Carli's Choice is an online fiction novel/blog series written by S. Gordon, and is about a young woman's journey to becoming an adult. Learning to make her own choices and developing the confidence to do so. She goes through various experiences and ultimately makes a decision that will change the course of her life significantly.
Table of Contents
Please click on highlighted chapters below to read full story.
- Chapter 1 ---> New Friends
- Chapter 2 ---> Face off
- Chapter 3---> Maybe or maybe not
- Chapter 4 ---> The fool can wait
- Chapter 5 ---> Fools rush in
- Chapter 6 ---> The paint job
- Chapter 7--->Cheques and balances
- Chapter 8 ---> Just the beginning
- Chapter 9 ---> Family ties
- Chapter 10 --> Tell no lies
- Chapter 11 --> Finding paradise
- Chapter 12 --> Promises
- Chapter 13 --> Seeing Red
- Chapter 14 --> Laying foundations
- Chapter 15 --> Revelations
- Chapter 16 --> Christmas Wish
- Chapter 17 --> The Gift
- Chapter 18 --> Like father, like son
- Chapter 19-->Reconciliation and rescue
- Chapter 20 --> Her Choice
Chapter 1: New friends
Carlethia James stretched sleepily across the backseat of the car. They had driven in from Mandeville and had just arrived at the university campus in Kingston. She was quite happy going to the university in her own parish, Manchester, but her parents insisted that going to a university outside of her home town would be good for building her character and give her good exposure to the hustle and bustle of the capital city --if ever she wanted to move there for work, that is, if she needed to.
Indeed, she was a sheltered child, something her parents made sure was the case, so now their sudden concern about her getting more exposure to different people and things, though commendable, was a bit confusing. She only had two friends, and they were her friends from prep school days till now. Her parents were quite okay with that, until four months ago when her bestie out of her two friends got pregnant. Carlethia stifled a yawn. She wondered what her parents were up to.
Mrs. James, Carlethia's mom, slightly leaned over the front seat and gave her daughter a worried look. "Carli, hun, are you feeling any better?"
Carlethia looked up at her mother. She only called her Carli when she was feeling guilty. Carli sighed. "Mommy, I am ok."
Her father looked over at his daughter and wife and shook his head. He loved these two women but their recent clashes were getting to him.
"Sharon, I'm sure our daughter is quite fine, no need to start an interrogation," he said while carefully parking the family car.
"Carlos," Sharon turned around to face forward. "I am only just asking, nothing more."
He shot her a 'yeah right' look and she swiveled around to look through her passenger side window. Carlethia sat up and threw off the sweater she had wrapped around her torso. She did feel a bit chilly, maybe she was coming down with something. All of that didn't matter. All that mattered was that she was in a place where she didn't want to be.
Sharon swiftly got out of the parked vehicle and motioned her husband to open the trunk. Walking around the back she gave her daughter 'the eye' and a quick head movement signalling she wanted her to come out of the car and help her.
Reluctantly, Carli opened the car door and closed it carefully. Her father wouldn't take kindly to her slamming the door of a car he spent years working towards purchasing. She took the lighter bag from her mother's hand and headed off in the direction of the dorm. She said nothing to her mother, which got her a deadly stare to her retreating back.
Carlos gently closed his door. "Shar," his name of endearment for her. "I told you this was not a good idea. You know she had her heart set on going to college closer to home."
Sharon angrily tugged the bag behind her. "What did you want me to do? Stay there and let her get pregnant like Simone?" Carlos walked behind her, his footsteps light. He used to be an athlete, he did the 200 and 400 metres in his time at high school and when he was at CAST now called UTECH he was a track star. That was where he met Sharon, she was studying Business Administration while he was doing courses in Engineering. He was a country boy, she was from the hills of St. Andrew. He loved a challenge, but there were some days his wife made him wonder if he had made the right decision.
He chuckled to himself watching his wife struggle to haul the bag behind her, though it had wheels attached, there were a lot of clothes and other stuff in there, as if Carli was packing the whole house with her.
Quickly, he came up behind her and took the bag from her. "Allow me," he said, a mocking look on his face. Sharon greeted him with a fiery gaze, recognizing that he was silently laughing at her. She turned her head and picked up her walking pace, a pace which he easily matched. Realising she was now laboring to out walk him, he reached out and gently grabbed her arm.
"Babes!"
She looked up, feeling a twinge of guilt because of the look in his eyes, she sighed. "I'm sorry," she said, then bowed her head slowly. "Am I wrong to protect my daughter?"
Carlos let go of the bag and reached up and touched his wife's face with both hands. "Honey, Carli is not Simone. And Simone is fine. Her parents are helping her through everything. I doubt Simone wanted this situation either, but it is what it is. Sharon we know our daughter, and we know what we taught her. We have to trust that is enough. She is nineteen, we have to trust her."
"You know that Carli and Matthew were dating and he is the reason she doesn't want to come here," Sharon said, looking up at her husband.
Carlos laughed. "Hun, if they want to see each other they will. So I think her being here is no issue. It's because you applied on her behalf and made the arrangements for her application to be accepted. You didn't even tell me! How did you think I felt about it? You could have let me know what you were thinking."
"You would have stopped me!" She moved away from his grasp. "I will not apologize for steering my child in the right way. Both of you will thank me one of these days."
Carlos felt his frustration level rise a little. Trying not to sound too agitated he lowered his voice. "Shar, I am not saying this isn't a great university, all I am saying, you should have spoken to us first, spoken to me."
Sharon begrudgingly saw his point. "Probably... I suppose I could have said something to you."
Carlos smiled. "Come here." He beckoned to her. Sharon went into his loving embrace.
"I'm sorry."
"Mhm." He stroked her hair slowly.
Amusedly, he watched as passersby looked at the two of them. He wondered if they were thinking why these two middle aged folks were embracing on the campus or if they envied them a little.
***
Carlethia found her dorm easily. She and her mom had visited the Hall on the day they went to admissions to pick up her package. She went into her room and placed the bag on the bed closest to the door. There were wooden windows that opened to a nice enough view of some plants and a tree. She was on the ground floor thankfully, she hated walking up and down stairs. She observed there were no bags or anything looking like personal items so she figured she was the first person there.
She began unpacking her bag, trying not to think of her last heated conversation with her mother. Ahh! Too late...
"Mommy, I don't get you. From I was growing up Simone and Nichelee were the only two girls you allowed me to have as friends. I couldn't go anywhere if they weren't going and I had to make sure you spoke to their parents to make sure they were. Why this behaviour now?! Why can't Simone come over here. And what is wrong with Nichie (Nichelee) coming over?"
"Those girls are a bad influence on you." Sharon was folding laundry, her back was to her and she spoke to Carli in that position. That was just like her, whenever Carli confronted her on something, she wouldn't sit down and talk to her. No. Sharon would continue doing whatever she did and never spared a thought at how that made her daughter feel.
"Mommy, how so?" Carli folded her arms across her chest.
Sharon looked up and saw her daughter's reflection in her bedroom mirror. Slowly, she stood up and turned around to face her.
"Your bestie is pregnant and either doesn't know who the father is or won't say. And Nichelee's parents are getting divorced," she said coldly.
"Now we're hearing her father is a woman beater!" Sharon lowered her voice to an icy whisper.
Carli could feel the anger rising in her. With a sound of disgust she stormed out of her parents' bedroom, went into her room and slammed the door.
Immediately afterwards she heard her mother shout, "How many times have I told you not to slam the door! If that door ever falls off that is it. Mi nah buy nuh door fi yuh room!"
***
"Hey!"
Carli heard a sharp voice and fingers snap, which thankfully pulled her from her musings. She looked up.
"Hey, that was going to be my bed!"
A tall, graceful young woman with long relaxed hair looked in on her. She was standing at the doorway her bags in her hands. She had dark skin with no blemishes. She was slender but filled out quite well in the pair of jeans she wore.
Her large breasts teased in a low neck pink T-shirt. Carli, realising that she wasn't wearing a bra, was disgusted. Why was she walking around like that? Things that had no business poking out in public were proudly on display.
The girl, noticing that Carli's eyes furtively glanced at her chest more than once, smiled broadly, and said, "I don't go that way hun. I like boys."
Carli blinked. "What?"
"I said I like boys, not girls."
Carli resumed unpacking her bag. "Don't worry, you're not my type."
Just then another young woman burst through the doorway, brushing past the buxom beauty who was still standing at the door, raking her gaze over Carli.
The second woman placed her bag to the far end of the room on the bed closest to the window. She smiled broadly at the two now looking at her.
"Hi. I'm Shauna. What's your name?"
"Carli. Carlethia James, but call me Carli." She smiled at the girl briefly then went back to placing her clothes on the bed.
'Big breasts' entered the room and placed her bags on the bed closest to the back wall. "Marsha," she said. Shauna reached out her hand to Marsha who looked up and extended her own hand and shook Shauna's. Carli turned, reached over and shook Shauna's hand, but turned away from Marsha's outstretched hand to her. Noticing the snub, Shauna averted her eyes quickly and turned to unpacking her bags.
Marsha's eyes sent invisible darts into Carli's back.
The ladies looked up to see Carli's parents coming in with the much larger bag. "Ladies," Carlos said in greeting. He looked at his daughter. "Carli these are your roommates?"
Carli rolled her eyes. "Yes daddy."
Carli's mother looked at her expecting to be introduced.
"Oh mom, dad, this is Shauna." Shauna waved enthusiastically at Carli's parents. Carli continued. "And that," her voice dripped with a sarcasm, only her mom could pick up, "is Marsha."
Carli's mom scanned Marsha from head to toe but said nothing. One look at Marsha was enough for Carli to know her mom's stare made her uncomfortable. Sharon pursed her lips, then only said. "Hello dears, nice to meet you."
Carlos cleared his throat. "Where do you want me to leave your bag, kiddo?"
Carli reached for the handle and took it from him. "Here is fine daddy, thank you." She smiled at him. He always knew when to lighten the mood.
Her mom moved close to give her a hug. Carli stiffly reciprocated. Sharon whispered in her daughter's ear. "I will call you tonight and we'll talk more okay. I know it may not have seemed like this was a good idea but give it a try, for me." Stepping back, she released her daughter from the hug and looked into her eyes. Though Carli was a foot taller than her, she was the one with the formidable stare down tactics. Carli bowed her head and looked away, "Yes, mother."
Sharon smoothed down her daughter's freshly permed tresses. They opted for Wave Nouveau. Though Carlos had preferred his daughter kept her hair natural, Sharon insisted it was better to have it processed since the hairdresser Carli would normally go to was not in Kingston, plus she felt like giving Carli the responsibility of taking care of her own hair would be good for her. Sharon's sister, who lived in Kingston, had recommended her own stylist and Sharon was impressed with the knowledge and professionalism the young woman displayed.
They had gone into town the weekend before, gotten Carli's hair done and even had her's washed and pressed as well. Then they spent the day at Sandra's house and caught up on the local gossip. Sandra, who was always the more outgoing one, had snagged a lawyer for herself and was content in the business she had built from the ground up.
Sharon was more organized, more reserved but had done very well for herself. Her husband was the general manager of a water treatment facility in Clarendon and she was head of the accounting department of a chain of supermarkets in Mandeville. She was just fine. She only wanted what was best for her daughter. She was the only one she had.
Sharon smiled at her baby. "The look fits you, I'm glad she used the larger rods at the top."
Carli smiled. Though she was skeptical at first and didn't like the scalp burns, she did like the look. The stylist herself had offered half off the first time she went to shampoo it, which would be tomorrow.
She followed her parents to the door. She hugged and kissed her dad on the cheek and hugged her mom.
"No kiss?"
Carli leaned over and kissed her mom on the cheek.
Sharon smiled. "Okay, will call you later."
Carlos held on to his wife's hand and pulled her away from the doorway. Carli watched them for awhile, looking at how her parents interacted with each other, she knew they loved each other. She wondered if she would ever find a love like that.
When she turned around, Marsha looked at her with a sardonic smile on her lips. "Rich kid, uh?" She plopped on her bed, her breasts jiggled a little. "Welcome princess, we are your humble subjects." She mockingly bowed.
Shauna hissed her teeth. "Carli nuh pay har nuh mine, a suh she stay!"
Marsha made a vulgar laugh. "Yes mistress virgin, nuh man never touch you yet, missis gwaan like yuh nice! Miss perfect! Look mi nah nuh time fi none a unnu suh ere wah. Mi a guh see wah gwan cross the hall, yere! Am out!" Though she hadn't finished unpacking Marsha stepped out the door.
Carli shook her head. "What is her problem?"
Shauna started hanging up a few items on her corner of the wall.
"She just has a bad attitude, from high school days mi kno har!"
"Oh zeen!" Carli replied. She took out a few clothes hangers and started placing some dresses on them. There was enough closet space but she decided to utilise the nails she saw on the wall behind her bed.
"So why did you behave as if you didn't know her?" Carli asked puzzled.
Shauna chuckled. "It's a game I guess. Marsha plays along with it, we're actually good friends but she acts like a bitch sometimes, so I have to call her out on it." She went back to unpacking.
Carli shook her head. Strange people.
Carli never had a beef with another female before, she always tried to cultivate a kind of comraderie with everyone back in high school. This was a new and unpleasant experience. All she knew was that if she could avoid that girl, she would make sure to do all in her power to make that possible.
Carli felt a bit overwhelmed with all the assignments she had to do. Her mother had warned her that if she had not gotten on top of things from early, she would be swimming in regret and up to her ears with assignments. Carli groaned and sunk her head into the textbook she was reading. She was at the Main Library at the university's campus. She knew she was in big trouble.
She wasn't usually a procrastinator. When it came to work and study, she always did her best. Now she felt trapped, knowing she was at a place she didn't want to be and studying a degree her heart wasn't in.
Lifting her head, she gently pressed her phone's power button to see the time. It was 5:00 pm. Time for her to head to her dorm, have a shower and prepare a meal for herself. Shauna had invited her to a sort of writing club that met around 6:30 but she didn't feel like going. She took up the phone and dialed her number.
After two rings Shauna picked up. "Hey girl, what's up? Looking forward to seeing you later."
Carli grimaced. Over the past month she realised that when Shauna didn't want to hear you back out of something she would say. "I would really love to see you there" or "It would be so wonderful if you could stop by", or this statement now, "Looking forward to seeing you later".
Carli sighed. "That's the thing. I won't be able to make it."
"How come?" Shauna asked. "You said last week you would be available," she added matter of factly.
Carli swallowed, trying to ignore the feeling of guilt at the pit of her stomach. "Yeah, I know, but I have this really bad headache. So I'm just gonna lay down and then see if I can finish this research paper I have."
After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Shauna replied, "Okay, hope you'll feel better soon." She hung up.
Carli shook her head as if to clear it from some mental fog. She hated to disappoint her. She was a great roommate but she had to get this work done and she needed to lay down. She was beginning to actually feel a pulsing, drumming sensation in her head.
Grabbing her phone, books and bag, Carli headed through the doors of the main room, and exiting the library looked up at the sky. It was a clear blue with a few white puffy clouds. The sun's rays was welcome warmth after being stuck in the air conditioned room for two hours. It was a Friday, she only had one lecture and the professor had canceled citing an emergency.
She headed in the direction of her dorm. Dragging herself slowly her head down, she never noticed the figure hurtling towards her. The young man knocked into her and Carli found herself on her bum disoriented.
"Oh, I am very sorry!" He extended his hand offering to help her up. Carli took it with reservation.
"You really should look where you're going you know," Carli scowled. She looked down on her clothes, using her hands, she brushed off a bit of dust on her jeans.
The young man chuckled. "As far as I recall, you were the one with your head scraping the ground. I was about to move past you when you suddenly changed direction and bumped into me!"
The girl, noticing that Carli's eyes furtively glanced at her chest more than once, smiled broadly, and said, "I don't go that way hun. I like boys."
Carli blinked. "What?"
"I said I like boys, not girls."
Carli resumed unpacking her bag. "Don't worry, you're not my type."
Just then another young woman burst through the doorway, brushing past the buxom beauty who was still standing at the door, raking her gaze over Carli.
The second woman placed her bag to the far end of the room on the bed closest to the window. She smiled broadly at the two now looking at her.
"Hi. I'm Shauna. What's your name?"
"Carli. Carlethia James, but call me Carli." She smiled at the girl briefly then went back to placing her clothes on the bed.
'Big breasts' entered the room and placed her bags on the bed closest to the back wall. "Marsha," she said. Shauna reached out her hand to Marsha who looked up and extended her own hand and shook Shauna's. Carli turned, reached over and shook Shauna's hand, but turned away from Marsha's outstretched hand to her. Noticing the snub, Shauna averted her eyes quickly and turned to unpacking her bags.
Marsha's eyes sent invisible darts into Carli's back.
The ladies looked up to see Carli's parents coming in with the much larger bag. "Ladies," Carlos said in greeting. He looked at his daughter. "Carli these are your roommates?"
Carli rolled her eyes. "Yes daddy."
Carli's mother looked at her expecting to be introduced.
"Oh mom, dad, this is Shauna." Shauna waved enthusiastically at Carli's parents. Carli continued. "And that," her voice dripped with a sarcasm, only her mom could pick up, "is Marsha."
Carli's mom scanned Marsha from head to toe but said nothing. One look at Marsha was enough for Carli to know her mom's stare made her uncomfortable. Sharon pursed her lips, then only said. "Hello dears, nice to meet you."
Carlos cleared his throat. "Where do you want me to leave your bag, kiddo?"
Carli reached for the handle and took it from him. "Here is fine daddy, thank you." She smiled at him. He always knew when to lighten the mood.
Her mom moved close to give her a hug. Carli stiffly reciprocated. Sharon whispered in her daughter's ear. "I will call you tonight and we'll talk more okay. I know it may not have seemed like this was a good idea but give it a try, for me." Stepping back, she released her daughter from the hug and looked into her eyes. Though Carli was a foot taller than her, she was the one with the formidable stare down tactics. Carli bowed her head and looked away, "Yes, mother."
Sharon smoothed down her daughter's freshly permed tresses. They opted for Wave Nouveau. Though Carlos had preferred his daughter kept her hair natural, Sharon insisted it was better to have it processed since the hairdresser Carli would normally go to was not in Kingston, plus she felt like giving Carli the responsibility of taking care of her own hair would be good for her. Sharon's sister, who lived in Kingston, had recommended her own stylist and Sharon was impressed with the knowledge and professionalism the young woman displayed.
They had gone into town the weekend before, gotten Carli's hair done and even had her's washed and pressed as well. Then they spent the day at Sandra's house and caught up on the local gossip. Sandra, who was always the more outgoing one, had snagged a lawyer for herself and was content in the business she had built from the ground up.
Sharon was more organized, more reserved but had done very well for herself. Her husband was the general manager of a water treatment facility in Clarendon and she was head of the accounting department of a chain of supermarkets in Mandeville. She was just fine. She only wanted what was best for her daughter. She was the only one she had.
Sharon smiled at her baby. "The look fits you, I'm glad she used the larger rods at the top."
