"According to numerous news outlets, the island of Haiti has been flooded by Hurricane Matthew, and close to a thousand of our people have lost their lives, we've got to do something," I said to my uncle, a nebbish, dark-skinned, bald, annoying and anal retentive little man named William Jean-Claude as we sat at the breakfast table inside his townhouse in the suburb of Barrhaven, Ontario.
My uncle listened impassively as he sipped his coffee, and I could tell that he didn't care one bit. Why expect the world's most whitewashed brother to help the Haitian people in their time of need? I don't now why his reaction surprised me. I willed myself to be calm, partly because my uncle's daughters were in the living room nearby, watching their Saturday morning cartoons. Seriously, apathy is the one thing I don't understand...
"Not my concern, Suleiman, now, I really must get going," Uncle William said, and with that, he got up and told his daughters to get ready. Apparently, he was taking them to Casselman, where he would spend thanksgiving weekend with his girlfriend Lena, a white chick he's apparently really fond of. I have nothing against interracial couples, hell, I've dated several white girls while attending Carleton University, but I don't understand my uncle's callous disregard for the Haitian people, his own people, in their time of need...
"Well, I'm going to the Haitian Adventist Church downtown to see if I can help," I replied, and my uncle shrugged, and walked out with his daughters. A few minutes later, his dark gray Rav4 sped out of the driveway. I slowly let out my breath. The dude annoys me like you would not believe. Seriously, he's the type of person who would call me at work and hassle me over dirty dishes, or stuff like that. Dude puts the A in anal retentive, seriously.
I walked from the townhouse on Pizzeria Circle, past the local Catholic school and past the Walmart, and made my way to Marketplace Station. I waited a few minutes for the OC Transpo 95 bus heading to the other side of town, took out my dark yellow U-Pass and got on. The damn bus was halfway empty, but this old Asian dude with the sniffles insisted on sitting right next to me, and he was sneezing the entire time. I switched seats, and the bozo had the nerve to look at me funny. Um, what the fuck?
As the bus headed toward downtown Ottawa, I found myself feeling nervous. The previous day I called my mother Elaine Jean-Claude, who travels to Canada and the U.S. often, but resides in Cap-Haitien, and by the grace of the Lord, she was alright. It's mostly the City of Jeremie, in southern Haiti, that's affected by the flooding and my mother happens to live in the City of Cap-Haitien, deep in the northern part of the Republic of Haiti. Thank heavens for small favors.