Chapter 26
The morning sun streaked through the trees and into Pamela’s bedroom. She turned on her back and opened her eyes. She felt a lot better than she had last night and was ready to conquer the task ahead. She sat up to see Myah sitting in a chair, sleeping. “You guys don’t have to watch over me, you know,” she said. Myah didn’t budge.
Silently, Pamela got out of bed and walked to the window. She looked at the mud congealing on the ground, then at the path to the waterfall. It wasn’t too bad. She turned to look at what had once been a beautiful flower garden and shook her head. She looked at the other cottages around her. They had all suffered the same fate. She shrugged. Same as last year.
She pulled on her robe and headed for the community kitchen.
Mary, her mother, and four other ladies were there chopping vegetables, kneading flour and cutting up plantains.
Mary rushed to pull out a chair when Pamela entered the kitchen. Pamela laughed. “Since when do you cater to me?”
“Since you’re back from the dead.” Mary went back to her kneading.
“The operative word there is back. I’m sure no one thought I’d die, especially you.” She sat down anyway.
The women nodded.
“You’re so right,” Esther said. “Only the pure of heart die young, and I think you have a little darkness in you.”
“Mother!” she gasped. “I never...”
“Oh, yes you have,” Esther said with a big grin on her face.
The women said, “Ummm-hmmm,” in unison
Pamela laughed. “I never claimed to be a saint. Do you need my help?”
“No, we’ll bring your breakfast to you,” Mary said.
“You need to stop doing that, because right now I’m going to change and do some work in my garden. The ground is soft, but not too soft to start replanting.” She got up and left the kitchen.
Pamela did her toiletries, changed into old clothes and went out to begin her work. Along the circle, women who weren’t going to the kitchen were already beginning to work in their gardens. Some had baskets on their heads, going to replant the fields.
Gracie came running up with a basket of mangoes. Pamela laughed. “I thought you guys were in bed.”
“No, we got up early to go pick up the mangoes that fell from the trees. All the children were picking up mangoes.”
“Okay, take them to the kitchen. Don’t you children have dance today?”
“No, Miss Daisy says it’s more important to help with the rebuilding and planting.”
Pamela nodded.
“We’ll be back, Mama,” Ruth said. They ran to the kitchen.
Pamela looked after the four children. Although it made her smile to hear Ruth and David call her mama, she couldn’t help feeling a little sad. She was almost sure they’d lost their mother forever unless Saul took them off the island to see her. But that was his prerogative. All she wanted was for him to come back to her. Thinking of him, she felt an ache in the pit of her stomach and tears close behind her eyelids.
She went to the new room to begin taking out the flowers and tools to plant and discovered all that Saul had done. She saw the gramophone and vinyl records. She bent and ran her fingers along the intricate pattern on the trunk he’d made. She sat on the floor and cried. The children came to help and she quickly dried her eyes, got up and took the plants outside. She got Mary’s flowers from inside her kitchen and began planting them, too. She needed to keep busy in order not to think of Saul and what he was doing.
Again, breakfast was had indoors. After breakfast it was back to work.
Soon Pamela was joined by Mary, Myah and Angel in her garden and Mary’s.
Myah’s home was being rebuilt, but not on this mountain. Her mother kept Isha while she helped Pamela with whatever she could. In her heart, she knew one day she and Pamela would be sisters.
The replanting and rebuilding became one big party. Palm leaves were collected. Cement was mixed and bricks laid. A lot of hammering almost drowned out the women humming and the older men beating the steel drum.
Men rolled barrels over the breakfast area to harden the dirt once more, then poured cement over it to improve the place where everyone ate and mingled. The young boys were now using their push carts and handmade trucks to carry supplies for the men.
Everyone worked and as the sun climbed higher into the sky, it got hotter and more humid. More lemonade and water were the order of the day. And instead of looking for shade trees, which were scarce, the women donned wide-brimmed hats. The men went shirtless and as their bodies glistened with sweat they were harassed by the women who whistled at them. Once again copper pipes were laid to bring water into the village. The Elders had already begun getting water in their cottages.