Carli smiled. Though she was skeptical at first and didn't like the scalp burns, she did like the look. The stylist herself had offered half off the first time she went to shampoo it, which would be tomorrow.
She followed her parents to the door. She hugged and kissed her dad on the cheek and hugged her mom.
"No kiss?"
Carli leaned over and kissed her mom on the cheek.
Sharon smiled. "Okay, will call you later."
Carlos held on to his wife's hand and pulled her away from the doorway. Carli watched them for awhile, looking at how her parents interacted with each other, she knew they loved each other. She wondered if she would ever find a love like that.
When she turned around, Marsha looked at her with a sardonic smile on her lips. "Rich kid, uh?" She plopped on her bed, her breasts jiggled a little. "Welcome princess, we are your humble subjects." She mockingly bowed.
Shauna hissed her teeth. "Carli nuh pay har nuh mine, a suh she stay!"
Marsha made a vulgar laugh. "Yes mistress virgin, nuh man never touch you yet, missis gwaan like yuh nice! Miss perfect! Look mi nah nuh time fi none a unnu suh ere wah. Mi a guh see wah gwan cross the hall, yere! Am out!" Though she hadn't finished unpacking Marsha stepped out the door.
Carli shook her head. "What is her problem?"
Shauna started hanging up a few items on her corner of the wall.
"She just has a bad attitude, from high school days mi kno har!"
"Oh zeen!" Carli replied. She took out a few clothes hangers and started placing some dresses on them. There was enough closet space but she decided to utilise the nails she saw on the wall behind her bed.
"So why did you behave as if you didn't know her?" Carli asked puzzled.
Shauna chuckled. "It's a game I guess. Marsha plays along with it, we're actually good friends but she acts like a bitch sometimes, so I have to call her out on it." She went back to unpacking.
Carli shook her head. Strange people.
Carli never had a beef with another female before, she always tried to cultivate a kind of comraderie with everyone back in high school. This was a new and unpleasant experience. All she knew was that if she could avoid that girl, she would make sure to do all in her power to make that possible.
____________________
Chapter 2: Face off
Carli felt a bit overwhelmed with all the assignments she had to do. Her mother had warned her that if she had not gotten on top of things from early, she would be swimming in regret and up to her ears with assignments. Carli groaned and sunk her head into the textbook she was reading. She was at the Main Library at the university's campus. She knew she was in big trouble.
She wasn't usually a procrastinator. When it came to work and study, she always did her best. Now she felt trapped, knowing she was at a place she didn't want to be and studying a degree her heart wasn't in.
Lifting her head, she gently pressed her phone's power button to see the time. It was 5:00 pm. Time for her to head to her dorm, have a shower and prepare a meal for herself. Shauna had invited her to a sort of writing club that met around 6:30 but she didn't feel like going. She took up the phone and dialed her number.
After two rings Shauna picked up. "Hey girl, what's up? Looking forward to seeing you later."
Carli grimaced. Over the past month she realised that when Shauna didn't want to hear you back out of something she would say. "I would really love to see you there" or "It would be so wonderful if you could stop by", or this statement now, "Looking forward to seeing you later".
Carli sighed. "That's the thing. I won't be able to make it."
"How come?" Shauna asked. "You said last week you would be available," she added matter of factly.
Carli swallowed, trying to ignore the feeling of guilt at the pit of her stomach. "Yeah, I know, but I have this really bad headache. So I'm just gonna lay down and then see if I can finish this research paper I have."
After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Shauna replied, "Okay, hope you'll feel better soon." She hung up.
Carli shook her head as if to clear it from some mental fog. She hated to disappoint her. She was a great roommate but she had to get this work done and she needed to lay down. She was beginning to actually feel a pulsing, drumming sensation in her head.
Grabbing her phone, books and bag, Carli headed through the doors of the main room, and exiting the library looked up at the sky. It was a clear blue with a few white puffy clouds. The sun's rays was welcome warmth after being stuck in the air conditioned room for two hours. It was a Friday, she only had one lecture and the professor had canceled citing an emergency.
She headed in the direction of her dorm. Dragging herself slowly her head down, she never noticed the figure hurtling towards her. The young man knocked into her and Carli found herself on her bum disoriented.
"Oh, I am very sorry!" He extended his hand offering to help her up. Carli took it with reservation.
"You really should look where you're going you know," Carli scowled. She looked down on her clothes, using her hands, she brushed off a bit of dust on her jeans.
The young man chuckled. "As far as I recall, you were the one with your head scraping the ground. I was about to move past you when you suddenly changed direction and bumped into me!"
Carli had still not looked up into the young man's face, but now she did.
Dark bushy eyebrows, curly hair peeked out of a blue, red and white NYC cap. He was sporting a low cut beard, nicely shaped up. His full lips quirked up into a mocking smile. His eyes, brilliant hazel, were captivating. He had a strong, stubborn looking jaw that to Carli, was complemented by a charming Adam's apple and strong features of his neck and shoulders.
Carli blinked and looked at the ground thinking of a response to his retort. She couldn't think of anything. "My apologies, I guess I was distracted," she said. Sighing heavily, she reached down and picked up her bag and books.
When she looked at his face again she saw pity.
"First year?" he asked.
Carli nodded.
He gave a knowing look and nodded. "Yeah, I know the feeling."
He reached out his hand for a handshake. "I'm Jason."
Carli nodded and shook his hand. "Carli."
At the mention of her name his face lit up. "An interesting name."
Carli smiled. "It's actually Carlethia. Carli is what my family and friends call me. Plus it sounds more better to me."
Jason nodded. "Okay, sounds good either way."
Carli shyly tucked a free lock of hair behind her ear.
Jason noticed the swift movement and smiled.
"Well okay, sorry for bumping into you. Neva' mean fi push yuh down."
Carli nodded and smiled. "Yes man, apology accepted."
Jason hoisted his backpack over his shoulder and walked away. Then he turned around to see her watching him leave. "Uh, so I was wondering, if one of these days we could grab lunch at The Cafe." It was a popular restaurant on campus. Carli had been there once with Shauna.
"O-okay, sure," she replied nervously.
Jason walked back to her asked for her phone and put his number in it. Then asking for her phone number, quickly typed in the digits in his phone. He looked at her and smiled. "Okay, talk to you soon."
"Okay."
Carli watched as he walked away. There was an athletic bounce in his steps. She liked that.
Turning around to face her dorm she walked to the edge of the walkway, quickly crossed over the road to the entrance of her Hall. Quickly she walked to the block where her room was and pulled on the door. It was locked. She fetched her key from her pocket and turned the key and opened the door. The shock at what she saw was only belied by the seething anger that was rising within her.
Marsha was half naked on her bed with a guy. Carli's bed! Her bed! With a boy!
"No man! You come fi test my faith today?! Marsha weh you and dis bway a duh pon mi bed?!" She shouted.
She had just changed the sheets too. Outraged, Carli proceeded to drag the young man off the bed and was about to grab for Marsha's hand when she fanned her off and got up. The only thing she had on was panties.
Carli averted her eyes.
The young man, mumbling something about going to check on his boots, hurriedly dressed and stepped out.
Carli stood, legs apart, arms folded across her chest and face like flint, looking at Marsha with disdain. "So help me god if you ever pull something like this again mi a guh give yuh a fine piece a beating!"
"Den dem wi throw yuh out a campus an' mi wudda press charges!" Marsha shot back. "Didn't I tell you that was my bed. When I first came here I had my eyes on it!" she quipped.
"Dutty gyal!" Carli had never called anyone that before, but just now she felt it was the appropriate time for the right person. "Press yuh charges. Mi nuh fraid a lawyer. Mi have family weh a big lawyer, both here an' a forrin. Mi nuh fraid a yuh!"
Marsha started getting dressed. "Oh, I forgot." She bowed mockingly. "Your majesty!" Marsha looked Carli up and down her expression one of disgust. "Look 'ere come off a yuh high arse, a nuh yuh palace yuh deh. Nuh baddi nuh deh yah suh fi defen' yuh, yuh wi get trample!"
Carli hissed her teeth loudly and said, "By who? You?! Oh please!"
Marsha moved swiftly and stood in front of her. She took the index finger of her right hand and pushed Carli in her forehead.
"Yuh tink yuh bad?!" she asked, daring Carli to retaliate.
Carli moved backward towards the door. She had been in fights before but not someone this tall and she had a raging headache. Still, she could feel her anger rising and the instinct to use her hand to shove Marsha violently in her face was gnawing away at her resolve not to fight. She tried to steady her breathing. She watched her opponent closely for any slight movement.
Seeing that Carli had not made a move, Marsha mistakenly thought Carli was afraid and her backing up to the door was her cowering with fear. She decided to push her point a little further.
Coming closer she started to gently but menacingly tap Carli in the middle of her chest. "Likkle gurl! A wah duh yuh eeeh? Yuh si mi yah, mi wi mash up yuh bl#%d cl@at, yere! Nuh tink seh yuh a nuh queen round ere!"
Carli looked away from her stare. Marsha was so close she could feel the warmth of her breath on the side of her face and neck. She felt herself instinctively clenching and unclenching her fists. She looked up at Marsha but didn't say a word. If she could diffuse the situation it would be best to do it now!
Carli licked her dry lips. "You're right. You're right. Maybe I overreacted. The bed sheet can change. My bad."
Marsha feeling triumphant, smiled. She slapped her open palm against the door. The loud slap made Carli jump a little. Marsha moved away from her slowly. She picked up a mini skirt she previously laid on her own bed and squeezed herself into it.
She smirked. "Remember, a me a di queen roun' 'ere!"
She reached for her school bag and tucked a few books in there. "Yuh lucky mi have class ar mi wudda mek yuh understan' yuhself!" She bent down and reached under her bed for a pair of dark brown flip flops. Stepping into them she looked even more intimidating in height.
Heading towards the door she flashed a bright smile. Carli then had a vision of herself punching her pearly whites out, but instead stepped aside so she could pass. Marsha looked down at her as if she were looking at an ant on the floor. "Later your majesty," Marsha said. With a mocking look she was gone.
Angrily, Carli pulled off the sheets and pillow case and stuffed them into a plastic bag. She would wash those on the weekend. Hurriedly she remade her bed with new sheets and tiredly threw herself on it. She was supposed to be at the library studying, but with the headache and a feeling of hopelessness, she felt like she had to go back to her room. Now she realised it was a good thing, because Marsha had almost defiled her bed.
Marsha sat on a bench and watched as Jason talked with a few friends from high school who had made it in Economics with him. He was so gorgeous! He was on an athletics scholarship but he also had a brilliant mind. The problem is, he came from a very poor background.
His father would go away on farm work in the United States for months on end and leave him and his two other siblings, with their mother to fend for themselves. Even when he went on farm work he sent back no money. The struggle was real. His father didn't live with them and had two other baby-mothers and their kids to look after. He would give money for school stuff for him, his brother and sister, but it was usually when his mother agreed to sleep with him. Financial software
At the age of fourteen Jason dropped out of school to find work in any shop or do any odd job he could find to help his mom. It wasn't until the guidance counsellor, who happened to be Marsha's mom, learned about the situation and intervened, that things started looking better for him and his family. For awhile Jason had even lived with them. That was when Marsha knew she wanted him, but he had other plans.
Jason brought the food over to her. The burger smelled good! She dug in immediately. As she took each bite, she looked at him. He was muscular in build but not bulky. The leanness of his physique often took her breath away and today was no different. Sensing she was watching him, he lifted his head from his food with a quizzical look. Marsha smiled, shook her head and looked away from him. They were so close, it was easy for them to read each other's body language and unsaid cues.
Jason raised an eyebrow, picked up a handful of potato wedges and stuffed them in his mouth. After washing it down with some pineapple soda, he said, "So, what was this thing you wanted to tell me that's so funny?"
Marsha took a sip of orange juice and laughed. "Oh yes! I almost forgot."
She took another sip and folded the straw inside the cover of her drink cup. "This girl in my dorm, shi gwaan like shi a miss high and mighty, miss stushie! Well todeh, mi an' har nearly kick off! A come call mi 'dutty gyal', dyam bright!"
Jason interrupted her recollection. "Suh how dis happen? Ah weh yuh duh?"
Marsha's eyes and mouth flew wide open. "Wait! Weh yuh mean weh mi duh?"
Jason replied calmly. "I know you."
Marsha smirked. "Well as I told you. Shi ah gwaan high and mighty. Miss pure or whatever, so I did a little prank to see what she would do."
She unfolded the straw and sipped more ojay.
"And?" Jason's eyes narrowed as he waited for her to continue.
"You know Benz? Corey?"
Jason nodded. He knew him.
"Yeah, suh me an' Benz set up pon har bed like wi was about to duh tings, if yuh know what I mean. And we even mek it seem real. I had on only my panty and Benz did have on his pants but him teck off him shirt. Mi did wrap up inna har sheet the whole time suh nuh worry --if ur thinking anything."
She hesitated a little when she saw Jason shake his head. Benz was an ex-friend from high school back when Jason was repping the 'gyalis' culture. He wasn't about that life any more, but Benz though smart, hadn't grown out of it yet. He was sure his friend now frenemy, was more than happy to help Marsha out, especially to catch a glimpse of her ample bosom.
"Go on!" He prompted, not able to hide the anger in his voice.
Not feeling so confident now, she continued. "So when we heard someone coming, we knew it was her because Shauna was at some writer's club and wouldn't be back till about 8 or 9 o'clock. Carli has only one class so I figured she would be in early."
Jason's felt his heart drop. "Uh, you just seh Carli?"
Confused, Marsha said, "Yeah."
Jason swore softly, then asked. "Is she about 5' 5", brown skin with curly hair, wearing a green sweater, white top and dark blue jeans and grey and white sneakers?"
Marsha was taken aback. "Yes. You know her?"
Jason nodded, then slowly shook his head. "Not really. I bumped into her heading from class to get over here to meet you. I knocked her over on her ass so I helped her up, apologised and we spoke a little bit from there."
Jason turned to face her fully. "That was why you were late?" It was more like an accusation than a question to Marsha's ears.
"Look, you don't know this girl." She shot back. "Shi tun up har nose at me and other people. Yuh just knock over di girl and yuh tink yuh know har ar...?"
Annoyed, Jason interrupted. "I made no such claim, neither am I defending her. I asked if that was the reason you had me waiting. You know I have gym so I expected you to be early like you normally would be."
Jason was getting more angry now and Marsha saw this. "So what happened when she saw you two?" His eyes pierced into her.
"She got mad, all call me 'dutty gyal' and diss mi up, but I put har inna har place," she said angrily.
Jason stood up. "Marsha, when yuh a guh grow up eeh?! When? Yuh deh a college now, university! A time fi yuh cut out dem foolishniss yah! I am very disappointed in you," he said, his gazing boring into her. After berating her properly, he walked away only to say over his shoulder. "I have gym, later."
Flustered, Marsha sat there sipping her juice. He hadn't even finished his food. She knew he always didn't like when she pulled her pranks but this reaction was something different, and she didn't like it.
Sharon impatiently paced back and forth on her living room floor. Why was Carlos taking so long to get home? He said he would be home by 7 pm, now it was 10:30 and she was getting a little annoyed. Dinner was being kept warm in the oven but she felt icy cold in her heart. This was the third time this week he was pulling a stunt like this, and she had to eat alone. He would say he would be in early and then somehow he would be trudging in very late, with some silly explanation.
Yes, he was an engineer at the water treatment plant, supervisor albeit, but these weird hours he was now coming home were getting to her. When she asked him what was going on, he would just say, "Work stuff. Nothing to worry about."
She missed their conversations while having dinner. They would go to the living room to repose in the loveseats together, sip their after meal tea and talk about their day at work. He would often have her in stitches as he told her about his co-worker Delroy and his humorous antics at work. But now, when he came home, he would barely speak to her and if she pressed too much he would give her the 'silent treatment'.
The clinking, metallic sound of a set of keys as they met contact with the front door, took her out of her thoughts. That was him. She went through the living room to the foyer to greet him with a sarcastic smile, but, when she looked at him, she saw the tired look on his face. The sarcastic comment she had saved to say the first thing he came through the door melted away.
"You okay?" she asked, reaching for his work bags and keys. Tiredly, Carlos handed them to her.
"Thanks hun." Carlos went into the living room and slumped into the couch.
Sharon placed his bag on the table in his home office and hung his keys on a nail by the kitchen doorway where they usually placed keys.
Walking back into the room she leaned on the door and looked at him. He was stretched out on the couch. His feet hanging over the edge of the arm, his shoes still on his feet. Sighing quietly, Sharon moved towards him and touched him on his shoulder.
"Cade... Cade?"
Cade was his middle name, but she used it as a name of endearment because she said it was unique.
"Cade?"
Carlos opened his eyes and looked up at his wife. He reached up and pulled her gently to him.
"Yes Shar?"
"You okay?"
He tiredly smiled, "Yes baby, I'm okay, just tired. I told you about our new manager, and the new management team that took over the company. They're changing the schematics of the plant to meet some new ISO requirements, so we're building a new plant on our old location and we're also about to build a new facility somewhere in St. Elizabeth.
"So, I've been working with the civil engineering crew, and a new architect they brought in from Canada to help with the building plans. We are also working with a rep from the local government as well as NEPA, to make sure everything is above board. I was voted the team leader for this project by default, I guess you could say." He hugged Sharon tighter and rubbed her back.
"But you're an electrical engineer not a civil?" Sharon raised her head up slightly to look into his eyes. "That's Delroy's job."
'"The plans for the new plants at both locations will include schematics for electrical circuitry, etc. The plants run on electricity, Shar."
Sharon reared up, gave Carlos a sharp look and slapped him on his shoulder. "I know that!" Sharon lifted herself off her husband and went into the kitchen.
Taking the warmed tray of food out of the oven, she placed it on the counter. She had cooked roasted pork, with mashed potatoes and some nicely baked, ripe plantains her neighbor Miss Gem had given her.
Carefully, she placed a dinner plate into the microwave and heated it up for two minutes. She fetched a pair of oven gloves among her wrack of clean dish towels, quickly placed her hands in them and retrieved the hot empty plate from the microwave and began dishing her husband's meal.
Carlos always liked his food piping hot and no matter how much she would heat it up, he would complain it wasn't hot enough. So, one day, she placed the plate in the microwave as a joke to get a reaction out of him, that should have been him bawling that the plate was on fire. Instead, he complimented her on how nice and hot the food was. She was speechless for a minute, but then decided from then on that if that's how he likes it she would do it for him.
Carefully, placing the plate in a mini plate tray, she slowly brought the food to him while he was still on the couch. He was sitting upright by then and had removed his work jacket with the blue and black logo, TechPro Waste Treatment Systems.
She placed the tray in his lap with his plate and kissed him on his forehead. He gave a quick slap on the bottom to which she laughed out.
"Aren't you too tired?" She smiled at him. She returned to the kitchen.
