PART FIVE
Daniel cannot see anything. He blinks his eyes several times hoping his pupils will hurry up and dilate so he can see what is beyond the guards’ barracks doorway. The darkness that surrounds him is thick. It seems palpable, so he reaches out his hands to touch it and notices that the rifle in his right hand has transformed into some type of cane. He explores the cane with his hands and is able to discern that it is a strong tree branch, which has been worn smooth from years and years of use as a walking stick. It has smoothed bumps along the shaft and a naturally gnarled end that perfectly gloves his right palm. When he places it in front of him and steps forward to explore his completely dark environment, the stick seems to become a naturally organic extension of his own right arm.
But after a few steps, he realizes he does not need the walking stick at all. He knows exactly where he is in relation to everything around him, so he reaches over and leans the walking stick against the wall next to the door he just walked through.
He is in a small one-room hut. The floor is dirt and the walls are dried mud. There is no electricity and no plumbing. He is somewhere far out in the country.
In a way, despite the imposing darkness, Daniel feels super-human. All of his senses are heightened and seem to be electrified by a current of energy that fills the atmosphere around him. And, even though he knows he is alone, the room seems filled with activity. He walks over to the small window opening next to the door and leans his face out. The evening air is warm, and it is flowing with wonderful earthy aromas. He hears the crackle of a fire somewhat off in the distance and he smells the smoke.
Then, he hears it again -- the lush deep sound of the chorus of male voices. Even though he sees nothing, he closes his eyes, tilts his head back and takes in a slow deep breath. The rhapsody of gorgeous tones fills his ears and resonates in his chest. It is raw and rich, and seems to be flowing right out of the night air and pouring all over his body.
Daniel remembers being back in St. Paul where he would go to a few jazz clubs and listen to the music late into the night. The chord progressions from those memories and the ones that are currently wafting into his ears seem to be making a transcendent bridge between the two different points in time. His body uncontrollably moves in time with the music. He has become one with it, and feels as though this is the closest he has been to being back home since his whole crazy journey through time began.
“You simply cannot wait to get out there, can you?”
Daniel is startled back into the reality of the moment when he feels the pat on his shoulder from someone outside the hut reaching through the window opening.
“Oh, I am sorry... I did not mean to scare you. Man, you must have been into it this time. I thought you could hear me coming from a mile away.”
“No, I was... it was... ” stammers Daniel, trying to get his bearings.
“Not to worry, man. I know it takes you away. What do you think I am? Blind? Ha, ha, ha, let us go now. Let us go. You do not have to dance in there. Come on outside, man.”
‘Ndakalu,’ thinks Daniel. ‘This is my treasured lifelong friend, Ndakalu,’ he realizes as he walks out the door and into the warm night air. Several other people who live in the compound with them are gathered around an outdoor fire pit. Daniel hears their exuberant voices laughing and singing and talking in Swahili.
As Daniel walks up to the fire, he discovers information in his mind that unveils his new identity. He is now in the middle of Africa. ‘I am in Africa. I live in the Congo. I am a middle-aged blind black man living in the heart of Africa.’
Soon the music takes over and Daniel loses control of himself completely. His body surrenders to the rhythms of the music, and his entire being becomes one with it. He dances and dances on and on through the African night.
+ - + - + - +
No matter how many times Daniel blinks his eyes, he simply cannot wipe away the darkness, so he sits up in bed and is again shocked by how familiar he is with his completely dark surroundings. He easily gets up out of bed and walks over to a dresser. He leans over a basin of water, cups some of it up with his hands and splashes it on his face. Then he picks up a neatly folded towel that is lying next to the basin, and dries his face and hands.
He reaches down and opens the top drawer of the dresser, takes out a white button up shirt and puts it on. He then opens up the middle drawer, takes out a pair of tan trousers and puts them on. Effortlessly, he walks over to the front door, slips a pair of sandals onto his feet and walks outside to visit the outhouse. He walks up and checks to see if the door is closed.
“Is that you, Dance?” asks Ndakalu from inside the outhouse.
“Yes, it is me,” answers Dance.
“I will be out soon,” says Ndakalu. So, Dance steps back and waits.