Tim had begun making new furniture for Pamela even though she’d objected. He was doing it in his backyard. He walked now to Pamela’s home and stooped beside her. “In a few days I have to resume my job at the university, but I promise I will come back every evening.”
“Okay, but you do have to resume teaching here too as soon as school is back in session.” She didn’t look at him.
“I know. Is it all right if I have supper with you this evening?”
“I don’t see why not.”
Angel glanced over at them, then stood up and looked for her husband. Even though he was hard at work helping with the dining area, he was very aware of Tim’s presence with Pamela. The couple trusted Pamela explicitly and knew that Tim had been friends with her from childhood, but they’d noticed his actions in Saul’s absence. Angel walked to where James stood. “Do you still want to wait?”
He nodded. “He can’t do anything. She won’t let him into her life that way.”
“Okay, you know your people.” Angel sighed.
“Yes, and I know Saul and Pamela.”
“Me, too.”
“Then you shouldn’t worry.”
Angel smiled and walked back to her work.
The sun moved from its highest point and began its slow descent into the horizon and tomorrow. The work day was done and, once again, supper was had indoors. Both James and Angel kept an eye on Tim, but got bored when the only thing Pamela did with him was laugh. He said something close to her ear and she threw him out of her home. She walked to the new room, looked at the gramophone, and then opened the trunk, took out a record and placed it on the turntable. She slowly placed the needle on the record and turned the handle until she heard the music. She turned a little faster and closed her eyes.
Angel came into the room and smiled. “If I do that for you, you can dance.”
Pamela opened her eyes and let go of the handle as Angel took hold and cranked it up then stood watching Pamela do a very sad dance to the cool sound of a young Bob Marley.
She stopped dancing and pulled her fingers against the lines of the gramophone. “He knew I’d like this. I didn’t know until today that he’d brought this for me.” Her eyes caught Angel’s.
“He loves you very much,” Angel said.
“Yes.”
“You miss him a lot, don’t you?”
“Yes. But he’ll be back.”
Angel nodded and began winding the handle until James came in and showed them how to do it properly.
On the fourth day, the ground was almost back to normal. The dining area was being used instead of everyone eating in their homes, and Tim presented Pamela with one very beautiful, polished mahogany rocking chair. She shook her head and hugged him.
“I told you not to do this.”
“I did this just to see that smile on your face. I’ll do anything for you. You know that, right?”
“Thank you very much. I do appreciate it.” Frankly it made her miss Saul more than ever because she knew if he were with her he would have been doing the same thing, along with puttering with her in her garden.
“Aren’t you going to try it out?”
“Why? Is it a trick chair?” She laughed boldly, trying to hide her sadness.
“Funny lady.”
She sat on the chair and began rocking. She leaned her head against the back and closed her eyes. She felt his breath on her face and a kiss on her forehead before she could get a chance to protest. She stopped rocking, got up and ushered him out of her house anyway.
“Why do you keep pushing me away, Pam? Don’t you want us to be close anymore?”
“Tim, I think you want more than I can give you.” She looked up into his unsmiling face.
“Why? Why can’t I want your love?”
“Because someone already has my heart, and you know it. I am in love with Saul. There can be nothing between us, Tim.”
“He’s not coming back. He left you to die, Pam.”
“No, he didn’t. Now you really have to go.” She pushed him out and slammed the door.
He knocked softly on the door.
“Do you want your chair back?” she asked.
“No, I made it for you.”
“Then go away.”
In the evening, after everyone had had supper, the musical instruments were brought into the dining area and the music began.
With her sandaled feet set apart, Pamela bent her knees and slowly swayed to the rhythm of the music. With her eyes closed she moved her arms over her head and moved her head from side to side, all the while thinking of Saul. She moved her hips seductively as she thought of their love making, and the music followed her movements instead of the other way around.
