I woke up refreshed and eagerly anticipating another game drive. I looked at the bedside clock. I had five minutes before our wake-up call. Charlotte was already in the bathroom showering.
I was glad I had passed on a drink at the bar after dinner. My hand had hovered over the phone’s 9 after Charlotte had gone to sleep, to call for an escort. My brief college self would have been disappointed at my current self for passing on the free drink.
Several hours later I was glad I had. Despite having a nightmare about hyenas and their cackles, for which I blamed Jack, I had slept wonderfully. I finally felt acclimated to Africa, adjusted to local time. If you could say waking up before five in the morning was adjusted to local time.
The phone rang and I greeted Sonny with a cheery “Morning,” which he reciprocated with less cheer.
Charlotte and I swapped places. I took a brief shower. No need for coffee today. I was wide awake.
Charlotte was gone by the time I got out of the shower. Her quest to avoid the dreaded passenger seat, I guessed.
Wrapped in a towel, I walked over to the wardrobe to choose my outfit. I grabbed a blue T-shirt and khaki cargo pants and quickly dressed. My baseball hat and long-sleeved shirt were still in my backpack from yesterday. I grabbed it and headed for the reception area, with five minutes to spare.
Charlotte threw her hands in the air when she saw me. “Blue! What are you thinking!”
I looked down at my slim-fitting T-shirt. “It’s nice. I like blue.”
“You cannot wear blue on safari. It attracts the tsetse fly. Every guidebook tells you that.”
“Well, I didn’t read every guidebook.”
“You probably didn’t read any,” she mumbled.
I looked to the others for confirmation about the blue. Geri, a safari veteran, nodded that Charlotte was right.
“Rookie,” Jack said, shaking his head but smiling.
The clock in the reception told me I had two minutes to run back to the room and change. For everyone’s sake, I did not want to start the day with another outburst from Dr. Higgins. I looked for him for approval and was surprised not to find him, arms crossed and annoyed, standing away from the group.
“Just go change. You have time,” Sabrina told me. The rest nodded agreement. “Although it is odd the professor isn’t here yet.”
“We’ll wait for you,” Colin assured me.
Thankful that no escort was required during the day, I ran back to our room. I was surprised I hadn’t passed Dr. Higgins on his way to reception. I hesitated at the walkway’s branch off to our room. Maybe I should knock on his door? But he was not someone I wanted to intrude upon.
Something red on the walkway, about fifteen feet away from me, toward his room, caught my eye.
I slowly walked toward it. From a few feet away, it looked like a blob, something spilled. As I stood over it, it looked like a paw print. Like the ones my childhood dog, Molly, would leave in the kitchen after playing in the mud. But it was red.
I looked to my left, down the walkway, toward the fifth cabin, Dr. Higgins’ cabin. “Dr. Higgins, you there?” I shouted. There was no answer. I hesitated but then stepped off the walkway. Slowly, I walked toward his suite, listening intently for any sound. I stood at his door, which was ajar. “Dr. Higgins? It’s Naomi from next door. Everything okay?”
With each step, I saw more red. Maybe he had spilled some wine. He liked the red wine. Not as much as Jack liked his beer but it was his drink of choice for the trip so far. He was still at dinner when Charlotte and I left last night. Maybe he came back to his room and had a few more glasses. And somehow spilled it everywhere outside his room.
Standing at the door, I yelled in, “Dr. Higgins? It’s Naomi. I’m going to come in, okay?”
No response. No refusal but no permission either. I went in anyway.
Seated in the sitting area’s plush chair, facing the window and the beautiful landscape, was Dr. Higgins. His head was hanging back. His hand was hanging down by his side, a broken wineglass on the floor next to it. There was even more red everywhere inside the room too. Maybe he’d had a late night after all.
I poked him on his shoulder and prepared for him to yell at me for entering his room unauthorized.
Still no response.
“Dr. Higgins, it’s time for our morning drive.” I tapped him again. “You’re late,” I added, just to annoy him.
Still nothing.
I walked around him to face him head on.
And I screamed.
“Charlotte!!! Charlotte!!! Charlotte!!!” I kept screaming until she arrived. “Charlotte!!! Charlotte!!! Charlotte!!!”
She came running in and grabbed me. “Naomi, what are you doing? This isn’t our room.”
I took her by the shoulders and turned her around to face him. “He’s hurt,” I yelled, pointing to all the blood.
She recoiled at the sight. “He’s not hurt, Naomi. He’s dead.”
Dr. Higgins’ mouth was open and his eyes were fixed on the ceiling. His head hung back. I didn’t know what was holding it on. His neck was ripped to shreds. All that red wasn’t wine. It was blood. Blood was sprayed everywhere. She leaned forward. “Man, I think something ate his throat.”
Sonny and the rest of our group came running down the main walkway.
“What’s going on, ladies?” Sonny asked, as he ran into the room. The rest stayed at the end of the path. He turned to see what we were seeing. “What’s going on! What happened?”
“I don’t know,” I answered.
“Why did you come in here?” Charlotte asked me.
“I saw the red, the blood. Plus, I hadn’t seen him yet this morning. When I saw the door open, I…I…I just wanted to check on him.”
Sonny mumbled something in another language, shaking his head and staring at the body.
Sonny yelled to Ray, who was behind the group, “Go get Leticia. Everybody else….just…just go to reception. I…I just don’t know.”
We all remained frozen until Jack took Geri’s hand and headed to the lodge’s main area. The trio, then the Vankeys, followed. Charlotte tapped me on the shoulder. “Let’s go.” I nodded but couldn’t take my eyes off of Dr. Higgins. “Naomi, let’s go.”
I nodded again and walked out of the room, Charlotte behind me. Sonny said nothing as we passed him at the suite’s door.
We trudged down the suite’s walkway. Our tracker, Ray, was examining the prints that had first caught my eye. I knelt down next to him. “What are those?”
“Paw prints,” he answered.
I was in shock but even I knew they were animal prints. I thought our tracker would be more specific as to what animal had left them. After closer inspection, he added, “Hyenas.”
Maybe the laughter I heard during the night wasn’t in my dreams but from Dr. Higgins’ real nightmare.
We sat in the reception area. The staff brought around coffee and tea. When not serving us, they huddled in a corner, talking in hushed tones.
An ambulance arrived and the medics rolled an empty gurney by us and to the walkway. In silence, we all watched the progression. Fifteen minutes later, they returned the same way, this time with their patient in a zipped-up black bag.
Ray returned to the reception area, slipping his cell phone in his back pocket. The lodge’s manager, Leticia, and Sonny were behind him and they addressed all of us.
“We’ve decided to cancel this morning’s game drive but will resume the rest of the day’s activities.” She checked her watch. “It’s about time for breakfast. So please come with me.” Slowly, everyone followed her to the breakfast area, except for me. I remained seated, shocked by the morning’s sight and with no appetite whatsoever.
Sonny sat next to me. “Not what you expected to see on vacation, is it?”
“Not what you expected to see at work, is it?” I asked.
“Oh goodness no. All my years, I’ve never seen such a thing. Never even heard of such a thing.” He sighed. “We wouldn’t even tell that as a joke.” He eyed me and added, “Although maybe we should tell the story to get the attention of some guests who don’t pay attention in orientation about calling for an escort at night.”
I knew he was talking about me.