Swirl Romance Stories

by Louis Alexandre Forestier

  “He’ll be following my steps too.” Concluded the girl showing her quick thinking processes.

  “It’s very possible, because you can recognize him.”

  Nubia broke into tears, rested her face on Marcos´ shoulder and cried.

  “This is a never ending story. I thought we were safe. I will end up killed.”

  “No, if we can prevent it.” Expressed Murphy.

  “Any idea who might be the second man?” Inquired Marcos.

  “We have no clue, nor do we know where they get his influence.” Then he added addressing Nubia.

  “You must leave the country. Do you have some sort of papers, I mean documents?”

  “No. They brought me kidnapped.”

  “We cannot go down the usual lanes.” Pondered the sergeant. “I’ll go to speak with friends I have in the FBI, and see if they can solve your papers problem. Where were you born?”

  “In Sudan, but I spent most of my life in Ethiopia.” “Repeat your complete name.” Said police opening an annotations book.

  “Amilah Koumi.”

  “Tell me exactly the place and date you were born, and the places you´ve been living in Sudan and in Ethiopia.”

  The conversation lasted fifteen minutes while the girl was trying to remember all details of her sad life. At the end Eric said.

  “We’ll see what documents can we get for you and how you can get out of the US. The FBI will need to question you. Do you agree with that? This goes for you as well.” Added Eric addressing Marcos. Both youngsters agreed with a resigned gesture.

  Ten days later Eric Murphy phoned Loretta.

  “Hey Loretta how are you. I´d like to invite you and Vince to dinner at home this coming Saturday.”

  “I didn´t known about your culinary skills. Will it be Irish or American food?”

  “I’m afraid all I can offer is either Chinese or Kosher food. On my block I have a delivery store of each.”

  “ Vince likes Chinese food.”

  “Fine. Tony also likes Chinese food.”

  “Who is Tony?”

  “My dog.”

  Despite his being a regular customer of the Chinese food restaurant Eric was waiting them wearing a kitchen apron.

  “I prepare the salads myself. Also the drinks. That is my true Irish specialty.”

  The shipment arrived about twenty minutes later and all proceeded to eat, including Tony. The conversation inevitably turned on the events of the past days.

  “Well, what do you know about Nubia and her boyfriend?

  “They were set to leave the country from San Francisco on a trip to Mexico City and then to Buenos Aires.”

  “ Cold she get documents to prove her nationality?”

  “I understand that they obtained a passport in an Ethiopian consulate but not in New York. They have not trusted me any more details.”

  “Then they are safe.”

  “Fortunately yes. Theirs is a story that ends up well, in the middle of so much misfortune.”

  “ I wonder if she knows she owes her life to you?”

  “Actually to a chain whose first link was Walt Kolski and that includes you two.”

  Eric prepared and brought some drinks.

  “This is the only thing that Tony does not participate. Tell me, do you already have the date for your marriage?”

  “We are preparing the invitations. Yours will be the first to be sent.”

  “So you have finally been able to arrange your papers and leave?” Said Uncle Charley making an effort not to show his broken voice when speaking.

  “We have no choice.” Replied Marcos. “I´m worried because we are leaving you here and about what will you do with your life, old friend.”

  “Oh! I’ll be fine, do not worry about me.”

  “But you’ll be all alone in this house and in this workshop.”

  Charley lowered his head and said somewhat sadly

  “No way! After staying with you two I would never get used to loneliness again. No, my New York stage is finished after twenty years in this city. But, although I do not recall having told you about them I have my relatives in Mississippi. One brother and three sisters and a total of twelve nephews as far as I know. I own an old wooden house where I can move immediately, and take my workshop and my craft along with me. Lately my sisters are insisting in my return to the family, and your stay was the only thing that kept me here. I’m not getting any younger and I look forward to be surrounded by my own people.”

  The day of the departure Nubia and Marcos entered the car of an agency that took them to some unknown destination and Charley entered immediately home not to see a part of his life going away.

  Chapter 17

  Gonzalo Ferrari and his wife Fernanda had already been waiting for two hours the plane from Mexico City that was arriving with delay. They had not seen their nephew Marcos for nearly two years, and as they knew that at that age boys change quickly they had a certain expectation.

  “He is coming with a girlfriend, an African woman if I understood his email correctly.” Said Gonzalo.

  “You mean she’s black?”

  “I guess so.”

  At that time the monitor indicators set in the ceiling indicated that the plane the Ferrari were expecting had landed. The couple went to the passenger arrival area.

  Marcos and Nubia emerged from a cloud of Chinese passengers who for some reason had butted the same flight. The red hair and large size boy and her black face stood out among the Asians, generally shorter.

  Fernanda put her glasses on to anticipate what they were to find.

  “Marcos looks as always, and the woman is beautiful. She has a noble bearing.”

  Marcos hugged his uncle and aunt in the typical and somewhat overacting fashion of Argentineans, including the shedding some tears, and not only in female eyes.

  “Let me introduce my fiancée Alimah. We all call her Nubia.”

