Caviar Dreams: The Prequel Novella to Champagne Life (2 page)

Naomi

We arrived at the hotel—and hotel was a term used loosely because the place was only a two story orange and tan colored building shaped in a U formation. We stepped out of the cab and headed straight for the large brown door with the word “Lobby” stenciled on it in white paint. Aside from the perfectly trimmed green lawn, there wasn’t much to the landscaping. The hibiscus trees that were scattered around the property livened up the area a little more. While Ticia paid the cab driver with the twenty I gave her, I took in a long, slow whiff of the sweet smelling air. It was a scrumptious combination of the flowers and saltwater. Definitely not Philly air.

“Doesn’t look like much,” Ticia said. “I pictured something a little more, uh, extravagant.”

The lobby was completely empty, not a man, woman or child in sight. The floral curtains that hung from the back patio door were printed in bright clashing pastel colors, which I imagined was for the benefit of tourists. The patio door was wide open. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the warm breeze blowing in. The combination of flowers and sand made the lobby smell like a true tropical paradise.

“Hellooooo?” Ticia called. “Is anyone here?” She turned back to me and whispered, “How you gonna come to your timeshare and get no service? Do you know how much money they charge for a timeshare in the Bahamas?”

“How would you know?” I asked. “Isn’t this your co-worker’s timeshare?”

“That’s not the point. They don’t know whose money is paying for this.”

“Can I help you, ladies?”

Some dude appeared from a back room. He was kinda short and looked young, but had a delicious smile that reminded me of a kid looking to get into trouble. He was wearing a white button-down shirt with the top three or four buttons free, so I got a glimpse of the massive brown curly hair on his chest. He was cute in a I-have-a-crappy-boyfriend-and-I’m-here-to-move on sort of way.

“Hi. We have a reservation,” I told the guy.

The guy had exceptionally straight teeth. Unfortunately, they were tinted yellow and his lips were an eggplant shade. A definite sign of a weed smoker. “Finally, some pretty American ladies. The only people we get here are old women looking to do some snorkeling and drunk spring breakers.”

“I like snorkeling,” I said.

“And I like being drunk,” Ticia commented.

“Not a problem,” the Bahamian guy said. “But there is so much more to this beautiful island to see, that is, if you’d like, of course. If you want some real fun and not that tourist-y junk, you need to hang with me. I’ll show you a good time.”

Ticia looked at me and then back at him. “Are you seriously hitting on us before we can even check in?”

“Pretty ladies like you don’t need to be sitting around in some stuffy room playing dominoes.” Ticia and I must’ve noticed his gold tooth at the same time because she nudged my arm with her elbow.

Ticia cocked her head to one side. “You’re so concerned that we not sit around playing
dominoes
, huh? Yeah right. How do we know you and your buddies aren’t going to take us to some boom-ba-clot back woods and take advantage of us? I don’t think so.”

I swear my face must’ve turned twenty shades of red on the spot. I was relieved when he laughed.

“No, nothing like that,” he reassured. “All I want to do is to show you beautiful ladies a good time. I’m Fabian, by the way.”

“I’m Myrtle and this is Phoebe,” Ticia said. “Now can we have our room or what?”

Fabian went to his computer and typed in some information. Then he asked, “What’s the last name, Myrtle?”

“It should be under Laurence Dickerson,” Ticia said. “He’s a co-worker of mine. He called a few weeks ago and said we were coming.”

Fabian typed in more information. I got a little worried when he kept typing and a crinkle settled between his brows. I pictured us sleeping in some little homemade straw tiki huts on the beach.

“Laurence Dickerson.” he finally said. “Here it is.” He reached behind him, grabbed a rectangular plastic card and handed it to Ticia. “Here you go, ladies.”

“Thank you,” she said.

If I wasn’t mistaken, I could’ve sworn there was a little more to that thank you than just gratitude. She grabbed the key from Fabian’s hand and asked, “Is there anyone else here? It looks deserted.”

“It gets like that in September because it’s the peak of hurricane season, but, yes, there are a few more people here, mostly older married couples.”

As we turned and headed toward the stairs and toward our room, Fabian yelled out, “Enjoy your stay Myrtle and Phoebe!”

“We shall,” Ticia called back.

