Sabrina (Post 5)

I dug my feet further in the powder white sand, grinding my teeth. The relief I’d felt at finally being off the boat was swiftly replaced with anxiety: Rose Island was secluded, pristine, and void of distractions. Nothing but the turquoise beach stretching endlessly before us, nothing but relaxation on the agenda. I glanced at Tanya, who was giggling with Captain Bryan. Well, nothing but relaxation for most of us.

Sky and I had found a quiet place on the beach to sit, and she rummaged through my backpack, pulling out her book. Realizing the torture I was in for, I pulled out my iPod. Sky looked around for a second, leaning back on her elbows. “This place is gorgeous,” she said.

“Uh-huh,” I replied, tucking the earbuds in my ears. “It’s really perfect if you’re looking for some privacy.” I rolled my eyes meaningfully in Tanya’s direction, where she and the Aussie were already wandering off together as she tossed back her head and laughed, touching him lightly on his arm.

Sky watched them walk off and then turned to me, a smile playing on her lips. “This is going to sound all kinds of messed up, but I’m kind of living vicariously through her. He’s pretty hot.”

I chuckled. “It’s the accent.” Then I added, “That’s not messed up. You’ll get back home and jump Dave like a hormonal teenager. He’ll love that.”

Sky grinned. “I may dress him up as a pirate for fun.”

I shook my head, smiling widely. “You do realize pirates were not like…” I grabbed the book out of her hands, opening it up to a random page. “…like Lord Lance.” I jumped up as Sky tried to snatch the book back, scrabbling from her beach towel and laughing. “Jesus, Sky, what on earth are you reading? The Pirate’s Fire? Are you serious?”

Sky was still laughing, wrapping her arms around my calves. “Come on, S, don’t lose my place, okay? I have an abnormal obsession with pirates. I can’t help it if being here makes me want to read about buccaneers. Historically speaking, Nassau was a pirate haven.”

I laughed. “Don’t you start lecturing me! I already know all that. And don’t try distracting me from the fact that you’re reading about being ravaged by a pirate.”

Sky’s lips twitched as she held out her hand. “My book, please?”

I handed the book back to her, pointing to the bronze-skinned Adonis on the cover. He was embracing a pale blond woman who looked to be in mid-orgasm. “Fine. But let me just remind you that in real life, pirates were nothing like this. They were filthy, had rotting teeth, and serious dingle-berries.”

Sky shook her head defiantly. “Don’t ruin my fantasies, S. I’m not listening.”

I plopped down, leaning to speak in her ear. “They suffered from scurvy and malnutrition, were probably more interested in each other than in women, carried all kinds of fun STDs like syphilis. And all that bullshit about pirates being vigilantes. They were, and still are, thugs, Sky, just plain thugs who raped and murdered and –  ”

Sky clapped her hand to my mouth, smiling. “Shut. Yo. Face.”

I leaned back, deciding I’d annoyed her enough. “Just keep your hands where I can see them, okay?” Grinning to myself, I went back to my iPod. Sky continued to read her Harlequin while I scrolled through my list of songs, wondering if I had any new e-mails. The air was breezeless, and it felt abnormal, stifling, almost. The sea was eerily still, the azure waves lapping gently at our feet. I was starting to feel restless, wondering if I would get grief from Sky if I checked my Blackberry, when she suddenly set her book down and looked at me, a peculiar expression on her face. “Sabrina,” she said, then hesitated.

I paused Dido mid-vibrato and pulled out an earbud. “Huh?”

“I hope it doesn’t bother you if I ask this…” She pursed her lips together and tilted her head to one side before asking, “What did that Voodoo woman say to you?”

Despite the stillness in the air, I felt the goosebumps rise on my arms. What could I say? If I told her I didn’t want to talk about it, I’d make myself sound frightened. So I tried to laugh it off, shaking my head with disdain. “That wacko? That my spirits were pissed with me and that something big would happen to me.” Although I tried to sound cavalier, my voice quivered ever so slightly.

Sky sat quietly for a second, her hands folded on her book, then said, “Something big? That’s not necessarily bad, then, right?”

“Shit, I don’t know, Sky! It could mean anything under the sun. It’s kind of like reading your horoscope. Complete and total crap.” I believed that, right? That it was crap? Of course I did. Then why did my body react so strongly every time I thought about Miryam and her words? Maybe it was growing up in Haiti, where everyone save my grandfather believed in some sort of hocus pocus. Where  my own nanny sang to me nightly,

Fais dodo, petit, pour mama
Si bébé pas fais dodo
Grand loup-garou va manger ou.

Go to sleep, little one, for Mama
If you won’t go to sleep
The werewolf will come and eat you.

Now isn’t that sweet?

Sky sighed. “I guess it’s silly of me to even ask. I can’t imagine anything like that would freak you out, of all people. Just the way she was looking at you…”

I swallowed, carefully keeping my face composed. “I grew up with people who believed zombies owned the night. This sort of thing doesn’t faze me.”

“Guys!” We turned to see Tanya jogging down the beach towards us, her clothes in disarray, her hair flying loosely behind her. “We have to go. Now.”

Sky and I jumped up. “What happened?”

Tanya smiled at us mischievously. “Oh, you know. We were about to start round two when he got paged. A thunderstorm is coming through here, and we have to leave, like, now.”

I raised an eyebrow. “The pirate carries a pager? How authentic.”

Sky looked up, confused. “A thunderstorm? I don’t see anything.”

Tanya shrugged. “Yeah, nobody did. Otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to leave this morning. In any case, Bryan wants us all back on the boat pronto.” As we started back, Tanya reached for my backpack. “Hey, S, can I have my lip gloss? And my eye liner? Actually, just give me my whole makeup bag.”

“You have an entire makeup bag in here?” I cried. “No wonder it feels like it weighs ten tons!”

Sky archly yanked a strand of Tanya’s wild hair and asked, “So? How did it go?”

Tanya’s face stretched into a wide smile and she gurgled as she broke into a run. We chased after her, screaming obscenities at her, teasing her. Up above, the clouds quickly but soundlessly thickened into a gray fog, blotting out the sun.