“This place is incredible. Have you ever seen something so beautiful?” I continued to fawn as I snapped photos with my camera. I decided to bring my Canon with me to fully capture the island’s essence. We were only going to be there for one day, and there were so many things I wanted to see.
“Actually, I have. This is cool too.” Kyon responded to my question, making me smile hard.
“You’re laying it on pretty thick, Mr. Shoulders.”
“Naw, not at all. I’m a man with eyes. In my opinion, there is nothing as beautiful and enchanting as you, on any day.” His shoulders shrugged as if he was stating a fact that couldn’t be disputed.
It reminded me of our high school days. For most of my life, boys and even grown men made comments about my looks. Some would tell me I would be prettier if I weren’t dark-skinned, or others would say I was pretty for a dark-skinned girl. The boys in high school were downright ruthless with the way they teased me.
When I transferred to a new school in eleventh grade, I had a wall up because I expected more of the same. It was the complete opposite, though. The first day I met Kyon, he ran into a set of lockers because he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going. From the moment he kissed my hand and introduced himself to me, he went out of his way to remind me of how beautiful I was.
Kyon was the first person to encourage me to post more photos of myself on social media, and when brands began to reach out to me for modeling opportunities, he was my biggest cheerleader. Even on the days when I didn’t feel pretty, he would affirm me and tell me to stop sleeping on his wifey. I used to say I was lucky, but he would quickly correct me, saying there was no luck without me.
“Umm, is that China making out with my brother?”
Kyon pointed a few feet away, and sure enough, there was my sneaky cousin locked in a kiss with his brother as if they were the only two people in the world. I had so many questions and wasn’t even sure where to begin. Keonte used to visit Kyon from time to time, and the two of them were around each other, but I wasn’t aware that China and Keonte were close. The way they were smiling and holding onto one another, I would assume they were madly in love and in a full-blown relationship.
“I guess now I have an answer to my question of where she’s been sleeping.” I snickered. We walked up to them, and they both jumped back like two horny teens who had been caught red-handed.
“Hmm, the two of you seem awfully cozy,” I stated, tilting my head with my arms folded.
“Umm, I can explain, but not right now. We’re on this beautiful island, and we’re going to make the most of it. I’ve already found a man who offers tours, taking us to all the historical sights and to local shops where we can get food, drinks, and souvenirs. It comes with rum punch and all kinds of goodies,” China informed us.
“Yeah, alright. I’ll table this for now, but you better believe we’ll be talking about this later. Where is Roxy?” I asked, peering around to see if I could spot her.
“She said she was coming, but who knows. I’m sure her stiff ass husband still has his panties in a bunch after the disaster of a dinner you all had. He might not let her come.”
“Hey, ladies!” Roxy greeted us with a big smile on her face. She looked amazing in her royal blue bikini top and Daisy Dukes. It was a vast improvement from the woman I met in the breakfast line.
“Hey, boo. I see you’re smiling and happy today. And your outfit looks perfect on you,” China complimented.
“Thank you. I dropped the kids off at the daycare this morning and decided today was going to be all about me. I came on this trip to have a good time, and it’s about time I started having some fun,” Roxy declared.
“Yes, boo. We’re about to have so much fun. Make sure you drink plenty of water because China likes to get people drunk whenever we go out, and I would hate to see you throwing up on the side of the ship later,” I teased.
“Oh, you don’t have to worry. I used to get down when I was in college. If I can’t do anything else, I know how to hold my liquor.”
I laughed at the confident smirk on her face. Roxy was a cool person, and I was happy she was finally doing something for herself. As promised, China hooked us up with a man who did a bus tour around the island. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but we had a ball the entire time. We went to a lot of historical places, and he explained the origin and facts I never knew.
The food was phenomenal, but I expected nothing less. We laughed, ate, and drank for hours until he finally dropped us off at the beach. I snuck a few slices of rum cake in my bag for later because I knew it would be the perfect late-night snack.
The men went to one of the stands where they offered beach chair rentals, and we all laid out and enjoyed the sun and the sound of the waves. There were people everywhere laughing, playing music, and just enjoying the weather.
It looked like a nice mix of locals and tourists on the beach. A few people were making food on these tiny grills, and it made me smile. There were children everywhere, laughing and playing with one another as they rolled in the sand.
When I was younger, I always wondered what it would be like to take vacations with my family and create memories together, but unfortunately, I wasn’t blessed with much of a family. My father was a mystery, and my mother decided early on in life that she would rather run the streets than take care of me. I spent most of my time jumping from house to house until China’s mom took me in and made it clear she wanted me to stay permanently.
Aunt Tokyo didn’t have much, but she made sure we had what we needed. It was the reason I took her passing away so hard because she was the only mother I ever had. When she got sick, she made China and me promise to live our lives withno regrets and to never settle for less than we deserved. Even though it hurt to think about at times, I knew without a doubt she was proud of us. Both China and I were following our dreams and living life on our own terms.
Thoughts of her and our many talks about relationships lingered in my head. She loved Kyon and always told me he was the one for me. I knew she probably wanted to come down from Heaven and beat my tail for what happened, but I was going to do everything I could to make up for it.
“Your face is scrunched up like you’re trying to solve a math problem. Either you’re over here thinking too hard, or you have gas. One or the other,” Kyon whispered in my ear as I lay next to him.
“You’re annoying, but you’re not wrong. I’m thinking about how badly I fucked up by leaving you. I really thought you cheated on me, and my first instinct was to run. In hindsight, I should have talked to you, but my feelings were hurt, and I was afraid that if I allowed you in my space, I would end up forgiving you and looking like a fool.
“A lot of women stay with men in your position because of the lifestyle and the appearance. I never wanted you to think you could buy me or play with my heart for some money. Now, I feel like I was cheated out of years of happiness because I walked away from the one person who meant everything to me and somehow ended up with a man who couldn’t measure up on his best day,” I admitted.
The sad truth was, I had known for a while that things between Kalvin and I weren’t going to work. He wasn’t the kind of man I could see myself growing with or starting a family with. While he was ambitious, he didn’t care about anyone but himself. With Kyon, I became used to random date nights, flowers just because it was Wednesday, and gushy text messagesin the middle of the day reminding me of how much I meant to him.
