Chapter Nine
Jessica
The single-engine Cessna descended from the fluffy clouds and began circling the tree-lined airfield below. I saw macaques scattering into the rainforest that surrounded the mud-puddled landing strip, which precariously seemed to stretch the length of three football fields. Sister Janice’s shoulders touched mine as we sat scrunched in the plane’s small cabin. She quickly gestured the sign of the cross and began muttering the Lord’s Prayer underneath her breath while keeping her eyes tightly closed.
But my eyes were glued to Mr. Jacobs, who was sitting across from me and staring right back at me. Tommy was sitting beside me and had his hand clenched around my thigh, presumably because he was scared to death we were going to make a crash landing. I had my hand wrapped around his as I stared at his father and smiled. I wasn’t sure but it seemed like Mr. Jacobs’ eyes were narrowed on Tommy’s hand on my thigh and when he met my eyes, he frowned.
Not wanting to displease Mr. Jacobs, I released Tommy’s hand and grabbed onto his right shoulder as I spoke loudly into his ear over the Cessna’s purring engine. “Tommy, look out the window. It’s beautiful.”
“I can’t look at anything until I feel the plane land on the ground,” Tommy announced, as he clenched his eyes shut tight and shook his head. “Otherwise, I think I’m gonna barf.”
Mitch, our pilot, was a handsome Brit in his mid-thirties, who wore blue blockers and a T-shirt. I heard him chuckle and he spoke up after overhearing our conversation. “I’ve landed here plenty of times. In fact, last time I landed here, there were fifty mile-per-hour gusts. It’s a beautiful day today, nothing to worry about.”
Mitch gripped the joystick and veered the plane on its final turn before lining it perfectly over the airfield on its final descent. Even though there weren’t strong gusts as Mitch had indicated, the small winds still managed to rock the plane in a hypnotic and puke-inducing motion. I felt bad for Tommy.
“Hail Mary, full of grace...” Sister Janice began reciting, smothering the beads of her rosary which glistened with sweat.
I began giggling softly as I watched Sister Janice acting as if the grim reaper was about to turn our small plane into a smoldering wreck. Mr. Jacobs stared back at me and gave me a sly wink as he glanced outside the window, presumably so he, too, wouldn’t get sick.
As the plane hovered twenty-five feet off the ground, it tilted left and for a split second, it looked like the left wing was going to touch the airfield before Mitch could even square the landing gear perpendicular to the ground. With a sudden jerk of the joystick, Mitch managed to right the plane as Tommy and Sister Janice groaned audibly. I suddenly felt a strong bump, followed by another. The Cessna sputtered to a halt. I looked over at Sister Janice, who now had her head in her lap. She didn’t look up until I nudged her with my elbow.
“Did we crash?” she asked, looking around the cabin like a startled little girl.
“Welcome to Zaire,” exclaimed Mitch as he glanced back at us and smiled.
“I can’t believe we made it,” Tommy muttered as he released my thigh and then glanced at Sister Janice, presumably worried that she might have noticed he was grabbing me in a way he shouldn’t have been. But Sister Janice was still too sick to notice anything else.
Sister Janice let out a relieved cackle and looked to the ceiling of the cabin. “Thank you, Jesus.”
“Amen to that,” Mr. Jacobs added as he unbuckled his seatbelt and immediately went to assist Sister Janice out of the plane.
Mitch opened the little door at the front of the cabin and pulled his seat forward so Sister Janice and Mr. Jacobs could get out first. A small gathering of people began to emerge and walk toward us, out of the heat waves that rose in the distance at the edge of the landing strip. As soon as we stepped from the plane, I instantly felt the heat and humidity press against my face, chest and legs.
“Here you go,” said Mitch, as he pulled our bags from the small storage compartment underneath the Cessna. I smiled at Tommy as he gave me a little wink and reached for my bag. I let him take it and watched as Mr. Jacobs took Sister Janice’s carry-on and the four of us started forward, following Mitch.
“Hello, mes amis,” bellowed a booming voice with a French accent, coming from right behind us. “I hope Mitch’s flying didn’t hurt your tummies!”
Mitch gave Father Anton—a somewhat hefty man with a gray goatee, long curly hair, and a cheery disposition—a friendly pat on his back. Father Anton wore the thinnest linen shirt and matching linen pants. I was surprised because I’d figured he’d be sporting the typical black clerical clothing I was accustomed to seeing on priests. Of course, in the sweltering mid-afternoon heat, his current clothing made more sense.