After a few moments, Ndakalu opens the door and comes out, and says, “You are next. Then, get something to eat. We must go soon.” As he walks away, he adds, “They are very busy now and we must not be late.”
Dance finishes his business in the outhouse and then walks back into his hut. He tears off a piece of ugali from the lump and dips it into a bowl of vegetable broth. After finishing that, he grabs a banana, peels it and begins to eat it.
“We have to go, Dance,” shouts Ndakalu from outside the hut.
So, Dance walks over to the door and slips his sandals back on. He grabs his walking stick with his right hand, and then reaches his left hand over to a small table by the door where he picks up two small white polished stones and puts them in his trouser pocket. He acquired these two ‘worry rocks’ many years previously as a boy when he made his first trip to the Great River. He has carried them with him ever since that time, and often rolls them around in his hand whenever he has important things he needs to think about.
The American hospital is a couple of miles away in the city of Kisangani. During their walk to the hospital, Daniel realizes the date is now in the 1950s and he and Ndakalu work at the hospital doing various tasks; such as laundry, general room cleaning, and operating machines that sterilize the medical laboratory equipment. Throughout the day, Daniel is quite amazed at how well he can perform these tasks in complete darkness. And he continues to be surprised at how super-human his other senses seem to be.
+ - + - + - +
Another several days go by similarly. In his existence as Dance, Daniel becomes keenly aware of how utterly connected to the earth he now is, and how completely reliant he is upon it for his daily living. He is quite taken with the simple peaceful semi-agrarian life, which now allows him to live without the distractions that clutter up the urban living he is accustomed to. He feels more whole within himself. He feels at home. He feels as though he has never been more content with his life than he is now, even though he is blind.
“Good morning, Dance.”
Dance stops making the bed and turns and nods, and says, “Good morning, Dr. Lomas.”
“You know me merely by the sound of my voice,” says Dr. Lomas, shaking his head in amazement.
“And by your cologne and by your walk,” adds Dance.
“And how about your memory? Do you know me by your memory?” asks Dr. Lomas.
Dance gets a puzzled look on his face, and asks, “What do you mean, sir?”
“Well, it has been too busy around here, so I haven’t had the opportunity to bring this up before. But, you and I knew each other and played together when we were boys,” answers Dr. Lomas. “My parents were missionaries with the Alliance Church. They came here thirty years ago when we were just boys. How could I forget the blind boy who loved to dance?”
Dance thinks for a moment, and then says, “Jimmy.”
“Well, not so much anymore, but yes, that is me,” confirms Dr. Lomas. “Do you remember me?”
“I remember you well. Your family took us to the Great River and told us about the Master Jesus,” says Dance. “They baptized me there. They baptized us there. We were thirteen.” Then Dance reaches into his pocket, takes out his ‘wor
ry rocks’ and shows them to Dr. Lomas.
Dr. Lomas looks at them and sighs. He shakes his head, and says, “I lost mine years ago, sadly. We moved a few times when I was growing up and somehow they simply weren’t there the last time I looked for them.”
Dance and Dr. Lomas are both absorbed by boyhood memories for a few moments before Dr. Lomas looks back at Dance, and says, “Yours are well worn, Dance. How have you been all these years?”
“James! Get to the lab immediately! Something has gone terribly wrong!” shouts one of the other doctors as he runs up and holds onto the doorway to the room.
Dr. Lomas turns and runs out the door with the other doctor.
Dance finishes up the bed and then walks down the hall where all of the commotion is happening.
“This can’t be!” says Dr. Lomas, looking at the charts. “Something must be incorrect with this data.”
“I don’t understand it either,” says the other doctor, handing Dr. Lomas another chart. “But this definitely is one of the monkeys that was tested with that last strain.”
“But the tests were clean!” says Dr. Lomas, pointing to the charts again. “Everything was perfectly clean and accurate. Look! It’s right here. The monkeys were clean... the cultures were clean. The vaccine was pure. Look!”
“I know, I know, believe me, I double-checked it before I called you,” says the other doctor. He then hands Dr. Lomas another chart, and says, “Now take a look at what is happening here. This patient was treated recently for a fairly severe case of hemolytic anemia. Everything was going fine, but now take a look at that. I don’t understand what is happening with his immune system. Look at that white blood cell count. Something strange is going on here. I have never seen anything like it. Why is his immune system malfunctioning?”
