by Stan Mason
‘Roll over!’ she panted softly, touching him between the legs to give him an extra fillip in the action. ‘Roll over!’
‘What was that?’ he asked with a tinge of surprise sounding in his voice as he felt her hands hold him gently. ‘Kiss me hard, real hard, and then roll over. Let me get on top!’ she declared urgently, her head leaning backwards as she held on to her desire. ‘I want to be on top!’
Dexter was delighted at the intervention. She was French. She knew exactly how to please a man while gaining the greatest pleasure for herself at the same time. He felt himself primed for the ultimate result and kissed her profusely on the lips until they could hardly breathe before continuing for a while with a hundred short kisses all over her body. Then as he began to boil over, he decided to do what she had asked him. And, as he turned to allow her to get on top of him, he rolled off the stone parapet of the Embankment and fell savagely into the waters of the Thames!
Shipwreck
In a very troubled world, there appear to be many people with xenophobic tendencies who detest the idea of a multi-racial or multi-cultural society, resisting such ideals with a determination to the bitter end. Conversely, many other try bravely to promote the integration. However strongly anyone feels on the matter, it is almost certain to take at least a few centuries before modern man can begin to condition himself to the influx of creeds and coloured people into Western society. The fact is that although the world is changing in attitude substantially, mainly as a result of technology and travel worldwide whereby people attune themselves to the sight, sounds and cultures of people in other nations, even though many minds and prejudices take time to adapt quickly. Admittedly in the early stages, suspicion and resistance between white and coloured people built up to a high degree. Coloured people were regarded as slaves brought from Africa or the West Indies and very ignorant. As a result, they were regarded as lesser-class citizens. As time passed by, they gained more respect in society, integrating into a cosmopolitan society, determined to defend their rights. For many years, people of different creeds and nationalities sat on a powder keg anticipating the worst but, in the effluxion of time, attitudes change and there is hope for humanity on the horizon. Yet human-beings are their own worst enemies. They want to fight each other to the death all the time. Racial violence even occurs between people of the same skin as is evidenced by the Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. However, as time passes, there is likely to be some mollification of attitude in terms of mixed marriages but it will still take another hundred years or so to settle the situation. It’s amazing, however, that in moments of crisis, such xenophobic tendencies quickly fade and diminish, especially where one faces imminent death... to prove that man can live with man, whatever his creed, whatever his colour.
The liner ‘Alumnia’ was something special. It was the flagship of the Eastern/Asian Line... a brand new one hundred-and-fifty-million pound vessel which had just begun its maiden voyage. It had been fitted out with the most modern technology, boasting that it had been fitted out with every facility for twelve hundred passengers and crew. These included numerous shops, two entertainment theatres, a hair-dressing and beauty salon, a well-equipped gymnasium, three swimming pools, saunas, a bowling green, two tennis courts, three enormous dining rooms, There were numerous rooms for a host of activities throughout the days of sailing while waiters were on hand everywhere,
Suffice it to say, the cost of the trip was excessive but the passengers had the highest expectation of enjoying an absolutely super cruise. The brochure itself was superb. In fact it was outstanding, highlighting every place it was to visit and all the activities and advantages to the passengers. The first stage was to be taken to the Gulf of Aden and then to sail into the Indian Ocean. The return trip would feature landing at the Somali Republic, Ethiopia, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, before landing in Egypt. There they would have time to visit the great Pyramids of Gizeh and see the wonderful Sphinx before going to the Cairo Museum to view the sarcophagus and the artefacts of King Tutenkhamen.
The launch was a fantastic sight to view, heralded by the presence of a military brass band on the quay, with streamers flying in all directions, to give the incident an aura of great pomp and circumstance Then the liner slipped away majestically into the water at the start of its journey. However less than seventeen hours later, tragedy struck the ship without warning. No one really knew the reason why the vessel had struck a rock as it sailed towards the Gulf of Aden. After all, over the past five hundred years there had never been any sightings of rocks in that part of the water. Reports published on the following day would speculate that the helmsman of the Alumnia had fallen asleep on the job or that the rock was a mutation occurring from a recent earthquake, or that the liner had been coasting far too close to the shore and had struck an unseen rock there. Whatever the reason, the result was the same... there was a gaping hole in the hull which was so large that sea water poured incessantly into the vessel. It was so unexpected and gushed in so fast that the crew had little chance of closing any of the hatchways to prevent it racing through the ship. Ultimately, a large number of cabins were soon filled with seawater as well as the portside gangways on the lower decks. In a very short time, the effect was devastating. The great monster began to list until it lay on one side in the sea, crippled and immobile. There were almost twelve hundred passengers and crew on board at the time and, out there alone in the sea, their lives were in dire jeopardy.
