Chapter 5: Going through the Panama Canal

The next morning Zuphixy and his caregiver got up earlier than they had been before, and went to the buffet for an early breakfast. They were surprised at how busy the buffet was at that time. The Wilson's family also got up early, but when they saw how busy the buffet was they went back to their room and had room service, because they knew that Elijah would get stressed from the noise.

Today the ship was going through the Panama Canal. Everyone went on the deck at the front of the boat because that was the best place to watch the boat go through the locks. It was so busy on deck that Zuphixy, being in a wheelchair, was blocked by everyone standing in front of him. He was about to give up on finding a place where he would be able to see until someone saw him and convinced some of the other people to make room for Zuphixy to get his chair in a place that gave him a good view. There are tugboats that pull the cruise boat into the locks. Boat locks work by closing gates behind and in front of a boat, then water is pumped in which raises the water level up to a preset height which takes a few hours to fill. The people on the Ship can see the boat rising as the water fills the area. Once the boat is at the desired height they open the gates in front of the boat but keep the ones behind the boat closed. Then the ship gets pulled to the next lock, which is done three times before the ship goes into a man made lake that's above sea level.

While the ship went through the lake there wasn’t much else interesting to see so everyone went back indoors and found activities to do for the next few hours. One of the things Zuphixy and his caregiver did was watch a video about the history of locks and the man made lake. Elijah and his sister spent that time playing games while their parents watched the same video as Zuphixy. After the video was over Abeba went to the casino again. Michael was disappointed that his wife had gone to do more gambling. He was hoping that she would spend the time with the family. Zuphixy and his caregiver had gone to the pool after the video was over, but as time went by the pool got busy and he had to quit. After that everyone went to the buffet for lunch which was packed full again.

Soon after that the ship got to more locks but instead of raising the ship, the boat was lowered back down to sea level which took three locks. Not as many people were watching the ship go though so it was easier for Zuphixy to get his wheelchair to a place that he could see. Even though there were less people on the deck it was still too much for Elijah. Zendaya was trying to help her brother calm down but he wasn't having it. Zendaya tried to get her father's help but he was so interested in the locks that Michael was not aware of how Elijah was feeling and ignored Zendaya. Now Abeba was in a different part of the boat and was too busy gambling to notice that the ship was being lowered in a lock or anything else around her.

Now Jacklyne was near where Elija and his sister and noticed that Zendaya was having problems with Elijah. She decided that she would help Zendaya even though it was not her responsibility, but she could tell that Michael was not helping. Elija wanted to see how the boot went through the locks but he also found the crowd too loud. Jacklyne managed to convince Elija to go to another part of the boat that was not as loud. Once Elijah was settled, she used the boat’s wifi to show Elija a YouTube video of what he would have seen on deck. Once the boat was through the locks it was dinner time. Now Elija was not in the mood to go to the dining room so Jacklyne stayed with Elija. While Zendaya went to the dining room with her father, she helped Zuphixy.

Meanwhile Abeba was so into gambling that she missed dinner time because she was not aware of the time.

After everyone else had finished their dinner and the boat was far from the locks, they had to find something else to fill the evening with. Zendaya didn't want to have to care for her brother who wanted to play ping pong with her. All she wanted was to go swimming by herself. After a lot of arguing with her father, she finally got away and Zendaya went swimming, while Elija and their father played ping pong until it was Elija bedtime. After Elija was asleep, Zendaya and her father went to the basketball court and tossed the ball around for a while before Zendaya had to go to bed as well. Michael then went to the library and did some reading until he fell asleep sitting in a chair. Only when he was woken up by pain from sleeping in the chair did he realize that it was past midnight and went back to his room. When he got to the room he was surprised to see that his wife had also just got back from gambling as they both came to the room door at the same time.

The next day was another day at sea, and just like the other day Michael and his wife slept in while their children got up at their normal time. They had breakfast in the buffet where they sat beside Zuphixy and Jacklyne. Jacklyne was surprised that the children were there by themselves, so she asked them what was up and she learned that the children’s parents were still sleeping. Jacklyne was shocked that Michael would let his children fend for themselves with so many strangers around, but knew that there was nothing she could do about it except make sure that the children were safe. After everyone was done breakfast they checked to see if the children’s parents were up yet but they were still sleeping. Then the children went and did a game of Ping pong while Zuphixy and his caregiver went swimming in the pool nearby, where Jacklyne could see the children as well as care for Zuphixy.