Tim watched and lusted privately for what he could never have. How could he change the relationship? How could he get her to love him? Would she in this lifetime have him as more than just a friend? Perplexed, he shook his head and went to dance with her. Mary and Myah joined in, but they were doing it more to protect the woman who was oblivious to Tim’s actions.
He went close to her. She opened her eyes, smiled, dropped her arm to her side, then cast one hand around his waist and slowly walked behind him with her hand traveling from his front to his back. Before she walked away from him, she looked into his eyes and said, “You have to find your own love. I am taken.”
Mary and Myah began dancing with him, and slowly more people joined them on the dance floor, including Mary and Myah’s husbands. Tim made several attempts to follow Pamela but they were foiled by Mary, whose husband was mildly amused since Mary was not a well-coordinated dancer.
No one had ever seen Pamela dance like that before and no man understood the dance unless their partners had performed it and told them what it was. It was the forbidden dance developed by an older dance teacher to show the husband or boyfriend how one felt about him. Although no one had dared to stop Pamela, the women understood that she missed Saul and did the dance for him. Unfortunately, it aroused the wrong man. They chalked it up to her being so heartbroken she forgot what it did to a man, especially when it was done by a beautiful women like her.
Pamela walked to the stables and patted her horse’s nose. “Have you missed our rides, old friend?” She took her time in brushing his coat, then took him outside and jumped on his back. She took the path slowly down the mountain and sat looking at the ocean. The water had receded but the beach was filled with seaweed. She sat just looking at the water. Just a short while ago it had been spouting froth with huge angry waves and now it was as calm as the gentle wind tousling her hair. She turned the horse around and headed back to the village. She would ask the men to begin cleaning up the beach tomorrow.
It was time. James was on his way back to Jamaica to give Saul the news of Pamela’s recovery. He’d taken Saul’s boat and used Willow’s car to drive into Kingston.
When he got to the hotel, he called Saul on the hotel phone. He didn’t want Raquel to overhear his conversation. As soon as Saul heard his voice on the other end, he said a few words and rushed down to speak with him in person.
“How is she?” Saul asked as soon as he saw James.
“She is completely recovered, but I have to tell you, she misses you a great deal.”
Saul bowed his head. “I know. I miss her more than I can put into words.”
“Are you really going through with this farce?”
“I have to get Raquel far away from here.”
James didn’t want to pry. “If you need anything, anything at all, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“You’ve done so much already. Thank you, my brother.” He hugged James and was about to go back upstairs.
“When will you leave?” James asked.
“I’ll get a flight for this evening and get Raquel the hell out of Jamaica and as far away from our people as I can.”
James nodded. “Good luck.”
Back upstairs, Saul got a flight booked for two to Brazil. He told Raquel to pack.
“We’re leaving now?” she asked with a slow, secret smile.
“Yes, I got us on a flight out this evening. We have four hours.”
“I need to get some things from the shop downstairs.”
“You need to go shopping? Why and for what?” he asked, annoyed.
“I need to get underwear.”
“Raquel, you have been here for a week and now that I tell you we are leaving you realize that you need underwear? You hardly wear it.” He was on the brink of anger when he reminded himself to be calm. He turned, walked through the open patio door, took a few deep breaths and turned back to her. “Of course. Get whatever you have to get. I’ll wait here for you.”
“I need money,” she said.
He took out a wad of bills, peeled off a few hundred and gave it to her.
This was the Saul she knew and wanted. A man who did her bidding without questions.
She slipped it into her purse and changed her clothes to go downstairs.
When she came back, he was ready to go. She took more time to put on more makeup before they left the room and checked out. All the while Saul never said anything to her.
The concierge called them a cab and they were on their way to the airport.
At the airport she began complaining of a headache. He gave her some powdered herb to put under her tongue. She had taken the bandage off her nose. He told her to sit while he checked them in.