***

“He was kind of cute,” I said when we walked up to the door to our room-17A.

“He was okay.”

“Maybe that’s the guy I’m destined to meet.”

“You can do better than that,” Ticia said. “And don’t go falling for the first guy you see. There’s plenty of men on the island. Give it time.”

“We’re only here for the weekend. We can’t give it too much time.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” she admitted, “but you don’t want the first dude you see. What happens if you give up the cookie to him and find someone cuter tomorrow? Then you’ll be giving it up to two guys and be the American tramp on the island.”

“Or, I don’t have to give it up to anyone and just have some fun.”

Ticia looked at me. “What would be the point of that?”

She stuck the key in the door slot and pulled down the handle. When she opened the door, we burst in and did a quick scan of the entire room.

The shades were drawn, so the room was dark. I surmised the area was small, but neatly decorated with white wicker furniture with floral design cushions, pretty much how I pictured a hotel room in the Caribbean to look.

“Not much of a room, but it’ll do,” Ticia said, throwing her suitcase on top of one of the double beds. She sat down on the bed and bounced up and down a few times. “And sturdy too. Exactly what we need.”

I made a beeline straight over to the perfectly matched curtains that had the same pattern as the ones in the lobby. I pulled back the curtains and as soon as I did, the sun burst through the entire room, brightening up the space. It looked like a completely different room. “Better.”

The room may not have been much, but the view from the veranda was spectacular. We faced a golf course and looked out to vibrant green for miles. Looking farther out, I spotted the blue waters of the ocean. If you squinted, you could even see people. It wasn’t a perfect view of the water, but it was still breathtaking, considering we were coming from the dirt, filth and traffic of the city.

“What do we do first?” I asked, flopping down on the bed that Ticia hadn’t already claimed with her bulky suitcase.

“Slow down, little girl,” Ticia said. “We should get some rest before heading out.”

“Where are we going?”

Ticia thought a second. “I don’t know. I’m not really in the mood for any tourist traps. I want to experience authentic Bahamian life.”

“What about that guy downstairs?” I asked. “He said he knew places we could go.”

“Yeah, but if we go with him, we’ll be stuck with him. I’m not trying to get stuck with anyone looking less than Taye-Diggs-from-
Stella
up in here.”

“Oh stop. I think that guy is kind of cute.”

“Are you serious?”

“You mean to tell me you don’t think he’s a little bit cute?”

“He had a beer gut and he was short.”

“You ain’t but five foot nothin’ yourself,” I said. “I’m the one that’s five-ten. Shouldn’t that be my concern?”

“You can have him,” Ticia said. “But first, let’s take a quick nap. Wherever we go, I don’t want to look like ghetto Raggedy Ann.”

“Fine, but, please, no more boom-ba-clot this or Rastafarian that. You’re gonna get us killed on this island.”

“Oh, so you do think they’re gonna take us to some remote spot, rob us and then kill us?”

“Please stop talking now.”

She laughed and crossed her heart with her finger. “Ok, I promise I’ll behave.” She kicked off her shoes and flopped down on one of the beds. I collapsed on the other, allowing fatigue to take over. I was asleep in six minutes flat.

DeShaun

“Man, I can’t believe she did me like that,” DeShaun said. “The messed up thing is, she said she was going out with him like I was supposed to be okay with that. Like I was supposed to be like, ‘Sure, go ahead and hang with your ex-boyfriend. Oh, and be sure to kiss him goodnight while you’re at it.’”

“Or in her case, the next morning,” Fabian said.

DeShaun shot him a look.

“Sorry, man. That is messed up. After all this time, Shaneille does you like that.” He shook his head. “That’s real messed up.” He reached under the counter of the front desk and pulled out a red plastic cup. He took a long swig from the cup, let that go down and then took another sip. He took one last sip before placing the cup back under the counter.

DeShaun looked at his boy. “What does boss lady say when she sees you drinking like that?”

“Michelle? Please!” For what she’s paying me, she’s lucky I still work up in this dump.”

“When are you going to get a new job then?” DeShaun asked. “Michelle is not tryin’ to pay you no money up in here and you know that.”

“It’s cool for now. I can come and go as I please. There are barely any people to have to deal with and she lets me take out the pick-up van. And you know my car broke down again, so I need something.”

