You See Me

l asleep even though my eyes are heavy. I look over at Patrick and think about how just a few weeks ago I would have laughed at the thought of me considering him a friend. Our families

as the fact that all the people that I thought were my friends have pretty much abandoned me and made me a social pariah. "Please note that we are about to land at Robert Mugabe International Airport in thirty minutes, please fasten your seatbelts and make sure that your phone is on airplane mode," I sigh. Here goes nothing and comes something that I don't really want to handle at the moment. # **** Someone is shaking me awake, I slowly open one eye. Patrick's face comes into focus. "You chose a bad time to finally fall asleep," he tells me. He helps me get up. I yawn and stretch. It was probably just about fifteen minutes of sleep but it refreshed me just a little bit. We walk out of the plane with the airplane hostess following with our bags. The last perk that I will have for the next few weeks and hopefully not months. Months would be much too cruel. We go through immigration quickly and I'm surprised that they don't hassle us more. African airports are notorious for trying to solicit bribes. There's a Range Rover Velar waiting to pick us up in the parking lot. The driver is a man that is not exactly fat but has quite the big paunch for a belly. His dark skin is clean shaven and he greets us heartily. "Welcome to Zimbabwe, I hope you will enjoy your stay," he tells us. I smile at him and murmur my own greeting knowing perfectly well that there is nothing that I will be enjoying here except anonymity. Now is the worst part of the trip. The six hour drive to Chiredzi because the bloody place has no airport and my parents didn't want to search for a private plane for me. I am no longer the son that can get privileges anymore. I sigh as I sit back into the car. "You know this place isn't as bad as they advertise it to be," Patrick comments as we're driven through Harare. I look around. He's right. Even though it is clear that there hasn't been much infrastructural development since it gained independence in 1985 which is a fact that I know because my cousin drilled facts about Zimbabwe into me before I left. Many of the buildings actually look colonial but there are no motorcycles providing public transport like in Nigeria and Kenya and the roads though horrendous aren't as bad as I was expecting them to be. We leave Harare thirty minutes later and I decide that I'll try to act like this is a fun road trip to a new area. As we drive along I notice that the country is quite underpopulated out of the capital city. There are large stretches of land that are completely uninhabited. I also see the stray monkey...or is that a baboon? I sigh. Maybe I can try to fall asleep again. **** I dream that I am back home and enter through the large oak doors. They creak as I open them. I am back to being a child again. I am five and I have not disappointed my parents yet, I haven't disappointed anyone yet. Everything that I do even the mistakes and fall is treated with kindness because I am just a kid right? It's good for me to be running and falling and trying stupid things so that I can grow and learn about the world. My parents appear in front of the staircase. My mother walks towards me then stops, goes on one knee and opens her arms wide to me. I run into her arms, her warm welcoming arms and hug her. She hugs me closely to her body and I can smell the mix of vanilla essential oil that she mixes with Chanel No.5 in order to have her own unique scent tha