"Hey! What are you doing?! Yelled Carli's aunt as she supervised the mini repair and construction project at her house.
Carli was relaxing in her aunt's nice, huge and comfy sofa. It was a rich navy blue color with cushions that were different shades of blue from baby blue to midnight blue. It was a Monday, but Carli had no exams. She had four later that week and two next week, and then she would be done with this semester. She was nervous, but felt she needed to just chill and try not to think about them for a little bit.
She also decided that she would spend the rest of her time in Kingston and St. Andrew sleeping at her aunt's house, and go down to stay with her parents for the Christmas holidays starting from Christmas Eve. She would leave straight from her aunt's house on the 23rd and then spend that whole time with her mom and dad until New Year's day. Then she would go back into town from the 2nd of January. Her cousin Melissa would drop her off in Half Way Tree on her way to work and then Carli would take a bus from there to the university.
She couldn't wait for exams to be over. She had only one writing assignment to bring in and a presentation to do but those were the least. The environment in the dorm with Shauna and Marsha was becoming too toxic and she needed to get out of there. Marsha was behaving like a bitch to everyone and she suspected it was because of Jason.
Even Shauna would spend some of her nights sleeping over at another friend's dorm room. There was space over there for one more person because the girl who was to occupy the room found an apartment off Mona Road to rent at a fairly reasonable price. When Carli realized what Shauna was doing she started thinking about where she could be besides being in a room with Marsha alone. She had asked her aunt if she could stay and she agreed. She had two children Melissa and Brandon, but Brandon had been accepted to a university in the USA and was gone.
Sandra said she could "capture" Brandon's room because he wasn't planning on coming back to Jamaica for the holidays. He would be looking for holiday work to add to the money his parents sent him every two months.
Now as she lay down on the new, very comfortable couch Carli remembered over hearing Marsha talking to her mom about Jason. Carli was trying to study while Marsha was pacing back and forth in the room.
"Mommy," Marsha said. "He's not answering my phone calls. Yes, I called to ask him if he was coming home for the holidays. I ended up leaving a message on his voice mail about it. He texted me back and said he would spend Christmas with his mom this year."
Carli continued to look at her text book but her ears were attentive to the conversation.
"Mommy, no!" Marsha said sounding annoyed. "Why do you always think it has something to do with me? Okay... Oh gosh! Yes, Jason and I had a little misunderstanding, and I may have gotten a little upset and he got upset, and since then I haven't seen him."
There was an awkward pause where Carli assumed Marsha was listening to her mom speaking to her.
She wondered if the "misunderstanding" had something to do with the time she saw them that night she was supposed to go out with Jason for ice cream.
"He has a girlfriend or maybe a girl he likes," Marsha said sitting down on her bed. "I was only trying to find out who it is. Yes of course he is a grown man. Yes mother I know... I ..."
There was an awkward pause. Carli heard something hit the surface of Marsha's bed. When Marsha got up and went into the bathroom. Carli looked around to see that it was Marsha's phone. Apparently, Marsha's mom had hung up the phone on her daughter.
Carli turned around and closed her textbook. It would be better if she went to the Main Library to study. Sitting up she stretched tiredly, just then Marsha walked back into the room and saw Carli sitting up and placing her books in her school bag.
"Going somewhere?" Marsha asked.
Carli refrained from making eye contact with her. "Yeah, just going to the library to finish up some research."
"Oh I see." Marsha said her gaze skeptical. "You sure you're not meeting up with Shauna so you and her can have a good laugh over what you heard me talking about?"
Carli got up and moved to straighten her bed sheet. "I don't have a clue who you were talking to and I'm not familiar with your topic of discussion." Still not making eye contact, Carli fluffed her pillow and laid it neatly at the head of the bed.
"Oh really?" Marsha looked at her more intensely now. "I have a friend. His name is Jason. He grew up with me like a brother, but now we're much more than that."