“Hello, my name is Carmen,” said the other sister alongside Father Anton, as she reached over to shake my hand. She was a gray-haired lady, probably in her sixties, with a firm demeanor. Then she turned to face Mr. Jacobs and Tommy and welcomed them similarly.
“Sister Carmen has been our main liaison in Africa since 2002,” explained Sister Janice. She turned to Sister Carmen and took a few breaths before speaking again. She was obviously still motion sick—her skin was corpse-white. “Sister, we have two recent graduates of St. Hilda’s with us today, Tommy and Jessica,” Sister Janice introduced us as she blotted her forehead with a handkerchief. “And Tommy’s father, Grey, who also believes strongly in our cause.”
“That is wonderful,” proclaimed Father Anton as he slapped his hands together and appeared jubilant. “Your youth and energy will do wonders for our mission here in Zaire,” he grinned as he glanced at Tommy and me before his eyes lifted to Grey. “And, welcome, sir, we are grateful to have you. All of you.”
“We are happy to be here,” Mr. Jacobs responded.
“Well, friends,” interjected Mitch, “I gotta get goin’ back to Kinshasa. I will see you at the end of the month with the scheduled supplies. He motioned to Tommy, Mr. Jacobs, and me. “And I’ll be taking the three of you back with me.”
We said our goodbyes and watched Mitch hop back into his plane, close the small door and start the engine. The propeller sputtered as the engine murmured like a toy. Mitch looked through the window and made a small salute with two of his fingers before building momentum for his ascent. As Mitch’s plane began to speed down the runway, we heard the unmistakable shrill cheers of children emanating from the path that was carved into the jungle across the runway.
I glanced up at Mr. Jacobs and found him looking at me. We made direct eye contact and I immediately wanted to drown in his blue eyes, they were such an opiate for the senses. I caught myself reacting with a relaxed smile, too relaxed. I immediately dropped my attention to the ground as I reprimanded myself for these ridiculous feelings I had for the much older man. God forbid if either of the sisters or if Father Anton noticed me making cow eyes at Mr. Jacobs! I would die of embarrassment!
The children started to flood around us, looking up at us with their eager expressions and bright, happy smiles. I wrapped my arms around them as they led us from the airfield, which was really more of a landing strip cut out of the jungle. I still couldn’t keep my gaze from traversing Mr. Jacobs’ muscular body, although I tried hard not to look.
Luckily, he started following Father Anton in front of me so I didn’t have to worry about forcing my attention away from his face. I walked behind the two of them, Tommy at my side, the children surrounding us almost like a sea. But even though I was behind Mr. Jacobs, I couldn’t stop staring at his gorgeous body, or how beautiful his legs were, so shapely and defined. Mr. Jacobs was as desirable as a man could be, and it was so difficult keeping my eyes away from him.
“How are you feeling?” I asked as I glanced up at Tommy. Some of the color had returned to his face. Tommy was just as handsome as his father, only younger obviously. As soon as I glanced up at him, I remembered how good his cock had felt in my hand when we’d been in his father’s Jacuzzi. I immediately felt myself flushing and had to drop my eyes.
“Better,” he answered. “I’m just glad to be off that fucking plane.”
I laughed as Father Anton turned around and smiled at us, putting his arm around us both as we began walking toward the village. All the children started to run ahead as I noticed a soccer ball appearing out of nowhere. They took turns kicking the ball ahead of our group.
“Don’t forget to lead with your toes,” yelled Mr. Jacobs, as the children disappeared into the dense foliage. I trailed behind them, and kept my eyes fixated on Mr. Jacobs’ calves and thighs; without a doubt, his backside was as irresistible as his front side.
Realizing I was perving out on the older man again, I forced my attention into Zaire’s beautiful blue sky as I thought about spending the next two weeks with Mr. Jacobs. And then I glanced over at Tommy, as the same, sinking feeling hit me twice. Tommy had the same exact body as his father—tall and well-muscled. Yet, their faces were dissimilar, even if they both were equally handsome. How I was going to survive two weeks with such sexy men, I had no idea. Especially when both of them had absolutely let it be known that they were interested in me—at least in fucking me.
But there was no way that was going to happen. I’d already made a firm promise to myself that I was going to focus on my faith and the reasons I’d come to Zaire in the first place. And none of those reasons included Mr. Jacobs or his son. I needed to be level-headed and strong-willed. And the next time either one of them came onto me, I would put an absolute stop to it. Yes, I’d made up my mind.
“Let’s eat!” Father Anton exclaimed as we continued our short trek to the mission.