Chapter 2 #3
“What are we waiting for? Come on, let’s have some fun!
” I say, rushing to the bikes, but I’m interrupted by my mother standing in front of me; I give her puppy eyes, making her roll her eyes, and my brothers laugh.
“Come on, I’ve had motorcycle lessons. Besides, Vincenzo and Lorenzo are going, too.
It’s unfair if I don’t go. This was supposed to be my trip, and Dad’s going too.
Nothing’s going to happen!” I blur it out, almost without breathing, in a tone that almost sounds desperate.
She looks at me, directing her gaze to my father, who just shrugs his shoulders andthen turns her eyes back to me again.
“I want you safe. In fact, I want the three of you as protected as possible. I want you all back at the camp in two hours, and don’t you dare get hurt, or I swear to God I’ll hurt you even more.
And then you can forget traveling!” I jump up and shower her face with kisses, making her laugh.
I approach the motorcycles and listen carefully to the guide’s advice as they ride along.
A woman approaches me and helps me put my scarf over my face so the sand doesn’t hurt me, offers me some glasses that they say are safer for the trip.
I zip up my jacket, put my helmet on my head, and quickly get on the bike, already feeling the excitement and adrenaline travel through my body fast and instantly.
I smirk to myself, start the bike, and accelerate, watching the sand fly around me, feeling my breath shrink and fear run through my veins, but still fulfilled, as if I were about to die, and somehow, it felt right.
I see Vincenzo’s bike overtake mine, and I speed up even more, causing the adrenaline to peak in my body.
I feel more alive than ever, and I want this feeling to last forever.
I hear the laughter and muffled screams of the bikes’ engines and the sandstorms forming around us.
I accelerate even more, feeling it jump into a deeper dune, making my heart skip a beat and my breathing gasp.
I smile and pull in a chunk of air, shouting with excitement.
“How was your ride?” asks my mother, sitting on a pile of cushions on the sand.
She has a cup of tea in her hands and seems relaxed as she looks in our direction.
I smile at her and run into her arms, making her put down her tea and open them immediately, ready to welcome me.
I hug her and slap a kiss on her cheek, resting my head on her lapandwatching my family take their seats around the small table in the middle of the cushions pile.
“It was great, truly liberating! Even though our children are kind of fearless, we seem to have created three adrenaline freaks!” says Dad, looking at Mom with a loving and knowing gaze as if they were able to communicate with just their eyes.
She gives him a shy smile and looks at my brothers softly while messing with my hair.
Around us, the guides and waiters are moving everywhere, preparing and serving dinner in front of us.
I look at all that unfamiliar food and the tempting smell, and my stomach finally seems to realize that my body needs food.
I stand up quickly and enjoy the food laid out in front of me.
During the meal, I feel like I was teleported to another time, before the divorce, when every meal was noisy, everyone talked at the same time, sharing food, laughing, being a family like we hadn’t been for a long time.
Just the five of us eating, laughing, and talking, with my father’s laughter, my mother’s loving smiles, my brothers’ jokes, and embarrassing questions directed at me (something I hated with everything in me when I was just a child).
But now all of them watching me, the playful smiles on their faces and the laughter stifled by my embarrassment made me feel at home again after years and in a country completely different from my own, as if I had traveled for a long time and had finally been reunited with those I love.
That night, I didn’t sleep. I lay on the sand for hours between my siblings, talking about everything, with my parents reminiscing about our childhood and all the stupid things we’ve done and continue to do.
I feel the cold of the desert and the warmth of my mom as she hugs me and covers me with her blanket after handing one to my brothers and dad.
I feel her warm and loving embrace, and I want to cry with happiness.
I look up and see the starry sky, one of the most beautiful skies I’ve ever seen.
I lay down at four in the morning in the same tent as my siblings, watching my parents go in the same, and I mentally wish that they were a couple again, even knowing how difficult it is, possibly impossible.
Lorenzo notices my eyes and gives me a pitiful look as if he’s reading my mind.
He feels sorry for my hopeful eyes. He hugs me from the side and pulls me inside the tent.
The next morning, I wake up early, hoping to see the sunrise.
I find my mother, coffee in hand, looking at the horizon.
I approach her slowly and hug her from behind, causing her to jump a little and then smile at me.
I look ahead and enjoy the sunrise with her between the dunes.
The heat is rising again; we exchange looks and complicit smiles.
I run to the tent I share with my brothers, let out a loud scream, and fell dead on top of them.
I hear my mother laughing from afar and my brothers muttering.
“Let’s go swimming in the Nile. The sun is up, and it’s unbearably hot outside.
Come on, get up!” I pull on my brother’s arms with my mother’s help, forcing them to stand up.
As soon as they do, I smile at them and rush to the river, taking off my clothes on the way, leaving only my swimsuit on.
I feel the cool water circling me; I dive in quickly and try to stay underwater until my lungs hurt.
I return to the top, watching my brothers doing swimming competitions while my parents chat on the side of the river.
Before lunch, we take a camel ride, as my mother refuses to go on a motorcycle, and we walk through the desert for a couple of hours, returning only at lunchtime.
As soon as we’ve finished lunch, we head back to the jeeps and head to the Pyramids and the Valley of the Kings, spending the whole day sightseeing.
The next day, we take a short tour of Egypt’s most important museums before watching my parents leave for their own countries and my brothers and I set sail for Russia.