There were fewer people to look for jobs but there were also fewer employers so the jobs section was sparse and, so far, no luck.
I could see Will had made up his mind and was determined to go. In spite of my misgivings, I didn’t blame him. Had my parents been in Jamaica I would’ve been anxious to get there, too.
“When did you and Tremaine want to leave?”
“The weekend. I don’t see any reason for putting it off any longer.” He peered at me. “You wanna go with us?”
I studied him. I thought about my sister and her husband from whom I’d still not heard, and considered that perhaps I should go with them. But then I factored in that if I went, I would have to remain in Jamaica until I found work to earn enough to return because the money I had might get me there, but it wouldn’t last long and it wouldn’t be enough to get me back.
As much as I loved visiting Jamaica, it wasn’t my home. I was born here and I didn’t want to have to stay there, especially in these times. Will, on the other hand had fond memories of living on the island since he was born there and only came to the U.S. with his parents when he was ten. His ties there were stronger than mine and he likely wouldn’t mind having to stay there for a while.
There was another factor. A couple of days before, I contacted the police department and explained that I’d buried my parents and fiancée in the backyard of my parents’ home. From their reaction, it appeared my case wasn’t unique because they were sympathetic and understanding, and they assured me that I wasn’t in trouble for having done what I did.
They advised me that ordinarily they’d send someone around and it would be a matter for the medical examiner’s office but at the moment, they and everyone else were overwhelmed. I could either leave them buried where they were or if I wanted them moved, I could contact a funeral home and let them handle it.
I simply couldn’t leave Zoni and my parents buried in the back yard in four-foot graves, so I found a funeral home, and now had an appointment to go in the next week to arrange to get them dug up and put into coffins and reburied in a proper cemetery.
I knew it would take most of my small savings and perhaps it was foolish of me to use up much needed cash to get them moved, but it was a thing I had to do, though, if I’d known about Will’s plans, I might’ve waited. I wanted to find my sister but I needed to finish what I’d begun before I made any other plans.
Hoping I could get him to delay his trip, I said, “Lowell will let me use his phone, Will. I’ll see if I can reach the U.S. Embassy in Kingston. Maybe they can help locate them.” Lowell, my landlord and now my friend, had a landline and was good about sharing it with me.
He looked thoughtful then he nodded. “Since land lines still work then overseas lines probably do, too.” He shrugged. “Won’t hurt to check.”
We went down to the smoke shop and Lowell took us back up to his apartment where he kept his computer. He had a DSL connection and I looked up the embassy number and dialed it. But, either the lines were down or more likely they were getting many such calls, and I could never get through.
Sighing after I hung up from my latest try, I said, “If you will wait until the end of August, I’ll go with you but there’s something else I have to do first.” I needed to get a job as fast as possible and work at least a month so I’d have some extra cash.
But he was shaking his head. “I’m supposed to start my freshman year in college in the fall and if I don’t go now I may not make it back by then.”
“Let me try again tomorrow. Maybe I’ll have better luck.”
“You can try, Tenn, but I don’t think you’re going to reach anybody. Besides, even if you do there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to help us.”
I studied him. I suspected he’d go even if somebody there managed to locate his parents. Understandably, he wanted to be with them, and once he made up his mind to do something he wanted to get right to it. Will wasn’t the most patient of kids so I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d wanted to leave on the spot instead of waiting the two days until the weekend. But, did he really think the colleges would be starting on time?
“Schools won’t be starting right back up, Will. I believe we’d have time to go at the end of August and get back before—”
He sat up and frowned at me. “I think you’re wrong, Tenn. I know primary and secondary schools won’t open but I believe most colleges will, and I want to be back by then.”
He could’ve been right. Some universities had already announced a delay but not the one he would be attending. Still, maybe I could get him to wait until we found out.
“Tell you what, let’s check to see if your college will be opening on time. Then, if it’s not, you can—”
He shook his head cutting me off.
“No, Tenn. I need to go now. If it’s late with opening, that’ll just give me more time in Jamaica.”
I sighed. I didn’t have a good feeling about him going off like that, but he’d made up his mind and talking him out of it wasn’t going to happen. At least he wasn’t planning to make the trip alone.
“All right, but you need to get your car checked out first, and I’ll give you what I can to help. You and Tremaine have your passports? Okay, write down Lowell’s phone number and find a landline when you can so you can stay in contact.”
They left that Saturday morning.
Chapter Nine
THE NEXT DAY, WILL CALLED FROM SAVANNAH, Georgia.
“Shouldn’t you have gotten to Florida already? What are you doing in Savannah?” I asked.
“Car broke down right before we got to the city. Water pump went out, but we got a tow to a repair shop and the guy at the shop says he can fix it but it’s gonna take a couple of days because he doesn’t have the kind for my car so he’ll have to find one first.”
“I thought you got the car checked out before you left.”
“I did, and it was okay but sometimes problems don’t show up ‘til later. Look, I’m just letting you know we’re okay. I’ll call when we get to Miami.”
He called three days later, still in Georgia.
“We’re having to wait until the mechanic can locate the part. Stuff’s kinda hard to find now, but he said it shouldn’t be more than another day or two. We’ll be outta here tomorrow, Friday at the latest.”
“Where’ve you been staying? You need any cash?” I was getting more uneasy about the whole thing and was wishing I’d tried harder to get him not to go. There’d been news on the radio that morning about scattered riots in Florida and something about a bunch of crazies roaming around looting and beating people. Besides, I missed him.
“Nah, we’re good. The repair isn’t costing that much and the guy let us sleep in his shop, so we didn’t have to get a room. Thanks, Tenn, but we’re okay.”
I hesitated but then I said what I knew he didn’t want to hear.
“I think you should come back home, Will, and wait until I can go with you. I… I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
“Aw, come on, Tenn. We’re doing all right. You know we’ve gotta do this. I’ll call you back as soon as we’re ready to leave here.”
He called me on Friday evening.
“Car’s fixed now and the mechanic said it’s good to go to get us to Miami. Don’t worry, we’ll be okay.”
I sighed. “All right. Be careful out there, Will. If you call and can’t get me, I’ll probably be at work so leave a message with Lowell.”
“Hey, you got a job. Where?”