Chapter One
He got to his room and went straight to his luggage, unzipped the bag and began to pack, folding his clothes and placing them orderly in his suitcase.
Then he went into the bathroom and collected his comb, toothbrush, toothpaste, hair and body crème, cologne making certain he left nothing behind in the bathroom or in drawers under the bathroom sink and carefully placed them in the his toiletries bag, closed it and headed unto the bed.
Julius pulled up his suitcase opened it, dropped the toiletries bag into it. Julius closed the suitcase and pulled it onto the floor. He stood for a while, his arms on his waist, looking around to make sure he left nothing unpacked in the bedroom.
He folded his hands across his chest and walked to the window, he pulled the blinds shutting out the tiny reflection of light from the street lights and headlamps from cars barreling down the streets outside in the late evening traffic.
Julius felt he missed nothing, satisfied he sauntered down to the lobby, the bar hostess smiled and waved to Julius, he waved back as he quietly made his way to the restaurant, he ordered clam chowder soup, and corned beef sandwich. Julius finished eating and got to his feet, picking up his medium sized duffel bag, a large rectangle shoulder bag and his suitcase.
He headed across the street walking through the parking lot to the street and the now familiar route stop. Soon the bus showed up at it’s regular time, and came to a slow halt. Julius got in as the bus moved sluggishly along.
The bus moved effortlessly humming through all the now familiar places that Julius saw almost every day for the last month. Finally the bus got to his stop and he stepped off the bus, walking a few steps to the pedestrian intersection and waiting for the traffic to stop.
Adjusting the luggage on his shoulder he walked quickly across the road and slowed on the sidewalk as he neared the three story apartment building.
He heard someone call out to him “I see you have your hands full, do you need help? ‘No I can manage’, said Julius. Daisy was waiting and saw him as he approached the buildings entrance, she waived as he approached and started walking up the stairs. Julius set his luggage down and reached for the light switch on the wall and flicked it on. Moving across towards the window overlooking the fire hydrant, pushed open the window overlooking the streets.
‘Again I am truly relieved to have this place’. Daisy said ‘I am glad to be of help, here is the rent papers I promised to bring with me and your house keys’.
Julius sighed reading the papers quickly and handed them back to her, she handed him his copy and pointed to the phone number the address of the property manager and said ‘be sure to call him if you need repairs or any issues and of-course to make payments.
Daisy goes over the signatures, appears to be satisfied and says, ‘well I guess you have to settle in, see you on Monday’. ‘Yes, thank you so much’. Daisy picked up her handbag and a small leather purse and headed to the hallway, down the stairs. It was close to 10.30 when he turned off his bed lamp and snuggled to the pillow, relieved that this day was over.
The phone rang a long disturbing shriek that woke Julius. This late Saturday evening the cold wind was beginning to settle in. Estella, her silky sultry voice clear and almost musical came over as though she were in the room next door.
She wanted to know if Julius still wanted to take a trip across the sea to Belgium next weekend, certainly’, said Julius, ‘I found a way to save at least 35% to 40% off the ferry, and hotel fees’. Estella sounding relieved said “I finished my exams, I am eager to get away from books for a while’, ‘That’s really good, good for you honey’, said Julius ‘Have you made up your mind regarding a major? Asked estella, referring to Julius’s desire to enter college at her school.
“We could talk about it next week when you come’. Said Julius ‘Okay honey, but you are not delaying starting right? Said Estella ‘No’, said Julius, ‘You know that is one reason, I like you, you push me to get the best out of me’.
Estella giggled ‘Yes, babe, I know you and there is so many good dimensions to your person, and I want you to have all of it, love you babe’. Said Estella ‘I know’, said Julius, ‘and how is professor straight? Asked Julius. The giggle over the phone continued, ‘professor straight is fine’, replied Estella;
Professor straight was one of Estella’s professors who had a manner in class of looking and acting like a straight stick, his head almost always never bent, shoulders, chest all straight, the funny part is he was never in the any of her majesty’s armed forces. Estella promised if Julius ever visited campus that professor straight is one of the must see historic sights. ‘I will be back home on Tuesday’, said Estella ‘and I could see you on Thursday? Julius said “that’s a great plan honey’, said Estella ‘see you soon’. Said Julius.