Carli blinked and looked at the ground thinking of a response to his retort. She couldn't think of anything. "My apologies, I guess I was distracted," she said. Sighing heavily, she reached down and picked up her bag and books.
When she looked at his face again she saw pity.
"First year?" he asked.
Carli nodded.
He gave a knowing look and nodded. "Yeah, I know the feeling."
He reached out his hand for a handshake. "I'm Jason."
Carli nodded and shook his hand. "Carli."
At the mention of her name his face lit up. "An interesting name."
Carli smiled. "It's actually Carlethia. Carli is what my family and friends call me. Plus it sounds more better to me."
Jason nodded. "Okay, sounds good either way."
Carli shyly tucked a free lock of hair behind her ear.
Jason noticed the swift movement and smiled.
"Well okay, sorry for bumping into you. Neva' mean fi push yuh down."
Carli nodded and smiled. "Yes man, apology accepted."
Jason hoisted his backpack over his shoulder and walked away. Then he turned around to see her watching him leave. "Uh, so I was wondering, if one of these days we could grab lunch at The Cafe." It was a popular restaurant on campus. Carli had been there once with Shauna.
"O-okay, sure," she replied nervously.
Jason walked back to her asked for her phone and put his number in it. Then asking for her phone number, quickly typed in the digits in his phone. He looked at her and smiled. "Okay, talk to you soon."
"Okay."
Carli watched as he walked away. There was an athletic bounce in his steps. She liked that.
Turning around to face her dorm she walked to the edge of the walkway, quickly crossed over the road to the entrance of her Hall. Quickly she walked to the block where her room was and pulled on the door. It was locked. She fetched her key from her pocket and turned the key and opened the door. The shock at what she saw was only belied by the seething anger that was rising within her.
Marsha was half naked on her bed with a guy. Carli's bed! Her bed! With a boy!
"No man! You come fi test my faith today?! Marsha weh you and dis bway a duh pon mi bed?!" She shouted.
She had just changed the sheets too. Outraged, Carli proceeded to drag the young man off the bed and was about to grab for Marsha's hand when she fanned her off and got up. The only thing she had on was panties.
Carli averted her eyes.
The young man, mumbling something about going to check on his boots, hurriedly dressed and stepped out.
Carli stood, legs apart, arms folded across her chest and face like flint, looking at Marsha with disdain. "So help me god if you ever pull something like this again mi a guh give yuh a fine piece a beating!"
"Den dem wi throw yuh out a campus an' mi wudda press charges!" Marsha shot back. "Didn't I tell you that was my bed. When I first came here I had my eyes on it!" she quipped.
"Dutty gyal!" Carli had never called anyone that before, but just now she felt it was the appropriate time for the right person. "Press yuh charges. Mi nuh fraid a lawyer. Mi have family weh a big lawyer, both here an' a forrin. Mi nuh fraid a yuh!"
Marsha started getting dressed. "Oh, I forgot." She bowed mockingly. "Your majesty!" Marsha looked Carli up and down her expression one of disgust. "Look 'ere come off a yuh high arse, a nuh yuh palace yuh deh. Nuh baddi nuh deh yah suh fi defen' yuh, yuh wi get trample!"
Carli hissed her teeth loudly and said, "By who? You?! Oh please!"
Marsha moved swiftly and stood in front of her. She took the index finger of her right hand and pushed Carli in her forehead.
"Yuh tink yuh bad?!" she asked, daring Carli to retaliate.
Carli moved backward towards the door. She had been in fights before but not someone this tall and she had a raging headache. Still, she could feel her anger rising and the instinct to use her hand to shove Marsha violently in her face was gnawing away at her resolve not to fight. She tried to steady her breathing. She watched her opponent closely for any slight movement.
Seeing that Carli had not made a move, Marsha mistakenly thought Carli was afraid and her backing up to the door was her cowering with fear. She decided to push her point a little further.
Coming closer she started to gently but menacingly tap Carli in the middle of her chest. "Likkle gurl! A wah duh yuh eeeh? Yuh si mi yah, mi wi mash up yuh bl#%d cl@at, yere! Nuh tink seh yuh a nuh queen round ere!"
Carli looked away from her stare. Marsha was so close she could feel the warmth of her breath on the side of her face and neck. She felt herself instinctively clenching and unclenching her fists. She looked up at Marsha but didn't say a word. If she could diffuse the situation it would be best to do it now!
Carli licked her dry lips. "You're right. You're right. Maybe I overreacted. The bed sheet can change. My bad."
Marsha feeling triumphant, smiled. She slapped her open palm against the door. The loud slap made Carli jump a little. Marsha moved away from her slowly. She picked up a mini skirt she previously laid on her own bed and squeezed herself into it.
She smirked. "Remember, a me a di queen roun' 'ere!"
She reached for her school bag and tucked a few books in there. "Yuh lucky mi have class ar mi wudda mek yuh understan' yuhself!" She bent down and reached under her bed for a pair of dark brown flip flops. Stepping into them she looked even more intimidating in height.
Heading towards the door she flashed a bright smile. Carli then had a vision of herself punching her pearly whites out, but instead stepped aside so she could pass. Marsha looked down at her as if she were looking at an ant on the floor. "Later your majesty," Marsha said. With a mocking look she was gone.
Angrily, Carli pulled off the sheets and pillow case and stuffed them into a plastic bag. She would wash those on the weekend. Hurriedly she remade her bed with new sheets and tiredly threw herself on it. She was supposed to be at the library studying, but with the headache and a feeling of hopelessness, she felt like she had to go back to her room. Now she realised it was a good thing, because Marsha had almost defiled her bed.
***
Marsha sat on a bench and watched as Jason talked with a few friends from high school who had made it in Economics with him. He was so gorgeous! He was on an athletics scholarship but he also had a brilliant mind. The problem is, he came from a very poor background.
His father would go away on farm work in the United States for months on end and leave him and his two other siblings, with their mother to fend for themselves. Even when he went on farm work he sent back no money. The struggle was real. His father didn't live with them and had two other baby-mothers and their kids to look after. He would give money for school stuff for him, his brother and sister, but it was usually when his mother agreed to sleep with him. Financial software
At the age of fourteen Jason dropped out of school to find work in any shop or do any odd job he could find to help his mom. It wasn't until the guidance counsellor, who happened to be Marsha's mom, learned about the situation and intervened, that things started looking better for him and his family. For awhile Jason had even lived with them. That was when Marsha knew she wanted him, but he had other plans.
Jason brought the food over to her. The burger smelled good! She dug in immediately. As she took each bite, she looked at him. He was muscular in build but not bulky. The leanness of his physique often took her breath away and today was no different. Sensing she was watching him, he lifted his head from his food with a quizzical look. Marsha smiled, shook her head and looked away from him. They were so close, it was easy for them to read each other's body language and unsaid cues.
Jason raised an eyebrow, picked up a handful of potato wedges and stuffed them in his mouth. After washing it down with some pineapple soda, he said, "So, what was this thing you wanted to tell me that's so funny?"
Marsha took a sip of orange juice and laughed. "Oh yes! I almost forgot."
She took another sip and folded the straw inside the cover of her drink cup. "This girl in my dorm, shi gwaan like shi a miss high and mighty, miss stushie! Well todeh, mi an' har nearly kick off! A come call mi 'dutty gyal', dyam bright!"
Jason interrupted her recollection. "Suh how dis happen? Ah weh yuh duh?"
Marsha's eyes and mouth flew wide open. "Wait! Weh yuh mean weh mi duh?"
Jason replied calmly. "I know you."
Marsha smirked. "Well as I told you. Shi ah gwaan high and mighty. Miss pure or whatever, so I did a little prank to see what she would do."
She unfolded the straw and sipped more ojay.
"And?" Jason's eyes narrowed as he waited for her to continue.
"You know Benz? Corey?"
Jason nodded. He knew him.
"Yeah, suh me an' Benz set up pon har bed like wi was about to duh tings, if yuh know what I mean. And we even mek it seem real. I had on only my panty and Benz did have on his pants but him teck off him shirt. Mi did wrap up inna har sheet the whole time suh nuh worry --if ur thinking anything."
She hesitated a little when she saw Jason shake his head. Benz was an ex-friend from high school back when Jason was repping the 'gyalis' culture. He wasn't about that life any more, but Benz though smart, hadn't grown out of it yet. He was sure his friend now frenemy, was more than happy to help Marsha out, especially to catch a glimpse of her ample bosom.
"Go on!" He prompted, not able to hide the anger in his voice.
Not feeling so confident now, she continued. "So when we heard someone coming, we knew it was her because Shauna was at some writer's club and wouldn't be back till about 8 or 9 o'clock. Carli has only one class so I figured she would be in early."
Jason's felt his heart drop. "Uh, you just seh Carli?"
Confused, Marsha said, "Yeah."
Jason swore softly, then asked. "Is she about 5' 5", brown skin with curly hair, wearing a green sweater, white top and dark blue jeans and grey and white sneakers?"
Marsha was taken aback. "Yes. You know her?"
Jason nodded, then slowly shook his head. "Not really. I bumped into her heading from class to get over here to meet you. I knocked her over on her ass so I helped her up, apologised and we spoke a little bit from there."
Jason turned to face her fully. "That was why you were late?" It was more like an accusation than a question to Marsha's ears.
"Look, you don't know this girl." She shot back. "Shi tun up har nose at me and other people. Yuh just knock over di girl and yuh tink yuh know har ar...?"
Annoyed, Jason interrupted. "I made no such claim, neither am I defending her. I asked if that was the reason you had me waiting. You know I have gym so I expected you to be early like you normally would be."
Jason was getting more angry now and Marsha saw this. "So what happened when she saw you two?" His eyes pierced into her.
"She got mad, all call me 'dutty gyal' and diss mi up, but I put har inna har place," she said angrily.
Jason stood up. "Marsha, when yuh a guh grow up eeh?! When? Yuh deh a college now, university! A time fi yuh cut out dem foolishniss yah! I am very disappointed in you," he said, his gazing boring into her. After berating her properly, he walked away only to say over his shoulder. "I have gym, later."
Flustered, Marsha sat there sipping her juice. He hadn't even finished his food. She knew he always didn't like when she pulled her pranks but this reaction was something different, and she didn't like it.
_____________________
Chapter 3: Maybe or maybe not
Sharon impatiently paced back and forth on her living room floor. Why was Carlos taking so long to get home? He said he would be home by 7 pm, now it was 10:30 and she was getting a little annoyed. Dinner was being kept warm in the oven but she felt icy cold in her heart. This was the third time this week he was pulling a stunt like this, and she had to eat alone. He would say he would be in early and then somehow he would be trudging in very late, with some silly explanation.
Yes, he was an engineer at the water treatment plant, supervisor albeit, but these weird hours he was now coming home were getting to her. When she asked him what was going on, he would just say, "Work stuff. Nothing to worry about."
She missed their conversations while having dinner. They would go to the living room to repose in the loveseats together, sip their after meal tea and talk about their day at work. He would often have her in stitches as he told her about his co-worker Delroy and his humorous antics at work. But now, when he came home, he would barely speak to her and if she pressed too much he would give her the 'silent treatment'.
The clinking, metallic sound of a set of keys as they met contact with the front door, took her out of her thoughts. That was him. She went through the living room to the foyer to greet him with a sarcastic smile, but, when she looked at him, she saw the tired look on his face. The sarcastic comment she had saved to say the first thing he came through the door melted away.
"You okay?" she asked, reaching for his work bags and keys. Tiredly, Carlos handed them to her.
"Thanks hun." Carlos went into the living room and slumped into the couch.
Sharon placed his bag on the table in his home office and hung his keys on a nail by the kitchen doorway where they usually placed keys.
Walking back into the room she leaned on the door and looked at him. He was stretched out on the couch. His feet hanging over the edge of the arm, his shoes still on his feet. Sighing quietly, Sharon moved towards him and touched him on his shoulder.
"Cade... Cade?"
Cade was his middle name, but she used it as a name of endearment because she said it was unique.
"Cade?"
Carlos opened his eyes and looked up at his wife. He reached up and pulled her gently to him.
"Yes Shar?"
"You okay?"
He tiredly smiled, "Yes baby, I'm okay, just tired. I told you about our new manager, and the new management team that took over the company. They're changing the schematics of the plant to meet some new ISO requirements, so we're building a new plant on our old location and we're also about to build a new facility somewhere in St. Elizabeth.
"So, I've been working with the civil engineering crew, and a new architect they brought in from Canada to help with the building plans. We are also working with a rep from the local government as well as NEPA, to make sure everything is above board. I was voted the team leader for this project by default, I guess you could say." He hugged Sharon tighter and rubbed her back.
"But you're an electrical engineer not a civil?" Sharon raised her head up slightly to look into his eyes. "That's Delroy's job."
'"The plans for the new plants at both locations will include schematics for electrical circuitry, etc. The plants run on electricity, Shar."
Sharon reared up, gave Carlos a sharp look and slapped him on his shoulder. "I know that!" Sharon lifted herself off her husband and went into the kitchen.
Taking the warmed tray of food out of the oven, she placed it on the counter. She had cooked roasted pork, with mashed potatoes and some nicely baked, ripe plantains her neighbor Miss Gem had given her.
Carefully, she placed a dinner plate into the microwave and heated it up for two minutes. She fetched a pair of oven gloves among her wrack of clean dish towels, quickly placed her hands in them and retrieved the hot empty plate from the microwave and began dishing her husband's meal.
Carlos always liked his food piping hot and no matter how much she would heat it up, he would complain it wasn't hot enough. So, one day, she placed the plate in the microwave as a joke to get a reaction out of him, that should have been him bawling that the plate was on fire. Instead, he complimented her on how nice and hot the food was. She was speechless for a minute, but then decided from then on that if that's how he likes it she would do it for him.
Carefully, placing the plate in a mini plate tray, she slowly brought the food to him while he was still on the couch. He was sitting upright by then and had removed his work jacket with the blue and black logo, TechPro Waste Treatment Systems.
She placed the tray in his lap with his plate and kissed him on his forehead. He gave a quick slap on the bottom to which she laughed out.
"Aren't you too tired?" She smiled at him. She returned to the kitchen.
Removing the oven gloves, and placing them on the counter, she tipped on her toes and opened the kitchen cupboard just above her head to retrieve a slender glass cup that had tiny pink hearts decorated on the outside.
There was a fairly large glass jug filled with homemade orange juice in the fridge she had prepared for them to enjoy. She removed it from the fridge, poured some into the glass and then used a stainless steel tong to drop a thin orange slice from the jug into his glass. She liked adding fruit skins to her juices to give them a tangy kick.
After placing the jug back where it belonged, she hurriedly brought him the glass of orange juice perched on a coaster she got as a wedding gift from her mother, and handed it to him. She sat beside him.
Carlos shook his head and took the first bite into the roasted pork. "Never for you." A mischievous wink, caused Sharon to lean back and laugh heartily.
'I missed you so much today. Work was terrible." Sharon touched his arm.
"Mh-mm?" Carlos chewed his food and looked at her. "What happened?"
"A new set of redundancies today. They sent home Abigail!"
Abigail was Sharon's 'work sister'. Carlos sipped his juice and sighed. "Sorry to hear hun."
Sharon rested her head on her husband's shoulder. "The rumour is they're looking at my department next, but we don't know when. We have Carli at university now Cade. I'm just praying I won't be next."
Carlos looked at her. "Either way, we will be fine." Sharon was doubtful. She stood up and looked at a picture of Carli on the wall adjacent to them.
"Sharon? Honey, we will be okay." Carlos carefully placed his tray of food with the glass of orange juice on the coffee table before him. He went to his wife and pulled her to him from behind. Her back still turned, she leaned into him.
Carlos spoke gently into her left ear. "Babes, we still have the savings and investments we started five years ago, remember, we haven't touched it. After this project is through at my job, we'll be able to double the capacity of water treatment and waste management. We'll be able to carry far more of the Clarendon residentials, and we'll be launching in St. Elizabeth. We'll be managing the waste treatment of several of the new schemes over there. After a year, management promised pay increases since by then everything will be in full swing."
Sharon turned around and hugged him.
"Oh baby, I hope so." She sighed.
"I know so." Carlos kissed her forehead.
He chuckled."Kiss for kiss."
Sharon looked up at him. She loved this man. She loved the life they had together and their daughter. She just wanted them both to be happy. Leaning forward, she kissed his lips slowly, and willingly yielded to his embrace as it tightened around her.
Carli sat nervously in one of her lecturers'--Mr Hamilton's office. After class he had asked to speak with her and told her to meet him in his office at around 6 pm that day. It was a Wednesday, the worse day of the week. She had five classes back to back starting at 8:30 a.m. and only a half an hour break in between her penultimate and last class for the day. Because he said he wished to speak with her she told him 6:30 was fine for her, but she forgot she hadn't had much to eat, just a patty, which she scoffed down at 3 p.m. because the lecturer for that session was usually late.
Mr. Hamilton was an obese man who wore thick spectacles. He was short and balding but brilliant at teaching the political science course she was taking. Although she was a Sociology Major, her mother insisted that she take the class. In fact, her parents were trying to get her into Political Science, but as luck would have it, the degree programme was full.
The only other major her mother thought was suitable was Sociology. You see, her mom wanted her to do Law, but strangely, instead of encouraging Carli to get into UWI's law school directly, her mom got it in her head that if she did Political Science first, that would give her the proper background to apply to a law programme overseas. Unfortunately, it didn't work according to plan, so her mother made an arrangement with the dean of the faculty to get Carli into Sociology. She would do a political science course and if she did well in her grades, he would see what he could do to get her into the full programme next semester. She could hear her now:
"I'm setting you up for a good future baby. One where you'll be well-rounded."
Carli was helping her mother rough chop some carrots that she was planning to steam in a big pot of okras, cabbage and callaloo.
Carli had objected and told her she wanted to do something more business based or even on the creative arts side like dance or graphics design since she was good at those two. She could read well but she didn't like to have to read long lines of words, and she preferred to do hands-on practical stuff, just like her dad.
Sharon shook her head no. "Nope, those careers can get taken over by technology. Every day you hear about some new app or other that can make admin tasks easier, including graphics design." Sharon placed the knife on the cutting board and faced her daughter.
"A twelve year old can design something that looks professional because of these new apps nowadays. As for business, it's so cliche. Everybody talks about business subjects. Check out the university graduates now who are the most unemployed. It's the business majors. And let me not get into your dance hobby, which is what it is Carlethia, a hobby. People don't make much money from that out here, and if you plan to be successful elsewhere it's best you launch from the US, and not many foreigners do well in that space."
Sharon took up her knife and started chopping carrots again. "Hmh-mhh! No baby, I'm sorry. I have better plans for you..."
After that statement everything her mother said got drowned out by her own thoughts. What was she going to do? Her mother never listened to her.
While she was lost in thought, Mr. Hamilton had come back into the room, he observed her seemingly staring at the floor, her head slightly bent, her hands clasped together in her lap. She was a decent enough student. She got along with her peers in the class and during tutorial sessions, he found her affable with everyone. The problem was, she was portraying herself as a B student when he felt she could do more.
