Her eyes widened. She glanced over to see Kerim’s dark frown. Turning back, she could feel her heart pounding wildly against her chest wall.
“What does that have to do with anything?” she cried. The shrill tone in her voice could have broken glass. She looked over her shoulder to see Dr. Saeed standing with them.
“It has a lot to do with everything,” Dr. Saeed said. “Your dad and all your friends’ missing loved ones are trying to communicate. We need your help to find out what your dad and the others are trying to say.”
Part Two
Nothing is What It Seems
A beacon bright in the blackness,
Fragile sanity within all this madness.
They fill her dish with love and
Broken promises.
AR Vasquez
Chapter 14
Land of Milk and Honey
THE SUN WAS POURING into the musty hotel room. Cristal walked over and closed the shutters, which were made out of flimsy aluminum, the white paint peeling on the edges. They made little difference blocking out the blistering heat or the sounds of car horns blaring and the chatter from the street below. She had arrived in Tel Aviv ten days earlier, but she still could not adjust to the climate or the culture.
The days were blurred with meetings at the GN office in Haifa in the day and mission meetings with Harry, Dr. Saeed, Gabriel, Kerim, and Rinaldo at night. After the earthquake one week earlier, many GN computer networks had a melt down. Harry used the opportunity to get a temporary transfer for Cristal and himself to the GN Haifa office citing that the data that she had recovered all point to Israel being the location where their missing family were being held. Dr. Saeed must have made arrangements, too, because he arrived a few days after they did.
She could have pretended that she was vacationing, if she wasn’t staying in a shabby two-star hotel where the only good feature was that it was close to the Bograshov Beach and restaurants. Global Nation proudly stated at their regular all-staff meetings that they did not misuse their donors’ funds for unnecessary travel expenses. Of course, that same rule didn’t seem to apply to senior management. She recalled how her senior manager, George Beaver once bragged that when he went with Lionheart to a convention in Brazil, they had stayed at a “Five Star All-Inclusive Resort.”
Her room was on the fourth floor and was modestly furnished. It had a queen-sized bed with a mattress that had a huge depressive dent in the middle with wired springs that jabbed into her back when she slept. Two wooden chairs were positioned by the window that looked like they were held together with rubber bands. The other furniture included a wooden side table and a small twenty-four-inch old style Cathode ray tube television that sat on a metal bracket hung from the ceiling in the corner of the room.
Although she had a “non-smoking” room, she spent the first morning “airing out” the room to get rid of the cigarette smoke stench. And despite the fact there was an air conditioner, she preferred to keep it off, because instead of the box spewing out cold air, it filled the room with smelly dank air. To top it all off, the bathroom was so small that she could do her makeup, have a shower and sit on the toilet all at the same time.
She spent the first day by herself staring at the worn marble tiled floor and at the walls with their ugly strokes of lumpy plaster covered with salmon-colored paint.
Instead of staying at the same hotel, Harry had decided to camp out with his aunt who lived fifteen minutes away. He had told them that he needed to connect with his family in order to help them with their missions.
Kerim had been busy arranging accommodations for Gabriel and himself. He found an ex-military friend who lived close to the hotel, which left Cristal by herself in her miserable room.
To pass time, she flipped through the photos on her cell phone, and stopped to enlarge a photo of Kerim where he was smiling at her and his fingers gestured a peace sign. The photo was taken onboard the flight to Israel.
***
It had been her first international flight on a Boeing 747 across the ocean. It started out horribly. The plane was full of screaming kids and crying babies. Thankfully, Kerim and Gabriel were on the same flight, although they were seated in different rows.
Her seat number had been F29, the middle row in front of a wall with a toddler on her left who spent most of the trip wailing at the top of her lungs. The child’s mother who was seated on the other side of the girl had put earplugs in and covered her eyes with an eye mask. Cristal couldn’t believe how she could ignore her own child who obviously was frightened and uncomfortable. She tried to talk to the little girl in an effort to comfort her. But the girl only reacted by screaming louder.
So much for trying to be a Good Samaritan.
On her right side sat an unsociable woman, probably in her early forties with dark hair, cut short. Sitting like a queen on her throne, her elbow hung over the arm rest between them, digging into Cristal’s side. She was what Kerim described later as a “full-bodied woman” referring to her wide hips and generous-sized bosom. The woman had eyed Cristal carefully, her lips pursed together as if she had just eaten a bucket of lemons.
Get a life, she remembered thinking to herself.
When she gave up all hope of having any rest on the flight, Kerim had suddenly appeared in the aisle. He looked over at her and gave her a wink.
What is he doing? Harry had told all of us to be inconspicuous.
The woman who had been flipping through a beauty magazine glanced up to look at him. Cristal noticed that her grim face melted and her pursed lips turned into a warm glowing smile.
Kerim, you have the power to melt glaciers.
