Something She Can Feel

“Where are you going?” I asked him, suddenly reminded that we were in an airport.

“Ghana,” Emily said before clicking on the phone to take a call.

“Ghana?” I repeated.

“Yeah,” Dame said. “I’m doing some studio work out there with a label. And I kind of needed a real break before I go on tour.”

“For how long?” I felt my heart cracking into bits like Dame and I had been together for years and he was suddenly leaving me.

“A month.”

“A month? You’re going away for a whole month?”

“Yeah ... Well, I requested more time and I’m working through some things with the label,” Dame said. “Hey, you can”—he looked at Emily and then back at me—“you can come with me.”

“Come?” I asked. “But I don’t... . I can’t go to Ghana.”

“Why not? You can come with me.” Dame’s eyes started dancing like we were being served a fat bowl of ice cream.

“I don’t have a tic

ket,” I complained, and he frowned.

“I can buy out the entire cabin if I want,” Dame said.

“Well, I don’t know anything about Ghana. I was just driving here to see you. I don’t even have my things.”

“Emily, I need you to get another ticket. Journey’s coming to Ghana with us,” Dame said and Emily looked at him like he was crazy.

“Really?” she asked, clicking the phone off.

“Wait,” I jumped in. “I can’t just go.”

“Yes, you can.”

“No,” Emily said. “She needs a visa and her shots to even get into the country.”

“You handle the visa,” Dame said. “Just call the ambassador in D.C. He owes me a favor after that benefit we did last summer.”

“Ooookay,” Emily answered, clearly weighing Dame’s order in her head. “Well, I’m sure I can get him on the phone.... But we might have to wait and get a later flight.”

“I don’t care,” Dame said, looking at me.

“And then we can handle the shots at the layover in Amsterdam.” Emily produced a pad and started writing this down.

“Shots?” I asked.

“You have to get a few shots to get into the country . . . yellow fever ... all this stuff. Wait, what am I talking about—” She slapped herself on the forehead.

“What?” Dame and I asked.

“The shots and the visa won’t matter if you don’t have your passport—not nowadays. There’s no way around that. They can’t even rush it.”

“Oh.” Dame sighed, and we all traded looks. She was right. There was no way around the passport thing. I sighed and felt an itch at my hip.

“Wait!”

“What?” Emily and Dame looked at me.