Hamilton closed the door behind him, allowing it to clink shut loudly. Startled, Carli looked up and saw her teacher looking at her with a question on his face.
Hamilton sat behind his desk, and leaned back. "Sorry for taking so long Miss James, a Master's student I am mentoring had a few questions."
He removed his eye glasses, placed them on the desk and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I wanted to speak with you about your performance in the class assignments so far."
Carli sat up. She might as well brace for a long speech berating her for her tardiness to class.
Noticing her body language, Hamilton moved his hand from his face and leaned forward.
"Is everything alright Miss James?" he asked.
Carli straightened her posture. "Yes Mr. Hamilton, everything is fine," she replied tersely.
Hamilton noticed the inflection in her voice but continued. "My purpose as your teacher, slash lecturer is to see to your success in this course. Every assignment I give is not just for grading but helps with developing knowledge on this subject area you're studying. You do understand?"
Carli nodded that she understood.
"Good." Hamilton nodded as well.
He leaned back in his chair again. "So, tell me... Why are you doing this course? Why Politics of the Caribbean? And, be honest."
Carli let out a quiet sigh. "To be honest, I'm here because my parents, well... specifically my mom wanted me here."
"I see." Hamilton reached for his glasses, took out the soft cloth from the glasses case and started to gently clean the frame, then the lenses.
"You're grades are quite good. You're shaping up to be a B student but I think you have much more potential, and you probably enjoy the classes more than you think. There's a passion that comes out when you write your essays and your last paper was very good. You however made what I call rookie mistakes. I gather you didn't proofread your document before you handed it in. Did you?"
Carli crossed her legs at the ankles. "Yeah. I did a one run through."
Hamilton stared directly into her eyes and said. "Well, maybe next time you should read through more than once and make sure to read slowly and carefully. Have a pencil with you to make notes on your paper. So print it out as a rough draft or first draft first then use a pencil to make note of mistakes, spelling errors, etc, then you can go back to your electric copy and do the changes easily."
Carli nodded.
Hamilton put the glasses back onto his face. "Why do you oppose what you're parents chose for you?"
Carli leaned back into the sturdy plastic chair. It was the only other chair in the room. "I wanted to do graphic design or something like that. Not this... oh no offense, Mr. Hamilton, you're a great teacher but I am being forced. I don't even like to read for long hours. This is not me."
"What are you doing as your major then?" Hamilton asked, curious.
"Sociology."
Hamilton gave a small chuckle. "For someone who doesn't like to read, you're doing the wrong major."
Carli sighed and said. "Not my choice."
"I see."
Carli continued. "I was supposed to do a BSc in Pol Sci, but the programme is full, as you know."
Hamilton nodded. "Yes. True."
He shifted in his chair. "And your parents wanted you to do that degree also?"
"That was their... well, my mother's first choice for me."
Hamilton nodded. "I see." He adjusted the glasses on his face.
"Well my dear," Hamilton said leaning forward bracing his elbows on the desk. "You have two options, if in fact you're not fully satisfied with how things are for you."
"What are they?" she asked, now intrigued.
Hamilton smiled kindly at her. "You could decide to defer the year and choose to wait until the first year spaces are empty next year and try to get into the programme you're more comfortable with. There is still no guarantee you would get in, but in the meantime, you could go job hunting, and try again next year. Come in as a part-time student."
He paused for effect, but the question was hanging in the air so Carli asked it. She leaned forward. "Or... I could do what?"
"Or... maybe, you could use the opportunity while you're here, to throw yourself into your current studies, do your very best, and then if you still want to transfer next year into Pol Sci into the degree fully, I could see what I can do to help you."
Carli sat back and thought about it.
Maybe she could. His class was the only one she did look forward to. Her lecturers for the Sociology classes were good but she just wasn't intrigued.
But wait! What about the creative side of her?
What about dance or theatre? She did like the idea of acting one day or doing dance.
But what about doing business? She had even applied for Management Studies courses at NCU, she had gotten in but her mom said no.
Could she do it? Was she brave enough to go against what her parents wanted?
Could she?
Maybe she could, maybe she couldn't. If she defied her parents, her mom especially, maybe she would have to find her own way.
She knew her dad loved her, but he often made her mom have the final say. Where would she get a job?
Ooh she was so confused!
"I'll think about what you said Mr Hamilton. Thank you for your insight." Was all she could say.
Hamilton nodded and told her she could leave. So she gathered her books and threw her bag over her shoulder and stepped out and quietly closed the door behind her.
Stepping out she nearly bumped into a tall frame. Looking up she saw it was none other than the Jason guy she met two weeks before. He looked down at her. She wondered if he remembered her.
He cracked a smile.
Yes, he remembered. She smiled back.
"Hey you." His smile grew wider. He looked at the door behind her. "Consultations?"
Carli nodded. "You could say that?"
She moved away from the door in the direction of her next class.
Jason caught up with her. "You busy right now?" he asked.
"Why?" She gave him a mischievous grin.
"Oh, oh... so it's like that, eh?"
"Like what?" She was almost laughing.
Jason didn't mind, she had a pretty smile. "You're being hard. Well, let me say I did mean to call you, but, I got caught up. I honestly did. I've been bombarded with training and assignments and exams."
Carli looked up at him. He was wearing a pair of black fitted jeans that hugged his well sculpted thighs, a white T-shirt; that NYC cap he wore the first time they met, and some fashionable dark grey sandals. No school bag this time though.
"Training?" Carli gave him a quizzical look.
"Yeah, track and field. Sprints 100 and 200 metres," Jason replied matter of factly.
Carli looked him up and down. "Oh cool."
Jason saw what she did and laughed lightheartedly. "What? I don't look the type?"
"Sure." Carli smiled. "You do, just admiring the work you've been putting in."
Yes! Score one for me! Jason thought.
"Well, thanks for the compliment." He reached out and touched Carli's hand. The move stopped her in her tracks.
Jason looked down at her. She looked up at him.
"Listen, I know I failed miserably." He started to laugh. Carli laughed too. "I failed at keeping my promise for us to get something to eat, but this time, I promise I will be available and ready. What do you say?"
Carli looked at him. Could this be real? Could this cute guy be really asking her out? She wasn't an ugly girl but some would say she was plain.
"Okay," she said tentatively.
"Okay, sure." she nodded.
"Great!" Jason beamed.
"Not now though. Maybe this Saturday. I have one more class then I have some reading to catch up on for tomorrow and Friday."
"Okay, no problem. Can I call you?"
"You still have my number?" Carli asked, playfully squinting her eyes at him.
"Yes." Jason chuckled. "Yes, I do."
"Okay. Sure, whenever you're ready. Night time is best though." She was smiling, her eyes lighting up. He never noticed how deep black they were, but he did now.
An unusual, but intriguing color, he thought to himself.
"Of course. Understood," he replied, keeping pace with her as she started walking again.
Carli smiled. "I have to run now, my class is about to start."
"Okay. Sure. Later then."
"Later."
Carli moved forward while Jason turned back in the direction they were coming from.
Carli smiled as she entered the classroom.
Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all, she thought.
"Your majesty!"
Carli's reverie was broken by a very familiar voice dripping with sarcasm.
She looked up to see Marsha sitting in the classroom, grinning mischievously.
Other students were walking in behind Carli, finding seats. She just stood there staring at Marsha.
"What do you want?" she asked feeling annoyed.
"Want?" Marsha removed her text book from her bag. "Hunny, mi nuh want nuttn from you." She drew out the 'you' vulgarly. "A class mi come."
"But ... but ... ?"
"Yeah, I missed a few sessions. Just two weeks, while some payment issues were being sorted out. We don't all have it like that dear." Marsha rolled her eyes at her.
Carli sat in a chair at the back to get as far away from Marsha as she could.
...Or maybe not. Carli sighed inwardly.
Marsha sat at the edge of Jason's bed and watched him sleep. He was assigned to Taylor Hall on campus and received a scholarship in track but this man decided to board at a house in a nearby community called Mona Commons. She had "borrowed" the spare key the last time she visited him and would pop in to see him unannounced anytime she felt like it.
Now, as she sat on the edge of his bed and watched him sleep, she remembered the time when she was sixteen and snuck into his room hoping to lay beside him and maybe even have him kiss her. She had to admit when he first came home to live with them, she never wanted him there. She never liked him. It was only after he took the blame for her antics that she grew to admire him and developed a crush on him.
There was a fairly large glass jug filled with homemade orange juice in the fridge she had prepared for them to enjoy. She removed it from the fridge, poured some into the glass and then used a stainless steel tong to drop a thin orange slice from the jug into his glass. She liked adding fruit skins to her juices to give them a tangy kick.
After placing the jug back where it belonged, she hurriedly brought him the glass of orange juice perched on a coaster she got as a wedding gift from her mother, and handed it to him. She sat beside him.
Carlos shook his head and took the first bite into the roasted pork. "Never for you." A mischievous wink, caused Sharon to lean back and laugh heartily.
'I missed you so much today. Work was terrible." Sharon touched his arm.
"Mh-mm?" Carlos chewed his food and looked at her. "What happened?"
"A new set of redundancies today. They sent home Abigail!"
Abigail was Sharon's 'work sister'. Carlos sipped his juice and sighed. "Sorry to hear hun."
Sharon rested her head on her husband's shoulder. "The rumour is they're looking at my department next, but we don't know when. We have Carli at university now Cade. I'm just praying I won't be next."
Carlos looked at her. "Either way, we will be fine." Sharon was doubtful. She stood up and looked at a picture of Carli on the wall adjacent to them.
"Sharon? Honey, we will be okay." Carlos carefully placed his tray of food with the glass of orange juice on the coffee table before him. He went to his wife and pulled her to him from behind. Her back still turned, she leaned into him.
Carlos spoke gently into her left ear. "Babes, we still have the savings and investments we started five years ago, remember, we haven't touched it. After this project is through at my job, we'll be able to double the capacity of water treatment and waste management. We'll be able to carry far more of the Clarendon residentials, and we'll be launching in St. Elizabeth. We'll be managing the waste treatment of several of the new schemes over there. After a year, management promised pay increases since by then everything will be in full swing."
Sharon turned around and hugged him.
"Oh baby, I hope so." She sighed.
"I know so." Carlos kissed her forehead.
He chuckled."Kiss for kiss."
Sharon looked up at him. She loved this man. She loved the life they had together and their daughter. She just wanted them both to be happy. Leaning forward, she kissed his lips slowly, and willingly yielded to his embrace as it tightened around her.
***
Carli sat nervously in one of her lecturers'--Mr Hamilton's office. After class he had asked to speak with her and told her to meet him in his office at around 6 pm that day. It was a Wednesday, the worse day of the week. She had five classes back to back starting at 8:30 a.m. and only a half an hour break in between her penultimate and last class for the day. Because he said he wished to speak with her she told him 6:30 was fine for her, but she forgot she hadn't had much to eat, just a patty, which she scoffed down at 3 p.m. because the lecturer for that session was usually late.
Mr. Hamilton was an obese man who wore thick spectacles. He was short and balding but brilliant at teaching the political science course she was taking. Although she was a Sociology Major, her mother insisted that she take the class. In fact, her parents were trying to get her into Political Science, but as luck would have it, the degree programme was full.
The only other major her mother thought was suitable was Sociology. You see, her mom wanted her to do Law, but strangely, instead of encouraging Carli to get into UWI's law school directly, her mom got it in her head that if she did Political Science first, that would give her the proper background to apply to a law programme overseas. Unfortunately, it didn't work according to plan, so her mother made an arrangement with the dean of the faculty to get Carli into Sociology. She would do a political science course and if she did well in her grades, he would see what he could do to get her into the full programme next semester. She could hear her now:
"I'm setting you up for a good future baby. One where you'll be well-rounded."
Carli was helping her mother rough chop some carrots that she was planning to steam in a big pot of okras, cabbage and callaloo.
Carli had objected and told her she wanted to do something more business based or even on the creative arts side like dance or graphics design since she was good at those two. She could read well but she didn't like to have to read long lines of words, and she preferred to do hands-on practical stuff, just like her dad.
Sharon shook her head no. "Nope, those careers can get taken over by technology. Every day you hear about some new app or other that can make admin tasks easier, including graphics design." Sharon placed the knife on the cutting board and faced her daughter.
"A twelve year old can design something that looks professional because of these new apps nowadays. As for business, it's so cliche. Everybody talks about business subjects. Check out the university graduates now who are the most unemployed. It's the business majors. And let me not get into your dance hobby, which is what it is Carlethia, a hobby. People don't make much money from that out here, and if you plan to be successful elsewhere it's best you launch from the US, and not many foreigners do well in that space."
Sharon took up her knife and started chopping carrots again. "Hmh-mhh! No baby, I'm sorry. I have better plans for you..."
After that statement everything her mother said got drowned out by her own thoughts. What was she going to do? Her mother never listened to her.
While she was lost in thought, Mr. Hamilton had come back into the room, he observed her seemingly staring at the floor, her head slightly bent, her hands clasped together in her lap. She was a decent enough student. She got along with her peers in the class and during tutorial sessions, he found her affable with everyone. The problem was, she was portraying herself as a B student when he felt she could do more.
Hamilton closed the door behind him, allowing it to clink shut loudly. Startled, Carli looked up and saw her teacher looking at her with a question on his face.
Hamilton sat behind his desk, and leaned back. "Sorry for taking so long Miss James, a Master's student I am mentoring had a few questions."
He removed his eye glasses, placed them on the desk and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I wanted to speak with you about your performance in the class assignments so far."
Carli sat up. She might as well brace for a long speech berating her for her tardiness to class.
Noticing her body language, Hamilton moved his hand from his face and leaned forward.
"Is everything alright Miss James?" he asked.
Carli straightened her posture. "Yes Mr. Hamilton, everything is fine," she replied tersely.
Hamilton noticed the inflection in her voice but continued. "My purpose as your teacher, slash lecturer is to see to your success in this course. Every assignment I give is not just for grading but helps with developing knowledge on this subject area you're studying. You do understand?"
Carli nodded that she understood.
"Good." Hamilton nodded as well.
He leaned back in his chair again. "So, tell me... Why are you doing this course? Why Politics of the Caribbean? And, be honest."
Carli let out a quiet sigh. "To be honest, I'm here because my parents, well... specifically my mom wanted me here."
"I see." Hamilton reached for his glasses, took out the soft cloth from the glasses case and started to gently clean the frame, then the lenses.
"You're grades are quite good. You're shaping up to be a B student but I think you have much more potential, and you probably enjoy the classes more than you think. There's a passion that comes out when you write your essays and your last paper was very good. You however made what I call rookie mistakes. I gather you didn't proofread your document before you handed it in. Did you?"
Carli crossed her legs at the ankles. "Yeah. I did a one run through."
Hamilton stared directly into her eyes and said. "Well, maybe next time you should read through more than once and make sure to read slowly and carefully. Have a pencil with you to make notes on your paper. So print it out as a rough draft or first draft first then use a pencil to make note of mistakes, spelling errors, etc, then you can go back to your electric copy and do the changes easily."
Carli nodded.
Hamilton put the glasses back onto his face. "Why do you oppose what you're parents chose for you?"
Carli leaned back into the sturdy plastic chair. It was the only other chair in the room. "I wanted to do graphic design or something like that. Not this... oh no offense, Mr. Hamilton, you're a great teacher but I am being forced. I don't even like to read for long hours. This is not me."
"What are you doing as your major then?" Hamilton asked, curious.
"Sociology."
Hamilton gave a small chuckle. "For someone who doesn't like to read, you're doing the wrong major."
Carli sighed and said. "Not my choice."
"I see."
Carli continued. "I was supposed to do a BSc in Pol Sci, but the programme is full, as you know."
Hamilton nodded. "Yes. True."
He shifted in his chair. "And your parents wanted you to do that degree also?"
"That was their... well, my mother's first choice for me."
Hamilton nodded. "I see." He adjusted the glasses on his face.
"Well my dear," Hamilton said leaning forward bracing his elbows on the desk. "You have two options, if in fact you're not fully satisfied with how things are for you."
"What are they?" she asked, now intrigued.
Hamilton smiled kindly at her. "You could decide to defer the year and choose to wait until the first year spaces are empty next year and try to get into the programme you're more comfortable with. There is still no guarantee you would get in, but in the meantime, you could go job hunting, and try again next year. Come in as a part-time student."
He paused for effect, but the question was hanging in the air so Carli asked it. She leaned forward. "Or... I could do what?"
"Or... maybe, you could use the opportunity while you're here, to throw yourself into your current studies, do your very best, and then if you still want to transfer next year into Pol Sci into the degree fully, I could see what I can do to help you."
Carli sat back and thought about it.
Maybe she could. His class was the only one she did look forward to. Her lecturers for the Sociology classes were good but she just wasn't intrigued.
But wait! What about the creative side of her?
What about dance or theatre? She did like the idea of acting one day or doing dance.
But what about doing business? She had even applied for Management Studies courses at NCU, she had gotten in but her mom said no.
Could she do it? Was she brave enough to go against what her parents wanted?
Could she?
Maybe she could, maybe she couldn't. If she defied her parents, her mom especially, maybe she would have to find her own way.
She knew her dad loved her, but he often made her mom have the final say. Where would she get a job?
Ooh she was so confused!
"I'll think about what you said Mr Hamilton. Thank you for your insight." Was all she could say.
Hamilton nodded and told her she could leave. So she gathered her books and threw her bag over her shoulder and stepped out and quietly closed the door behind her.
Stepping out she nearly bumped into a tall frame. Looking up she saw it was none other than the Jason guy she met two weeks before. He looked down at her. She wondered if he remembered her.
He cracked a smile.
Yes, he remembered. She smiled back.
"Hey you." His smile grew wider. He looked at the door behind her. "Consultations?"
Carli nodded. "You could say that?"
She moved away from the door in the direction of her next class.
Jason caught up with her. "You busy right now?" he asked.
"Why?" She gave him a mischievous grin.
"Oh, oh... so it's like that, eh?"
"Like what?" She was almost laughing.
Jason didn't mind, she had a pretty smile. "You're being hard. Well, let me say I did mean to call you, but, I got caught up. I honestly did. I've been bombarded with training and assignments and exams."
Carli looked up at him. He was wearing a pair of black fitted jeans that hugged his well sculpted thighs, a white T-shirt; that NYC cap he wore the first time they met, and some fashionable dark grey sandals. No school bag this time though.
"Training?" Carli gave him a quizzical look.
"Yeah, track and field. Sprints 100 and 200 metres," Jason replied matter of factly.
Carli looked him up and down. "Oh cool."
Jason saw what she did and laughed lightheartedly. "What? I don't look the type?"
"Sure." Carli smiled. "You do, just admiring the work you've been putting in."
Yes! Score one for me! Jason thought.
"Well, thanks for the compliment." He reached out and touched Carli's hand. The move stopped her in her tracks.
Jason looked down at her. She looked up at him.
