Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

MEMPHIS

If Noah was looking for adventure, he'd certainly found it. Egypt was not what he imagined, nor was it easy to explain. Magazines made it look so amazing, so grand, and majestic, but the reality was exceedingly different. He couldn't blame anyone, because if he was trying to drum up tourism to a very poor country where it took thirty Egyptian pounds to equal a dollar, he would do the same. Accentuate the positive and hide the negatives – and he was staring at one very big ‘ negative ' in his book.

The tour bus had dropped him off four hours ago in what had to be a nightmare. There was no other way to describe it. The pyramids weren't in the middle of nowhere on some ethereal sand dune like in the movies.

Nope.

Access to them was behind a gate and the buildings lining the block all had chain-link fences lining it so unsuspecting tourists would buy tickets. He was pretty sure his tour pass included his ticket to see the pyramids up-close, but according to the driver that wasn't the case. He had to get in line with everyone else. So, he did – and that is when the peddlers began.

"Hello, my friend… and welcome to Egypt. You need a hat, yes?"

"No."

"Yes, you need a hat, a covering, looks very Egyptian… yes? Yes?"

"No, thank you."

"It's very nice, my friend… and for you, very cheap."

"Maybe that guy needs one," Noah chuckled, pointing at the other sailor in line who was wearing his dungarees and a pair of BCGs that stood out from his ruddy face like a sore thumb. That was one thing he was grateful for, that he didn't need the ‘birth control glasses' like some others – but hey! Things were looking up for them because they now offered black rims… and gold ones; he smirked silently and then groaned.

His new 'buddy' was already coming back to him – with a friend.

"You need this hat, yes?"

"No."

"You buy this hat because it's very Egyptian and for you – very cheap."

"Cheap, huh?"

"Very cheap. Thirty-three Egyptian pounds," the man said, shaking the cloth and tie at him. "You put it on your head to keep the sun away, like so."

Noah was doing the math and realized that it was almost nothing. Sixty-nine cents. He looked at the man's clothing, deeply tanned skin, and realized that this older man was out here peddling these cheap hats to everyone, probably feeding his family and took pity on the man.

"Sure," Noah sighed. "Give me a hat."

"Oh, thank you, sir. My family thanks you, and you look very Egyptian if you wear this. Now, do you want to ride the camel? Yes? Samir! Come quick! Everybody rides the camel in Egypt, yes?"

Noah looked at the man and couldn't help the small laugh that escaped him. He'd just fallen for the biggest racket in the world – opening the door to a salesman who knew how to peddle their wares. Sure enough, a boy about twelve years old was headed in their direction with two camels behind him on a leash.

Now what? he thought silently . Am I going to get to the pyramid and they'll be selling T-shirts and souvenirs too?

"It's hot out, and you want to ride the camel, yes? Everybody wants to ride the camel. Is very Egyptian, yes?"

It was blistering under the sun, and he was next at the window to buy his ticket, but that meant he would be foraging through another gauntlet of ‘vendors' lining the other side of the gate toward the path toward the pyramids.

"Yes, the camel?"

"Hang on a second…"

"Yes. I wait. The camel very patient, loves people – and people love the camel. I will take your picture for free , my friend."

Noah rolled his eyes. He was with a con-artist and was about to get swindled royally in ways he could barely imagine. Looking up as he stepped toward the window to buy his ticket, he smiled.

"You can go inside the pyramid?" Noah asked the attendant – who pointed at the credit card sign, nodding silently. But his ‘buddy' was right there to answer questions for him .

"You should go in the pyramid. It's very Egyptian."

"I see," Noah chuckled, grinning at the man who was beaming at him. "Very cheap?"

"And very Egyptian."

"All right… which one do I get?" Noah asked, silently thinking to himself ‘You only live once' and not missing this chance to see the monuments – especially if he could go inside. "And how much for the camel ride?"

"For you, my friend… very cheap," the man reassured him as Noah swiped his credit card to pay for the ticket. This was probably the only place that didn't accept currency, only credit cards – which surprised him. Everywhere else he'd been or had seen took Egyptian pounds or dollars, but then they wouldn't give change.

"How much?" Noah asked again, waiting.

"For you? Very cheap and you will like this. No walking, so much cooler – eh? Very nice and I take your picture for free."

"How much?" he stressed, just wanting to get this swindling over with so he could begin the tour instead of haggling out here in the sun like a cheapskate. Samir was still standing there, beaming up at him, in threadbare clothes like he was just happy to be there.

… And Noah sighed.

Whatever the cost was, he'd pay it and hopefully put a little lining in their pockets. He made good money and had practically no bills, living on a ship or on base back home. Again, this was a once in a lifetime trip – possibly – because deployments changed locations. In the years he'd been assigned to the carrier, this was his first time here. If his next set of orders took him away from Mayport, he wouldn't be returning to the Atlantic fleet for a while .

"Six hundred pounds," the man said proudly. "Very nice. I take your picture for free."

"I would hope so," Noah hesitated, pulling out his wallet and counting, wincing. Six hundred pounds was barely twelve bucks but sounded like a fortune – and he sure didn't want to short the man, nor did he want to be followed by him to an ATM to get out more money. "I have five hundred and seventy pounds. That's everything."