After that everyone went to the room where the children made a jigsaw puzzle while Zuphixy had his caregiver read a book to him, while it was just the four of them in the room. After that they checked to see if Michael and Abeba were awake yet, which to Jacklyne’s relief, Michael and Ababa were just leaving to find their children.

Once the children were with their parents, Zuphixy and his caregiver went to the spa where they fell asleep after getting a message. At that time the Wilson's family played a family game of basketball again until it was lunch time. Once Zuphixy and his caregiver woke up again they also went to have a late lunch. After lunch Zuphixy and his caregiver went for a swim and were surprised to find the pool area was empty for the whole time that they were in the pool. After that they went back to their room where Zuphixy got his caregiver to give him some physiotherapy to which Zuphixy's legs keep spasming a lot.

While that was going on Wilson's family watched a movie in their room and this time everyone enjoyed it without any interruptions, unlike the last time. After the movie was over, they all went for a walk around the ship to get some exercise. When everyone got tired of walking, they went to a performance that Zuphixy and his caregiver just so happened to go to as well. When the performance was over it was time to get ready for dinner. Now Elijah and his father had room service while everyone else went to the dining room.

Suddenly Zendaya in the middle of eating got an upset stomach and had to leave the dining room and spent the rest of the evening in bed, much to the shock of her father and brother. Zuphixy was scared that Zendaya caught a flu and that she was going to make him sick. Jacklyne was not as scared because she thought that it could be a reaction to something Zendaya had just eaten. After dinner was over Elijah and his father went and played basketball while Zendaya rested back in their room. When the basketball game was finished it was time for Elijah to go to bed.

By the next day Zendaya was feeling a lot better, but her parents decided to have her checked over by the medical staff just to be on the safe side. Abeba went with Zendaya to see the medical staff while Michael and Elijah went to the buffet for breakfast then played ping pong. The doctor thought Zendaya most likely had eaten something new that she was allergic to, based on the timeline of her symptoms coming and going. Because she had never eaten that food before there would be no way for her to know. Luckily for Zendaya she had no severe symptoms and she was better as soon as the food was out of her system.

While that was going on, Zuphixy and his caregiver had gone to the buffet for breakfast before getting off the ship in Puerto Quetzal. Again there were no tours that were wheelchair accessible for Zuphixy, so all they could do off the ship was go to a gift shop close by. Zuphixy couldn’t even get into the shops and had to send his caregiver in to do the shopping while he waited outside in the hot sun. As there was not much for Zuphixy to do off the ship, he ended up going back and took a nap until it was lunch time, which they had in the buffet.

After lunch the Wilson's family took a tour bus. Elijah kept asking why the bus didn't have a place for Zuphixy's wheelchair like the one bus had a few days before. He just couldn't understand why one bus did and this bus didn't. No matter what his parents said he just couldn't accept the response. When the tour was done they had just enough time to do some souvenir shopping before they had to get back on the ship just in time for it to leave the port over dinner. They had dinner in their room as Elijah was acting up in a way that was inappropriate to be in public.

While the Wilson's family were on the tour Zuphixy and his caregiver decided that there was no point getting off the ship again as accessibility was limited, so they spent the afternoon in their room watching a movie and then went for a message while the housekeeper cleaned their room. Soon after that it was time to have dinner in the dining room as the ship pulled away from port. After dinner was over everyone went to a performance where Elijah had fallen asleep on his father's lap. Zendaya was so into the performance that when it ended it took her a bit to get back to reality. She accidentally screamed, “No it can't be over!” to the shock of everyone within hearing range which also shocked Elijah awake. It was late for the children to go to bed so they rushed as fast as they could back to their room. Which was not all that fast because everyone else on the ship was also trying to get back to their rooms and the elevators were very busy. Elijah had fallen back asleep in his father's arms. When they finally did get back to their room everyone went to bed. Overnight it became windy which rocked the ship a bit more and the children started to feel a little bit seasick .

