Chapter Seven
Adrián
“No need to change, the fonda is a chill place,” I explained as Genevieve put down her things, then picked up a small cross bag and followed me out of the cabana. I had not been ready for the powerful impact Genevieve detonated within me when she first walked into my bedroom.
Since we met she’d always been moving fast, either planning her day, checking emails and taking calls during the mornings, or animated in discussion with me on any topic we could think of on the way back. She carried herself well, but a thread of tension lay underneath...after all, I recognized that rigidity.
That tension that crept into every second of the day when I was teetering on the ledge of burnout. For me tragedy brought me back from that ledge, but for Genevieve it seemed nothing would. That tragedy closed my chapter for my workaholic ways. The wound of losing myself and my loved ones had cicatrized, but the phantom pain still visited me at the mere touch of it. Maybe these two weeks could restore her. Maybe I could help her with that. Be her shelter while she replenished and filled her cup again, but was there a way for me to do that without being lured into the same old tendencies she exhibited now? It was heady to meet someone so passionate about her career and how she wanted to leave a mark in the world with her work. I remember that intoxicating feeling.
Standing in my bedroom, I witnessed her slightly softening. Arms loose, shoulders down, back languid and straight. It had been a few seconds if anything, but there was an instant where she was fully present, and it rocked me. I felt the energy and the power just as strong.
The early evening gold and purple hues had crept up as she’d settled her things in my cabana. Mosquitos flew around us, and the night creatures’ symphony started its crescendo as we navigated the path back to the main casita and toward the road.
“We can take the car if you want, but the walk is not far. A mile, if anything.”
“That’s okay, I can do that.” Genevieve smiled, and my breath caught at how gorgeous she was under the fading evening light. She wore the same leggings and T-shirt from the morning, the shoulder of her dark brown skin begging for a kiss—Gen swatted that shoulder with her right hand, pulling me out of my horny, addled thoughts.
“Oh damn, did you get it?”
She pulled back to find the dead mosquito that dared mess with her.
“I did, but not gonna lie I’m losing the battle here.” She grimaced as she swatted yet another mosquito. Damn. Mosquitos loved new blood.
“Sorry, I should have thought of that, they don’t mess with me much because I’m old blood. They’re tired of my ass.” The distraction worked; the tinkle of her laugh poured gently over me, warming me inside and out.
“I doubt that...” she murmured, then smirked.
The laughter unlocked something loose in Genevieve, and we continued the banter all the way to La Buenona. This was what we had from our rides—this easy flow of ideas, jokes, and anecdotes. By the time we reached the fonda, the night was fully settled, and the heat transformed from relentless to slightly bearable.
“So, what’s the story with the name of the fonda?” Genevieve asked as we stepped up the large cement step that brought us up into the opened structure of the restaurant. The familiar mismatched chairs and tables pulled from different households of my family filled the large cement expanse with colorful plastic tablecloths. Just as I suspected, the fonda brimmed with the new tourists visiting the town, a multitude of shades of attractive Black patrons filled us past capacity and I could see where Mario must have pulled some of the plastic chairs we kept in the back for the nights where we turned the space for tamboritos and parties.
“Wow, busy night,” Genevieve said, impressed with the restaurant as Chichi and Mario navigated the tight space between tables, checking in on people. A pang of guilt hit me to think I’d left my family to fend on their own, but then Claudia popped her head out of the window of the kitchen where they expedited all orders. I saw she was talking to three of my cousins and the guilt lessened, but only a little.
“I’ve been to several fondas, and this by far is the best decor. I love the mural and the art for the Buenona letters,” Genevieve said, her face a mask of wonder as she gazed at the blue, green, and purple wall with an intricate mural of the beach and a curvy woman facing the sea. The letters were blocked, and each of them had native flowers from the area curving around the corners.
“Yeah, that’s all Chichi. He’s pretty talented. Also very good with graphic design,” I explained, proud of my nephew as I rested my elbow on the counter and faced Genevieve. I loved that she was tall enough that I didn’t need to fully bend to look down and keep eye contact with her.
“Adri, what you want tonight?” Claudia appeared in the opening, wiping her hands.
“Anything in particular you want to try?” I asked Genevieve.
“If y’all have arroz con coco y guandú, and fish escabeche, I’ll be the happiest woman alive.”
“It’s that easy, huh?” I smirked and Genevieve flushed dark as she fiddled with the strap of her tank top. My chest tightened, and I shifted on my feet, hoping things didn’t get hard below. I followed the trail of her finger, my eyes traveling up her neck, then to her lush lips. Genevieve caressed her neck, and she seemed to be caught in the same trance I was in.
“Two days, huh? I’ll be surprised if you make it tonight.” Claudia pursed her lips in smugness, then turned to Gen. “I have all of that honey, I gotchu. And you?”
“I’ll do the same,” I said as I noticed Genevieve attempting to find her footing again after Claudia’s meddling comments.
“Let’s go get somewhere to sit down.” I offered her my palm, and she rested her hand in mine. An electric current galvanized where our fingers met. I didn’t want to let her go when we reached our table, so I kept holding her. Genevieve stared at our clasped fingers, offered me a goofy grin, and that current strengthened inside me.
“I know I’ve been acting like a green girl today, but I guess I just haven’t done this in a long time,” Genevieve confessed, and I nodded in understanding.
“You don’t get out much back in the States? All work and no play?”
“What makes you think that?” she said, a self-deprecating laugh escaping her. I tightened the hold of her warm hand, my heart thumping faster at her laughter.
“I had a front seat view of your everyday, at least when you’re in a project. Not once did you ask me to make an extra stop or to take you somewhere else completely.”
