Algeria Here I Come
by: E Walk
(© 2008-2009 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 27

Thanks But No Thanks

As I was hanging up from talking with Jim Thomas, Michael brought in a tray of appetizers.  He grinned, “I only brought a few because I was told that Jim and John wouldn’t be here until dessert time tonight.”

He took the tray of appetizers to the veranda and I took drink orders.  Michael served the drinks even though it wasn’t his job.  I was beginning to get the feeling that he just enjoyed being around us.

As we were getting ready for dinner, Allie came into our bedroom, “Dad and Bra, it’s going to be so funny without Jim and John at dinner.  Maybe I just won’t eat tonight.”

I grabbed Allie, “Son, that’s not a good solution at all.  When we get to Houston, they won’t be with us twenty fours a day.  You need to make other friends as well.  We may not even live anywhere near to where they live.  Now, go put on your happy face and charm everyone as you always do.”

Allie started backing out of the room, “Yes, master.  No, master.  I will, master.”

When everyone was assembled in our suite, we made our way to the dining room where the Summers were waiting.  We had just gotten seated when Philippe brought an older couple to the table, “Allie, would it be permissible for Reverend and Mrs. Hobbs to join you for dinner?  They just arrived today and it seems that Jim and John are occupying their seats at Dr. Sorenson’s table.”

Allie got up from his chair and went to the lady and gentleman, “I’m Allie, let me introduce the remainder of the people at the table.”

He was very thorough and the older couple sat down, then the conversation got very interesting.

Allie started it, “Philippe introduced you as Reverend Hobbs.  What did he mean by that?”

The gentleman looked at Allie, “That means I am a pastor and was hired by the cruise line to conduct nondenominational church services for the remainder of the cruise.  There is a Jewish rabbi on board as well as a Catholic priest, for those two religions,  I guess I need to take care of the rest of us.”

Allie looked confused, “Even us Muslims?”

Reverend Hobbs looked a little befuddled, “I didn’t know that there were any Muslims aboard.”

Allie shook his head, “Well, there are at least three of us on board.  Right, Mr. Khalid?  Mr. Amir, which service will you be going to?”

Amir was put on the spot, but he answered, “Allie, I guess at this point, I don’t think there is a God.  So I guess I’m an atheist.”

Talk about a hose down job on a conversation, Amir had just done one.  No one said anything, but Allie’s mind was working, “But Uncle Amir, surely you believe in something.”

“Allie, I just can not understand why all people can’t live together in harmony.  I don’t understand why race, religious beliefs or ethnic backgrounds should preclude us from trying to make the world a better place to live for everyone.”

Reverend Hobbs assuaged things, “Mr. Amir, I agree with you on that. Unfortunately though, people's prejudices and egos preclude that from happening.  It would be a much better place if people would just sit down and talk.  To tell you the truth, I think this is the first time that I’ve ever met a Muslim.  I don’t look at Allie, Brahim and Mr. Khalid as if they were Muslims.  They are people.  I think it is more important to see what good they can do for the world.”

Mrs. Hobbs took control, “Ossie, relax.  Perhaps, you could enlist the aid of Allie at the service tomorrow.  He might be able to get Mister Amir to stand up and testify as to how he thinks we should make this world a better place for all people.”

I looked around the table, “I think we should order our food.  Otherwise, we’ll be closing the dining room.”

As we were eating, Allie asked, “Reverend Hobbs, what time is your service?”

Pastor Hobbs answered, “I guess Alan and Becky decided that 11:00 would be best.  That way all of the other denominations could hog all of the best deck chairs at the pool.”

Unbeknownst to Mr. Hobbs, Alan and Becky were standing right behind him, “Pastor Hobbs, you know that’s not true.  The people who will be attending your service tomorrow will still be wearing their hair in curlers.  You might want to take a large bottle of mouth wash to make sure the congregations breaths smell good since many of them will not have even had time to brush their teeth before the service.” 

“Ossie and Harriet, it so good to see you again. I see you have aligned yourselves some very interesting people.  We’ll see you at the service tomorrow morning.”

As we were finishing dinner, Allie looked me, “I think I’m going to go to the suite. I’m very tired.”

Mr. Hobbs smiled, “Allie, why don’t you meet us for breakfast.  You and Mr. Amir have given me a new subject for my message tomorrow,  Please be here.  I need to go make an outline for the service tomorrow.”

Jim and John stopped by and John announced, “We’ll meet you in the suite as soon as we can get this bonding thing over with.  Our parents have decided that they haven’t been paying enough attention to us.  Now they’re trying to strangle us to death with love.”

