by Mia Henry
They shared one last cup of coffee together before Amber set off on her new virgin venture. Thereafter they met up with a representative from the agency who eased Betty’s emotions somewhat.
‘Don’t worry about a thing, we will take good care of her’, said the agent. Betty needed that reassurance.
So with some tears of excitement, some of joy and some of fear they said their goodbyes.
CHAPTER 3
SOUTHERN AFRICA
In the lusciousness of southern Africa and its blistering heat, even in winter, Eduardo became ill. It was known for an array of tropical diseases. To diagnose the exact one was a guessing game and so treatment was like playing Russian roulette. Malaria was prevalent. The dotora diagnosed Eduardo with this complicated and life threatening infection. She was quick to source quinine and started him on treatment immediately. His condition however deteriorated. Nothing was working.
‘I suggest you take him back home to his family, so he can be laid to rest at his roots’, said the dotora.
Eduardo’s American dream was shattered and Nancy was devastated.
‘This is God’s way of punishing me and Eduardo’, said an inconsolable Nancy to her friend Irene.
Eduardo, now a sickly, frail man, looking years beyond his actual age, flew back to Portugal, accompanied by Nancy and his daughter, Ella.
Seemingly miraculously, after visiting a few doctors there, he slowly started to feel better. It took a year to fully recover.
He believed his illness was a sign to leave his acting career, so he abandoned his American dream. But the drumbeats of Africa were calling him. He was itching to return even if it meant selling fruit and vegetables for an income.
A few months later, Richard, their son was born. He was merely an infant when Eduardo headed back to Africa. He first made his way to the capital of Mozambique, Lourenço Marques, where he struggled to settle. He had heard that the pastures were a lot greener in the city of gold, Johannesburg. A few months later he took the railroad, constructed in the late 1800’s by the Portuguese, to Pretoria, South Africa. Johannesburg, just thirty-three miles south, became his new home.
Life was tough. He had earned enough money to buy a little corner grocery store. Although it provided a good income, two years later he still hadn’t saved enough money to provide his family with their own home and what he considered would be a comfortable life.
He befriended a gentleman called Zeca and they became lifelong friends. Zeca was involved with the development of a new hotel, the Carlton Centre. It was going to be fifty stories high, a real skyscraper by African standards.
Eduardo was exhilarated at the thought of this project and showed such a keen interest in it, that his friend Zeca casually asked him one day, ‘Why don’t you give up your grocery store and become a foreman?’
‘A wonderful new venture for you and the pay is good’, Zeca continued.
Eduardo knew it would be a remarkable opportunity, and although a challenge, he didn’t deliberate. His answer was yes.
With the sale of his grocery store and a new fixed income, he now felt assured that it would take just one more year and then his family would be able to join him. And so it was.
Amidst great excitement Nancy, Ella and Richard arrived in Johannesburg on a beautiful spring day. The weather was perfect. Africa had crept into her soul and although not quite the same as the untamed beauty of Angola, Nancy was over the moon to be reunited with Eduardo.
He had left when the children were babies and now he had to get to know them all over again. Ella was now six and Richard nearly four. Nancy was gobsmacked by the size of the city. It was like a dream come true. Those three lonely tear filled years had finally come to an end.
One of the first sightseeing ventures on Nancy’s arrival was a tour of the building site. The foundations had been laid and the large underground parkade was nearly complete. Ground floor level was in progress. The most exciting stop however, was a visit to the little home Eduardo had bought for his family. It was in need of some tender loving care but Nancy was ecstatic.
Eduardo reveled in his newfound love for the building trade and immediately got stuck into the alterations to transform his new home into his family’s haven.
When it seemed as if life couldn’t get any better, Nancy suddenly received a telephone call.
‘Hello, is that Mrs Gelo?’ asked the male voice on the other end, speaking in Nancy’s mother tongue.
‘Yes’, said Nancy.
‘I am afraid to say, Mrs Gelo, that your husband has been involved in a terrible accident’.
There was a deafening silence. ‘Are you there, Mrs Gelo?’
There was no response. Nancy had collapsed onto the floor, sobbing.
A seven year old, Ella, had no idea what was happening. Seeing her mother in such a terrified state she ran outside to call a neighbor.
‘Please come help my mommy’, she cried.
The neighbor, who barely knew the family as they had only recently moved into the neighborhood, was met by Nancy crying uncontrollably. It took some time to explain the news she had just received. A few phone calls later the outcome did not seem good. The neighbor’s husband, Alex, soon appeared on the scene offering to give Nancy a lift to whichever hospital Eduardo had been taken. Alex called the building site and managed to speak to one of the worker’s who had witnessed the accident.
‘Unfortunately sir, he fell three stories and landed on his back and the body was taken away,’ said the witness.
Even though Nancy had been told her husband was dead, she was frantic to see him. She wanted to know exactly where he had been taken.
Nancy once again felt angst. That deep fear returned – was she being punished?
The phone rang again. It was the hospital. Eduardo had been taken there, unconscious and with a broken back.