Dr. Lomas flips through several pages on the chart and frowns, and says, “Something must not be right here. Bring all of the files to me. I need to find out what is going on here. I need to find out what is wrong... and why it is wrong... and how to get this problem fixed immediately.”
The other doctor rushes out of the room. Dr. Lomas sits down at a desk and starts to read the information on the charts. He stops on one page and furiously reads over it a few times. Suddenly, he jumps up, runs out the door and down the hall, and yells, “Carl! Wait! Wait a minute!”
Dance can feel the thick tension that is beginning to fill the hospital, but he also knows it would not require his heightened senses to feel it. Something is very wrong. There is bad mojo brewing. He can feel it in his bones.
On the way home, Ndakalu cannot stop talking about what happened at the hospital, “I knew something like this was going to happen. I tried to warn them, but they would not listen. Sifuni was right. If only they would have listened to me.”
“What happened?” asks Dance.
“The monkeys, Dance. You cannot tamper with the monkeys,” says Ndakalu. “They think they can... why would they think they could grow something on a monkey kidney and have it be something good for humans? They are crazy men, Dance! I tried to tell them. I tried to tell them about Sifuni’s cure for the polio. Why do they not listen to me? The very cure they were working so diligently to develop is right there in Sifuni’s home. I simply have to bring it to them. But they will not listen to me.”
As they walk and Ndakalu continues to rant on and on, Daniel is intrigued by his new opportunity to be working at the hospital where a polio vaccine is being developed. And he is also fascinated by what Ndakalu is saying about the cure for polio being easily found in nature somewhere. He wonders about the possibility that a person like Sifuni would know where something could be found in the jungle that would function as a polio vaccine. And he is almost certain the other problem he heard about at the hospital that day must have something to do with AIDS. He wonders if Sifuni would also know about a cure for HIV.
He knows he must find out as much as possible about these things, so he asks, “Can we go and see Sifuni and talk with her about all of this?”
“Yes. I think we better tell her what is going on at the hospital,” answers Ndakalu. “I knew those monkeys were going to be a problem. Yes. We will go and see her on the weekend break. We need to find out what to do about this.”
+ - + - + - +
Ndakalu’s grandmother, Sifuni, takes a sip of tea, and quietly says, “They cannot expect not to reap what they have sown, Ndakalu.”
If Daniel could see Sifuni, he would be amazed at her beauty, even at her advanced age. She has a glistening purity about her that causes her entire being to glow. Her loving eyes and her welcoming smile light up her peacefully accepting face. The warm tones of her smooth skin and the graceful way she moves her body make her seem as though she is an ambassador of the earth.
There is a timeless air all around Sifuni. She seems ageless due to devoting her entire life to learning everything she can about the jungle. She is a completely giving person who spends the majority of her time serving others. She is a sage and a great woman of wisdom and compassion.
Daniel is also able to discern that the place where Sifuni lives is gorgeous. He can smell the thick surrounding jungle. He can hear the nearby stream. Natural fragrances are all around him. He feels one with the earth at Sifuni’s home in the jungle.
“Hello my dear boy, Dance,” says Sifuni, warmly.
Daniel feels like Sifuni’s words pour into his ears like sweet honey and soothe every corner of his soul.
“Every time I see you, I remember when you were a boy,” continues Sifuni. “We could not stop you from dancing. Yes. And the Americans were amazed by you. They could not believe how a blind boy could be so happy. So, they wound up calling you ‘Dance’. That is why you have an American name. Did you know that?”
Dance smiles, and says, “You may have mentioned it once or twice before.”
“Oh, just indulge an old woman’s fond memories,” chuckles Sifuni. “I do love to tell that story.”
Dance and Sifuni are sitting on a log bench outside her hut. She reaches over and pats her hand on Dance’s thigh, and says, “You are a rare child, Dance. Your blindness is a gift. A treasure. You live a charmed life. You see things we do not see because you are not distracted by all the noise around us.”
Sifuni takes a sip of tea and looks at Dance, and continues, “I know you are beginning to understand that truth about yourself even deeper. I can see it in you. It is a gift, a truly great... ” Sifuni suddenly stops talking, cocks her head to one side and stares at Dance. She gets a deeply interested look on her face.
