Eric woke up, sweat dripping down his face and onto his lap. Noticing his father pressing down on a button that made the window next to him descend, he leaned closer to the rush of wind, relieving him.
"Thanks". Eric said.
"It's not even hot in here". Eric's father said with a confused face.
"That's because I'm strange".
Eric's father chuckled.
"You sure are,... how was the sleep".
"Terrible".
"Not surprising since you wouldn't stop turning".
"I was".
"Yeah, I wish I videoed it".
There was a brief silence between them. Until Eric spoke.
"Are we in South Sudan". Eric said with his voice leaving traces of hopefulness.
"Yes, luckily for you, you slept through 4 hours of the drive".
"Yeah, my headache's completely gone".
Eric's father glanced at him for a moment, his face showed a brief look of concern.
"Tell you what, when we get back I'll take you to the doctor, and then we can buy some stuff for our next trip".
"Trip to where". He asked.
"To the U.S".
Eric's face lit up with excitement.
"Wait, we're visiting Mom for the summer, for how long".
"1 and a half a month".
Eric was practically bursting with excitement. He couldn't wait to see that woman again. Eric pictured his earliest memory of meeting her. He was just 4, running up to a caucasian woman, wearing a very lady-like beautiful white dress. He remembered everything clearly, she was squatting, wearing her white heels, and her blond, long, flowy hair, hung down to her right breast. Her smile as bright as the sun illuminating her hair, making her look like a goddess incarnate. Her eyes, a light green, they were transparent, he swears he could see it, he swears he could see her soul. Her bright golden soul, it was the soul that of a warm kind person. She embraced him in her arms, holding him tight, kissing his cheek, while spinning him around. He played with her blue gem earrings that shined in the sun. On that day, he fell deeply in love with his mom.
"Hey Dad, how come you never told me about, how you met Mom". He said, his voice laced with curiosity and realization. Eric's father took a moment to respond, unsure if it was the right time to say.
"Not now". His father paused.
"I think the story really isn't appropriate for 9-year-olds, well not the full story at least".
Eric lifted an eyebrow.
"How inappropriate could it be, I mean, I already know about sex, if that's what you're worried about".
His father looked genuinely surprised, and a bit amused.
Did they talk about it at school, or are you watching porn"?
"W,w, what, of course not, it's sex education, the guidance counselor came to my class and talked about it". Eric said startled by his father's weird question. His father laughed briefly.
A few hours later.
The sun began to set, lighting up the city and the exterior of the car, with a bright eye-catching light signaling the day was ending.
Eric looked out the window, with awe and appreciation to any god that made him able to witness a site like that.
"Wish I had my camera". His father said with a sigh.
"You forgot it".
"Y, yeah". His father said, his face drenched in regret.
"Sigh".
Eric layed back on his seat, and a few seconds later sprung back up.
"Wait, there is no way we will, no she's already done cook". His father cuts him off.
"Relax, I called her while you were sleeping and told her we aren't going to be there today".
Eric leaned back with a sigh of relief, completely exhausted by fear. He could feel his pulse and heart beating violently, casting the illusion that his whole body was a blood-pumping machine.
His father took a quick glance at Eric's face, and smiled, almost bursting with laughter.
"No thank you, no nothing, I had to endure 35 minutes of non-stop cursing and yelling.
"You timed it". Eric said, his voice laced with surprise and amusement.
"Yeah". He pulled out his phone and showed Eric the timer.
"Well Father, I envy you, it looks like your mind is awfully resilient".
Eric's father's face puffed up, trying not to laugh, but try as he might, he couldn't stop the side effect of one of the reasons why he loved his son. He burst out laughing, Eric, looking at his father with a big grin on his face, began to laugh along with him.
3 minutes, 3 minutes of nothing, but continuous laughter until they finally stopped.
"Ha ha ha ha ha, alright, hi hi ha ha ha, alright, alright, let's stop making fun of your grandma".
"Hi hi hi ha ha ha ha ha, alright, alright".
They both took a deep breath, trying not to end up laughing again. Eric really does love his father, he was given everything he ever asked for, as long as he didn't get into trouble at school, didn't fail any classes, or didn't enter his rebellious phase. That rarely happened. There was a time Eric threw a tantrum when he didn't see his mom for a while, but he was just 5. He and his father are very close, if somebody mistook them as brothers instead of father and son, they would both see why. It seems that whenever one of them discovers a new hobby, the other shows interest.
Just like when his father started getting into photography, Eric discovered he had a natural gift for it.
