A Million Aunties by Alecia McKenzie

A Million Aunties by Alecia McKenzie

Author:Alecia McKenzie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Akashic Books
Published: 2020-11-16T16:00:00+00:00


chapter eight

Aunties

Stephen relished the feeling of homecoming that began with the plane’s descent over the water. The quiet elation intensified when the aircraft cruised to a stop, after landing with one or two bumps on the narrow strip of runway flanked by the sea. As he disembarked and strode across the tarmac, with the waves behind him and the Blue Mountains ahead in the hazy light, he welcomed the heat, the stiff breeze, and the blinding sunlight. No going directly from the plane into a stuffy building today. No, here you got a chance to breathe the ocean air.

He was glad that the government hadn’t moved the airport inland, to protect it from hurricanes and flooding, as the politicians had discussed. This was where it belonged, and nothing should be changed. He remembered Aunt Della taking him to the airport when he was a child and both of them going up to the gallery to wave farewell to some cousin or aunt of hers, heading to England or America. Back then people dressed up to travel. He smiled as he thought of himself and his fellow passengers—tee-shirts, shorts, sandals, sneakers. One guy was even wearing flip-flops with socks.

He strode through the long humid corridor, and felt the sweat trickling between his shoulder blades, down his back. It didn’t take long for his clothes to begin sticking to his body, but fortunately the air was cooler in the immigration hall. A woman dressed in the usual official blue uniform showed him to a machine that scanned his passport. This was new; it hadn’t been there the last time he came home. The woman smiled at him as he passed through successfully, and he smiled back, as if they’d just triumphed over adversity together. Then he was in the crowded baggage area, waiting for the two suitcases stuffed with the presents Aunt Della had instructed him to buy: fabric for Miss Vera, bangles for Lorraine, two duckbill caps for Mr. Jordan to protect him from the sun, plus seeds for his farm, and a new fake-fur coat for Miss Pretty. Something lighter, less hot. Thank goodness Féliciane had agreed to help him shop, with her “no, not that” full of authority to which he deferred.

He scanned the lines to see which customs officer might be the least likely to give him hassle and settled on an older, greying man, who was waving other arrivals through in a bored fashion. When it was Stephen’s turn, however, some unidentifiable thing caused the man to perk up, as if the hour for his daily dose of fun had arrived. Do I look like a blasted drug dealer or something? Stephen wondered, after the man had him heft his suitcases onto the counter.

“Any electronics? Computer equipment? Mobile phone?” the man demanded, removing items from the first bag.

“Yes, just a smartphone for my aunt. It’s a gift.”

The man paused, his eyebrows arched. “Her birthday? Early Christmas present?”

“No, just a surprise because I haven’t been home in a while.



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