By the time morning came, the wind calmed down again and the children did not feel as sick any more, but they were sleepy from getting up a few times during the night. Once everyone was ready they had breakfast in the buffet. The children had a light breakfast because they wanted to be sure that eating would not upset their stomach. By the time everyone was done eating they realized that they were docked in Puerto Chiapas. Just like the last place the ship stopped there were no wheelchair accessible tours but Micheal was allowed to lift Zuphixy on a tour bus so that he could get off the boat for a little bit. When they got back it was lunch time which they had back on the ship in the buffet.

Once the Wilson's were done with their lunch they went off the boat and did some shopping while Zuphixy and his caregiver stayed on the ship and read a book in their room. When the Wilson's got back from shopping Zuphixy's caregiver went off the boat by herself and did some shopping while the Wilson's stayed with Zuphixy in case he needed help with something. After that everyone played a card game together and even though Zuphixy could not physically play, they did their best to include him in the game. After the game was finished everyone went swimming. The Wilson's were surprised how well Zuphixy could swim. Elijah had to be kept away from splashing Zuphixy. Elijah of course did not splash Zuphixy on purpose. Splashing was just something he did when he was excited about swimming.

Soon after it was dinner time and Elijah didn't want to stop swimming. It took the three adults together to finely get Elijah out of the pool. They were going to have one person stay with Elijah in their room but he refused to stay, so they ended up taking him to the dining room and hoped he would not make a fuss. Jacklyn loaned Elijah some noise cancelling headphones and her mp3 player with relaxing sounds, which helped him get through the meal. After everyone was done eating it was time for a performance, but it seemed like it was a repeat of one they saw before so they left to find something else to do. Most of the things seemed to be repeated until they found a sign along to the eighties. At first they thought it was the quiz show that they had done earlier but then they learned it was a sign along. They had nothing better to do than join in, until Elijah decided that it was too loud for him. So Zendaya took her brother to the arcade where they played ping pong until Elijah's bedtime. Zendaya then went to the library and did some reading until it was time for her to go to bed, which was a couple of hours later.

As that was going on Zuphixy and his caregiver also tried to find something to do but they couldn't find anything interesting. Zuphixy’s caregiver pushed him while walking around the jogging track before going back to their room and watched a movie until they fell asleep with the TV on. In the middle of the night Zuphixy’s caregiver woke up and turned the TV off then she fell back asleep without Zuphixy knowing that the TV was even left on.

The following morning it was raining when the ship pulled up to Huatulco Mexico and yet again, no wheelchair accessible tours for Zuphixy to take. So Zuphixy was forced to stay on the ship because it was raining too hard to even walk to a gift shop in the town. This made Zuphixy frustrated as he didn't want to have a day on the ship when everyone else could take tour buses. Elijah wanted to spend time with Zuphixy instead of going on a tour, but his parents had pre-booked the tour so he had no choice but to go with his family. Which was just as good because Zuphixy was in a grumpy mood due to being stuck on the ship. As it was raining, Zuphixy and his caregiver went back to their room and watched something on the TV. Their room didn't have a window so they didn't know that by the time the movie was over it had stopped raining. After the movie finished they went to see what else they could do on the ship, and only then did they learn that it had stopped raining. So they got off the ship and went to a gift shop that was nearby.

When it was time for lunch on the ship they got a table beside the Wilson's family by chance. Elijah couldn't stop talking about what they saw on the tour bus, which just upset Zuphixy because would have liked to have done the tour, but with the accessibility problems there was no way he could have done it. Zuphixy tried not to show that he was upset because Zuphixy understood there was no way for Elijah to understand. The more Elijah talked about the tour the harder it was for Zuphixy to keep his feelings to himself, and in the middle of having his lunch he just uncontrollably started to cry and he decided to leave the area with his caregiver in order not to make a scene. Elijah was confused why Zuphixy left upset as he felt that hadn't done anything to get that reaction.

Once lunch was over the Wilson's went off the ship to do some shopping but Elijah was not cooperating with the shopping and ran back to the ship while everyone else was still shopping. Michael had to run after Elijah to make sure he stayed safe and they both ended up back on the ship while the women of the family shopped. Now with Elijah on the ship again all he would do was play ping pong with his father until his father was sore from playing so much, and there was a lineup of other people who wanted to play.

