Chapter Twenty-Nine

I slept through the whole flight. I dozed off while reading a magazine. The plane had landed and all the passengers had left the plane. The air hostess tapped me on my arm.

"Excuse me Ms? Ms?"She said

"Huh?"I said, waking up from my nap

"We have already landed. It's time to get off now"She said

"Are we in London?"I asked, surprised to see I was the only one left

"Mm-hmm!"She nodded

I brought down my suitcase from the compartment. I picked the magazine that had fallen from my lap when I stood up. I left the terminal with my suitcase and Coco. By the time I came out of the airport,the sun was already setting. Aunt Nicolette was waiting for us outside and was excited when she saw us. 

"Jocelyn!"Aunt said cheerfully and embraced us

"How are you?"

"I'm good"I replied flatly

"Wow! You're all grown up! The last time I saw you,you were still Chloe's age. And you must be Coco"She said, bending down to wave at Coco's crate

Coco wasn't used to Aunt Nicolette. She was brought home after Aunt's last visit. She whimpered in her cage and was scared to hello to Aunt. 

Aunt Nicolette lives alone in London with her daughter. She was recently divorced by her husband, Uncle Harry. Uncle Harry was a baker who worked in one of the famous bakery in London. He was known for making the best cakes and biscuits in London. He is handsome and has an incredible physique. He was not too slim neither was he chubby. He was somewhere in-between. He has a short black hair,is clean-shaven, doesn't keep a beard or moustache,a roman nose and a small snar on his jaw. Whenever he smiled, the dimple in his chin showed and made ladies fall for him. He was said to being an ideal husband figure. They frequent the bakery just to see him. He was caught cheating on Aunt with one of the woman who came to the bakery. He didn't show any remorse for his infidelity nor really cared about Aunt and their little daughter. He packed his things and moved out of Aunt's house. He had brought the divorce papers to her and demanded her signature on it. She gave her copy of her lawyer to review it before she signed on it. She filed for custody over their daughter but Uncle Harry cared less about them and hid his properties so that he won't have to pay alimony and child support. The court granted her full custody over her daughter. 

Months later, Uncle Harry sold the house which Aunt lived in without informing her. According to Aunt,he was already in debt and needed money urgent to pay his creditors. Aunt confronted him on selling the house and he claimed to have bought it in his name. He had the changed ownership of the house to his name and removed Aunt's name from it. The new owners were kind enough to give Aunt some time to look for a new place to stay. She rented an apartment in town and has lived there ever since. No one has heard or seen Uncle Harry after they got divorced. He could probably be in prison or hiding from his creditors.

London has really changed over the years. The last time I came here was when I was still a toddler. The big billboard in front of the airport had a caption which said, 'WELCOME TO LONDON'. It was kind of nice. We drove past Big Ben,a park and arrived at her apartment. It was a building, painted in cream colour. She parked her car along the sidewalk and brought out my suitcase from the trunk. We went into the lobby and entered the elevator. We stopped at the fifth floor and entered apartment 14B. Aunt unlocked the door and we went in. The place was dark until Aunt turned on the lights.

"Home Sweet Home! Please make yourself comfortable. I'll be right back"Aunt Nicolette said

I sat down on an arm chair and opened Coco's crate. She came out of her crate and sat next to me. I guess she isn't used to the new environment yet. 

"What will you like me to get you? Water? Juice? Are you hungry?"She said

"No,I'm okay!"I said

"Are you sure?"She asked

"Mm-hmm!"I said

"Okay. If you say so"She said

She went to the kitchen and brought Coco a bowl filled with water.

"Here you go"Aunt Nicolette said, placing the bowl in front of Coco

"I'll take your suitcase to your room"She said, taking my suitcase

I stood up and surveyed around the apartment. It was kind of nice. The veranda had a nice view of London,part of it though. I can actually spot Big Ben from here. The kitchen was kind of messy. It seemed Aunt had a hard time making dinner. The living room wasn't as big as mine back home. Aunt is in love with antiques. She has a big cupboard with antiques in them in the living room. She arranged some of them on the wooden stools and next to the television in the living room. She hung a lot of pictures of herself and her daughter on the living room wall. From when she had travelled to India during the winter, went camping in the woods with her friends,she was a still a baby, graduated from college and gave birth to her daughter. And when threw Ann her first birthday party. I hardly saw a picture with Uncle Harry in it. I was still staring at the pictures and almost tipped over Aunt's vase. I saved the vase from falling and breaking into pieces. I kept it to its original position and found a picture frame facing downwards. It looked kind of old. It was dusty and covered with cobwebs. I cleaned the glass with my palm and blew some of the dust away. I saw the picture clearly. It was Aunt Nicolette and Uncle Harry's wedding picture. They looked really happy then. Who could have imagined such a happy couple will turn out like this? I was still looking at the picture for when someone collected it from me from behind.