“What is it, grandmother?” asks Ndakalu.
But Sifuni keeps silently staring.
Daniel senses that somehow Sifuni can see him. It makes him very uncomfortable.
“You have some surprises for us, do you not, Dance?” says Sifuni.
Dance pauses for a moment, and then answers, “I do.”
“Yes. You always do,” says Sifuni. “But this time it is something different.”
“I hope so,” says Dance.
“Yes, and I as well,” says Sifuni. She pauses for another moment, and then continues, “Now, what is happening at that blasted hospital this time?”
“They are growing the vaccines on the monkey kidneys,” answers Ndakalu.
Sifuni shakes her head, and says, “They are meddling with the balance. They are upsetting the balance of nature.”
“I tried to tell them about your cure for the polio,” continues Ndakalu.
“But they want to grow their own on monkey kidneys,” says Sifuni, quietly.
“And now there is another problem,” adds Ndakalu. “Some of the patients in the hospital have a new disease that prevents their bodies from fighting against other diseases. They are getting sick and close to dying, and the doctors do not know what to do about it.”
Daniel does not know what to do. He remembers Diener’s involvement in Adolf Hitler’s life and wonders if he had something to do with millions of Arabs dying instead of millio
ns of Jews. He starts to think about the possibility that if he had not meddled with Hitler’s life, Judah Barshevet would have likely been hauled away to die in a Nazi concentration camp, never to become the heinous murderer of millions of Arabs.
He wants to think he could help with the polio vaccine, and possibly even prevent the development of the AIDS problem. But then he wonders about the fact that, if he does, might he cause something worse to happen as a result of those actions.
“Your heart is telling you something, Dance,” says Sifuni, snapping Daniel out of his daydream. “You must listen to what your heart was just telling you.”
“I do not know what it was,” says Dance.
“Yes you do,” says Sifuni. “Your heart is good, Dance. You have a good heart. You care about others. You want to do what is right for others. Listen to your heart, Dance. It will become crystal clear to you, like the water in the stream. Can you hear the water in the stream?”
Dance listens for a moment, and then asks, “May I take the medicines to them?”
“They will not listen,” says Ndakalu.
“You may take them with you,” says Sifuni. Then she looks over at Ndakalu, and says, “Maybe they will listen to a blind man, Ndakalu.”
+ - + - + - +
Daniel is becoming quite accustomed to the darkness. Sifuni is right. He does feel much more connected to his soul without being bothered by all of the visual stimuli that assault most people.
But the next morning, light begins to shine into Daniel’s existence for the first time since he assumed Dance’s identity. It is early morning and he is still in bed. He hears the door open. As he looks over to the door, he sees light spilling into the room. He has become so accustomed to the darkness that the sight of the light is shocking to him and looks completely unfamiliar to him.
Daniel begins to look around and visually identify all the things in the hut he has only previously known by touch. He sees the dresser with the basin of water on top of it. He sees the table and chair where he eats, and the little table by the door with his two ‘worry rocks’ resting on top of it. He sees his walking stick and marvels at its polished beauty.
Then Daniel is stunned by who he sees walking through the door. It is Sarah. She looks beautiful. She is wearing one of her flowing light summer dresses. Daniel blinks deliberately several times and rubs his eyes. Sarah smiles at Daniel and walks toward him. Daniel sits up and smiles, and wonders, ‘Why is she here? Is she here to bring me back? Is this crazy journey finally over?’
Sarah silently walks up to Daniel and cups her hand under his chin. Then she moves her hand tenderly around to the back of his neck and caresses the back of his head. Daniel takes a deep breath. He wants to close his eyes and fully enjoy Sarah’s touch, but he is afraid that, if he does, he might go back into Dance’s darkness.
Sarah steps back slightly and smiles at Daniel. His heart is pounding with joy and excitement as he thinks about how much he loves her. But Sarah suddenly gets a troubled look on her face when she stretches out her hand to touch Daniel again, and then is dismayed when she notices her hand is all withered and disfigured. She stumbles slightly and Daniel sees that her legs are all withered and disfigured also. The polio is ravaging her body.
