Chapter Four

We walked for the whole day. My feet are already bleeding. Thank God that Rashid has a friend who had to do him a favour so that he gave us a bottle of water and two small scraps of bread. We arrived two hours ago at the port and now the bottle of water is one third emptied and one piece of bread is already eaten up.
The night just broke. Bobo told us goodbye an hour ago and waving for a last time he disappeared in the darkness. I’m sitting alone on the floor now, hiding behind some big container and waiting for Rashid. He’s looking for a possibility how to get on the freighter. I’m tired but it’s not the time to sleep and I’m hungry but I have to keep the last piece of bread for the travel. I start dreaming away to America. Fear and excitement mix up in my mind. Suddenly a loud noise ends my reverie. I jump and look back over my shoulder to the sea. A gigantic container ship lands in the port and honks loudly. The big monstrosity is painted in dark blue and there is a white writing on his front. Unfortunately I can’t read it. But I’m sure: this thing would be the start of our new life. For the first time since weeks I smiled.

After some hours Rashid appears out of the darkness. With rapid steps he comes close.
“Hurry up, we have to leave,” he whispers and pushes me forward.
“Where to go?”
“Shhh! Be quiet!” Rashid stops at the end of the container.
“Ya see that wooden box over there?” He points at a place around 100 feet away. I nod.
“When I give you a sign, we will both run over there, hid behind it and you will go in there soonest possible.”
“What about you?”
“Don’t care about me! I’ll find something else! There is no place in that box for the two of us! It will even become tight for you.”
“How long will it take to America?”
“Long. Very long.” I guess I saw fear in his eyes as he said so.
“Have a look Mali. It is absolutely necessary that you keep quiet all the time at all costs. Maybe one cough will be enough to bust. So give me half of the bread and I take a bit of water in the bottle I found in the garbage over there. Take the rest with you.”
“When will we meet again?”
“When it’s the time to. No more questions now Mali, we have to concentrate.” Rashid stares through the dark.
“See that man with the cap? He’s a cop. If he’s away we’ll have a try”. I peer to follow the man’s steps in the dark. Suddenly my brother pulls my arm and starts to run. I try to follow. I can feel my blood pulsing in my temples as I run after Rashid. I just have to pass 20 feet to get to our new hideaway but suddenly there is a bright beam of light behind me. The policeman is coming back! I up the tempo for another time and just in time I reach the box and the light sheers off. I breathe heavily. I want to say something but Rashid quickly puts his hand over my mouth with a warningly look.
As the beam of light is totally gone, Rashid starts to potter around the lid of the wooden box. He is very well coordinated so he copes to open the box within seconds.
“Go in”, he whispers energetically. Still paralyzed with fear I try to move. Rashid helps me to climb in the box.
“Take care”, he says in front of shutting the box over my head. I hear some noises at the other side of the wood and then footsteps which are diverging.