"I thought I threw this away"Aunt said

She went to the kitchen and threw it in the trash bin.

"Are you sure you don't want to eat anything. I have already made dinner. If you want,I can reheat it up for you in the microwave "Aunt asked

"That won't be necessary. I'm not hungry"I said

"But you must at least eat something"She persuaded

"Thanks Aunt but I'm not hungry. I'm tired. I think I'll go to bed now"I said, leaving the living room

"Okay. I'll show you to your room"She said

We walked to the corridor and opened a room.

"This is your room. Well, good night. Sweet dreams"Aunt said with a smile

She left the room and closed the door behind her. It didn't look anything like my old bedroom back home but it will do. I kind of dislike the heart and rose wallpaper. I went to the bathroom and freshened up. I changed into my pajamas and sat down on my bed. I watched Coco chase her tail. She tried to get it but couldn't. She got tired of chasing it and gave up. I laid down on the bed, covered myself with a blanket and allowed Coco to sleep next to me. Usually,I let her sleep in her own bed but I can make an expectation for tonight. I turned off the lights and closed my eyes. I wasn't sleepy  yet and forced myself to sleep. 

Morning came. The sun was up and the birds had their morning devotions. I shielded the sun rays with the curtains and stayed in darkness.

"Rise and Shine! It's a beautiful day!"Aunt said, entering my room

"Huh?"I said, opening my eyes slowly

"Wake you Jocelyn!"She said

"Why is it so dark in here?"She said opening the curtains

"Oh Aunt!"I said, covering my face with the blanket

I got use to staying in the dark and made the sun my enemy.

"That's better! Mm! Smell that morning air! Smell good, doesn't it?"She said

She pulled the blanket away from my face and tapped me on the arm. Coco got annoyed by Aunt's voice and left the room.

"Wake up Jocelyn. It's a beautiful day and you shouldn't spend it by staying locked up in your bedroom"Aunt said

"But I like it this way"I said

"That isn't the best way to enjoy your vacation"She said

"Get dressed, we'll be leaving soon"She added

"Where are we going?"I asked

"We are going out for a walk"She said, leaving the room

That's one way of ruining my morning. I sluggishly got out of bed, made it and went to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and turned on the shower. I had a nice bathe and came out with Aunt's spare robe. I chose a blue turn-ups and a yellow short sleeves with green stripes all over it. I didn't want to look bad even though I'm not in a good mood. Besides, what the worst that could happen? 

Aunt was waiting for me in the living room. Cousin Ann was in her stroller, playing with her rattle. I got Coco on a leash and we left the apartment. Aunt's building wasn't crowded with people like I thought it would be. It was kind of calm and peaceful except the dog nextdoor that kept on barking last night. London was a busy place. Everyone seemed to be moving really fast. The crossing guards were already at their posts, helping pedestrians to cross the road. Cars moved fast, sometimes even above the speed limits. The temperature dropped every now and then. It was summer and rain pours much. Pigeons gathered at on side of the sidewalk and flew whenever humans walked by. London has so many exquisite restaurants. Aunt told me about an Italian restaurant down the street. She said they make the best pasta and meatballs in the block and the owner is a  good friend of hers.

Aunt was three stores in front of me. I stood in front of a music store and admired the records they have. Plus,they even have juke boxes and a karaoke machine. Coco began barking and distracted my attention from the store.

"What is it girl?"I asked

She tried to run away to but I held back on her leash. She was trying to telling me something but I couldn't figure out was she was wanted. She got tired of barking and hid behind me. I was still trying to figure what she wanted. Then a motorcycle drove past us and splashed water all over my clothe and little on my face. I finally realized what Coco was warning me about.