  The boy had warned his companion that she would be kissed by almost everyone, because that was the habit in the country, particularly with women and especially the pretty ones. A little surprised, the daughter and granddaughter of Nubian warriors had to put her cheek to her new acquaintances. Meanwhile Fernanda did not take her eyes off the young woman analyzing particularly her outfit and hair dress. Nubia was wearing a typical African folk dress, not necessarily Sudanese or Ethiopian, printed with strong warm colors that suited her perfectly. Several copper necklaces were displayed around her long neck, hiding a simple metallic necklace from which hung a simple leather case. Long earrings dangled of her ears made of the same material and her makeup highlighted her extremely exotic type.

  “Nubia does not speak Castilian, but you can speak in English with her.” Warned Marcos.

  Fernanda turned out to be professor of Castilian and literature, and spoke English fairly well. She also acted as a cicerone from the beginning explaining Nubia what she was finding in the new country. Fernanda explained that despite the political and social turmoil and economic outrages Argentines were satisfied with their country, in fact much more than with themselves. She was indicating the places they passed from the Ezeiza International Airport to the Ferrari´s residence in the neighborhood of Palermo in the City of Buenos Aires.

  The first impression the girl received was that of a relatively flat city, with messy traffic and impetuous and sulky drivers.

  “Aren´t there any blacks in Argentina?” Asked Nubia somewhat puzzled.

  Fernanda gave a cursory explanation that emphasized the effect of wars and plagues during the XIX century on the African population of Buenos Aires, that had been one third of the total at the time of the colony.

  “But the decisive factor was the massive European immigration of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, which exceeded several times the existing native population.” Explained.”What happened is that the immigration was an essentially male influx of newcomers who sought company among the existing women, essentially a mixture
of Spanish with indigenous and African ethnic components.”

  “So the black genes are there.”Concluded Nubia.

  “They’re submerged and invisibilized under the European alluvium.”

  Nubia and Fernanda felt a strong current of mutual affinity. Above their differences in almost every issue there was a manifest empathy between the two women, one of which seemed to have all the questions and the other all the answers.

  Meanwhile Marcos and his uncle spoke in Castilian about the intentions of the newcomers.

  “ Are you planning to stay in Buenos Aires or go to the farm of your parents in Firmat?”

  Marcos’s parents had a farm of 300 hectares in the province of Santa Fe, in a predominantly rural area.

  “For now in Buenos Aires. Nubia wants to learn Castilian, to finish high school here and then study Nutrition at the University. I plan to resume my studies in agricultural engineering. For that we should be in Buenos Aires or Rosario.”

  “You got any job in mind?

  “Not for now. I´m just arriving.”

  “Listen, the job you had with us until you decided to go abroad is still available. I need someone I can trust to take care of the business when I’m traveling and you already know the job as you have had it for over a year. I need only to update you on some products and new customers.”

  Gonzalo, who was also an agronomist, had a business exporting exotic fruits to the United States and Europe. For business he had to travel thousands of kilometers from the north border with Paraguay to Patagonia to buy fruits and also abroad to sell them.

  “Well, I thank you. I will accept the job. As we will tell you after our departure from New York was a bit … hasty.”

  Arriving at the house the four children of the couple were waiting, two boys and two girls. Although the smallest, one year old, began to sweep as he saw for the first time a person with black skin and dressed so differently, the curiosity and interest of the brothers soon overcame that reaction. Finally he smiled when Nubia picked him up.

  “You seem to be used to dealing with children.” Observed Fernanda. A cloud of sadness invaded Nubia’s face.

  “Yes. I worked in a school in Ethiopia before … happened what happened.”

  Fernanda put one hand on the girl´s shoulder. “ Sorry, I was not aware of this story but there will be time for confidences later.”

  Gonzalo had left in his car to take the kids to school and Nubia had accepted the invitation to accompany them so as to get acquainted with the city. Fernanda and Marcos were sharing a cup of coffee while the boy was emptying the suitcases and bags and sorting things.

  “Nubia is a stunning beauty and a very intelligent woman.” Stated Fernanda.

  “I know the first part and I am interested in your opinion as a professor on the second.”

  “ She shows much interest in everything that surrounds her and picks up things very easily, obvious signs of intelligence.”

  “I do not know what I’ve done to deserve her.”

  “Don´t be fool. You’re a very attractive man for women of any race, and have a sweet nature.”

  Then she changed the subject.

  “For the first days we booked a room for you at an unpretentious nearby hotel. Gonzalo told me you’ve agreed to work with him while you continue your studies, and since we have offices two blocks from here we thought that you might want to rent something in the surroundings.”

  “It’s a good idea.”

  “With time you might want to rent an apartment. In this neighborhood there are many apartment buildings, both new and old. Tomorrow we can go out to visit some estate agents to see what they have available.”

  “You know? I think you’ve become a benchmark for Nubia, something like a guide. She has had a very eventful life in the last two years and needs a kind of older sister to support her in this new environment.”

  “ What she especially needs is you. I see it in her face every time she looks at you.”

