XI - WHERE WILL I LIVE?

“After Gregory put me back down, Mr. RJ said that it was his turn to drive the car and we all got back in.  Gregory went to sleep, and I looked out the window on the left side.  I told Mr. RJ that it was nicer to look at the land, because I had seen more than enough of the ocean when we were on the steamer.  Also, I didn’t want to look at the ocean because I had been sick for so long because of it.  After about a half hour, we turned to the left and now the ocean was behind us.

‘Why are we turning here?’ I asked Mr. RJ.

‘This is where we head into the mountains.’ he said.

‘What are mountains?’ I asked.  There were so many words and things that I still didn‘t know about.  

‘Remember the very tall dunes in the desert?’ he asked me.

‘Yes, some of them are very tall.’ I said.  I remembered dunes that stood so tall it took 300 steps to walk to the top of them.

‘Well, a mountain is taller than that.  Mountains are made of rock and stand a thousand times taller than the tallest dune.’ he said.  

“I thought about this for a few minutes.  A dune made of rock and a thousand times taller?  If anyone but Mr. RJ had told me that, I would never have believed it.

‘Well, I think you’ll believe me when you see the first one.’ he said.

“I discovered that, if I stood on the little bump in the middle of the floor, I could just get my arms over the top of the front seats.  This way I could stand up and see out the front window.  Mr. RJ had sounded a little disappointed when he told me that I would believe him when I saw a mountain.

‘I believe you; I was just trying to think of what a dune made of rock looks like.’ I said.

‘Oh, I see.  Well, in about 30 minutes you should be able to see your very first mountain.  We’re going to follow the river into the mountains; the University is right in the middle of a very beautiful valley.  Our house is on the university grounds and just a few miles away from the river.’ he said.

“I sat back down on the seat.  He had said ‘our house’.  I had been so happy, when he told me we were going home, in Kairo, but I had also been so afraid.  Was this really going to be my home?  Did Mr. RJ really want me to live with him?  We had been together since he had rescued me from the Hyena’s because there was no place else for me to go.  Now we were going to his ‘university’, to his city, to his family.  Was he going to be embarrassed and ashamed of me when his family found out that I was a slave?  When they found out that he had bought me?  If he didn’t want me to live with him, where was I going to go?  I knew two people here, Mr. RJ and Gregory.  I had no one else to stay with.  The more I thought about this, the more frightened I became.  I sat there and stared at my hands without really seeing them.  What was I going to do?

‘Are you alright, Freja?’ he asked me.

“I stood back up and he moved the little mirror down so he could see me.

‘Where am I going to stay?  Can I stay in the house?  Do you want me to stay with you?  Do I have to stay someplace else?’ I asked and I could feel my eyes burning from the tears.

‘Of course, you’ll stay in the house, Freja.  Why do you think you won’t?’ he asked, looking at me in the little mirror.

‘I was a slave before and I’m afraid you’ll be embarrassed when your family finds out you bought me.  I‘m afraid you‘ll be ashamed to have me live with you.  I’ve been so happy and so afraid since you told me we were going home.  I don’t know where I’m going to live.  I don’t want to live someplace else; I want to live with you.  Please let me live with you.’ I said and I was so frightened I started to cry.

“Mr. RJ looked at me, in the little mirror, and I saw a sadness in his eyes.  He looked ahead, for a moment, and then turned the car off the road.  When he opened the door, I panicked.  What was he going to do?  Was he going to leave me here?  I had no idea where I was.  He pulled the seat forward and I knew he wanted me to get out of the car.  When I stepped down from the car, I turned and looked at his eyes, again.  He sat straight down on the ground and wrapped his arms around me.  He held me so gently, so lovingly.  I was still so frightened that I put my arms around his neck and hugged him as hard as I could, but I couldn’t stop crying.  We held each other for a very long time.

‘Freja, I’m not ashamed of you.  Of course you’re going to live in the house, you’ll have your own room and you can live with me for as long as you want.’ he said and gently stroked my hair.

‘I didn’t know.  I was so afraid you’d be ashamed of me and wouldn‘t want me to stay with you.’ I said and held him tighter.

‘Please stay with me; I want you to live in the house.  The house is just as much your home as it is mine.  Please understand, Freja, you have nothing to be afraid of.’ he said to me, and slowly took his arms from around me.  

“I hugged him a little bit longer, I didn’t want to let go.

‘Yes, yes I do.’ I said, because I now knew that he did want me to stay with him.

‘I’m very glad you understand, Freja.’ he said and hugged me again.  Then, almost sadly, he stood up.

He pulled the seat forward, again, and I climbed back inside the car.  I sat down, and Mr. RJ turned the car back onto the road.  I had been so tired, because I had been sick just a few days before, I must have fallen asleep sitting on the seat.  I don’t remember anything after that.