The days following the offer of the college place were still a blur. She had rushed in early on Monday to see Mr Fiske Junior and to explain why she needed to leave, and leave immediately, and to beg him to release her from her notice period. Although shocked at the thought of losing Faye, his essentially kind heart had won the day and he’d agreed on the understanding that she would organise a replacement before she left.
On hearing her news, Miss Campbell had hugged her joy fully, promising to help whoever was sent to work with Junior. Having learnt their lesson from the last temp sent to cover for Faye, this time around the recruitment agency sent an experienced older woman who, much to Faye’s relief, immediately and firmly took charge of her hapless boss.
Later that week, on her last day at Fiske, Fiske & Partners, Faye was touched when the other secretaries threw her a small farewell party. Drinking the warm white wine they had clubbed together to buy, she looked around with a smile at the women she had worked with for years and yet, with the exception of Miss Campbell, knew so little about. Junior popped into the staff sitting room and gave a short, emotional speech thanking her for all her help, particularly, he said, when he had been suffering from one of his many ‘distressing physical ailments’. Three plastic cups of wine later, and after promising to keep in touch with everyone, she clutched her leaving present – a glossy hardback on famous designers – to her chest, and skipped out of Fiske, Fiske & Partners for the last time.
The hall was now almost full and as she looked around, Faye spotted the lecturer walking in and heading towards the front of the room. Switching off her mobile, she made a mental note to finish reading Amma’s email after the class. As usual, Amma had written a long and detailed account of all the goings-on back in Ghana. Well, nearly all. For after confirming months earlier that Rocky had left Ghana, Amma never once mentioned her brother. Instead, she shared updates about her new job in a computer software company and Baaba and Stuart’s continuing romance.
Edwin was working hard to finish a Masters degree and had found himself a part-time job. His love affair with America, although slightly bruised by some of his experiences since his arrival, had continued more or less unabated. The most surprising news in her latest email had been the blossoming relationship between Sonny and Clarissa. Faye was initially stunned by the news, but could see how they might be a good match. As Amma wrote, ‘they’ve become inseparable and go everywhere together, because neither of them trusts the other one in the slightest!’
The tutor took his place at the podium and started the class. Faye forced thoughts of Ghana from her mind and turned her attention to the lecture, making notes throughout the ninety-minute class. When it was over, she gathered her papers together and was about to push them into the leather portfolio case her father had bought her as a congratulatory gift, when she heard someone coughing softly behind her.
She turned round to see a tall, athletically built black man smiling down at her. He wore a pair of fitted denims and a brown sports jacket and she recognised him immediately as one of the executive members of the African-Caribbean Society. Although she had signed up to be a member shortly after starting at the College, her coursework had kept her so busy that she had only ever managed to attend two meetings.
‘Hi,’ he smiled. ‘It’s Faye, isn’t it?’ She nodded curiously and he held out his hand. ‘I’m Brian – Brian Hearst.’ He shook her hand with a firm grip. Faye returned his smile and he stood back for her to lead the way out of the auditorium.
‘If you’re not in a rush, would you like to go for a coffee?’ He gestured towards the small building that housed the student cafeteria.
Faye hesitated for only a brief moment. ‘I can’t stay too long, but that would be nice.’
As they walked, they chatted about the lecture they had just sat through and once inside the cafeteria, Brian bought two large coffees from the counter before joining her at the table.
Faye stole a look at him from under her lashes and was forced to admit that his dark chocolate colouring, close-cut beard and even features were extremely attractive. He also had a wicked sense of humour and they were soon laughing and arguing good naturedly about some of his more radical opinions on art and design.
After about forty minutes, Faye glanced at her watch, exclaiming at the time.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said apologetically, ‘but I’ve got to go now.’ Gathering up her things, she stood up and smiled across at him as he rose to say goodbye. ‘Thanks for the coffee, Brian. I’ll see you in class on Monday.’