Kerim began speaking in a language that Cristal guessed was Hebrew, given that the flight was a direct flight to Tel Aviv and over 60 percent of the passengers were Israelis returning home from their holidays in New York. The other 20 percent were New Yorkers who apparently had dual Israeli citizenship. This is what Kerim had mentioned to her while waiting at the airport before boarding the plane.
Although Cristal couldn’t understand what they were saying, she knew Kerim was doing what he was good at—charming the lady and making her giggle like a schoolgirl. Kerim pointed towards Cristal and said something that caused the lady to burst out into peals of laughter.
What the hell?
His hands then waved towards his seat at the back of the plane.
Still giggling, the lady nodded her head, grabbed her things and stood up, her fat bottom brushing against Cristal’s arm. She glanced down and offered Cristal an apologetic smile before turning back to Kerim. He offered his hand to help as she squeezed herself out of the row into the aisle.
“Shalom, handsome. I will see you in the land of milk and honey,” the woman said, purring like a cat, as if in an attempt to sound sultry, but instead, it reminded Cristal of a squawking seagull.
Cristal rolled her eyes, trying her best to contain her laughter. The woman waddled away, swaying her hips. She glanced back at Kerim, blowing him a kiss.
Oh, how sweet.
When the woman was far from sight, Kerim eased himself into the recently vacated seat. He slipped his messenger bag under the seat in front of him and leaned back with a boyish grin on his face.
“What was that all about?” Cristal asked, looking at the aisle where the lady had said her good-byes.
He smirked.
“My skills come in quite handy in these types of situations.”
Before she could respond, he reclined his seat and closed his eyes. She sighed and resigned herself to not ask any further questions.
You are a funny character, Kerim Ilgaz.
Taking his lead, she reclined her seat and closed her eyes. Maybe a snooze would help her relax.
Nine hours left and counting, she thought to herself.
***
Less than an hour later, she opened her eyes. Sleep had not come, despite all her efforts. The little girl beside her had thankfully cried herself to sleep. Her parents n
ow were chattering to each other loudly across the other aisle in their language, while shoving nuts into their faces.
Cristal’s ears were picking up many conversations in multiple languages around her. The sounds seemed to be increasing in volume, hurting her ears. For some reason, words spoken in other languages always seemed to magnify in her ears, reverberating in her skull. The worst part was that no matter how hard she tried to understand the meaning of the words, her brain drew a blank slate that caused her to become even more frustrated.
“Hey, what’s the matter? Can’t sleep?” Kerim asked.
She grumbled, “I have a headache.”
She turned her head away from him. How could she tell him about her bizarre problem?
Chapter 15
In My Head
DURING HER FIRST YEAR as an undergraduate at GN University, Cristal had decided to take a class in introductory Spanish hoping to help improve her communication skills with gamers in Spanish-speaking countries like Mexico and Spain. Truth be told, she was envious with the fact that Harry had taught himself five different languages. He told her that it helped give him the advantage when playing with Truth Seekers from around the world. She was confident that she could master the language in a few weeks, given the fact she was able to read at super speeds.
Two months later, no matter how fast she was able to read through the textbooks, the words never stuck in her head. When she tried to form the words with her mouth, she couldn’t remember what the words were. It was one of her greatest weaknesses, which she never could overcome.
“Do you need help?” Ms. Cruz, her Spanish professor asked her.
She must have been surprised to see Cristal struggling. How could Cristal Hernandez, an Honors student have problems in Introducción al Español 100?
“Come to my classroom every day after school. I can help.”
Cristal was grateful and accepted her offer willingly.
Unfortunately, after three lessons, even Ms. Cruz had to admit that there was no hope for Cristal. She dropped out of the class soon after.
Cristal never mentioned this to anyone. Not to her mother. Not to Harry.
When other students asked her why she dropped the class, she simply said, “Spanish sucks.”
Soon afterwards, something strange began happening to her. She found that when she was in a crowd of people who were speaking in another language, the sound would increase like a muddle of voices in her head—all shouting to be heard. She would cup her hands over her ears and run away to get the voices out of her head. Over time, she was able to control the “situation” by putting on her headset and drowning out the sound with music. Not just any music. Her carefully selected assortment of songs stored on her cell phone was the only way she could block out the noise.
***
On the plane ride to Tel Aviv, the voices of the passengers were getting louder and louder in her head. She glanced over at Kerim who was busy watching a movie on the screen in front of him. She reached into her bag on the floor, rummaging for her phone. Where in the world did I put it?
“Looking for this?”
Dangling in front of her was her cellphone. Kerim had a mischievous grin as he handed it to her.
“Very funny,” she said, grabbing the phone from his hand.
“So what kind of music do you listen to?” he whispered in her ear.
She flashed him a disarming smile.
“Sir, like I said earlier, I’m not interested in small talk.”
His eyebrows shot up and he shook his head as he chuckled into his hand. She smiled to herself as she shoved the ear buds into her ears and then hit the play button on her phone’s music player.
She could see Kerim was still talking, but she let the beat of the music from one of her favorite alternative bands, Bittersweetness, drown out his voice and all the other voices in her head.