Nathan Cohen, a passenger on ‘B’ deck had gone below to take his usual afternoon nap. Before he had the chance to undress and climb into his bunk he found himself standing in a foot of water shortly after the moment of impact. In a movement, which clearly saved his life, he rushed immediate to open up the cabin door and struggled up the gangway to the main deck with great difficulty. This was due to the fact that the portside hull listed heavily on one side. Eventually, he found a safe haven, away from the gushing water, and mopped the perspiration which had formed on his brow. He was a short heavy man and the exertion from his fear and panic took its toll on him. He sat on the floor, which had originally been the wall of the ‘A’ deck, puffing and panting as he strove to return to normality. What was happening here? He had come on an expensive cruise to relax and was now in fear of losing his life at sea.
Rajiv, another passenger, was already there, huddled in the open section with a white tablecloth wrapped around his body. He had been walking along the deck, looking out to sea, when the ship struck the rock. Some furniture came flying out at him as the water gushed through the liner and he had caught the tablecloth in his hand. He suddenly felt a cold shiver run down his spine and wrapped the tablecloth around him to keep him warm. He stared at the other man bleakly with fear showing in his dark brown eyes.
‘Phew! That was a close one!’ uttered Nathan after a short pause. ‘I thought I was gone there. The water flooded into the cabin and... well what is going on! Do you have any idea? There was a sudden shudder and all hell broke loose.’
‘I think we’re all going to die,’ bleated the Indian unhappily, drawing the tablecloth closer around him as he shivered with fright.
Nathan inhaled deeply, trying to analyse their present position as best he could. ‘Don’t be scared,’ he comforted sympathetically. ‘There’s nothing to fear. The people in charge know exactly what to do in an emergency. They understand how to handle situations of this nature. A crisis doesn’t necessarily end in disaster. My you, some life-jackets wouldn’t go amiss.’
‘I hope you’re right,’ returned Rajiv sadly.. ‘If anything happens to me my business in Britain will collapse. I’m the only one in the family capable of keeping it going. They all rely on me for their livelihood. If I should die because... ’ he tailed off miserably.
‘Have you come on this cruise with someone?’...
‘No... I’m alone. I haven’t had a holiday for six years and my family pressed me to go on
a cruise. I’m not married although a bride is waiting for me in India.. The main problem is that I’ve never seen her or spoken to her.
‘Oh dear!’ commented Nathan sombrely. ‘That doesn’t sound right. Are you going to marry her?’
‘I don’t think so,’ relied Rajiv. ‘I am what you might call a modern British man. I don’t believe in arranged marriages. Unfortunately my family are not in agreement with me on that point. Are you here with your wife?’
Nathan’s face turned to sadness and he shrugged his shoulders aimlessly. ‘Fraid not,’ he responded. ‘She passed away two years ago. Cancer. I’m a widower. In honour of her memory, I grieved for those two years but then I received the cruise brochure in the post and I couldn’t resist it. I felt I had to do it even as I had to go alone. ‘
‘And now, like me, you must be prepared to die for your miserable choice. It’s all very sad.’
‘Don’t be so pessimistic. We’re not going to die. I told you, the people who run this ship know exactly what to do in an emergency, And this does seem to be an emergency, to say the least. Life is made up of unusual incidents. It’s how we deal with them that proves our courage.’ He stared at the floor realising that it had been the wall only ten minutes earlier. ‘What sort of business are you in?’
‘Garment manufacturing,’ replied the Indian readily. ‘We make ladies fashions... high quality. I’m very proud to say that some of them are sold in the very big stores in London.’
Nathan smiled whimsically as his mind moved back to his own personal history. ‘My family used to do that many years ago. you know.’ he related, as though caring nothing for their immediate predicament. ‘They came from Russian in the early 1900s to escape the tyranny of the Tsar and the pogroms, as many Jewish people did in those days. When they arrived in Britain, they started up in ladies fashion wear just like you did when you came. But all that was in the past... long ago!’
‘You don’t look Jewish to me,’ commented Rajiv.
