Cristal(26)

Kerim had been busy arranging accommodations for Gabriel and himself. He found an ex-military friend who lived close to the hotel, which left Cristal by herself in her miserable room.

To pass time, she flipped through the photos on her cell phone, and stopped to enlarge a photo of Kerim where he was smiling at her and his fingers gestured a peace sign. The photo was taken onboard the flight to Israel.

***

It had been her first international flight on a Boeing 747 across the ocean. It started out horribly. The plane was full of screaming kids and crying babies. Thankfully, Kerim and Gabriel were on the same flight, although they were seated in different rows.

Her seat number had been F29, the middle row in front of a wall with a toddler on her left who spent most of the trip wailing at the top of her lungs. The child’s mother who was seated on the other side of the girl had put earplugs in and covered her eyes with an eye mask. Cristal couldn’t believe how she could ignore her own child who obviously was frightened and uncomfortable. She tried to talk to the little girl in an effort to comfort her. But the girl only reacted by screaming louder.

So much for trying to be a Good Samaritan.

On her right side sat an unsociable woman, probably in her early forties with dark hair, cut short. Sitting like a queen on her throne, her elbow hung over the arm rest between them, digging into Cristal’s side. She was what Kerim described later as a “full-bodied woman” referring to her wide hips and generous-sized bosom. The woman had eyed Cristal carefully, her lips pursed together as if she had just eaten a bucket of lemons.

Get a life, she remembered thinking to herself.

When she gave up all hope of having any rest on the flight, Kerim had suddenly appeared in the aisle. He looked over at her and gave her a wink.

What is he doing? Harry had told all of us to be inconspicuous.

The woman who had been flipping through a beauty magazine glanced up to look at him. Cristal noticed that her grim face melted and her pursed lips turned into a warm glowing smile.

Kerim, you have the power to melt glaciers.

Kerim began speaking in a language that Cristal guessed was Hebrew, given that the flight was a direct flight to Tel Aviv and over 60 percent of the passengers were Israelis returning home from their holidays in New York. The other 20 percent were New Yorkers who apparently had dual Israeli citizenship. This is what Kerim had mentioned to her while waiting at the airport before boarding the plane.

Although Cristal couldn’t understand what they were saying, she knew Kerim was doing what he was good at—charming the lady and making her giggle like a schoolgirl. Kerim pointed towards Cristal and said something that caused the lady to burst out into peals of laughter.

What the hell?

His hands then waved towards his seat at the back of the plane.

Still giggling, the lady nodded her head, grabbed her things and stood up, her fat bottom brushing against Cristal’s arm. She glanced down and offered Cristal an apologetic smile before turning back to Kerim. He offered his hand to help as she squeezed herself out of the row into the aisle.

“Shalom, handsome. I will see you in the land of milk and honey,” the woman said, purring like a cat, as if in an attempt to sound sultry, but instead, it reminded Cristal of a squawking seagull.

Cristal rolled her eyes, trying her best to contain her laughter. The woman waddled away, swaying her hips. She glanced back at Kerim, blowing him a kiss.

Oh, how sweet.

When the woman was far from sight, Kerim eased himself into the recently vacated seat. He slipped his messenger bag under the seat in front of him and leaned back with a boyish grin on his face.

“What was that all about?” Cristal asked, looking at the aisle where the lady had said her good-byes.

He smirked.

“My skills come in quite handy in these types of situations.”

Before she could respond, he reclined his seat and closed his eyes. She sighed and resigned herself to not ask any further questions.

You are a funny character, Kerim Ilgaz.

Taking his lead, she reclined her seat and closed her eyes. Maybe a snooze would help her relax.

Nine hours left and counting, she thought to herself.

***

Less than an hour later, she opened her eyes. Sleep had not come, despite all her efforts. The little girl beside her had thankfully cried herself to sleep. Her parents now were chattering to each other loudly across the other aisle in their language, while shoving nuts into their faces.

Cristal’s ears were picking up many conversations in multiple languages around her. The sounds seemed to be increasing in volume, hurting her ears. For some reason, words spoken in other languages always seemed to magnify in her ears, reverberating in her skull. The worst part was that no matter how hard she tried to understand the meaning of the words, her brain drew a blank slate that caused her to become even more frustrated.