Bad News!

Life slowly started to change, and not just for the better. In the months that followed, the political and economic situation in the country deteriorated. We all heard of riots and ravaged villages. Safety was lessening and the university kept issuing warnings to be cautious. A rebellious group rising against the government was said to be the cause. Anyhow, we tried to keep going on as normal, just a little more careful. We avoided going out alone, or going out at night. Not a night went by without hearing police patrols passing by.

There were soldiers everywhere, even in university, screening every person entering or leaving. Jace and I were quite impressed by the government’s effort to improve safety, although it did not reassure anyone. Things were visibly getting worse. We knew of the country’s reputation when it came to people’s safety, so we were confident that things would get better.

My parents, however, did not share that hope. They called two or three times per day to make sure everything was alright. My ‘brother from another mother’, Kaleb, also called me every day to make sure I was safe and sound at home. He knew about the previous events with Jace, what I found out and how the friendship grew, so obviously he always asked about him. Of course, Jace and I were quite past friendship at this point.

Then came the day when Kaleb announced to me that he had booked a ticket to come see me. He had two months holiday and was going to spend one and a half month here. Worried or not, we knew of the danger in the country, so I tried to persuade him not to come. Unfortunately, me persuading Kaleb never works out. He never listened. He sent me his ticket, with his arrival time and told me he booked the hotel right behind my apartment.

Although I didn’t want him coming at a time like this, I was still happy to see him again. I wanted to see him, to be able to spend some time with him like we used to back at home. Kaleb and I basically grew up together. My grandmother’s house and his were one balcony apart, so we used to spend the night by our windows talking. The mere thought of talking to him again, have some fun together made me forget the problems all around for a while.

He asked me if I could find a car he could rent. He was going to do some time here and he didn’t want to have to pay transports all the time. Also, with a car, we could go to more places and avoid dependence on time. I asked Chris to find me one, since obviously he knew where to.

I went to pick him up from the airport. He ran to me as soon as he saw me, hugging me and whispering in my ear how much he had missed me and the time we used to spend together when we were kids. He offered me a box of my favourite chocolate: Ferrero Rocher. MIAM!

A welcome dinner was prepared at my home. Rebekah, Maya and Kayra gave me a hand with the preparation and arrangements. Maya and Rebekah got there early, Chris came just in time, and Ryan, as expected, was late. Jace also joined us for dinner, since Kaleb was really eager to meet him. He had started teasing me too.

We cooked some chicken rice and also bought ice cream for dessert, and decided to go for a movie at the nearby cinema afterwards. The night went as perfectly as it possibly could. I dropped Kaleb back at the hotel after the cinema.

In the next two weeks, the country’s situation went worse. The ravages were increasing. They went from small, isolated village riots at night to attacking people in big cities in the middle of the day. People were scared, parks and touristic attractions started to close one by one, and the army was everywhere. Not a step could be taken without being screened. Kaleb’s holiday was not going to be as exciting as he’d hoped I’m afraid. The federal office were working as hard as it could on the situation, but nothing could be done. The little hope we had for things to get better was gone, and things would get much worse than what we expected.