Winsted looked around, briefly trying to spot Daisy among those in the lunch room, but saw Julius first, he picked up his lunch tray, and headed towards him as Daisy picked up her lunch tray and headed towards the table, winstead stopped briefly, changed his mind and turned towards Daisy. “May I sit with you for a while? Daisy looked up at him and said what do you have for me Winsted? As she focused on her food tray and began eating. ‘How is Julius’s work? Asked Winsted, Daisy looked surprised, ‘ You see his work everyday Winsted, why do you ask? ‘I see him work everyday, but you see his work first hand, closer than I do’.
Daisy continued eating, not saying anything. After a short while she looked up briefly at Winsted trying to read his meaning and showing no emotion whatsoever. ‘He is doing very well’, she said. Winsted continued, ‘He has been at work for only four months and we need a shift crew leader’, Winston paused, ‘do you think he can be effective?
Daisy with the same unconcerned look on her face said with a wry smile ‘he could’, Winston added “and you will be responsible for him, until I am satisfied he can skip your oversight and report directly to me? concluded Winsted, a question meant as a directive. Daisy chuckled, ‘that will be fine, and a welcome relief for Julius, I will do my best’. Winsted smiled, satisfied ‘I will send in the recommendation’. He got up and left, his hamburger unopened, his drink untouched. Daisy looked up from her tray and saw Julius get up from his table from an almost empty tray. Her eyes following him as he stopped briefly at the trash can and out through the service exit. She resumed eating.
Julius stood at his regular spot for a few minutes, wondering if he should visit Leo and Medinna this weekend or perhaps he should just have a long phone conversation and play couch potato with a good movie, that way he could also have a long phone conversation with Susan. Or maybe he should have a serious talk with someone about school and how in the world he is going to pay for it..
Daisy stood for a minute, the cold wind brushing her hair backwards as though ready to pull her in it’s own direction, she tapped Julius gently on the shoulder “a penny for your thoughts? she asked. Julius, half turning his head to daisy said ‘I am a little bored and conflicted at the same time’. Julius replied. “About what, she probed, ‘it is a long story’. Said Julius. ‘My shift is beginning, can we talk later? Daisy as though thinking, paused for a moment, ‘are you comfortable in your new position? Said daisy. ‘Getting better every day’, said Julius. ‘Okay, see you later’, said Daisy. A slight drizzle outside the bus stop distracted him, he felt calm, “it does rain here too”, he thought as he watched umbrellas go up and coat collars turned up, he was only in a different continent, he felt he was in a totally different world.
The salty dry wind from his trip across the oceans, aboard vessels sometimes so uncomfortable that he to strap himself in place to avoid disaster, and when he could go onto the upper deck as most did on the trip, the hash salty wind was constant and relentless. By the time he set foot on foreign soil the wind had conditioned his African sun burnt skin to the damp cold wind of autumn. Although it felt completely new and refreshing, it had the same jarring effect on him each time he felt that wind in his face and skin forcing him to pull his coat tighter, it was only a few months ago. Things were moving rapidly.
The bus approached in the distance; he got in line with the others. He fumbled in his wallet as he asked the driver “how much? he started handing over a £10.00 note when his eyes caught a sign saying “exact fare only”, he reached in his pocket and handed out £1.35 He strolled in to find a seat by the window; it is more restrictive when you have to get up for others to get off the bus. He got in a seat thankful to finally get out of the cold.
Slightly above his shoulder hung a calendar combined with a clock surrounded by an advertisement inviting people with little money or a lot of money to join a new investment club. The advertisement said the first guaranteed list closes soon. Julius looked at the date on the advertisement October 31st, 1989, he sighed and looked away.
A young couple sat in front of him and chatted excitedly behind him about something they just experienced. And they kept repeating “hot-spur” over and over again, distracting Julius for a while. A young man beside him seemed distracted by that chatter, but really was excited about it, since he had a huge smile on his face, and briefly turned to Julius, “ such a great game, Arsenal completely demolished Liverpool, were you there? Julius said ‘No’, trying not to be disinterested. The young man said ‘next month they play Tottenham HotSpur, and you know what I think? He queried, appearing to believe that Julius was completed interested in the game, ‘No’, said Julius. “Well, I think they will have a very hard time defeating Tottenham HotSpur! ‘So I do not want to miss that game’. He concluded with a wide grin.
