The Quarter - Chapter One

Chapter I: Home is where the heart is.

Pedro stared out at the white clouds beneath him and his mind was soaring among them as he felt the happiness of seeing all his friends and family just a few hours from then. He had been seated for over three hours in this plane. Final destination in 15 minutes, and he couldn’t help but smile at the thought of seeing his older brother, Kay, waiting for him. After the death of their mother, they had many fights, but they learned to count on each other much more than they ever had in Pedro’s twenty three years of life.

Oblivious to everything around him, Pedro listened to the music on his mp3 player very loud and smiled often, due to the lyrics that he was listening to. Second to the love he still has for his mother is the love Pedro has always had for music.

Next to him, sleeping was Mariana. He woke her up to let her know that they were about to arrive at the city they had been waiting 4 months to be back in.

- Mari, time to wake up! We just ‘bout to get there.

Mariana smiled faintly, eyes still closed. Pedro saw a side of this girl that he had never seen and this awakened a form of tenderness that he could have never guessed possible for her, given the fact that he had never had the chance to stay around her often and for long periods. Mariana blurted back:

- I don’t wanna. Let me stay on the plane, and go back. Just let me sleep and I’ll come back on the next one.

She smiled. He smiled. The captain made the announcement, and the plane started its descent to the airport. Outside, the city of Maputo, visible from the windows of the plane. Pedro smiled and strapped himself in for the landing.

Down at the airport Kay and Darius sat at the airport lounge, talking about Maputo’s nightlife and making plans for the weekend. They heard the announcement of the landing and headed to the international arrivals, to find Pedro and Mariana dragging out their monumental luggage – it was summer vacation after all.

Mariana’s parents also waited for her outside the lounge. Mariana and Pedro parted ways for the time being. But they had each other’s numbers and they had common friend circles, so finding each other would not pose a difficulty.

Pedro tiredly packed his luggage away in his brother’s car at the same time that he drafted a message to all his close friends to let them know that he was back in town. He had planned this in surprise to be able to have some way of creating hype for his first days with his friends.

They drove away from the airport and the calls start coming in as the messages got delivered.

Nicol, his best friend was the first one to call to let him know that Pedro would not be escaping the “evolution” ritual of return home. Nicol had just returned from his course overseas just two days before, so they were both fresh to the “new” Maputo. It was “new” to them because they had been out of the country for the most part of 3 years, and there were now new social venues, and most important: new faces at these social venues. They were going out that night and they would drink to everything they could find as an excuse. The ambience of Maputo had changed far more than what both Nicol and Pedro expected, and this was going to be a bigger event in these holidays and their future than they could both fathom.

Four hours had passed, and Pedro now donned his custom designed shirt and accessories as he stepped out the gate to enter Nicol’s car. They headed to the Aqua Room, a notorious club that is famous for its Thursday night events. Pedro knows the owner so they skipped the long queue, and found themselves surrounded by all new faces.

Pedro was single and Nicol had a girlfriend that is also overseas and that he had not seen for over a year. Nicol’s relation with her was grim at best.

- Oh… my… lord… this is heaven for the good angel! – Said Pedro in awe – I need to just give it a lil turn around and see what I need to see my friend. Tonight… – he said with the naughty smile of a shoplifter in a candy store – I will do what a single guy does: im gonna get myself the sweetest girl a find.

- Take no prisoners! – exclaimed Nicol in a joking tone.

- Kill them all! – Responded Pedro in a triumphant tone.

As Pedro walked around the Aqua Room, he saw many new faces and some old ones. And that’s when it happened… the long road home found its terminus as he gazed at the majestic presence of Syriah. She was everything Pedro always asked for packed neatly in a golden-brown body and a smile that should be held responsible for global warming. He knew that his heart had never beaten that hard for just looking at a girl. Pedro had found home.

[End of chapter one]