Till slut hade denne Marcus gått med på att prata med oss och idag var han lite klarare i huvudet än igår vilket skulle göra det enklare för oss att prata med honom. Vi skakade hand med honom, till och med Theo gjorde det innan han fick en målarbok och färgpennor, samma som han hade fått på flyget igår och satte sig ner vid bordet för att måla. "Hi Marcus, do you remember us? You thought my son was someone named Charlie." Han svarade inte på en gång. Bara stirrade ner på bordet ett tag och sedan såg han fram och tillbaka mellan mig och Eric innan han svarade.
"You said my son, shouldn't it be our son?" Frågade han och pekade på Eric. En fråga som jag verkligen inte hade förväntat mig.
"He isn't my son." svarade Eric vänligt.
"Oh." Med det så reste han sig upp och gick mot dörren för att sedan stanna upp med handen på handtaget och vände sig om. "You tell them everything Lorna, I can't do it."
"Are you sure that you want them to know?" Frågade flygvärdinnan.
"Yes, it's fine, I'm going to eat something." Så lämnade han rummet. Vi vände uppmärksamheten mot Lorna som satte sig tillrätta i sin stol innan hon sa någonting.
"Eleven years ago Marcus moved to Ibiza from the UK, I don't know where exactly though, he was retired and his wife had passed multiply years ago so he decided to just enjoy the years he had left, packed his things and moved." Hon tog en paus och frågade oss om vi ville ha någonting att dricka. Vi båda tackade ja till vatten och så gick hon upp och hämtade vatten till oss och sig själv och till Theos stora förtjusning, cola till honom. Vi tackade henne och hon satte sig ner för att fortsätta. "Six years ago he was supposed to pick up his daughter and her family from this airport, they came to visit him from the UK and enjoy their vacation here but they never showed up." Hon drack en klunk innan hon fortsatte. "Plane after plane arrived but they never did, when they were two hours late he started worrying and asked around for them. It turned out that another family was waiting for someone that was on the same plane so they waited together for another hour before Marcus had enough and decided to ask the staff."
"And what did they say? What had happened?" Nu försökte Eric inte dölja sin nyfikenhet längre.
"We couldn't get any signals from the plane and was working on it so we couldn't answer him just yet. We asked him about the family, who they were and their age. Turned out that he was really close with his daughter Jane that was in her late twenties, her husband Andy was in his early thirties and they had a son called Charlie that was around three years old that he was really attached to. That was the only family he had left." Hon drack ännu en klunk och jag kom på att jag inte hade rört mitt vatten än och drack lite för att inte verka otrevlig genom att ha fått henne att hämta glaset i onödan. "It turned out that the plane had crashed and his family didn't survive, a few did but not them. He refused to believe us at first, we tried to break the news as carefully as possible to him but he didn't believe a word, instead he started yelling at us, screaming that we were all liars that only wanted to joke around with him because he was a worried father and grandfather. It took two days of him being here, waiting before he started realizing that we were telling the truth." Hon skakade sorgset på huvudet. "He left the airport after having a meltdown but came back the next day and the day after that. Each day he waited for an hour, the same time that they were supposed to arrive before he gave up and left. All of us got used to having him around after a while. It was a normal everyday routine that he came for an hour and waited at the gate that you arrived to yesterday. Three years passed and he lost his mind, started imagining things and forgetting a lot. So he came back and told everyone that he was waiting for his daughters family to come. We didn't understand what was going on at first but when everything repeated itself from the day of the crash we understood that his mental health was bad, really bad. All because of the sorrow. Since then he've been living here, at this airport. We couldn't get him to go home so we've let him stay. He's got an apartment that's close by to which we take him three times a week to shower and change his clothes, he refuses to more than that even though he should get home more often."
"So he's basically living here?" Frågade jag.
"Yes and we've all gotten used to him so for us he's a part of our work day just as much as taking care of the passengers is. I'm the one that's mostly here to take care of him but when I have to fly somewhere someone else takes over. None of us have the heart to tell him that he can't be here everyday, we just can't, he's sick and old with no family left since he lost everyone."
"It's really nice of you to let him stay." Det var det verkligen, en annan flygplats hade tröttnat på honom och personalen hade väl antagligen satt in honom på något hem men här har de tagit hand om honom.
"Well, he's like our grandfather, I mean everyone that's working here and it's something you get used to after a while." Vi satt tysta en lång stund. Jag och Eric smälte allting vi hade fått veta och Lorna såg tankfullt ut genom fönstret innan hon bröt tystnaden. "I should probably go look for Marcus now." Vi nickade och reste oss upp.
"Thank you for taking your time to talk to us." Sa Eric och vi skakade hand med henne, packade ihop Theos saker och gick ut tillsammans med henne men kom inte längre än till utanför dörren innan vi mötte på Marcus som höll upp två små leksaksflygplan. Han gav den ena till Theo som tveksamt tog emot den och låtsades flyga runt med den han hade kvar i handen. Theo fattade vinken och snart sprang de runt i rummet vi precis hade suttit i och lekte med dem.
"Seems like he really likes your son but I guess you have something else to do so I'll talk to him."
"No it's okay." Jag kunde inte göra så mot Marcus och Theo hade kul med honom så det skadade väl inte. "We can be here for a while if it's okay with you." Hon nickade med ett stort leende.
