The Mandela Effect

Ch. 11

 Forty minutes later, his cousin is pulling into a senior living center on the outskirts of East London. Jon and his grandmother had spent the trip chatting about anything other than the reason for their trip home together. Jon had remained relatively calm during the entire trip, but as they pull through the front gate, he starts to get anxious; remembering why he had made this trip. His grandmother seems to notice.

"Are you really worried about the kind of place they put me in, Jongikhaya?" his grandmother asks with a smile, "I love it here and it's very nice, I promise."

"That's good, Ugogo," Jon answers, returning the smile.

The car came to a stop under the porta coche in front of the building. Jon steps out first and walks around the car to open his grandmother's door. He offers her a hand, which she takes, and he helps her step out of the car. They make their way back around the car and into the front door of the home.

Jon's anxiety seems to mount the closer they get to confronting the alleged picture, but he follows along dutifully as his grandmother makes her way through the home.

Whatever gene this woman had for making friends must have skipped Jon, because he didn't have it. As they move inside, he sees the fruit of that mentality though. It seems like his grandmother knows every person in the building.

She says hello to the woman at the front desk first, but after being buzzed inside, she hugs and stopped at nearly every doorway on the way in. Jon tries to have patience, but his anxiety eventually gets the best of him. When they reach a part of the hallway between doors, Jon finally speaks.

"Where is your room Ugogo?" Jon asks.

"It's around here somewhere," his grandmother jokes, poking her head into the next room in the hallway.

After saying her hellos, she comes back into the hallway. Jon continues the conversation as if he wasn't interrupted.

"I just am worried about making my flight," Jon says.

"Oh Jongikhaya," his grandmother waves off the comment, "there is plenty of time."

Jon is forced to patiently follow behind her. At some doorways, the occupants are standing or sitting outside. It seems like his grandmother likes these stops the most. She is excited to introduce her grandson from America.

Jon smiles politely and shakes hands. He answers the same inane questions about America, Chicago in particular, over and over; sometimes to the same, senile person. Inside though, he is screaming. He just wants to get her up to her room!

Finally, they reach the end of the hall, and the center of the building. The home is set up like a pinwheel with resident's rooms on long hallways all meeting in the middle where the bank of elevators were.

Reaching that center area, Jon hurries over and presses the up button on the elevator to call it back to the ground floor while his grandmother chats with a nurse. Jon moves back over to her and tries to lead her towards the door. Finally, just as the doors open, she starts making her way in that direction.

His grandmother doesn't move very quickly and before they can reach the doors, they start to close. Jon snags the doors with his hands, just before they close completely, and forces them back open.

"Oh Jon," his grandmother smiles, "you're so strong!"

Jon laughs, "something like that Ugogo. Just watch, I'll carry you up a few flights of stairs."

His grandmother giggles and Jon sees a playfulness that he hadn't seen before. For a moment, he forgets again about the reason for their visit. As they move into the elevator, his grandmother shuffles over and presses a button. The doors close again and the elevator moves upwards

After a few moments, the doors open to a very similar floor. He once again follows his grandmother as she moves out of the elevator and to the right, down one of the hallways. As before, she stops at many doors to say hello and introduce him. Finally, after what seems like an eternity, they arrive at a door with her name on it.

His grandmother takes a key from around her neck and pushes it into the knob. With a turn, the lock releases and the door pops open. Jon follows her inside.