She moved closer to Carli and said, "The other day he said he bumped into a girl named Carli on his way over to see me for our lunch date. I only know one Carli and that is you, but maybe there are other females on this campus with that name. What do you think?"
Marsha was right in front of her now.
After carefully smoothing out the wrinkles on the bed sheet, Carli looked up at her.
"Maybe there are other Carli's, I don't know, but I did meet a Jason a few weeks back, yes." Carli was done backing off from this girl. She wasn't scared of her. She just didn't like conflict. She was like her dad in that regard, but she was also like her mom, and would tell it like it is, without fear or favor.
Marsha backed away as if stunned.
Carli watched as it seemed a myriad of emotions crossed Marsha's face.
"Have you seen him recently?" Marsha folded her arms across her ample chest. Thankfully, she was wearing a bra that day. Carli thought to herself.
"No. I haven't," Carli said, slowly packing her school bag with her purse, textbooks, phone, and other items she thought she needed, like a thin sweater. The air conditioning in that library could be very cold, at least to her.
"Is that true?" Marsha eyes squinted as she looked at her. Her lips were drawn into a thin line.
"Yes it is." Carli paused to look her dead in the eyes.
"Okay." Marsha replied. "Just wondering if you were the one he was meeting a couple weeks ago."
Carli decided to ask the most obvious question. "So... you guys are a couple or sumn?"
"Yes we are." Marsha replied quickly. "Why do you want to know? Are you interested in him?"
"How can I be? I haven't seen him." Carli placed the bag over her shoulder.
She moved past Marsha and went to the door. "If you'll excuse me I have better things to think about than a man."
Carli opened the door and closed it behind her.
Marsha knew that was a straight jab at her. She wasn't convinced however, that Carli hadn't seen Jason after the time he bumped into her, but had no proof. She would watch her carefully.
After that interaction with Marsha, Carli thought it would be best to take some time away from the dorm and stay with her aunt. She was even willing to stay with her if she would allow it for the rest of her time in Kingston. She would ask her aunt Sandra if she would take her in, if this current visit with her went well. She had packed her bags with her clothes, sheet spreads, snacks and literally everything she brought with her into Kingston except another small bag full of make up, she left that for Shauna to hold onto for her. She however took her body wash, oils and cremes, as well as a bottle of lotion and other hair care products.
Now as she lay on the sofa, flipping though a magazine her aunt had on a small table in the living room, she felt grateful for her aunt's generosity. She had only met her twice before moving into town, and she treated her like they were very close aunt and niece. Her warmth made her feel safe and happy.
An hour passed and Carli had fallen asleep among the soft cushions, when she heard a familiar voice that woke her up. Carli extended her hand and reached for her phone hidden beneath the cushions. Retrieving the phone she looked at the time. It was 10:30 a.m. She hadn't eaten anything yet. She would normally eat at around 11 a.m. or at noon. She sat up lazily. She was still wearing the t-shirt and baggy shorts she had slept in the night before. She sighed. She was hungry now. Time to find something to eat. Her aunt and family believed in eating an early breakfast. Carli had no problem with breakfast, but she found herself enjoying food better later in the morning, not earlier.
She dragged herself to her feet and went into the kitchen. She removed a frying pan from the pot rack over head and retrieved some anchor butter from the refrigerator. She felt like eating some scrambled eggs and toast with maybe some frankfurters to show her tummy some love.
She took out two eggs, three franks from a jumbo sized pack and some nice whole wheat bread with raisins, two slices to add some fiber to her meal. She closed the fridge bumping her hip into the door. Carefully, she lit the stove and turned the fire on low. She cut off two cube pieces of the butter and laid them aside in a small plate. She placed the butter back into the fridge, closed it again with her hip.
