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

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Chapter 16

 The Covers

When we arrived at the suite, Albert was there, “I came to see if perhaps you gentlemen might need some help getting into your monkey suits.”

Allie started to laugh, “I never saw a black and white monkey.  Zebras maybe or even a skunk.  Why don’t you help me, but I need to take a shower first?  The two old men can help each other, and if they mess up, then you can make them look good.”

Albert was laughing, “Gentlemen, I have your clothes all laid out for you except for your jackets.  Can I get you anything to eat while you’re taking your showers?”

I shook my head no, “No thank you, Albert. The human garbage machines ate so much from the tea time that they probably won’t  even be hungry for dinner.”

Allie glared, “Don’t count on it, Dad.  Everyone get a move on.  John and Jim are going to stop and pick up Dr. Roberts and we are to meet them in the atrium, wherever that is, at 6:15.”

Albert chuckled, “The atrium is where the Purser and Reception desks are located.”

“Thanks, Albert.  Please come help me, since I have never seen a real tuxedo before. I have no idea how to put it on.  Dad, call us if you and Bra need help, and we’ll come save the day.”

Doctor Sorenson had given Brahim permission to take a shower and had covered his wound with a water resistant adhesive patch.  We made the most of our time in the shower but we didn’t have time to do much.

I was helping Brahim put the studs in his shirt when Allie knocked and came in.  “Albert, you help Brahim and I’ll help Dad.” 

He was putting my studs in for me.  He looked at me, “I sure hope these things are easier to take out than they are to put in.”

When we were finally dressed, Albert adjusted our bow ties and our cummerbunds.  He looked at us as we were leaving, “I bet you three gentlemen are the three best looking men on the cruise.”

Allie turned around, “Albert, I thought you said you weren’t gay.”

Albert was laughing, “I’m not.  But I’ve been on enough cruises to know when I see some extremely handsome gentlemen.  You don’t have to be gay to enjoy seeing good looking people.”

When we got to the atrium, Dr. Roberts was waiting with John and Jim.  Allie looked at me and whispered. How come everyone has black bow ties and these bread crumb catcher thingies and yours and mine are blue and Brahim’s is gray?”

I shrugged my shoulders, “I have no idea why Amir and Khalid bought these colors for us.  They must have had a reason.”

As we approaching Dr. Roberts and the twins, Dr. Roberts was smiling.  “ Allie and Mr. Waller, your ties and cummerbunds match your eyes and make them stand out more than the already do.  Nice touch Brahim, the gray tie and cummerbund make you look as if you are going to meet the King and Queen.”

As we were walking by the Shore Excursion desk Dr. Roberts asked, “What tours did you sign up to take, tomorrow?”

I looked at him, “Sir, I didn’t realize that you had to sign up for tours.”

“That should be one of the first things that you do when you get on board a cruise ship, or you might not get the tours you want.  Didn’t you receive a tour excursion pamphlet when you received your tickets and travel papers?”

Allie answered for us. “Dr. Roberts, we never received our tickets  until we entered the terminal building at the pier, and we haven’t had time to even read about the ship.”

Dr. Roberts started to laugh, “Guys, we need to talk about this.  There has got to be a good story here.  Let me grab a couple of tour excursions brochures for you so you can look at them when you have time.”

We were walking by a location where one of the ship’s photographers was taking pictures and Allie asked, “Dad, can we have our picture taken, please?”

Dr. Roberts nodded, “Ed, I think you should.  It doesn’t cost you anything unless you like it and buy it.”

We got in the short line and the young man called next and three of us went to the area.  He pulled a bench into the center of the backdrop and suggested, Why don’t you two gentlemen sit on the bench and have the young man stand behind you with his hands on your shoulders.”

We did as the young man said, but Allie interrupted, “Sir, that’s not very interesting.  Let’s try it my way.  He had Brahim and I turn so our backs were leaning against each other and had us put our back leg on the bench and had us so turn so our heads were facing the camera.  He went behind us and put his head on top of ours and had his arms around our chests.  The photographer was laughing so hard that he could hardly take the picture.  The flash finally went off and we made our way to the theatre where the reception was being held.

When Allie saw the long line of people waiting to shake the Captain’s hand, “He looked at us, do we have to stand in line to say we shook the Captain’s hand?  We already have and we’re having dinner with him.  Can we just look at the shore excursion brochure and decide what we want to do tomorrow?”

Dr. Roberts nodded, “That sounds like a plan to me.” 

We took the nearest seats we could find and Dr. Roberts handed us the brochures.  The waiters offered us a glass of champagne or a bloody Mary.  “Hans is bringing your Roy Rodgers the way you like them.”

Allie looked up from the brochure that the three guys were looking at, “Dr. Roberts, Dad and Brahim, how about we do this tour if it is still available?  It says that it is a driving tour with no shopping stops.  It drives by the highlights of Copenhagen and the only stop is at Tivoli Garden for three hours.”

Dr. Roberts looked at Allie, “We could rent a vehicle and do that and it wouldn’t cost nearly as much.”