Julius smiled and said ‘I know just how you feel, I love the game’. Julius said ‘I remember watching the semifinals for 1985, and totally love every minute of the match’. ‘Yeah’, said the young man ‘ I watched it too, and I thought Manchester was going to win, Manchester relaxed for a second, and that was it’, anyway my stop is here, stay dry mate’. Julius waived him goodbye, a smile settling on his face.
Julius reviewed his options. He came to find a better life as most people often do from third world countries with outwardly crippled or struggling economies. He had just found out the most shocking news of the year. He thought he had a hostess who would allow him stay for a few weeks, before he found employment, but as she stood in the doorway, in this cold winter night and told him, “no room here’, he wandered what he will do next. As he turned away from Mellison rd, he felt no anger only alarm as to where he might find accommodation for this night and for subsequent days, will he get employment? He knew he had very limited amount on him, £565.00 seems a lot of money but it really is very inadequate he thought for someone without a room and employment.
He was for a time oblivious to people or anything around him; he walked back trying to recall the route to the bus station two long blocks away across the street at Brinkley road.
He was not too far from the intersection Mellison rd and Mitcham Street he felt thirsty, he suddenly remembered he had not had lunch, he left the docks about 10.30am, and now as he glanced at his watch it was sometime after 5pm, a few away from him was sign “Grocer and Drinks”, he stopped at the cafe. The door chimed as he stepped into a brightly lit elongated building. The decor was totally different from the entrance, clean well-arranged shelves in rectangular order, a sign blinked rapidly with an arrow pointing directly forward to the bar. Julius went that direction, and ordered a fentimans ginger beer, a drink that looked different but the description sounded very familiar paying £1.50 By the time he got to the bust stop on Bickley Street it was 6.40pm, the route time table had the next bus leaving at 7.pm. He sat on the cold bench inside the station and started to look through the bus schedule.
Looking through the map of London, he began to think. There had to be a place to stay at least for the night, cheap enough to afford and safe enough for good nights rest. At this time of day, gift shops, large hotels, train stations, could give an indication of where to find such lodging, he could not think of any other, but knew he had to get to one of those. He thought that the easiest way to do this will be to get a central location, names trickled to his mind: Trafalgar, Brixton, Kensington, Mayfair, Victoria, Shepherds Bush, Holborn, Hyde Park, he settled on Victoria.
He remembered learning that if you asked the driver to alert you when you get to your stop, he will stop for you… He got up…” can you let me know, when you get to Victoria station? The driver nodded. Back in his seat, he looked at his route maps again, once he got to Victoria Station, he would have to find something close to the type of lodging he wanted. The bus approached an increasingly large number of lights and traffic and began to reduce its speed, Julius looked up and pierced at the rapidly approaching stop, a bold circular sign with a bar across it said Victoria Station.
The bus came to a slow stop and the driver said in a loud deep voice ‘Victoria Station’, and motioned to Julius again he said “this is your stop’, adding as Julius quickly pulled his bags and stepped on the stair, ‘have a good night”. Julius said, “thank you, goodbye’. Julius stepped off the bus into what seemed like a multitude of buses and cars, and immediately he heard the roar of a train but could not see any in sight. Glancing in the direction of the noise he saw the sign pointing to a rail with stairs going into the ground, it said ‘London underground train’. “Hmm” he said under his breath. He started walking away from the stairs, the full length of the parked buses and cars to the street across and found some stores still open, surprised he entered one of them. It was a travel agency.
The front desk attendant looked at him and smiled, ‘hello there, how may I be of assistance to you? Julius said “hello, do you know where I can find a list of local guest houses? ‘you have come to the right place”, he said, reaching across from his desk to a revolving brochure stand, he handed Julius a colored glossy brochure, ‘here is a list of hotels, guest houses, and resorts in the London area’, Julius felt such relief that his expression changed and a genuine smile showed on his face. ‘Thank you very much’. “Glad to help’, said the chubby guy with fluffy jet-black hair, his unmistakable queen-english rolling out like a red carpet, as Julius stepped back into the night.
Back at Victoria station it did not take Julius too long to find a suitable place called Yiar Edwards Inn on Gower Street, in the greater London area. Now he can go get some rest, he thought “I am going to need all the Strength I have tomorrow’. He got to Yiar Edwards Inn about 10 pm and quickly checked into one of their economy rooms. He took off his shoes and lay stretched out on the bed with all his clothes on. Thinking about what lay ahead the next day, he got up picked up the phone next to his bed…. The voice on the other end said front desk.