Carli dropped one cube into the frying pan and watched it melt and sizzle. Then she broke the eggs into a medium sized bowl and took a whisk from a drawer and started beating the eggs. She added salt, black pepper, a few thyme leaves separated from their stems and a tiny sprinkling of paprika. She beat the mixture then added it to the pan, and turned the flame down even further. She was about to use a fork to scramble the egg mixture when a familiar deep voice greeted her.
"Mhmm... sumn smells real good!"
The voice was too familiar! Carli turned to see Jason standing at the doorway of her aunt's kitchen. He looked at her, his expression amused. She almost forgot she wanted the eggs scrambled, a good portion of the eggs had hardened. Carli hissed her teeth. Okay, omelette it is. She thought to herself.
Jason entered the room and looked her up and down. He had an amused look on his face, and his lips curled up slightly as if he was trying to hold back a smile.
"So? What are you doing here?" Carli asked. She took out a small knife from the cutlery drawer and started cutting the frankfurters diagonally.
"I'll be working here." Jason now smiled as he watched. "I take it you're not glad to see me."
Carli looked into his face. It had a mocking look, but she saw a hint of hurt in his eyes.
"No... I mean, it's just that I didn't expect you here. You know, I didn't know you knew my aunt." Good save Carli. She groaned inwardly.
"Okay, alrightey," Jason said, not convinced. His expression held a question.
Carli spoke up.
"I'm staying here with my aunt for awhile. Aunt Sandra, your boss, I guess, invited me to stay with her for a little while." She looked up at him then looked away. His eyes were so focused on her. She noticed that he wore an old grey t-shirt that was stretched tightly across his chest and he wore cut off jeans, and an old pair of sneakers.
"Work clothes?", she asked.
Jason nodded his smile broadening. "Yeah, one has to look the part."
A tiny smile quirked up her lips.
"Ahhh!" Jason said. "I knew there was a smile in there somewhere."
Carli felt a bit flustered with him watching her. Hurriedly, she took the frying pan off the fire, and taking a plate from the cupboard, she carefully deposited her now hardened eggs with a fork into the plate. She looked up at Jason, who was leaning against the counter, his legs crossed at the ankles while he watched her.
"Um ... trying to prepare some breakfast for myself ..."
"I can see that," he interrupted. "Okay, tell you what, I will be over in the corner taking some measurements. Don't mind me."
He smiled at her and she felt her heart melt.
"We do need to talk though," he said, matter of factly.
Carli nervously turned off the stove. Lawd have mercy. What was this man doing to her?!
Jason saw what she did and said. "I don't mean to interrupt, but we had a date and all. I just wondered what happened. Why you stood me up?"
Carli reached for a small onion in the fridge and began peeling it, washing it at the sink, then chopping it into small cubes. "I didn't stand you up," she said looking him straight in the eyes, then she focused on dicing the onion.
She placed the knife on the cutting board. "Tell you what, let me get through preparing and eating breakfast and I will find you wherever you are and we'll talk. Okay?"
Jason nodded. That sounded fair. "Okay. No problem. Let me go over here real quick and do some work."
Jason took his tool bag which was different from his school bag from his shoulder, laid it on the floor, and took out a measuring tape and pencil. He began to measure the wall at the far end of the kitchen away from Carli while she watched him furtively and prepared her breakfast.
When she was done cooking, she wiped off the counter. Took up her plate and a glass filled with some orange juice and went to her room to eat.
Jason watched her leave and thought with amusement how those baggy clothes hid her curves very well. Smiling to himself, he turned back to doing what he came there to do. He had a small notepad he made notes with and any little thought he had on observations he made, he jotted down, making careful note of them.
After speaking with Mrs Dixon about what he needed to make the job successful and his price, they decided that he would get paid half now and half when he was done. She was also working on a separate unit from the main house that she would turn into an Airbnb for travellers into Kingston, mostly business clientele. The neighborhood was upscale enough. It was quiet and the neighbors minded their business. She wanted to attract a certain type of customer so she really wanted the new building to be villa-like looking but not too playful.