But before she could walk away, he placed a hand lightly on her arm and his dark brown eyes looked straight into hers. ‘Hold on a minute, Faye. I’d love to see you again, and before Monday if that’s possible. If you’re free tomorrow evening, would you like to go out to dinner?’
For almost a full minute Faye stared at him blankly, completely taken aback by the invitation. Trying not to sound rude, she shook her head and forced a smile onto her lips. ‘I’m so sorry, but that’s not possible,’ she said, almost babbling in her haste. ‘I already have plans for tomorrow night. But thank you for asking me – maybe another time?’
Before he could respond, she turned on her heel and walked quickly out of the building. Her mind was racing as she headed to the station, and it was only once she was safely on the tube that she was able to take a deep breath and force herself to relax.
Calm down, Faye, he was only suggesting dinner, not an invitation to elope to Bermuda! She edged away as best as she could from the overweight man spilling out of the seat next to hers and tried to make sense of her overreaction to a harmless invitation. It was almost six months since her return from Ghana and, true to her fears, Rocky had never made contact. Even Amma, who had initially been optimistic that things would resolve themselves, no longer made any reference to him. Whatever their relationship had been, Faye thought sadly, it was time to accept that it was now clearly over.
Back at home and still feeling guilty about lying to Brian about her non-existent plans, she phoned Caroline to find out what she was doing the following evening. Marcus was away on a business trip and, for once, Caroline was open to the idea of leaving her couch and TV for a few hours.
‘There’s a new film that one of the guys in college was talking about the other day,’ Faye remarked. ‘The director is from Senegal and apparently it’s won a couple of awards. Nick said it was really good – why don’t we go and see it tomorrow evening?’
‘Now you’re starting to sound like Michael,’ her friend replied, a teasing note in her voice.
Faye laughed. ‘Very funny. Not. I’d like to go because I want to see the film, not because I think I have anything to prove. Besides, it’s either that or going to watch Guns in Clover play.’
‘Okay, fine,’ Caroline agreed hastily. ‘I love my brother dearly, but if I have to hear that band’s greatest hits one more time—’
‘By the way, I got asked out by someone on my course today,’ Faye cut her short and tried to sound casual. There was silence at the other end and she repeated her statement, not sure if Caroline had heard her.
‘And…?’ Caroline sounded wary and this time Faye was the one who remained silent.
‘Don’t tell me you said no?’ Caroline queried in disgust. Unable to keep anything from her best friend, Faye had eventually told her about Rocky and the disastrous way things had ended. Although initially she had understood Faye’s reluctance to get romantically involved with anyone else, as the weeks and months passed and any hope of reconciling with Rocky faded, Caroline had becoming increasingly vocal about the need for Faye to move on.
Already regretting having mentioned Brian, Faye quickly changed the subject. After dinner, she spent the rest of the evening in her room working on a project that was due in three weeks, and eventually climbed into bed just before midnight.
The next evening, after giving in to Caroline’s pleas to stay the night as she was on her own, she drove over to her friend’s flat t
o deposit her overnight bag before they left for the cinema. The tube was packed with people on their way into town and they had to stand through several stations before they finally got a seat. Faye glared at a young couple sitting directly opposite them who had been kissing passionately since they boarded the train, totally oblivious to the other travellers and their surroundings.
‘Why the hell don’t they just get a room if that’s what they’re planning to do all evening,’ she muttered in irritation.
Her friend shrugged and smiled. ‘I think it’s rather sweet, really. If you stopped behaving like Mother Teresa and joined the human race, you’d think so too,’ she added pointedly.
Faye stared at Caroline indignantly. ‘Just because I don’t want to watch the underground version of the Kama Sutra does not mean I’m behaving like a nun.’ Caroline shrugged, unperturbed. ‘Well, if you won’t go out on a simple date with someone, what else am I to think?’
Faye said nothing. Lost in thought for a moment, she looked across at the couple and glanced back at Caroline, a faint smile forming on her lips. ‘I suppose I am being a bit cynical, aren’t I?’ she admitted grudgingly. ‘But am I really ready to date someone? I just don’t know!’ She shook her head in frustration.
