Chapter 2- Settling In

Ryan compulsively reached for his ticket in his pocket. He was sweating thinking about leaving his family and all that could happen when he was gone. He’d have only contact through letters, thanks to the program. Allison ran up to him and hugged his legs.

“I’m gonna miss you Ryan,” she said through her tears. “But I hope you have fun.” He hugged her back, trying not to cry himself. He walked into the kitchen and became aware of the food Judy was cooking. Ryan grew rigid when he saw his father sitting at the table reading the paper. He was usually already long gone at the factory ordering other people around besides him.

“Good morning everyone,” Ryan said hesitantly.

“Good morning Ryan,” Judy said, seconds away from tears. Ryan looked at the pancakes steaming in the middle of the table and the bowl of cheesey scrambled eggs. Judy was finishing up frying the bacon. He didn’t dare comment on how delicious everything looked with his dad there, but he was thinking it pretty hard.

“Sit down son,” Jack said. Ryan sat down and folded his hands nervously in front of him. “I’m gonna miss you kid. I want you to be careful. And I know we don’t really agree all the time, but I love you and am proud of what you’re doing.”

“Thanks Dad.” Judy called the other kids down and plates were passed out. Judy insisted on serving Ryan. She pilled food onto his plate, and he glanced at his dad who was staring back at him.

“This is gonna be your last home meal for a while boy, better get your fill,” he said, looking back at his paper. Ryan needed no more explanation. He dug in and complimented his step mother on her cooking, telling her how much he would miss it. He finished eating and helped clean up the dishes. He went up to his room and looked around. He didn’t want to leave his home behind, but he had to see something new. The same old thing every day was starting to beat him down. He put his back pack on and carried his suit case down the stairs. Judy drove him to the airport with Allison. The tears from them both could provide enough to drink for the whole village he would be staying at. He gave them one last hug and went over to the gate where he was meeting the group at. They boarded the plane and Ryan was happy to have a window seat. Sarah sat down next to him and smiled.

“Glad I’m with someone in the Corps. Are you excited?”

“Yea. Who knows what lies across the ocean for us?”

“I just can’t wait to get to see the kids.” They talked briefly, but Ryan’s breakfast was catching up to him, and his eyes were getting heavy. He fell asleep for half the flight, which was over a day. He woke up in time for dinner. The flight attendant had just got to his isle.

“Oh, thank goodness. I didn’t want to have to wake you, but I know you kids have a long flight. Would you like to put an order for dinner in?” Ryan nudged Sarah who woke up and quickly discovered what was going on.
“Do you guys have a salad,” She asked.

“Yes, we do.”

“I’ll have that with a water thank you.”

“Any kind of sandwich will be fine,” Ryan said.

“Chicken, ham, and cheese ok?”

“Perfect. With a coke please.”

“I’ll bring you’re orders soon.”

Their food arrived and they ate quickly. Ryan was getting ready to repeat his eat sleep routine, but Sarah began talking.

“I wonder how much weight I’m gonna lose when we’re there.” Ryan tried not to roll his eyes. She was already skinny. He would be concerned if she lost much more.

“Hopefully not too much. You can’t spare to lose as much as I can,” he said, looking out the window.”

“You’re gonna be so skinny when we leave. How excited are you?” Sarah said, truly excited to see his transformation. Ryan took offense to that.

“I came to help people not to lose weight Sarah.” She gave a huff.

“I mean yea duh, but it’s a side effect that couldn’t hurt.”

“I’m sure the locals of Liberia wouldn’t agree.”

“Sheesh. When did you get so sensitive.” He didn’t want to have an issue with her for the next 6 months, so he decided to drop it.

“I’m just tired Sarah. I’m sorry.”

“Yea me too. If we clock out now, I bet we can sleep through the next 7 hours.”

“Good idea,” he said pulling his blanket over his shoulders and leaning his head on the window. He closed his eyes and she started up again.

“Can I get some of the blanket Ryan, it’s freezing,” she asked sweetly. He would have been annoyed but he did have a crush on her so he let her get under with him. He finally fell asleep and when he woke up the plane was landing. He tried to sit up, but became aware of the girl sleeping on his chest. He woke her up quickly, as he became aware of his “morning wood”.

“We’re here,” he said, as she sat up.

“Already?” she yawned. He nodded. They two grabbed their bags and shuffled off the plane with stiff tired legs. They got into a van and started for the two-hour drive to the village they were posted in. As signs for Grand Gedeh started popping up more and more, Ryan felt himself getting anxious. The scenery was nothing like he imagined. The trees were lightly blocked by the smoke kicked up by the trail of vans on the dirt road. But it was still a pretty nice view. Just a little more dry than The Lion King implied. They finally pulled into a village and people poked their heads out of their homes and some kids ran behind the vans. The level of poverty wasn’t extreme, but he could see why they were there. The homes needed work and the number of children and the lack of a school house was alarming. They got out the trucks and immediately began putting their tents up like they had practiced during training. Ryan helped other groups get the steel poles into the ground. The tents were like army tents. They had enough room for 2 people and the windows and doors had nets. Ryan slumped onto his cot when he had finished helping everyone else out. His bunkmate Max was already on his cot, shoes off and relaxing. Max was short for a guy, about 5’4. He was thin but not muscular. Ryan didn’t really feel spiteful about his not helping. They had never talked much before, but Ryan was willing to try.

“So, we’re gonna be living together for a while. Maybe we could get to know each other,” Ryan said looking across the room at him. Max sat up and looked over at him with a smile. They started talking and Ryan was relieved Max was cooler than he appeared. They both like football, Max watched more than he played. Max was from Ohio and said he was looking for something other than nothing. He was funny and nice and seemed to think Ryan was super cool.