Coming Home

Chapter 5

Derrick had slept like a baby in his cabin. He'd been overly elated to such an extent that he'd fallen asleep smiling. It didn't just stop there, no, he'd even dreamt of he and Veil playing together in their old age with lots of grandchildren gathered around them. It was such a well-painted dream with lots of pink flowers in the background.

When, at last, he did wake up, Derrick threw off the duvet he'd covered with, away from his body. He brushed his teeth quickly, had a quick bath, then went straight off to the second floor of the ship where Wale and some other attendants lived.

‘Knock! Knock! Knock!’

No response.

‘Knock! Knock! Knock!’

There was still no response.

He was just about to knock, the third time, when the door pulled open from the inside, revealing a sleepy-eyed Wale.

Derrick threw his arms around Wale's shoulders, leaving Wale in bewilderment; complete bewilderment.

“Good morning, Sir. . . umm. . . Derrick,” said Wale.

“Good morning indeed, Wale! Guess what.” Derrick untangled himself from Wale, although leaving both hands placed on the latter's shoulders as they faced each other, directly.

“Umm. . . we just safely arrived Europe?”

Derrick smacked his own head with his palm, his mouth in an inverted ‘U’ form.

Sheepishly, Wale stepped out from his room, completely. He closed the door shut, then spread out his arms, saying, “Well, even you can tell I'm not good in guessing.”

Ignoring this, Derrick said, “She said ‘yes’.”

“Who?”

“Miss Veil.”

“She really did?”

“Yes!”

A smile cut across Wale's face in jubilation.

“Congratulations, Derrick!” Wale raised both arms in clenched hands. “I'm really happy for you o! In fact, the others need to hear this!”

“Others? No, please d—”

Before Derrick could even interject, Wale had already dashed inside to announce to his colleagues.

The seven colleagues in the room were so excited for Derrick as could be. Congratulatory cries spread heavily across the room. One of the men even suggested that the whole ship be informed of this great news.

“It should be a night party,” someone added.

A night party it would be.

They asked him when the wedding would take place, and Derrick said, “As soon as possible. You'd all get to find out tonight!”

He was confident it would be the best surprise party for Miss Veil.

THE FIVE tiptoed up the stairs from the basement. Ratty led the way, before the others. They moved quickly, yet stealthily. Ratty reduced his pace before the first floor, before looking left and right to avoid detection.

There was no one, host clear.

He beckoned to the others and, together, they moved to the third door on this passage.

“What are you doing man, do you wanna get us killed?” Jarius asked, as he watched Ratty about to jump into the room. “What if someone's there?”

Ratty turned to reply, but was moved to do otherwise when they heard someone from the deck above them, descending down the stairs. He ran inside with the others while they closed the door, gently and noiselessly.

“Pheew,” they gasped.

The room they were in was surprisingly in contrast to the room they'd be shackled in, previously. It was much larger and decent. It had a huge bed under the little window that exhibited the vast tide of the sea. It even had an adjoining kitchen. Beside the entrance to the kitchen, there was a towering cabinet with some chinas in it.

Max jumped into the bed and kicked off his shoes, muttering something uneven, while Ratty marched for the cabinet, opened it slightly, pushed a hand in, then pulled out a key. With this, he went to the door and, to their utmost disbelief, locked it.

Then it dawned on the others.

“You're obviously not new to this room,” Kofi remarked.

“Neither are you to the ship,” Jarius added.

From where everyone stood, the shrill from the deck sounded much closer. People's voices could be heard. In the mix of it all, suddenly, an automatic alarm sounded in everyone room, theirs included.

“What the heck's that, man?” Jarius asked, perplexed.

“Breakfast time,” Max and Ratty said in unison.

“Who are you two?” Nathaniel couldn't help but ask.

Ever since he'd been in the ship, they'd both been acting too peculiarly. At this point, it couldn't be any clearer that they had an absolute idea about everything that's been happening in the ship.

Ratty signed, then smirked.

“We are — I mean, ‘we were’ — ship attendants.”

“You're what?!” everyone asked, unanimously.

“Ship attendants,” Max repeated, this time.

Kofi stepped forward.

“I don't get it, you both worked on this ship?”

“What were two ship attendants doing down there, hands tied like prisoners?” asked Nathaniel.

“Please, why not have a seat first, then we could answer some of your questions?” Ratty stood up and went into the kitchen.

After half a breath of contemplating, they finally assented and sat on the large bed.

“Good thing we've still got some beverages, ehn Maxy?” Ratty came out with his usual smile. On one hand, he held a cornflake carton, while in the other there was a big bowl. He dropped the latter on the floor, then used his now free hand to drag a mat from underneath the bed which he spread quickly and placed the cornflake and bowl on. “Would you mind joining us, boys?”

