"It's All Because of You!"

Writing this now my powers of recollection are pretty degraded.

I know we took some sort of transport out to our flyDubai flight. Night was falling, which was so surreal because we had had breakfast and our smoothie lunch in such quick succession.

I recall making a friendly eye-to-eye connection with a woman who was sitting on a large corner couch on the transport. She smiled and offered me a seat with her large family, which I felt rather than saw because she was covered head to toe in black. I declined, as I was trying to help corral Mellissa and Rose away from the door and into the shuttle, but I think Rose took her offer and sat.

We arrived planeside and an official was glancing at boarding passes and directing us to one of two staircases up into the plane.

It is all a blur, finding our seats, stowing our carry-ons, getting strapped in. And then, a moment I recall with such clarity.

A young adult male passenger came to our row, where Lax, Rose and I were strapped in. He pierced little Rose at the window with an angry stare, and said in English with an accent that was not Arabic, Farsi or Indian, "It's all because of you!"

"What?!" said Lax. "Excuse me?!" I said. We were between Anger Man and Rose, and obviously confused and alarmed.



The beautiful and elegant flight attendant came quickly over to soothe him. "Sir, it's OK, they are family. They need to sit together. Otherwise the little one would be alone. I have another seat for you." She led him away to another row.

It would not be the last we saw of Anger Man.