When In Cuba H.S.

Grey-ish

We landed in Havana and made our way out of the plane and onto the tarmac. The flight had been short yet bumpy and I needed a bathroom. I hadn't gone since before bed last night. Also, I have to shit when I'm nervous.

"Aiden. Bathroom. Now." That's all she needed to know. We were both kind of the same that way. When we had dance or piano competitions as kids we would take turns having nervous diarrhea before we went on stage. "Shoot, ok, umm I'm not sure how long customs will take. Can you wait till after?" Her eyes flitted back and forth between me, the customs line, and the bathroom. "Never mind, you go and I will call Mommy and Papi and let them know we arrived." She already knew.

Thankfully the line wasn't too long because I was ready to blow. I usually had an issue with smells. Pee and poop mostly. I would start dry heaving and everything. The bathroom didn't look like it was going to smell good but I had to go. I focused on breathing through my mouth and trying not to taste the air.

My eyes traced the unintentionally dark color of the grout between the tiles to distract myself from the bubbling in my stomach. The pair of high heeled booties I was staring at stepped forward and I started to look for a stall door to crack open. A flash of white in the corner of my eye caught me off guard."¿Papel?" Oh hell no. She was going to hand me toilet paper before I used the bathroom?

I must've blacked out because some how I ended up in front of a toilet. One without a seat and filled with shit that was not my own. My hands immediately went to cover my nose and mouth. Grasped in my right hand was one square of toilet paper. One. Don't know what I was supposed to do with that.

I stood there for a minute looking at the bowl of excrement and debating if I was going to try with my lone piece of toilet paper. The longer I stood there, the harder it got to breathe. I decided to use the toilet paper to try and flush; It worked. Which means I could have been spared but people were just lazy. The worst part is I had to pay to "use" the bathroom.

Aiden glanced up as I approached her hunched figure, "You good?" I assumed she felt the need to ask because of the distressed look on my face. "I don't wanna talk about it. Reach Mommy or Papi?"

I became a bit nervous when her voice didn't fill with an annoying level of excitement. Turns out our phones weren't working although we had spent a lot of time and money to ensure that they would. I just stared at her. I wasn't even surprised. Nothing was ever simple. Nothing ever went according to plan. Mom wasn't even here. Oh God Mom. She was expecting a call. She worried enough in her old age. If we didn't call she would freak.

"Let's just get to the apartment and maybe we can call using the owner's phone?" I was trying to be helpful. I could feel the stress radiating off Aiden. She always put so much pressure on herself as if I was just going to sit around and do nothing to help. I never understood why it seemed like she expected the worst from me but she still looked so disappointed when she didn't get the best. She continued to look at her phone as she gathered her things, "Ok, good idea. Hopefully it won't take too long to get there."

It didn't take long, I wished I had skipped the whole bathroom debacle. I would've ended up in the same spot without the trauma. Not that I liked the spot I was in all that much. It was hot, uncomfortable, and sticky for some reason. My stomach was churning and I felt like the heat was suffocating. I grasped the handle and slowly cranked down my window. The breeze helped to soothe my clammy skin. The old car moved slower than expected but there was something about it that I liked. It was as if I could feel the softness of the air through the window and the unevenness of the road beneath my feet became more apparent. It had a calming effect on me. The weight on my chest was lifting. I finally began to relax into my seat when the car came to an abrupt halt.

I opened my eyes to see a black gate instead of doors. There was an older woman standing in front of the gate who I assumed was waiting for us. Aiden began speaking to her in spanish to confirming the details of our stay. I used the time to familiarize myself with my new surroundings. The buildings and streets looked a bit dilapidated. I could see a pile of rubble a few blocks in the distance. The woman, whose name I learned was Elvira, was dressed in brightly colored pants and a tank top with questionable English words. she stood with spread legs and hands at her waist. Her back was slightly hunched and her skin sagged. Her eyes were bright but her body and stance appeared fatigued and worn down. She turned to me and smiled, lifting her arms into the air to wrap around me in a hug that reeked of cigar smoke. Although her arms were raised her back was still curved. It appeared she was stretched to her most upright posture and I couldn't help but wonder if she was born this way or if a difficult life had molded her into the woman before me. Something about her smile made me smile back. It gave me the same feeling Papi did when I didn't want to lift the corners of my mouth but my muscles betrayed me and did it anyway. The difference this time was that it didn't actually feel quite as forced.

Chapter three!

Please let me know what you think/leave me questions!!!