Kill this desire to fly
close to the sun, burning wing tips,
singe away the feathers
Can this hollowness be filled
Forgiveness: another feather to fall from wing…
“I like that song, too,” she heard Kerim say as his voice entered her head.
She opened her eyes. Kerim’s eyes were closed, but he had a smile on his face.
She shook her head and shut her eyes. Her mind was playing tricks on her.
“No, it’s not.”
Her eyes sprung open and she sat upright, turning her body toward Kerim.
“Did you say something?”
He opened one eye, pointed to himself and said, “Who me?”
She lowered the volume on her phone.
“You know what I’m talking about.”
Kerim sat up and turned to face her.
“Cristal, are you okay?” he asked.
She took a deep breath, holding back the desire to scream at him.
“I’m not going to say it again. What are you doing to me?”
He stared at her blankly, and for a moment, she doubted herself.
Shaking her head, she said, “Never mind. I’m just tired. Sorry to bug you.”
Closing her eyes, she reached for her phone and turned up the volume.
“I can help you,” Kerim’s voice said in her head.
She opened one eye and saw Kerim was leaning back with his eyes closed. There was a smile on his face, and she swore she could see it getting wider.
“Help me what?” she said out loud.
“Get over the problem you have with learning another language,” he said, still in her head.
What? Now how did he know that? She knew he was able to sense things about her, but how in the world would he be able to sense she had a problem with languages? And how come she could hear him in her mind?
“It just started when you had your eyes closed earlier, Cristal,” his voice in her head said. “I could hear your thoughts. They weren’t clear, but the more upset you became, the clearer they were.”
“Okay, that only half answers my questions. How in the world are you talking to me in my head?”
“Not sure, but I think when you started listening to your music, I could hear it, too,” his voice said. “And for some reason, through the music, I felt I could reach you. The feeling was so strong that I sang the message to you in my head. “
He sat up turning to her, his mesmerizing eyes gazing deep into hers.
“And you heard me…didn’t you?” he asked her.
Her heart started beating harder, her breathing faster. Everything around her started spinning. Kerim grabbed her hand.
“Breathe, Cristal, breathe.”
She felt her hands shaking. Oh no! The plane started rocking violently. Screams from the passengers filled the cabin. No, please don’t let this happen again. Tears streaked down her cheeks as she imagined the worst thing that would happen next.
Kerim held her hand tight and pulled her towards him. She glanced up to see his lips so close to her face.
“Everything is going to be fine, Cristal,” he whispered, stroking her hair.
She could smell his scent in her nostrils. Her body felt magnetic energy move from inside her towards him.
Kerim pulled her tighter into his embrace. Before she could push him away or say anything, his head bent down and his mouth pressed down on hers. She felt her body flush with excitement as she melted into his kiss. Her hand was on his chest, and she could feel his heart beating hard. Her other hand found its way to his wavy hair. Pulling a handful gently into her hands, she marveled at how soft it felt in her fingers. Suspended in the first kiss, tongues searching each other, their hands explored each other’s body. While enjoying the moment, a part of her suddenly realized that the plane had stopped shaking. She opened her eyes and looked to see the flight attendants were running around.
“The plane just passed through a small batch of turbulence. Everything is fine,” the Asian flight attendant said to them as she rushed by.
She looked over at Kerim. His eyes
were warm and dreamy; his smile was relaxed, and his face seemed to have an afterglow. It was then that she picked up her cell phone, and pointed the camera lens at him.
“I want to keep the way you’re looking at me now in my memory forever,” she whispered.
He tilted his head and raised his fingers in the “peace” sign, the pointer and middle fingers up.
“Actually, it means victory,” he said as she snapped the photo.
She liked that it could mean both peace and victory.
She cuddled up close to him and slept for the rest of the flight, listening to the songs on her phone with Kerim’s voice singing along in her head.
Chapter 16
Calm before the Storm
KERIM WAS MEETING HER in the hotel lobby soon. It was their first full day off since they arrived, and he had promised to show her around.
The first few days going to the Global Nation office in Haifa was awkward to say the least. Every morning at 7:00 a.m., like an alarm clock, Harry waited in a small silver Subaru hatchback, outside the hotel—never a minute late. Although it was annoying, she was comforted knowing he would be there. Life was different here. Not that it was a bad thing. It was difficult for her not being able to speak or understand the language. Hotel workers were generally polite.
“How are you, Miss? Do you need anything, Miss?” they would say, always with their well-rehearsed smiles.
But if she wanted something, an extra towel or bar of soap, suddenly no one could understand English.
***
Every night, Kerim patiently tried to teach her conversational Hebrew and Arabic. His creative teaching style using music was experimental, but she had to admit that it was working. The only phrase she was able to say in both languages was “Ayph hshyrvtym?” and “Wayne hamam?” which meant, “Where is the washroom?”
“Well, at least I will never worry about you finding a bathroom,” he teased her.
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