Reflection

Jessica Martinez

The water glass violently shrieked as it was torn apart by the unrelenting ground. Her
beautiful face was streaming with black tears, twisted in anger, and pain as she told him it was
the tenth date night he had missed. He stood frailly on the other side of the black counter, his
eyes deliberately avoiding contact with her breathtaking, sparkly blue eyes. He mumbled with a
repetitive voice that was used to making the same excuse, “You know it was my work.”

As she asked a question her heart longed for the answer to, her voice retreated to a quite
saddened tone. “Do you love your work more than me?”

“Kavita,” he paused as if forcing his next words out of his heart, “I love you, and you know that.
When I asked you to come to this country with me I loved you, when I asked you to be my wife I
loved you, when I asked you to bare our child I loved you” stumbling over his voice he mentally
prepared to hit her with the words he knew would hurt, “and I thought you loved me when I
asked you to accept all of me for what I am and will become.” He looked upon Kavita this time,
observing her strong elegant body he knew all too well. Her long dark brown hair cascaded down
her shoulders, her coffee color skin looked so soft and smooth against the innocent white
summer dress scrunched around her thin waist, her soft feminine lips painted with light pink
lipstick, her eyelids and lashes emphasized by the dark eyeliner coated upon the tops, which was
now streaming down her face in black lines.

As he was observing Kavita he noticed his daughter walking down the hallway in her
pajamas. Her small face was a carbon copy of her mother in her younger years. The little girls
face was plump from just waking up. Her light brown eyes lit up with a spark as she looked at
him with happiness and love only a child and a parent can connect with.

“Hello daddy” a high pitch small voice escaped her. Her small feet pounded on the
ground and increased in speed as she ran with open arms to her father creating a pounding
rhythm as if to be a beating heart. The heartbeat flat-lined as her small foot was impaled with the
jagged glass shattered on the floor from the glass that Kavita threw to the floor. The moment her
skin was ripped apart by the hungry teeth of the glass resulted in a gushing of crimson red blood.
The sight of his daughter’s blood chilled him to the bone. He realized he had been standing there
for several minutes in his own mind observing his beautiful wife and daughter suffer because of
him. The panicked voice of Kavita calling for him snapped him out of his mind. Everything
exploded into him as he returned to reality; the screeching of his daughter in pain, the soft voice
of his wife coaxing his daughter, the feeling of his steady hands upon the cold black dead counter
top, the exotic smell of the mango candle. Every sense was in override as if he was suffering
from sensory whiplash. His legs felt paralyzed but his innate fatherly instincts to protect his
daughter shoved him to her side to aid her.

These images played over and over again in his head each detail becoming more vivid
and realistic in his mind as he sat in the yielding cushion of his lab chair staring at his top shelf
which consisted of diverse clear beakers. His face was empty and full of complete nothingness as
his hands stumbled upon the plastic buttons of his answering machine. The static crackly voices
broke the cold silence of his sanitary laboratory which was decorated with numerous chemicals,
naming charts for organic chemistry groups clung to the soft white lab walls, and his microscope
was neatly placed on the clean white counter top.

A strong voiced man with a heavy African inflection came upon the answering machine.
“Dr. Salia Kekule, this is Dr. Sanna. I have traced immunity to a virus in the most genetically
advanced persons on our planet. This adaptation advances the theory of manhood’s origin from a
small African group. I believe it to be the persons located in the Gueckedou Prefecture. I would
like to invite you to come with me to the village of Meliandou, Guinea, Africa. I want you on my
team because your master in biology, epidemiology experience, and ability to speak French will
help our investigation. We will be there for 19 days conducting research. We leave tomorrow at
7:00am please contact me if you wish to come. All your travel expenses will be provided. I hope
you please consider joining my team.” Salia remembered his college roommate was an
investigative scientist. They were long time good friends who went on many field labs together
in there “good old college days.” His memories were interrupted by the robotic strangled
feminine voice of the answering machine frankly stating “End of messages. Good bye.”