Sarah falls to the ground, and Daniel leaps out of bed to rush over and help her. But as he does, everything turns dark and he falls to the floor. He lies there for quite a while struggling to get his bearings.
Finally, he realizes he was dreaming. Now, he is lying on the floor after falling out of bed. So, he stands to his feet and walks over to the window. Judging by the quietness outside and the coolness of the air on his skin, Dance knows it is too early to get up, so he goes back and lies down on his bed.
‘I must do something,’ he thinks. ‘Sifuni is right. I must follow my heart. I must try. I do not care what happened in the past and I cannot tell the future. I must do what is right. I must do the right thing, right here and right now. I have helped people my entire life. I cannot stop now. I must try to get them to test Sifuni’s medicines.’
+ - + - + - +
On their walk to work, Ndakalu knows not to interrupt Dance with his typical incessant banter. It is obvious his lifelong friend is wrestling with an internal struggle. He can’t help but notice that with every step they take down the dirt road to the hospital, Dance turns the ‘worry rocks’ repeatedly over and over in his hand.
Upon their arrival at the hospital, it is also obvious to Ndakalu that something is very very wrong. Everyone he sees, from the front desk workers to the workers in the custodial area, has a serious and somber look on their face. And Dance, without even being able to see their faces, is also aware of the air of sorrow and confusion that has come over the entire hospital.
A short while later, as Dance is preparing for the day’s duties, Ndakalu joins him, and says in a hushed voice, “I heard the doctor’s own son is sick.”
Dance looks at him, puzzled.
“Dr. Lomas’ own son has the sickness,” continues Ndakalu. “It is worse than we thought. He was being treated for his malaria problem, and then he got quite sick. I think he has the other sickness that they are all confused about.”
“But Sifuni has the cure for it,” says Dance. “We have the cure for it right here with us. We must give them the cure.”
“They will not listen,” insists Ndakalu. “And probably especially not now. Not with all of this happening.”
“But maybe that is why this is happening,” says Dance, quietly. “If they would not listen before, maybe this had to happen to open their ears.”
Dr. Lomas’ wife, Jess, is at the hospital that day comforting her son at his bedside. “He never would have gotten it, if it weren’t for me,” says Dr. Lomas as he walks into the room and stands by her side. “That’s what you get for having missionaries as parents,” continues Dr. Lomas. “He wouldn’t have gotten malaria in the U.S., that’s for sure.”
Jess gives him a stern look.
Dr. Lomas sighs and shakes his head, and says, “You’re right. I’m sorry. But I just don’t know what to do, Jess. We had his malaria issue under control, but now this. What is this? What is happening to him? What is happening to all of these patients?”
As the day progresses, the tension thickens. Groups of hospital personnel scurry from room to room and have intense discussions about how to help their patients with the mysterious disease. Tempers flare in some of the meetings. Accusations are leveled. Defenses are asserted. Voices are raised. Tables are pounded. By the time early afternoon rolls around, the expenditure of energy and the stress on emotions has all but completely debilitated everyone in the hospital. Everyone except Dance. He knows he must complete his mission. He knows the stage is set and the time is now for his message from Sifuni.
“Follow me,” says Dance to Ndakalu. “And bring the jars.”
They make their way to Dr. Lomas’ office, but he is not there. Dance then hears a soft weeping coming from the laboratory down the hall. “Down here,” he says to Ndakalu.
Dr. Lomas is working at a table with a couple of researchers. Jess is sitting in a chair off to one side. She is the one whom Dance heard weeping.
“Excuse me, sir,” says Dance from the doorway. “May I talk to you for a moment. Just a brief moment.”
Dr. Lomas looks up from his work with a pained and exhausted look on his face.
Dance continues, “I would not even consider bothering you, especially at a time like this... but it is the time like this that compels me to talk to you.”
“This is not the time, Dance,” says Dr. Lomas, wearily.
Jess looks up, wiping her nose and eyes with a handkerchief.
“We are friends. Is that not correct?” says Dance.
“Of course it is, yes, we are friends now and we were friends when we were boys,” says Dr. Lomas, impatiently. “But now is not a good time for chatter, Dance. We’re completely... we’re trying to... we can’t... ”
“I have
the solution to the disease,” says Dance, firmly.
