INTO THE VOID

CHAPTER 24: TROUBLE IN PARADISE

The first two days in Ethiopia were amazing. Xaviere and Petrichor were having the time of their lives. The couples’ resort where they stayed was a paradise. There was a soft, big twin bed with even softer sheets on it. There were a lot of pillows on the bed and a comfy duvet. The country was hot; a lot hotter than what Petrichor was used to. Fortunately, there was an air conditioner system installed in their room. Even with the air conditioner on the lowest degree, it was still not as cool as Canada or New York.

On the first night in the room, they found it hard to sleep. They were jet-lagged. Petrichor and Xaviere took a bathe together, they changed into their night clothes; Xaviere brought along the Daffy Duck shirt while Petrichor had this silk dress with buttons on, it was basically a big shirt. They got under the duvet and talked for hours. They spoke about everything. They were bored, tired but could not sleep. They even spoke about how they wanted their future partners to be and what an ideal marriage was. After hours of conversation, they finally passed out next to each other.

In the past two days, they have had so much fun. They went on excursions to different locations. They went to ancient palaces, a zoo and a wildlife reserve. It was quite the thrill. Each day started with breakfast in bread. It was nothing too complicated. Xaviere and Petrichor had their regular morning beverages of Latte and Cappuccino. The addition was the bread; a locally made bread bake on the Tilkili premises. It hard a hard back but was soft inside. They also had fried yam and egg sauce on their plates. Petrichor thought it was too much for a breakfast but Xaviere told her it was normal for Africans to eat heavily meals in the morning.

Andrew tagged along in all their excursions. He was in fact their host and gladly followed them around. He was knowledgeable; he knew a lot about a lot of things. When they went to the monuments, he knew the history speaking extensively about wars and rulers and archeological finding. When they went to the wildlife reserve, he knew about the flora, their characteristics, the ones that can be used as food and those with medicinal properties. When they went to the zoo, Andrew knew about the animals; he knew their behavioral patterns, their mating calls and their territorial actions. He knew what birds were migratory and those that were not. He knew a lot and it was kind of annoying.

Xaviere was used to being the smartest person in the room bur right now, ironically on African soil, he knew very little. Even the things he knew, he did not say because Andrew was more eloquent and as such, Petrichor’s attention was on him. Xaviere was quiet and did not say much during the excursions. There was a dinner that night and like always Andrew tagged along. It was either Andrew was horrible at reading body language or he simply refused to ignore them as he still showed up irrespective of Xaviere’s obvious gloominess.

“…you really should visit Zanzibar sometime; trust me it is a really amazing place to be.” Andrew said with his mouth half full. He had totally disregarded his posh upbringing as he was breaking all the table manners. He was awfully chatty and chewed with his mouth open; Petrichor did the same. She was a New Yorker; they talked while eating all the time. It was nothing new to her but for Andrew it came as a shock to Xaviere. Throughout the night, Andrew and Petrichor were really engrossed in conversations; Xaviere hard contributed. He kept the sanctity of his meal, using his cutlery with optimum control. It was kind of ridiculous though, eating really African food with a fork and knife.

After the meal, there was a little musical show in the restaurant. A live band was up on a stage with traditional drums and a trumpet like instrument. There was a lot of singing and dancing. Petrichor loved it. She danced with the locals and even tried to learn their dance steps. Andrew joined her in the dancing but Xaviere was too shy to dance. He simply watched her from the table. He sat there sipping a cocktail and watching Petrichor, his Petrichor dance with his best friend Andrew.

There were a lot of times in school when Xaviere wished he could enjoy the spotlight as Andrew did. It was not jealousy or anything of that sort. In fact, he looked up to him. But right now, in this moment, Xaviere was filled with envy. He wanted to be the one holding Petrichor by the hands and moving nimbly to foreign music. If this was some other guy she was dancing with, then Xaviere would have known what to feel but how exactly does one react to his girlfriend dancing with his best friend?

“Why are you not dancing?” A voice asked.

