She's bored

An exerpt of ny 20th book.

She's bored

The Thrilling Adventure

An excerpt

Since the commando training course opening a couple of weeks earlier, the team's three members were five days a week in the military camp of the fifth brigade at the eastern side of the Awash national park; while Zivit Degani was left at the hotel, from early morning up to night fall. She was terribly bored five days a week, despite the books, magazines and the polite waiters, which treated her at the hotel lobby as if she was a goddess; where she spent most of the day time between meals, which she had in her suite's living room. Her husband suggested to her to knit and thus pass the time when he is away, but she rejected his suggestion with contempt saying she is not an old woman. She was the kind of woman that needed permanent attention, her husband daily care before the course started, and any male's attention. She had plenty of it in Addis long before she reached Awash with her husband's team, and before this course started while she roamed with her husband in the town's streets or at the hotel lobby and restaurant; but when her husband and his two team members were in the military camp all day long, she was stuck at the hotel and passed her time in the hotel lobby. During the first days of her abandonment as she termed it, the attention paid to her by the few waiters; and by the hotel guests that popped up quite unexpectedly during the day just to have a look at her consoled her, and helped her to pass the hours of loneliness till her husband returned at night time. But she got bored and fed up with it.

'I can't bear it anymore I'm terribly bored and distressed every day when you leave even before I wake up. I've had enough do you understand Benny?' She ended up with a loud shout, facing her bewildered husband in their suite's living room.

'What do you expect me to do darling,' he tried desperately to calm her down. 'You knew that that's the kind of life in this country, I did explain it to you before we decided to take this job on.' He added spreading his arms in a gesture of despair, to remind her duty as his wife, and that he was prepared for much worse conditions.

'I'm harassed by strangers that keep coming to make rude passes at me, and I'm fed up with it; I've no one to talk to all day long, and sometimes I fear I'm losing my mind…'

That the first time after almost two weeks of work at the camp, away from his wife during day hours that Degani learned that his wife is harassed by men. He was too busy with his first ever significant responsibility as a team's head to spare a thought for his wife's sake, and being suddenly aware to it troubled him deeply.

What can I do to solve that problem; I may hire a local female to keep her company in our suite… But I'd better ask her what she wants me to do, and how she expects me to solve her problem. He though while she lighted up the cigarette she held between her lips, to his utter surprise.

'Since when have you started to smoke darling?'

'Since the last few days, it helps me but just a bit.' She answered him with a note of a threat.

'So what do you want us to do?' He asked in his despair.

'I don't want to stay here, take me back to Addis; where I'll be able to enjoy the company of other delegation's wives, and live a normal life…'

'And what about me, I mean us?'

'Well you'll come to spend the weekends with me. I know that it'll be hard to you to pass your week's nights all alone, but you surely don't want me to turn into a bundle of nerves.'

'Okay I'll call Josh and ask his permission…'

'Don't call Josh he hasn't have the authority to solve such complicated matters, and I'm sure that he'll be against it.'

'So you expect me to call Roghel?' He did not like the idea, Roghel did nominate him as a team's head thanks to his wife's influence on the military attaché, and he did not wish to be reminded what else he had to sacrifice to get his current job. But he had no other choice, he knew that his dear wife is able to ask a stranger to give her a lift to Addis, if he will refuse her and suggest some other solution, which she won't accept no doubt; and he will come back from work in a day or two, to find a note telling him that she is already in Addis.

'Okay darling I'll call Roghel right now.'

Roghel sounded surprised and worried to him.

'You've got excellent conditions down there, so what's wrong with staying in a suite, and you're back home each evening.'

'She's got no one to talk to all along the day hours, and there're times when I return at about ten or even eleven pm…'

'I see Benny, I'll tell you what, come tomorrow night to my place, and will talk it over and have dinner; and pass the weekend in Addis. I'll see what can be done till then.'

'Thank you sir,' Degani muttered with a cough and waited patiently till the military will hang up.

'He invited us to have dinner tomorrow with Bilha and him at their place, and suggested that we'll spend the weekend in Addis.' Degani updated his wife with a smile of relief.

'Thanks Bubi let's go down to the bar to celebrate it. I'll pack up my things tomorrow; I don’t intend to return to this boring one-horse town.'

© Haim Kadman 2016 �" all rights reserved.