"Listen, I know I failed miserably." He started to laugh. Carli laughed too. "I failed at keeping my promise for us to get something to eat, but this time, I promise I will be available and ready. What do you say?"
Carli looked at him. Could this be real? Could this cute guy be really asking her out? She wasn't an ugly girl but some would say she was plain.
"Okay," she said tentatively.
"Okay, sure." she nodded.
"Great!" Jason beamed.
"Not now though. Maybe this Saturday. I have one more class then I have some reading to catch up on for tomorrow and Friday."
"Okay, no problem. Can I call you?"
"You still have my number?" Carli asked, playfully squinting her eyes at him.
"Yes." Jason chuckled. "Yes, I do."
"Okay. Sure, whenever you're ready. Night time is best though." She was smiling, her eyes lighting up. He never noticed how deep black they were, but he did now.
An unusual, but intriguing color, he thought to himself.
"Of course. Understood," he replied, keeping pace with her as she started walking again.
Carli smiled. "I have to run now, my class is about to start."
"Okay. Sure. Later then."
"Later."
Carli moved forward while Jason turned back in the direction they were coming from.
Carli smiled as she entered the classroom.
Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all, she thought.
"Your majesty!"
Carli's reverie was broken by a very familiar voice dripping with sarcasm.
She looked up to see Marsha sitting in the classroom, grinning mischievously.
Other students were walking in behind Carli, finding seats. She just stood there staring at Marsha.
"What do you want?" she asked feeling annoyed.
"Want?" Marsha removed her text book from her bag. "Hunny, mi nuh want nuttn from you." She drew out the 'you' vulgarly. "A class mi come."
"But ... but ... ?"
"Yeah, I missed a few sessions. Just two weeks, while some payment issues were being sorted out. We don't all have it like that dear." Marsha rolled her eyes at her.
Carli sat in a chair at the back to get as far away from Marsha as she could.
...Or maybe not. Carli sighed inwardly.
_____________________
Chapter 4: The fool can wait
Marsha sat at the edge of Jason's bed and watched him sleep. He was assigned to Taylor Hall on campus and received a scholarship in track but this man decided to board at a house in a nearby community called Mona Commons. She had "borrowed" the spare key the last time she visited him and would pop in to see him unannounced anytime she felt like it.
Now, as she sat on the edge of his bed and watched him sleep, she remembered the time when she was sixteen and snuck into his room hoping to lay beside him and maybe even have him kiss her. She had to admit when he first came home to live with them, she never wanted him there. She never liked him. It was only after he took the blame for her antics that she grew to admire him and developed a crush on him.
She remembered everything vividly. It was the first weekend after going back to school in September, her mother had asked her to clean her room and also do a small load of laundry. She did the chores begrudgingly but also rolled off reams of her mom's favorite toilet paper unto the floor and also squeezed the family toothpaste in the middle and left a streak of toothpaste in the bathroom sink that was designated for Jason. The family home had four bedrooms and three bathrooms, one with a quaint little tub, the other two with standing showers. One of the bathrooms was near to the back door across from a kitchenette turned washroom. That was Jason's to use.
When her parents bought the house they extended it, knocking out the east wall to accommodate their version of a master bedroom with a bathroom. There was plenty of yard space and with a little help from NHT and some family inheritance, they began forging the dream home they wanted. Her parents adopting Jason was a surprise to her because after the construction work was finished they said it was "ban yuh belly time" so that they could pay off the loan and save more intensely for her and her little sister's university fund.
When he came home with her mom she saw him as an intrusive presence. It had been a week since he had been there and while he was pretty much polite with everyone, he was brooding and mostly stuck to himself. He did snap at her mom once because she had entered his room without knocking, she didn't like that. So she decided she would get rid of him.
Her parents stored extras in the washroom in the cupboards. Extra toilet paper, dish washing liquid, soaps, etc. When he came to live with them seven days earlier, his mom had managed to buy him two new towels, a bar of soap, a small bottle of shampoo and a tiny tube of toothpaste. His mom also bought him a jar of African Pride hair grooming oil. He also brought a few items of clothing and a worn pair of sneakers. His only decent pair of shoes were the ones he wore for school. Marsha's mom told Jason he could go into the wash/store room and take what he needed, with Marsha's guidance of course.
The family knew however that her mom had a favorite brand of toilet paper she used, one that never gave her any gynaecological issues, so everyone stayed clear of those. Well, Marsha never told him he couldn't take one. In fact, she told him it was okay. That Saturday morning he had run out of his own toiletries and needed a top up. So he pulled two tissues from the pack, took a toothpaste for himself and a bar of deodorant soap.
Later in the afternoon, Jason told her he had to leave to go see his mom because his dad had come by and was asking for him, for he heard that a nice family had adopted him, sort of. She told him not to worry and waved him goodbye as she closed the door.
Quickly, she went into his bathroom and rolled off the toilet paper on the tissue holder almost to the end, leaving a small piece and flushed it down the toilet. Afterwards she hid the toothpaste he took for himself and placed the family toothpaste in his bathroom and squeezed the tube from the middle and allowed a dollop of it to fall onto the sink. Then she used her finger to make a streak inside the belly of the sink. She also decided to leave the toothpaste tube open.
She lifted the toilet seat, got some yellow and red food coloring and tipped a few drops into the water in the toilet to give as close to the color of pee as much as possible, then she also peed in it for further effect. Next, she launched herself onto his bed and began rolling around, wrinkling the bed sheets that he had neatly made up that morning.
Grinning to herself, she closed the bedroom door behind her, leaving the bathroom door ajar for anyone who was nosy enough to see, and went to her room pretending like she had done nothing wrong.
When her mom came home she asked Marsha if she had done the laundry. She said yes, but did not remember to ask Jason if he had any laundry he wanted done. Her mom said okay she would ask him if his clothes could wait until the next weekend or if he wanted to use one of their washing baths to do his washing. Marsha nodded scrolling on her phone, pretending to be uninterested.
A minute later she heard her mom slam Jason's bedroom door shut and curse an expletive.
Marsha prepared to look concerned.
"Mommy, what's up?", she asked, staring at her mother while standing by her bedroom doorway.
"That boy... that boy, Jason. Have you seen his room?"
"No," she said following her mother back into "that boy's" designated bedroom.
Marsha looked at the bed. She herself was surprised at the level of damage she had done to the sheets. She forced herself to suppress the smile that was curling up her lips.
Pretending to look around, she went into the bathroom and uttered a loud gasp. Her mother went in after her.
"Marsha, what is it?" she asked.
"Mommy, look at this!" She took up the empty wrapper for the toilet paper, her mom's favorite brand, from the waste bin and showed it to her. Her mother started fuming.
"Marsha...," she started, "I thought I told you to make sure Jason knows not to touch these ones!"
Marsha protested, "Mommy of course I did! Mommy mi tell him nuh fi touch dem. Mi tell him."
Marsha's mom, Monica, observed that the toilet wasn't flushed and started speaking another round of expletives.
"Di f%@K! Can't even flush the damn toilet!" Monica put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "Maybe I was hasty in doing this, this ...asking him to come live with us."
Marsha decided not to say a word. She was getting what she wanted.
"When your dad gets home I know he's gonna cuss me out but I will take it like a grown woman, and whatever he decides we will do."
Turning around from the room she glanced the family toothpaste, hissed her teeth and walked out. Marsha giggled quietly to herself. She went back to her room, started her Math homework and waited for the show down to start later.
When Jason got back to the Miller's residence, Mr and Mrs Miller were already home. As he shut the front door he heard Mrs. Miller ask him to come into the living room.
When he entered the room the two adults had scowls on their faces. Marsha however was toying with her phone and the younger daughter Chayelle, who was ten, was watching something on her tablet.
Mr Miller cleared his throat and spoke first. "We decided to hold a family meeting and we want you to be a part of it. Matter of fact, the meeting is about you."
Jason walked into the room slowly. "Okay," he said.
"Take a seat, son." Donovan Miller leaned forward and gestured for him to take a lone chair that had been pulled from the dining room for the purpose of the meeting.
"Mrs Miller and I wanted to do a good thing for you. My wife told me that you are a well mannered young man and that you were doing well with your grades but you were having difficulty because of family problems."
Donovan cleared his throat again. "Because of all she said, though I was reluctant, I decided to go along with it for a bit because as she said, it would be your 9th grade year. Time for grade nine (9) assessment exams and she wanted you to be in a stable environment to do well in your studies and exams. However, what happened today was unacceptable and you ... I believe young man you need to go back to your family."
To Jason, it felt like his heart had stopped beating. "Why? What did I do wrong?"
He himself couldn't believe it when his guidance counsellor told his mom that she wanted to have him stay with her for the rest of the school term and maybe into sixth form if things went well.
At first he had thanked them but told them no, it would have been best if he was home so he could help his mom, but his own mother told him she wanted him to go. So at least he could get some help, and she wouldn't have to worry he would get in trouble.
Now they were saying he should go home, after just one week? He had apologized for snapping at Mrs Miller but that was because she had entered the room when he was fresh out the shower and he only had a towel wrapped around his waist, that he was about to remove, it was a good thing a notification came through on his phone and he stopped to pick it up to see who or what it was from. Otherwise she would have gotten a full view of his butt cheeks.
After he snapped at her to please leave and knock next time, he thought about his tone and later went to her while she was in the kitchen preparing dinner and apologized. She also said she was sorry saying she was always used to just entering her daughters' rooms and that she never thought about what she was doing. He thought they had moved past that.
"Well...," Jason said, looking directly at Monica. "If it's about the time about you entering the room Mrs Miller I did apologize, if there is anything else I am not sure..."
"It is about your room, yes, but not about that" Donovan interrupted.
Turning his attention to Mr Miller, he asked, "My room? What about my room?"
"Don't act clueless, boy!" Donovan snapped. "Arite, arite gwaan play like that. Gwaan guh look inna yuh room how yuh leff it!"
Jason got up from the chair and went to look as Mr Miller insisted.
He saw his bed or the bed he was given wrinkled up. The whole family came behind him. "Look inna di bathroom how yuh leff it!" said Mrs Miller angrily.
Jason did as he was told. He couldn't believe it.
"But ... I didn't leave it like that! I swear." Jason felt like his head was spinning.
"An' yuh tek two a my tissue and already use off one, a weh yuh did have bwoi, diarrhea?" Mrs Miller replied sharply.
"Look inna di toilet!" Marsha shouted.
Jason looked in and what he saw made him feel disgusted.
Mr and Mrs Miller, I would never..." He appealed to stoney faces. He looked down to see Marsha's smirk and knew it was her that did all of it but also knew even if he told them it was her, her parents wouldn't believe him.
He had a duffle bag by his bed with a few things he hadn't unpacked yet. He pulled it onto the bed and began removing his clothes from the closet they loaned him. He set the hangers aside and started neatly folding and stuffing them into his bag. He heard them cussing him out while he was doing it, but didn't answer. After a while, he couldn't even hear what they were saying, he zoned them out.
He took the 7:30 pm bus from their JUTC route back to downtown, and then took a taxi home. It was supposed to be the end of that, but it wasn't.
That night Marsha lay beside Chay and as she was about to fall asleep, she heard her little sister say, "I know what you did. And if you don't want me to tell mommy and daddy you will give me 10% of your lunch money each week."
Marsha turned around to face the little brat.
"What are you talking about?" Her eyes boring into Chay.
"You framed that guy!" Chay shouted.
"Keep your voice down," Marsha hissed. "You little brat!" She continued, whispering forcefully, "He deserved it. Don't you want to have you own room back?"
"I have my own room," Chay replied. "It's you who is the squatter, staying in here with me."
"Okay, yes. so now that he is gone I can go back to my room tomorrow after mommy does some cleaning up," Marsha said.
"You know, you could have just cleaned it up yourself. He didn't bring much with him. So there wasn't much waste. As a matter of fact, he kept the room neater and cleaner than you!" Her sister spoke matter of factly.
"What is this?!" Marsha sat up and looked down at her sister. "Yuh have a crush on him or sumn?" She asked in an accusatory tone.
"Me!" Chay laughed, "Nope. Boys are cool and all but I'm not sure I'm interested. Not yet anyway. Anyhoo sis, going to bed now. Make sure I get that ten percent fee in my school bag by tomorrow morning, just tuck it into the little part where I keep my pens and pencils." Chay turned her back to her to go to sleep.
Marsha doubled a fist to thump her in her back, when she heard her little sister say, "And don't bother to do anything crazy. I'm the favorite daughter, so they will believe me."
Marsha hit the bed instead, turned herself around to face the door, lay down and forced herself to fall asleep.
As she looked at Jason sleeping peacefully, Marsha also remembered when her sister ratted her out anyway. Chay had gained an extra two thousand dollars from the ten percent her sister was giving her, but she felt guilty, and one Sunday morning after the family had come from church, she started fake crying, or at least that was what it looked like to Marsha. She started crying and told her parents what Marsha did. Chay told them she felt guilty but Marsha felt it was probably because she had gotten bored with the game she was playing at her sister's expense and wanted to move on to something else. Family games
It had been a whole month after Jason left. To this day, Chay would always find a way to outsmart her. Though their sibling rivalry had died down, she knew that if Chay wanted to, she could get her. Marsha loved her sister. She was a good kid in her own way, brilliant and effervescent, but too smart for her own good.
Jason sighed in his sleep and turned on his right side. There was space on the bed for her to scoot in and lay beside him. Marsha's thoughts wandered again.
When he came back to the Miller's residence they apologized to him profusely and promised to give him the benefit of the doubt in future. They grounded Marsha for four months. Just school, home and church, she couldn't go any where else. She hated him even more by then.
Jason stayed clear of Marsha, rarely spoke to her, till one day she was being bullied at school. At that time she was tall with a skinny frame. The problem was, she had a smart mouth, and would say just about anything that came to her mind. One day she took it too far and called one of the girls "a big fat mampy with a crater face".
The girl she was talking about had terrible acne. They were in grade eight (8) and everyone acted like ten year olds at times. Name calling was common. The kids would call Marsha "Martian", "Light post", "Long gi lala", "Stick insect", and more that she didn't remember.
So the girl, Rochelle, tried to pass her place with her and called her a giraffe to which Marsha retorted, "At least mi a nuh one crater face mampy!" Rochelle got mad and pushed her, so Marsha pushed her back, hard, and Rochelle fell to the ground. She had vowed to get her back after school, but Marsha never took her seriously.
When school was done for the day, Marsha decided to walk to the bus stop with her friend Fallon. She would usually wait on her parents to pick her up, but Fallon was going to tell her some outrageous gossip she didn't want to miss, so she told her mom she would take the bus, and not to worry coming for her.
Out of nowhere, Rochelle showed up with her bigger brother, who was not even a student anymore. He was expelled for bad behavior. The brother, who everyone in school called 'Blacks', pushed Marsha to the ground, bent down and slapped her across the face.
"Yuh love chat 'bout peepul!" He said, looking menacingly at her. "Yah guh keep my sister out a yuh mouth y'ere dat!"Gift baskets
Marsha found the courage to speak up. Holding her left jaw, she said, "Is not me fi keep my mouth closed, is yuh sista. A she fi stop guh roun' a truble peepul!"
"Likkle gyal weh yuh seh?!" he shouted.
He was about to give a forceful slap across her right cheek, when Jason it seemed, came out of no where, and launched on him and the two of them landed on the ground tangled up in a violent tussle. Other kids that were nearby ran up to them and started chanting, "Fight!" "Fight!!"
It just so happened that at that time a female teacher was passing by, saw the fight and called the attention of a male colleague to come and break them up.
Jason was suspended for a week, even after Marsha's mom insisted to the principal that it was Rochelle's and her big brother's fault. The principal however said that while it was commendable that he was trying to defend her daughter, it must not be perceived that violence is an acceptable means to solve conflict, especially since the reputation of the school would be called into question. They were in fact in their school uniforms. The principal did however agree to call Rochelle and 'Blacks' parents in to warn them about their children, and to inform them that Rochelle would be suspended for two weeks.
While in her reverie, Jason turned on to his back again, this time throwing off the sheet, exposing his bare torso. Marsha caught her breath. So many times she had fantasized about kissing his chest and reveling in each individual pec. They were just perfect. It made her weak just thinking about resting her head on them and running her fingers through the sparse but shiny, black, curly chest hairs.
Lawd have mercy! She thought to herself. I need a drink of sumn strong.
Jason mumbled something. Oh no! She thought. I don't want him to wake up and see me here! Carefully, she got up from the bed and crept to the door. She opened the door quietly and slipped out. She looked at her watch. It was 2 am. She had a friend nearby that she could stay with till morning. Oh how she wanted to feel his strong arms pull her close to him and shelter her until the morning but alas!
She felt herself shiver from the cold. It was mid-November. There were a few people milling around. One of them called to her and she nodded. She pulled her phone from the back pocket of her jeans and dialed her friend's number. It started to ring.
"Hey babes," another said, "weh yah duh pon road suh late? Mine a man tek yuh weh ehh nuh!" To which the guy who was speaking and his friends chuckled. She smiled politely and was relieved when she heard Patrice answer the phone.
"Girl!" Patrice answered. "Yuh coming down now?"
Yeh girl," Marsha responded. "Right away."
She set off quickly. Crossed John Golding Road walked up to Papine and headed down as if she was walking towards Liguanea. She turned onto one of the roads across from the "Standpipe" community, Canberra Crescent, where her friend was renting a place. She would have to get Jason to change his location. It didn't feel safe there.
In the morning while Jason was drinking his coffee, black and strong, he mused to himself. Why did it feel as if someone was in the room with him last night? It felt like a familiar presence was there.
It didn't always happen but it did make him nervous when he thought about it. Sometimes he wondered if he was going a bit crazy. Sighing, he shook his head trying to move past the feeling.
He took a bite of his toast and fried egg. He never liked butter on his bread, maybe some mayo, or peanut butter but not butter. His mom used to say he got that weird quirk from his dad. Well, he didn't know. His dad never lived with them for him to see that for himself.
Jason scrolled through his phone messages. He had been chatting with Carli for about three weeks. They hadn't gotten around to that meet-up yet. This second time it was his fault again, beyond his control, unfortunately.
There was an emergency with his little brother. His little brother, Joel is asthmatic, and he had an attack just after his mother had spent the money their granny had sent their mom from Canada. Jason had taken a part-time job but it was for his own life's upkeep.
He had saved about $50,000 and had to now take some of it for his little brother's medical expenses. He wasn't sorry, but he was broke. He wanted to treat Carli to something like a date so he had planned to do something simple, but he was going to use that money. When his brother got sick, his mom only had him to help, so he did what he had to do. His 'wutliss' daddy was no help!
So far, he and Carli's conversations were pretty safe, no real probing questions. Just texting questions about where they grew up, their siblings, funny experiences and their majors and career goals. He got that Carli was a bit ambivalent toward her studies but he tried to cheer her up by telling her that God had a plan in all of the things that were happening. She wasn't convinced but he tried to cheer her up anyway.
After this second time when he cancelled on her, he was trying to get her to commit to a new date but each time she would say she had to study, she had assignments, she was going back to Manchester to see her parents for a weekend and so on. He was beginning to think she was blowing him off.
