The thought that I would see Cate again was unbearable. A quick check again confirmed my worst fears she was not on this flight I thought as I watched the last of them get picked. Where could she be, I wondered as I reflected on the last moments with her in Nairobi. I was sure she got out of the Uber because I remember the check in attendant had complimented her on her beauty.

“They don’t make them like this anymore” he said as he eyed her beautiful blue against the black rollers.

Sturdy too as he made as if to pat her, “careful” I said she is my most trusted traveling companion. We have been together for over 15 years, where I go, she goes. Reliable and dependable too I offered. That was when we parted company as I went to the washroom then made my way to the immigration and another security check upstairs. A quick walkthrough the duty free shops as I had some time and then onto gate 21. The flight was on time, thank God I said to myself as I buckled my seat belt. Knowing that Cate was on board even though we were not sitting together

was reassuring. As the flight attendants went through the safety instructions I listened carefully as I had promised myself that air travel is one thing that should not accommodate complacency so no matter how many times I had flown, I always paid attention. So when they said fasten you safety belt, I touched mine to confirm that it was fastened even though I had just buckled it a few minutes ago. At this point I wondered if Cate was safely secured and comfortable.  Whoosh we were off. As all passengers left the baggage collection area one by one, it became clear that she was not on this flight. I had stood by the baggage carousal as it made three rounds the last one being empty. I still did not believe she was not there until they switched it off. Cate would not be joining me on this trip at least she was not on this flight. I looked around to see who I could ask and then I saw him, seated on a stool looking at me with a look that said I know your problem. But the look was not accompanied by the one that said ‘I got your back’, just ‘poor you’. As I made my way to him I noticed his uniform and body form, although he was wearing a uniform, he looked shabby and it was ill fitting almost like it did not belong to him. His protruding pot belly did not help and it had that annoying aspect of sticking out to the extent of showing the belly.  The trouser

was tight at the waist well that was expected with that pot. The shoes though black looked like they had a layer of white dust and as I got closer I realized it is the long use that made them look whitish on the black. I will not try to describe socks which were peeping from the shoes under the feet. At that moment my eyes moved back to his head and I observed a loosely fitting beret. You know the one that initially had a band at the ream to maintain a grip. The band had long become loose and so kept falling over.

I have a problem with clustered dressing because I normally associate it with your thinking so one look at him and I knew I was in for a runaround. 

“No arrival”, which flight he continued without waiting for an answer. He knew the drill so why waste time with answers.

“Follow me” he said when I told him the flight number. A quick glance at the baggage carousel to confirm she was not coming and I hasten my steps to follow the officer.

“Where are you coming from”, he asks

I hesitate as I am not sure he will wait for an answer since he knows where the flight is coming from.

“Nairobi, Kenya “I say.

“Obama! He exclaims and beams, Obama is from Kenya right?” He says

“Yes”, I respond quickly. There is hope! We just might hit it off.

“Your village?” he asks.

I toy with my answer, who knows it might play in my favor if I say yes judging by his excitement. Then again truth is truth.

“No”, I respond.

“His father was from the lake” he offers.

 “Are you Kenyan?” he asks after looking at me, “You look like Rwanda or Burundi”

“I am 100% Kenyan” I state proudly.

Kenyans are good runners he says as we walk into an office, you walk fast but you are getting tired walking. It is good I stuck to the truth and he seems to have a grasp of region and people.

Of course I am getting tired walking as I have no idea where we are going; up the stairs then down again. Open the first door no one inside, a few more steps; open another one same story, where are we going I keep wondering, but alas, we are here finally.

He talks to someone behind a desk who prints a document with my details after a small set of questions to me. Paper in hand we are on the move again.

“Where are we going” I ask

To the airlines offices so that you can receive your allowance

Oh, that I sigh at the thought of 100 USD to make up for the inconvenience of losing your luggage.

I look at myself and think this is what happens when you become too comfortable traveling. Due to my frequent travels I have mastered the art of traveling smart and light. Today is particularly light as I do not even have a carry-on bag, I have my laptop in a knapsack and everything else in a large hand bag. I am wearing jeans and a green casual cotton flowered shirt and light sports shoes. So much for planning, I cannot think of myself training in this attire. I do not even have toiletries! Okay, that’s what the one hundred dollars is for I remind myself.

My escort walks me out of the building to an adjacent block, up the stairs and this time the first office we enter is occupied. After explaining my predicament, I am handed a form that has just been printed and as I read it, my escort shouts, you have to sign for the money. I ignore him as I read the fine print, oh well I give in, append my signature and return the form.

The officer takes the form gets up and leaves the room, now what I wonder, I have just signed a form acknowledging receipt of 100 USD and the gentleman has walked out of the office. No need to panic I tell myself and sit there twiddling my thumbs. After 20 or so minutes he is back goes straight to his desk, removes an envelope and gives me a 100 dollar bill

Okay so I am just supposed to take it and leave, I feel a little mischievous so I tell the officer, if I gave you a 100 US dollar bill would you take it.

