Month: April 2019

Lila rose from a night of dreams. She grabbed the paper and wrote. The dreams from the night before still fresh in her mind. Instead of the one from before she arrived in Miami, this time she was home and the golden man was with her. She heard the name Paul but did not think that was his name. Then she remembered the beach house going up in flames. Then she watched the tide wash away the pieces of the house.

In the shower, Lila tried to make sense of the dream. Was something ending, and she was there to record the demise? But what did all of this have to do with the golden man?

Lila walked into the hotel cafe, grateful to see Aisha, her favorite waitress. Aisha came over. “Your usual?”, she asked. “No, how about some French toast and juice this morning,” Lila said. Aisha looked at Lila. “Are you okay this morning?” “Aisha, I am a little out of sorts.” “Did something happen?” “Not really, just had a strange dream.” Aisha shook her head and walked away.

Lila got up and got the morning paper from the rack by the door. She skimmed the pages as she waited for her breakfast. Aisha place the food and stood waiting for Lila to look up. “If you need to talk, I can take my break,” Aisha said. “Thanks, I might take you up on that later.” Aisha left her to eat.

As Lila ate, the golden man’s friend came and sat at her table. “Did I say it was okay to sit with me?” Lila asked. “No, I do not recall asking.” “Well, then you can leave.” At that, she continued to eat and ignore the man. Aisha walked over. “Sir, are you ready to order?” She asked. “He is not staying,” Lila said to Aisha.

Aisha looked from Lila to Paul and back to Lila. “Is there a problem?” Aisha asked. “No, no problem, this man decided he would sit here when there are plenty of empty tables, and I would appreciate him leaving.” “Sir, I can serve you at another table,” Aisha said to Paul.

“No, I don’t need anything other than a few answers from this woman,” Paul said to Aisha. Aisha continued to stand by the table next to Lila. Tired of the man at her table, Lila said, “Ask your questions so you can leave.” “Wow, you are rude,” Paul said.

“Me, rude? Really, you sat at my table, disturb my breakfast, and I am rude. Where did you learn manners? Do not answer. It is clear you do not have manners.” At that Aisha laughed and walked away.

“What is your name?” Paul asked. “Lila Richards.” What connection do you have with my friend Jacob?” “I do not know you or your friend. I have answered your questions, leave.” Paul continued to sit at her table. Lila got up and left the cafe.

It is time to visit the beach house; the man named Jacob and find out what this is all about.

© 2019 Ivy Jade

Jacob sat on the floor with the boxes around him and started his search. He had put the boxes without yearbooks and papers aside. Since he was going through them, he decided the papers needed sorting.

His high school yearbook was a bust as he knew it would be. There weren’t any black students at his school. Then he went to his college yearbook. For those, he had four. One by one he went through them, page by page. Even though there were black students, none looked like the woman on the beach. There was one yearbook left, it was from his graduate school.

Still, she didn’t show up. Deep inside Jacob knew he knew her, but from where he couldn’t place it. Somehow it continued to feel like it had been at a school.

Slowly he shifted to the papers in the other boxes. Why have I not done this years ago? That was the question of the day. The pile to shred grew as he got through the box.

First Jacob thought he had accomplished nothing, then he looked at the two stacks of papers. One stack for recycling and one to be shredded. Plenty had gotten done. Maybe not what he started out to do, but Jacob felt good about the work.

He cleared a path on the floor and went to bed. Sleep was difficult in coming. Jacob got up and sat on the patio. He watched the waves come in and out. The movement was what he needed to calm the nervous energy circulating around him.

His last conversation with Paul was troubling. Was there more to their friendship he had overlooked? Paul was the lady killer. Actually, he was a man whore. Now Jacob wondered if it was all a sham to hide who and what he really was. Nothing in the past two days made any sense.

Jacob rose from the chair and went inside. He got a glass, the bottle of gin, some ice and a mixer. Might as well have a drink as sleep is not in the cards at the moment.

Back on the patio, Jacob sat sipping his drink, thinking back over his life with Paul. All the adventures they had had together since elementary school. He always knew that no matter what he got into, Paul would have his back. He was always there for Paul. But was there more to their relationship he had overlooked?

He remembered the first time he met Shawn. Paul didn’t like her on sight. He could never figure out what the dislike was about. The reasons Paul gave never made sense. Their divorce spurred a big party that Paul planned. Now ten years later, that feels a little off.

Shawn once said she was competing for his attention with Paul and he always laughed at her. Maybe she was onto something, and he hadn’t wanted to see it.

Now the black woman on the beach has brought all of it full circle. Why was she on the beach? Why not, it’s a free beach? Where did that come from? Now he was questioning someone who only looked familiar because his friend had put that there.

Jacob drank the last drop of his drink. The stars were having a dance in the sky and seem to say time to move your body.

With that, he got up and headed back to bed. I know I know the black woman was the last thought as sleep finally arrived.