She told Jason if he did well with her kitchen and living room space at the main house she would consider him for painting the whole Airbnb for her at about $500 per square feet for the 1,550 square feet property. Jason agreed.
Right now it was still under construction so that gave him plenty of time to observe the job being done by the work men and to liaise with her about her preferred color scheme. This was the biggest gig he had ever gotten since he started painting and he was elated to show her what he could do. It was an added bonus to see Carli and to see if they could clear the air on a few things.
******
By the time Carli had finished eating and washing up the breakfast items, Jason had already started on the living room walls. Aunty Sandra had already got some of the work men who were doing the construction of her Airbnb to come in and move the furniture for her. Those pieces of furniture she preferred to remain were covered with tarpaulin.
Carli walked in silently and took everything in. Jason was using the paint roller on the walls first and then went over carefully with a paint brush. He worked quietly, not making a sound, not even a whistle as you would expect some work men would do. He had a cap on his head, not the blue and red NYC cap she was used to seeing him in, but a black one that had the words so faded she couldn't tell what it once said.
"Hey," she said walking slowly into the room.
Jason looked around and smiled at her. "Hey," he said, smiling at her. She noticed that there was a small speck of paint on his jaw.
"I didn't know you could paint." Carli's voice had a teasing tone to it.
Jason turned back to the job at hand. He sighed lightly.
"Yeahhhh." He looked at her, then looked away and began painting again. "One has to use the talents you're given and make use of them."
"How did you learn?" Carli was careful not to casually lean on any of the walls, though her legs felt wobbly.
Jason inspected his work carefully then replied, "My dad taught me. This is what he does for a living. He got a certificate to make sure he could get bigger gigs, but this is his thing. The trade was passed down to him from his dad, my grand dad. My grand dad learned it from a man who came from England who started up a business here."
Carli watched him carefully. "Do you have a certificate too?", she asked.
"Yeah I do. My dad made me go for it at seventeen. It's more like being assessed. There is no real in depth course for what we do. I just did the assessment so I can show people that I have approval from the state."
She looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean?"
Jason paused his brushing and looked at her. "Well, what I mean is, before now, tradesmen were doing their professions as professionals, before any government institution or agency said what they did was standard procedure. Many houses were built, painted, wired for electricity before there was any official government trade school or agency to monitor quality of output. I think it's disingenuous. Suppose the person judging you to determine if you are good at your job is below your level? ... Or maybe the way you do things is different from another school of thought. None of them are bad, just different. The person in charge can force a standard and say this is the one that should be accepted because that's what they know, meanwhile you may have another way of doing the same thing that is just as good or better, but the one in power or authority makes the rules."
Carli nodded. "Okay, I get you." She watched as he turned his attention back to his work.
"But you went and got it anyway?"
Jason nodded. Without looking at her, he said, "Yes, so I can do jobs like these and raise my profile. I plan on having a business one day."
"Oh okay. So why UWI?"
Jason looked over at her, his left eyebrow raised. "As I said, I want to turn my skills into a successful business, so I'm taking some courses in Accounting, Business Management along with a major in Economics. Now, it's just to gain experience and develop clientele." He started painting again.
Carli cleared her throat, she was curious about him. "But," she said, "painting can't always be lucrative. I mean some folks may want to paint their houses themselves or hire a 'small man' that may be cheaper." Carli leaned on a huge couch-- not the navy blue one --covered by a tarpaulin.
Jason nodded. "That is also quite true, but I plan on making my services reasonably priced and flexible. I also plan on offering other services related to the construction industry, as well as other types of businesses. I've already started."
Carli was intrigued, but didn't want to pry, she was however itching to ask. "um..."
He was almost done with a section of the living room walls. "Go ahead," he said intuitively. "You can ask what you're curious about?
Carli smiled. "Okay. What other business have you started?"
"My cousin and I started a wholesale downtown. It was her idea. She had a stall and wanted to go bigger but needed a little push, you could say." Jason continued to paint the walls, moving to a different section efficiently.