“You don’t know my life. I could have been doing stuff after you dropped me off.” She flicked her ponytail playfully.
“So, you saved your wild escapades for when I wasn’t around. Damn, it’s like that?” I clutched my chest, pretending to be wounded.
“Oh please, I wish I had them at all,” she mumbled and kept toying with her ponytail. Her hair gradually grew as the day progressed, and I was curious to see how it looked without straightening. When Genevieve had her walls down, and she was fully comfortable.
“You could have asked, I’d gladly have taken you out.” Damn, I hadn’t meant for that to sound suggestive, but Genevieve didn’t seem fazed.
“Really, you wouldn’t have felt conflicted about work?”
“I would have asked another driver to keep driving you if things...” If things went the way I hoped these two weeks would go.
“Oh, but I would have hated to lose the time we had together each morning and each afternoon,” Gen said.
“We would have seen each other regularly. I was too drawn to you. The truth is I don’t do drives anymore. Not since we hired a few drivers. But the guy that was supposed to pick up you up that first day was sick and...” I shrugged.
“Oh, whew... I used to wake up so excited to see you in the mornings I had to temper myself by the time I stepped into the elevator. We’d just been together the night before in the car, but it felt too long,” Gen confessed, pressing her palm to her cheekbone.
“We were fools.” A pang of regret vibrated through me at the time lost.
“True, but hey, you made your move, and here we are.” She squeezed my hand and her plump lips spread in a wide grin.
“Yeah, here we are.” I let that bass from earlier really deepen. Her proximity was alluring, and I had to bite my bottom lip to keep myself from saying something out of pocket. Gen’s eyes stared at my bottom lip, and her pink tongue traveled the path of her own lush bottom lip. The same way I wish I could right now. I tugged her hand, and she swayed forward, showing me more of her beautiful dark brown skin exposed by her shoulder, begging to be caressed.
“Get a room! I’ll be surprised if you can get out of the fonda without jumping on each other. Damn.” The group of women at the following table all busted out laughing at my loudmouthed sister’s comment. There really should be a support group for aggrieved younger brothers. Claudia placed the fragrant hot plates in front of us, a pitcher of chicha and another of water.
“I was gonna get the plates.”
“Really? If I’d waited for you to realize the food was ready, you’d be eating icicles instead of hot food. Enjoy, Genevieve, not for nothing, but I’m the best cook across these areas.”
“Oh no, Claudia, don’t be so modest; please don’t hold back,” I mocked and Claudia’s hand popped my head. Fuck that hurt.
Genevieve’s chuckles joined the laughter from the following table and I felt a spark of happiness I hadn’t felt in a long time. I didn’t remember feeling this bubble of positive pressure in my chest since...since before I’d made the necessary changes to save myself and my sanity.
“Listen, stop abusing your big sister role. Tell Genevieve about the name of the fonda please.” I rubbed the back of my head, as Genevieve brightened at my words. She took a bite of the fish, and her eyes widened in amazement.
“Claudia, you ain’t lying when you said you are the best cook here. You put your whole foot in this, girl.” Genevieve took another forkful now with rice and stared back at Claudia with an impressed nod.
“My foot? Uh...well, girl, you know I try my best,” Claudia said demurely, and I cackled at her act. “So, Mario, whom you saw when you walked in, has been my man since we were in high school. He used to call me La Buenona. Do you know what that means?”
“Bueno is good, right? So the good one?” Genevieve asked and then made eye contact with me and gestured for me to eat. Damn. I’d been frozen with a forkful of food midway to my mouth. This woman had me in her clutches. I took the bite, just as Gen wanted, and saw Claudia roll her eyes. The moment Claudia got me alone, I would hear her mouth about this. And it would be worth it. Being here with Genevieve was worth it.
“Yes that would be the literal translation, but what it means in Panamanian slang equates to ‘The baddest one,’” Claudia said, her hand sweeping up and down her side, and she waggled her eyebrows for good measure. Just as she said that Mario popped up right behind Claudia and grabbed a handful of her hip, and planted a kiss on her cheek, making Claudia blush.
To this day, five children later and a few pounds more and fewer hairs, and they both couldn’t get enough of each other. It reminded me of our parents. Nostalgia gripped as it often did when they came to mind. Genevieve slid her hand to mine and held it again with a shy smile as if to share a private secret—recognition of how special it was, what Claudia and Mario had.
“Yeah, this my woman right here, and every year she gets better and better. She is truly the baddest of them all, and I let her know every day.” Mario smacked another kiss on Claudia, and she melted like putty in his hands.
“Ay, Mario, we have guests,” Claudia protested, but made no move to separate herself from her husband. I could only laugh as one of the ladies from the other table hollered, “Get yours, sis!” And Claudia rested her head back on Mario’s shoulder letting him kiss her on the mouth this time.
“So that is how the fonda was named La Buenona, and the reason for my five nieces and nephews,” I finished telling Genevieve.
“Hey, compa, thanks again for the help with Turito’s house. His roof was in bad shape, but with that money you put in the b—”
“You know we good, Mario. That’s not my money,” I said, uncomfortable with the topic switch. The family and fellow neighbors never ceased to thank me for the money I’d invested into our little town after things went still with my career, after hurting myself and my family. It had been the best decision I’d made in my life. The decision took me from being part of such an amazing project like the Tropics back to rags. I might not have much now, but together Aguimar was better. And I got to spend time with my family and work on my business in the city with Julín. Finally, keeping a healthy balance.
Genevieve’s intense curiosity prodded me, asking to explain more, but this wasn’t a topic that was easy for me. Not yet. And that was a reminder of why getting into anything serious with a woman wasn’t right yet. Not until I could deal with all my guilt and my demons.