Chapter Eleven - Marsha

Just as excited for spring break as my students, I practically skipped to Jeremy’s car as he waited outside the school with the promise of a surprise. I waved happily at Mr. Joseph and slipped into the passenger seat.
Jeremy grinned. “You look happy.”
“It’s spring break, and I’m ready for my time away from those ragga-muffins.”
Jeremy chuckled. “Well, time away is what you want. Time away is what you get.” He handed me a stiff, rectangular-shaped paper, something I hadn’t held since I set foot on American soil.
I felt like I could burst from excitement as I realized he’d handed me a plane ticket. I looked down to see that I was scheduled to leave the next morning for Miami, Florida. I’d only been there once when I was twelve. Deep down, I wished the ticket were to Antigua, but a flight out of New York to anywhere was better than anything. “We’re going to Miami?” I said in a childlike whisper.
Jeremy nodded. “Pack some swimsuits and some nice dresses,” he winked, bringing warmth to my cheeks.
That evening, I opened my suitcase on my bedroom floor and started tossing in every summer item I loved. In the process, I realized I only had two swimsuits. I thought about asking to borrow from Sheila, and although Sheila was slim too, she was still at least two sizes bigger than me. Not sure what to do next, I went into the kitchen to call Jeremy and give him a heads up.
“I have two bathing suits,” I said, “but I don’t love either one. They’re kinda old. I wish I knew earlier that we were going.”
“Going where?” Sheila’s voice sharply interrupted our conversation.
I spun around to see Sheila with her hands on her hips and right eyebrow raised high enough to meet her hairline. I smiled anyway, ready to put a damper on her false prophecy of a doomed relationship. 
“We’re going to Miami for spring break.”
“Oh?” Sheila’s eyebrow had now met her hairline.
“Yeah,” I smiled slyly.
“Do you tink dat’s a good idea?”
“How ya mean?” I quizzed back.
“Going away on a trip wid a mon wid a bad reputation. Dat could be dangerous, y’know.”
I could hear Jeremy sighing on the other end. 
“How would it be dangerous to go on a trip with my own boyfriend?”
“Marsha,” Sheila called my name as if she could deflate my happy little bubble with words alone. “I swear you is a damn fool. You fallin fa everyting wid dis guy!”
“What are you talkin’ about?” Lately, I found myself raising my voice to Sheila more often. The humbleness I once felt towards my older cousin gradually melted into resentment.
“I’m gonna go,” said Jeremy.
“Muh call ya back,” I spat as I slammed the phone down.
“Since ya come into ya new womanhood, you tink you and me is size! Dis is my house, Marsha, and you will respect me. Fix ya tone when ya talkin to me!”
“We is two big woman,” I boasted, stepping closer to Sheila, “and you need fa mind ya business!”
“Eh eh!” Sheila guffawed. “So, you is a big woman who gon tell me fa mind my business in my own house?”
“Yes!” I shouted. “Muh tired of all dis talk against Jeremy. He never do you nuttin’!”
“Mi tell you from last year what type of mon he is!”
“You tell me say him ah cheat, him lazy, him—”
“Him family is a bunch of Haitian gangsters, but you tink I lyin! Don’t call fa me when you find yaself inna mess in Miami!”
I laughed. “You is someting else, y’know. Nuthin you say has come to pass yet!”
“Cuz you jus nah catch he yet!”
“Yet? I tink you is jealous!”
“Jealous?”
“Mi nah stutter. Since me mi ah reach, ya try fa hook me up wid somebody. But mi just ah focus pon school. Now mi ah get ah mon, mi have one good career, mi have plans fa continue to move forward, and all you do is run mi dung! Mi tiyad of it, Sheila, and mi tiyad of you!”
“Oh you tiyad! You can take ya tiyad rass outta muh house!”
“No problem!” I bellowed in Sheila’s face.
“Like mi ah say, when he cheat don’t look fa me, when di police ah come to ya door, don’t look fa me, when him family ah put some kinda Haitian voodoo on you, don’t look fa me!”
“And like mi ah say,” I repeated, “no problem!”
*****

Late in the evening, after arriving in Miami, Jeremy and I sat by the pool behind his parents’ home. 
I sat straight up in my chair, legs stretched out in front of me, facing the pool, while Jeremy sat on the edge of his chair, his hands clasped, knees on his elbows, facing me. He sighed while I continued to stare at the pool. 
“I mean, we could get a place,” he said.
I nodded my head.
“It’s just  short notice, you know.”
I nodded my head again.
“We would’ve done that anyway.”
I finally looked at him.
“Don’t look surprised, Marsha. You know I love you, and we’re gonna stay together. Sheila has been jealous of our relationship the whole time.”
“I have to tell my parents,” I mentioned.
Jeremy shrugged his shoulders. “Okay.”
“They won’t be happy.”
“Are you living your life for you or your parents, Marsha?”
“Me,” I shot back, suddenly defensive. 
“Stop worrying about what they think. You live in the States now. They don’t even take care of you—”
“I mean, I was living in my father’s niece’s house rent-free.”
“And now you’ll live with your man rent-free.”
I cocked my head to the side.
“I can take care of you, Marsha.”
“I don’t even—” I stopped myself. I wanted to say, I don’t even know how you make money, but I decided against it.
“What?” 
“Nothing.”
“Do you trust me, Marsha?”
I nodded my head yes.
“That’s not enough. Say you trust me.”
I looked Jeremy in the eyes. “I trust you, Jeremy.” My stomach churned a little as I realized there may be no turning back. 
Jeremy stood up and held his hand out to me. “Let’s go to bed. We’ll be out and about tomorrow.”