He continued, "Fortunately I am big on saving. Something my grandma taught me before she migrated. So, I had a certain amount of money in my possession. She is my favorite cousin, we vibe on a different level. So when she told me about her plans, I offered to help for a cut each month. It hasn't come off the ground fully yet but I'm expecting by Christmas things will improve." He glanced at her quickly then looked back to his task.
"So you haven't gotten any ROIs yet?" Carli said, trying to sound sophisticated.
Jason grinned, then chuckled a little. "No, not yet. She gave me back half of what I loaned her though, so that's a start."
"Oh, so you kind of bought into the business then?" Carli looked at him with new respect.
"Yeah. I have, but that's personal."
Carli laughed nervously. "Okay, of course." she said. "That is none of my business."
"So does Marsha know about it?" Carli decided to ask to see how he would respond.
Jason looked over at her. "No enuh. That sort of thing I keep to myself. My mom knows but only her and my grandma. I don't know if Tina told anyone else what we planned, but as part of our agreement, no person that is not relevant to the transaction or not a part of immediate family should know. I would expect her parents to know and probably her siblings, as I have told my mom and gran-gran but no one else."
Carli chuckled. "Well you've told me now."
Jason smiled at her. "Indeed I have."
Pausing for a minute, Jason said, "I think we need to talk."
"Yes, we do," Carli said nodding.
"I finish work at 7:00 p.m," Jason said. "Let's meet up at the front of the yard and we can decide how we'll get the chance to talk. Okay?"
"Okay," Carli said nodding.
"Don't stand me up now."
"I wouldn't dream of doing that." Carli smiled at him.
********
At around 7 in the evening, true to her word, Carli was standing at the front gate waiting on him. Aunt Sandra had allowed him to wash up using a garden hose and a used bar of soap. He scrubbed his hands and feet with the soap but washed his face with just water. When he came around the side of the house towards the front yard, he saw that Carli was already there waiting for him. His face broke into a huge grin.
"You're here," he said smiling.
Carli laughed. "Of course, where would I be?"
"Alright," he said, adjusting the bag strap on his shoulder. "A friend of mine should be picking me up, us up. He's gonna drop us off at the place where I'm staying and we can go on the date. We can talk one on one? That last statement sounded like a question to Carli.
She nodded. "Okay." For some reason she trusted him.
Jason's friend, the one who told him about the paint job at the Dixon's house, picked them up at 7:30 p.m. and dropped rhem off at the front of Mona Commons community. Carli didn't expect that she would see UWI's front gate but was relieved that she wasn't confronted by a crazy Marsha. She imagined what Marsha would do to her if she could see her and Jason right now.
Jason told Omar thanks and reached for Carli's hand. "Don't worry," he said. "I'm just doing this to make sure everyone knows you're with me. So no one will bother you if maybe you wanna come see me by yourself."
"Okay," Carli said. She allowed him to clasp her hand in his. The touch was warm and reassuring and did make her feel safe.
Jason's little house that he rented was close to the front of the community. In just a few minutes they were at his front door. He opened the door and let her in. Then he closed the door behind him and turned on the wall switch. Light from a very bright LED bulb lit up the room.
Carli observed the room. Close to the front door, the room held a small table and two wooden chairs; a bed neatly spread with not a wrinkle, and a small night stand beside the bed. Further into the room she saw a long table with some pots and pans on one side and some plastic cups and plates beside them. There was also a large, square plastic container with a covering that kept spoons, forks and knives. The majority of the utensils were plastic but they were clean.
Carli walked into the room and looked around. She smiled mischievously. "Love what you've done with the place."
Jason laughed."Yeah, I try my best." He chuckled.
Dropping his work bag near the foot of his bed, Jason removed his shirt as he was preparing to shower. Carli saw what he did out of the corner of her eye, and could not help letting out a quick breath as if she had been punched in her belly.