“So basically,” DeShaun began, “Michelle is keeping you here with some raggedy pick-up van and the ability to get your drink on whenever you like.”

“And smoke,” Fabian said. “Don’t forget, I can light up when I want to.”

“Don’t you want better for yourself? If not for yourself, what about Rico?”

“Oh, speaking of which,” Fabian said, taking another gulp from the cup, “Ashley is trying to get back with me again.”

“Are you for real? I thought her parents were going to ship her butt back to Canada.”

Fabian shook his head. “Nope. Ashley told them she needed to stay here for our son’s sake.”

“They bought that?”

“Hook, line and sinker.”

DeShaun never could understand how his boy got down with the swirl like that. Of course, every spring break there were some fine girls, black, white, red, all colors, that came to the island, but when Ashley showed up with her girlfriends a few years back, DeShaun had no idea how much trouble she was going to be for his boy. Fabian wasn’t normally into spring breakers, but Ashley had something he wanted, badly. The first night they met, Fabian was goin’ in hard, like DeShaun had never seen before. It worked too. That night, they disappeared for several hours, leaving DeShaun to entertain the rest of her friends, which was no easy feat. Drunk spring break girls did not care. While Shaneille preferred to get drunk behind closed doors, spring breakers drank anywhere and were down for anything. After all, that’s the reason they came to the island, to party. DeShaun spent the entire evening doing shots with the girls. And the messed up thing was, they drank him under the table.

Hours later, Fabian returned to the “party” with Ashley on his arm. It wasn’t uncommon for a guy to meet a spring breaker, get some and then move on. That’s how it normally worked. Ashley and Fabian hung out the next few nights and then she left for Canada. Two days after she left, they found out that Ashley’s dad was a prominent businessman on the island. Ashley’s dad, Richard Endicott, was a real estate mogul and she had been coming here every spring for the last few years. Everything was cool until a year later Ashley showed up on the island with little Rico. By that time Fabian was dating Carolyn, a pretty Bahamian girl. Ashley’s dad proudly spread it all over town that his daughter was pregnant, but at the time, they thought the father was the son of some pharmaceutical tycoon back in the states. Imagine their surprise when the baby came out black. That was the biggest scandal to rock the island.

Fast forward; Ashley admitted Fabian was the father, daddy had a paternity test done, it came out positive (depending upon how you looked at it), Carolyn left Fabian and Fabian became an instant daddy.

“Ashley keeps calling me,” he said. “She called me at two in the morning the other night. I was pissed.”

“Is she staying on the island this time or is she going to threaten to leave with Rico to get back at you again?”

“She always does that,” Fabian said. “I don’t even take it seriously no more.”

“I don’t know why we even bother,” DeShaun said. “Women ain’t nothin’ but a pain in the backside.”

“Oh, and speaking of backside,” Fabian said. “There are two hot American chicks staying here. They gave me some fake names, but I can tell they’re down to hang. What do you think?”

“Didn’t you hear me not even a second ago?” DeShaun asked. “I said women were a pain. In what part of that sentence did you hear, ‘I want to party with American girls tonight?’”

“Oh, c’mon,” Fabian urged. “You need to get your mind off Shaneille anyway. I suggest you do so by hanging out with us tonight.”

“You set this up already?”

“Not quite, but you know how I do.”

DeShaun stood up and headed out the door. “Call me later and I’ll let you know.” He opened his car door knowing he wasn’t going out tonight. He just wasn’t ready.

Naomi

When I woke up, the first thing I did was look out the double sliding doors and onto the veranda. I spotted the clear blue skies and sighed. I was finally on a much-needed vacation with my girl and it felt good.

I had a dream about my ex, Kevin. I dreamt we were on vacation together and he kept dodging me. In the dream, I thought he was setting up some sort of surprise for me, but then I caught him on the beach with some girl. The girl turned into a mermaid and then a shark. She bit Kevin’s head off and spit it out into the ocean. Then she turned in my direction and hissed. I forced myself awake when Shark Girl started using her tail to push herself along the sand, slithering toward me. It was really bizarre.

I kicked my legs over the side of the bed and stared out the glass doors. Maybe it was the flight over, but I still felt slightly sluggish.

