Part Nine (Nevyèm): EXIT
Survive/Die?
Port-de-Paix
Christmas Eve, 1991
Late that night, Jè arrives at the Port-au-Paix cathedral and is surprised to find its doors unlocked. He can hear piano music but doesn’t hear voices. He pushes a door open and steps inside. Jè has never been in a Catholic cathedral before, just the chapel in Ti Legliz. But he’s been told to make a donation. Out of pure respect for Kevin, he’s doing this instead of keeping the 100 Gourde note and getting some sleep in his SUV. The trip had taken much longer than expected. If not for the conveniently timed mass demonstration, they would not have made it through the city. Even the side streets were under gang control. What’s left of the Government of Haiti can barely keep the main highways clear of bandits and kidnappers.
But they made it to the port and Jè hung around long enough to see Henri get onto a boat. Jè walks into the cathedral and tries to decide what to do about the holy water. Is that necessary? But before he needs to decide, a Haitian nun materializes from the gloom and says, “My name is Sister Maureen. Have you come to pray, confess, or make an offering?” A second nun steps from behind Sister Maureen, and Jè sees that it’s Solange. With a finger in front of her mouth, she glances around and signals that he should make no reaction. His face breaks into a brief smile before he softly replies, “I’d like to make an offering on behalf of my friends.”
Caribbean Sea
Christmas Day, 1991
Henri sinks deeper into the warm Caribbean Sea, the screams and cries of the passengers fading as his ears fill with water. The waterlogged plywood sheet that’s been supporting him is now sinking. He’s just, floating… Henri knows this is the end and it’s OK. Not so bad. Peaceful, except for the burning in his lungs as he holds his last breath as long as he can. Finally, he lets it go, a few last bubbles beginning to slip from his nose as he squeezes his eyes shut against the burning saltwater.
But then he feels something brush against his forehead. Not a wave or debris, something soft. He reaches up to brush this distraction away, but his fingers touch something warm. Instead of releasing the last bit of buoyancy in his lungs, he kicks his feet in a frog kick he learned long ago and breaks the surface. Almost reluctantly, he takes a deep breath and wipes water from his eyes with one hand while paddling with the other.
Another lightning flash and a half-second later, the crash of thunder. Henri realizes that what he touched was the infant Espwa, floating alone on one of the styrofoam life rings that were loosely attached to the fishing boat’s stern. She’s sobbing quietly with brief cries that seem like too much effort. Her one hand is caught in the rope webbing of the life buoy and her other is jammed into her mouth. Her lips are cracked and parched, but they still keep suckling on her little thumb.
Henri paddle-crawls over to the life ring and grabs hold of it, just as a wave threatens to capsize the little life boat with its tiny passenger. As his fingers sink into the ring it begins to crumble, it’s ancient fibers disintegrating and disappearing into the sea like sand. As the life buoy melts away, little Espwa begins sinking into the water with it. Her one had struggling to free itself from the restraint of the webbing while her other stays in her mouth, lips pressed tightly around her thumb’s first knuckle.
Henri cannot take anymore. His eyes streaming with tears and salt water, he lifts his head to the sky and screams, “Bon Dieu!!!!” Espwa sinks farther into the dark water. Another lighting strike on the horizon illuminates the scene. Henri sees another hand emerge from the water behind Espwa’s sinking life buoy. Another swell of waves and Henri is sure this hand will be the Loa Agwé herself, ending their misery once and for all. But as the swell subsides, Henri sees that it is the infant’s mother, Jocelyn.
Jocelyn has managed to tie her two empty water jugs around her waist, creating a sort of life preserver/water wings device. She’s kicking her feet weakly, trying to make her way to Espwa. On reflex, Henri also begins kicking his feet but now one of them is entangled in something heavy. He keeps paddling with right hand, left foot, and uses his left hand to try to pull his right foot and leg free from whatever has entangled them. Finally, Henri gets his fingers inside the tangle ensnaring his ankle. He heaves the tangled mess to the surface and finds his original sealed water jugs attached to the rope.
Henri’s eyes reach Jocelyn’s as a swell lifts them high above baby Espwa, her sinking buoy in the valley below them. Without needing any exchange of words, Jocelyn pushes one of her empty water bottles toward Henri, still attached by rope to her other empty water bottle. Realizing what she’s proposing, Henri does the same with one of his full water jugs. It has just enough buoyancy to keep it from sinking. When the swells drop and they’re on either side of Espwa, they loop their ropes under the buoy and improvise a raft for her.
Jocelyn is really struggling now. She’s trying to hold onto on of Espwa’s hands while treading water. She’d been relying on both empty water jugs to keep herself afloat. Now she doesn’t have the strength to kick and paddle while also trying to hold onto her baby and a full water jug. Not enough strength. Not enough hands.