It was an emotional rollercoaster! From dead to being alive – that’s all that now mattered to Nancy. Young Ella was relieved to sense her mother’s hope.
Eduardo had been carrying out an inspection on the third floor. He had stepped onto scaffolding that was covered in black sheeting. Little did he realize that the top planks, which formed a platform, were not yet, set in place. The scaffolding fitters had foolishly left no warning signs. Eduardo has a vague memory of stepping onto the scaffolding and the initial dismay at feeling no solid footing. The remainder was violently shaken from his memory as his head struck the ground three stories below.
For the next three months Nancy would have to take three buses everyday just to get to the hospital to visit her husband. And everyday her two children, Ella and Richard would accompany her. Some days, mainly over the weekends, Nancy’s neighbor or a few people that she had befriended in this new foreign country would take or fetch them from the hospital.
It was exceptionally challenging for Nancy living in a strange country. The public transportation system was unfamiliar to her and she couldn’t speak the language. She relied completely on Ella to be her spokesperson and translator. Ella had only recently started school so her English was still very limited. The task seemed immense but little did Ella then realize that even at that young age she was being trained to fill big shoes.
After three months in traction at the hospital, and another few months of slow rehabilitation, Eduardo had recovered. He was never compensated by the company for the fall. He had been employed on a contract basis and fell into the category of the higher income group so was not entitled to the workmen’s compensation benefits. All his medical costs were covered by the state but he was not compensated for loss of income. With no active trade unions in the country at the time, he had little recourse besides a lawsuit. He chose not to pursue such a course. But he was intensely disappointed and so chose not to return to the company. He decided to start his own construction company.
Nearly a year after the accident Nancy g
ave birth to another baby daughter, Linda. Life was going well again.
Eduardo purchased some land in Sandton, in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg. He began with his own project of building a dream home for his family.
Although business was flourishing Nancy struggled with asthma in the city of gold, with its very high altitude. After a few near-death asthma attacks, resulting in endless weeks of hospitalization, Nancy and Eduardo decided that relocating to the coast might be a better option for her health.
And so, began a road trip. As soon as they arrived in the city of Algoa Bay, in the Eastern Cape, they were smitten. Within six months they had sold their home in Johannesburg. They were now ready to face the unknown challenges of life in a new city.
Before settling in the Bay, Eduardo surprised the family with a trip to Portugal. Nancy was delighted. She hadn’t been home in eight years. Linda was now nearly seven and had never met her grandparents. Her maternal grandfather had died before she was even born, but she still had her maternal grandmother and both paternal grandparents.
Nancy was elated to be surrounded by all the family again. The trip was the tonic Nancy needed before embarking on the next chapter in her life, her new abode at the coast.
Ella, Richard and Linda adapted well to their new home and school.
CHAPTER 4
AMBER A YOUNG MODEL
Amber stepped onto the soil of Europe and was in a world of her own. Competition was rife but everyone loved her. She was outspoken, bubbly and vivacious.
She was experiencing a different world and although loving all the attention and her new found freedom at the age of sixteen, she also witnessed a world, which encompassed both the sublime and the bizarre. There was a dark side to the glamour of walking ramps and the clicking and flashing of cameras.
The pressure was immense! Dealing with body size constraints, regulated meals, exercise, and more often than not, an empty wallet, made it easy to become a target of the sinister world of nightclub moguls. Sex, alcohol and smoking were a big part of the business. Competition was fierce, each one hoping for the ultimate reward of a multi million dollar contract. Drugs would help with calming the storms within, dealing with peer pressure and would trigger the pleasure sensors.
Amber struggled to draw the line between commitment and allowing herself to be swept up in a social life of decadence and debauchery. She quickly transformed into an adult and reveled in the experimentation of it all, and soon discovered what worked and what didn’t and so was born her new mantra: ‘Pussy is Power.’
Despite the pressures, Amber relished in the so-called glamour of the modeling world. She was euphoric, she had found her niche and men were drawn to her. She only gave as much as she wanted to, but made sure she got whatever she wanted in return. She loved all the attention and made it to the covers of top magazines. Vogue was her jam. Life was one big party and she was going to ride it hard and keep rolling in the pastures of her dreams. She had the power and would use that for her own gratification. Yet, her Achilles heel was that she lacked self-control and had poor financial management skills. She was reckless, as fast as the money was coming in, so it was going out.
CHAPTER 5
ELLA
After completing school and one year of training in a Secretarial and Bookkeeping College, Ella found herself working for the same building and cabinet-making firm that was employing her dad ever since their arrival in the Bay. However shortly after Ella joined, Eduardo ventured out on his own back into the building trade, which he loved. Once again he started his own building company.
Ella began as a receptionist but by the time she left the company eight years later, she was their Accounts Manager. She had matured from a very young girl into a capable industrious woman. The early years as her parent’s spokesperson and translator had groomed her to survive and thrive.
Life was pretty uneventful for Ella, until one day whilst lying in hospital, her knight in shining armor but dressed in a white coat, appeared at the foot of her bed.
