1
“Nyandula’s house, may I help you?” Uswege spoke into the house’s telephone receiver. At the other end of the phone line a female’s voice said, “This is Mrs. Shirima. Is that Uswege?”
Uswege chuckled with delight. “Yes, Mrs. Shirima. Is Tony feeling better now?”
“He’s much worse, dear,” Mrs. Shirima’s voice had become serious, Uswege thought. She went on, “His dad leaves with him for Cape Town this morning for specialized treatment at a children’s hospital called Red Cross.”
“Ghastly!” Uswege responded in a loud whisper. “What time, madam?”
“Within two hours or so.” Uswege gasped again. He could feel as if his eyes were struggling to pop out of their sockets. He could not believe his ears.
“You mean today, Saturday morning?”
“Yes, dear. On flight TC 767, which departs at 9:35 for Jo’burg.” Instantly, Uswege’s eyes crept up to the house’s wall electronic clock. At that very moment the minute hand of the clock swung to 6:15. “Ghastly!” he whispered as if to himself.
“The reason I phoned,” Mama Tony continued, “Is to ask if you could come to the airport to at least meet your friend before he departs. He was talking about you all night. He couldn’t sleep, I’m afraid. Neither could Dr. Shirima nor I, for that reason.”
Mrs. Shirima gave a long sigh, Uswege noted. She went on, “May I first talk with your mother?”
“Oh, she left with my dad very early this morning for Tegeta. They’ve gone to inspect our shamba there.”
“So there’s no way you could meet us at the airport…”
“Yes, there is!” Uswege cut in, his mind working real fast.
He was once again jolly grateful to Mom and Dad for giving him that brand new Olympic-games-type racing bike as a birthday present.
For him, such a birthday occurred only once in every four years—February 29!
Aloud, he went on, “It’ll take me just under thirty minutes to get to the airport in time to meet my buddy.”
However, Mrs. Shirima said firmly, “If you must ride your bike, then please don’t come. I don’t want to put you at risk”
“I’ll be okay, madam,” Uswege replied equally firmly. At the same time his eyes momentarily returned to the wall clock. Time was now 6:20. “If I leave in fifteen minutes’ time, I should be at Terminal Two by 7:15, at the latest.”
“No, that’s all right,” Mrs. Shirima said with what Uswege thought to be a sad chuckle. “Dr. Shirima and I do appreciate your concern for your friend. But, please don’t come if you have to ride your bike.”
For a few seconds Uswege could not say a word. He felt very upset. He shook his head and said, “That’s okay, Mrs. Shirima.”
“Bye for now, Uswege.”
“Thanks! Bye, Mrs. Shirima. Please remember me to Tony, anyway. I pray for him.” He hung up.
About two and half-hours later, he purposely stood in the open outside the house. Sure enough, at precisely 9:35 am, he could hear ATC’s Boeing 737 jet aircraft thunder at the airport.
Within seconds he could see, in a distance, the giant metal ‘bird’ pointing its nose skyward as it carefully tucked its equally giant ‘legs’ out of sight into its belly under its wings.
May God bless you, Tony; Uswege said in a silent prayer. Sad and copious tears began to run down his face involuntarily.
Review questions
1. Where was Dr. Shirima going that morning?
2. What was the relationship between the person with the “female’s voice” and Tony?
3. What was wrong with Tony?
4. In the story, Red Cross was a children’s hospital in Durban, South Africa. TRUE or FALSE. Say why you think it is TRUE, or it is FALSE.
5. About what, mainly, was Mrs. Shirima going to talk to Mrs. Nyandula?
6. Why couldn’t Dr. and Mrs. Shirima sleep that previous night?
7. Where was Mrs. Nyandula that morning?
8. How often did Uswege celebrate his birthday?
9. How long did, Uswege think, it was going to take him to reach Terminal Two of the Dar es Salaam International Airport (DIA)?
10.Explain what reason Mrs. Shirima gave for refusing to allow Uswege to come to the airport on his own?
11.Give the flight number shown in the story.
12.What was the name of the company that owned the aircraft in the story?