“Him tie, Mami,” he says gently. I nod, breathing heavy with my head resting on his chest.Poor thing… What would you do without Nickoi?
I’d run.
“You did a ask ‘bout Nature?” he asks. I nod again.
“Ohh, him deh inside. Mi shout him pan the phone, but a nuh fi him time right now.” Then he says something that makes my smile stretch even wider.
“A your time now.” Chro mannnn. So… this is about me? Obviously. I can’t stop blushing. It’s like the blush button stuck. Muss to rahtid. No man… a weh wi a go Why she nuh relax inna mi head and stop mek mi nervous? My anxiety’s doing laps as we approach a black gate in the backyard. But I trust Nickoi.
He pushes the gate open, holding it for me, and we step through. I don’t know what to expect but if it’s peace and solitude he wanted, this place has it. It’s quiet. Still. Beautiful. Nature’s house grows smaller behind us the farther we walk. Was Nickoi here alone as a child?
We stop walking, and he looks down at me. I can hear the ocean now. Waves crashing against the shore. The sound is hypnotic. He pulls me in by the waist, arms wrapping around me. We just gaze at each other.
It’s the lovers fa me…
“Mi did done tell yuh seh a Nature place mi did stay when mi father dead, right?” he says softly. “Mi never lie. But a down yah so mi spend most of mi time. Mi would go back up when him call mi.” I stay silent, just watching him.
“So you’d come to the seaside?” I ask. “By yourself?” He nods and leads me closer to the ocean. The waves pound against the sand. I feel the grains tickling my toes through my slides. I take in the view. It makes sense why he came here, far from people, far from noise. A hidden escape.
“It’s so calm down here,” I smile. He chuckles beside me.
“This why you like it?” I ask again.
“Yeah. It’s my getaway.” He stares at the ocean and I sigh. I can imagine how lost he felt after his dad passed. This was his peace. His secret. I wrap my arms around him, head resting on his arm.
“Apart from Nature, a you alone know this,” he says quietly. Wow.
“Thanks for telling me, Nickoi. I love you.”
“I love you more,” he says, smiling. I look around again and my mouth drops. On the right side, near a rock wall, is a small cave. A littoral cave, low and shadowed.
“Damn,” I whisper, pulling his hand as I walk towards it. Inside, I spot a seat and some paintings resting on the sand. I kneel down slowly. One of them is a portrait of his father. My eyes blur immediately. This hurts. I hate that he lost his best friend. And it hurts knowing he’s still grieving, still carrying that weight, quietly.
“This is perfect, Nickoi,” I whisper, wiping away a tear. He doesn’t say anything, just watches. I look closer at the painting. There’s a date on the corner. It was done recently. So he was here… recently?
“You did deh here recently?” I ask. He hesitates, then nods.
“Other day.”
“Okay,” I say softly. “I love it.”
“Yeah… Mi do a couple more, but dem inna the office,” he tells me.
“I want to see the others,” I say, instantly excited.
“That a when we go home, Zara,” he smirks. He reaches for my hand, and soon after, we strip down and walk into the water together. The sea wraps around us like silk, moonlight spilling on our bare skin. I’m in my bra and panties. He’s in his boxers,and we’re tangled in laughter, in teasing, in something that feels like freedom.
Nickoi splashes me and I squeal, splashing him back. We’re weightless, two people falling for each other again.
“How often you used to come here?” I stare up at him.
“Every day when me did younger. Then life get heavy… mi stop. But mi fawud last week still,” he says, glancing out at the horizon.
“It’s beautiful. I get it.” He nods when I say that, silent for a moment.
“Out of everywhere me ever go, here so a mi favorite.”
“But…?” I nudge gently.