I interjected, “Dr. Roberts, we have been advised, that we were to be in the company of a large group of people, if we were to get off the ship.”

Dr. Roberts threw up his hands, “Well why didn’t you tell me that before.  Now I am really curious to know your entire story.”

Our conversation was interrupted by the Captain taking the microphone, “Ladies and gentlemen, I want to welcome you again and thank you for choosing to travel on the S. S. Paradise with us.  If there is anything that you need during your trip, please let the staff know, and we will make every effort to take care of your requests.  Enjoy your meal.”

We were some of the first out of the theatre so we made our way to the dining room and Allie went in and talked to Philippe.  When he came out, he suggested, “Why don’t we wait here for the Captain.”

We watched as the mob pushed their way into the dining room and were escorted to their seats. 

The Captain appeared with three beautiful ladies.  He stopped, “Gentlemen, I would like introduce my wife, Anne.  Our daughter Kate and her friend Jocelyn.”

Allie went to shake their hands, “I’m Alexander Graham Safi Waller.  I can see why Captain Brower is a Captain now.  He surrounds himself with beautiful women and wows the bosses.”

Captain Brower was laughing, “Watch it, kid, or all you will get to eat is bread and water for the rest of the trip.”

The Captain entered the dining room, Philippe escorted the Captain and Mrs. Brower to the table.  I had offered my arm to Kate and Brahim did the same thing to Jocelyn.  As we were walking to the table, there was hush in the dining room.  The Captain stood behind his chair with his wife to his right. 

He looked at the rest of, “Allie, why don’t you sit to my left and John and Jim can sit beside you to keep you under control.  Darryl, why don’t you sit beside Anne and we can keep our eye on the two young couples.  I’ll have to admit, that this table has the most stunning people in the dining room except for Allie.”

Everyone was watching to see what Allie would do.  Allie looked at the Captain and sighed, “I’m sorry you feel like that, sir.  But you really do need to do a better job gluing on your mask to hide your wrinkles and you need to have someone touch up your wig because it is beginning to look a little worn.”

Kate, the Captain’s daughter was laughing, “Dad, I think your in trouble with this one.  Allie, you and I need to talk and I’ll tell you the rest of the story.”

Captain Brower couldn’t even keep a straight face, “I declare a truce.  I took the liberty of ordering for us tonight, since I have to do another reception.  I hope you don’t mind.”

Allie shook his head, “We don’t mind, we’ll just drop the things we don’t like on the floor.  Right, Jim and John.”

The drinks were served and we all had what looked as if they were the same.  As the sommelier put drinks in front of the three young guys, “Three virgin strawberry daiquiris for you young men, enjoy.”

Everything was cooked to perfection and the dinner conversation was relaxed and the three boys had all sorts of questions that kept the Captain entertained.

When we finished the main course, the Captain stood and Philippe brought him a microphone.  “I want to welcome all of you aboard and hope that you have a wonderful cruise.”

He looked at us, “I need to go to meet the next dinner seating.  I’ll see you all later.”

Allie looked at the two ladies, “We’re going to go see if we can still book the driving tour of Copenhagen and then spend some time at Tivoli Gardens, would you like to go with us.”

Jocelyn answered for the two of them, “We’d like that very much, since I have never been to Copenhagen before.”

Allie looked at Mrs. Brower,  “How about you, ma’am?”

Mrs. Brower looked at Allie, “Thank you for asking, but I have some shopping that I would like to do.”

The waiter came and asked, “Can I interest you in any dessert.”

Allie looked at Alphonse who had been waiting on us, “Sir, we would very much appreciate it if you would send one of everything to Cabin 1001 and we can eat it after we go to the show.  That’s what we did last night.  Check with Josef to see how he did it.”

Allie stood, “We need to go check with Doctor and Mrs. Sorenson to make sure Jim and John can spend the night and go on the tour with us if we can get seats.  Please excuse us.  We’ll be right back.”

Kate looked at me and laughed, “It's easy to tell who the boss in your family is.”

I looked at the people at the table, “Believe it or not, we only met each other about a week ago.  We got kicked out of Algeria and here we are in the Baltic Sea.  No one wants us around.”

The three guys returned; John announced, “Our Grandparents have given us permission to go on the tour.  Let’s go see if we can get tickets.”

We helped the ladies out of their seats and were walking toward the entrance to the dining room when we were confronted by a man who was obviously very inebriated, “Who are you punks that you were invited to sit at the Captain’s table while the rest of us peons had  terrible service.”

Allie, went right up to the gentleman, “Look mister, the ladies are the captain’s wife and his daughter and her friend.  Dr. Roberts is the guest speaker for the cruise and the other two young men are the ship’s doctor’s grandsons.  My dad, brother and I are nobodies.  I suggest that you go sit down, or better yet, go to bed.  You smell like a brewery.”

Dr. Roberts pulled Allie away, “Allie, back away.  You’re right this gentleman is indeed inebriated.  He obviously has had too much to drink.  Let’s go check on the tickets before we go to the show.”