Dr. Salia sat in his tranquil lab. The quiet clock clicked as its hands reached for the 5:00.
His eyes drifted from the clock to the vibrant picture of his family. He got up quickly and headed
down the four stories of light blue stairs of his lab. The clanking of his feet against the ground
annoyed him. He thought to himself “I will make it up to Kavita.” By the time his clouded
thoughts cleared he realized his finger tips were upon the cold handle of his car door. Salir's
fingers gripped the cold metal of his vibrant red Audi A3. His lengthy body crumbled in the grey
cushioned seat as though he was physically tired, but if you looked in his dark brown eyes and
saw the dark sacks that hung under them you could tell he was mentally and emotionally
exhausted. He fumbled with the keys and managed to shove the right on in the ignition. The
rumble of the engine shook his core and sent a manly satisfaction through his blood. He pulled
the car into drive, pushed on the gas, and gripped the steering wheel in a routine manner.

The feeling of his tires climbing over the speed bump made him want to get our and
walk. The buzz of the grocery store was quite intricate, almost like it was an ant hill of mothers
yelling for their children to come. He walked easily towards the door greeting old friends he
never had enough time for anymore. The aroma of fresh fruits, vegetables, and strangely plastic
filled his nose.
On Salir's trip through the store and mall he gathered the ingredients for a special meal
for his wife, a dress he knew she would make look stunning, and for his daughter her favorite
cookie dough ice cream. He quickly headed back home in hopes that his family was not there
yet.
The sound of tires crushing the gravel filled Salir's ears; his mind registered the voices of
his wife and daughter. The hinges of the door creaked with excitement as his loved ones came
into the house. The mouth watering buttery smell of sautéed shrimp filled the house. “Salir?”
said Kavita with bewilderment in her voice.
Salir came into the kitchen door way and said “Kavita.” His voice was full of love and
affection. His eyes fell to his daughter dressed up in her practice soccer jersey and over sized
shin guards. Also how oddly she looked with one foot being quite noticeably larger than the
other due to an extra sock to provide pain relief to her cuts. “Wow you are so strong my little
girl.” he said in his daddy voice.
“Salir what are you doing?” Kavita said with confusion in her voice.
“I am making us dinner Kavita. And for you Ava, my little strong girl I have your favorite.” His
dark lips spread apart and let shine straight perfect white teeth.
“Salir, Ava and I leave for her five day soccer tournament in ten minutes. The coach called a
quick practice to tire them out on the trip. I am so sorry Salir. I told you about this for a week and
you said you could not come.” She said with choked words.
With a strangled strange voice he said “I will get your bags then.” He walked sternly away to
their room.
Kavita stood with her mouth wide and her heart beat like a pounding drum. She thought
to herself he is finally trying to show me he loves me. The lungs of her heart filled with
happiness and then drowned with sadness and sorrow as she realized she was leaving for the five
day soccer tournament. Guilt swelled in her chest as she remembered all the times she resented
him for choosing work over her and their daughter. She heard his footsteps and the squeaking
sound of the suitcase tires. In that second she made a choice to not forgive him, yet, for all he has
done. Her mind said that one right doesn’t fix all the wrongs.
“We must get going now. Say goodbye to your father Ava.” Her voice was absent the
pain Salir expected her to have to from her departure for the soccer tournament when he tried so
hard to make her happy. The tartness in her voice stung him. He wrapped his strong long arms
around his little daughter’s body and gave her the most sincere hug. Then he rose from the
ground and gave Kavita a sweet kiss upon the cheek.
Before he could even register what was actually happening his wife and daughter were
already on the road. Salir sat at the table with cold shrimp in front of him. Salir understood that