It took Zuphixy a long time to calm himself down in their room after he got upset at lunch in the buffet. His caregiver had tried to find something so that Zuphixy would focus on something else, but that didn't work. Finally Zuphixy had cried so much he fell asleep. This gave his caregiver some time to go to the gym and build up her muscles, but she didn't stay away too long because she didn't know how long Zuphixy would nap. When Zuphixy woke up he was not as sad anymore, and even felt bad for his caregiver because there was nothing anyone had done. He was just frustrated with having a disability. After that he had a shower with help from his caregiver before going to the dining room for supper.

Once the women were done shopping there was no time to do anything else off the ship as the ship was going to leave the port soon. Once on the ship Abeba went straight to the casino. Zendaya was disappointed that her mother kept going to the casino even though it should not have surprised her. It was well known by Abeba’s family that Abeba has a gambling and drinking problem, but until Abeba realizes it herself there was nothing Zendaya could do but let her mother gamble. Zendaya, being by herself now, went to the library and read some books until it was dinner time. No one knew who would stay in their room with Elijah for dinner and who was going to the dining room so everyone met in their room. Abeba got back to their room too late for her to change, so at the last minute it was decided that she would stay with Elijah instead of Michael. Zendaya had to be very careful with what she ordered as no one wanted her to react to any food again, so she had something that she had many times before without reacting to the relief of everyone.

After dinner everyone met up with Abeba and Elijah and went to a performance that was designed for children. By the time the performance was done it was time for Elijah to go to bed. After Elijah was in bed his sister could stay up one hour longer. For that hour she played a game of pool with her parents which ended up taking longer than they expected. By the time the game was over she was an hour late for bed.

Meanwhile Zuphixy had his caregiver push him around the jogging path when they saw a whale jump up beside the boat which shocked everyone who saw it. Zuphixy was recording his trip, got a video of the whale jumping. After that they went to a performance that was on after the one for children. Once the performance that Zuphixy had gone to see was over it was late and he fell asleep in his wheelchair on their way back to their room. Once back in their room they went straight to bed. The next day was a day at sea again so everyone could sleep in. Except for Elijah, who woke up at sunrise at six in the morning, and played with some toys he had taken from home. Because everyone else had gone to bed late they slept until ten in the morning. Everyone was surprised but happy that Elijah had stayed in their room when they learned how long he had been up before they had got up. They went for a late breakfast. They were surprised to see Zuphixy and his caregiver having a late breakfast because they also slept in.

As they were leaving the buffet, Elijah saw an old lady with a white cane who looked a lot like his grandmother and Elijah ran up to her. The old lady decided to be friendly to Elijah as she had grandchildren of her own. At first she also thought that Elijah was one of her grandchildren as she had a vision impairment. When she heard his voice she learned that Elijah was some other boy. By which time she already had given Elijah some candy that she had in her purse for when she went to visit her grandchildren. Elijah liked candy so much and because he thought the old lady was his grandmother he ate the candy right away without getting permission from his parents. They only learned about it when Elijah showed the wrapper from the candy and he expanded how he got it. When his parents learned what Elijah had done with the old lady, they were mad. Not just at Elijah but also the old lady, who should have known better than to give candy to a strange boy without checking with his parents. They had not seen the lady so they could not do anything about it.

At the same time, Zuphixy and his caregiver were swimming, when a stranger started to make fun of Zuphixy needing a wheelchair, to the point that Zuphixy was put in danger. The stranger had moved Zuphixy's wheelchair away just as Zuphixy was being transferred into it, which made his caregiver almost drop Zuphixy on the ground. But she managed to safely lower him down to the ground instead. The stranger only stopped bugging them when a crew member saw what was going on and forced the stranger to stop. After the stranger was gone Zuphixy went with his caregiver to the doctor on board the boat just to be sure Zuphixy or his caregiver had not got hurt when the stranger had made Zuphixy fall. After that they spent some time in their room to relax after the bad experience the stranger gave them.

At that time Zendaya was packing up her dirty clothes when she had an idea that maybe she could run away and live with her aunt that lived in the city that the ship was going to stop at next. Now she wanted to run away because she didn't want to be around her mother when her mother was drunk and her father was at work, once they got back home from their vacation. She also didn’t like that she had to care for her brother as their mother was not mentally capable to do so when she was drunk. But then she thought of how her brother would suffer if she ran away, and there was no way that they both could run away because he needed too much care. Then she thought what would the crew do if she said that her mother was not treating her right. She picked up the phone to find out, but then decided that she didn't want to get her father in trouble, and hung the phone back up before even making a call. Just then the rest of her family came into the room.