Jason had a bag over the other side of the bed that he stored his 'good shirts' in. These shirts he rarely wore unless he was going out with friends or on a date.
On that same side was a standing fan. Jason lifted the fan over to where Carli was. He pressed the button down so that the fan could oscillate in her direction and plugged it in. Cool air hit her quickly. She sighed relieved. She was all of a sudden feeling hot. Carli cleared her throat.
Jason looked at her and saw her expression, the way she looked at him, and realised he had removed his shirt and maybe she was uncomfortable.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Jason said. "It's a reflex for me, just stripping naked." He chuckled. "As soon as I come home I take off my shirt and my boots or shoes."
There was a small clothes drawer to one side of the room. Jason went to it and took out some clothes and headed to a door to the right of the room.
"I won't take long," he said, and disappeared in the room. Then he popped his head back out. "Go on, have a seat." He winked at her.
Carli felt a rush of air escape from her lips. Was she holding her breath?
She looked out into the one large room and saw that a four burner gas stove with oven was off to one side and a washing machine was to the other side near to the back door. The room was pretty bare. There were no pictures on the walls. Nothing interesting. There were black and grey curtains that adorned the front windows but those were the fanciest things she observed. The walls were painted in grey, with black trimming at the top and bottom of the walls. The ceiling was painted a chalk white.
In five minutes Jason was done and was already wearing a pair of dark blue jeans. He retrieved the blue shirt he took from his bag and pulled it over his head, down his torso, covering a white marina. He pulled on a pair of grey Crocs onto his feet. Carli took all of it in. He smiled at her, amused as he saw her looking at him intently.
"Like what you see?" Jason smiled mischievously at her.
Carli blushed.
She looked away from him. While she pretended to look anywhere else but at him, Jason took the time to look at her.
Her curly hair that she would usually have in a cute little bun was loose about her shoulders. It looked longer than before and the ringlets were more juicier. She parted her hair to the left side of her face and used a little pink hair pin shaped like a butterfly to pull the hair from her face. Her hair was piled to the right side of her head and framed her face in a seductive way. He noted a hint of purple at the hair ends.
Interesting color. He thought.
She wore a pink tank top and cute, pale blue jeans shorts that stopped mid-thigh, showing off her smooth, shapely brown legs.
After getting dressed and spraying his favorite cologne, Jason grabbed his wallet from his work bag and removed some money. He pushed his wallet into his pant's back pocket and tucked the extra money away into his work bag. He pulled on his favorite red and blue cap over his curly hair.
"Ready," he said, smiling.
Carli looked at him. He cleaned up nicely. She got a whiff of his cologne. Smells real good. She thought.
He reached for her hand and she gave it to him.
Jason allowed her to go through the door first, he turned off the light and closed the door.
They took a taxi down to Sovereign in Liguanea, where he told her to have a seat while he went for sandwiches and drinks.
He came back with a chicken sandwich for her and a fish sandwich for himself. Two sodas, grape for her and pineapple for himself.
As they were eating Jason stared at her, taking her in.
Carli blushed again.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" she asked feeling flustered.
"Well," he said, leaning forward towards her. "You are beautiful. I also wondered if we would ever get to meet up considering those last two fails."
Carli laughed. "Yeah about that..."
Jason laughed also. "Yeah about that. What happened?"
Carli took a sip of her soda.
"I did plan on going out with you. I got ready and everything, but when I looked out at the dorm gate I saw you and Marsha arguing, or it looked that way. She was giving jealous ex vibes. To a stranger you guys looked like a couple, or that you were together, and I didn't want to get involved with that. I turned around and went back to my room."
Jason looked at her puzzled. "Why?"
"Well firstly, Marsha and I are roommates on Seacole. We share a room with another girl named Shauna."
Jason nodded. Yeah, he knew Shauna. Nice girl.