this was his karma for never coming home. He looked at where he set a plate for Kavita. His
mind filled with long ago memories of seeing his beautiful wife sitting in all her beauty in that
very seat. His gray eyes wondered upon Ava's sippy cup. His mind and ears flooded with all the
sweet memories of his innocent daughter's laugh. The sound of a tortured heart exploded through
Salir's throat. “GAAAAAAA!!! It’s all my fault!” His voice broke and resorted to the sound of a
cracked spirit. “This is all my fault.”
Salir rose from his seat and headed to the bathroom; he thought he was going to be puke.
His crumbing relationship with his wife finally hit him, and the weight of it crushed his heart.
His refection grabbed his eyes. Salir stood with his long athletic body hunched over. His gray
eyes fell upon his black skinned face which was tight with youth but worn by life. He was
disgusted with every fiber of his being. He hated his long legs for carrying him away from
Kavita, he hated his arms for not wrapping her up in them enough, he hated his head for holding
such an arrogant brain, and most of all he hated his broad chest for containing a selfish heart. His
refection filled his veins with lava hot blood.
A sudden vibration in his jean pocket shook his mind free of the cage it was trapping its
self in. Salir reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone. His thumb pulled the green answer
button and he placed the reflective screen against his ear. A familiar voice broke the white noise.
“Dr. Salir, it is Sanna I was calling to ask if you have made a decision?” Sanna asked with
eagerness in his voice.
Salir thought deeply for a second, but his mind clouded with anger and sadness. “I will come.”
he said with no confidence.
“Great meet me us at the airport at 6:00 a.m. I have everything you need, just pack clothes.
Identity, and you passport. Good to have my partner back again.” Sanna said with excitement
and contentment in his voice.
“I will meet you there, and yes it does feel good to be with my partner again.” Said Salir. His
voice almost sounded appreciative of the call.
Salir hung up and rushed to his room to pack for Africa. He knew exactly what to bring
because he had gone there several times in his younger years for medical labs and research. His
luggage consisted of the traditional brown and tan archeologist outfit a few t-shirts of assorted
colors, lots of shorts, sandals, tennis shoes, toiletries, and the necessities. After he was done
packing Salir slouched down on his bed and took one deep breath. His body fell into the
chromatic blue blankets giving the image of a giant crumpled piece of paper.
The screeching of a bell ripped Salir from his heavy slumber. The dark skin that cover the
gray of his eyes were torn open by the golden rays of the morning sun. The body of his mind
rose like a soulless creature possessed with life. His hands reached out and managed to grip the
clothes he was going to wear that day. Salir was dressed and gripped the handle to his luggage
bag. He had his passport, wallet and keys. Before he headed out the door he grabbed a piece of
paper from his work desk and wrote in his best possible handwriting a note to Kavita and Ava.
The note red “I went to Africa with Sanna and his team. I will be back in 18 days. I love you
guys. P.S. you will make this dress beautiful and there is Ava's favorite ice cream in the freezer. I
love you.” He set the note on the dress he bought for Kavita which was still neatly folded on the
still set table.
The airport was quite silent because most of the flights already left and a few were
canceled. Salir spotted Sanna, with his short height and big arms standing with a two other men
that look to be in their late 30's. He thought them to be interesting individuals. The first man was
physically out of shape and had an untamed mangle of hair, his name was Greg. While the other
was quite the opposite he was a tall skinny man that had nicely trimmed hair his name was Scott.
They boarded the plane at 7:49 am. Greg and Scott sat with each other while Sanna and Salir
sat together.
All he could remember about the flight was an intelligent conversation with Salir and the