They went through security and while they waited in the first class lounge, Saul spoke with one of the flight attendants. In a few minutes they were told they could board. They were the first ones to board.
“Why am I so sleepy?” Raquel asked, yawning.
“I gave you something to relax you and take away your headache.”
“Yes, my headache is gone.”
“Then sleep,” he said.
She leaned her head against him and in a few minutes was fast asleep. No longer then twenty minutes later, the flight attendant he’d spoken with nodded. He gently slipped a pillow under Raquel’s head and left the seat. He gave the flight attendant a letter and told her to give it to Raquel when she woke up. He knew she’d be out for at least three or four hours.
He took his overnight bag and left the plane just before the doors closed. He smiled and hurried down the gangway. He walked to the terminal building, went back through customs and walked out of the building. James was waiting for him. He laughed. “How did you know?”
“Give me some credit, my brother. We are Rahjah. We hate being manipulated and when we say when, we really mean it. Get in.”
Saul opened the car door and got in.
“How did you get away from her?”
“It wasn’t hard at all. I gave her a sleeping powder and asked the flight attendant to tell me when they were about to close the door. I gave her a letter to give to Raquel and left.”
“But man, where is your suitcase?”
“I guess on its way to Brazil with loads of papers and a few shirts.”
“Brazil!” he said, surprised. “I thought she was going to the States.”
“That’s what she thinks, too. But she’s on her way to her husband in Brazil.”
James looked over at Saul. “You called her husband?”
“Oh, yes. Now tell me about the one woman who I’d walk through fire to see again.”
As they sped away from the airport back to Kingston, James filled him in on what had been going on in the village.
The men had cleaned up the beach and tonight the moon lit Pamela’s way as she led her horse down the path. She got off the horse and left him close to the rocks. She peeled off her clothes, dropped them on the sand and walked into the warm water. She floated on her back and gazed up at the moon. She saw a shooting star and closed her eyes with just one wish. The water lapped about her naked body and she sighed as a hand slipped behind her head. She held her breath and opened her eyes. His face was so close to hers she could smell the sweet nectar from the gods on his breath.
“Was that wish for me?” he asked.
She smiled. “Who else could it be for?”
“This body,” he said, running his fingers down the length of her smooth body as his lips touched hers.
She breathed. “It’s been too long,” she said as his lips moved against hers, devouring their softness.
He groaned and lifted her out of the water against his naked body. She clasped her legs behind him, pressed her body into him with reckless abandon and gave herself freely to the passion of his kiss.
“You’re truly mine now?” she whispered in his ear.
“I’ve been all yours from the beginning.”
And as passion mounted, and he pressed into her, she realized how much she’d missed their lovemaking. She opened her thighs and welcomed him into her body. Love was strong, growing with fiery embers, sparking the way to a fiery downpour as they claimed each other physically and emotionally.
Under the full moon, he pulled her close to him and held her. “Did you understand my letter?”
“I didn’t at first. I had to read it three times before I was able to pick out the words that made the entire letter.”
“I knew you would. I’m so sorry that I had to go away.”
She placed a finger to his lips. “Shhh. You did what you had to do. You’re here now, with me, the way it’s supposed to be.”
They sat up together and they could see the lights from a passing ship. He looked at her. “I have us booked on a cruise to Europe in a month.” He watched her eyes light up as an unbelievable smile took over her entire face.
“Really? You did that for me, for us?”
“Yes.” Seeing and feeling her joy, he couldn’t stop laughing. “This one is just for us. I’ll take the entire family to Paris in a few months. You’ve been through so much in the past that...”
Again she quieted him. “None of that. Let’s not go back. You have made me so happy, and I know the children will be overjoyed when we tell them. I love you with all my heart.”
He pulled her into his lap. She straddled him and, as his kiss sent spirals of ecstasy through her, he leaned back on the sand and allowed her to take him to heaven’s door. Again.