besides herself. She hoped it was someone interesting since they would be spending a lot of time together.

  They reached the end of the walkway and turned back toward the café. In just the few minutes they had been walking, she had already begun to sweat. “Poor Drew,” she said, feeling nothing but relief that it was his bag missing and not hers.

  “He’ll be okay. If the rest of us throw a couple of things into his pile, he’ll have enough to make it.”

  She did a quick mental inventory of what she might be able to share. Drew wasn’t much bigger than she was, but it was doubtful he could wear any of her clothes. Still, she could spare some socks and maybe a T-shirt.

  Mei looked up from her papers as they joined her. “The others must be coming from Amsterdam. That plane gets in late this afternoon.”

  “Or they could even be coming in tomorrow,” Neal added. “At least we’ll get an extra day to rest before we go up.”

  Drew came out and dropped his backpack next to Mei. “The good news is they have someone here who will watch for the bags when the next plane comes in on Wednesday. The bad news is they lock them in storage until I show up with the claim check.”

  “So you’re screwed, man.” Neal summed it up pretty well.

  “Basically. But he told me to ask at the hotel about borrowing some things, so I’ll try that. All I really need is a sleeping bag, a warm coat…”

  “Mei and I probably have a few things you can use. You don’t have any issues about wearing women’s underwear, do you?”

  “None at all,” Drew answered deadpan. “That’s pretty much what was in my bags.”

  Mary Kate snorted at that. If first impressions were worth anything, she was going to like these people. “Are you guys doing the safari afterward?”

  “Not me,” Drew said. “I couldn’t get that much time off work.”

  “I’m off for the whole summer. I teach special ed, emotionally disturbed kids.”

  “That might come in handy this week,” Drew said with a chuckle. Then his voice changed to a more serious tone. “To tell you the truth, I won’t be surprised if this turns out to be a lot tougher emotionally than physically.”

  “I don’t see how anything could be tougher than the physical part,” Neal said.

  “I had a couple of friends who did it last year,” Drew explained. “One of them had to turn back on the last night because he got disoriented. He got really depressed about it. He said it was the biggest letdown of his life.”

  Mary Kate certainly understood that. She would be devastated if she didn’t make it to the summit.

  “I’d like to get to the top,” Neal said, “but I’ll be okay with it if I don’t. Mei’s the one who really wants it. I just came along so we could do this together.”

  “I’ve worked hard. I want a payoff,” she said.

  “It could take more than hard work, though,” Drew said. “You never know how a climb’s going to go. I did a fourteener with one of my friends a couple of weeks ago. That’s a whole mile under Kili, and he was puking his guts out because of the altitude.”

  A fourteener. Mary Kate gathered that meant a mountain that was fourteen thousand feet high. It was ironic that the folks back in Mooresville were worried about things like her falling off the mountain. By everything she had read, altitude sickness was the biggest threat on the mountain. Vomiting and diarrhea, like what Drew was talking about, were relatively minor as long as they subsided. The bigger worries were pulmonary or cerebral edema, which could be killers for anyone not smart enough to head back down immediately.

  Irony aside, it was freaking her out to hear these guys talk about their chances for getting to the top, given their experience walking up real mountains. They probably parked higher than Rabun Bald.

  A white Toyota bus pulled into the circle in front of the café, its faded paper sign reading “Moshi.” Two young black men dressed in ill-fitting workpants and wide-collared dingy white shirts exited and began loading baggage onto the roof of the bus.

  Mary Kate waited on the curb until she saw her bags secured on top, studying the whole scene for details that made it unique to Africa. Besides the language difference, there was the bus itself, more utilitarian than comfortable. Such a vehicle would never roll out of Atlanta with luggage piled so casually on top. The windows were down, a sure sign this bus wasn’t air conditioned. As hot as the terminal had been inside, she guessed there was no such thing as Freon in Tanzania.

  A few dozen people, presumably locals, joined them on the bus. Mary Kate took a window seat and Drew slid in beside her. Neal and Mei sat in front of them, Mei now studying a travel guide.

  The narrow road out of the airport was paved, but filled with potholes. Building a road in Tanzania was probably a one-shot deal, she figured, with little maintenance. They turned onto what she guessed was the Tanzanian equivalent of a highway, two lanes wide, but without center and shoulder stripes. Soon they were riding by large open fields dotted with small dome-shaped huts.

  “Maasai,” Mei explained, turning as she held up her book. “They used to be warriors. Now they herd cattle, which are sacred to them. Most of them wear the traditional red cloths. They’re supposed to be very noble.”

  Neal turned to face them also. “Everywhere we go, Mei reads all about it. I never have to worry about anything because she’s going to tell me everything I need to know.” He flinched as his wife poked him in the side. “Being married to her is like being in continuing education classes all the time.”

  “It’s true. When I’m not dragging him out on an adventure, he’s happy to be just a couch nerd. Sometimes I let him lie there and I go off with my friends.”

