Between Heaven and Earth (7 page)

I was now officially back to thinking that he was either crazy or a liar. “It's hard to believe anybody could go up that many times.”

“Each year for more than forty years I brought people to the top, first as a porter, then as a guide, until I became too old. In the end, the mountain wore me down and it remains tall.” He paused. “Although I believe my steps wore it down just a little. Wore it down, but did not defeat it. We are here.” He released my hand.

I saw a little wooden sign—
East Africa Walking Tours
. I might have missed that without his assistance.

“Thanks for helping me find it.”

“It is my pleasure. I cannot help people to the top anymore, but today I was still a good guide. I helped in a little way for you to make the climb. They will take care of you now. They are good people and good guides. And promise me you will remember:
polepole.
”

“I'll remember,” I said. Remembering didn't mean I'd do it.

“And one more thing,” he said. “Those boys who stole your things did not do it out of greed, but out of need. It does not make it right, but somehow it makes it less wrong.”

NINE

I opened the door and it tripped a bell hanging over the top. The office was dimly lit, and the air was hot and stale. There were a few desks, a table and some bamboo chairs, but no people.

“Hello!” I called out.

There was a commotion from the back, and a girl who looked to be twelve or thirteen poked her head out.

“
Jambo
,” she called out, flashing a big smile.

“
Jambo
. I am—”

“You are DJ. My grandfather said you would be coming.”

“Is Judge Elijah your grandfather?”

“Yes, he is my father's father. He is a
very
important man. He told us that your grandfather was very important too, and because of that we are to treat you very well.”

I wished those street kids had known about that.

“I am Sarah.”

“Pleased to meet you.”

“I am to take you to your hotel,” she said, looking puzzled. “Where are your bags?”

“This is all I've got,” I said, holding up the cane and the first-aid kit.

“But you must have more.”

“I do. I
did
. My stuff was stolen.”

“By who?”

“They didn't stop to introduce themselves. They were kids, about your age. And they got all of my things except this cane, my money and my passport.”

“At least they did not take what cannot easily be replaced,” Sarah said.

“Can your father help me get new things?”

“We have many things. We have winter coats and hats, which you will need for the top of the mountain,” she said, waving to the surrounding shelves that were filled with clothing. “We even have some hiking boots and—” She looked down at my feet. “Your feet, they are
too
big.”

“They're size thirteen, but they aren't
too
big.”

“No, no,” she said, shaking her head. “They
are
much too big. We have no boots that are that big. None!”

“I guess I'll have to buy them at one of the local stores.”

“No, not just us, but the stores in the town. There are no boots in all of
Tanzania
that would be that big!”

“Come on, there has to be somewhere that I can—”

“No place! Only elephants in Tanzania have such big feet! Look at your feet and look at my feet!” she said as she gestured to her feet. “Your feet are too big. There are no boots here to fit you.”

“Then I'm going to have to go up in these,” I said.

“Not possible. You cannot climb in those. No
mzungu
could do that. What about the snow and storms at the top? Your feet would freeze and you would lose your toes. You must have boots.”

“But you just said nobody has boots my size.”

“No stores, no places, but there might be a way.” She paused. “I know people…those who end up collecting things that belong to tourists.”

“Collect? You mean like steal? You know who took my stuff?”

“Possibly, or I could find out.”

“And you can get my things back? My hiking boots?”

“Not yours maybe, but from other tourists. No locals have such big feet, but maybe one of the other climbers had big feet, so maybe they have collected a pair of boots that is almost as big as you need.”

“Almost isn't what I need,” I said.

“Almost is better than what you are wearing. And what happened to your foot?”

I looked down. I hadn't realized that my foot had continued to bleed and now a little stream of blood was running off the edge of one sandal.

“I cut it during the chase to get back my things.”

“You need to have that treated.”

“I'll do that right after we get my stuff back.”

“No. First I will bring you to your hotel and you will take care of your foot.”

“I want to go with you, right now, and then I'll take care of the foot.”

“Right now, I do not know where to go. These people, they do not have a store, you know. I must ask around to find them. If you are with me, nobody will tell me anything. I must go alone while you stay at the hotel.”

“I can't just sit there and do nothing,” I protested.

“You will not be doing nothing. You will be making sure that your wound is cared for. We cannot argue. I must look before your things are taken out of town and sold elsewhere. We go.”

TEN

I waited on an overstuffed couch on the hotel patio, sipping a soda. I'd taken care of my foot, removing a small piece of glass and then thoroughly disinfecting the cut before wrapping it up as well as I could. Then I'd washed the sandal to remove the stain. My foot felt tender when I put weight on it, but it wasn't really painful.

As I sat there, I listened in on the conversations that swirled around me. Everybody at the hotel, with the exception of the staff, was a tourist. There were lots of languages spoken, but English dominated, so I could make out most of what was being said. Half the people were getting ready to climb the mountain. The other half had already climbed or tried to climb.

I was astonished by which people had made it and which had failed. I expected that the young and fit would be successful and the old and fat would fail, but that turned out to not always be the case. I heard one overweight older man—he had to be in his fifties at least—who smoked while he bragged about reaching the summit. A superfit young guy in his twenties was teased by his buddies because he hadn't made it all the way up. It freaked me out that he didn't look that much different from me. Maybe he'd spent so much time lifting weights that he hadn't done enough cardio.