“Of course not!” He exclaims, I have to scan it to make sure it is genuine, too many fake dollars here, I see it every day, he continues.

I swing the 100 dollar bill in front of him and say demurely “where is the scanner?”

He is furious starts as if to say something in anger, bends down and places a small machine on the table as he rips the bill off my fingers, passes it through then asks me, “happy now?

I smile at him and say ‘Thank you”

My escort stands up and I take it is time to leave, we walk back to the office where the small document was printed and he re confirms my telephone number and name of hotel I will be staying. He then tells me the next flight was due the next day same time but I should call the numbers on the piece of paper to confirm arrival of my suitcase.

As I stand to leave, the gentleman says “you should not accuse Government officers of wrong doing” I am startled because I thought our little incident upstairs is forgotten. I pretend I have no idea what he is talking about and just gaze at him. He becomes uncomfortable and I make my exit. As I walk out of the airport to meet my pickup, I am feeling very light with only a knapsack and handbag and very unsettled.

“Where are your bags?” the driver asks as soon as I reach him.

Long story I say and continue to walk, he quickly catches up and points to where the hotel van is parked. I request that we detour so that I can buy a few items; toiletries and a few clothes which turn out to be a nightmare; two dresses, a set of underwear, a skirt and blouse; all not my style. 100 USD can only do so much.

At the hotel I have a shower and take a quick nap. I cannot sleep as all can think of is Cate; where is she, is she lonely, missing me, wondering why I left her. Has she landed in the hands of bad people who have ripped her apart and ravaged her goodies. Is she lying somewhere crumped, pushed; does she have many others piled on top of her. I reflect on the first time I saw her in a mall in Dubai, it was the beautiful blue that drew me to her. A few walks and I noted how she glided smoothly on her black rollers, her velvety feel. I knew then that the two of us would go places. Here I was now 15 years later without her and worse still without a clue of where she could be. Was she thinking about me too I wondered.

“Salome what of your beautiful African dresses now? Patricia’s voice boomed across the room and I knew then that my 100 USD purchases were not cutting it. I looked shabby, never mind that I was wearing the best of my new dresses. I remembered Cate again who did not arrive on yesterday’s flight; this made me really worried for many reasons. Firstly I might never see her again and secondly I now had to get to work with no time for any more trips to the airport. Sadly, I pushed Cate out of my mind and focused on delivering a memorable training.

Your luggage has arrived, use this reference to claim it, the airline officer told me on the telephone, the very first time they were calling me. It had been an arduous long month with me calling every other day to enquire if they had found her and I still had not got used to the idea that Cate may have gone forever. I did not sleep well that night as I had mixed emotions on what I would find. Would she be intact or just a shell, torn and tattered, wonder if her contents would all be there, clean or dirty, wet or dry. I woke up to rays of sunshine filtering through the edge of the curtain, jumped out of bed and hit the shower. A quick breakfast then off to Church where the preacher went on and on and on. If only he knew what I had planned after Church.

Then it was over and as I said the final prayers, I wondered off and God to forgive me for ‘warming the seat’ that Sunday. In hindsight, I should have been fully alert and shouting Amen! at every punctuation by the preacher in thanksgiving for my reunion with Cate. But that day I fell in the category of “Yee of little faith” as I wanted to see first before I could believe.

Now why did I allow my husband to drive, he was very slow which was ironical because I often tell him to slow down. Roads on Sunday mornings tend to be empty and easy and all I could think of was my Cate. Ah, we had arrived and I rushed out. A few formalities and then the words I had been waiting for, “yes we have it. The lady in her blue and mustard sweater said. I half walked half trotted as we walked to several caged holds. At each gate she would read the tag and then compare with the paper in her hand, I was almost giving up when we reached the fourth hold.

I saw her before the lady did her check and re check. Cate was sitting alone in one a corner, from a distance she looked intact but then again they may have reattached her with tape after ripping her apart. The cage was finally opened and I was in now running.

Madam! the lady shouted behind me, “we have to verify before you tamper with anything here”.

Me, tamper? Tamper!  I was just too excited to see my Cate and wanted to hug her what did she mean tamper. Here we are, I stood and waited for the lady to catch up. Boy was she walking slowly.

Is this the one? She asked

Yes! I exclaimed.

Open it!

I thought she would never ask as I took out the keys and was filled with delight when I realized she was intact. The clothes were still neatly packed and held together by the elastic straps.  A quick check on the tags confirmed that it was mine and I wheeled her back to the office where I signed off and received Cate officially. A few apologies, thank you’s and goodbyes and I was free to walk out.

The smile on my face as I wheeled Cate out was enough to tell my husband who had stayed behind that all was well.

My CAT suitcase and I were reunited.

Salome Gitoho

Dr. Salome Gitoho is a Leadership, Organizational Development and HR Consultant with several years’ experience.

Her working career spans the government, public, private, international NGO and hospitality sectors; consulting and academia.

She has served at leadership level in the functions of HR, Operations, Quality, and Standards, Strategy and Business Development in several organizations.

www.salomegitoho.com