Reaching Destination

The tedious journey finally came to a rest and Hughes deboarded the plane with her accompanier at Dulles International Airport. Sesay had already informed Huges’ grandmother about her arrival. She was at the airport waiting for her granddaughter. She picked her up and gave her a tight hug. The man, on the other hand, bid goodbye to the little girl and went his own way.    

In Memories

The very next month, Sesay came back to the United States. From that day on the little girl would not stop talking about the man. “I always gave my mom a hard time because he was a complete stranger, and it was risky.” 

Discussing It

Though many years passed by, they still wondered who he was. They discussed the instance with their many family members. A decade had gone by and as usual one day she shared the same story with one of her cousins. It was from there she received a big breakthrough.   

A Colleague

The story that Sesay told rang a bell with her cousin. Someone had told her about it. It was her former colleague. She revealed it to Sesay. However, her cousin had no idea where was he now and what was he doing. She had lost touch with him as they were not working together any longer. The latter was not staying in the United States anymore.   

After Six Years

Six years passed by and her that cousin made a visit to Sesay in the United States. She mentioned the story again that Sesay had told her. Her cousin had an update on it. Sesay said, “[My cousin] said, ‘Hey, Zainab, did you ever track Tom Perriello down?’ And I said, ‘Who’s that?’”   

Tom Perriello

It was then her cousin told her that Tom Perriello was the guy who had saved her daughter. Sesay quotes her sister, “the guy who you said brought Maya back. Remember? I told you he’s a colleague of a colleague.” This was the first time Sesay was hearing this name. However, the revelation had infused hope and determination into her. She soon found his email address and sent a text to him.