Philippe approached us, “Dr. Whitney, your dinner has arrived,  it will get cold unless you go sit down at your table.”

 

Dr. Whitney challenged Philippe, “How come these people are already leaving and I’m just now getting my food?”

As Philippe was leading the gentleman to his table we heard him say, “Perhaps, if you hadn’t arrived 45 minutes late, you would be finished too.”

We stopped at the Tour Excursion desk and we were able to get eight tickets for the tour Allie wanted.  It took us some time to get the charges sorted out because of all of the different names and cabins.  As we were walking away from the desk, we heard an announcement.   The show will be starting in five minutes. We walked to the theatre and it was packed.  The only seats we could find where we could all sit together were down at the front of the balcony so the view was going to be limited.

The cruise director came out and welcomed everyone and explained that we would be docking in Copenhagen at 8:00A.M. Allie leaned over to me and whispered, “Dad, what are we going to do before we go on our tour at 1:00P.M.?”

Kate looked at Allie, “We can always eat, run, swim and exercise the morning away so we can eat again.  We can have the ship to ourselves.  The service will be great.”

After the show which the three young people got bored with, we started to leave and Kate and Jocelyn suggested, “Why don’t we go to the Panorama Room and check out the band?”

Dr. Roberts deferred, “I need to go get ready for my presentation on Stockholm, since I’m being dragged to Tivoli Gardens tomorrow.”

Allie declared, “We three growing boys are going to go change clothes and see if there is anything worth eating in the Lido restaurant before we go have our desserts.  Please be quiet when you come in after dancing the night away.”

It was just Kate, Jocelyn, Brahim and me when we went to the Panorama Room.  We found a table adjacent to the dance floor.  I had no idea if Brahim knew how to dance.  We had just sat down and the band started to play a slow number so I invited Kate to dance.  Brahim surprised me as he and Jocelyn joined us on the dance floor.

We were just about the only people dancing so it was rather fun to be able to maneuver.  Kate looked at me as we were dancing, “Ed, if you think you are going to get me to go to bed with you, then maybe we shouldn’t perpetuate this charade.  Jocelyn and I have been more than friends for over five years.”

I started to laugh, “Kate, I have been single all my life and Brahim and I have been friends for all of a week.  Yes, we sleep in the same bed and I’m taking him and his brother Allie home to live with me if we can arrange it.”

She stopped, “Ed, can we go sit down.  Why do I get the feeling that there are some things going on that we don‘t know.  Does my father know what is happening?”

I laughed, “Yes, probably and yes.”

Kate hit me on the shoulder, “What does yes, probably and yes mean?

I looked at her, “Let’s go where ears can’t hear what we’re saying.”

I got Brahim’s attention and motioned that we were going to leave.  It wasn’t long before he and Jocelyn joined us.

I signed the tab for the drinks and we went to the stairway and walked down one flight of stairs.  I decided that I had better ring the door chimes in case the boys were not presentable. 

Allie opened the door, “Dad, why didn’t you just come in?”

I directed his attention to the two ladies.  He responded, “Hi again, Miss Kate and Miss Jocelyn.  We’re presentable, come on in.”

The guys were sitting at the dining room table eating their desserts and all I could think was that they were going to look like elephants before the cruise was over.  They finished their dessert and put their dirty dishes in the sink after they rinsed them, “Dad, we’re going to take a shower, brush our teeth and go to bed.  We’ll see you in the morning.”

When we told the two ladies about everything that had been happening, Kate started to laugh, “Now, I know why Dad had you at his table tonight.  He usually has boring old people at the table with him.  There are probably more people than Dr. Whitney who are upset that you all and not them were at the table.”

The two ladies stood and Jocelyn announced, “We need to get our beauty sleep if we’re going to be able to keep up with the five of you tomorrow.”

Brahim asked, “Would you like us or one of us to escort you to your cabin?”

The two ladies started to laugh, “We can probably find it since it’s only two doors down the hall.  We’re in Cabin 1005. Stop by and we’ll go to breakfast with you  in the morning if it isn’t too early.”

Before we went to get ready for bed, I looked into Allie’s bedroom and the three guys were in bed sleeping the opposite direction since it gave them more room.  Allie saw me and threw me a kiss. 

After Brahim and I had hung up our formal clothes, I led him to the shower.  I put my hands against the wall and started to cry, “Daddy, I’ve been a bad boy.  I danced with a woman, you need to punish me.”

He turned me around and kissed me, “It’s too late tonight to do anything about it.  I need to check with Dr. Allie to see what I should do.  We’ll take care of your problem tomorrow.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: Well, let's see, we have two ladies who have come out, and in turn, Ed has told them the entire story.  We have some teenagers who can eat their weight in food and still are able to stand and even walk around.  We have a pair of lovers who are too tired to move much less get any exercise.  It looks pretty normal to me. As I always say though, I am ready for another chapter.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 02/20/09