He listened as Carli continued. "From the very beginning, That girl has had it in for me. Not sure what is her problem but she makes it her duty to try to intimidate me."
Jason listened. He wondered if him telling Marsha about his encounter with Carli had made Marsha's behavior towards Carli worse.
He was glad now that he hadn't said anything to her that night, when she saw him waiting on Carli.
Jason felt Carli's hand on his wrist. He looked at her. She had touched him to ask a question.
"Sorry," he smiled apologetically. "Was lost in thought a little. Go ahead."
"I was asking if you guys, you and Marsha, if you were ever boyfriend and girlfriend?"
"Never," Jason replied emphatically.
He took a bite of his sandwich. His brow was in knots as he chewed his food and thought about the whole situation. "I know she likes me like that, but I don't see her that way. We're like brother and sister --siblings-- nothing more." Jason thought about explaining further. Should I let her know we used to live together? Yes, he said to himself. I will explain everything.
"So," Jason began. "I was in a really rough place in my life when I was fourteen, and my mom was having trouble with me, both in terms of my attitude and making sure I could go to school. One of the school's guidance cousellors saw that I was being wayward and one day asked me to come to her office for a chat. At the time I would only come to school on Monday's. I would collect the assignments for class on Monday and any other assignment during the week my friends would text me. Eventually though, I stopped going for a full month. Then one Saturday morning, Mrs Miller, the counsellor, was doing her grocery shopping and saw me on the road helping to pack supplies off a truck into a wholesale downtown. She told me she wanted to see me on the Monday after."
Jason looked away from Carli and looked at other folks at Sovereign chatting and laughing. "I went in the Monday and I ended up opening up to her and explaining what was going on. She told me to come to school Tuesday and bring my mom with me. She explained that she wanted to be my guardian. I would spend the summer and other holidays with my mom and siblings but during the school term I would stay with her and her family. My mom agreed. That's how I met Marsha and trust me I have seen her nasty side. I know how destructive she can be, so I understand your concern..." He reached for Carli's hand and she gave it to him. "... but I promise you, there is nothing going on between me and Marsh." His nickname for Marsha.
"As a matter of fact, we've not even spoken since the time you and I were supposed to go for ice cream. What you saw was her having a fit trying to find out who I was going out with that night. I told her nothing though."
Carli eyes flew open. "I see," she said, sipping more of her soda. She had a small piece of her sandwich left over. She suddenly felt ravenous, even though she did eat something for supper before they left her aunt's house. Biting into it heartily, she felt ketchup squirt onto the corner of her mouth and chin. She giggled nervously. She reached for the paper napkin but Jason had beat her to it.
In one smooth movement, he gently used his napkin and patted the ketchup off her face. His eyes honed in on her lips. Instead of feeling uncomfortable, like the time she felt Matthew's heated gaze on her, she felt oddly warm all over.
"There we go," Jason said after wiping her mouth and chin dry.
He used the napkin to also wipe his own mouth and Carli felt butterflies in her stomach.
"Want some ice cream?", he asked her.
Carli nodded, afraid to choke on the word 'yes'.
Jason got up and removed his wallet from his pocket and went to buy the ice cream. She had mentioned on one of their chats via Whatsapp that she liked cookie and cream, grapenut and dragon stout ice cream, but pretty much all ice cream would get a thumbs up from her, except for pistachio. She didn't like that one.
He came back with a grapenut cup for her and himself. He smiled apologetically. "They had other flavors but I felt this was a safe bet."
They were given small plastic spoons that were folded up. Carli pulled out her spoon and watched as Jason did the same. She looked at his fingers. His finger nails were clean; cut low and neat. His fingers were strong and competent looking. Carli felt heat rise within her again, She looked away.
Tentatively, she took her spoon and dipped it into the ice cream and brought it to her lips. She used her tongue to lick the ice cream. She laid the paper napkin aside.
"Mhmm! This is good," she said. She pushed her spoon deeper into the cup and took out a nice chunk and stuffed it in her mouth.