He glanced out the window, the sunset light stung his eyes, quickly shielding and opening up a crack between the gaps of his fingers, he noticed the sunset light illuminating the entire city and the river. Casting a golden glow over the city and the river. The river as if a mirror, reflected the golden setting sun, and the city. As if there is another world beneath the water. The whole thing almost seemed surreal, like god was giving them his blessings.
"Which city are we in".
" Juba, we are 442 miles away from Bentiu. We're going to spend the night at a hotel".
Eric's heart paused.
"We are not gonna stay at the same hotel 2 years ago, are we"? He said quickly, expecting a swift reassuring response.
"No, No, of course not, we won't be sleeping with Cockroaches again".
Hearing that he took a deep breath of relief. Eric began reminiscing about the roach hotel. He could still feel his body being tickled by the little almost unkillable insects, navigating across his entire body. Never again, he told himself.
"You hungry? My friend told me about a great restaurant in the city we should try." He said, looking at the golden Rolex on his wrist, that shined in the sunset light.
"What do they serve"? Eric asked
"Jollof rice and Chicken, Fries and Burgers, with sodas. You wanna try it".
"Alright".
Cruising through the city Eric looked up from the window and saw colossal buildings. Even though Eric came to Juba 2 years ago, the city was unrecognizable to him. Then again, he was just 7 two years ago. The buildings were a lot taller and bigger than he remembered. The streets and the highway were more cleaner and developed, he also noticed there were fewer vendors. Were they relocated by some new law, he thought. Eric smirked, at the realization that the country might be getting more wealthy. Just the thought of it made his lips undergo a metamamorphosis, transforming his lips into a bright grin, at the conjured image in his mind, of him actually staying at a luxurious hotel, instead of a hotel infested with a nation of roaches, hidden in the beds.
"We're here". His father said, reversing his car into the restaurant's parking space.
Unbuckling their seatbelts, they exited the car and entered the restaurant.
Almost immediately a wave of kitchen noise and the chatting of the customers bombarded their ears. As they got closer the mouth-watering aroma swam up their noses.
Maybe this restaurant isn't trash, Eric thought.
"Excuse me are you guys in line to order". Eric's father said with a light smile.
"Oh, no you can order, w we were just waiting for them to give us our table number". The girl and her friends, faces flashed bright grins, before they quickly hid it in embarrassment. He also couldn't help but notice that the girl stuttered when talking to his father. The way just like all women stuttered in his presence, even the maids. Eric glanced at his father, just to remind himself why his father was blessed with the art of seducing women.
"Oh, ok, you ladies have a nice day alright". He said in his American accent.
"You too". The women said, grabbing their recite with a bold 9 on it swiftly. But before they left they flashed him a smile, before scouring off to the higher floors, chatting quietly.
His father went over to the cashier and ordered their food.
In the meantime, Eric observed the customers at the restaurant. He realized that the restaurant was quite luxurious, especially the customers, they looked richer or just as rich as his father. Some also looked to be foreigners from the U.S.
"Eric, I bought us a table upstairs". His father said, stopping his curious mind.
He followed his father to the 8th and final floor of the restaurant. It overlooked the roads and small neighboring buildings. The floor was decorated with plants that looked real. They were all over the railing with lights on them. The tables were painted based on African folklore, with a noticeable number painted in red. He knew this because he heard several stories about it almost every day, from the maids. But he couldn't blame them though, he was quite hard to entertain.
His father pointed towards a table of one of several, next to the railing.
"The table is over there". He said. Eric followed him. Looking over at the other buildings, he saw as the sunset finally began disappearing, between the large buildings. Casting its remaining radiance onto his face. He gazed at the sunset for a little bit before continuing to walk along with his father.
"Table 10. Right here". He said, pointing at the number on the middle of the table.
Eric, and his father sat down, almost immediately a young man in his late teens came to take their orders. If Eric had to guess, he was probably around 19 or 20. He wore a stylized white dress shirt, that seems to have laces on them. And a black dress pants, followed with the worlds shiniest shoes.
"Good afternoon sirs, what do you guys want for your order." He says in his best American accent, trying to seem professional.
A smirk appeared on Eric's face, amused at the waiter's horrid attempt at a foreign accent.
"Can I have Jollof Rice with sweet and sour chicken."
He looked over to Eric, giving him a slight gesture.
"Can I have Fried Rice with sweet and sour chicken."
"Any drinks."
"I will have a coke".
"And I'll have a sprite with ice please". Eric said.
"Alright, you guys' orders will be ready in 10 minutes."
And with that, the waiter disappeared walking down the steps to the lower floors.