AncilChapter 5: The Submerged City
Megan, Rajiv, Melanie and I stood at the dock patiently waiting for a ferry at around 9pm. The place was completely quiet with the only sound being that of the water. There were lots of garbage floating around in the water but it wasn’t a peculiar sight. Almost every single body of water in the country that had humans nearby was littered with garbage. The sea was our garbage bin and no one really cared. The large pile up of garbage contributed greatly to the floods that plagued the island. The drainage in the country was basically useless and couldn’t have saved us when the polar ice caps started to melt or when the super hurricanes arrived. The drainage couldn’t have stopped the sea water from rising or the hurricanes but it could have definitely saved some lives. The government knew very well what they had to do to prevent the floods from killing people but they kept procrastinating until the floods came. By then it was too late. The only Member of Parliament that made strides to protect the country from the floods was the San Fernando MP, Dwight Palmer. He tried his best to build infrastructure that could stand up in the floods and protect his people. He didn’t get everything right but he did get some. He was then elected as Prime Minister in the year 2293 where he made huge changes that impacted the entire nation. He changed the name of the country from Trinidad and Tobago to the Twin Republic and he focused all the country’s resources on building San Fernando as the Capital. He ruled for five whole terms as Prime Minister and in those terms his contributions to the country were massive. He literally pulled the country out from the ocean and encouraged people to have more children after the large drop in population that ensued from the floods. He encouraged everyone to move to San Fernando by creating cheap housing in the area. The demand for underwater welders skyrocketed while he was in power. He was considered one of the best Prime Ministers of the country but some people didn’t like him because he focused all his attention on San Fernando. He left the people in the central areas to fend for themselves. Since he died, no government showed any interest in the country. I had never been to San Fernando so I couldn’t wait to get there.
After almost 30 minutes of waiting a ferry finally arrived for us. It was a massive rusty ferry that looked like it was being held together by scotch tape. It was patched up with slabs of old shipping containers and the walls were full of moss. Before letting us in the guards on the ferry searched us for any weapons. We were the only passengers. The ferry creaked and struggled to keep itself together with every wave that passed. It sailed deathly slow so the trip took almost an hour but we arrived in the main city gate of San Fernando safe and sound with all the limbs in our bodies’ intact. Well, Melanie’s legs were a little tattered but at least she was alive. In order to get to Rajiv’s home we had to take another boat from the city gate entrance. We had to go through a security check by gate officials who checked our indentification status by scanning our fingerprints. After about 10 minutes at security we got on the next boat. It was a bit smaller, almost like a canoe. No, not almost like a canoe. It was a canoe. The driver of the canoe was a really old man of East Indian descent and he was drinking a bottle of rum while listening to music coming from an ancient radio that he had on his lap.
“Drinking and driving is illegal but nobody said anything about drinking and rowing.” The canoe man said.
I guess his argument was valid.
“Doctor give me prescription, one bottle of rum a day, two bottle of rum a day, three bottle of rum a day!”[2] The canoe man sang along to the song playing on the radio. He sang out of tune and drank rum the whole canoe ride. It wasn’t a long ride, probably about 10 minutes but it felt like forever. Megan had a few choice words for the man as she paid him. She was a bit rude in her delivery but we all agreed.
As we entered unto Rajiv’s family property which was a huge wooden dock leading to the doorway of their house, a woman came running up to Rajiv with her arms open.
“Oh lord!! Thank God you okay!” The woman said, “I swear to God that you was dead.” She kept hugging him and kissing him all over his face. Rajiv seemed a bit embarrassed as she did it.
“Oh gosh Mommy, I’m good,” Rajiv said.
“Boy, don’t ever do that to me again eh. You know I have heart problems. You want your mother to die?” She continued.
“No Mommy,” Rajiv said
“I’m not letting you go anywhere again with that good for nothing whore girlfriend you have,” she continued.
“Ahem,” Megan cleared her throat.
“Eyyy, Megan honey, how’re you going?” Rajiv’s mother said trying to downplay her previous disrespect with kindness. “I didn’t see you there nah baby girl.”
“I’m good,” Megan said abruptly.
“You want some Dhalpourie Roti Megan?” Rajiv’s mother asked as if she was trying to make up for what she said. “I know you like your Dhalpourie Roti.”
“I like Dhalpourie Roti too,” I interrupted.
“Who are you again?” Rajiv’s mother asked me.
“This guy saved our lives,” Megan answered for me.
“He didn’t really save our lives,” Rajiv rebutted. “He just helped. We were doing just fine”
“Well you’re welcome to eat some Dhalpourie too,” Rajiv’s mother smiled.
“Thank you,” I said humbly.
We then all went inside and filled our bellies with Rajiv’s mom’s cooking. After we ate we all cleaned up and were granted places to sleep. Rajiv’s mother, Marsha, really pampered us. She became really protective of her son and it seemed to have rubbed off on some of us because she treated us just like her children. She was a single mother with one son so it was no surprise that she was so dedicated to keeping Rajiv safe. We got so comfortable that we completely forgot what the reason we went to San Fernando was. I laid down on the bed that Miss Marsha granted me and I couldn’t get up. My laziness wouldn’t let me. The air conditioner made it even worse for me to stomach any kind of strength to get up. I know what you’re thinking. Why am I so lazy? Well after seeing a whole town’s worth of people slaughtered, seeing my father die, getting shot at and being flung through the air like a ragdoll multiple times, a rest was something I couldn’t resist. I was about to succumb to drowsiness when I heard a knock on the door. I pulled myself together then answered it.