Max got down from the bed and sat Indian-style.

The mat was very wide, such that it was as though it was meant for the number of people present in that room. The others quickly filed in, while Ratty returned for the kitchen where he got some spoons, a jug of water, and some milk.

All five of them made a circle around the big bowl.

“They're having breakfast up on deck, then why shouldn't we do so as well?” Ratty remarked to none in particular, adding some milk into the flakes he'd turned in the bowl. He then raised the jug of water and channeled some water into it, causing a trickling sound in their ears.

Spoons in hands, they begun devouring their meal.

While they are, Nathaniel made a sneak peek at Max. He realised how well-built the latter was. Just like Ratty and Kofi, Max was also dark-skinned.

Of course, they had differing traits as well. Max and Ratty seemed to speak like Southern Americans, Nelson noted, while Kofi sounded clearly Ghanaian.

Ratty's voice broke through Nathaniel's thoughts as they ate.

“We, indeed, were ship attendants. We've worked in this ship for five good years. Every single skunk sailing across the tides in this ship know (in all certainty) Ratty and Max. We're known to be thick as thieves, and the apple of the ship's eyes. We had earned the favour of every single mercenary, leaving us with an incredibly high and clean reputation.

“Our dream finally came to life when we were promoted to sailors, so we thought. The ocean was our life, we became attendants in the first place, because of it. As kids, Max and I always dreamed to have a peek at the beautiful waves, as it ran ashore to embrace our tender feet on those bright, sunny days at the beach, back in the States—”

Kofi cut in through Ratty's words. “Wait, wait, sorry for cutting in, but do you mean you've both been friends since you were both kids?”

Ratty smiled and nodded.

“And you're from the States. . . Is that America?”

He nodded again.

“Oh, I see!” Jarius the Jamaican remarked.

Curious Nathaniel asked, “What city in America do you both come from?”

“Detroit city.”

Not knowing what else to say, Nathaniel made a mental note with a nod.

Ratty excused them to keep the dishes, supported by Nathaniel. The latter insisted to aid, for it was the custom of most Nigerians to assist in washing the dishes used in a shared meal. Although Ratty interjected severally, he could only compromise later on.

In the kitchen, Nathaniel asked Ratty what sort of ship they were in.

“What kind of ships do you know?” the latter replied, rather.

Arching an eyebrow and aching his head, Nathaniel said, “I can remember three or four that I learnt back in my secondary school days.”

“Do you mean highschool?” Ratty asked.

“Yes. We call it secondary school in my country. I can remember that I learnt about the cargo, passenger, tanker and, I think, the fishing vessel ships!”

“That's a kudos, Nat, in being able to remember so many. Well, from your list, this is a passenger ship. This particular one you're in is renowned across all continents. Africa, Asia, Europe, America and Australia!”

“Wow, it must really feel nice to visit all those places!” Nathaniel remarked.

Ratty nodded.

The former looked over his shoulder where the others were seated, discussing in low voices, then he turned his gaze back at Ratty and observed him. He still had many questions in his head, but knew they could only be answered one at a time.

“How did you meet Max?”

Ratty smirked, as he wiped his hands dry.

“He's my brother.”

Nathaniel chuckled. “You're joking right? You don't even have any physical or facial resemblances. Take for instance your nose. It's pointed, his is flat.” But on careful observation of Ratty, he added, “Brothers in what sense?”

“Umm. . . we're actually orphans.”

Nathaniel was obviously unprepared for what he heard and could only stutter a few words.

“I'm sorry about that.”

Ratty waved his hand in nonchalance, replacing his stern expression with a smile.

“You shouldn't be. It's a whole length of time ago.”

Nathaniel nodded in agreement.

“Does that mean you both grew up in an orphanage home?”

Ratty chuckled.

“We both few up in the street,” then raising his head to look at Nathaniel, he added, “among gangsters.”

Nathaniel was stuck of words, giving Ratty an excuse to slip back into the room where the others were. Nathaniel shook his head and joined the others.

“We were even planning to get our own ship, probably a High Speed Craft,” Nathaniel heard Max telling the others.

The others were listening closely to the details he gave, under his deep voice.

“And that's where all the problem came in,” Ratty quickly added as he sat on the bed and looked at the others beneath him, on the floor, with an unreadable expression.

Their attention were now averted to the latter as their interests had been piqued.

“How was that a problem?” Kofi asked.

“Think dude, think. That was a mistake we had to make that had almost cost us our everything.”