© 2019, Ivy Jade

Restless, after eating dinner Lila decided a walk would be helpful. She knew it was too late to walk along the beach, but up Collins Avenue might not be bad. There were many clubs and hotels with a lot of activity. Remembering that this was South Florida and summer, she didn’t need a jacket. So she grabbed her small purse, her door key and headed to the elevator. Then she took the stairs instead. Coming around to the lobby area, Lila spotted the friend of the golden man. He sat and watched the front door and the elevator. Is he looking for me? Why is he here?

Lila turned and headed back up the stairs to her room. In her room, she paced. Once again the anxiousness of why was she there. Lila had a dream, and it prompted her to return to a place she hadn’t lived in over 30 years. The pieces of the dream had faded, and now she did not understand why she was there. Then there was the guy, the golden guy, and his nosy friend. How did they figure in her being there?

Breathe in, breathe out. The exercise she had learned over the years to calm herself. Lila sat and did freewriting. Everything that came to her, no matter what it was she wrote. At some point, she hoped it would all make sense.

Writing Lila’s dream unfolded. There were plenty of people and lots of music and a voice that said come home. She remembered sand, sand in everything and everywhere. There was a tower and a small bridge. Then there were cranes. The name Karen appeared. She knew no one by that name. Her high school emerged. Not there were the words Lila heard. Was she in the right place, or did come home refer to someplace else? She had lived in many places over the past 30 years.

Oh no! The beach house was in my dream. Why had she not known that the night before? But in the dream, she was the only person at the beach house. Heart, your heart, Lila heard. Her hand shook. What was it about her heart? Her mind went blank. She had spent so much time trying to get out of Miami, now she was back, she was more than ready to leave but knew she couldn’t.

The golden man’s friend was eerie. She didn’t believe in coincidences. Time to pull on my big girl pants and face whatever is coming my way once again.

© 2019, Ivy Jade

Jacob took his dinner onto the patio. He didn’t want to miss her if she walked along the beach that afternoon. It was quiet along that stretch of the beach. He allowed his mind to wander as he ate his dinner.

His house phone ringing interrupted his dinner. Why is Carla calling me? Jacob spoke with his daughter on the weekends and never during the week.

“Dad, I had a dream about you last night.”

“Was it a bad dream?”

“No, I do not think so. This morning all I could remember that it was about you. Are you okay?”

“Carla, I am fine. If you can not remember the dream, what made you call?”

“There was something about the dream, but I can not put my finger on what is troubling me. So I had to hear your voice. Sorry I did not mean to upset you.”

“Honey, I am not upset. I am trying to understand why the dream bothered you.”

“Dad, is there someone new in your Life?”

Jacob thought of the woman on the beach the night. But he couldn’t say she was in his life. He laughed. “Do you have someone in mind for me?”

“Funny Dad, oh I remember you were walking away with a woman, and you never looked back.”

“Honey, I am not sure what the dream was telling you. But I would never walk away from you. You are stuck with me for all of your life.”

Carla laughed, “Now you make me sound silly.”

“That was not my intent. Dreams usually point to something or someone. I do not believe in coincidences, I saw a woman on the beach night before last, and it continues to feel as if I know her. Was the woman in your dream black?”

“I could only see the shape of the woman. Nothing else. Dad, are you interested in knowing the black woman? Do you like black women?”

“I do not know the woman I saw on the beach.” Jacob refused to answer Carla’s second question. A quick goodbye and a cold dinner. Jacob sat with the phone still in his hand.

Why am I interested in this woman? That was the question Paul had asked earlier. Jacob sat staring into the ocean. Dusk had taken over, and there were few people on the beach.

Is Carla’s dream and the woman on the beach connected?

A tap on his door brought Jacob out of his musings. Paul stood at the door. Jacob opened the door and laughed. “So you happened to be out this time of night?”

“No, I wanted to talk with you about what is going on with you.”

“Not sure what you mean.”

“Really! I asked you about that woman, and you pretended to not know what I was talking about. Then you tell Carla about her, but not me.”

“Wait, you spoke with my daughter.”

“Yes, Carla called me after she spoke with you. She is concerned about you. She thought I would know if there was someone in your life.”

Jacob stared at Paul. “I think you need to go home and get rest. You and I have been friends since elementary school, but you don’t know everything about me and I don’t know everything about you. Right now you sound like a jealous lover.”

“I can’t believe you would say that to me. I’m not gay.”

“Well, listen to yourself. You are upset about a woman I have only seen once. You have seen her twice. What is that about? Have you always only wanted me to be with you? From the first day, you had problems with Shawn. Now I think about it you were in the middle of most of our problems over the twenty years we were together. Did you jump for joy when she died?”

“How can you say these things?”

“I’m trying to make sense of your behavior. I think you need to leave.”

“I’ll leave, but I will sort this out.”

“There is no this.”

“Oh yes, there is, and that woman is at the center.”