"For you, five hundred and seventy," the man said, smiling at him and waving Samir forward. "My friend, my very good friend…"

Five minutes later, Noah realized he'd made a very big mistake.

Listening to Samir and Ahmed instruct him how to climb onto the camel – the camel obviously did not approve. A massive head swung around, making a bleating sound, and Ahmed pushed it away like it was nothing.

"He likes you, my friend."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Samir, get our friend a Coke…"

"I'm out of money," he blurted out quickly, reminding Ahmed of the sad fact. The man just smiled and nodded at him.

"We're friends… yes?"

Ohhhh man, Noah chuckled. If this guy whips out a Square card reader or Paypal app on a cell phone, I give up on society.

"Yeah, we're friends."

"Very good Egyptian friends – eh?" Ahmed encouraged, pointing at his head and then at the fabric hat that Noah had bought. Obligingly, Noah put the fabric over his head along with the band to hold it into place.

I feel like a charlatan in this, but it does feel cooler already.

Samir handed him a lukewarm Coke can with strange writing on the side. Noah was quick to say ‘Thank You' to his new ‘friends' – and then held on for dear life as the camel made a noise again, leaping to his feet.

"We go, my friend!" Samir hopped on the other camel as Ahmed slapped the camel Noah was sitting on directly on the rump. The hulking beast started forward, swaying and plodding along.

"Wait – you're not coming?" Noah yelled over his shoulder, ignoring the laughter of others nearby. "Hold on, how do you stop this thing?"

"Stop? You don't want to stop. This is not the pyramid, my friend," Ahmed hollered, waving happily as Samir's camel trotted up beside him, swatting Noah's camel again.

"Don't do that," Noah ordered, and Samir only gave him a thumbs-up in acknowledgment. "Do you speak English?" The boy gave him a thumbs-up again – and swatted the camel once more.

Craaaaap…

The angry camel took off wildly to the right, where several other camels were resting in the shade of one building, nowhere near the pyramids or in that direction. Noah was being jostled badly. His Coke was going to be undrinkable because it was hot and would probably explode in his hand from all the shaking that was occurring, and Samir was just plodding along in the distance.

"Hey… a little help?" Noah hollered – only to see Samir's camel sink down onto its knees, and the boy ran ov er to him. He barked out an order like a professional horse trainer at the racetrack before slapping the camel on the rump again. The massive head swung back and bit Noah directly on the knee.

"WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HECK?" he yelped, shoving the camel's face away. That was certainly going to leave a mark, but he didn't think he was bleeding underneath his jeans. He wasn't sure if you could get rabies from a camel or some other disease but would certainly be checking his leg for any breaks in the skin when he got back to the ship.

Glaring at the camel, Noah looked at Samir, and the boy gave him a thumbs-up… again. Groaning, Noah slumped on his angry perch.

It was going to be a long day.

Almost an hour later, after being circled around what felt like the biggest pyramid in the world under a broiler in a convection oven, Samir brought Noah's camel to his knees. He slid off, his legs wobbling like the first time he was on the ship, making him chuckle nervously as he laid a hand on the massive limestone blocks to steady him.

"Go in over there, mister," Samir said in perfect English – and Noah's mouth dropped open in shock.

"I thought you didn't speak English?" he blurted out in disbelief. "You haven't said a word this entire time! I've been sitting on top of ol' Smokey covered in fleas, and lost my poor ‘meatball' somewhere in between."

The boy just laughed at the catchy tune Noah made up on the spot, adjusting his pants unabashedly because things were definitely pinched, smashed, sweaty, as well as uncomfortable, and he might not have been joking.

Samir gave him that frustrating thumbs-up – and hopped on his camel, before riding off with both of them – without another word.

"Well, I guess I'm going inside…" Noah muttered, yanking off the hat and tucking it into his pocket like some sort of handkerchief. Stepping forward, he fell into line and glanced up at the sky. It was getting late in the afternoon and finally getting a little cooler. He wasn't sure what time the monument closed the gates, and he certainly never intended to make this an all-day event, but it had certainly become that.

Ducking his head, Noah took a step into the passageway and hesitated. He had assumed it would be at least almost as tall as him, but that certainly was not the case. The opening was low, and the incline was sharp. A sort of ‘stair' had been put into place to help you climb, but it wasn't like what he had expected either. Sheets of plywood ran the length of a massive, angled hallway with a two-by-four screwed into place every fifteen inches or so to give you a foothold. Railings made with rope were there to help guide you and keep you from slipping, but the whole thing felt very unsteady to him.

As he made his way behind a few people, he could see a room up ahead and nearly breathed a sigh of relief. It was sweltering in what could only be described as a hallway. There was zero circulation and the smell of body odor was nearly overwhelming. He wasn't sure if it was him, the camel, the person in front of him, or the one behind him, but he was determined to get into a larger space and stand up straight as soon as possible. Putting his head down, making his way forward, he could feel a slight breeze of air at the same time someone collided with him.

"Ouch!" a voice exclaimed in unison with his as Noah shook his head trying to get rid of the stars that exploded behind his eyes at the impact. As he opened his eyes, recognition more intense than the pain he'd just felt slammed home somewhere within him as he stared into a pair of hazel eyes he recognized.

"It's you…" he breathed, stunned.