AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As we drove to St. James Beach where we would catch the cargo ship that would take us to our new lives, my hands wouldn't stop twitching. I thought over the details of the trip before us. Andrei said we would spend thirty-one days on the sea in a small cabin all to ourselves. We would have whatever we wanted in terms of food and water, and we could explore the ship’s upper decks if we got bored.
I glanced at his face, and he looked over at me quickly, as if he had been expecting me to look. Then he smiled and turned his face back to the road. He was calm, like he had done this before. And here I was, a bundle of nerves. I couldn't picture what it would be like traveling on a cargo ship. And I would never have thought of traveling to Indonesia.
“You are worrying again,” Andrei observed, flashing his eyes at me.
“I am,” I admitted.
“Don’t. We will be safe. I’ll make sure of that. It’ll just take some adjustment, but we’ll be fine.”
I took a deep breath. I hated adding worry to Andrei’s plate, but I’d always overthought things. Indonesia was a beautiful place and it seemed like Jakarta and Semarang were some of the best options for foreigners to end up in. And Andrei being Andrei, he’d already looked into purchasing houses in both cities.
Eventually, I fell asleep as Andrei drove, and when I woke up the sky was already brightening into the first signs of morning. Andrei didn't look at me, but he smiled when I looked over at his face.
We stopped at a small kiosk to have breakfast a few hours later. After we ate, we hopped back in the car and drove the rest of the afternoon. By evening, we had reached East London. There, we stopped at a restaurant to have dinner and Andrei grabbed an espresso. He made a few calls after dinner, and I waited in the car parked by the roadside, watching his stern face talking into the receiver. After dark, we drove again for a few more hours.
We eventually arrived at St. James Beach. There was a roadblock and a check point where two officers in white-and-black uniforms stepped closer to the car and asked for our identities. Andrei looked into their faces and made a sign with his finger. One of the officers walked to his side, looked left and right, then held out his hand. Andrei leaned closer to him and handed him two hundred-dollar bills.
The officer smiled, stepped back, and lifted the roadblock for us to pass.
We drove toward the inner side of the beach. Two other men were standing at the far end near a small boat. I could make out an enormous cargo ship in the distance.
Andrei parked the car on the dock and looked over at me. “Here we are.”
When I stepped out of the car, a sudden chill came over me. I folded my arms over my chest and stared around like a lost child looking for her mother. A few people were walking by, but I couldn’t make out their faces in the dark. The ocean’s waves slapped on the beach and there were a few dim streetlamps, but they weren’t enough to take the heavy darkness away. We had to look hard at anything that wasn’t directly under the lights to make out even the most basic shapes in the gloom. Andrei moved behind me and handed me my bag, which was filled with clothes and a few books.
A smoking man emerged from the dark and came forward. He shook Andrei’s hand and they spoke in English at first, but then they switched to Russian. He and Andrei conversed for the next few minutes.
At last, Andrei handed the man his car keys and then turned to me. “Let’s go. It’s time.”
He reached for my hand, and we headed toward a man by the small motorboat. When we reached it, Andrei stepped in and then helped me get on board.
“What did that man say?” I asked as the boat engine started.
Andrei glanced back at his SUV. The man had stepped into the driver’s seat, flashed the headlights twice, and waved at us.
“He said the ship will soon be on its way, so we need to get on now if we don’t want to paddle our way to Indonesia. He also told me to stay away from the people on the ship as much as possible and to always carry a gun.”
“Why is that?”
“Because this ship’s cargo is mostly drugs from the Russian mob. They grow opium in Indonesia and use South Africa as their main distribution hub.”
I looked at the cargo ship as it grew larger.
Fucking great.
The boat started moving faster and the engine got a lot noisier. I held on to the side of the boat and watched as the waves clipped underneath us. As crazy as it was, but looking at the large drug ship, I felt a sudden sense of adventure that thrilled me and made my stomach tight with excitement. My hands were still a bit shaky, but not as bad as they were earlier.
A ship owned by the Russian mob was maybe the only place on Earth Marcello couldn't get a hold of me. And with Andrei by my side, I felt pretty safe.
He was holding his phone, the wind blowing in his hair. He was probably sending texts to someone, but I couldn’t tell. After he finished, he dropped the phone directly in the water. I didn’t need to ask what he was doing. He was keeping us safe.
We pulled alongside the massive cargo ship and one of the crew members threw a rope ladder over the edge. After we climbed up to the deck, a tall man approached us and hugged and greeted Andrei like an old friend. The man introduced himself as Dimitri and then he asked for our tickets with a loud laugh.
“I will show them to you at the bottom of a vodka bottle, Dimitri,” Andrei joked, slapping the man playfully on the back.
“That will do.” Dimitri’s face split into a grin, and he led us straight to a cabin.
“Enjoy, my friends,” he said in a thick Russian accent and walked away.