He asked if he could eat in his room, after listening to the cost of what was available, he requested a warm sandwich, and refused to buy any drinks. He remembered the other bottle of fentiman’s, he bought earlier, “better to start spending less right now”, he thought. Dinner came; he ate and got under the warm soft sheets. It felt very soothing and comfortable, Julius figured it is worth the £23.00 he was paying for bed and breakfast. He set the alarm to 6.45am, it will be Saturday and he would have had just over 6 hours rest. He noticed the gold platted wooden pallet lining all around the rooms ceilings, then he thought how this was different to the dorm of the boat that took him to London earlier that afternoon, painted in plain white……
He heard something harsh jar him from his thoughts, what was it? He must have dozed off; it was the alarm clock; could it be 7 am already? He was just trying to go to sleep, he opened his eyes and squinted to see the sun shine through the curtains, it was 6.49am, he must have slept. He got up. He rubbed his eyes and walked to the window at the foot of his bed, to look out through the window at the street. He saw a young couple walk past his window hand in hand, they seemed happy together. His room must be close to ground level, he thought, could this be why he was not at face level with the people passing by out on the street, he had to look up to see their faces, he looked to the right and saw a truck sweeping the street, now that was different, he was used to people sweeping, but a machine that sweeps, that looked clever. He opened the window halfway, the breeze brushed against his face, cold refreshing.
He saw a residue of the night on the ground, paper debris, fallen tree leaves, some soft drink and beer cans, cigarette butts, all wet from last night’s rain, good thing, the machine sweeper had its work cut out for it. He glanced past a group of teenage looking kids, walking and talking loud, they appeared to be returning from, not a party since they wore a similar uniform, maybe some sort of work engagement, were they musicians, they seemed a little young to be a singing group, at the trees lining up the street, trees with dry leaves – fascinating – they looked orderly as if by design, the base of the trees had a circular guard perhaps to protect its root from breakage…. He snapped back to reality, he needed to call for help, he decided to call his friend Susan, to request Mr. and Mrs. Walhalli’s phone number.
They were one of the nicest people he knew. Mr. Walhalli had told him several times “if you need any help if you get to London, look us up we will help if we can. He picked up the phone, and listened as a voice on the other end said “front desk” and listened as the voice reminded him of the cost of phone calls from his room to local metro London numbers, he thanked her and hung up.
He picked up the phone again, and called Susan, she was sorry for his disappointment and gave him Mr. and Mrs. Walhalli’s phone number, she was on her way to work she said, she would have offered for him to stay at her apartment but her room-mate, Quan, a Caucasian/Indian girl would not agree, besides the apartment too small. She requested he call after speaking with the Walhalli’s to let her know what they said. Susan requested that he call after speaking with Mr. Walhalli to let her know what he said. He dialed the number she gave him, it rang several times but no one picked up. He dropped the receiver and picked it up in a few seconds and redialed, this time Leo Walhalli picked up after two rings he quickly recognized Julius’s voice, and sounded surprised, but said he was delighted that he finally got to London, and was sorry to hear he was having a difficult time.
Said Leo since this was a Friday and Leo and his wife would not be back home till late night, Leo wanted Julius to visit on a Saturday morning. Julius thanked him and hung up; then dialed Susan number and eagerly related how Leo had been happy to hear from him and about his appointment with him on Saturday. The room was now filled with light; he got up and closed the window. The sunlight although very bright was deceptively cold.
This is a nice room he thought, the bed sheet a burgundy flowered cotton, with black and grey linings. The closet, he had not opened it since his arrival, the attendant had mentioned that it contained a few cloth hangers, iron, and ironing board. {He would not need it since he will leave in less than six hours?} Check out time was three pm, he walked to the bathroom very small he thought, stuck his head in, there was a shower, toilet, sink, all in light blue except for the floor which was in cream white, there was a small size toothpaste, he squeezed it on his forefinger and stuck in his mouth. He walked back to his suite-case to open side panel and get his toothbrush, he walked back to the bathroom brushing his teeth with swift top to down movements, and he undressed and got in the shower.