Elijah had to tell his sister how he had seen his grandmother, which surprised Zendaya until their parents corrected him by letting her know that it was just an old lady who looked a lot like their grandmother. After which everyone went for lunch in the buffet when Elijah accidently spilled some soup, which just missed his sister only because she jumped out of the way in time. Abeba got more angry than she needed to at Elijah. Zendaya took Elijah to the arcade while Michael tried to calm Abeba down. Elijah was too upset with his mother, even though Zendaya was playing Elijah’s favorite game that usually has worked to redirect his feelings. But this time it didn't work and he just kept apologizing to his sister for spilling the soup on her even though it missed her.

When went back to their room, Elijah used the sound of the shower to calm him down again. Zendaya in frustration took all of her mother’s clothes and dumped them on the floor making as big of a mess as she could. Soon after her parents came into the room and saw the mess, with Zendaya sitting on her bed reading a book, and Elijah still in the bathroom but the shower was turned off. Her parents thought that Elijah had made the mess before he went to the bathroom and tried to find out from Zendaya what had happened. Now she didn't want them to know it was her, but she also didn't want her brother to get into trouble for something she had done, so she lied and claimed she found it that way before she and her brother got to the room. Her parents knew better, so they asked Elijah when he got out of the bathroom. He seemed just as surprised as his parents were, he even asked why there was such a mess as he didn't like messes. Finally Zendaya admitted to making the mess, which just got her mother mad at her for lying and as a punishment she had to clean it up by herself while her mother watched. Meanwhile Elijah went swimming with his father in the pool on another part of the ship. After Zendaya had cleared up the mess she had made and everything was packed the whole family went to a performance.

Meanwhile Zuphixy and his caregiver had their lunch in their room as they were scared that the same person would attack them again. But then they got bored and decided to go see a performance elsewhere in the boat. They were on high alert of anyone that seemed suspicious. After the performance was over Zuphixy, with help from his caregiver, packed up what they would not need anymore. After they were finished packing it was dinner time. As Zuphixy and his caregiver got in the dinning room they saw the man who had been mean to them earlier but luckily he was far away but it did make them uneasy.

Zendaya didn’t want to have dinner with her mother, so she went to the buffet for dinner by herself while her father stayed with Elijah in their room, and Abeba had dinner in the dining room by herself thinking she was going to be with Zendaya. Everyone went to finish packing while Abeba gambled until it was late into the night. She figured Zendaya stayed in the room to have supper. Now Zendaya had done her packing earlier, so she went for a jog around the boat before going to bed. After everyone was done packing they put the suitcases in the hall before going to bed.

Because Zuphixy and his caregiver had packed before dinner they had time to go to a performance. There weren't too many people around, as most everyone else was in their rooms packing. Zuphixy and his caregiver went to bed after putting their suitcases in the hall as late as they could get away with, as they didn't feel safe leaving it out there while there was a chance someone could steal it.

The next morning the cruise ship was docked in San Diego and everyone’s suitcases had been taken off the ship by the crew. They all had to have breakfast at the buffet. Elijah was overwhelmed by all the people but, as this was the last meal on the ship they could not do room service. Elijah swayed back and forth as a way to calm down. After they were done with their breakfast they went to the library to wait for their turn to get off the ship, as people got off the ship in assigned groups. They were put into groups so that the elevators didn't get too busy.

Zuphixy and his caregiver were put in the same group as the Wilson's family. As they were waiting their turn, Elijah kept asking Zuphixy questions about the Netherlands. The information Zuphixy had told them about the Netherlands made the children want to go visit right away, but their parents knew it would be impossible to go to the Netherlands right away. It takes time to make the arrangements and the children had to go back to school as it was the middle of November. Once it was their turn to get off the ship they had to go through customs. After that the Wilson's family took a bus to the airport and Zuphixy and his caregiver took a wheelchair accessible taxi to the airport. While they were waiting for their plane Elijah would not stop begging to go to the Netherlands. He didn't understand why he couldn't just go with Zuphixy.