‘What happened to you?’ enquired Rob Kennedy, a tall and handsome young doctor doing his internship.
‘Nothing happened, just one of those common feet ops’, replied a shy Ella.
He then readily moved on to the next patient.
Weeks later the same young doctor, who had very briefly seen her in hospital was at the same church service as Ella. She recognized him immediately. Noticing Ella limping along, with both feet still in plaster, Rob stopped Ella and enquired, ‘what happened to you?’
Ella immediately shot back, ‘You’ve asked me the same question before’.
Rob looked a little puzzled, but cheekily replied, ‘how could I forget such a cute smile?’
Ella reminded him that he had done a ward round whilst she lay in hospital just after her op. Although amused, he had no recollection of the incident or the smile.
A group of young friends were meeting that evening for cheese and wine at the beach, so Ella invited Rob to join them. Being new to the area and not knowing too many people in the Bay, he was delighted to accept the invitation.
Rob and Ella immediately connected. They felt comfortable with each other. During long periods of small talk, Ella would catch Rob’s eyes, almost identical in color to the ocean behind him, gazing at her. She would momentarily hold the gaze, and then her heart would race. Although he would at times look bewildered and thoughtful, she sensed the magic and euphoria. Rob was captivated by Ella’s smile and the twinkle in her big brown eyes. Her wind-tossed long brown hair excited him.
‘I need to go,’ bemoaned Rob.
The night was still young but a very long hospital shift awaited him. Rob left. No addresses or telephone numbers were exchanged and no mention of plans to meet again.
As Ella lay in bed that night she found herself dreaming and felt the fluttering of butterflies in her stomach. She was thrilled, yet terrified.
It didn’t take long for Rob to find out where Ella worked. There were many phone calls, coffee, lunch and dinner dates. However it took a good few months before the two became an official item, due to Rob’s hectic work schedule and also a girlfriend had been left behind when he moved to the Bay. So being torn between two girls he needed to decide who and what he wanted.
Four years later in 1985, Ella and Rob got married and shortly thereafter they left for Canada. They had committed to stay for a year, but hadn’t decided whether they would settle in Canada or move back home to their roots, Africa.
Life in Canada was an interesting journey for the newly weds. The little town, in the prairies of Saskatchewan, welcomed the two with open arms and the locals made sure they were involved in all the social activities. Living in Kipling was a unique experience. It was a quaint town named in honor of the great English author, Rudyard Kipling, after one of his voyages across Canada. There were little more than a thousand inhabitants and it had a very definite Hungarian influence. The town started as a railway station, called Kipling Station, and grew from there. Rob and Ella had the privilege of celebrating the town’s centennial whilst living there.
After Rob and Ella left Kipling, Rob’s brother bought and took over the medical practice there, where he worked for a number of years, before he sold it to another South African doctor. This new doctor put Kipling on the map, with international headlines, when he pleaded guilty for sexual assault. A patient claimed that he had drugged her during a consultation and then proceeded to rape her while she was in a disoriented state. He tried to mislead the investigating authorities by requesting DNA testing of his blood. He eventually admitted that he had surgically inserted a tube containing someone else’s blood sample into his own arm from which they had drawn blood thinking it was from his own vein. He finally pleaded guilty to sexual assault and was promptly deported from Canada.
Rob and Ella made some very special memories and formed some real bonds with the locals. When Ella
wasn’t being occupied by her new friends and activities, she would join Rob, on hospital calls, or home visits, or she would even help out at the surgery. Most evenings, there would be call outs to the hospital. Ella would tag along with Rob, and then join the registered nurses in their station for coffee. Everybody knew everyone else in the community and even if you were not part of a family network, you were part of a close-knit community. Coffee dates in the nurse’s stations would occasionally last hours and often patients would join in for much laughter and frivolity.
One evening in the nurse’s station the chatter was about various collections that people engage in.
Ella piped up, “My sister collects rubbers’.
Speechless, the group gazed at Ella, aghast.
Thinking perhaps they hadn’t quite understood her accent, Ella further clarified, ‘Yes, she collects them from all over the world, she has a box full of them in all shapes and sizes and some even have various yummy fruity smells.’
‘How old is your sister?’ someone asked.
‘Fourteen years old but she has been collecting them since she was nine’, responded Ella.
Sensing that the Canadian’s were somehow needing more clarification, Ella continued, ‘Whenever my mum travels overseas she brings back the most interesting and unique shapes for my sister’.
Big eyes and a deadly silence remained.
Then the penny dropped. Erasers are not termed ‘rubbers’ in Canada as they are in South Africa. Everyone laughed until they cried, a tea break the Canadian nurses claimed they would never forget.
About two months after arriving in that quaint village on the prairies of Saskatchewan, Ella is pregnant. Much excitement abounded but it was cut short by a miscarriage early in the pregnancy.
Four months later, Rob and Ella took a few weeks vacation and were visiting friends in Los Angeles. Before Ella said anything to Rob, she told her friend Viv, ‘I’m about two weeks overdue with my period.’