A hopeful look starts to break through the tears on Jess’ face and she stands up. Dr. Lomas looks over at her and then back at Dance. “If this is another one of those jungle cures, so help me I’ll... ”
Dance reaches behind him, grabs Ndakalu by the arm and quickly ushers him into the room, and says, firmly, “You need to listen this time. We have one for the polio and we have one for the new disease.”
Dance takes the two jars from Ndakalu and extends them out to Dr. Lomas.
“No!” interrupts Dr. Lomas. “I am not going to listen to your... I have told you before. We don’t have time to check every crazy... this is not the place... this is not the jungle. This is a carefully controlled laboratory environment. We simply do not have... ”
“Please, Jim...” pleads Jess, walking over to them.
“No!” interrupts Dr. Lomas, as he quickly steps over toward Dance and knocks the jars out of his hands. They crash across the room on the floor as he yells, “We can’t do this! We just can’t... ”
Dr. Lomas stops and looks over at Jess. She is weeping, so he walks over and talks with her and tries to comfort her sadness.
The other researchers begin to talk quietly to each other, and a few other doctors and hospital employees enter the room to see what is going on. Dance staggers back slightly and is completely overwhelmed by the conversational cacophony that is starting to escalate in the laboratory.
“Just shut the hell up and get dinner on the table, you lazy bitch!” A woman in 1960s Bartlesville, Oklahoma quickly and obediently gets food on the table for her husband and her two young children.
In the midst of the arguing and pleading and confusion in the laboratory, Dance slowly and silently backs up against the wall and begins to quietly weep.
“Get those stupid brats to bed, will ya? I’m going out.”
“But we can’t... ”
The husband slaps his wife on the face.
“Don’t you sass me, woman!”
The children cower next to their mother.
“Just shut the hell up and get to bed, all of ya! I’ll be home later.”
One by one, the people in the laboratory stop talking and arguing. Each, in turn, is cut to the core when they look over at Dance, who is leaning against the wall with tears streaming down his polished black cheeks. The purity of his compassion for the sick boy is written all over him, but at the same time his stifled determination has caused his large frame to sag like the branches of a tree heavy laden with fruit.
Lastly, Dr. Lomas is aware of the quietness in the room when he notices that Jess is staring right past him and over at Dance. He turns to see what everyone else is looking at.
Dance is aware of the silence, but does not know they are all staring at him. Slowly and gradually, he sees a light in the doorway that is across the room from him. It is the first real light that Daniel has seen since he assumed Dance’s identity.
Everything in the room, except the doorway, is still dark and no light from the other side of the doorway is spilling into the darkness. Daniel realizes this existence has come to an end, and he must go through that doorway to continue on his journey through time.
As he walks up to the doorway, he looks in and sees two small children cowering and weeping in the corner of a small meager bedroom. He feels the same maternal yearning he felt when he was Dinah wanting to pick up and nurse her newborn baby boy. Instinctively, he reaches into his pocket and takes out his ‘worry rocks’ and begins to turn them over and over in his hand.
Then he steps through the doorway and walks toward the children.
+ - + - + - +
“Dance? Hello, Dance? It’s me, Dr. Lomas.”
Dance awakened from what he thought was a dream. Then he heard the banging on his door.
“Dance? Are you in there? This is Dr. Lomas... James Lomas.”
“One moment. I will be right there,” said Dance, groggily, as he got up out of bed and threw on some clothes.
Dr. Lomas opened the door and stepped right into the room, and said, “I am sorry, Dance, but this is urgent. I need more of those substances from the jungle. They are working, Dance. They’re working.”
“I do not... ” started Dance.
“We need those substances. We need more of those chemical compounds that you brought in yesterday,” urged Dr. Lomas.
“Ndakalu has... Ndakalu’s grandmother... Sifuni has... ”
Ndakalu came quickly into Dance’s hut, and said, “What is wrong? What is happening here?”
Dr. Lomas turned and faced Ndakalu, and said, “Where can we get more of those substances? We need to run tests on them immediately.”
“We must go to Sifuni,” answered Ndakalu. “She is the one who makes all of the potions.”
+ - + - + - +
It was mid-morning when Ndakalu, Dance and Dr. Lomas arrived at Sifuni’s hut in the jungle.