‘You mean I don’t have a long nose and long piyers,’ laughed Nathan easily. ‘Piyers... long sideboards. You should ignore that kind of propaganda although I have to admit there are man Jews like that. But I think you’ll find that the world has changed. People aren’t types any more. I mean your family came from India but you regard yourself as British, don’t you. Anyway, to get back to what I was saying, my grandparents worked for a time in a sweat-shop and eventually saved up enough money to start their own business. Ladies fashions. It was built up over the years and they bought up other businesses which had gone pear-shaped through bad management. Eventually they sold up to a company on the Stock Market which exported garments all over the world. Because of that, I was able to afford to send my three sons to public schools so that they could become an accountant, a lawyer and a doctor. Like you, we Jews believe we have to prove ourselves in a foreign land. We have to become better than the local inhabitants. I really don’t know why. I suppose its in our blood.’
‘My family come from Delhi,’ related Rajiv candidly. ‘They’re Sikhs although none of us wear turbans or keep our hair long any more. We first moved to Kenya. A lot of Indians did so in those days. It was a much more profitable trading area. But, in the end, the East Africans reacted badly and they forcibly evicted us. We all had British passports so we came to Britain and brought all our savings with us to invest in our businesses which have thrived over the years. I’m pleased to say that my two younger brothers will carry on after me... especially if I perish here and now. What do you do for employment?’
‘Me?’ responded Nathan slowly. ‘I’m in technology. That’s the game today. I’m deep into the software business. It’s much simpler than manufacturing ladies garments and a great deal more profitable.’
‘That stuff’s far too complicated for me,’ uttered Rajiv casually. ‘I stick to what I know.’
At that moment, the sound of approaching footsteps could be heard and the tall figure of Taunton Smith walked towards them unsteadily along the wall of the vessel. He was a West Indian dressed in most unco-ordinated garish clothes comprising a bright red shirt and a colourful green bandana around his neck, a broad-rimmed sombrero, light brown trousers and white shoes. He boasted a small moustache and beard, wore a pair of sunglasses with white rims, and sported a wide grin, showing a pair of brown-stained teeth.
‘Hi!’ he greeted in a casual manner as he came across the other two. ‘It ‘aint easy walkin’ on the walls o’ this tub. Can ah shift in with you dudes until dey cum an’ find us? Where the hell is everyone else anyway? Dere was s’posed to be mor’n twelve hundred people on board dis boat but ah ‘ainst see any o’ dem.’
‘It’s not a boat! It’s a ship... a cruise liner!’ retorted Nathan sharply. ‘A boat is something you row in... a small vessel with or without sails.’ He rolled his eyes upwards as a token of intolerance.
’Forgive me for mah ignorance, Mr. Teacher,’ riposted the West Indian, although his manner indicated that he was less than angry. ’Ah ’aint seen the hundreds o’ people on this ship! Is that any better for yuh?’
’Don’t take any notice of me,’ uttered Nathan backing down. ’I was getting ready to go to sleep ten minutes ago and suddenly found myself up to my knees in water. I’m still in my sleeping mode. Come and join us! I paid over three thousand pounds for this trip so why shouldn’t I be allowed to entertain a guest on the upturned wall of this sinking liner. Why not?’
Taunton stared at Rajiv, puzzled as he noticed the tablecloth wrapped around his body. ’Hey, man!’ he rattled easily. ’What’s wid de cloth? It ’aint dat cold here!’
The Indian looked at him with a doleful expression on his face ignoring the comment. ’That’s right,’ he continued. ’It cost me the same price for this cruise and I’m damned sorry I booked it,’ he remarked ruefully to Nathan, bewailing his fate.
Taunton released a loud laugh. ’Three grand!’ he shouted in surprise. ’Man... you must be stackin’ it away somewhere to afford dat kinda bread. But dat’s where ah go it on you two! Yah see, ah didn’t pay a cent for dis cruise, man. Not a cent. Mah girl friend won it in a fashion competition guessing de names o’ three pop stars in the nineties. Just one phone call an’ it was hers. She’s a real lucky woman ah can tell yah, An’ don’t forget she’s got me as well. Dat counts fer sump’n!’
’Where is this woman of yours?’ asked Rajiv point-blank. ’In the name of safety, shouldn’t she be here with you now?’
’Don’t you worry ’bout her. She’s right behind me... makin’ her face up befo’ she cums on deck. Yah know what woman are like... especially dows in fashion.’