Away

13. The worst flight ever

After hanging around a coffee shop for 2 hours, half asleep, it was finally time to board. The flight to Nairobi was only 4 hours, but sleeping for even one hour would be welcomed now. They changed seats whilst checking in. Neither discussed it. Eddy did it. Brett didn't object. Eddy had the window seat, this time with a full view of the outside world. It was dark out, so it didn't matter, and even if it wasn't, both were too tired to care.

As soon as they sat down, they buckled up. Eddy threw the thin blanket provided by the airline loosely over himself. He tucked the small pillow between himself and the wall and closed his eyes. Brett put on a hoodie he took from his backpack before stowing it and sitting down. He adjusted the headrest and closed his eyes. Both missed the safety procedures and take-off.

Eddy woke up first. He wasn't sure what woke him, but he felt a sharp pain and had a terrible burning sensation on the side of his face. As he touched it, he flinched. And he was wide awake when he saw his hand covered in blood. He immediately sat up to look around. By now Brett woke up as well as the whole plane was a commotion of people talking and yelling. "Eddy, you are bleeding!" Brett pressed the button overhead to summon one of the hostesses. He took off his hoody, bundled it up, and pressed it firmly against Eddy's cheek.

A hostess appeared, took one look at Eddy, and said "I will be right back". The side they were sitting on was quiet now but they could hear some sobbing further ahead. The other side of the plane now seems to be in chaos. And then they saw the cause. A small boy, maybe 5 or 6 years old, was climbing from seat to seat, stepping on the headrests and people's heads in the process. He was screaming like a banshee. Every now and then he would stop, opening up one of the overhead bins and pulling out stuff in anger, letting it fall where it may. Two air hostesses were trying to coax him down, without success.

The mother, they assumed, was following them down the aisle. "Leave him alone. He will calm down by himself", the mother said. One steward approached from the other side and grabbed the boy around the waist, putting him down in the aisle whilst holding on to his arm. "Let go of him. How dare you! I will sue you and this airline! You are torturing my son!"

"Madam", one of the hostesses started, "from what we can tell, your son injured at least 30 people in his 15 minute rampage. Despite our requests for you to get him under control, you did nothing. Did you know that causing any injuries or harm to others in-flight is a federal offense in many countries? Once we land, you will be arrested and the airline will press criminal charges against you. Now bring your son and follow me".

The woman was quiet now. She grabbed her son by his hand, and despite his protests and screaming, followed the hostess down the aisle. The whole section cheered, which seemed to anger her more, as her face turned even redder. But she didn't respond.

One of the hostesses returned to Brett and Eddy with a first aid kit. Brett stood up and stepped out so she can have access to Eddy. She put on gloves, and then removed the hoody Eddy was now holding against his face. Then she gently cleaned the cut with disinfectant. Eddy winced as the alcohol reacted to the open wound. She placed a dressing over the cut and secured it with plaster. She opened up a plastic bag and dropped all the swabs and her gloves into the bag.

"Would you like to have a bag for this to store it?" she asked, pointing at the hoody. "No need. You can throw it away as well. We still have many hours of travel, and the stain will be permanent." Brett said. She scooped the hoody into the bag as well, tied it up and got up. "I am very sorry for your injury sir", she said to Eddy as Brett sat down next to him. Looking at Brett, she said "he had a nasty bump. Watch him and don't let him sleep. If anything changes, call one of us immediately". Brett nodded. She handed him some alcohol swabs and a small plastic bag. "Clean your hands. I will come and fetch the bag after a while".

"Sorry about your hoodie" Eddy said. "You shouldn't have done that". "Dude, you were bleeding. It's only clothes, don't think of it again". Brett replied. He made sure Eddy cleaned his hands properly by holding both and turning them to check. He closes up the bag and places it on the floor by his feet. "How are you feeling? Do you need anything to drink?" Eddy puts his head back and stares out the window for a while. With a shiver in his voice he says "some tea would be nice I guess". Brett presses the overhead button and when a hostess arrives he asks sweetly if it's possible to have two cups of tea. He also hands her the bag stowed by his feet. She smiled and nodded. "Of course, it will help settle his nerves".

When Brett looks at Eddy again he can see his shoulders jerking up and down and he covered the side of his face facing Brett with one hand. Brett immediately pushes the arm rest separating them out of the way and scoots over. "Eddy, dude, you OK?" He asks as he pulls the hand out of the way. Tears are rolling down Eddy's cheeks. "Hey, it will be OK", he says as he gently puts one hand on Eddy's leg. "I don't even know why I'm crying. It's so stupid. Yet I can't stop it", Eddy says with an embarrassed smile.

"Hey, look at me", Brett says. "You had a traumatic experience. The shock is only now reaching your brain. It's a lot for anyone to handle. You will feel better soon. I promise." Eddy wiped the tears away with the back of his hand as the hostess returns with two cups of steaming tea, some sugar packets and milk pods. They spend the rest of the flight sipping tea and talking about the places they grew up, the differences in the schooling systems and university. They discover they both hate mushrooms. Eddy hates durian. Brett doesn't know what it is, so Eddy explained. They were still talking when the captain announced that they would be landing soon.