There And Back On Time - Season 2 - Episode 27

5 years ago

There And Back On Time - Season 2 - Episode 27

Berlin Germany

Europe Wahala
The historical city of Berlin was the capital of Germany. After the World War 2 in 1945, the city was divided into two by the victorious allies; United State and its allies took the West while Soviet Union took the East Berlin.

Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party had taken over Berlin in 1933. Their style of leadership had caused the WW2.

The city remained divided after the war until the re-unification of East and West Germany in 1989. The great Berlin wall, which divided the city between West and East German was destroyed as a mark of the Unification.
I had flown to Berlin with Jennifer, my girlfriend on January 8th 2006. We were on the run from the bad guys who wanted Jennifer to remain a prostitute in Portugal We had escaped from them through The Faro Airport in Southern Portugal.

We landed at the Tegel airport Berlin at exactly 15:10pm. It was snowing as we were told inside the flight.

We had left Faro Portugal late that morning and landed in Palma de Marlloca Island on transit. We spent an hour in Marlloca before heading to Berlin.

On our way out of Marlloca airport, the wind from the mediterranean sea had shifted our flight slightly on take off. The flight had wiggled left and right before balancing up in the sky. The few Africans on board were busy calling Jesus to come and save them. The whites remained as calm as cold water. As soon as we had balanced in the sky, the little boy behind me had started crying. He was asking his mother to ask the pilot to do it again. I was tempted to knock the little rat on the head but I knew touching him was a one way ticket to prison.

As usual, everybody tried to scramble out of the flight at the same time as soon as we landed in Berlin.

We got to the immigration check point to be cleared.

”What are you going to do in Berlin” The lady immigration officer asked me. Jennifer was right behind me.

” Visit” I said. I didn’t want to name who I was coming to visit. It could complicate things later, therefore I had chosen to use short answers.

” Have you been to Berlin before” she asked again.

‘No’ I answered again.

She looked suspiciously on my Passport and Resident permit, then pressed a button and spoke on the walkie Talkie hanging on her neck. Then asked me to step aside and wait. Jennifer came forward to be cleared.

* That was it. I had suspected that the resident permit may not be authentic or that they may even find out that my Passport was done in my absence*

Jennifer was asked about her passport. She answered that she forgot it in Lisbon. She was also asked if she had been to Berlin before which she answered negative as well.

She was told to travel with her passport when next she wanted to visit another Country.

She was cleared to go into Berlin. She left the immigration check point and went outside the airport. She knew nobody in Berlin except Johnson, whom I had given her his number. I had called Johnson back in Faro airport and told him that I was coming to Berlin with Jennifer. I had told Jennifer to call Johnson if I had any problem at the Berlin Tegel airport. I had also given her €1000 to keep in her jean pocket.

Immediately after Jennifer was cleared, a Police man came to the counter where I was told to wait. The lady immigration officer gave him my passport and told me to follow him.

We got to the Police post inside the airport two minutes later. I sat on a wooden long chair and watched as the man who had taken my passport and permit card scanned them through a convex mirror. He checked severally and when it seemed that he couldn’t find anything wrong with it, he called another man.

He told the new man that he had collected my documents from the immigration but couldn’t find any fault in it. They spoke in German but they didn’t know that I knew German language. I heard everything they said.

The new man, said that Urby, the immigration lady who had given them the documents hardly make mistakes about documents. They trusted her so much and as a result, they decided to consult Portugal immigration to determine if the document was authentic.
I didn’t know how long it was going to take but I figured It would take up to an hour.
”Mr Solomon” the Police officer said as he read from the data page of my International passport, ” we are going to check your documents, please stay here and have patience. It won’t take long”

I nodded in agreement as if I had another option.

As I sat there, I wondered what Jennifer would be doing.

Has she called Johnson as I told her, was she still outside the airport hopping that I would come out soon. After some moments, I decided to concentrate and face my own troubles.

Thirty minutes later, they came out with my documents and handed it to me. They apologized for wasting my time.

According to what I heard them talking, the Police Captain at the airport had checked the papers and certified it authentic without calling Lisbon. He had told them that the Portuguese seal on the back of the permit was real.

I walked outside the airport towards the taxi stand. I saw Jennifer sitting on a chair with some white people. She was clutching her bag to protect herself from cold. We didn’t prepare to sit out in the cold for long. I walked up and tapped her on the shoulder. She looked up and jumped up at the same time. I passed her immediately and motioned her to follow me. We entered a taxi and headed down into the city center. Inside the taxi, she wanted to say something but I cut her short with my hand. I told her that I wasn’t interested in talking to her. The taxi driver looked at me and then at her and decided not to interfere in our affairs.

We got down to Zoo Garden area of Berlin and got down from the taxi. The prize meter in the taxi was running at an alarming rate. Since Berlin has the best Transport system in Europe, there was no need for waisting money on cabs.

I had known the city pretty well from my time as a drug dealer. It was the city where I did most of my drug deals:

When the cab left, we walked down to the U-bahn, Berlin’s underground train line.
We entered the U2 train and headed towards AlexanderPlatz.

”What happened” I asked Jennifer as soon as we settled in the Train.
She wanted to make face and complain about how I treated her inside the cab.
” First of all” I said. ” We didn’t tell the immigration that we were together. They cleared you out of the airport to go and not to wait for me. What if they had decided to send me back to Portugal, what happened to the number I told you to call if anything happened” I concluded.

” That was what I wanted to tell you inside the taxi. I forgot that I gave you my phone when I wanted to go to the toilet inside the flight” she said.

I put my hand inside my pocket and found her phone. It was switched off.

” How could we be so careless, you could have been stranded in Berlin” I said.
I apologized for how I waved her down in the cab.

She asked me what happened at the immigration checkpoint and I told her.
We stopped at the AlexanderPlatz station and joined U8 to Boddinstrasse station.
We came out of the underground and walked to the Akunne Afro shop and bar along the Flughafen street; the place where I used to spend money for the Nigerian people. The place where the name ‘Ozoigbondu’ originated.

As we entered the shop, people started jubiliating. Jennifer was surprised at how everybody hugged me. Some said they heard what happened to me before I ran to Portugal, some said they knew and even placed bets that I would return. Some who didn’t know me, stood and watched as I received the kings’ welcome.
Ozoigbondu had returned and those who knew me very well believed that My return to Berlin would be a good thing for them.