Xaviere turned his head to the direction of the voice and saw who asked him the question. It was a lady. She was seated on chair a little distance away from Xaviere’s table. Xaviere was so engrossed in Andrew and Petrichor’s conversation that he failed to notice this woman who sat not too far away. Judging from her accent and facial structure, he could tell she was Ethiopian. Those girls are known for their beauty; a trait this woman represented well.

“I don’t know how to; I'm horrible at it.” Xaviere said.

“Me too…” She said. “Just because I'm Eritrean people just expect me to know how to dance. It is not part of the birth packages. You’re not exactly born and showered with some dance moves.” Xaviere laughed and so did she. “I am only part Eritrean and I did not grow up here. Can they all just get off my case?”

“I understand you totally. I am part Canadian, part Nigerian who grew up partly in the UK and Canada. There are a lot of things people feel I should be able to do just on the basis of my Nigerian genes. A classmate once asked me if I’ve ever eaten lion meat.”

“Oh my God….” The girl said as she laughed with her left hand over her mouth.

“Where exactly are we going to get lion meat from? I live in Canada for crying out loud.” Xaviere said. They both burst out laughing again.

“So, what brings you to Ethiopia?” The girl asked.

“I'm here on vacation. It is mid-semester break and I just wanted to blow off some steam, get a change of environment; you know that sort of thing. What about you?”

“My grandparents live here in Ethiopia. We came to visit; well my parents came, I was dragged along.”

“You don’t want to see your grandparents?” Xaviere asked with a bit of confusion in his voice.

“No, no… don’t get me wrong. I love my grandparents; they are lovely and kind of cute. What I don’t love, is sitting in a plane for six hours from South African to Ethiopia. I hate travelling so much. I love the destinations but I hate the process…”

“I know right, the worst is sitting in a bus or car for hours with luggage crammed in the trunk on those bloody Nigerian roads; so many potholes.” Xaviere said with disgust in his voice.

“The smell of petrol…” She said point her left index finger at Xaviere.

“I know… the nausea, leg cramps, back pains… I hate it all.”

“Me too; I sometimes wish I could just close my eyes and appear in a place, like teleport.” She said.”

“I know right…” Xaviere said sipping from his cup. He murmured something about stupid VOID rules under his breath before dropping the cup on the table.

“I guess I will see you around.” She said

“I guess so too.” Xaviere responded. There was a brief silence. Xaviere expected her to walk away but she sat there like she expected something too. Xaviere sat there sipping his cocktail. He noticed she was still seated so, he looked in her direction and raised his brows. She got up, turned around and walked two steps then suddenly, she turned around and walked back towards Xaviere.

“My name is Alkarma.” She blurted out. “You did not ask for it; so I told you.” She said quite awkwardly.

“Oh, I am Xaviere. I always forget to introduce myself. I'm so sorry. Sometimes, I get to engrossed in conversations and just go off track.” Xaviere said.

“I totally understand.” Alkarma responded.

“Well Alkarma, it’s nice to meet you.” Xaviere said. He stretched his arm out for a handshake and she took it in hers. He hand was soft to touch. In that moment, gently shaking her hand, Xaviere could she for the first time how beautiful she actually was. The girl was fine. She had woolly hair with finely controlled edges and side burns. Xaviere was still looking at her with her hand in his when suddenly, he heard a voice.

“Hey…” It was Petrichor. As he heard the voice, he quickly let go of Alkarma’s hand.

“Petrichor this is Alkarma; Alkarma meet Petrichor…. My…” Xaviere was saying when Petrichor intruded.

“I am his girlfriend.”

“Oh, it is nice to meet you. Hmmm… well this is awkward; now I feel like a complete i***t. OK…bye.” Alkarma said walking off very quickly. Xaviere had never seen Petrichor jealous neither has he heard her refer to herself as his ‘girlfriend’. Xaviere looked very surprised. He watched the Eritrean girl walk off and then turned to Petrichor.

“What just happened?” Xaviere asked.

“What just happened? Are you kidding me? What happened was that you have been gloomy all night, you refused to dance with me and the moment I turn my back, you’re off talking to some girl.” Petrichor said enraged.

“What? You have been talking to Andrew all night and you guys danced together. What am I to do; watch you dance like a chaperone in a high school dance?

“You know what, forget this. I'm going to bed.” Petrichor said storming off.