“One of my colleagues went ahead and tested the remnants from the jars that Dance brought in yesterday,” explained Dr. Lomas. “They are testing positively on both the polio virus and the other new virus.”
After Ndakalu explained the situation to Sifuni, she reached up and put her hand on Dance’s arm, and said, “You will come with us, but you must be aware that the path is quite narrow, and curving and steep in places.”
“I would like to go as far as I am able,” said Dance. “May I... ”
“We need to hurry,” insisted Dr. Lomas. “Is she saying Dance is coming with us? I don’t think... It’s going to take too long... We don’t have time... ”
Ndakalu started to tell Sifuni about his concerns, but she already had a general idea about why he was troubled. So, Sifuni put her hand on Dr. Lomas’ shoulder, and said, “He is coming with us. We need him.”
Dr. Lomas didn’t understand what Sifuni was saying, and started to resist. But, then he was suddenly quite stunned when he looked into her eyes. He took a couple of steps back, and said, “Alright then, but please let us be going.”
Sifuni smiled warmly, and said, “This way.”
+ - + - + - +
It was midday. Dr. Lomas kept looking at his wristwatch. “I didn’t expect to be gone this long. Are we almost there?”
Sifuni and Ndakalu and Dance were accustomed to the slower pace of life. To them, the journey and the destination were one in the same. As they walked along, they were being the adventure into the jungle to gather the plants for the cures. Dr. Lomas was operating under an entirely different mindset -- he was doing it, as if he were checking off items on a list of sequential tasks.
But, even though Dance was at peace on the journey, it was still quite difficult for him. “I do not think I can go any further,” he said. “Is there a place where I may sit and rest, while you all continue on?”
“I knew this would happen,” said Dr. Lomas, in frustration. “How much farther do we have to go? Are we almost there?”
Ndakalu guided Dance to a place where he could sit down. Sifuni knelt down at his side and reached into her bag. She took out a leather bottle filled with river water, and something for Dance to eat. “Take this, Dance,” she said, quietly and deliberately.
Dr. Lomas paced back and forth, while Sifuni cared for Dance. “I am very sorry to be so pushy, but we must hurry. My son... and the rest of the patients... ” Then he looked at his watch. “How much longer until we are there?”
Sifuni stood up slowly and smiled at Dr. Lomas, and said, “We are there.”
Dr. Lomas was confused. Then he looked over at Dance, who had closed his eyes and tilted his head back facing the canopy of tree branches above them. He had a thoughtful look on his face, as he raised his arm and began moving it from side to side as if the tree branches above them were pages in a book. He began to speak in Swahili and Sifuni and Ndakalu listened intently.
“What is going on?” asked Dr. Lomas.
“Dance will be able to find them much more easily than my grandmother,??
? said Ndakalu. “He is able to see things that we cannot.”
Dr. Lomas frowned slightly, looked at Dance and then back over at Sifuni, and asked, “What did she give to him?”
“Something to help him see,” whispered Sifuni, as she winked at Ndakalu.
Dance stood up slowly and gazed out into the jungle. He was seeing, but not with his eyes. And, he had no way to tell his friends what he was seeing because he had no concept of color or shape or movement. So, he did what always came naturally to him -- he danced. He began to sway and respond to the music that only he could hear, as he moved toward the things that only he could see.
Sifuni and Ndakalu followed Dance closely as he began to dance his way into the jungle. He was following something, or deliberately seeking something that none of the others could see. Dr. Lomas merely looked on, in awe of the mystery that was being played out before him.
Dance moved rhythmically over to some low-lying growth and began to slide the palm of his hand over an area of earth. Sifuni reached into her bag, took out a digging tool and unearthed some type of plant root. She put the root into her bag while speaking to Dance, and then she followed him quietly over to another patch of earth.
Dr. Lomas had no idea how long the ritual continued -- and he did not care anymore. He had shifted over from getting the task completed, to fully experiencing the moment. When Dance returned to the place where he was sitting and Sifuni gave him another drink of water, Dr. Lomas knew the ritual was finished.
Sifuni gathered the root-like harvest, put them into another bag and handed it to Dr. Lomas.
Still somewhat stunned by the whole experience, he slowly reached out his hand and took the bag from Sifuni, and said, “What do I do with them?”