Carli chewed voraciously into her barbi-fried chicken leg. Oh gosh! She was so hungry. She barely got a chance between classes to eat something. A few crackers, some water, that was it. It was another stressful Wednesday and she was grateful to be done with the last class for the day. To be in her dorm and to be chatting up a storm with 'the sensible roommate'. She didn't know where Marsha was, but she didn't even care.
Shauna had promised to buy her dinner from a Chinese themed fast food place in Papine, and true to her word, she did. Now she was telling Carli about a crazy cousin that lived in St. Ann that she would visit during the summer holidays when she was a kid.
"Latoya love fi climb tree, play marbles and shoot bingey like any bwoy pickney. She even guh a river a swim inna juss panty when she likkle an' neva hav' nuh bress yet!" Shauna said, a wide grin on her face.Gift baskets
"Suh wah whapm wen har bress dem start develup?" Carli asked. She dug her fork in a nice serving of mashed potatoes and stuffed it into her mouth.
"Yuh know seh wen dem was juss lilli buds she was a try di same ting. As a matter of fact, she get weh wid doing it one time but someone si har wid di boys dem an' tell har granny. Mi seh she get some lick. Mi did deh deh fi seet. Mi did tell har seh Trudy, yeah Trudy is har pet name. Mi seh Trudy mi nuh tink is a good idea enuh. Granma Pat soohn cuhm back, suh betta we stay close by. Plus yuh nuh si seh yuh start buss bress? Yuh wah di likkle bwoy dem si yuh titty dem?"
Carli almost spat out the grape soda she was drinking. She managed to swallow, then let out loud shrieks of laughter. After she calmed down, she said, "Titty....!" Her body shook with laughter. "Yow! Long time mi nuh hear nubaddi use dah wud deh enuh!" More laughter.
Shauna was also laughing really hard, her eyes started watering. "Yeah man..." Laughter. "A dat mi did seh. Mi was about ten, she was twelve at the time."
"Suh wah happen afta dat?" Carli was captivated by the story now.
"As mi seh shi guh di riva near di community, strip down to panty an' jump een. Mass Roy one elda inna di community si weh she duh an' pass by di market an' ask fi Miss Pat an' tell har weh mi cuzzin duh. Har granny used to sell ground provisions inna di market. Anyhoo, wen Granny Pat cuhm home shi give Trudy a good whipping.
"Hear Trudy wen shi a get di lick dem... 'Whoiee! Whoiee! Granma lie dem a tell pon mi! Lie dem tell! Nuh bwoy neva inna di riva wid mi. Dem a si doubles.' Den shi change har mouth an' seh, 'But Granma is not a crime mi duh. Mi not even have bress yet!' Mi seh Granny Pat start seh 'Weh yuh seh?' A Mass Roy himself affi cuhm save har. Him did ah pass back from him grung suh wen him hear di bawling him turn in down Granny Pat walkway an' si wah gwaan an' seh, 'Pat! Pat hooeeyy! Mi tell yuh fi warn di chile, not kill har!'"
Carli chuckled, took up her paper napkin and wiped her hands and lips with it. "So where is your cuz now?" she asked.
"United States Army," Shauna replied. "She will always be a tomboy." She smiled. She went to her bag, pulled out her phone, surfed through the photos in 'photo gallery', found a picture of Latoya and handed the phone to Carli, so she could get a closer look.
"She looks great," Carli said, observing the low cropped hairstyle under the beret she wore. She had a proud smile on her face. She was an attractive young woman with piercing eyes. Carli handed the phone back to her friend. "She looks happy," she said.
Shauna put the phone back into her bag. "Yeah, I guess she is."
Sitting back on her bed in their dorm room, Shauna looked suddenly serious. "And what about you?" she asked Carli. "Are you happy?"
Carli was thinking of a way to deflect away from the question when her phone rang. Quickly, she jumped up to answer it. Reaching for it on an antique desk in the room, she realized it was Jason calling. She answered.
"Hellooo."
"Hey," he replied, "What's up? Been trying to get you on Whatsapp. Yuh gud?"
"Yeh man. What's up?"
"Well, still thinking about that lunch I promised you. Instead of eating at The Cafe I was thinking we could have sandwiches, some fruit and good company."
"Okay, cool, but who is 'the good company'?"
"Touché," he replied. He could feel she was smiling. "Yeah, about that last time, I am sorry. You know, I told you what happened to my little bro. Couldn't be avoided. But I want to make it up to you. You have been distant with me still. Been wondering if you might be blowing me off. Has my charm worn off so quickly?"
Carli gave a little laugh. It was like a little chuckle but it was so sexy to his ears. He didn't realize he was holding his breath. Breathing in deeply, he asked, "Well?"
"What charm? The only charm I have gotten exposed to is you bumping into me and causing my bum to hurt after," she teased.
Jason laughed. He liked her sense of humor.
"Okay, okay. Seriously though, I wanna take you out tonight. I know a place. What d'yah say?"
"I am kind of full ... but, I can manage some ice cream." Carli found her mood improving. She did like him.
Jason nodded at the phone. "Okay, ice cream it is then. Come for you at around 7?"
"Sure."
Jason heard a strange tone in her voice, something that intrigued him. He felt his heart pound.
"Okay. See you in half hour." Jason heard his voice dip to a soft, gentle tone. What was this thing that had come over him?!
"Okay," she said.
Carli hung up and turned around to see Shauna staring at her looking pleased as a satisfied puss.
"And who is that?" she asked batting her eyes.
"Just a friend," Carli said heading to the shower. "You okay to clean up?"
"Yeh man." Shauna nodded. "No problem."
Carli grabbed a towel from a hanger in the closet. Retrieved her favorite body wash from her drawer and closed the door behind her.
Jason stood near the entrance of Seacole Hall waiting on Carli when Marsha walked up to him, excited to see him.
"Hey, what are you doing here? Did we have plans and I forgot?" She looked him up and down. Damn he smells good! What is that cologne? She wondered. He also looked really nice in a fresh white t-shirt and a pair of light blue jeans, and new timberland boots. He also wore a jeans blazer that she had never seen him in before.
"You on a hot date or sumn?" She was joking, but when he didn't answer she got suspicious.
She managed to keep the smile plastered on her face. "So, where you going? What you up to?"
"Just meeting a friend," he answered tersely.
"Oh really. I thought I was the only friend you had on Seacole?"
He looked at her then looked away. He was eyeing the entrance to the Hall. She was more than curious about who he was looking for. Marsha felt anger rise within her. She reached up, grabbed his chin and turned his face towards her. "Look at me!"
Just then as Carli was heading out to meet Jason, she heard Shauna say, "Have fun. Not too much fun."
"Okay," she replied giggling.
As she was walking past her block and out to the entrance way of the Hall she saw Jason and Marsha. The body language between them seemed awkward. Luckily, Marsha had her back turned to her and while Jason was facing her way, his focus was on Marsha. He looked quite annoyed. Were they arguing?
Yes, they were!
The exchange looked unpleasant.
She wondered what the nature of their relationship was. The way Marsha's body language looked, it would seem as if she was a girl friend or an ex maybe. Carli wanted no part of that.
She quickly trotted back inside the Hall and hurried up to her room and closed the door.
Shauna turned around. She had toothpaste and a toothbrush in hand. "Hey," she said, "back so soon?"
"Yeah, he didn't show." Carli sat on her bed and removed her flip flops.
"Oh, so it was a guy!" Shauna started to grin.
"Yup, but let's not get into that please." Carli started to undress. She threw on a nightgown. Folded the clothes she just took off and stuffed them into a plastic bag. For wash day. She thought.
She pinned her hair up into a loose ponytail and covered it with a silk kerchief, lay down and turned her body to the wall. A single tear rolled down her cheek. She squeezed her eyes shut.
Meanwhile, Jason looked at the time on his phone, 7:30 pm. Carli wasn't coming it seemed, and Marsha would not budge.
"Who is she Jason? Tell me!"
He read jealousy all over her face.
"Marsha, you know what it is. We're like brother and sister." He folded his arms across his chest.
"All the more reason to tell me who she is. Don't we tell each other everything?" Marsha stood with legs apart, hands on her hips.
"Look, I'm not gonna argue with you. See you tomorrow, if anything." Jason took two steps back, turned around and walked away.
Marsha was hopping mad. Who the hell would dare think they could take away what she was working so hard and long to have? She had been waiting so long for Jason to see things her way! The relationship between her and him was meant to be, even if he didn't see it yet. She would have to convince him in no uncertain terms that he was hers. Only hers!
Jason punched a wall in his room. Women! What was he thinking? Carli never forgave him for flaking on her the first or the second time. Why did he even bother?! And Marsha. Damn that girl! Something was wrong with her. This possessiveness was getting to him. What a fool he had been to think he understood women at all.
"Bwoy Missa Joseph, yuh know weh yuh a talk bout man!" Mr Brown said speaking to the building contractor supervising work on his house. "This new 'prentice weh yuh cyarry fi werk pon di house a gwaan man! Him finish paint one side a di outside wall aready!"
Both Mr. Brown and Mr. Joseph Black, affectionately called Mas Joe, watched as Jason quickly but efficiently used the paint roller to neatly deposit the fuchsia colored paint onto the wall. He was finished with the front and was now doing the wall closest to a side gate that led to the backyard. He smiled to himself, at least he could thank his dad for passing on the trade to him.
Ever since he was twelve years old, to get extra money out of his dad, he would follow him to private homes and help his dad paint folks' houses. It was hard but rewarding work, and his dad made sure to teach him the skills he needed to do a good job, for if he didn't, his dad couldn't charge the home owner a wage fitting for his labour. His dad made sure that every work done was top tier and his son had to meet up to and maintain the same standard on any work site he went on.
From ages twelve to sixteen his dad would take him to work on private residences, but after sixteen his dad took him to newly constructed apartment complexes, and he and two other men along with his dad would paint the units assigned to their team.
Jason wasn't afraid of hard work, so he would even walk through with his dad, helping him to inspect and correct anything the other men did wrong. He knew about drywall. He knew how to apply primer to concrete surfaces and he was also taught how to spot a paint bubble and how to fix it quickly. He was thankful for the lessons learned.
Jason respected his dad for being an excellent professional at his trade. He just never liked him as a man. He was a delinquent father and Jason vowed to himself that he would never be like him in that respect. Hard worker yes. Deadbeat dad, hell no!
At about 7:00 p.m. he finished a whole section and promised Mas Joe that he would come back tomorrow to help him finish the rest of the painting. Mr Brown had also asked him if he knew anything about selecting paint for some wooden furniture he had custom built that he was planning to install on his patio. He told him that as a matter of fact he did. His dad had taught him well. Mr Brown asked him what he would charge, but not wanting to 'bruk Mas Joe's foot', Jason told Mr Brown that it was best he consulted with Mas Joe about a price. Mr Brown looked at him silently for a minute then nodded his agreement.
It was the peak of final exams period in December and Jason wanted to get as much money as possible. He studied at night after he came home from work. He would go to bed at twelve midnight and wake up at 3 a.m. to do his studying.
He worked part-time at a supermarket, a job his dad begrudgingly sought for him from one of his family friends. Jason had threatened to stop working with him if he didn't help him get something more stable. Even Mas Joe was an old associate of his dad, but a much nicer guy to be around. Joseph treated him more like a son than his own father did.
When Belvedere Singh was told in no uncertain terms that he, Jason, would no longer help him to do the odd job here or there, if he didn't help him get something more stable, he laughed at first, then he hurled expletives at his son. Then, when he saw that Jason's jaw was clenched shut and his fists closed, he knew he was serious.
It had been awhile since he and his son had settled their differences in a brawl. The last time Jason had beaten him and promised that never again he would wrestle, tackle, fight, 'trash out' or whatever his dad called their physical conflicts. He was done! But with his fists in position he wondered if Jason had forgotten what he said.
"Arite mi son," Bello said, "mi will ask a fren mi know if him can help yuh out."
Jason's shoulders dropped, he released his hands and his body relaxed. Getting things out of his dad was like a constant battle. He would claim it was to make him into a man. Yes, he was self-sufficient in a lot of things. For awhile he went to live with his dad and two other of his siblings. He was the second child in terms of age that lived at the house.
At twelve years old, Jason's mom couldn't manage him. He would talk back and would tell her off if he felt like it. She pleaded with Bello to take him and at first it seemed like he wouldn't. When his mother Bridget first asked him to take him, he had hung up the phone on her. He didn't even say a word. He just hung up. But then a month later, in August, Jason could remember it clearly, he came for him and took him to his main baby momma's house. She was fairly nice to him but Jason just didn't like her at first.
Antonia was her name and she was a great cook. She knew how to make roti and dahl. Her curry dishes were always delicious. You see, she was very close to Bello's mom, Jason's grandmother, before she died, who had taught her all her cooking secrets, that she in turn learned from her own mother. It was ironic to Jason that a total stranger would now be the one to teach something from his own heritage. It made him sad but also angry.
After a while however, her kindness wore him down, and he would go into the kitchen to watch her cook, and later when he was about thirteen he asked her if she could teach him how to cook those delicious meals, to which she gladly agreed. He learned a lot from her about cooking Indian dishes and Jamaican fusion meals, but also about patience and kindness, something he needed at that critical point in his life.
His dad was still a jerk to him, but was less of a jerk when Antonia aka Precious intervened. His big sister from Antonia, Kerry, was nice enough to him and her little brother, well, his little brother too, was a cool little dude. His name was Wayne. He grew to like them as well, but was still ambivalent towards his dad.
At fourteen, Jason was sent back to his mother's house. Bello stuffed Jason's clothes in a plastic bag and told him he had to go back home. He sent him back home to live with his mother empty handed. No food, no new shoes or clothes, not even some money to give to his mom.
Antonia had begged him not to do it, but Bello didn't care. He complained that Jason didn't respect him because he didn't jump or flinch when he shouted at him like the other children did. But Jason wasn't afraid of him. He barely respected him. He went back to his mom's house and decided from that day forward he would do any job to help out. He didn't need his dad's help or sympathy.
Jason slid into Mas Joe's old Toyota Carolla and waited for him to finish speaking with Mr Brown. When Joseph got in the car, he handed Jason $20,000. "Here," he said, "for yesterday and today."
Jason nodded, took the folded up money and pulled a side zipper of the bag he had carried with him, tucked it into that small space and closed the zipper.
Joseph looked at his young charge for a minute and smiled. "Mr Brown told me what you did. I don't mind you doing side gigs besides working with me," he said.
Jason smiled. "Yeah, I know, but he's your customer so respect is due."
Joseph nodded. "Yah good yute."
Jason laughed.
Joseph turned the key in the ignition, shifted the car into drive and slowly moved the vehicle away from the sidewalk.
"Speaking of side hustle," Jason spoke, his eyes on the road. "A friend of mine told me about a family that needs their kitchen and living room repainted. It's up Constant Spring way."
"Oh?" Joseph glanced quickly at Jason, then returned his gaze to the road.
"Yeah." Jason smiled.
"Well make sure you do your measurements accurately before yuh staht di werk." Joseph maneuvered onto Half Way Tree Road.
"Yeh, I know how," Jason said confidently.
Joseph nodded. "Good."
Joseph stopped the car before Clock Tower Plaza. Jason got out of the vehicle. Carefully, he closed the door and told Joseph thank you. Hoisting the bag over his shoulder, Jason headed towards Devon House Bakery. It was his mom's birthday and he wanted to buy her "sumn nice". It was lucky for him that Mr Brown had given him permission to take a shower in a shed in the back of the yard.
The shed had a bathroom with shower, face basin and toilet. It was equipped with a mini fridge and a two burner hot plate for when Mr Brown felt peckish. Oftentimes he was doing some yard work and didn't want to bother his wife. Sometimes it was due to their explosive arguments. His wife was a temperamental woman.
Power ran from the main house to his little den, so he could install lights and electricity for a fan. It also had a small bed that Mr Brown used when he would come in late from work and didn't feel like going to the house. His wife was a light sleeper, and him trudging in at 3:00 in the morning would surely wake her up and make her grumpy for the whole day. He knew better, so he converted the shed into a mini flat.
The shed was already there when he and his wife bought the property, but he made it comfortable for his convenience. While walking the distance to the bakery, Jason thought about the nice house he was painting and wondered if one day he could have something like that.
Carli was getting her hair retouched. She had asked her parents for money to deal with her weekly upkeep and her dad surprised her by depositing $50,000 into her bank account. He would usually send $30,000 to last for two weeks. This time however he warned her that the money would have to last her through the month.
She understood things at home were a little difficult and agreed to do her best. She had to do her hair though, it had grown about two inches, and she was excited to see how long it would look after Andrea, her hair dresser was finished. She also asked that a rinse be applied to her hair. She was partial to burgundy with a hint of lavender at the ends.
After having the relaxer fully applied to her hair roots, she waited an extra 10 minutes for the product to do its work. She was sitting on a plush, comfy couch with a shower cap over her head. She scrolled through her Instagram feed, then went to Whatsapp to see what her friends were up to.
Simone shared a picture of herself and the growing baby bump. She was wearing a cute royal blue jumper and a pair of flat sandals. She looked plumper, but also happy. The child's father, Matthew, stood beside her resting his hand possessively on her belly.
Matthew.
Everyone thought that Carli and Matthew were a couple. Not even close. She had always seen him as a brother, and thought he felt the same way, until one day everything changed between them. Yes, they kissed once, and what a kiss it was! But she only kissed him because she was a virgin and had never kissed a boy before. Now she was not sure how she felt about him. There was no turning back now though, he was apparently dating Simone. She looked at the picture of her two best friends, male and female, and recalled how she messed things up.
She was an 11th grader in high school at the time and all her classmates were talking about French kissing and what it was like. Matthew laughed at first when she asked him to kiss her. But after she convinced him that she needed the practice, he agreed.
On that fateful day, she remembered, she was over his house. It was a Friday afternoon, just like it was today. Matthew's parents had not yet returned home from work. He and Carli had left straight from school, took the bus together and chatted all the way to his place. They were glad to be done with the school week and happy for the weekend.
Mathew took some rock buns and two ginger beer sodas from the refrigerator. He heated up the rock buns in the microwave, placed them on two plates and brought them up to his bedroom. He handed one of the plates to Carli and placed the sodas on the floor beside the bed. Carli was already sitting on his bed rocking to some music she was listening to on her phone.
"Thanks for agreeing to do this for me Matt," Carli said shyly.
They had agreed that it was going to be that day. No one was at home yet. They were alone. They had been alone numerous times before, Carli knew every detail of Matt's room. She felt nervous about the kiss but believed she was safe with him. She however did not want them to be caught by his parents. They were somewhat liberal, laid back people, but she kept thinking of how embarrassing it would be if she and Matthew were discovered.
"And why do you want me to do this again?" Matthew asked, a quizzical but amused look was on his face. "Wouldn't Andre be a better candidate?"