way the clouds looked like cotton candy. When he woke again they were landing in the Conakry
International Airport. From there they loaded into a truck and headed to hotel. The hotel had
purple peeling paint, broken hinges, and the rooms that smelt musky and a hint of rancid butter.
The whole team did not care they all crawled into their sleeping bags on top of the beds and fell
into a slumber as soon as their heads were engulfed by the pillows they covered with paper.
Greg, Scott, and Sanna went out to find breakfast while Salir went to look for a cab driver
that could get them to the village of Meliandou. Around 2:00 pm they all met back up and Salir
who managed to find a short man that only spoke French that agreed to take them to Meliandou
for 26.39 euro. Salir calculated the amount; in American currency it was 30 dollars. Sanna gave
the money to the cab driver and they all loaded up Greg, Scott, and Salir sat in the back while
Sanna sat in front. They made small talk for a bit then drifted off into their own heads.
Salir watched the city turn to dirt and the poverty increases with every mile. They were
driving for quite awhile until Salir spotted a young boy dressed in an oversized dirty yellow shirt
and blue shorts. He was very dirty and dripping sweat. The child was short and small only
looking about two years old. Salir noticed he was carrying a 5 gallon bucket of filthy water. He
thought about how heavy that must be for a child that age and size. Searching in his mind for the
french translation for stop the car. “Arrêtez la voiture s'il vous plaît .” Salir said with the best
efferted french accent he could choke out. The cab came to a rough halt and Salir jumped out. He
spoke towards the cab driver “Merci.” Then towards his friends “I am going to help this kid carry
that bucket. I imagine he is heading towards Meliandou.”
“All right we will meet you there.” Said Sanna with a bit of sympathy speckled in his voice.
Salir asked if he could help him carry his bucket with the most calm tone in his voice.
“Bonjour. Je me demandais si je pouvais vous aider?”
The boy heard the american accent in Salir's voice and said''I can speak english sir.'' Said the
little boy with curiosity in his voice.
“Thank you for offering the help sir, but I have nothing to give you in return." Said the boy as he
started off with the bucket again.
Salir watched the little boy's body bend to the weight of the bucket and he rushed to help
him." It's okay I dont want anything in return. " said Salir with sadness in his heart for this little
boy. He grabbed the handle of the bucket and lifted it up taking the weight lightly.
"Thank you sir, that was getting quite heavy. Ths was my third trip today and I didn't think I was
going to make it home." Said the little boy.
“So are you getting this water for your family?” Asked Salir with complete knowledge to the
answer.
The little boy’s teeth shone through his dark lips which were spread open like a crescent moon as
he told Salir about his family. “Yes I am the only man left in the house after my dad died, so I
get water for my sister, mom and grandma. And our chickens.”
“So what do you like to do for fun?” asked Salir with curiosity in his voice.
“I like to see the le blaireau. The le blaireau are my favorite animals.” Said the little boy with
excitement in his voice.
Salir recognized that le blaireau translated to bats. “Do you know how bats see?”
“Yes I do, I stole a book from the store in the city and it red about bats. They use
echolocation.”Said the boy with a proud smile across his face.
“That is true they do. You are really smart what is your name?” Asked Salir with impression in
his voice.
“I am Emile Ouamouno. Who are you?” Said the little boy.
“I am Dr. Salir. I came down with a team to do research on human evolution.” Said Salir with
confidence the boy did not understand what he was talking about. Salir relied they had already
walked two miles and there was no village in sight. The weight of the bucket hit him hard as he
realized he had been carrying it for so long.
“I couldn’t make it home today. I would walk until my body fell then sit for awhile protecting
