Nicholas Quirke was facing the inescapable truth that he invited chaos into his life and invariably drew those around him into it. He was looking forward to their morning at the Souk, apparently the largest of its kind in Morocco, at Had Ra. They were meeting Kamal and Holly at Bab Doukkala to get transport to the souk which was 25 Kilometers away. They got a taxi, it was sunny all looked positive. The market was phenomenal and quite unlike anything he had seen before. He noticed immediately that there was barely a woman in sight as they made their way down the street. This was clearly the domain of men and it was noisy, It was crowded, noisy and full of astonishing sights and smells, as alien to him as the Hiedelberg Project in Detroit had been to him a year before. Everything was on sale from Peacocks, Camels, Cows, plastic bottles and pipes, to Oranges and Olive mountains. It felt like chaos and looked terrifying and as Nicholas tried to capture the mayhem in the streets using his camera and his phone, his mobile was stolen from the top pocket of his jacket. it cast a pallor over the day as it dragged everyone into his mess and it took over the event. They went to the police and the detective, who was sat in his office,looking like a bandit smoking a cigar and holding court with his guards, advised they needed two photographs, his passport and a photocopy and proof of address,none of which he had on him so they had to go back to Essaouira. Nicholas was seeing a side of Morocco he had not expected and began to enjoy the world he was now exploring as once they had dropped off their shopping and a sick Richard and negotiated with the taxi driver to collect them later at Bab Mrrakech , he had photos taken in a studio, had lunch and then discovered a photocopiers. Ready for the police they took the taxi back to the Police Station, only to discover it was closed. Kamal and Nicholas explored round the back of the station which looked like it was someones home and they met a young girl who took them to Omar, the guard on duty. Everything was completed but they would need to return in the morning when the chief had signed the report. It was a strange bond of friendship he now shared with Holly and Kamal and was already looking forward to seeing them when he returned. Back in Essaouira there was a short break during which Nicholas went shopping before Richard and Eileen’s guests, Diane, Tig and Nabil arrived. Nicholas was exhausted by his experience and the energy that the theft of his phone and the drama surrounding it had given him began to dissipate and he found himself unable to contribute much to the gathering and at about 9 pm he took himself to bed and to sleep.
