10 December 2023
My trip to Florida hung in the balance. The excitement of exploring American culture was overshadowed by uncertainty. My friend and host, Jameela, had not responded to my WhatsApp message sent a couple of weeks earlier. I sighed. I sent her a picture of a Florida travel book I came across in a local bookshop and asked if I should get it. No reply. I followed up with a phone call a couple of days after but still no answer. I panicked slightly as I knew my trip to Florida was conditional on hearing from Jameela. There is no way I will fly without hearing from her, I said to myself. As the departure date approached, I only sought confirmation from Jameela, whom I had informed about my travel plans four months earlier, which she acknowledged with little contact since then, although she did send me her address when I requested for it to enable me to apply for an ESTA.
The date was 10 December and it was less than two weeks to my flight. I phoned the one and only person I knew could help find Jameela, her twin brother, Jamal who is also a bosom friend of mine. However, no answer. About an hour later my phone rang, it was him.
‘Hello,’ I answered.
‘Mr James!’
‘How is it going?’ I asked.
‘Sorry, I missed your call earlier. Is everything okay?’ asked Jamal followed by a drawn out yawn.
‘You know my long anticipated visit to America is coming up, I will be travelling in a week, and I am staying with Jameela, but I haven't heard from her for some time now’. I said those words with very little concern, after all, it wasn't out of Jameela’s character to go months without any contact.
‘I haven't heard from her either. What day are you travelling?’ Jamal asked.
‘Twenty-third’ I answered.
‘Okay, the first thing is to find out if everything is fine with her. Things are not right; I think things have gotten weirder. Do you remember that I told you that she and Kim went to visit our younger brother, Joe in Alabama a couple of months back after not seeing him for a long time. And when I spoke to him after her visit, he sounded worried about her, he said that she looked a bit shabby, like “somebody’s grandmother”, said Jamal.
‘That sounds disturbing, is she sick? Is everything all right with her?’ I asked with some significant amount of concern this time around.
‘I don’t know honestly. But I know that you are very observant, maybe when you get there you can see what is wrong with her.’
Although I wasn’t comfortable with the task that Jamal had just assigned to me and didn’t think that it was my place to assess Jameela’s wellbeing, I also couldn’t turn down his request as he sounded concerned about his twin sister. Besides, I now had the opportunity of visiting and staying with her, something he wasn’t able to do at the time, so I reluctantly accepted Jamal’s request.
‘Okay, I will try’ I said softly.
‘I will contact her and ask her to reach out to you’ Jamal responded.
‘If I do not hear from her, I will not be going to Heathrow,’ I replied in a blunt and direct manner.
‘You know she moved from to Florida recently, and I don't think it went well. She is struggling to find work in Florida.’
‘Okay. Given the circumstances, if this trip isn't going to work, just tell me,’ I demanded. ‘Although you know that I rather not spend the holidays here, I want to get out of town, however I don't mind spending Christmas with family in Manchester. Besides this trip has been anticipated for a long time.’
‘Let me contact her,’ Jamal reiterated.
‘Do you have Kim’s number?’ I asked. Without waiting around for a reply, I added, ‘please reach out to her as well.’ We concluded the conversation with the usual talk about work and what we’ve both been up to recently.
The next day, I phoned my travel agency and discussed what my options were in the event that I couldn't travel.
***
On the morning of Friday, 15 December, I woke up with a slight unease, knowing that I was supposed to be traveling in a week’s time but still hadn’t heard from Jameela. I started the day with my routine breakfast of instant coffee, sitting up in my double bed in my studio apartment while flicking through TV news channels. The thought of checking my phone crossed my mind, and I immediately reached for it on the bedside drawer, where I saw a WhatsApp message from Jameela. Finally! The message read: “Please call me when you get off work.” It was barely after six p.m. when I wrapped up my tasks for the day and phoned Jameela.
‘Hey hey’, answered Jameela. I immediately felt a slight sense of relief.
‘Hey, how are you?’ I replied.
‘Good, sorry I’ve been in hibernation’.
‘Hibernation,’ I thought to myself, ‘hmm whatever that meant’. Afterall It was in her character to go on months without any contact and then out of the blue, a message will pop up alongside a half hearted apology for being M.I.A.
‘I have been trying to reach you. You know I am coming in a weeks time, right?’ I asked. ‘Are you expecting me at all?’ trying to gauge if there was some level of preparedness on her part.
‘Of course. I haven’t forgotten. When do you fly?’
‘Twenty third’ I answered. ‘Next Saturday.’
‘Yes, that’s fine. Keep me updated on your transit so that we can meet you at the airport.’
‘You still have my flight itinerary, right? I previously sent it to you’ I asked.
‘Yes, I still have it. I have to go now, Kim just came in, keep me updated.’
‘Okay, say hi to Kim and looking forward to seeing you both,’ I said.
‘Will do. Bye.’
Florida, it was happening. Little did I know that this journey would change my longstanding friendship with the twins.