  That was exactly the kind of relationship Mary Kate wanted with Bobby, where they would share the really important things, but give each other the freedom to do their own thing sometimes. It was one thing for Bobby not to want to come, but at least he could have sent her off with his support. Instead, it was as if he was punishing her for wanting to do this, like she wasn’t entitled to her own—

  Suddenly, the bus hit a speed bump that sent them sailing out of their seats.

  “Samahani,” the driver called, taking his eyes off the road for an instant to turn around.

  “That was probably Swahili for bite me,” Drew whispered.

  She chuckled and shook her head, feeling a rush of delight at being here with fun and interesting people. This trip was more than just an opportunity for a unique adventure. For Mary Kate, it marked the beginning of her new philosophy—carpe diem. It was silly to miss things in life or to want them to be different when all one had to do was “seize the day.”

  After almost an hour of bouncing over the rugged paved road, the bus finally entered a roundabout in what looked to be a small town. The structures weren’t exactly modern, but compared to the Maasai huts, they were castles. Some of the small buildings were wood frame, though most were mad
e of cinderblock. They were painted purple, bright blue or orange, and few were larger than the average garage back home.

  “Who goes to View Hotel?” the driver asked.

  “That’s us,” she said, pointing to herself and her three companions.

  “You change here to other bus.” He gestured.

  They collected their backpacks and stepped off the bus. The two young men who had loaded the bags at the airport hopped off and climbed to the top to pass down the gear. Mary Kate got her Summit bag, but not the other duffel.

  “Wait! I have one more bag, a green one.”

  After a fruitless search through the towering pile, the man proposed a solution.

  “We take others to their hotel. We bring your bag to the View.”

  The idea of separating from her things was one she wouldn’t consider at all. “No, I’ll find it.” Before anyone could stop her, she climbed the ladder on the back of the bus, crawled through the bags until she spotted hers peeking out from the bottom of the pile. “This one’s mine.” She stepped back as the two young men extracted it and passed it down. Another man loaded it on a smaller vehicle, and she climbed aboard, claiming a bench seat all to herself.

  Neal turned around and spoke softly. “That was pretty gutsy, Mary Kate. Never mind that you just violated the most sacred laws of their religion.”

  Her stomach dropped as she tried to figure out if he was kidding or not. If he was, then he did deadpan as well as Drew.

  “I read somewhere that women weren’t allowed to climb anything that put them higher than men.”

  Mei saved her from a panic attack. “Don’t listen to him. If he ever says he read something, he’s lying.”

  The View Hotel was almost a mile out from the center of town along a road that was rougher than any they had been on so far. Still, it was a wonderful surprise after seeing the simple structures in the center of town.

  As they peered out the window, Neal summed up what Mary Kate was thinking. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m relieved.”

  Tom had described the View Hotel as a family-owned inn with a bar and a restaurant. White with a red roof, it reminded her of one of the old frame homes in Savannah, but larger. It had a wide porch at the entrance and picture windows all across the front. The second floor had a long row of small windows, which Mary Kate assumed were the guest rooms.

  Two young men dressed in black pants and crisp white shirts—a sharp contrast to the ones who had handled their bags on the bus—bounded off the porch and began shuttling the bags inside. Mary Kate and the others followed them up the stairs to the lobby, where red velvet benches and chairs added an elegant touch to the rustic ebony floors and long mahogany counter. A portrait of Tanzania’s president like one she had seen on display at the airport was mounted prominently on the wall behind a young African woman who greeted them. AAA would probably have given the place two stars, but here in Tanzania, Mary Kate was willing to bet it was one of the finer establishments.

  Neal and Mei checked in first and followed a bellman up the stairs. Mary Kate went next, since Drew had to make arrangements to borrow things. She couldn’t wait to get a shower and change into fresh clothes. The overnight trip was taking its toll.

  She stepped up to the counter and handed over her passport, which she had seen Neal and Mei do. “I’m Mary Kate Sasser. I’m with Summit too.”

  “Yes, I have it. You are a single for two nights, then another night when you return.”

  “That’s right.” Though she had agreed to be paired with someone else for the safari, the single room at the View was only fifteen dollars more a night.

  The woman filled out a form by hand, something Mary Kate hadn’t seen in years. Apparently, computers hadn’t spread to Tanzania yet. “Dinner is from seven o’clock to nine o’clock. Breakfast is from eight thirty to ten o’clock. Electricity is off from ten o’clock each night until seven o’clock in the morning.”

  Tom had warned them about the periodic interruptions in electricity. Another good reason to shower right away. A bellman picked up both of her duffel bags and started up the stairs.

  “Good luck getting what you need,” she called to Drew.

  “Thanks. It’ll all work out.”

  For his sake, she hoped he was right. She trudged up the stairs behind the bellman, hoping she could stay awake long enough to eat dinner. After that, all bets were off.

