by Damien Dsoul
Title Page
THE STORY OF CAYA
The Makings of a Slave
By
Damien Dsoul
Publisher Information
The Story Of Caya Published in 2012 by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Copyright © Damien Dsoul 2012
The right of Damien Dsoul to be identified as author of this book has been asserted in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyrights Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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.”
***
Catherine closed her door behind her and went and plumbed down on the bed, exhausted from the long trip and the same time annoyed with her parents. Her eyes roamed the spacious room, her ears listened to the silence. She unzipped her bag and took out her hand grip that contained her toiletries and other stuff and went into the bathroom to arrange them in the medicine cabinet. Since we’re here on holiday, might as well make like we’re on holiday, she thought to herself as she placed her shampoo, tooth brush and other accessories beside each other inside the cabinet. She closed the lid and gazed at her reflection in the mirror. It wasn’t a happy face that stared back at her. Her eyes looked dowdy, her blonde hair looked mussed up and there were etches of sleep lines across her cheek. She turned on the tap and splashed water on her face then proceeded to take off her clothes. She jumped into the shower stall and sighed with relief as warm water rained down on her. It was the first thing today that made her feel good about herself. She wanted to remain in the shower, day-dream that she was back home and that Michael was here with her. She wished she could cuddle up to him right now. Michael always said nice things to her; she would feel real safe if only he was here. She would make time to call him later, or maybe see if they could communicate via Skype. Its daytime here, meaning it’ll be dark back home. She could wait.
She turned off the shower and waited for some of it to run down her body. There came a thumping sound coming from her room. She grabbed the towel and held it in front of her and stepped out of the shower stall. She peeked into the room and there was Elias dropping a second bag on her bed. He caught sight of her and turned to look at her. For a few seconds their eyes held each other, then she realised she was holding her towel and it afforded him much view of her body. She quickly unfurled the towel to cover her nakedness. Elias went on smiling at her; his never betrayed that he was moved by the sight of her near nakedness. She was flushed by it.
“Sorry, but I came to drop off a second bag of yours. Mrs. Morgan said I should leave it in your room.”
“Oh, yes ... thank you.”
He nodded his head and turned and left, closing the door behind him.
Catherine wrapped the towel properly around her torso and started offloading stuff from her bags and putting them away in the closet. There was an clock on a cabinet beside her bed with an alarm. She set the alarm for the next half hour and then fell on the bed and slept off.
There was the buzz of the alarm waking her up an hour and a half later. She reached for it and depressed the button down, killing the noise. She went into the bathroom to wash her face when a knock came on her door and her Mom entered and told her she and her father were heading downstairs to get something to eat and if she wanted to join them. Catherine told her she would coming down in a while. She took out her iPad and searched through her photos application at an album that contained snapshots of her and Michael together. She traced her fingers over his features; such handsomeness, she thought to herself.
They’d met in her first year of college and had been inseparable ever since. Their relationship had had little or no mishaps or setbacks at all. Lately the talk of them actually getting married in the near future had begun to creep into their conversation. Though playful about it, merely skirting around the subject, now that she got to thinking about it, it didn’t seem all that far-fetched. A bit of it sounded frivolous enough - just the sort thing two young adults with lots of time to day-dream would speculate about. They were both still virgins and Michael was a devout Catholic same as she. He told her it was how things are meant to be for them. It was their destiny to be together and wait it out till when they got married. They were on his Dad’s Oldmobile close to a lake, just the both of them, and he’d knelt before her like he was about to propose and sworn an oath that he loved her and that no other woman would ever cross his path except her, and that for her he will hold his wanton desire in check till when they’d tied the knot. It was a secret they shared only with each other, not even her best friend Meg knows about it. Although Meg too was a virgin and unlike Catherine she wasn’t yet lucky in having found a boyfriend yet. Catherine took some pleasure in knowing that her friend was yet to experience the connection she and Michael shared. Though who knows what she might be up to thi
s summer. Meg had told her she was planning on travelling to Vancouver to spend two weeks with her older sister; who knew what might happen when she arrives there. It gave Catherine a sweet pang of jealousy as in her mind she conjured her best friend making love to some Canadian fellow and here she was, stuck with her parents in some country in Africa. Who knows what she might do while here to have some fun instead of being around them much of the time.
She closed her iPad and looked for what to wear. She thought of what her Mom might be wearing and wouldn’t be surprised if she was already downstairs in her bikini outfit. She didn’t feel like giving herself or anybody else that sort of satisfaction right now. She put on a t-shirt, jeans and flip-flops and took with her a romance novel she’d been reading back home with her sunglasses, went and glanced at herself in the mirror before leaving the room and apartment suite.
A black man stood in front of the elevator doors waiting for it to open. He was tall and athletic and wore a sleeveless shirt with basketballer-type shorts. A knapsack bag hung over his shoulder and a towel from his neck. Catherine approached with caution. The man turned to glance at her as he heard her feet approach; his face devoid of expression. Catherine gave a shy smile and mumbled ‘Hi’ to him, but he didn’t acknowledge it. They stood there waiting for the elevator doors to open. Suddenly it did and they both stepped inside and he pressed the button for the lobby floor as the doors closed on them and took them downward. Catherine stood behind him and felt dwarfed by the man. Her eyes admired his stature. She counted the seconds for the elevator to arrive at the first floor, worrying suddenly he might turn around to get at her. Eerily she felt excited and afraid of that happening.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened into the lobby. The black man walked out of it with not even a backward glance and headed towards the hotel’s front doorway. Catherine watched him walk out into the sunlight before going in search of her parents.