Algeria Here I Come
by: E Walk
(© 2008 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 12

What If You Don’t Like Us?

Albert went to answer the door and a young man was standing there with three big suitcases on a cart.  The young man announced, “I have three suitcases for the Waller party.”

Allie looked at me, “Dad, who is going to be traveling with us?”

I shook my head, “Allie, I have no idea what is happening anymore.”

Albert looked at the tags on the bags and looked at us with a puzzled look, “I thought you gentlemen said that the other suitcases were all you had?”

Allie went and looked at the tags, “Albert, I don’t even own enough clothes to even half fill a suitcase like this.  Let’s take mine and open it and see what I have that I didn’t know I had.” 

I started to reach for my wallet but Albert put up his hand.  “Mr. Waller, tipping is not necessary on board this ship.  The gratuities are included in the price of your ticket.  The young man who is helping with the baggage is Daniel (pronounce Danyell).  He is my assistant and if I am not available for some reason, he will be available to help you.”

Albert turned to Daniel, “Take the other two bags into the large bedroom and then please bring the bucket with the chilled champagne and the hors d’oeuvres while I help Master Allie find out what’s in the mystery suitcase.”

Allie frowned, “Look, Master Albert, don’t call me Master Allie, please.”

Albert was smiling, “Okay, Master Allie, I won’t call you Master Allie if don’t call me Master Albert.”

We followed Albert and Allie into Allie’s bedroom.  Albert opened the suitcase and there was an envelope on the top.  Allie opened it and read it and started to laugh.  He handed it to Brahim and me.

Dear Mr. Alexander Safi,

I spied and checked your clothes sizes while I was living with you and you were busy gawking at my body.  I hope you like what we picked out for you.  See you later and have a terrific cruise.

Affectionately,

Amir and Khalid

Allie looked very confused when Albert took out the tuxedo, “Why do I need a tuxedo?”

Albert smiled, “Allie there will be four formal nights while you are on board.  Not everyone will be wearing a tuxedo, but your friends must have thought that you would need one.”

The chimes rang again and I went to answer it as Albert was finishing putting  Allie’s clothes away.  There was an officer standing there, “I’m Doctor Sorenson, I understand that there are two gentlemen living in this suite who may need my attention while they are onboard.”

I stuck out my hand and shook his hand, “I’m Ed Waller, won’t you please come in, and I’ll get the two gentlemen for you.”

The guys were just coming out of Allie's room.  “Guys, come meet Doctor Sorenson.”

Allie stuck out his good hand, “Hi Doctor, I’m Allie.”

Brahim stuck out his hand, “And I’m Brahim.”

Doctor Sorenson nodded, “I understand you two gentlemen have been shot rather recently.  Might I see the wounds, please?”

Allie took his arm out of the sling and I helped him unbutton his shirt and remove it.  The Doctor unwrapped the wound and looked at it.  He nodded, “Allie, it looks as if it is healing just fine.  I think it would be best if you wear the sling at least for the rest of the day.  Albert go to the doctor’s office and tell my nurse that I need some large adhesive bandages.  Wait a minute, let me check the other gentleman’s wounds first.”

Brahim looked at me, and I nodded for him to take off his slacks.  He resisted, “What if someone comes to the door?”

I held up my hand, “I’ll make sure who’s there and I won’t let any ladies enter while you’re naked.”

Brahim dropped his slacks and the doctor removed the bandage. “These wounds were caused rather recently, weren’t they?”

“Gentlemen, I’ll be right back I'll go get the supplies that I need to take care of them myself and then I want to hear the story of how you both just happened to get shot.”

The doctor left and Albert went and got Brahim a robe from our bedroom somewhere, “Mr. Safi, you might want to put this on until the Doctor can cover your wound.”

The chimes sounded again and I opened the door and Daniel wheeled in a cart with a wine chiller holding a bottle of champagne and two covered trays with snack food.  One tray had small canapés and crackers and cheeses and the other tray had sweet items.  Allie looked at the food, “Is this our dinner or something?   It’s seems a little early.”

Daniel was trying to keep from laughing, “No, Mr. Safi, this is something to hold you until dinner time.  Every growing boy is always hungry.  If you need anything else, just call room service and it will be delivered.”

Allie was amazed, “First stop calling me Mr. Safi.  My name is Allie.  How do we pay for the things that we get from room service?”