Matthew knew that Carli had a crush on Andre, so he was teasing her.
Carli carefully bit into the toasty, warm bun Matthew's mother had baked the night before. Mhmm! So nice! she thought. "You know why," she said licking a crumb off the corner of her mouth.
"Well remind me. I think I need further convincing. I said yes, but now I'm not sure." Matthew sat on the bed with Carli, he had already finished his first rock bun and had two more left. He only gave Carli two buns since she claimed she was watching her figure, and was still on the first one. He watched her eating and shook his head.
"Well?" He looked at her.
"I've never had a guy kiss me. I just want to know what it feels like. And yes Matthew, I know you know I like Andre. At least with you I can feel comfortable cause it won't really mean anything. It's just practice." She tried to make it sound like she was going in to do a routine doctor's appointment.
"Practice eh?" Matthew chuckled. "How yuh know seh afta wi kiss yuh nuh develup feelings fi mi?"
Carli rolled her eyes. "Matt please! Psshhh!"
Matthew clutched his chest as if he was in pain. "Wow! You broke my heart right there." He laughed mockingly.
Carli took up Matt's pillow and threw it at him. Matthew dodged it with plate in hand. Swiftly, he placed his plate on the nightstand and lunged at her, knocking her back into the bed. The plate in her lap slid off the bed. Both plate and the half eaten and whole bun fell to the floor. In one quick, smooth move his upper body was on top of her. Matthew looked down at her.
With a cheeky look on his face, he asked, "Is this what you want?" Read more....
When her parents bought the house they extended it, knocking out the east wall to accommodate their version of a master bedroom with a bathroom. There was plenty of yard space and with a little help from NHT and some family inheritance, they began forging the dream home they wanted. Her parents adopting Jason was a surprise to her because after the construction work was finished they said it was "ban yuh belly time" so that they could pay off the loan and save more intensely for her and her little sister's university fund.
When he came home with her mom she saw him as an intrusive presence. It had been a week since he had been there and while he was pretty much polite with everyone, he was brooding and mostly stuck to himself. He did snap at her mom once because she had entered his room without knocking, she didn't like that. So she decided she would get rid of him.
Her parents stored extras in the washroom in the cupboards. Extra toilet paper, dish washing liquid, soaps, etc. When he came to live with them seven days earlier, his mom had managed to buy him two new towels, a bar of soap, a small bottle of shampoo and a tiny tube of toothpaste. His mom also bought him a jar of African Pride hair grooming oil. He also brought a few items of clothing and a worn pair of sneakers. His only decent pair of shoes were the ones he wore for school. Marsha's mom told Jason he could go into the wash/store room and take what he needed, with Marsha's guidance of course.
The family knew however that her mom had a favorite brand of toilet paper she used, one that never gave her any gynaecological issues, so everyone stayed clear of those. Well, Marsha never told him he couldn't take one. In fact, she told him it was okay. That Saturday morning he had run out of his own toiletries and needed a top up. So he pulled two tissues from the pack, took a toothpaste for himself and a bar of deodorant soap.
Later in the afternoon, Jason told her he had to leave to go see his mom because his dad had come by and was asking for him, for he heard that a nice family had adopted him, sort of. She told him not to worry and waved him goodbye as she closed the door.
Quickly, she went into his bathroom and rolled off the toilet paper on the tissue holder almost to the end, leaving a small piece and flushed it down the toilet. Afterwards she hid the toothpaste he took for himself and placed the family toothpaste in his bathroom and squeezed the tube from the middle and allowed a dollop of it to fall onto the sink. Then she used her finger to make a streak inside the belly of the sink. She also decided to leave the toothpaste tube open.
She lifted the toilet seat, got some yellow and red food coloring and tipped a few drops into the water in the toilet to give as close to the color of pee as much as possible, then she also peed in it for further effect. Next, she launched herself onto his bed and began rolling around, wrinkling the bed sheets that he had neatly made up that morning.
Grinning to herself, she closed the bedroom door behind her, leaving the bathroom door ajar for anyone who was nosy enough to see, and went to her room pretending like she had done nothing wrong.
When her mom came home she asked Marsha if she had done the laundry. She said yes, but did not remember to ask Jason if he had any laundry he wanted done. Her mom said okay she would ask him if his clothes could wait until the next weekend or if he wanted to use one of their washing baths to do his washing. Marsha nodded scrolling on her phone, pretending to be uninterested.
A minute later she heard her mom slam Jason's bedroom door shut and curse an expletive.
Marsha prepared to look concerned.
"Mommy, what's up?", she asked, staring at her mother while standing by her bedroom doorway.
"That boy... that boy, Jason. Have you seen his room?"
"No," she said following her mother back into "that boy's" designated bedroom.
Marsha looked at the bed. She herself was surprised at the level of damage she had done to the sheets. She forced herself to suppress the smile that was curling up her lips.
Pretending to look around, she went into the bathroom and uttered a loud gasp. Her mother went in after her.
"Marsha, what is it?" she asked.
"Mommy, look at this!" She took up the empty wrapper for the toilet paper, her mom's favorite brand, from the waste bin and showed it to her. Her mother started fuming.
"Marsha...," she started, "I thought I told you to make sure Jason knows not to touch these ones!"
Marsha protested, "Mommy of course I did! Mommy mi tell him nuh fi touch dem. Mi tell him."
Marsha's mom, Monica, observed that the toilet wasn't flushed and started speaking another round of expletives.
"Di f%@K! Can't even flush the damn toilet!" Monica put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "Maybe I was hasty in doing this, this ...asking him to come live with us."
Marsha decided not to say a word. She was getting what she wanted.
"When your dad gets home I know he's gonna cuss me out but I will take it like a grown woman, and whatever he decides we will do."
Turning around from the room she glanced the family toothpaste, hissed her teeth and walked out. Marsha giggled quietly to herself. She went back to her room, started her Math homework and waited for the show down to start later.
When Jason got back to the Miller's residence, Mr and Mrs Miller were already home. As he shut the front door he heard Mrs. Miller ask him to come into the living room.
When he entered the room the two adults had scowls on their faces. Marsha however was toying with her phone and the younger daughter Chayelle, who was ten, was watching something on her tablet.
Mr Miller cleared his throat and spoke first. "We decided to hold a family meeting and we want you to be a part of it. Matter of fact, the meeting is about you."
Jason walked into the room slowly. "Okay," he said.
"Take a seat, son." Donovan Miller leaned forward and gestured for him to take a lone chair that had been pulled from the dining room for the purpose of the meeting.
"Mrs Miller and I wanted to do a good thing for you. My wife told me that you are a well mannered young man and that you were doing well with your grades but you were having difficulty because of family problems."
Donovan cleared his throat again. "Because of all she said, though I was reluctant, I decided to go along with it for a bit because as she said, it would be your 9th grade year. Time for grade nine (9) assessment exams and she wanted you to be in a stable environment to do well in your studies and exams. However, what happened today was unacceptable and you ... I believe young man you need to go back to your family."
To Jason, it felt like his heart had stopped beating. "Why? What did I do wrong?"
He himself couldn't believe it when his guidance counsellor told his mom that she wanted to have him stay with her for the rest of the school term and maybe into sixth form if things went well.
At first he had thanked them but told them no, it would have been best if he was home so he could help his mom, but his own mother told him she wanted him to go. So at least he could get some help, and she wouldn't have to worry he would get in trouble.
Now they were saying he should go home, after just one week? He had apologized for snapping at Mrs Miller but that was because she had entered the room when he was fresh out the shower and he only had a towel wrapped around his waist, that he was about to remove, it was a good thing a notification came through on his phone and he stopped to pick it up to see who or what it was from. Otherwise she would have gotten a full view of his butt cheeks.
After he snapped at her to please leave and knock next time, he thought about his tone and later went to her while she was in the kitchen preparing dinner and apologized. She also said she was sorry saying she was always used to just entering her daughters' rooms and that she never thought about what she was doing. He thought they had moved past that.
"Well...," Jason said, looking directly at Monica. "If it's about the time about you entering the room Mrs Miller I did apologize, if there is anything else I am not sure..."
"It is about your room, yes, but not about that" Donovan interrupted.
Turning his attention to Mr Miller, he asked, "My room? What about my room?"
"Don't act clueless, boy!" Donovan snapped. "Arite, arite gwaan play like that. Gwaan guh look inna yuh room how yuh leff it!"
Jason got up from the chair and went to look as Mr Miller insisted.
He saw his bed or the bed he was given wrinkled up. The whole family came behind him. "Look inna di bathroom how yuh leff it!" said Mrs Miller angrily.
Jason did as he was told. He couldn't believe it.
"But ... I didn't leave it like that! I swear." Jason felt like his head was spinning.
"An' yuh tek two a my tissue and already use off one, a weh yuh did have bwoi, diarrhea?" Mrs Miller replied sharply.
"Look inna di toilet!" Marsha shouted.
Jason looked in and what he saw made him feel disgusted.
Mr and Mrs Miller, I would never..." He appealed to stoney faces. He looked down to see Marsha's smirk and knew it was her that did all of it but also knew even if he told them it was her, her parents wouldn't believe him.
He had a duffle bag by his bed with a few things he hadn't unpacked yet. He pulled it onto the bed and began removing his clothes from the closet they loaned him. He set the hangers aside and started neatly folding and stuffing them into his bag. He heard them cussing him out while he was doing it, but didn't answer. After a while, he couldn't even hear what they were saying, he zoned them out.
He took the 7:30 pm bus from their JUTC route back to downtown, and then took a taxi home. It was supposed to be the end of that, but it wasn't.
That night Marsha lay beside Chay and as she was about to fall asleep, she heard her little sister say, "I know what you did. And if you don't want me to tell mommy and daddy you will give me 10% of your lunch money each week."
Marsha turned around to face the little brat.
"What are you talking about?" Her eyes boring into Chay.
"You framed that guy!" Chay shouted.
"Keep your voice down," Marsha hissed. "You little brat!" She continued, whispering forcefully, "He deserved it. Don't you want to have you own room back?"
"I have my own room," Chay replied. "It's you who is the squatter, staying in here with me."
"Okay, yes. so now that he is gone I can go back to my room tomorrow after mommy does some cleaning up," Marsha said.
"You know, you could have just cleaned it up yourself. He didn't bring much with him. So there wasn't much waste. As a matter of fact, he kept the room neater and cleaner than you!" Her sister spoke matter of factly.
"What is this?!" Marsha sat up and looked down at her sister. "Yuh have a crush on him or sumn?" She asked in an accusatory tone.
"Me!" Chay laughed, "Nope. Boys are cool and all but I'm not sure I'm interested. Not yet anyway. Anyhoo sis, going to bed now. Make sure I get that ten percent fee in my school bag by tomorrow morning, just tuck it into the little part where I keep my pens and pencils." Chay turned her back to her to go to sleep.
Marsha doubled a fist to thump her in her back, when she heard her little sister say, "And don't bother to do anything crazy. I'm the favorite daughter, so they will believe me."
Marsha hit the bed instead, turned herself around to face the door, lay down and forced herself to fall asleep.
As she looked at Jason sleeping peacefully, Marsha also remembered when her sister ratted her out anyway. Chay had gained an extra two thousand dollars from the ten percent her sister was giving her, but she felt guilty, and one Sunday morning after the family had come from church, she started fake crying, or at least that was what it looked like to Marsha. She started crying and told her parents what Marsha did. Chay told them she felt guilty but Marsha felt it was probably because she had gotten bored with the game she was playing at her sister's expense and wanted to move on to something else. Family games
It had been a whole month after Jason left. To this day, Chay would always find a way to outsmart her. Though their sibling rivalry had died down, she knew that if Chay wanted to, she could get her. Marsha loved her sister. She was a good kid in her own way, brilliant and effervescent, but too smart for her own good.
Jason sighed in his sleep and turned on his right side. There was space on the bed for her to scoot in and lay beside him. Marsha's thoughts wandered again.
When he came back to the Miller's residence they apologized to him profusely and promised to give him the benefit of the doubt in future. They grounded Marsha for four months. Just school, home and church, she couldn't go any where else. She hated him even more by then.
Jason stayed clear of Marsha, rarely spoke to her, till one day she was being bullied at school. At that time she was tall with a skinny frame. The problem was, she had a smart mouth, and would say just about anything that came to her mind. One day she took it too far and called one of the girls "a big fat mampy with a crater face".
The girl she was talking about had terrible acne. They were in grade eight (8) and everyone acted like ten year olds at times. Name calling was common. The kids would call Marsha "Martian", "Light post", "Long gi lala", "Stick insect", and more that she didn't remember.
So the girl, Rochelle, tried to pass her place with her and called her a giraffe to which Marsha retorted, "At least mi a nuh one crater face mampy!" Rochelle got mad and pushed her, so Marsha pushed her back, hard, and Rochelle fell to the ground. She had vowed to get her back after school, but Marsha never took her seriously.
When school was done for the day, Marsha decided to walk to the bus stop with her friend Fallon. She would usually wait on her parents to pick her up, but Fallon was going to tell her some outrageous gossip she didn't want to miss, so she told her mom she would take the bus, and not to worry coming for her.
Out of nowhere, Rochelle showed up with her bigger brother, who was not even a student anymore. He was expelled for bad behavior. The brother, who everyone in school called 'Blacks', pushed Marsha to the ground, bent down and slapped her across the face.
"Yuh love chat 'bout peepul!" He said, looking menacingly at her. "Yah guh keep my sister out a yuh mouth y'ere dat!"Gift baskets
Marsha found the courage to speak up. Holding her left jaw, she said, "Is not me fi keep my mouth closed, is yuh sista. A she fi stop guh roun' a truble peepul!"
"Likkle gyal weh yuh seh?!" he shouted.
He was about to give a forceful slap across her right cheek, when Jason it seemed, came out of no where, and launched on him and the two of them landed on the ground tangled up in a violent tussle. Other kids that were nearby ran up to them and started chanting, "Fight!" "Fight!!"
It just so happened that at that time a female teacher was passing by, saw the fight and called the attention of a male colleague to come and break them up.
Jason was suspended for a week, even after Marsha's mom insisted to the principal that it was Rochelle's and her big brother's fault. The principal however said that while it was commendable that he was trying to defend her daughter, it must not be perceived that violence is an acceptable means to solve conflict, especially since the reputation of the school would be called into question. They were in fact in their school uniforms. The principal did however agree to call Rochelle and 'Blacks' parents in to warn them about their children, and to inform them that Rochelle would be suspended for two weeks.
While in her reverie, Jason turned on to his back again, this time throwing off the sheet, exposing his bare torso. Marsha caught her breath. So many times she had fantasized about kissing his chest and reveling in each individual pec. They were just perfect. It made her weak just thinking about resting her head on them and running her fingers through the sparse but shiny, black, curly chest hairs.
Lawd have mercy! She thought to herself. I need a drink of sumn strong.
Jason mumbled something. Oh no! She thought. I don't want him to wake up and see me here! Carefully, she got up from the bed and crept to the door. She opened the door quietly and slipped out. She looked at her watch. It was 2 am. She had a friend nearby that she could stay with till morning. Oh how she wanted to feel his strong arms pull her close to him and shelter her until the morning but alas!
She felt herself shiver from the cold. It was mid-November. There were a few people milling around. One of them called to her and she nodded. She pulled her phone from the back pocket of her jeans and dialed her friend's number. It started to ring.
"Hey babes," another said, "weh yah duh pon road suh late? Mine a man tek yuh weh ehh nuh!" To which the guy who was speaking and his friends chuckled. She smiled politely and was relieved when she heard Patrice answer the phone.
"Girl!" Patrice answered. "Yuh coming down now?"
Yeh girl," Marsha responded. "Right away."
She set off quickly. Crossed John Golding Road walked up to Papine and headed down as if she was walking towards Liguanea. She turned onto one of the roads across from the "Standpipe" community, Canberra Crescent, where her friend was renting a place. She would have to get Jason to change his location. It didn't feel safe there.
***
In the morning while Jason was drinking his coffee, black and strong, he mused to himself. Why did it feel as if someone was in the room with him last night? It felt like a familiar presence was there.
It didn't always happen but it did make him nervous when he thought about it. Sometimes he wondered if he was going a bit crazy. Sighing, he shook his head trying to move past the feeling.
He took a bite of his toast and fried egg. He never liked butter on his bread, maybe some mayo, or peanut butter but not butter. His mom used to say he got that weird quirk from his dad. Well, he didn't know. His dad never lived with them for him to see that for himself.
Jason scrolled through his phone messages. He had been chatting with Carli for about three weeks. They hadn't gotten around to that meet-up yet. This second time it was his fault again, beyond his control, unfortunately.
There was an emergency with his little brother. His little brother, Joel is asthmatic, and he had an attack just after his mother had spent the money their granny had sent their mom from Canada. Jason had taken a part-time job but it was for his own life's upkeep.
He had saved about $50,000 and had to now take some of it for his little brother's medical expenses. He wasn't sorry, but he was broke. He wanted to treat Carli to something like a date so he had planned to do something simple, but he was going to use that money. When his brother got sick, his mom only had him to help, so he did what he had to do. His 'wutliss' daddy was no help!
So far, he and Carli's conversations were pretty safe, no real probing questions. Just texting questions about where they grew up, their siblings, funny experiences and their majors and career goals. He got that Carli was a bit ambivalent toward her studies but he tried to cheer her up by telling her that God had a plan in all of the things that were happening. She wasn't convinced but he tried to cheer her up anyway.
After this second time when he cancelled on her, he was trying to get her to commit to a new date but each time she would say she had to study, she had assignments, she was going back to Manchester to see her parents for a weekend and so on. He was beginning to think she was blowing him off.
***
Carli chewed voraciously into her barbi-fried chicken leg. Oh gosh! She was so hungry. She barely got a chance between classes to eat something. A few crackers, some water, that was it. It was another stressful Wednesday and she was grateful to be done with the last class for the day. To be in her dorm and to be chatting up a storm with 'the sensible roommate'. She didn't know where Marsha was, but she didn't even care.
Shauna had promised to buy her dinner from a Chinese themed fast food place in Papine, and true to her word, she did. Now she was telling Carli about a crazy cousin that lived in St. Ann that she would visit during the summer holidays when she was a kid.
"Latoya love fi climb tree, play marbles and shoot bingey like any bwoy pickney. She even guh a river a swim inna juss panty when she likkle an' neva hav' nuh bress yet!" Shauna said, a wide grin on her face.Gift baskets
"Suh wah whapm wen har bress dem start develup?" Carli asked. She dug her fork in a nice serving of mashed potatoes and stuffed it into her mouth.
"Yuh know seh wen dem was juss lilli buds she was a try di same ting. As a matter of fact, she get weh wid doing it one time but someone si har wid di boys dem an' tell har granny. Mi seh she get some lick. Mi did deh deh fi seet. Mi did tell har seh Trudy, yeah Trudy is har pet name. Mi seh Trudy mi nuh tink is a good idea enuh. Granma Pat soohn cuhm back, suh betta we stay close by. Plus yuh nuh si seh yuh start buss bress? Yuh wah di likkle bwoy dem si yuh titty dem?"