What would it have been like to be here with Kevin instead of Ticia?
For one, I bet we wouldn’t be speaking now. He would’ve done something to piss me off on the flight over here. The question I posed to myself was, If I knew that, why was I still with him? Love, or rather, the idea of love, will make you do dumb things, I supposed. I wasn’t always a doormat when it came to him. If I got angry enough, maybe I’d grow a pair. Maybe.

Before dropping me off at the airport, Kevin had asked that I call him as soon as I got to the Bahamas. To me, it sounded more like an obligatory request as opposed to something I should do, so I didn’t even bother. However, when we landed, I sent a short, simple text.
We’re here. TTYL
, was all it said.

I needed to start over, I knew it, but dang the whole dating thing again. It tired me out just thinking about it.

I glanced over at Ticia, who was still fast asleep, snoring like a lawn mower. I decided to go downstairs to grab a few brochures on some of the tourist traps around here. I kinda felt like snorkeling but didn’t feel like doing my hair afterward. If I were smart, I would’ve slapped in a curly weave like Ticia and been done with it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t much of a weave girl. I did have the good sense to get a fresh perm in my short cropped ’do, tho’.

As quietly as I could, I snatched up my suitcase lying on the floor next to the wicker chair and flounced it onto the bed. I decided on a light, floral dress and the pair of white sandals I spent ninety dollars on. Normally, I didn’t spend tons of money on shoes, but one day shopping with Ticia, I felt that urge. I had the money so I did it. Missed a credit card payment to do it, but it still felt good.

I put on an extra coat of lipstick, patted down my hair and did one final inspection in the bathroom mirror. I grabbed one of the two keys dude gave us and headed out the door.

***

I was flipping through a brochure in the downstairs lobby, but to be honest, I was really looking for dude. He wasn’t quite my type, but he seemed like he could be fun to hang with.

He wasn’t at the front desk. No one was, so I continued breezing through the brochure on horseback riding excursions, still waiting. I was giving it another five minutes until I gave up. I picked up the canoeing brochure and headed for the stairs. When I reached the bottom step, I heard a voice call out to me.

“Hey, pretty lady, leaving me all alone?”

I turned around and saw the guy from the front desk, waving me over. “I was looking for someone—something to do tonight.” I cringed at my Freudian slip. He didn’t seem to mind though.

“We were just talking about you,” he said.

“We?”

“Me and my boy, D. He was looking for someone, uh, something to do tonight,” he said with a smirk. “I told him all about you ladies.”

There was something about this guy, maybe his accent or maybe it was the way he grinned at me all the time. I didn’t care what Ticia said, he could definitely be a prospect.

“What did you say your name was?” I asked.

“Fabian.”

“Well, Fabian, our names aren’t really Phoebe and Myrtle.”

“I know.”

“Really? Why didn’t you say something?”

Fabian shrugged. “You’d tell me eventually.”

“Really?”

“Yup.”

I talked to Fabian for a few minutes in the lobby and dare I say, he was kinda cool. He told me he was single, didn’t have any kids, and how he planned on attending college next semester. According to him, the owner of this timeshare was his sister’s cousin on his dad’s side—or something like that—and was thinking about leaving it to him. I didn’t really believe him about the timeshare, tho’, but nonetheless, he told me how he planned to make it a vacation spot for sexy singles. That one made me laugh.

“So are you and your girl down with going out with me and my boy tonight?”

I didn’t want to make it too easy for him, so I said, “And do what?”

He leaned in so close, I could smell his cologne. “We could take you out to dinner and go dancing. Whatever you pretty ladies like. We can show you the island like you’ve never seen it before.”

A little over the top, but okay.

“Um, sure,” I said. “I’ll talk to my girl about it.” I took two steps back. I had to get out of there as soon as possible, before he saw me blush, which I was sure I was doing.

“Don’t forget me, Naomi,” he called out as I started walking up the steps back to the room.

I turned around. “How did you know my name?”

“I saw the registry. The room was reserved for a Naomi and a Laeticia.”

“How did you know I was Naomi?”

“Naomis are always pretty.”

I turned and headed up the steps, taking two at a time. All the way back to the room, I blushed like a schoolgirl who received her first kiss from her grade-school crush.