On one of my short visits with Keila she asked me, "How would you feel about my brother Josue coming to visit you?"
To be honest, the idea was scary, but I hesitantly agreed, "Sure! That would be awesome!"
"Great!" She was genuinely pleased as I spiraled into a vat of insecurity wondering if this guy would like me.
Josue and I began to regularly e-mail each other, planning his week vacation. I asked him, "Are you sure you want to take your vacation from work and come here to see me?"
He reassured me of his excitement, "Well, I kind of have to take a vacation, I lose my vacation time if I don't take it. I can fly cheap because I work for the airlines, and I have no extra money, so staying with you is nice because it is for free. Besides...my sister likes you...I want to see you for myself."
I could tell he was pumped about coming. I began to plan the itinerary. Baseball Hall of Fame. New York City. The mall. Halo. We were going to have a blast!
As the trip approached, I began to get more and more nervous. I really felt this weight of pressure on my shoulders. My palms were sweating as I drove the four hour drive to the airport.
His flight was arriving late at Kennedy Airport. I arrived early and realized his plane was going to be even later. It was close to 1 a.m. when the plane arrived, and the exiting passengers must have thought I was a nutcase staring intently at each one...I realized at this moment that the five seconds I spent looking at a photograph wasn't nearly enough information.
I couldn't miss Josue, though, when he exited. If you have met Josue, you know what I mean. He has this air about him. Literally, he smells like a cheap hairspray. Okay...just kidding...but if you know Josue, you know I need to write something like this.
"Josue?" I asked to this dark haired man that slightly resembled a photograph I looked at earlier.
"Ben?" He reached out and shook my hand....I knew immediately that I could take him.
"Welcome to New York!"
The next few days were a blast. We went to Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame. We played video games, we watched movies, we had a vicious mixed martial arts match in the living room. I remember thinking, "Wow! I can totally beat this guy up!"
Then came Thursday. Our infamous trip to New York City. My buddy, Kris, joined us for our journey. We left early in the morning and started driving south, we were going to take the train into the city. Something wasn't right from the start.
"Hey guys, aren't you cold? I'm freezing." Josue asked us as we were driving.
"Welcome to the Northeast!" I innocently jabbed.
"Can't beat the weather in New York, huh?" Kris asked from the back.
The truth is, it was a nasty day. It was probably ten degrees outside and snowing. A perfect day for a trip to NYC.
"I'm not cold at all!" I said trying to act all macho and rolling down the window.
"I think I'll take my jacket off," Kris said while removing all items of winter necessity.
"I don't know," Josue said, "I'm freezing."
We arrived at the train station and couldn't find a parking spot until about a mile away. We knew the mile walk to the train station would be easy because it was downhill, but later that day it would be miserable. Kris and I attempted to show Josue how much fun it was to run and slide in the snow. Josue politely tried, but remained uncharacteristically quiet.
Upon arriving in the city we decided to take the subway down to Battery Park. Josue wanted to see the Statue of Liberty. Upon leaving the subway station, the snow pelted us in the face. The weather was awful.
"Oh my," Josue whined, "it is so cold."
"What?" I said as I zipped my jacket up higher, "This is nothing."
My teeth chattered as we walked to the bay. We could barely make out the Statue of Liberty and it took Josue about five minutes to find it.
"That's great. Can we find someplace warmer?"
"Sure," I responded, thinking, wow, he really can't handle the cold, "we're going to get lunch in a little bit."
"Good."
"First," I decided to continue the tour...he would get used to the cold, "we are going to walk to ground zero."
So off we went, through the sleet and cold to ground zero. Kris and I walked up front as Josue shuffled behind us. Both Kris and I gave each other the "what is up with Josue" look several times.
We were soon done with ground zero, and we were trying to get a hold of some friends from the city we always try and see. I wanted Josue to really enjoy himself, but unfortunately, he wasn't enjoying himself at all.
"Are we going to lunch now? I'm frozen solid."
"Well...we have to wait a few minutes, I'm trying to get a hold of some friends who are going to meet us for lunch."
"Do we have to wait outside?"
"No bro...we can go in somewhere." Okay, it was cold, but it wasn't unbearable...he really looked liked a wimp to me.
We stopped in the first store we saw, a shoe store.
"Will this work?" I asked him.
"Yeah...I want to buy myself a pair of socks."
I looked at Kris, "Socks?"
Kris shrugged his shoulders and we went inside. I've been to a lot of different places in NYC, but by far, this was the most boring place...ever! Josue found and bought an extra pair of socks. He found a bench downstairs, put on the extra pair of socks, covered his head in his jacket, and began to sway and moan. I'm not kidding. He was moaning in agony.
"Dude...you alright?"
"Uggghhhh."
"Alright, sounds good." I don't know why I just assumed he was afraid of the cold, it never crossed my mind that it could be anything else.
Meanwhile, my friends arrived and met us at the store.
"Hey Pastuh Ben!" My friend Joe greeted me.
"What's up?" I greeted Joe, Shane, and Josh.
Shane asked, "What are you doing here? A shoestore?"
"Yeah...well...I met this girl..." I quickly explained my relationship with Josue, "and anyhow...apparently he can't handle the cold. I think he needs some pizza."
I gathered Josue from the basement of the store and we headed up the street. As Kris, Joe, Shane, Josh, and I laughed our heads off, Josue slowly shuffled and groaned behind us. He, honestly, was absolutely pathetic. I don't know why, but I found myself getting frustrated at the fact this guy couldn't handle the cold. My frustration hit the boiling point when he refused to eat.
"Dude! You are going to eat! Right now. I want you to order a piece of pizza and sit down. Your body needs some fuel to burn! You need to feed it!!"
"Uggghhh." Was the response from Josue.
Out of courtesy to me he ordered a piece, but it sat and grew mold on the plate as he headed to the bathroom in the pizza place. He never touched the pizza.
My friend Joe asked, "What's up with him?"
"You know...he's from Guatemala...can't handle the cold."
We enjoyed ourselves over lunch, but both Kris and I knew that we couldn't do anything else in the city that day. Josue was too far gone for fun. So after 3 hours in the city, we headed back home on the train. From the moment Josue came out of the bathroom to the train to the car (he actually sat and waited as Kris and I walked the mile up the hill to retrieve the car) to the apartment to the next morning...he didn't say anything...not a word. All Friday the next day he laid there on the couch. Finally I called my mother and asked her to come over and take a look at him.
Josue had the flu. His temperature was skyrocketed. We realized the day before he was borderline delirious...and I was angry he didn't eat any Ray's Pizza! Okay, I'm still angry he didn't eat the pizza, I mean, c'mon...it's NYC! But anyways...it hit me about 11 o'clock on Friday night, that I almost killed my future brother in law.
A few advils and another night's rest Josue felt much better. We had a lot more fun before he left. I married a gem when I married my wife, and I received a great brother and friend in Josue. I remember him looking at me while he was there and telling me, "I hope you marry my sister."
I made a promise to Josue that I plan to keep. A redemptive trip to NYC. That was his only experience. So someday, we will gather again in NYC, I'll call my friends, and we'll stop in a shoestore and buy some socks.
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