Albert answered, “Allie, anything that you eat while you are on board, except in the specialty restaurants, is free including the hors d’oeuvres and anything that is in the refrigerator there.  Daniel and I will restock the refrigerator each day.  You gentlemen enjoy your food and Daniel and I will finish putting Mr. Waller’s and Brahim’s clothes away.”

The doorbell chime sounded again and it was the doctor and his nurse.  “Allie and Braham, this is my nurse, Alexandria Martinez.  Allie, let me get your wound taken care of first.  I think it would be advisable if you wear the sling to keep the wound immobile for the remainder of today, since it is healing nicely.  I would like to see you again tomorrow during my regular office hours to check it.”

Albert helped Allie put his shirt on and button it and then helped him put the sling back on while the Doctor and his Nurse were attending to Brahim’s wound.

When they finished, the nurse and Daniel departed with the supplies.  Doctor Sorenson, looked at Brahim, “Young man, you probably shouldn’t do anything too strenuous for the next several days.  Now I want to know how you two young men got shot.”

I started to open the champagne but Albert stopped me and opened it and poured a glass which I handed to Doctor Sorenson.  I handed the second glass to Brahim.

Albert looked at Allie, and I made a motion to indicate he could try a little which Albert poured and then he handed me a glass. I looked at him and he shook his head no.  The Doctor raised his glass, “To a pleasant voyage.”

Allie took a sip of his champagne and made an awful face.  Albert took his glass and went to the refrigerator and brought a bottle of what looked like orange juice and poured it into a glass for Allie.  Allie took a sip and smiled, “Now that’s more like it.”

Doctor Sorenson was laughing, “Okay guys, I want to know how and why you got shot.”

I had Allie and Brahim tell the story of what had happened since I arrived in Algeria.  When they finished, Doctor Sorenson was laughing.  “Now, I understand why I was told that I needed to check on you handsome young men.  If you don’t have any plans for dinner, I would like to invite you to join my wife and my two grandsons for dinner  at 7:00, since I need to go the Captain’s welcoming program after dinner.”

I answered for the three of us, “Sir, we’d be delighted to join you.  Where would you like us to meet you and what do we need to wear?”

“Why don’t we meet the three of you at the entrance to the dining room at 6:55.  I’ll inform the maitre d’ that the three of you will be joining me at my table. Tonight is a casual night so there is no reason to wear a tie.   I need to go now.  We should be about ready to sail.  Allie, you might want to go out on your balcony and watch the people running around like ants.”

The doctor departed and the three of us went to the balcony and all three of us were amazed at all of the activity that was occurring on the dock.  There were three loud blasts and we could feel the ship beginning to move away from the pier.

When we went back inside the cabin, there was an announcement on the speaker system.  “This is the Captain speaking.  There will be a mandatory life boat drill in twenty minutes.  Crew, prepare to man your stations.”

The chimes rang, and Albert was standing there.  Allie lit into him, “Mister Albert, if the do not disturb sign is not displayed, just come in.  We’re going to lose weight if we have to keep running to answer the door.”

Albert started to laugh, “Master Allie, me thinks that you are trying to get me fired. I brought a life vest that will fit you.  Let me help you put it on.  Mr. Waller, your vests are in the top of the closet in your bedroom.  If you will get them, I’ll help you put them on and then take you to where you need to be, since I am assigned to your station.”

We were all decked out in our bright orange vests and Albert lead us to a service stairway.  He nodded, “This is a stairway is reserved for the crew except in the case of emergencies and drills.  We use it during life boat drills to avoid people getting crushed since there are nearly two thousand people on board and the elevators are not to be used during emergencies.  When we got to the promenade deck that had a walkway around the entire ship, Albert led us to the area of life boat 1 station and he reported to the officer in charge, “Cabin 1001 is all present and accounted for.”

We were enthralled by what was happening when three short blasts of the ship’s horn sounded.  People of all shapes and sizes started to pour out the doors onto the deck.  Allie looked at me, “Dad, everyone looks old.  We probably won’t be able to have any fun until we get home.”

As more people appeared, the people seemed be younger and finally we saw more young people.  Allie turned to me, “Well maybe it won’t be too bad.”

After all of the announcements and whatever had been completed, Albert came and whispered, “You might want to look around the main floors for about twenty minutes to avoid the masses who are trying to jam themselves onto the elevators.”

We did as Albert suggested and we were overwhelmed by what we saw, and indeed we were the only people on the elevator when we finally decided to go to the suite.

