Signs of love ended with deception and fraud. A nice acquaintance ended with a shock. In the first, he was the prey, and in the second he was the hunter. The winds, however, did not blow as his vessels wish.
Khaled spent his days going to work and home. He could no longer go around Brussels after that incident. He was aware that it was a deep wound that only time and Tangier could heal.
Sometime he chatted with Zohra on Facebook for a short time. They were small, meaningless chats in most cases. There was nothing more than compliment phrases—no more, no less. She was trying with these phrases not to look like a mean person who abandoned him after the first real, tough trial while he was trying not to severe the cordial ties that were damaged because of the toughness.
Both of them were complimenting the other. Both of them were avoiding any mentions to that day. He did not apologize to her. What kind of apology can you make to another person whom you could have caused her death? Making apologies, in such a situation, would be uglier than the mistake itself. Silence seemed a medicine that was still able to cure a lot of wounds or attempt to cure them at the least.
Muadh respected his silence. Sometimes he suggested some activities he knew that they would most probably cheer tried Khaled up to get him out of that loneliness. However, he always had an ear of cloth, and he always rejected. Muadh gave up and let Khaled take his time to heal himself by himself. The most evident expression of wisdom is to often leave people on their own. Those for whom wisdom is given have truly received abundant good.
The only thing that mitigated Khaled’s pain was following up the case of Zahrliza on some Moroccan and Belgium news websites. Zahrliza was returned to the museum in an honorable and dignified manner. Dr. Bernard and all other culprits were arrested after he gave a detailed confession. All the papers he read did not mention Huda’s name, but most probable they included her with ‘all other culprits’ in addition to that international gang.
Three months passed and the season of Moroccan migrants return from Europe to the home country loomed. The season of return was the time he was desperately waiting for in order to return to his eternal beloved Tangier.
He travelled with Muadh from Brussels to Tarifa by car. A lot of waves of migrants were passing. The border police let all people pass without checking approximately any passport. Khaled used an old passport that Muadh managed to get for him and showed it to the customs officer who ordered him from behind a glass barrier to continue walking. Who has the luxury to check the passports of returning migrants? Danger comes from secret migrants; it does not come from those openly returning.
The ship arrived in Tangier port which was too crowded. Khaled seized the opportunity of a quarrel between a migrant and a police man. He got off Muadh’s car and passed through that checkpoint on foot. Then he turned and stood as if waiting somebody.
In this way, Khaled pretended that he was in Tangier rather than in the ship. His simple trick worked, and he walked out of the port on foot pretending that he was angry because they prevented him from doing his investigation.
Muadh drove him to his neighborhood which he missed. He found Aziza Rahma moaning as she was trying to fix the lift on her own.
Khaled fell in the arms of the old woman. It was a moment he was looking forward to. He did not say anything. He was seeking peace in her arms for moments while she was stroking his hair.Her tears were streaming on her cheeks as good people do. Good people cry when they are happy and when they are sad.
His cat Tranquility was mewing loudly and brushing his leg. He knew she did not forget him. He carried her and climbed the stairs to his apartment. It was as he left it. It was actually way better. Aziza Rahma did more than she had to. There was no trash, no dirt, no damp on the walls. ‘What could I have done without you, Aziza Rahma?’, he wondered.
He put on the table the black-eyed peas dish that Aziza insisted he should try before doing anything else.
He looked at the silent computer and said, ‘Everything started with you, yet you’re faking ignorance and innocence’.
Khaled’s life began to return to its normal course after he got rid of the motion sickness and migration sickness. He started to recall what he forgot in that adventure.
He was wondering whether he actually did an adventure. What is the meaning of adventure anyway? Is a person in a closed room not safe in the first place? Nevertheless, such a person is in danger of lacking food, water, and oxygen. Sometimes seeking peace represents the peak of an adventure.
Somebody knocked the door.
Khaledclimbed the Drouj Merican, walked through the street leading to the American Museum, rang the doorbell and waited. The security guard opened the door.
Once Khaled entered the hall, he heard sound of cracks and bangs. He retreated fearful.