  Chapter 18

  Nubia was resting in bed after a devastating work week. She had begun working on a hotel belonging to an international chain the previous Monday and given her lack of experience and her rudimentary Spanish they had ordered her cleaning and conditioning rooms. She had to start somewhere.

  The girl had also enrolled herself in a Castilian language course for non-Spanish speaking immigrants, where she shared the classroom with many Chinese people and another African girl. After a year, once obtained her Ethiopian documents, including her school curriculum, it would be possible to enter in a secondary school for adults. All this took longer since Ethiopia has no embassy or consulate in Argentina and the procedures had to be made through the embassy in Brazil. In all her efforts Nubia had Fernanda´s invaluable help and guide; indeed the woman had self-imposed the task of bringing the girl forward in her adaptation to the new country.

  The new life was extremely busy and sometimes Nubia had no time to think about it. That morning, as Marcos had gone as every Saturday to play football, she dedicated it to rest and plan. After lamenting the fatigues of her new situation, a memory crossed her mind like a lightning. The image of a girl in a dirty shed surrounded by other women in the same condition, after months of abuse and the prospect of continuing in her miserable life, abused and enslaved in some infamous brothel.

  In six months, her objective situation had taken a drastic turn and now Nubia had freedom, a man who loved her by her side, a modest accommodation and food on the table but above all, fundamentally, a life plan, plans for the future, challenging and difficult to carry out but workable. In addition, the shadows and threats due to the persecution she had been subjected to had been left behind. Nubia smiled to herself, plunged back into bed and fell asleep with her mind at peace.

  The first guests had begun to arrive. The vast ballroom was prepared and fully illuminated. Loretta was dressing assisted by her friends in the middle of hysterics every time they found some small unexpected detail. Philip Gardner, his father, persecuted the organizers checking whether all the orders he had given had seen satisfied. At one point he looked at his watch. The religious ceremony would begin in an hour and a half.

  The room was full of guests. The music sounded thunderously and the bride had danced with her husband and her father. At one point she saw through the crowd a well known figure and lunged at him.

  “Eric. You’ve finally arrived. Come, I´ll grant you the next dance.”

  Vince had been deploying an activity which was unusual, dancing with half the women in the room, and went to rest with some pain in his body. After a while Eric joined him.

  “ I haven´t danced in the last thousand years.” Said the veteran policeman.” God, your in-law has invited all Harlem folks.”

  “Like every politician Philip has many acquaintances and many commitments.”

  “Where do all these whites come from?”

  “My family. There you have the Caruso, the De Santis, the D’Angelo and others I do not even now.”

  “I thought your family is not from New York City.”

  “They are not. They come from Atlantic City, Newark and even from Boston.”

  “The typical Italian family.”

  “Right.”

  “ The whole Sicilian Cosa Nostra.” Said provocatively Murphy.

  “Rather the Neapolitan Camorra.” Answered Vince following the joke. “No, they are good people, professionals and working people.”

  At that time there was some commotion and both men saw Philip Gardner running to the door and warmly shaking hands with a newcomer.

  “Who is that?” Asked Murphy.

  “One of Philip´s most important contacts. His name is Herbert Plummer and he is nothing less than the Comptroller at the City Mayor Office. My father-in law takes care of this relationship as gold because he depends on Plummer for his political career. Actually it is this man who has taken Philip up to his current position.”

  “ Look, there he comes over to say hello.
”

  Vince got up and politely greeted the newcomer, then introduced him to Eric.

  At one point the young man looked at his friend and said.

  “Eric. Did you ever think about your retirement?”

  “A thousand times. I am in a position to retire. But I hate the idea of ​​staying alone with my dog ​​wandering into my tiny apartment.”

  “Loretta and I have spoken about you. We wish you moved near us. On the same floor of our building an apartment has been cleared. We would like you to come and see it.”

  Murphy could not hide the pleasure that caused him finding that they had thought about him. The truth was that his loneliness was a concern at that stage of his life.

  “Thanks Vince. I appreciate your invitation. I’ll think about it.”

  “The truth is that our offer is not entirely disinterested. When children arrive Loretta and I will need to leave them with someone, Philip is too busy in politics, and my relatives live too far away and already have many children.”

  Both men burst out laughing drawing the attention of the guests at nearby tables.

  The party lasted three hours yet, and some guests already were leaving. Vince and Eric were slightly drunk, as most attendees. Many men had removed their jackets and ties, and some women had taken off their high-heeled shoes to keep dancing. Vince looked up at the dance floor and sighed. Loretta was dancing the last waltz with Herbert Plummer.

  Epilogue

  Marcos entered the house like a whirlwind and almost without greeting his wife sat at his computer, turned on and connected to the Internet. Patiently Nubia left the books she was reading on the table, walked to where her husband was and sat on his lap. With her eight months pregnancy there was no room between them and the computer desktop.

  “Good afternoon.” She said persuasively. “Want to share with me what´s on your mind?”

  “Yes, Yes. Sorry. I just want to confirm the news.”

  The woman saw that Marcos was opening the New York Times page.

  “What happens? You suddenly feel nostalgic?”

  “No, look at the police report.”