I pulled out the forms and our passports and we filled in the information that they requested.  I looked at the forms and nodded,  “Let’s take these to the purser's office.”

Brahim looked at me, “Ed, my leg is starting to ache.  I’m just going to stay here and rest.  You and Allie can take the forms to the purser’s office.  If I need to sign something, call me.”

Allie was ready to go and was holding my hand as we walked to the elevator.  He was in awe of everything as we went to the purser’s desk.  “Dad, what is that desk over there for.  It says shore excursions.  What does that mean?”

I shook my head, “Allie, we need to read the information that is in our suite to figure out what is happening, because we are all new to this cruise stuff.  Let’s get these forms turned in and go read the information about the ship before we go to meet Doctor Sorenson and his family for dinner.  Maybe Albert and Daniel can help figure out what we need to do.

When I turned in the forms and the passports, the young lady who was helping us smiled, “Good evening Mr. Waller and Mr. Safi, thank you for completing the forms and bringing your passports.  Mr. Waller, I need to take an imprint of a credit card even though you have $1000.00 ship board credit in case you decide to break the casino.”

Allie looked at me, “Dad, what’s a casino?”

I smiled, “It’s a place where you flush your money down the drain thinking that you’re going to win big amounts of money.  I’ll show you later.”

The young lady handed me my credit card, “Mr. Waller, I’ve never heard a casino described that way before but it sure does fit.”

When we got back to the suite, Brahim was asleep on the sofa so Allie and I went out onto the veranda so we wouldn’t disturb Brahim, and watched as we were sailing along.

We were sitting in reclining deck chairs.  Allie looked at me, “Dad, do you love Brahim?  What’s going to happen to Brahim and me if you decide you don’t like us?”

Talk about having the wind knocked out me.  I paused and thought about how I should respond.  I collected my thoughts, “Allie, I already love both of you, but in different ways.  The important question is, what if the two of you decide that you don’t like me when we get to the United States?”

We hadn’t heard Brahim open the sliding door, “Ed, I do love you, but this is very scary for me because of my religious upbringing.  Allie and I are going to need to change our ways of thinking if we are going to be living with you and your friends.  What are your parents going to think?  It’s already six thirty.  We need to get ready to go meet Doctor Sorenson and his family.”

I got up and hugged both of my men. “Guys, I don’t want you to discard your religious beliefs, but we will need to be very discreet if we live together, since I live in a small two bedroom apartment.”

Our discussion was cut short because Albert arrived, “I’m here to help Master Alexander Graham Safi get dressed for dinner so he is appropriately dressed to meet his Majesty, the King of the Paradise.”

Allie looked at Albert, “Yeah, you just want to perve on my cute body.”

Albert was chuckling, “Nah, if I wanted to do that I could do that at home.  We have four sons, ages eight, ten, twelve and fourteen.  I just have never had any heroes in my cabins before.  Now get your butt in here so I can sure you’re presentable and your dad and brother can get dressed.”

Brahim and I went and changed clothes and we put on our new blazers that Khalid and Amir had provided.  I was thinking that I needed to figure out a way to pay them back.  When we walked into the living area, Allie and Albert were standing there.  Albert was commenting, “Allie, you sure are a handsome young man.  I hope your dad and brother clean up as well as you did.”

I started to laugh when I heard that comment, “Albert, I may have to insist that we have a new personal attendant after that comment.”

Albert was unfazed, he rearranged our collars and brushed any lint off of the jackets.  “Master Allie, I think it’s safe for you to take Mr. Waller and your brother to dinner.  Make sure they wear their bibs.  We wouldn’t want them to get their clothes dirty, would we?”

As I walked past Albert, I whispered, “Thank you.”

He nodded his head and Allie led us to the entrance of the dinning room where Doctor Sorenson was waiting with a beautiful lady and two good looking young men who could have passed for Allie’s brothers.

After the introductions, we walked into the dining room and were met by the maitre d’ who was wearing the name tag that identified him as Philippe.  “Good evening, Sorenson family, I assume that these are the infamous Messieurs Safi and Waller.  Let me escort you to your table. The fun was about to begin.

To be continued...

Feedback always welcome:     

Editor's Notes: I am so glad that our friends are on the boat and away from the people who want to have them hurt or killed. At least I certainly hope they are away from danger. 

I think that Allie and Brahim are still a bit frightened that Ed will not want them, once they arrive home. I don't think for a minute that they have anything to worry about. I am certainly ready for the next chapter.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 01/23/09