Bahamas Vacation (5)

Bahamas Vacation (5)

(Background: I took a trip to get away from memories after my fiancee’s, Debby’s, death. We had planned to be here, Nassau, Bahamas, on our honeymoon. I met Cinnamon, an employee at the hotel, when I checked in. We have spent the last three nights together. She had 2 days off. yesterday she was my tour guide in Nassau. Today we went fishing which she arranged with the husband of one of her co-workers. Her coworker and husband, our fishing guide, invited us over for supper.)

A little after 6 we got into Cinnamon’s car and drove away. We turned on a narrow road that went over a big hill. I cringed each time we passed a car going the other direction, because there were walls on each side and barely enough room for two cars. After we got down the other side of the hill, Cinnamon turned right and drove to near the end of a dead end street. She parked across the street from a house with dark green trim and lighter green stucco walls. We got out and walked across the street, a cement patio, and up a few steps to the porch. The smell of freshly baked bread was in the air. Cinnamon knocked on the door.

“Come on in,” a female voice came from deep inside the house.

We stepped in and Cinnamon called, “Hi, Holly!”

“Come straight back,” Holly said. “Robert will be back in shortly.”

We walked past a living room on the right, some bedrooms and a bathroom on the left. When we entered the dining room Holly came out from the kitchen. Holly was a tall, thin woman with sparkling eyes and a warm, welcoming smile.

“Take a seat. Everything’s ready. Robert is picking a few limes in the back,” Holly said looking at Cinnamon just before the back door slammed shut.

“Hello again,” said Robert. “Glad you could come.”

Holly went into the kitchen. Robert followed. They quickly returned with the meal. In one pan were the tails of the 4 crawfish, spiny lobsters, Robert had caught in the fish trap that afternoon. In another pan were several fried fish. There was a bowl of peas and rice and another bowl with what I soon learned was conch salad. Holly went back into the kitchen and returned with a loaf of bread. It still smelled fresh baked.

“The fish and crawfish were all caught by you today,” Holly said. “As fresh as you can get.”

We each took one of the crawfish.

Robert pointed at the fried fish with his fork said, “These are grunts, these are yellowtail, and these are pieces of the trigger fish.”

“Cinnamon, do you want to split a grunt and a yellowtail?” I asked.

She nodded her agreement. I took one, she took the other, each cut ours in half and shared. Everyone took some of the other dishes.

“Try putting a little lime on your fish,” Holly suggested passing the small bowl of cut limes to the side of the table Cinnamon and I were sitting.

I noticed that Holly would make eye contact with Cinnamon, but not me. If our eyes happened to meet Holly would immediately look somewhere else. I took it for shyness on her part because I was a stranger. I also began to notice that Cinnamon was acting a little nervous. She dropped her fork on the table a few times.

“Be careful of eating the part near the stomach portion of the fish,” Robert warned. “There are many small rib bones there.”

The fish was wonderful with just a bit of lime. The crawfish tail was also excellent with whatever seasoning Holly had used. The fresh bread was heavenly, it was still warm and very substantial. The peas, black-eyed peas, and rice was good. The conch salad was good also. It was flavored well, but the conch was a little chewy for my liking. During the meal we had a good conversation, but I sensed a nervousness or tension from all 3 of them. Also during the meal I heard a humming and at times grinding noise coming through the kitchen, but from outside the house. Maybe a neighbor was doing something outside.

“This is a pretty big house for the 2 of you,” I said.

“It used to be my parents house,” Robert said. “They are gone now. I grew up here with 2 sisters and a brother. My sisters got married to men from another of the islands. My brother got married and moved to another island to work in his wife’s family business. Just left the 2 of us here.”

The humming sound from outside intensified then ground to a stop. Robert got up, excused himself, and went through the kitchen out the back door. A few minutes later he came back in and sat down. We finished the meal.

“I’ll get dessert,” said Robert.

“I’ll help,” said Holly.

They left. We heard dishes and silverware. They came back each carrying 2 dishes of ice cream. They gave us each a dish and sat down. I tasted my ice cream. The ice cream was homemade and tasted very good.

“What flavor is this? I’ve never tasted this flavor before,” I said.

“It’s jelly coconut,” Holly responded, the first time she had spoken directly to me.

She looked away immediately. She looked at Cinnamon and Robert, then looked down. Cinnamon and Robert looked at her, then each other with a knowing expression. We finished our ice cream.

“Cinnamon and I will wash the dishes. Robert, you and Andy go out on the porch and talk,” Holly said without looking at me.

Cinnamon and Holly started gathering the dishes. Robert got up and motioned for me to follow. We walked out to the porch and sat down. Neither of us said anything for several minutes. I sensed Robert had something he wished to say.

“Thanks again for taking us fishing and for having us over for dinner,” I said.

“Glad to do it,” said Robert. “It’s nice to have other people around the house. It seems so empty at times.” After a short pause he continued, “Holly and I want to have children, but apparently I can’t. Something wrong with my sperm.”

There was sadness in his voice.

“We asked the doctor about artificial insemination, but it was too expensive. We looked into adoption, but it also was too expensive,” he explained.