our water from animals, and when I had enough rest I would get up and start walking again.”
Said Omile with sadness for how weak he deemed himself to be.
“How often do you do this?” Said Salir through exhausted breaths.
“I get water twice a day, but today I went three times because I split the second one a mile away
from the village. The trail to get water is about 5 miles long, 10 there and back.” Said Omile.
Omiles dark brown eyes met with Salirs gray eyes and they both saw that they enjoyed and
appreciated each other’s company.
They reached the village around 5:00. It was warm weather season and the sun was still I
the sky. “Were do you live?” asked Salir.
“Right here.” said Omile as he pointed towards a house and started to run. Salir observed the
house Omile was running towards, it did not have a roof or a door just a door frame. The whole
house was a four sided cube that had been worn down by the dirt and life that lived in it or on it.
Salir followed Omile to the doorway and set the water down. “It was nice talking to you I will
see you around Omile.” He started to walk way, but was stopped by a small child's hand
grabbing a handful of his shirt. Salir turned around and saw Omile holding a small sip of water in
his hand.
“This is for you.” Said Omile with a big bright smile on his lips and in his eyes.
“Thank you Omile.” Said Salir with respect and honest gratitude in his heart.
“This isn't the water you carried we boiled this one. But I owe you this so here drink it” Said
Omile.
Salir retreated into himself for a short moment and weighed out the pros and cons of drinking the
water. He remembered that when he was in Africa the last time for a field study they boiled
water to drink it. Salir bent down and Omile put his hand upon Salir's lips and let the small gulp
of water. He thought oddly of the flavor, it had a metallic flavor that played with his tongue.
While this was happening the people of the village surrounded the two and started to
chant. “Bienvenue à la maison , boire le sang de notre terre . Que Dieu soit avec vous.” Salir
translated it to welcome home, drink the blood of our land. Let God be with you.” The whole
village cheered as Omile poured the water into Slairs mouth. Salir felt special and welcome to
their village.
 Some members from the village directed Salir to the lab camp that Greg, Scott, and
Sanna set up while he was walking with Omile. Salir walked a few steps then turned around to
see omile waving goodbye. Salir observed Omile's palm he noticed how worn the little hand was.
The fingers were plump and the palms had brutal bloody blisters that tormented his skin. Salir
thought about his daughter and how grateful he was her hands were never going to feel the same
pain as Omile's do. Then he turned and walked to camp. When Salir got to camp he just went to
his tent and slept; the walking did a tole on his energy level. That was day one.
A week went by quickly Greg, Scott, Sanna, and Salir ate, slept, retrieved water, took and
studied DNA samples of the village members. Salir was having so much fun being back with his
old partner and being out in the field doing what he loved. Things continued on like this for a
while longer, until the scientific research team started to notice members of the village not
coming to the DNA sampling.
The whole team woke early because Greg demanded that all the members get shots to
protect them from illnesses they could contract here. After Salir's flesh was pierced with a need
full of yellowish liquid he headed out to get water before the hot sun climbed high in the sky. He
was in such better shape since he got to Guinea. His filled themselfes with a deep cool breath of
air and he started to jog with buckets in hand. On his way to the watering hole he noticed three
white vans that read WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION. Salir stepped in the middle of the
road and waved down the vans. “Hello I am Dr. Salir an epidimiologist studying with a scientific
research t.......”
“We are with the WHO. We were sent here to research a deadly illness that people in this village
have been dying from. We need all the help and materials we can get.” said a young man that
had a name tag titled Epidemiologist, Steve Jones.