Carli almost spat out the grape soda she was drinking. She managed to swallow, then let out loud shrieks of laughter. After she calmed down, she said, "Titty....!" Her body shook with laughter. "Yow! Long time mi nuh hear nubaddi use dah wud deh enuh!" More laughter.
Shauna was also laughing really hard, her eyes started watering. "Yeah man..." Laughter. "A dat mi did seh. Mi was about ten, she was twelve at the time."
"Suh wah happen afta dat?" Carli was captivated by the story now.
"As mi seh shi guh di riva near di community, strip down to panty an' jump een. Mass Roy one elda inna di community si weh she duh an' pass by di market an' ask fi Miss Pat an' tell har weh mi cuzzin duh. Har granny used to sell ground provisions inna di market. Anyhoo, wen Granny Pat cuhm home shi give Trudy a good whipping.
"Hear Trudy wen shi a get di lick dem... 'Whoiee! Whoiee! Granma lie dem a tell pon mi! Lie dem tell! Nuh bwoy neva inna di riva wid mi. Dem a si doubles.' Den shi change har mouth an' seh, 'But Granma is not a crime mi duh. Mi not even have bress yet!' Mi seh Granny Pat start seh 'Weh yuh seh?' A Mass Roy himself affi cuhm save har. Him did ah pass back from him grung suh wen him hear di bawling him turn in down Granny Pat walkway an' si wah gwaan an' seh, 'Pat! Pat hooeeyy! Mi tell yuh fi warn di chile, not kill har!'"
Carli chuckled, took up her paper napkin and wiped her hands and lips with it. "So where is your cuz now?" she asked.
"United States Army," Shauna replied. "She will always be a tomboy." She smiled. She went to her bag, pulled out her phone, surfed through the photos in 'photo gallery', found a picture of Latoya and handed the phone to Carli, so she could get a closer look.
"She looks great," Carli said, observing the low cropped hairstyle under the beret she wore. She had a proud smile on her face. She was an attractive young woman with piercing eyes. Carli handed the phone back to her friend. "She looks happy," she said.
Shauna put the phone back into her bag. "Yeah, I guess she is."
Sitting back on her bed in their dorm room, Shauna looked suddenly serious. "And what about you?" she asked Carli. "Are you happy?"
Carli was thinking of a way to deflect away from the question when her phone rang. Quickly, she jumped up to answer it. Reaching for it on an antique desk in the room, she realized it was Jason calling. She answered.
"Hellooo."
"Hey," he replied, "What's up? Been trying to get you on Whatsapp. Yuh gud?"
"Yeh man. What's up?"
"Well, still thinking about that lunch I promised you. Instead of eating at The Cafe I was thinking we could have sandwiches, some fruit and good company."
"Okay, cool, but who is 'the good company'?"
"Touché," he replied. He could feel she was smiling. "Yeah, about that last time, I am sorry. You know, I told you what happened to my little bro. Couldn't be avoided. But I want to make it up to you. You have been distant with me still. Been wondering if you might be blowing me off. Has my charm worn off so quickly?"
Carli gave a little laugh. It was like a little chuckle but it was so sexy to his ears. He didn't realize he was holding his breath. Breathing in deeply, he asked, "Well?"
"What charm? The only charm I have gotten exposed to is you bumping into me and causing my bum to hurt after," she teased.
Jason laughed. He liked her sense of humor.
"Okay, okay. Seriously though, I wanna take you out tonight. I know a place. What d'yah say?"
"I am kind of full ... but, I can manage some ice cream." Carli found her mood improving. She did like him.
Jason nodded at the phone. "Okay, ice cream it is then. Come for you at around 7?"
"Sure."
Jason heard a strange tone in her voice, something that intrigued him. He felt his heart pound.
"Okay. See you in half hour." Jason heard his voice dip to a soft, gentle tone. What was this thing that had come over him?!
"Okay," she said.
Carli hung up and turned around to see Shauna staring at her looking pleased as a satisfied puss.
"And who is that?" she asked batting her eyes.
"Just a friend," Carli said heading to the shower. "You okay to clean up?"
"Yeh man." Shauna nodded. "No problem."
Carli grabbed a towel from a hanger in the closet. Retrieved her favorite body wash from her drawer and closed the door behind her.
***
Jason stood near the entrance of Seacole Hall waiting on Carli when Marsha walked up to him, excited to see him.
"Hey, what are you doing here? Did we have plans and I forgot?" She looked him up and down. Damn he smells good! What is that cologne? She wondered. He also looked really nice in a fresh white t-shirt and a pair of light blue jeans, and new timberland boots. He also wore a jeans blazer that she had never seen him in before.
"You on a hot date or sumn?" She was joking, but when he didn't answer she got suspicious.
She managed to keep the smile plastered on her face. "So, where you going? What you up to?"
"Just meeting a friend," he answered tersely.
"Oh really. I thought I was the only friend you had on Seacole?"
He looked at her then looked away. He was eyeing the entrance to the Hall. She was more than curious about who he was looking for. Marsha felt anger rise within her. She reached up, grabbed his chin and turned his face towards her. "Look at me!"
Just then as Carli was heading out to meet Jason, she heard Shauna say, "Have fun. Not too much fun."
"Okay," she replied giggling.
As she was walking past her block and out to the entrance way of the Hall she saw Jason and Marsha. The body language between them seemed awkward. Luckily, Marsha had her back turned to her and while Jason was facing her way, his focus was on Marsha. He looked quite annoyed. Were they arguing?
Yes, they were!
The exchange looked unpleasant.
She wondered what the nature of their relationship was. The way Marsha's body language looked, it would seem as if she was a girl friend or an ex maybe. Carli wanted no part of that.
She quickly trotted back inside the Hall and hurried up to her room and closed the door.
Shauna turned around. She had toothpaste and a toothbrush in hand. "Hey," she said, "back so soon?"
"Yeah, he didn't show." Carli sat on her bed and removed her flip flops.
"Oh, so it was a guy!" Shauna started to grin.
"Yup, but let's not get into that please." Carli started to undress. She threw on a nightgown. Folded the clothes she just took off and stuffed them into a plastic bag. For wash day. She thought.
She pinned her hair up into a loose ponytail and covered it with a silk kerchief, lay down and turned her body to the wall. A single tear rolled down her cheek. She squeezed her eyes shut.
Meanwhile, Jason looked at the time on his phone, 7:30 pm. Carli wasn't coming it seemed, and Marsha would not budge.
"Who is she Jason? Tell me!"
He read jealousy all over her face.
"Marsha, you know what it is. We're like brother and sister." He folded his arms across his chest.
"All the more reason to tell me who she is. Don't we tell each other everything?" Marsha stood with legs apart, hands on her hips.
"Look, I'm not gonna argue with you. See you tomorrow, if anything." Jason took two steps back, turned around and walked away.
Marsha was hopping mad. Who the hell would dare think they could take away what she was working so hard and long to have? She had been waiting so long for Jason to see things her way! The relationship between her and him was meant to be, even if he didn't see it yet. She would have to convince him in no uncertain terms that he was hers. Only hers!
***
Jason punched a wall in his room. Women! What was he thinking? Carli never forgave him for flaking on her the first or the second time. Why did he even bother?! And Marsha. Damn that girl! Something was wrong with her. This possessiveness was getting to him. What a fool he had been to think he understood women at all.
__________________
Chapter 5: Fools rush in.
"Bwoy Missa Joseph, yuh know weh yuh a talk bout man!" Mr Brown said speaking to the building contractor supervising work on his house. "This new 'prentice weh yuh cyarry fi werk pon di house a gwaan man! Him finish paint one side a di outside wall aready!"
Both Mr. Brown and Mr. Joseph Black, affectionately called Mas Joe, watched as Jason quickly but efficiently used the paint roller to neatly deposit the fuchsia colored paint onto the wall. He was finished with the front and was now doing the wall closest to a side gate that led to the backyard. He smiled to himself, at least he could thank his dad for passing on the trade to him.
Ever since he was twelve years old, to get extra money out of his dad, he would follow him to private homes and help his dad paint folks' houses. It was hard but rewarding work, and his dad made sure to teach him the skills he needed to do a good job, for if he didn't, his dad couldn't charge the home owner a wage fitting for his labour. His dad made sure that every work done was top tier and his son had to meet up to and maintain the same standard on any work site he went on.
From ages twelve to sixteen his dad would take him to work on private residences, but after sixteen his dad took him to newly constructed apartment complexes, and he and two other men along with his dad would paint the units assigned to their team.
Jason wasn't afraid of hard work, so he would even walk through with his dad, helping him to inspect and correct anything the other men did wrong. He knew about drywall. He knew how to apply primer to concrete surfaces and he was also taught how to spot a paint bubble and how to fix it quickly. He was thankful for the lessons learned.
Jason respected his dad for being an excellent professional at his trade. He just never liked him as a man. He was a delinquent father and Jason vowed to himself that he would never be like him in that respect. Hard worker yes. Deadbeat dad, hell no!
At about 7:00 p.m. he finished a whole section and promised Mas Joe that he would come back tomorrow to help him finish the rest of the painting. Mr Brown had also asked him if he knew anything about selecting paint for some wooden furniture he had custom built that he was planning to install on his patio. He told him that as a matter of fact he did. His dad had taught him well. Mr Brown asked him what he would charge, but not wanting to 'bruk Mas Joe's foot', Jason told Mr Brown that it was best he consulted with Mas Joe about a price. Mr Brown looked at him silently for a minute then nodded his agreement.
It was the peak of final exams period in December and Jason wanted to get as much money as possible. He studied at night after he came home from work. He would go to bed at twelve midnight and wake up at 3 a.m. to do his studying.
He worked part-time at a supermarket, a job his dad begrudgingly sought for him from one of his family friends. Jason had threatened to stop working with him if he didn't help him get something more stable. Even Mas Joe was an old associate of his dad, but a much nicer guy to be around. Joseph treated him more like a son than his own father did.
When Belvedere Singh was told in no uncertain terms that he, Jason, would no longer help him to do the odd job here or there, if he didn't help him get something more stable, he laughed at first, then he hurled expletives at his son. Then, when he saw that Jason's jaw was clenched shut and his fists closed, he knew he was serious.
It had been awhile since he and his son had settled their differences in a brawl. The last time Jason had beaten him and promised that never again he would wrestle, tackle, fight, 'trash out' or whatever his dad called their physical conflicts. He was done! But with his fists in position he wondered if Jason had forgotten what he said.
"Arite mi son," Bello said, "mi will ask a fren mi know if him can help yuh out."
Jason's shoulders dropped, he released his hands and his body relaxed. Getting things out of his dad was like a constant battle. He would claim it was to make him into a man. Yes, he was self-sufficient in a lot of things. For awhile he went to live with his dad and two other of his siblings. He was the second child in terms of age that lived at the house.
At twelve years old, Jason's mom couldn't manage him. He would talk back and would tell her off if he felt like it. She pleaded with Bello to take him and at first it seemed like he wouldn't. When his mother Bridget first asked him to take him, he had hung up the phone on her. He didn't even say a word. He just hung up. But then a month later, in August, Jason could remember it clearly, he came for him and took him to his main baby momma's house. She was fairly nice to him but Jason just didn't like her at first.
Antonia was her name and she was a great cook. She knew how to make roti and dahl. Her curry dishes were always delicious. You see, she was very close to Bello's mom, Jason's grandmother, before she died, who had taught her all her cooking secrets, that she in turn learned from her own mother. It was ironic to Jason that a total stranger would now be the one to teach something from his own heritage. It made him sad but also angry.
After a while however, her kindness wore him down, and he would go into the kitchen to watch her cook, and later when he was about thirteen he asked her if she could teach him how to cook those delicious meals, to which she gladly agreed. He learned a lot from her about cooking Indian dishes and Jamaican fusion meals, but also about patience and kindness, something he needed at that critical point in his life.
His dad was still a jerk to him, but was less of a jerk when Antonia aka Precious intervened. His big sister from Antonia, Kerry, was nice enough to him and her little brother, well, his little brother too, was a cool little dude. His name was Wayne. He grew to like them as well, but was still ambivalent towards his dad.
At fourteen, Jason was sent back to his mother's house. Bello stuffed Jason's clothes in a plastic bag and told him he had to go back home. He sent him back home to live with his mother empty handed. No food, no new shoes or clothes, not even some money to give to his mom.
Antonia had begged him not to do it, but Bello didn't care. He complained that Jason didn't respect him because he didn't jump or flinch when he shouted at him like the other children did. But Jason wasn't afraid of him. He barely respected him. He went back to his mom's house and decided from that day forward he would do any job to help out. He didn't need his dad's help or sympathy.
Jason slid into Mas Joe's old Toyota Carolla and waited for him to finish speaking with Mr Brown. When Joseph got in the car, he handed Jason $20,000. "Here," he said, "for yesterday and today."
Jason nodded, took the folded up money and pulled a side zipper of the bag he had carried with him, tucked it into that small space and closed the zipper.
Joseph looked at his young charge for a minute and smiled. "Mr Brown told me what you did. I don't mind you doing side gigs besides working with me," he said.
Jason smiled. "Yeah, I know, but he's your customer so respect is due."
Joseph nodded. "Yah good yute."
Jason laughed.
Joseph turned the key in the ignition, shifted the car into drive and slowly moved the vehicle away from the sidewalk.
"Speaking of side hustle," Jason spoke, his eyes on the road. "A friend of mine told me about a family that needs their kitchen and living room repainted. It's up Constant Spring way."
"Oh?" Joseph glanced quickly at Jason, then returned his gaze to the road.
"Yeah." Jason smiled.
"Well make sure you do your measurements accurately before yuh staht di werk." Joseph maneuvered onto Half Way Tree Road.
"Yeh, I know how," Jason said confidently.
Joseph nodded. "Good."
Joseph stopped the car before Clock Tower Plaza. Jason got out of the vehicle. Carefully, he closed the door and told Joseph thank you. Hoisting the bag over his shoulder, Jason headed towards Devon House Bakery. It was his mom's birthday and he wanted to buy her "sumn nice". It was lucky for him that Mr Brown had given him permission to take a shower in a shed in the back of the yard.
The shed had a bathroom with shower, face basin and toilet. It was equipped with a mini fridge and a two burner hot plate for when Mr Brown felt peckish. Oftentimes he was doing some yard work and didn't want to bother his wife. Sometimes it was due to their explosive arguments. His wife was a temperamental woman.
Power ran from the main house to his little den, so he could install lights and electricity for a fan. It also had a small bed that Mr Brown used when he would come in late from work and didn't feel like going to the house. His wife was a light sleeper, and him trudging in at 3:00 in the morning would surely wake her up and make her grumpy for the whole day. He knew better, so he converted the shed into a mini flat.
The shed was already there when he and his wife bought the property, but he made it comfortable for his convenience. While walking the distance to the bakery, Jason thought about the nice house he was painting and wondered if one day he could have something like that.
***
Carli was getting her hair retouched. She had asked her parents for money to deal with her weekly upkeep and her dad surprised her by depositing $50,000 into her bank account. He would usually send $30,000 to last for two weeks. This time however he warned her that the money would have to last her through the month.
She understood things at home were a little difficult and agreed to do her best. She had to do her hair though, it had grown about two inches, and she was excited to see how long it would look after Andrea, her hair dresser was finished. She also asked that a rinse be applied to her hair. She was partial to burgundy with a hint of lavender at the ends.
After having the relaxer fully applied to her hair roots, she waited an extra 10 minutes for the product to do its work. She was sitting on a plush, comfy couch with a shower cap over her head. She scrolled through her Instagram feed, then went to Whatsapp to see what her friends were up to.
Simone shared a picture of herself and the growing baby bump. She was wearing a cute royal blue jumper and a pair of flat sandals. She looked plumper, but also happy. The child's father, Matthew, stood beside her resting his hand possessively on her belly.
Matthew.
Everyone thought that Carli and Matthew were a couple. Not even close. She had always seen him as a brother, and thought he felt the same way, until one day everything changed between them. Yes, they kissed once, and what a kiss it was! But she only kissed him because she was a virgin and had never kissed a boy before. Now she was not sure how she felt about him. There was no turning back now though, he was apparently dating Simone. She looked at the picture of her two best friends, male and female, and recalled how she messed things up.
She was an 11th grader in high school at the time and all her classmates were talking about French kissing and what it was like. Matthew laughed at first when she asked him to kiss her. But after she convinced him that she needed the practice, he agreed.
On that fateful day, she remembered, she was over his house. It was a Friday afternoon, just like it was today. Matthew's parents had not yet returned home from work. He and Carli had left straight from school, took the bus together and chatted all the way to his place. They were glad to be done with the school week and happy for the weekend.
Mathew took some rock buns and two ginger beer sodas from the refrigerator. He heated up the rock buns in the microwave, placed them on two plates and brought them up to his bedroom. He handed one of the plates to Carli and placed the sodas on the floor beside the bed. Carli was already sitting on his bed rocking to some music she was listening to on her phone.
"Thanks for agreeing to do this for me Matt," Carli said shyly.
They had agreed that it was going to be that day. No one was at home yet. They were alone. They had been alone numerous times before, Carli knew every detail of Matt's room. She felt nervous about the kiss but believed she was safe with him. She however did not want them to be caught by his parents. They were somewhat liberal, laid back people, but she kept thinking of how embarrassing it would be if she and Matthew were discovered.
"And why do you want me to do this again?" Matthew asked, a quizzical but amused look was on his face. "Wouldn't Andre be a better candidate?"
Matthew knew that Carli had a crush on Andre, so he was teasing her.
Carli carefully bit into the toasty, warm bun Matthew's mother had baked the night before. Mhmm! So nice! she thought. "You know why," she said licking a crumb off the corner of her mouth.
"Well remind me. I think I need further convincing. I said yes, but now I'm not sure." Matthew sat on the bed with Carli, he had already finished his first rock bun and had two more left. He only gave Carli two buns since she claimed she was watching her figure, and was still on the first one. He watched her eating and shook his head.
"Well?" He looked at her.
"I've never had a guy kiss me. I just want to know what it feels like. And yes Matthew, I know you know I like Andre. At least with you I can feel comfortable cause it won't really mean anything. It's just practice." She tried to make it sound like she was going in to do a routine doctor's appointment.
"Practice eh?" Matthew chuckled. "How yuh know seh afta wi kiss yuh nuh develup feelings fi mi?"
Carli rolled her eyes. "Matt please! Psshhh!"
Matthew clutched his chest as if he was in pain. "Wow! You broke my heart right there." He laughed mockingly.
Carli took up Matt's pillow and threw it at him. Matthew dodged it with plate in hand. Swiftly, he placed his plate on the nightstand and lunged at her, knocking her back into the bed. The plate in her lap slid off the bed. Both plate and the half eaten and whole bun fell to the floor. In one quick, smooth move his upper body was on top of her. Matthew looked down at her.
With a cheeky look on his face, he asked, "Is this what you want?" Read more....
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