?Hello, all, below find the second part of "the short sotry", this really needs a name, anyone got any ideas * smile *?

Ginny

     As the train drew into the station at New York, Musukuta roused herself from a surprising doze (she was surprised she'd even fallen asleep), gathered
up her things, and prepared to get off of the train.  She had called her cousin before leaving Boston and had informed him when she'd be arriving in New
York, so she was sure he would be there to meet her.  She was releived to have finally made it here, after what had happened at Pa Ali's apartment.
     As the train stopped, Musukuta joined the stream of people heading toward the train exits.  Along with her luggage, Musukuta also had to carry her
son, who was now sleeping.
     As she walked off of the train platform, she looked around, anxiously trying to find her cousin, however, he spotted her first.
     "Musukuta!" he called.
     "Ousman!" she exclaimed back, as she turned, saw him, and started toward him.  She was so happy to see him!  It had been years since she'd seen him,
and given the events of the day, it was nice to see a familiar face.
     When Musukuta got to him, He took her luggage from her, and they walked out of the station.  They got on another train, to get to Ousman's house, and
finally, they arrived at his apartment.  Ousman lived in the Bronx, in an apartment with an assortment of other Gambians, Senegalese, and other African,
as well as other immigrants.  Musukuta found this quite refreshing, and quite exhilarating as well, since she'd have plenty of interesting people to talk
to and get to know.
     When Musukuta and Ousman arrived at his apartment, he put Musukuta's things in one of the two bedrooms of the apartment, which had once been used by
a friend of his, who'd moved away to go to medical school.  At the time, Ousman was looking for another roommate, in order to help him with the living
costs.
     "Perhaps you could stay here with me," Ousman started to say.  "At least until you decide what you are going to do.  You could get a job somewhere,
and stay here, until you decide what to do."
     "That sounds nice," was all Musukuta could manage at this point.
     Ousman offered Musukuta something to eat, she then put her son to bed, and finally went to bed herself.
     When she finally awoke, she at first had forgotten where she was, and secondly, had no idea what time it was.  She slowly started to recall where she
was, and all the things that had happened to her.  At first, she thought it was all a dream; coming to America, seeing Pa Ali, her luggage, the train station...
 But Birama's tugging at Musukuta roused her from her confusion and half-wakefulness and she sat up and took a look around her.
     Birama was sitting up in the bed beside her, where he'd been sleeping.  The sun was streaming in the window, it must be midafternoon!  She looked around
the room, which was furnished with a full-sized bed, night table, dresser with a mirror, TV stand with a 13-inch TV on it, and closet.
     Musukuta got up and threw on some clothes, she didn't see herself going out anywhere, she just wanted to rest today.  Birama kept saying he was hungry,
so Musukuta ventured out into the living room to see what was to eat in the kitchen.
     She found Ousman sitting in the living room, talking to a couple of friends from his building.  On hearing Musukuta come into the room, he turned,
smiled at her and said, "Finally up I see.  You've slept quite a while."
     "Yeah, I know," Musukuta replied.  "I was tired."
     Ousman then introduced Musukuta to his friends, told Musukuta to go into the kitchen and get whatever she wanted, and she turned away from the three
men and wandered into the kitchen.
     She stood looking around at everything; the stove, the sink, the dishwasher, the cabinets.  She began opening the drawers, looking through the silverware
and dishes.  She then opened the cabinet doors, just above her head and looked through the canned goods and boxed items.  There were canned vegetables,
boxes of macaroni and spaghetti, bags of rice, and cereal.  This reminded her of the types of kitchens she'd seen on some American TV shows she'd seen
back in The Gambia.
     As she continued looking around the kitchen and through the refrigerator, Ousman came into the kitchen.
     "Are you having trouble finding something?"  He asked.
     "I just can't decide, really,"  Musukuta said.  "It's Birama who wants to eat, I'm not terribly hungry.
     Musukuta finally gave Birama some Frosted Flakes to eat, and Musukuta and Ousman sat down at the kitchen table.  By this time, his friends had gone,
so he had time to talk to his cousin.
     "So what's going on with Pa Ali?" He asked finally.  "You sort of told me last night on the phone, but you weren't very clear and I didn't get the
whole story."
     Musukuta related the story of what had happened at Pa Ali's apartment, and as she told it, she started to tear up, but didn't cry.  Ousman, on the
other hand, was not pleased.
     "How could he do this to you?" He began.  "You've been sitting in The Gambia, waiting on him to bring you here, being a faithful wife, even though
there were men after you, and yet look at him!  What are you going to do, Musukuta?  You can't hide from him forever.  At some point you're going to have
to face up to him and talk to him about this."
     "I'm not sure," Musukuta said quietly.  "I haven't had much time to think about it, really.  At this point, I figure that girl can have him for all
I care.  I'm not sure I want him."
     "Well, let's see what he does first," Ousman said.  "I'll call and talk to him. you are married to him, you know, you don't just want to throw a marriage
away.  I mean, this is a bad thing, but people do make mistakes.  Let's see what he does, let's wait and see what happens, then we can make a decision
on what to do.  Well," he started to laugh, "I should say "you", not "we", I'm just very protective of you.  You're a good woman, a good person, and I
hate to see you hurt.  And this added on to the fact that you're in a new country, a strange place.  I mean, this was supposed to be a reunion with your
husband, and--"  He stopped talking for a minute.
     "Well, let's just see what happens," he said finally.
     At that moment, Pa Ali was absolutely beside himself.  He'd tried calling Ousman's house the night before, yet got no answer. and spent the rest of
the night sleepless, upset with himself for this whole situation, and the hurt and pain it had caused all around.  "Ousman must have been out," Pa Ali
thought.  He was at a loss as to what to do next.  He could go to New York after Musukuta, but he wasn't sure exactly where Ousman lived, and he wasn't
too sure if Ousman would want to see him now anyway, since he was sure Musukuta had related to Ousman all that had happened.
     It was the ringing of the phone which startled Pa Ali out of his thoughts.  He went to answer it and a voice asked if anyone by the name of Musukuta
lived there.  He confusedly said no.  Who could be asking for Musukuta here?  Who would know her?  And the person had trouble pronouncing the name.
     "Who is asking?" Pa Ali inquired.
     "This is the porter from the train station," the voice on the phone said.  "She had reported one of her bags stolen and we've managed to find it! 
We can't believe it ourselves.  Usually when bags are stolen, we almost never find them again.  This is almost miraculous!  Someone brought it into the
main office this morning.  This number was listed on the incident report.  Do you know when she might be able to pick it up?"
     "I can come pick it up," Pa Ali said.  "I am her husband."
     "OK, then.  Well, whenever you can get here, it will be waiting for you at the main customer service office," the man said.
     Pa Ali thanked the man as he hung up the phone.  Pa Ali began to think again.  He'd have to talk to Musukuta, or at least Ousman, now, if not at least
to get Musukuta's luggage returned to her.  And as he was thinking this, the phone rang again.  Pa Ali answered it to hear Ousman's voice on the other
end.
To be continued...

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