CHAPTER EIGHT

 

Diana fidgeted and fretted for an entire hour before she made up her mind to go out with Robert. She was sitting with Aunt Phillipa in her garden at the front when a red BMW drove up to the gate.

“That’s him,” Phillipa said, nodding at the car. “You look very nice in that yellow dress.”

“Thanks, Aunt Phillipa.” Diana knew her aunt was reserving judgment. She had merely nodded when Diana had haltingly told her how they met and that they were going driving.

“Be careful,” Phillipa advised. She opened the automatic gate with the remote and watched as Robert drove in. “I know I don’t need to tell you anything; you young people know more than I do about life and men, but you can see the differences, can't you?—black and white.”

“Rich and poor,” Diana mumbled, watching the sleek red car. “I'm way out of my league here, aren’t I?”

Phillipa glanced at her face. “Honey, you are my niece, and there is no way you are out of the league of that upstart, Theresa Cassidy.”

Phillipa obviously had some axe to grind with the lady, so Diana let that argument go.

Robert slid out of the car. He was wearing jeans and a green shirt which made his eyes look much greener.

“Hello, Mrs. Burnstein.”

Phillipa nodded and said, “Congratulations on your graduation and everything. Your mother has not stopped singing your praises since your finals.”

“She’s just so happy,” he said, a faint smile in his voice.

Then he turned and looked at Diana who was trying to hide all the feelings she had for him. While she was in the shower, she had tried to convince herself about why she shouldn't develop a relationship with him. All those thoughts suddenly faded. He looked at her intently as if he wanted to see everything in her mind.

“Lady Diana,” said Robert, bowing slightly.

“Sir Robert,” she replied in a British accent, bowing as well.

“Enjoy yourselves.” Phillipa got up and went inside.

Diana followed Robert to the car, and he opened the passenger door.

“Chivalrous,” she said, winking at him.

He stopped her before she went into the car and kissed her lips.

“I can’t help myself,” he winked back.

“So where are we going?” Diana asked curiously.

“Well, where we are Negrilites call ‘up the beach’. If we go that way,” he said, pointing up the road, “we would head toward Hanover; down that way leads to one end of the island, where the beautiful sunsets are phenomenal; the other way leads to Savanna-la-mar, which is where I have to pick up my sister’s friend, Amelia. She called me as I was leaving. I wanted to spend the rest of the day exclusively with you though.”

“No sweat,” Diana said, looking in the direction of Hanover. “I am completely forgetting why I came here. You are distracting me.”

“Why did you come to Jamaica?” Robert asked, heading in the direction of Savanna-la-mar.

“I came to meet my brothers and sisters,” Diana said, gazing at the scenery.

“Oh, it's a family reunion,” Robert asked, turning at the roundabout. “I love those things. Do you have a Big Aunt Edna who spits when she talks or a gay uncle who decides to come out of the closet in the middle of dessert?”

Diana laughed. “No, I don’t know where my brothers and sisters are. My father took me from my mother’s family, when I was young to live with him in America.”

“Oh,” Robert said, nodding. He swerved from a pothole and then glanced at her. “We have a couple of these in our island. These holes are important in many ways: they keep the auto-parts people happy, they reduce speeding, and they are guaranteed to wake up a sleeping driver.”

Diana laughed. “Though I was born here, I can’t remember much,” Diana said.

“I was born here too,” Robert replied. “I lived in Florida for a couple of years when my father was starting his business there. He had already conquered the Caribbean, so he took on Florida. Except for my Canadian schooling, it has been Jamaica all the way.”

“How old are you anyway?” Diana asked while subconsciously counting the roadside shops.

“I am twenty-two,” Robert replied, glancing at her. “Legal drinking age, though I don’t drink—never had a stomach for it. How old are you?”

“Twenty-four,” Diana answered, smiling. “The exact amount of small board structures that we have passed since leaving Negril. What are they, corner shops?”

“Yup. One night I went out with some buddies of mine. They stopped at every shop for a drink until we reached the hotel. It's a good thing I was the designated driver.

“Sounds like they had a good time.”

“Yes, they did. I had to haul each of them home, so it wasn’t much fun for me. Where in America are you from?”

“Good old Philadelphia.”

“Boyfriend?” Robert looked at her seriously, “I want to get to know you, so humor me.”

“None. I broke up with my ex last year. He decided to join a monastery.”

“Really?” Robert asked in disbelief, “a monastery?”

“Girlfriend?” Diana asked, looking over at him. “It's only fair since we are playing twenty questions.”

“None. I had a girlfriend in Canada but we broke it off after graduation. I will not be going back anytime soon, and she would not come out here. Her parents think we live in hammocks under the trees and eat coconuts all day.”

“Not in this day and age!” Diana gasped.

“Yup. I was quizzed for days. When I told them I'm Jamaican, everybody thought I was joking.”

“Because you are white?”

“Yes, and the fact that I did not say ‘yeah mon’ in the accent they expected, and I could not sing two good lines of any Bob Marley tune. Do you have a problem with the shade of my skin, Diana?”

“Do you have a problem with mine?” Diana rebutted.

Robert laughed and blew his horn as some cows walked across the road leisurely. “I have a problem with keeping my hands off you and keeping my emotions to myself.”

He waited to hear her reply, but she just bit her lips and looked faintly uncomfortable. He wondered how long he would have her for and then he started to panic.

“Diana, how long are you staying in Jamaica?”

“Two months,” she replied, “to try to find my brothers and sisters. My time here is dedicated to finding them, but when I am around you I keep forgetting that.”

“I’ll help you find them,” Robert readily volunteered, and felt a slight relief at the prospect of having her for two whole months; a lot could happen in two months. “I’ll get to spend more time with you then”

“You are so lucky to be born into a nuclear family with well-to-do parents,” Diana said. “You are spoiled rotten, aren’t you?”

“I was adopted when I was three-and-a-half. I can’t remember anything about my real parents. And you know what, I don’t want to know. Roman and Theresa are all I’ll ever need.”

“But, don’t you want to know who you really are and where you are from?” Diana asked, a sense of unease niggling at the back of her mind.

“I am too afraid of opening a can of worms,” Robert replied. “Besides, it would hurt my mother if I delve too much into the issue. My sister went to Texas the other day to meet her biological father, and my mother bawled for days.”

“You are both adopted?” Diana asked

“Yes and no. When Roman married Theresa, he adopted her child. Roman is sterile, so a couple years later when they wanted a boy, they got me.”

They stopped at a roadside vendor who sold coconuts that were still in the husk. The man chopped away the top of the coconuts and made a hole through which they could drink the sweet water with straws.

Robert finished his and pushed his straw into hers. They swallowed the cool liquid together and looked into each other’s eyes.

“Your eyes are now brown,” Diana said in awe.

“They are hazel. They change color according to my mood, my clothes, the lighting and the background you are viewing me against,” Robert said jokingly before kissing the side of her mouth. “That’s the most delicious coconut water I’ve ever tasted.”

“My baby brother had hazel eyes,” Diana said contemplatively. “They were bright and full of mischief. I had an endless fascination with them when we were little.”

Robert frowned. He was reluctant to pursue the conversation about her brother, and for a while, he wondered why.