"Of course it is, I haven't seen Marcus this happy since..., well since three years ago when he was convinced that they would get here soon." Så vi slog oss ner vid bordet igen och lät dem leka med varandra en stund. Eric flätade samman våra fingrar under bordet och jag lutade huvudet mot hans axel. Det var mycket mer i den mannens historia än vad jag någonsin hade kunnat föreställa mig.
"You said my son, shouldn't it be our son?" Frågade han och pekade på Eric. En fråga som jag verkligen inte hade förväntat mig.
"He isn't my son." svarade Eric vänligt.
"Oh." Med det så reste han sig upp och gick mot dörren för att sedan stanna upp med handen på handtaget och vände sig om. "You tell them everything Lorna, I can't do it."
"Are you sure that you want them to know?" Frågade flygvärdinnan.
"Yes, it's fine, I'm going to eat something." Så lämnade han rummet. Vi vände uppmärksamheten mot Lorna som satte sig tillrätta i sin stol innan hon sa någonting.
"Eleven years ago Marcus moved to Ibiza from the UK, I don't know where exactly though, he was retired and his wife had passed multiply years ago so he decided to just enjoy the years he had left, packed his things and moved." Hon tog en paus och frågade oss om vi ville ha någonting att dricka. Vi båda tackade ja till vatten och så gick hon upp och hämtade vatten till oss och sig själv och till Theos stora förtjusning, cola till honom. Vi tackade henne och hon satte sig ner för att fortsätta. "Six years ago he was supposed to pick up his daughter and her family from this airport, they came to visit him from the UK and enjoy their vacation here but they never showed up." Hon drack en klunk innan hon fortsatte. "Plane after plane arrived but they never did, when they were two hours late he started worrying and asked around for them. It turned out that another family was waiting for someone that was on the same plane so they waited together for another hour before Marcus had enough and decided to ask the staff."
"And what did they say? What had happened?" Nu försökte Eric inte dölja sin nyfikenhet längre.
"We couldn't get any signals from the plane and was working on it so we couldn't answer him just yet. We asked him about the family, who they were and their age. Turned out that he was really close with his daughter Jane that was in her late twenties, her husband Andy was in his early thirties and they had a son called Charlie that was around three years old that he was really attached to. That was the only family he had left." Hon drack ännu en klunk och jag kom på att jag inte hade rört mitt vatten än och drack lite för att inte verka otrevlig genom att ha fått henne att hämta glaset i onödan. "It turned out that the plane had crashed and his family didn't survive, a few did but not them. He refused to believe us at first, we tried to break the news as carefully as possible to him but he didn't believe a word, instead he started yelling at us, screaming that we were all liars that only wanted to joke around with him because he was a worried father and grandfather. It took two days of him being here, waiting before he started realizing that we were telling the truth." Hon skakade sorgset på huvudet. "He left the airport after having a meltdown but came back the next day and the day after that. Each day he waited for an hour, the same time that they were supposed to arrive before he gave up and left. All of us got used to having him around after a while. It was a normal everyday routine that he came for an hour and waited at the gate that you arrived to yesterday. Three years passed and he lost his mind, started imagining things and forgetting a lot. So he came back and told everyone that he was waiting for his daughters family to come. We didn't understand what was going on at first but when everything repeated itself from the day of the crash we understood that his mental health was bad, really bad. All because of the sorrow. Since then he've been living here, at this airport. We couldn't get him to go home so we've let him stay. He's got an apartment that's close by to which we take him three times a week to shower and change his clothes, he refuses to more than that even though he should get home more often."
"So he's basically living here?" Frågade jag.
"Yes and we've all gotten used to him so for us he's a part of our work day just as much as taking care of the passengers is. I'm the one that's mostly here to take care of him but when I have to fly somewhere someone else takes over. None of us have the heart to tell him that he can't be here everyday, we just can't, he's sick and old with no family left since he lost everyone."
"It's really nice of you to let him stay." Det var det verkligen, en annan flygplats hade tröttnat på honom och personalen hade väl antagligen satt in honom på något hem men här har de tagit hand om honom.
"Well, he's like our grandfather, I mean everyone that's working here and it's something you get used to after a while." Vi satt tysta en lång stund. Jag och Eric smälte allting vi hade fått veta och Lorna såg tankfullt ut genom fönstret innan hon bröt tystnaden. "I should probably go look for Marcus now." Vi nickade och reste oss upp.
"Thank you for taking your time to talk to us." Sa Eric och vi skakade hand med henne, packade ihop Theos saker och gick ut tillsammans med henne men kom inte längre än till utanför dörren innan vi mötte på Marcus som höll upp två små leksaksflygplan. Han gav den ena till Theo som tveksamt tog emot den och låtsades flyga runt med den han hade kvar i handen. Theo fattade vinken och snart sprang de runt i rummet vi precis hade suttit i och lekte med dem.
"Seems like he really likes your son but I guess you have something else to do so I'll talk to him."
"No it's okay." Jag kunde inte göra så mot Marcus och Theo hade kul med honom så det skadade väl inte. "We can be here for a while if it's okay with you." Hon nickade med ett stort leende.
"Of course it is, I haven't seen Marcus this happy since..., well since three years ago when he was convinced that they would get here soon." Så vi slog oss ner vid bordet igen och lät dem leka med varandra en stund. Eric flätade samman våra fingrar under bordet och jag lutade huvudet mot hans axel. Det var mycket mer i den mannens historia än vad jag någonsin hade kunnat föreställa mig.