“I will take you to our lab camp.” Said Salir as his heart sank. This was day 7.
The WHO team consisted of doctors, nurses, epidemiologist, translators, security guards,
medical scientists and lab technicians. Greg went with the doctors, Scott went with the lab
technicians, Sanna went with the medical scientist, and Salir went with the epidemiologist. They
all had to get sprayed down and sterilized before they were ordered to put on big white hazmat
suits and gas masks to protect themselves. The people of the village were terrified of the big
white men walking around in the village. Steve Jones directed the security guards to quarantine a
segment of the village for the sick individuals.
Salir saw the guards remove individuals from their homes and put up yellow cation tape.
There was one more house that need to be cleared the security guard headed into the house and a
man held a knife to him. “Pourquoi êtes-vous venu ici grand homme blanc. Ceci est ma maison
families. Ne nous prenez pas loin d'ici!!!” Salir translated it to “Why did you come here great
white man. This is my family's house. Do not just take us away from here.” they guard came
closer and the man launched at him. They hit the ground and wrestled in the dirt for a short bit
before other security guards came and contained the man on the ground. Salir saw the man his
face was pressed against the ground his eyes displayed the truest form of fear. The man started to
scream “Ma femme! Ma femme!” at the top of his lungs. Salir realized he was saying “My Wife,
my wife!” Two other security guards went in the house carried out a woman. She had blood
running down her nose, mouth, ears, and eyes. Her frail body was blotched with patches of a
boil/hive like rash. Her clothes were covered in yellow foamy regurgitate. One guard held her
heels while the other held her wrists She didn’t have enough strength or energy to resist them.
They took her and put her in the first house known now as the dead man’s hut.
The members of the village were in a constant state of fear. All the village members
knew that if the big white men came to your house they were going to take someone away and
you wouldn’t ever see them again. Salir spent his days looking at blood samples. He found the
virus by isolating it in a cell culture of the infected individuals. He noticed that all of them had
blood that was contaminated with a virus that looked like a worm that had two loops at the end.
The virus had attributes that caused it attack the immune system, make proteins cause
hemorrhaging, and cause clotting in blood creating mutable organ failure. Salir discovered that
the virus could lay dormant for 2-21 days before an infected individual would show signs. Him
and his team did research with WHO for 17 days.
On their final day before their departure they decided to leave the lab they brought with
them Africa for the doctors and scientist that were using it now for better research. Salir thought
of Omile and wondered if he had contracted the virus. He headed out to his house but realized it
was in the quarantined area. He searched through the village looking for the little two year old
boy. He walked past a pile of bodies with disfigured limbs, twisted grins, and blood paintings. A
disfigured man lay with his chest turn towards the sun, dried blood wrote across his chest read
“Dieu nettoie la terre.” Which translated to God cleans earth. The image will forever be burned
in his mind.
Greg, Scott, Sanna, and Salir had to be sanitized and cleaned before they could head to
the city the next morning. They could not stay because they had no refundable tickets and they
were not given permission from the WHO headquarters to participate in the field. Sanna forgot
about transportation back to the airport, so they all traveled in a van to the city driven by a WHO
guard. The grabbed there bags and boarded the plane. They sat in the same seating arrangement
as last time. Salir fell asleep with his head against the window. When he woke he sat there and
remembered the vivid details of his nightmares. He saw in his sleep the disfigured man dancing
and chanting “Dieu nettoie la terre, Dieu nettoie la terre.” that was day 20.
Everyone unloaded from the plane and said there goodbyes. Salir gave Sanna a firm
handshake and a manly hug. While saying “It was nice old partner, let’s get together again
sometime.”
“Were getting to old for this type of stuff.” said Sanna with a genuine grin on his face. They
parted ways and headed back to their families.
The house door opened late that night. Kavita jumped out of bed and headed down stairs
to see Salir exhausted. They stopped for a moment and just held each other in their eyes. In a
quick motion Kavita bounded into Salir's open arms they held each other closer than ever before.
“You were all over the news. I have been terrified. Oh Salir I am sorry I should have been more
understanding and....”her beautiful voice rang in his ears.
“Kavita I love you, and from now on I will always stay true to those words. You don’t deserve to
be treated the way I have been treating you. I love you.” said Salir with a voice that speaks words
from the bottom of a man’s heart. They were so happy and deeply in love.
“It is all going to be okay from now on. Ava really missed her dad I am going to go wake her
up.” Said Kavita as she rushed off to wake the child.
“I will be there in a minute Kavita.” Said Salir as he headed to the bathroom. His eyes gripped
the reflection of himself once again. Except he was proud of who he was. He appreciated his legs
for carrying his body across miles and miles of land to retrieve water, he appreciated his arms for
carrying small children away from the virus, he appreciated his heart for being brave and big. He
continued up farther than last time, because he was proud and wanted to look into the eyes of the
good man he became. As his eyes wondered across his face he noticed something out of place.
From his nose there was a river of crimson red blood taking its course.