In memory of the 2981 victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, among them three Albanians
[Disastrous September, by the Albanian-American author, Skifter Këlliçi, takes place on two different days: May 10 and September 11, 2001. The novel tells the story of a well-known CNN reporter named Steve Ferguson, engaged to Jacqueline Cramer, a flight attendant based at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts. In addition, the novel explores the lives of four Albanians. Besim Istrefi, Rrok Camaj, and Marko Muzaka worked as window washers in the Twin Towers. Sokol Kama, a journalist and writer, works in security at Logan International Airport. On September 11, 2001 just a few days before Steve and Jacqueline’s wedding, two planes, bound for Los Angeles, depart from Boston. Terrorists hijack them and crash them into the Twin Towers in New York. The author, who worked at Logan International Airport during the attacks, offers a gripping account of the tragedy and shows how it could have been avoided.]
By SKIFTER KELLICI
[Translated from the Albanian by Carrie Hooper]
Marko was trying to get out of the building as quickly as possible. He could not stop thinking about Besim and his fiance, and he wondered if he would ever see her again. These thoughts quickened his pace. Meanwhile, people waved white tablecloths out the windows, pleading for help while others rushed out of the building without looking back. Bystanders and firefighters lined the streets. When Marko stopped for a second, he noticed a girl praying God would save her.
“Never mind the prayers!” another girl cried, grabbing her hand. “Come with me.”
But she remained motionless. She looked as if she truly saw God.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said. “God Almighty will save me. He will come and take me with Him. Stay with me, and He will save you, too.”
Marko looked at her and thought, “Poor girl, she’s losing her mind. Everlasting curses on the people who did this!”
“Cursed be the terrorists!” people shouted repeatedly.
“Why haven’t they sent any rescue helicopters?” asked someone.
“That’s a good question,” someone else said. “The towers are tall enough for people to see them. Why isn’t anybody coming to help us get out of here?”
The delirious crowd continued to rush down the stairs.
“Will someone think to bring a helicopter?” wondered Marko. “Why doesn’t someone take us from this cursed place?”
Suddenly, sadness overwhelmed him.
“How many of the hundreds of terrified people could fit in those helicopters?” he thought.
He continued to follow the crowd down the stairs, hoping to make it out alive. He couldn’t take his mind off Besim who had managed to escape seven years before when those cursed bombs had exploded on the lower floors of the tower.
The thick smoke made breathing more difficult the farther down he went, and waves of heat burned his sweat-covered face.
“It’s pointless!” said a desperate, delirious voice. “The lower floors have caught fire. We have nowhere to go!”
Marko didn’t want to believe their words. Although many people went back upstairs and others jumped out of windows in desperation, he pressed onward as the flames engulfed the staircase and the railings began to melt.
In his office on the twenty-fifth floor, Said felt a tremor and heard an alarm when the plane hit the tower. He instinctively jumped to his feet and waited a moment, but the alarm continued to sound.
As he pondered what to do next, his cell phone rang. It was probably Maria. Exhausted as he was, he managed to answer it. It was indeed her. She asked in a tremulous, frightened voice where he was. How should he respond? He thought about their engagement which he had planned to announce that Sunday at Steve and Jacqueline’s wedding.
“Please, Darling, tell me where you are!” Maria persisted.
“I’m far away, at the end of Liberty Street,” said Marko.
“Get out of there!” said Maria in the Arberesh dialect.
Her words melted into a mournful wail.
“Talk to me, Marko Darling!”
“I’m here. We may never see each other again.”
“What are you saying? Of course we’ll see each other again, and we’ll always be together. Come, Marko, I’m waiting for you.”
Far from the fiery destruction, Maria, with her tousled dark hair, creased forehead, and sparkling, opaque eyes, understood what was happening but didn’t want to believe Marko had said his last words.
Marko headed for the window. Better to jump as he had jumped many times from the high, steep rocks near San Demetrio to dive into the Ionian Sea’s blue water. When he reached the surface, his friends exclaimed, “Good for you, Marko! We wouldn’t dive from such high rocks!”