Allie looked at the two guys, “Enjoy it while you can, guys.  At least you have parents to love you.  Not that I’m complaining; but a brother and …his friend aren’t the same as a mother and a father.”

Kate, who was sitting beside me, poked me in the ribs and whispered, “Allie is a work of art.  I can’t believe he said something like that.”

As we stood to leave, Allie turned to the rest of us, “I’m going to go with the Hobbs to make sure that they get to their cabin safely.”

He walked out of the dining room holding the hands of Reverend and Mrs. Hobbs.

The rest of us decided to go see what the show in theatre was going to be and quite frankly none of us were interested in what the young performer was doing.  I think we were all tired from our excursion into Hamburg.

When Brahim and I got to the suite, Allie, Jim and John were eating the desserts.  Jim was saying, “Yeah, we gotta go to the Catholic service in the morning, so I guess we won’t see you until sometime tomorrow afternoon.  The grandparents have arranged for us to have a special brunch in their cabin.  Allie, please don’t remind my parents that they should spend more time with us again.”

I decided to intervene, “Guys, Allie said nothing to your parents.  I did.  I told them that Allie wanted you to be able to appreciate them while you have them, since his and Brahim’s parents have died.”

John smiled, “We figured it had to be one of you adults who said something, but please don’t say anything more.  If you do, we’ll send our whiny sister to make your lives miserable.   She hasn’t been able to meet any people that she deems to be worthy of being her friends.  She’s so stuck on herself, that I’m surprised that anyone even talks to her.”

I let that comment pass by, “If Jim and John are going to the Catholic service, I suggest that you get to bed, post haste.”

Jim asked, “What does that mean?”

Allie answered, “I think Dad was saying we need to get our butts in bed, now.”

The boys disappeared into Allie’s bedroom, so Brahim and I took advantage of the opportunity to feed the sperm whales again.  I was playing with the hair on Brahim’s chest, “If we don’t stop feeding the whales so often, they’re going to get fat.”

Brahim hugged me, “Haven’t you noticed?  There has been a marked increase in the amount of sea life that has been following the Paradise.  The word must be getting out that there is some good protein coming from the ship.  We’ll need to make sure we keep the marine life happy.”

I kissed Brahim, “We’ll need to replenish our supply of condoms when we get to Norway.”

We were awakened by Allie the next morning.  He was dressed in long pants and a nice cotton shirt.  He kissed us, “Dad and Brahim, we’re going to go eat and then I’m going to mass with Jim and John, to see what's so different between the Catholic service and the nondenominational service.  The Jewish people had their service yesterday, so I guess I will need to check them out next week.  I’ll meet you at the movie theatre at 11:00 if I don’t catch up to you before then.”

After Allie left, Brahim started to manhandle some very delicate parts of my body.   He was washing them with his mouth.  He mumbled because his mouth was full.  “We can’t have the marine life getting all of the protein.”

Well the fishes didn’t get that dose of protein.  I tried to reciprocate but Brahim denied my attempt, “We need to get dressed before someone comes looking for us.  There will be time for more games tonight.”

When we arrived at the table, everyone else was already seated.  The table had been enlarged and now could accommodate fifteen people.  When we were seated, Pastor Hobbs grinned, “You have one very interesting son, Mr. Waller.  I can’t believe that he would willingly have himself sit through two worship services in the same morning.  He explained that you were going to adopt him and that’s why you were traveling together.”

Mrs. Hobbs was laughing, “He hasn’t mentioned anything about what has been happening to you people.  I would have thought that would have been the first thing he would have told us.  When he walked us to our cabin last evening, he was more interested in trying to find out more about us than telling us anything about himself.  If the Michaels hadn’t stopped by last night, we would have thought the young man didn’t have a care in the world.”

Khalid got a concerned look on his face, “So, you know what has been happening then.   How do you know the Michaels so well that they would talk to you about us?”

JoJo spoke up, “Uncle Ossie and Aunt Harriet, let me answer Mr. Khalid’s questions.  Aunt Harriet and my mother are sisters.  They know about Kate and me.”

Dr, Roberts had a funny look on his face, “Ossie, you’re a pastor and you have no problem with people of the same sex being more than friends?”

“Darryl, why didn’t you come right out and ask the question that was on your mind?  Why would I care if two women loved each other?  The same goes for two men?  I am sorry that they can’t procreate together.  But heck, Ed and Brahim have a perfect situation with having a built in son like Allie.  Some of my best parishioners are gay.”

