This entry is one of nine that I wrote in roughly 8 hours and over a 28 hour period. I apologise for the quality of writing, but had to type furiously to get it all out before I collapsed. I preferred you read it in order:
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 We stayed there, talking, until Kerri called me and said she wanted to speak to me. She had spoken to Mae already – I had seen them talking for a very long time in the pool while I was with the two Syrians and Zodiac. It was only when they finished talking and left did The Other Syrian decide the pool was safe for bathing. Now Kerri had come to talk to me.She explained that she was disappointed with our behaviour and that she understood that was how we were but expected better from us. Her beliefs were that women who did that did not have respect for themselves and guys would not have respect for them either. She was not putting us down, she went on, but said only that she was disappointed. I answered her the same way that she said Mae did – this was the way I was, and out of respect for Kerri as my friend, I would not behave in that manner in her presence again. Although I did not know Harry very well, I knew Rum, and we knew each other well enough to keep our fun to appropriate times and places, and when all was said and done, we remained the same friends we were before. I also explained that I trusted her brother, and would only go as far as he was willing to go, because I trusted him to know the limits of my behaviour. This trust arose out of events I may explain later, or never at all.
She respected my opinion, and I respected hers. At the end of it, we agreed that although we were the closest of friends, we were very different, and it is because of those differences we managed to maintain our friendship long after we lost constant contact with each other.
After our discussion, I took to the bathroom. Zodiac had disappeared. I later found him on his bed watching television. I slapped his leg and ran out of the room, but he did not chase me. This was a good thing.
Freshly bathed, hair washed, I stepped out of the bathroom with my towel around me, and realised I could not find my woogie (wozzle, some people call it – hair band). I went outside in search of it, genuinely because I thought it would be there. I went to where Zodiac and I had been with the Syrians, but it was nowhere on the table. Neither were the Syrians. They were both in the pool.
The Syrian called out to me.
“What are you looking for?”
“My woogie!”
It only now occurred to me that he might not know what I was referring to. There was a basket of clothes on the table that was not there before, and he said to check under it. I did. It was not there. Then he called out to me. Or maybe he just was talking but not loud enough for me to hear, so I went closer to him and kneeled at the edge of the pool. We spoke for a few minutes, but the conversation that had started out very general and genial, became personal.
He invited me to lunch at the restaurant he managed in Scarborough.
“It would be 12 of us,” I said. “Are we going to get free food?”
He made a face. “That’s a lot of food… You can get free food.”
He was referring to me only. It was my turn to make a face.
“That’s dangerous,” I said, and looked up towards our rooms. There was no one there, but then again, I was not wearing my glasses.
We spoke a little while longer, but once again, I was forced to comment on the danger pervading the situation, and I backed away. He asked me if I had a boyfriend. I thought of Chan for the first time since I saw The Syrian. I told him no.
“How could a girl like you be single?” He asked.
I sighed. “I only go for something if I want it. For a very long time, I have not seen anything I wanted.” Again I thought of Chan.
The Syrian was single as well.
Danger. Danger.
I had been talking to The Syrian too long. We were too single, too naked, and too close – two feet away was too close – talking to each other in the pool while The Other Syrian swam, knowing what it was no fun to be the third fin.
“I can’t do this,” I said, “this is too dangerous. There are too many eyes.”
And I walked away and into my room. There, I put on clothes and used the hair dryer I had brought because I did not know the meaning of “pack light” unless it referred to cigarettes, and certainly not even then. By the time I peeped outside, The Syrian was gone, and only Rum and Harry were outside. I eventually came outside the same time The Syrian appeared. He was walking in my direction, and I met him halfway.
I spoke first.
“If I knocked on your door at some odd hour in the night, would you let me in?”
“Any time,” he said.
That was all I needed to know. Rum and Harry were back, and came into earshot immediately after he said what he last said. I left him without another word, and went with the fellahs. We sat there and talked shit for a while, until Kerri came over to play cards with them again. They wanted to call Zodiac, but luckily (for me), he was sleeping and would not be wakened.
I went to the bathroom, put on some cream, put moisturiser in my hair, combed and brushed it. I am so fucking happy that my hair now behaves itself. For the entire trip I was able to comb it even when in it was dry. Although it was slightly frizzy and retained its wiry texture, it also remained mobile, and did not turn into the tangled balls that crossed the paths of two gunmen just before midday in the Wild, Wild West (except being dark brown, and not blonde). Just to make sure it remained on its good behaviour, I went over to the room with the kitchen to borrow Kerri’s miraculous leave in conditioner. Then I combed, brushed, combed, brushed, until my hair looked presentable.
Anticipating what I was about to do, I had put on my sexiest black underwear – matching bra and panties. Over it was my mini jeans skirt, and a slinky, completely see-through black top. I was ready.
The threesome was outside playing cards when I stepped out. I was directing my words at Kerri, but all were listening.
“You might see me heading in a particular direction, but don’t worry. I have something back in Trinidad that I want, and I want to keep it.”
There were confused looks but no responses. I thought that perhaps I should clarify, but I did not want to delay it any longer. I headed towards The Syrian’s room. The room where he told me he would be staying. Alone.