Chapter 24
‘Are the others expecting you back for dinner?’ Gabriel asks as we make our way across the sand towards Raphael’s bar.
The kiss has evidently unlocked something, as our hands seem to have intertwined on autopilot and one of his fingers is lazily caressing the back of my hand.
I don’t know if he knows the effect he’s having on me, but my legs are definitely slightly unsteady.
‘We haven’t made concrete plans,’ I tell him, pleased to note that the wobbliness in my legs hasn’t infected my voice as well. ‘Although awful Amy was demanding that everyone show up for the hotel disco later.’
‘Really?’ He smiles. ‘Would it surprise you if I told you I know the DJ?’
‘Of course you do. Who is it?’
‘My brother Uriel. It’s one of his side hustles, under the stage name DJ Uri. Do you think Amy would really be that upset if you missed it?’
‘Why?’
‘I thought I might take you out to dinner, if you’re available. Give you a taste of Jamaican cuisine.’
‘We have Jamaican dishes at the hotel, I’ll have you know.’
‘No, what you have at the hotel is a couple of Jamaican dishes, seriously dialled down so as not to upset European and American tastebuds. The real stuff is much more exciting.’
‘Is it going to blow my head off? I don’t mind spicy food, but there are limits.’
‘It depends what you choose. A lot of restaurants offer a mild version of the jerk dishes for the tourists, but the place I’m thinking of caters mainly to the locals, so they don’t do that.
If you can take the proper one, it’s a different world, flavour wise, and they do the best jerk dishes on the island, in my opinion.
Actually, my mother does, but you know what I mean.
There are other options besides jerk though, if you don’t fancy it.
Goat curry is big here, or there are various different fish dishes. What do you say?’
I don’t even need to think about it. ‘I’d like that very much,’ I tell him.
Amy will probably give me an earful for not turning up to the disco, but getting to spend longer with Gabriel trumps DJ Uri any time.
Especially if there’s the possibility of him kissing me again.
When we get to the bar, Raphael brings the usual rum punch for me, along with a bottle of Trouble’s Brewing for Gabriel, but Gabriel bats it away.
‘Can I have a Coke instead? And do you need your car?’
‘Why, do you have plans?’ Raphael replies with a smile.
‘I thought I’d give Tori the opportunity to try some proper Jamaican food.’
‘The Food Shack?’
‘Yeah.’
Raphael smiles widely and turns to me. ‘You are going to love it. Best damned jerk chicken on the island. It’s on the spicy side, but that’s how it should be.’
‘Apart from Mum’s,’ Gabriel corrects him.
‘Yeah, that’s true. You would not believe the number of times I’ve tried to persuade that woman to come and do a jerk chicken night here once a week. People would go mad for it.’
Gabriel laughs. ‘I think she has enough to do.’
‘It’s because she doesn’t really approve of the bar,’ Raphael says to me.
‘But it’s lovely here,’ I tell him.
‘Yes, but I’m selling what she would refer to as “intoxicating spirits”. Mum and Grace are both pretty much teetotal. I don’t think she wants to be seen hanging out round a bar.’
‘When Raphael opened this place, the only way he could get Mum to agree to it without disowning him was to promise not to open on Sundays. Sundays are for church and family,’ Gabriel explains as Raphael goes off to swap his beer for a Coke.
‘So do you all go to church?’ I ask him.
‘Yes. Raphael and Uriel sing in the choir, believe it or not. Then there’s a big family lunch for everyone who’s around, plus a WhatsApp call immediately afterwards which Blessing, Michael and I need to have a serious excuse not to attend.
Family is really important to Mum. How often do you speak to your sister and your parents? ’
‘Georgina’s in her final year at university, so we probably catch up once a month or so, if that, but I try to talk to Mum and Dad most weeks.’
He smiles. ‘I think I’ve only missed half a dozen weekly calls over the last year, mainly when I’ve been in places like Japan where the time difference makes it impossible.
Blessing gets away with it more, because being a nurse means she often has to work on Sundays.
Mum didn’t like that at all to begin with, but Blessing told her that people injure themselves on Sundays just as much as any other day of the week, and someone had to be there to patch them up. ’
‘Are you always on the road?’ I ask. ‘I may be an independent woman, but I’m not accepting your proposal and marrying you if I’m never going to see you.’ I try to make the second part of the question sound jokey, but I’m not entirely sure I’m convincing.
‘It varies,’ he says, seemingly oblivious to the loaded nature of my question.
‘I come here for four weeks around this time every year, but I would hope my wife would come with me for at least part of that. Then there are usually a couple of tours, where I might be on the road for a month to six weeks, but for most other stuff I do my preparation and practice at home, go wherever I need to be for the concert or recording and come straight back afterwards.’ He smiles. ‘Does that help, Mrs Campbell-to-be?’
‘I haven’t said yes yet,’ I remind him, grinning back.
‘And I haven’t asked properly yet. Trust me, you’ll know when my proposal is serious.’
‘When? Not if?’
He looks at me for a moment, but he’s definitely got his poker face on as I can’t read anything from his expression. ‘Ah, here comes Raphael with my Coke and the car keys,’ he says nonchalantly. ‘Do you need another rum punch before we hit the road?’
I think I probably need a cold shower more than anything else. This conversation has just added another layer to all the stuff already going on inside me.
The Food Shack turns out to be exactly that; a run-down tin-roofed shack by the side of the road.
If I were on my own, it would be the kind of place I’d probably avoid for fear of getting food poisoning as it looks incredibly basic.
There are a large number of rickety-looking tables with mismatched plastic chairs that have seen better days, a couple of ancient fridges adorned with the Coca-Cola logo and an open kitchen at the back with a large barbecue.
However, despite looking like it could fall down at any moment, the place is absolutely packed.