The Hobbs stood, and Pastor Hobbs winked, “We need to go get ready for the service.  Hope to see some of you at the service.”

After the Hobbs left, Mr. DePauw shook his head, “I can’t believe that a member of the clergy would be so accepting of gay relationships.”

JoJo had a look of uncertainty, “I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but since everyone who is still at the table is in a committed relationship, Uncle Ossie and Aunt Harriet almost lost their only son because he tried to commit suicide when he realized that he was gay.  He thought that his parents would hate him and throw him out.  Uncle Ossie found him in time and they have developed a very strong relationship.  I’m surprise that Keith and his partner Ryan aren’t here with their two boys.  They usually try to come on these cruises when Uncle Ossie and Aunt Harriet are onboard.”

I suddenly realized that the Summers weren’t at the table, “What happened to the Summers?”

Khalid answered, “They left with boys to attend the Catholic mass.  We'd better go get appropriately dressed to attend this nondenominational church service.  I’ve got to see what happens for myself.”

Since Brahim and I were already appropriately dressed, so we thought, we walked around the decks and watched people.  There sure didn’t seem to be many people about.  Surely they weren’t all at mass.  At about five minutes until eleven, we went to the movie theatre and I was surprised at how full the theatre was.  Allie saw us and waved to us.  He had saved two seats on the front row for us.  He was sitting talking to Alan and Becky.  Khalid, Amir, Darryl and Tom were sitting directly behind us.  JoJo and Kate were sitting with the Michaels.”

At precisely eleven o’clock, Alan took the microphone, “Ladies and gentleman, “Our guest pastor for today is Dr. Oscar Hobbs.  I’m sure you will be inspired by his message.  He has enlisted the aid of one his young friends.  His lovely wife, Harriet, is at the piano.  Now, prepare yourselves for this worship service, as she plays a song to put us in the frame of mind for worship.”

Mrs. Hobbs was a very accomplished pianist and played Purcell number according to the program that was handed out.  Pastor Hobbs went to the podium, “I’m very pleased to announce that today’s service is truly interdenominational.  We have people of the Muslim faith, an atheist or two and yes even some Catholics.  I had dinner last evening with some wonderful people and I changed the entire service today because of that encounter.”

The service was unique but the thing that made it special was that Dr. Hobbs had Allie sing ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’.   When Allie finished singing, he went to get the offering baskets.  He announced, “The money that is collected today will be sent to the poor people in the continent where I was born, Africa.  There are many people starving in that part of the world as well as in all other parts of the world. This week, we are concentrating on Africa, next week we’ll choose another part of the world.”

Dr. Hobbs delivered his sermon entitled ‘Love and Understanding’.  After the closing hymn and prayer, Mrs. Hobbs played a song as people were leaving.  Allie was standing talking to Alan, “But  Alan, I can’t sing in front of people.  What would I sing?  You need to get Brahim to sing in the talent contest and not me.  People would laugh me off the stage.”

Alan wouldn’t back down, “Allie, I’ll cut you a deal.  Why don’t both of you come to the auditions this afternoon at four o’clock, right after Dr. Roberts’ presentation on Norway?  The judges will decide if you are good enough to be in the show.”

The Hobbs came to Alan’s rescue, “Let’s go get some lunch.”

Jim and John didn’t join us for lunch.  We ate a quick lunch and Allie decided that he wanted to go for a swim before he went to listen to Dr. Roberts’ presentation.

Khalid and Amir decided to go with him and that was the start of what was going to be a very long and interesting afternoon.

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  Well, this was quite an interesting chapter.  Let me see if I can say this without giving something away.  First off, I want to point out that this is not a contest.  I am just curious to see if anyone besides me noticed something that was mentioned in this chapter that made me chuckle.  I will say that two things are mentioned that don't really belong together, but when combined, they are interesting. 

Allie is certainly a bright young man.  He is also very insightful. I will be very interested to see what his reaction is to the two different services he attends.  I hope that we get to meet the Hobbs' son.  I have a feeling he is going to be a very interesting person.

I still have the very uneasy feeling that we haven't seen the last of the deep dark belly of the underworld, and their plans for our guys.  Don't quote me on that one, but I do have that feeling.  I guess I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak.  Let's hope that I am wrong, or that if I am right, that the security is up to the job, or failing that, that Allie is able to use something else, as effectively as he has his sling shot. 

I hope it won't be too long before we get the next chapter.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 05/15/09