It rained that day, black blobs of muck, blacker than the clouds which carried it, pelting our windscreens and coating it with a layer of oil , the wipers got stuck and when I clambered on the hood and tried to swab it off ,it clung to the glass and smeared it a more darker tan . The water and oil got under my collar ,sticking my hair to the nape of my neck making me extremely uncomfortable.
I've seen red rain ,when I was a child ,at the onset of a monsoon ,the droplets were orangish red and believers in my home town said that high above a celestial war raged between the forces of good and evil and the rain was the blood of the defeated ‘cheguthans’,…sathan …., satan…, and those who were caught in the rain were made to go through elaborate rituals to be cleansed of the evil transfusion. I liked the red rain , I ran in my white shirt and it turned orange and my mother wept for bringing misfortune on myself and had thrashed me within an inch of my life. This black rain nearly killed us all
We were almost an hour on the road and it was turning to be one trip from hell. Adrian had caught up with us a Qaysumah and had briefly indicated to me he had a plan. He was playing cagey, refusing eye contact and the mystery of the plan heightened the excitement and set me on the edge. The effects of the lethal cocktail of the previous nights were yet to shake off and left a grouchy feeling and bad taste in my mouth, adding to that, a pervasive aroma of petrol hung in the air and it gradually turned nauseating I wanted to retch, which I did until my stomach cramped. . Then came the downpour, lashing liquid goo and the tires of the trucks churned it into an emulsion making the concrete road slippery and the heavy trailers slid sideways and when the drivers applied the brakes ,it snaked, the lateral movement nearly forcing the heavy vehicles off the road into the sand. Adrian called for a halt and raced through the side to the front and as he got there, the jeep sunk ,nose first, into the sand. He got down, threw down his cap and spat. And then the unimaginable happened.
One trailer had slid into the sand , the trucker pushed the pedal and the engines groaned under the low gears as he tried to impart enough power to pull the trailer on to the road but the tires spun free, slipping on the oil and then abruptly the treads bit into the concrete and the vehicle lurched forward . The driver jammed the brakes in reflex , skewing the monster trailer and it slid across to the other edge , the tires on one side sunk into sand toppling the trailer in slow motion but what followed was spectacular, the force of the overturning 60 tonne trailer flicked the engine cabin over in the air and threw it down judo style and continued it’s forward momentum ramming into the trailer in front, deflecting and crashing into stalled jeep nearby ,instantly killing five men and injuring another three. Adrian who was standing with his back to the truck, inspecting his stalled vehicle ,was crushed to pulp.
Being from the world of life predestined , where every moment of one’s life is clearly defined and trajectory set in motion from the moment of birth ,I had plodded on in the belief that Adrian would have a plan when we caught up at AlSagayah, though my senses and mind had rebelled and urged me to signal Adrian to call off the ill fated adventure and go back home. I was traumatised by Adrian's death for which I felt responsible .He had no reason to travel anywhere if I hadn’t set him on the road and the grief and guilt would forever accompany me, the fumes of petrol at pumping stations triggering the olfactory senses and acutely replaying and recreating the events of that day , a memory I would carry until my death and a debt I would carry until his mother’s.
