The Search

He leaves home most times and head downtown. When he arrives he saunters along the streets, searches among the thousands of tourists and natives hoping and praying for a familiar face or specifically for that familiar face.

Many times he thought he saw her, way ahead. So he pushes other pedestrians aside while he gallops down the street, only to discover that he was only pursuing a stranger.

He recalled with some embarrassment two incidents in his search to find her. He was certain that Saturday morning, that one of the people who had entered the liquor store was she. When he tapped her on the shoulder, he was so nervous he was shaking all over, while he could feel the sweat bathing his body. Finally, his waiting was over, his search had finally ended.

The woman turned around rather suddenly. He realized his error then and he was ashamed that he barely mumbled an apology and disappeared. It took him two weeks before he ventured back on his quest. From now on he decided to change his strategy. He would sit at certain strategic places where he could be sure to avoid mistakes like the last one. Here he would spend time sitting and gazing at all the faces as they strolled by.

He had purchased a newspaper in order to pass the time away, but more so to make himself inconspicuous. After all, a man sitting on  a bench reading a newspaper is a common sight in any country of the world.

That day, an item in the paper had caught his attention and for a while he forgot his mission. As he lifted his eyes from the paper, he saw the

figure in black shorts, a white tank top and a baseball cap, carrying a shopping bag in her left hand while she hugged the brown leather purse against the right side of her body. She was dressed in the identical outfit that he knew she liked and would be wearing.

He dashed across the street barely escaping from an oncoming car. He struck the woman with such force and suddenness that she went sprawling on her back and he on top of her.

It took almost half an hour to extricate himself from the fiasco.When it was over, he melted into the crowd and crawled home to hide his shame and reminisce.

Ten years before, they had shared a week of fun in the sun. It was Spring Break 1999 and a trip to the Bahamas was like a dream.

He recalled how they had become acquainted and how their relationship had gradually developed.

They had been sharing the same building and attending the same church for almost four months before he had taken notice of here.

This Sunday morning sitting in his regular pew, he happened to look across the aisle and noticed this young woman with bowed head and hunched shoulders. Something about her posture seemed to catch his attention.

As the priest delivered his sermon, he stole glances from time to time, until he discovered that she was weeping copiously. She appeared as vulnerable and lonely that at the end of the mass he went over to speak to her, an unusual move on his part.

She was from Baton Rouge and a graduate student in the Department of Business. She was very quiet, independent and reserved and from the beginning she seemed to have a great deal in common with him- music, food, hobbies and politics.

She enjoyed cooking and two or three nights a week she would prepare home-made recipes and invite him over. The evenings ended most times with card playing, dancing or listening to music.

Weekends found them always out; the movies or dancing while Sunday afternoons found them taking long drives.

She had a keen sense of humour and they traded stories and jokes.

She had a deep-seated sadness about her despite her humour. A broken relationship, an engagement, seemed to be the cause of her sorrow. But she was a private person who made it clear that she preferred to keep her life a secret.

She still wore her engagement ring and, but volunteered no information on her last romance, except to say that it ended abruptly, and then a mask would cover her face and she would grow quiet and sad.

His cousin, married and living in Nassau, had been inviting him to visit her ever since he had enter the university. She had urged him to visit her whenever he chose.

When he mentioned his cousin's invitation, she was so excited for him that he asked her to accompany him. He remembered every detail about that. She was quiet for a brief period, then a quiet smile spread across her face, then she screamed and began chanting 'The Bahamas! The Bahamas! The Bahamas!'

That same night they began making plans even if the trip was two months away. They decided to drive from Tallahassee to Miami then fly to Nassau. 

They left at five in the morning so as to cover the five hundred and eighty miles in time to catch the three 0'clock flight. The trip was tiring but fun.

They were too excited to linger at any of the stops.                       

When she took a wrong turn and found that they were heading away from Miami, she almost panicked. Nothing mattered more to her, then than to go the Bahamas.

He had never seen her so happy and excited- she was laughing, singing, whistling, joking.

That week in Nassau was like a dream. His cousin owned a large house and she and her family were out all day- school and work. He and Monique had the house to themselves but they were hardly in the house. As soon as the maid served them breakfast they were off. Most days found them on the beach at Paradise Island while their nights were just as interesting. She danced in the discos, gambled in the casino, attended a carbaret show, went to restaurants and did everything to make the vacation a memorable one.

He parted  from her abruptly and had felt a sense of guilt ever since. He is now a resident of Nassau and he is always reminded of her. He searches for her so that together they could again recapture their friendship and beauty of Nassau.