  Chapter Six

  Mary Kate patted her stomach as it rumbled. Sleep had won the battle over hunger the night before, but now she was rested and starving.

  When she had closed the door to her room last night, she was struck by a remarkable realization—it was her first night ever to be alone in a hotel. It was hard not to feel like a hick from the sticks, because that’s what she was.

  The room had twin beds, pushed together so the large mosquito net suspended from the ceiling enclosed both. There was a small bedside table and another table by the door. Each held a candle and a box of matches, the only light available once the electricity was turned off for the night.

  The bathroom had a toilet, a sink and a tiled shower stall with no curtain. She had worried at first that she would splash water all over the tiny room, but the joke was on her. At full force, the water poured only in a small stream, and its temperature fluctuated randomly between tepid and cold.

  For a fleeting moment, she imagined Bobby at the front desk asking—politely—for other accommodations. She, on the other hand, appreciated the adventure.

  At the restaurant downstairs, she found her three comrades already seated. Breakfast was buffet style and featured standard Western fare of scrambled eggs, bacon and bread.

  “Somebody got her beauty sleep last night,” Drew said.

  Mary Kate smiled slightly, trying to figure out if he was flirting or just teasing her about sleeping through dinner. “I only meant to rest my eyes, but my head hit that pillow and that was all she wrote.”

  Two college-age girls and a young man wearing a Penn State T-shirt checked out the buffet before settling at a small table beside them. Neal leaned back and addressed them. “Are you guys with Summit?”

  Their faces lit up and they excitedly moved to the larger table. They were Courtney, Rachel and Kirby, all public health majors who would be heading off after the climb on a four- week internship in a Tanzanian village. Mary Kate envied their experience. She would have loved the chance to work abroad during college, but Savannah State didn’t have many opportunities like that for students in the special education department. Besides, that probably would have meant staying in school for an extra semester, which would have kept her from graduating in time to take the job in Mooresville. Her whole life would be different if—

  “Mary Kate’s been sleeping since we got here,” Drew told them.

  “That’s right. Just four more days of that and I’ll be caught up.”

  Courtney said, “You should have seen Rachel. She slept all the way from Detroit to Amsterdam, then from Amsterdam to here.”

  “I think I have necrophilia or something,” Rachel said.

  Everyone in the group exchanged quizzical looks until Kirby said in a gentle but nonetheless patronizing voice, “Honey, I think the word you’re searching for is narcolepsy…unless you’re trying to tell us that you enjoy having sex with dead people.”

  Rachel blushed furiously as the group erupted in laughter. Mary Kate liked the new arrivals immediately.

  Neal jerked his thumb in Drew’s direction. “Drew’s bags didn’t come, so if you girls can spare him some of your underwear, he’ll be ever so thankful.”

  “Let’s see who we’re missing,” Mei said, pulling out her document folder. “Ann and Nikki from Minneapolis…Addison, Cyn and Javier from Miami…and Jim and Brad from Dallas. I guess they’ll get in this afternoon from Amsterdam.”

  From the way Kirby had called Rachel honey, Mary Kate guessed they were a couple. That meant Courtney might be up for sharing a tent. She seemed nice, and thi
s was her first trip abroad as well. That would give them a lot to talk about after they turned in.

  Drew stood and stretched. “Anyone up for a walk into town? I need to pick up a few things…obviously. And they said there was an Internet café a couple of blocks off that circle where we switched buses.”

  Everyone seemed eager to send a message to home, and they set out together for the short walk into town. They passed a small stand where an enterprising local was selling sodas and candy. Mei pointed out that locals depended heavily on tourism for their livelihood, so they all stopped for a snack, even though they had just finished breakfast.

  Mary Kate was still fascinated by the details she gathered as they walked by the simple shacks that served as homes for whole families. Women, some with babies strapped to their shoulders, scratched in scraggly gardens while older children played nearby. “Wonder where the men are?”

  “It’s Sunday,” Drew said. “They’re on the couch drinking a beer, watching the game.”

  She kicked at him playfully.

  Mei walked closer so she could keep her voice low. “Don’t laugh. That’s probably not far off, at least for the Tanzanian equivalent. The women do all the work at home, even if the husband doesn’t have a job.” She smacked Neal in the stomach as he nodded. “Don’t get any ideas.”

  Mary Kate loved the lighthearted way Mei and Neal interacted. They had spontaneity, precisely what was missing from her relationship with Bobby. Not only were all her activities with Bobby painstakingly planned, so was the way they communicated with each other. Anything that went outside the lines—like her refusal to take the engagement ring or her interest in coming to Africa—disrupted their flow. Hell, it wasn’t just Bobby, she realized. It was practically everyone in her life, with the exception of Deb and her Aunt Jean. No wonder she always felt so hemmed in. The whole path of her life was already drawn, just waiting for her to walk down.

  “Earth to Mary Kate.”