“Yes, sir. Anything else I can get for you?”
“No, that will be all.”
“That’s it?” I exclaimed, when the waiter was gone. “That’s what you’re going to feed me? Cookies, on my last night here?” I snatched my hand away from his and feigned outrage. “What about all the beautiful, grand moments? You can’t create those on an empty stomach. I think—”
He hushed me with a long, tapered finger on my lips. “Too many words. Too much talking. If I wanted to talk, I’d have invited Bahati instead.” He picked up the ribbon-adorned box of cookies that the waiter brought and came around to get my chair. “You ready to leave?”
My skin tingled where he touched it.
Hell, yes. Let’s go.
But I sniffed as he steered me out of the restaurant. “That was a cheap date.”
“Quit complaining. You didn’t want to eat there anyway.”
“Wait.” I said, when he handed the valet his parking ticket. “I thought we were going to our room. Where are you taking me?”
“On a cheap date.” He winked, seating me in the car when it came around.
We drove away from the hotel and merged into the chaotic traffic of Amosha. The sky was aflame with hues of red and orange from the setting sun. A truck with giant megaphones rattled by us, blaring advertisements in Swahili. Shopkeepers waved phone cards and colorful swathes ofkangasas people walked by.
Jack parked outside a sorry looking food stall, off the main road. Its fluorescent light buzzed on and off under a rusty roof. “Kilimanjaro Premium Lager” logos hung from the ceiling, held together by clothes pegs on twine. A row of black woks hovered over flames in the front, hissing and bubbling with oil. Battered plastic chairs rested around plastic tables on an uneven floor—half dirt, half gravel.
“Come on.” Jack came around and held the car door open for me. “Bestnyama chomain town.”
“What’snyama choma?”
“Grilled meat.” He steadied me as my heel got stuck in the gravel.
“We are definitely overdressed for this place,” I said. Faint fumes of petroleum wafted in from the gas station next to the stall.Dala dalasraced by with abandon, and women in brightkangasstrolled by, carrying all sorts of food on their heads.
“Jambo,” the waitress greeted us. She was so busy she wouldn’t have batted an eye if we’d shown up in burlap sacks. “What can I get for you?”
“Coca Cola,baridi,” said Jack.
“Umm. . .” I looked around when the waitress turned to me. “Is there a menu?”
“A Stoney Tangawizi for her,” said Jack. He reeled off a bunch of things in Swahili, before sitting back with a grin.
“I have no idea what I’m about to eat. And you’re enjoying it, aren’t you?”
“Having you totally at my mercy?” said Jack, when the waitress brought our drink order. “You bet. Tonight, you dine like a local. None of the touristy frills.” There was a mischievous glint in his eyes as he slid a brown glass bottle across the table, his fingers marking the droplets of condensation that clung to its surface. “Take it slow, baby.”
I turned the label toward me, but it didn’t give anything away. “What is Stoney Tangawizi?” I asked.
“Tanzanian ginger beer.”
“Ginger beer?Pfft.” I rolled my eyes and took a healthy swig, tilting my head back.
The burning sensation began while I was still swallowing. Hot, effervescent bubbles tickled my nose. My tongue started zinging. The back of my throat caught fire. I slammed the bottle down, tears streaming from my eyes. “The fuck!” I inhaled. Big mistake. It set me off on a coughing spree. More tears. More spluttering. It was ginger on steroids—sweet, bubbly, and fermented, with a pungent kick. And it was good, so good that I took another sip as soon as I’d caught my breath, but this time more slowly.
“Like it?” Jack leaned over and ran his thumb under my eye. It came away black and smudged.
“Great. My mascara is running. I must look like a raccoon.” I dabbed my eyes with a napkin to take it off.
“You look exactly the way I’d want you to look after I’ve made mad, passionate love to you. Except that dress would be on the floor and you’d be wearing nothing but a smile.”
It was a heady brand of foreplay, exchanged in the middle of all the noise, the people, the traffic around us. I blinked, flushed and a little lightheaded.