‘Two?’ a rotund woman asks as we approach.
‘That’s right,’ Gabriel tells her. She scans the room, if you can call it that. I think we’re going to be out of luck as every table appears to be occupied.
‘Over there, on the end,’ she says, pointing to a table where four people are already sitting. I’m very aware of people watching us as we make our way over, and it’s uncomfortable.
‘They don’t get white people in here very often, that’s why they’re curious,’ Gabriel reassures me. ‘You’ll be fine.’
We take our seats and Gabriel orders two Cokes from the server, before pointing out the blackboards above the barbecue, where the menu is written out.
As well as the supposedly incredible jerk chicken, pork and vegetable options, there’s the goat curry that Gabriel mentioned earlier, but that’s pretty much where my ability to read the menu runs out.
‘What’s ackee and saltfish?’ I ask him.
‘It’s our national dish. Saltfish is dried and salted cod, which is fried up with ackee, which is a type of fruit, and lots of spices. It’s a breakfast thing mainly, but you can eat it at any time of day.’
‘And Escoveitch fish?’
‘That’s more tangy. It’s usually pickled.’
‘What are you going to have?’
‘Jerk chicken. It’s to die for here.’
‘Sod it. I’ll have the same. You can always eat mine if it’s too hot for me.’
Gabriel places the order with the server while I sit back and sip my Coke.
The fridges may look ancient, but they obviously work well, because it’s ice cold.
I can safely say I’ve never been anywhere like this before.
The air is thick with the smoke from the barbeque, and the buzz of conversation is pretty much completely unintelligible.
The barbecue itself, I notice, is manned by a huge, bearded guy with tattoos covering almost every exposed inch of his skin.
‘I don’t think I’d want to argue with him,’ I observe quietly to Gabriel. ‘I suspect the last person who complained about the food is underground somewhere.’
To my surprise, Gabriel laughs. ‘Aaron? He’s the owner and the reason this place is so successful. He looks menacing but he’s actually one of the gentlest people you could ever meet. The woman who sat us down is his wife, Jada.’
‘Do you know everyone on the island?’
‘No. I don’t really know them that well, to be fair. They’re Raphael’s friends.’
‘Here you go,’ the woman I now know to be Jada says as she plonks two well-filled plates down in front of us. ‘Two jerk chicken with rice and peas and callaloo. Enjoy your meal.’
I cut a small piece of chicken and put it into my mouth. Instantly, I can see what Gabriel means about the stuff at the hotel being toned down. This is very spicy indeed, and it’s not long before it feels like my mouth is on fire.
‘Too much?’ Gabriel asks as I widen my eyes.
‘It’s fine,’ I wheeze at him. ‘I just need to, umm, eat it slowly.’
Gabriel smiles and waves at Jada, who is obviously watching to see how I react to it. ‘Hey, Jada, can you bring a glass of milk for this one?’
Jada grins and heads over to one of the fridges, bringing out a large bottle of milk and emptying some into a glass, which she sets down in front of me.
‘Here you go,’ she says gently. ‘It’ll help with the chilli.’
I take a gulp and she’s right. With the help of a further two glasses of milk, I’m able to finish the chicken, which is actually delicious in an incredibly fiery kind of way. My mouth is still tingling, however, as we make our way back to the car.
‘You’re a proper Jamaican now,’ Gabriel tells me as I fasten my seatbelt and he starts the engine. To my surprise, however, he turns the opposite way from the way we came.
‘Where are we going?’ I ask him.
‘One of my favourite places to visit after dark. Is that all right? It’s a full moon tonight, so it will be magical.’
I nod my head and we lapse into silence as he drives.
My desire for him to kiss me again has dropped a little, as the chilli heat has made my lips feel slightly numb and I’m worried I might actually be drooling without realising.
As surreptitiously as I can, I run my hand over my chin to check, and I’m relieved to find it’s dry. Dribble is definitely not sexy.
‘Here we are,’ he says around half an hour later as he pulls off the road.
‘A beach?’ I ask as he kills the lights and switches off the engine.
‘A deserted beach, with a fabulous view of the moon. Come on.’ He pulls off his shoes, indicating that I should do the same, before jumping out of the car and rummaging in the back, from where he brings out two blankets and a couple of towels.
It takes a moment for my eyes to acclimatise to the comparative darkness but, as they do and I follow him across the sand, I start to understand what he’s talking about.
The moon is bright in the cloudless sky, illuminating the beach beautifully and making the sea seem to sparkle as it moves.
The waves are breaking on the shore with a gentle swish and there’s a faint breeze rustling the leaves of the palm trees. The sand is cool beneath my feet.
‘You’re right. This is incredible,’ I tell him as he spreads the blankets on the sand and gestures for me to sit down.
‘Isn’t it? It’s usually fairly busy during the day, but nobody ever comes here at night, which is when I think it’s at its best.’ He sits down next to me and pulls the second blanket over us before putting his arm around my shoulders.
We sit there for what seems like an age, watching the sea in silence.
I’m loving the sensation of his strong arm around me and, after a while, I drop my head to rest it on his shoulder, breathing in the faint scent of his woody aftershave.
The heat from the chillies may be subsiding, but there’s another, fiercer heat spreading through me now.
I can’t bear this any longer. I lift my head and put my hand on his cheek, turning his face towards me, before bringing my lips gently onto his.
The heat inside me turns to a furnace as he reciprocates and the kiss begins to deepen.
At some point, I move so that I’m straddling him and it soon becomes clear that he’s every bit as aroused as I am.
‘Did you say this beach is always deserted at night?’ I breathe.
‘Totally,’ he murmurs. His eyes are glazed over with desire as I stand up to wriggle out of my knickers before reaching down to unbuckle his belt. I can’t wait any longer. I need him now.