What also surprised me was the age range of the people at the hotel. Most people were on the younger side, with me being the youngest, but there were a number who were well beyond what I'd consider mountain-climbing age, unless there was a special lane for walkers and wheelchairs. They were probably just there to sightsee or to cheer on younger relatives who were going to the top.

I sat until after eight, after dark, and well after the time Sarah said she'd be back. “Back in an hour” had now become almost three. Didn't anybody in Africa know how many minutes were in an hour? I was always on time. I hated to be late or keep people waiting. Even worse, I really hated it when people kept me waiting. It was so disrespectful. If she couldn't find who she was looking for, she was keeping me from looking for the things I'd need. Even if she was right and no stores stocked size-thirteen boots, I might be able to squeeze into a twelve, or even buy an eleven or ten and cut out the toes so I could use them. I'd always found a way to succeed before, and this wasn't going to be any different.

“Hello, DJ.” It was Sarah.

“Did you find some stuff that I can use?”

“Not yet, but I think I
can
get what is needed. I need money,” she said.

“How much?”

“Maybe eighty thousand shillings.”

I almost reacted emotionally to the number before I did the conversion in my head. That was about
$50
.

I pulled out the money in my pocket:
$60
. The rest of my money, along with my passport and the cane, was locked in the hotel safe. I wasn't going to risk losing those things as well.

Sarah took the money from me.

“I will be back in less than an hour,” she said.

“I'm going to go with you.”

She shook her head vigorously. “No, no, it would not be safe for you to go.”

“Then it's even less safe for you to go without me. There's safety in numbers.”

“I do not think it would be wise for you to come.”

“I don't see a choice. I need to be there at least to try on the hiking boots,” I said, grasping for a convincing reason.

“I just do not think that—”

“Look.” I got to my feet so I towered over her. “It's my money, my things, my hiking boots, and I'm coming along.”

“I will not argue, but do not say that I did not warn you.”

“This way,” Sarah said.

What had seemed smart sitting on the veranda of the hotel quickly seemed less wise as we wove our way through small streets, back alleys and narrow footpaths cutting between huts and shacks. I followed her down another twist in the pathway between the shacks. This new route was even narrower. At times I had to practically turn sideways to pass.

Lining the cramped passages were huts and small shops that were really just stalls thrown together with random pieces of wood, sheets of corrugated metal, cardboard and plastic. The air was stained with smoke, so strong and thick I could almost taste it.

The only light along our route came from a few kerosene lamps hanging from poles or sitting on sills or shining through the small openings of the buildings. Outside of these faint leaks of light, the darkness completely engulfed everything.

The darkness was both reassuring and unnerving. I couldn't see very well, but at least
I
was less visible. It felt like my white skin could almost go unnoticed. Of course that was just wishful thinking. When any light did catch me, it felt as if my skin practically glowed as the light reflected off its whiteness. There was no hiding. I could tell by the reaction I was getting as I followed Sarah. People's eyes widened in surprise and there was a ripple of conversation that grew louder as we passed. I could hear the unmistakable word
mzungu
.

A procession of little children trailed behind me. When I turned around, they stopped in their tracks, bumping into each other or even starting to scatter, but as soon as I started walking they rejoined the procession. It made me realize that having a white guy here, particularly at night, was a big source of amusement and entertainment. Hopefully I wasn't going to be part of anything more exciting, although I was becoming increasingly more anxious.

Occasionally the way would open up onto clearings filled with pecking chickens and lots of children. Some of the kids were sitting on the ground, and some were kicking around a ball that was nothing more than tightly wrapped pieces of plastic held together with rope or string. We passed by a number of identical-looking dogs, so similar in appearance that I thought at first it was the same dog—skinny and brown and cowering—acting as if it expected me to kick it.

Then Sarah would lead me into another passageway. Did she really know where we were going? At least if we did get lost, there were lots of people to ask for directions. Aside from our little entourage, there was a constant stream of people walking along in both directions and even more peering out from darkened doorways and windows as we passed. It seemed like every eye was on us—on
me
. I was glad that the rest of my valuables were all locked up, although it would have been nice to have the cane to use as a weapon if I needed it.

I was feeling increasingly claustrophobic. It was a combination of the darkness, the smoke and the scale of everything. Relatively speaking I was
gigantic
. And strangely, it felt as if I was actually getting
bigger
as we walked, like Gulliver in the land of Lilliput. Being bigger should have been better, but it just made me feel more visible. Besides, I remembered what those Lilliputians did to Gulliver when they tied him down to the ground.

I kept one eye on Sarah while my head swiveled back and forth trying to watch all around me as they all seemed to watch me. She stopped and I practically bumped into her, and a couple of members of my entourage bumped into me. I looked down, and their eyes widened in shock as they scampered away, knocking down a few others, who in turn started to run as well, causing a little ripple of running kids. In spite of everything—or maybe because of it—I burst out laughing and my voice filled the air.

“In here,” Sarah said, pointing to a small hut.