Jason chuckled. "So, I gather you're a foodie?"
Carli laughed lightheartedly. "How yuh know?"
They both laughed.
******
Jason held her hands playfully squeezing and releasing, squeezing and releasing her palms.
"I had a great time tonight," he said, smiling at her.
"Me too." she said smiling up at him.
They were standing outside Sovereign. They had called an Uber taxi to take her home and they were just waiting for her driver to come for her.
It was 10:00 p.m. They had talked some more but not about Marsha. He told her about his mom and his brother and sister, Joel and Lisa, and even briefly mentioned his dad. Jason felt comfortable talking to her.
As the driver turned up, he leaned out of the car window. "Carli?"
"Yes that's me." Carli nodded.
Jason was about to open the car door for her when Carli turned around, reached up and hugged him, and planted a kiss on his cheek. Jason looked down at her. He had wanted to kiss her all day, but he would settle for a hug and kiss on the cheek for now.
He leaned down and hugged her again and kissed her on her forehead. Both pulled away from the embrace reluctantly.
Jason opened the car door and Carli slid inside. He closed it carefully. He nodded his acknowledgement to the driver, who nodded back and put the car into gear to drive off.
"Call me when you get home." He made the telephone sign with his hand.
Carli smiled. "Will do."
She was gone.
Jason had to wait another half hour to get a taxi going up to Papine. He stopped off at a shop and bought bread, a dozen eggs, milk, plain yogurt and a quart of cheese. He felt like trying that omelette Carli did, but with a fancy twist Antonia had taught him.
Walking to his house, he saw some of the guys watching him.
He called to the one they all respected.
"Choppa!"
"Yeah mi dawg! Mannas! Yow! One nice piece a gyal mi see yah walk wid since night. A your own dat?"
Jason smiled. "Yeah a mine dat." It may not be true now, but Jason hoped that it would be very soon.
"Suh who dah bee deh weh wi see come outta yuh house weh day?" This question was from a young man called 'Puppy Foot' by the resident of the community, because his right leg was a little bent at the knee.
"Who?" Jason had a pretty good rapport with the guys in the community but wouldn't push his luck. He tried to make his tone neutral.
'Puppy Foot' aka Jermaine, stepped away a little from the crowd of guys sitting on a wall.
"Yeh man, me and Brown Man see one tall dark skin bee ah come out a yuh house. Ah wen? ..." Jermaine turned to Brown Man aka Marvin and said, "Brown Man, a wen we si di tall gurl? How long now?"
Brown Man stepped forward. He took a puff of his ganja spliff and mused to himself. "Yuh know seh 'bout three weeks now," he said. "Yeh man, three weeks. Mi memba cause mi cuz round robin was a keep outta Waterhouse di next day."
This was news to Jason. "Describe har. Wait! She dark skin and tall yuh seh?"
"Yah man. Yah man." 'Brown Man' and 'Puppy Foot' nodded in unison.
Jason felt sick to his stomach. Could it be? He nodded to the men and said, "Ohh, ah me other gyal dat man. A true mi nuh memba. Mi did pass out the night."
Jason knew he had to lie to protect her. He would have to call Marsha out on her late night visits to his house without his knowledge. It was not safe, and he would not be responsible for anything bad that would happen to her, if she roamed around in the community at night.
He told the guys he was going in, to which they nodded and went back to sit down with 'Choppa'.
Jason entered his house stripped down to his underwear and climbed into bed. He had one exam tomorrow and two on Thursday, so he told Mrs Dixon, Carli's aunt, that he would finish up later on in the week. He would call her to schedule a time. The good thing was that after Thursday, his exams were done, and he would have the rest of the month to do what he wanted.
He turned on his right side and thought of Carli. The warmth of her body pressed to his was soothing, but also exciting. He didn't know how to describe how he felt. He just liked being near her. He closed his eyes and fell asleep thinking of her.
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