Sifuni smiled and looked at Ndakalu, and said, “If they can grow things on monkey kidneys, they will easily know what to do with these.”
+ - + - + - +
Almaj found it difficult to adjust to life in the Congo. He wanted to be there -- traveling to unknown destinations had always appealed to him, but this was different. His mind would not make any room for the thrill of exploring uncharted territory. All he could think about was Ruth, and how he desperately wanted her to get well.
“Do you speak English?” asked Jess, as she walked into the common room where Almaj was sitting.
Almaj looked up, and said, “Hello. Yes, I do speak some English.”
“Hello. My name is Jess. I am Jacob’s mother. He and your daughter have become quite good friends here in the hospital,” she said as she sat down in a chair next to Almaj.
“Yes, they have. Thank you,” said Almaj. “It has been very helpful to her to have someone here her age whom she can relate to.” Almaj looked down, and continued, “She does not even understand why we are here.” Then he looked at Jess, and added, “And I do not know why either.”
Jess smiled a little, and said, “Jacob was born here in Africa. My husband is Dr. Lomas. He is working on the vaccines.”
“Does your son have polio?” asked Almaj.
“No. He was in the hospital for malaria,” answered Jess. “Everything was going fine with that treatment, but then his immune system went haywire, and now we don’t know what is going on with him.”
“Do you know if they are close to developing a viable vaccine,” asked Almaj.
“Well, the crazy thing is, one of the locals here... he is actually part of the help here at the hospital... well, he told us about some jungle cures, of all things. Were you here when all of that happened?”
“Yes. I was hearing some things about it, but I was not sure what was going on,” answered Almaj.
“It was strange,” said Jess. “My husband went out into the jungle with them and brought back some very odd plants. They are working with them now, but he says he cannot quite figure out how the woman was able to extract whatever it is they need for the vaccines.”
“I am a chemist. I work at the University of Bucharest National School of Medicine and Pharmacy,” said Almaj. “I know quite a lot about plants and organic chemical compounds. I may be able to help.”
Jess escorted Almaj into the lab, and said, “James?” Dr. Lomas looked up from his work, and she continued, “This is Almaj. He is Jacob’s friend Ruthie’s father. He works as a chemist in Bucharest. He speaks a little English. He... ”
Without hesitation, Dr. Lomas said, “I could use all the help I can get at this point. Here’s where we are... ”
So, Almaj set right to the task of adding his knowledge and experience to the on-going process of developing the vaccines. He was amazed at how well the chemical compounds from the plants were working to combat the polio virus and the other virus, which had unexpectedly manifested itself in the course of their earlier efforts with the monkeys.
The team at the hospital worked tirelessly until both of the vaccines were successfully terminating the viruses. Ruth’s case of polio was cured before it took too much of a damaging toll on her body. And Jacob’s white blood cell count went back to normal and began to healthily function within his immune system again.
+ - + - + - +
Dance was making the bed, and uncharacteristically surprised when he heard the rustling behind him. The Lomas family, and Almaj and Ruth entered the room.
Jess spoke softly and tenderly, “We all wanted to thank you, Dance.”
“You were very brave, my old friend,” added James. “We deeply appreciate all of your kindness and your willingness to be brave and do the right thing. I do so apologize for the way I treated you that day.”
Dance stood politely at attention, as if he were waiting for some type of directions to follow.
Dr. Lomas continued, “You helped our children, Dance. And, God only knows how many other children and people of all ages who will benefit from what you have done.”
Jess moved in close to Dance and took his hands. She looked up into his face, and with tears spilling onto her cheeks, she said, “Thank you. Thank you so so much.” She hugged Dance. Jacob then walked up and joined the embrace. After they stepped back, Almaj and Ruth also stepped up and thanked Dance and embraced him.
Lastly, James walked over, and said, “I will never forget you, my friend... my childhood friend, and now my dear dear family friend.”
Dance merely stood there and soaked in the power and tenderness of the moment.
They all stepped back a few steps, and James said, “We’re going back home now, Dance. Back to the U.S. But, we will always be thinking of you. We will never ever forget your bravery and your kindness.” He paused for a moment and smiled. Then he shook his head slowly, and said, “If only the rest of the world could see things the way you do.”