Now, he jumped for the last time from an even greater height and flew toward his waiting fiancé. As he fell to his death, propelled by the eddies of air which cooled his scorched face, he cried, “Maria, wait for me!”, but Maria, hundreds of feet below, would have found it virtually impossible to recognize Marko among the hundreds of falling bodies.
Now, he jumped for the last time from an even greater height and flew toward his waiting fiancé. As he fell to his death, propelled by the eddies of air which cooled his scorched face, he cried, “Maria, wait for me!”, but Maria, hundreds of feet below, would have found it virtually impossible to recognize Marko among the hundreds of falling bodies.
In his office on the twenty-fifth floor, Said felt a tremor and heard an alarm when the plane hit the tower. He instinctively jumped to his feet and waited a moment, but the alarm continued to sound. From the hallway, he heard footsteps and terrified voices. When he understood the gravity of the situation, he ran from his office and was shocked to see almost all the workers on that floor rushing toward the stairs because the elevator wasn’t working. A few of them stayed where they were while others tried to return to their offices. But when someone on a cell phone shouted, “A plane has hit the tower!”, hordes of people ran toward the stairs. Said couldn’t believe what was happening, or rather, he didn’t want to. He marveled that such a thing could happen. Suddenly, from the corridor window, he saw burning pieces fall to the ground like meteorites. Then, he knew what he had heard was true.
“Was it a deliberate attack?” he wondered.
He immediately thought of Serena. Where was she now? Maybe in her office on the twentieth floor. Or perhaps she was trying to escape and was calling him for help. But then he remembered he had taken her to the hospital and was supposed to pick her up around noon.
Where was Jaser al Sadri? Had he stayed in his office and forgotten he and Said had business to discuss? Said hurried to Jaser’s office and opened the door, but no one was inside. It appeared he had escaped and had blended in with the crowd. Said would do the same.
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He went to the fire escape and was relieved to see Jaser at the door. But instead of opening it, he locked it.
“Jaser, what are you doing?” cried Said.
Jaser shivered and whirled around. When he saw Said, he looked at him with wild, fiery eyes, and a devilish smile formed on his sullied lips. He pulled an iron pipe with a sharp point, which appeared to have come from an office chair leg, from his inner jacket pocket. (Continues)
Click here for Part-1, Part-2, Part-3, Part-4, Part-5, Part-6, Part-7, Part-8, Part-9, Part-10, Part-11, Part-12, Part-13, Part-14, Part-15, Part-16, Part-17, Part-18,
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About the Author
Skifter Këllici was born in Tirana, Albania and received a diploma in history and literature from the University of Tirana. He worked as a journalist, scholar, and sportscaster on radio and television. He is the author of several novels and nonfiction books, including the children’s books, “Memories of the Old Neighborhood” and “In the Footsteps” as well as the historical novels, “Assassination in Paris”, “The Murderer with the White Hands”, and “September Disaster.” He wrote the screenplay for “In the Footsteps” which won a special prize at the International Children’s Film Festival in Giffoni, Italy in 1979. He has lived in Boston, Massachusetts since 1999.
About the Translator
Carrie Hooper was born and raised in Elmira, New York. She has been blind since birth. She received a B.A. in vocal performance from Mansfield University, Mansfield, Pennsylvania. She went on to receive an M.A. in German and an M.A. in vocal performance from the State University of New York at Buffalo. After completing her studies, she spent a year at the Royal University College of Music in Stockholm, Sweden as a Fulbright scholar. Carrie currently lives in Elmira, New York. She taught German, Italian, and Romanian at Elmira College. She has a passion for foreign languages and in addition to the languages mentioned above, she is also proficient in Swedish, Spanish, and Albanian. Music also plays an important role in Carrie’s life. She teaches voice and piano lessons, gives vocal concerts, plays the piano and organ at a church, and sings in a community chorus. Carrie not only loves music and languages, but also enjoys poetry. She has published three books: “Piktura në fjalë” (“Word Paintings”), a bilingual collection of poetry (Albanian-English), “My Life in My Words”, and “Away from Home.” She has also translated texts from Albanian and Romanian to English.
[The book ‘Disastrous September is being reproduced in episodes with the consent of the author]