Caroline turned towards her. ‘Look, Faye, you need to face the fact that Rocky is in the past. Look how well you’ve done by leaving your dead-end job and training for a real career doing what you love.’ She sighed at Faye’s downcast expression and her voice softened. ‘Don’t you think it’s time to let go of a relationship that’s obviously not going to happen?’
Faye bit her lip hard. ‘I thought I had. But every time I think I’m over him, something happens and it feels as if it all just happened yesterday.’
Caroline sighed again and sat back in her seat. ‘Well, then maybe you should go out with this new guy just so you have something else to think about.’
They train lurched to a stop at Leicester Square and they jumped out, pushing their way past a group of rowdy teenagers trying to make a grab for their seats. Once they were up at street level, they hastened along the main road, turning off into a small side street. A short queue had formed in front of the cinema and they joined the end of the line, studying the posters for the film while waiting to pay for their tickets.
When the movie started, Faye watched in fascination as the story unfolded. The rich colours and textures of the African landscape and the sounds and images in the city scenes transported her straight back to Ghana. The film told the story of two young men from the same Senegalese village who migrated to the capital city in search of work, but fared very differently in their ability to fit in and adapt to urban life. One of the men found a mentor and was encouraged to educate himself, and he rose to become a successful lawyer and later, a prominent judge. The other young man found it difficult to make the transition to the demands of the big city and soon fell by the wayside, eventually turning to a life of crime. The drama reached an emotional climax when the two men met again after twenty years. However, this time the meeting was in court, and the judge had been appointed to try his old village comrade who had been arrested for raping a young girl. Despite the use of subtitles, something Caroline usually detested, the acting and direction of the film was superb and they watched the movie in rapt silence until the credits rolled up on the screen.
The house lights came on and they stood up to leave.
‘That was brilliant, Faye,’ Caroline said. ‘I really enjoyed it.’ She struggled back into her coat and added mischievously, ‘I think I should go to Ghana too, or maybe Senegal, after seeing that beautiful landscape. I can just imagine Marcus bare-chested and toiling in the fields.’
Faye was still laughing when she heard a high-pitched voice calling her name. She turned back sharply and stood still in shock, staring at the petite girl standing in the row behind them, her red gold curls tumbling over a black roll-neck jumper.
‘Jasmine!’ she exclaimed. Her eyes darted to the man standing beside her, but he was completely unfamiliar to her and Faye relaxed slightly, relieved not to have to exchange pleasantries with Michael.
‘What a surprise, no? It’s been ages since we last met,’ Jasmine purred.
‘Yes, it has,’ Faye replied evenly. She buttoned her coat and continued along the row of seats, heading for the stairs that led up to the exit. Undaunted, Jasmine followed in the adjoining row, her companion trailing after her.
‘So, how’s everyone?’ Faye stopped and asked politely when it became clear that Jasmine wasn’t about to be shaken off easily. ‘Have you seen Michael lately?’ She felt no emotion when she mentioned his name.
Jasmine pouted in the manner Faye remembered so well from the night at the pigfoot restaurant. ‘Oh, please!’ she said, her voice heavy with scorn. ‘I finished with him months ago – he is so terribly insular.’
Caroline had been waiting at the end of the row and waved impatiently at Faye. Jasmine’s eyes noted the gesture and her expression immediately changed.
‘Is that who you came with?’ Although the question sounded harmless, the hostility in the look she directed at Caroline was unmistakable.
‘Yes. Why do you ask?’ Faye tried not to sound defensive, all the while wondering what was coming next.
Taking no notice of the warning cough from her companion, Jasmine pursed her lips and shrugged. ‘Oh well, I just remember Michael talking about how hard he had tried to put you in touch with our culture. Of course, if your friends are white, then I suppose it does make it that much harder, doesn’t it?’ she said sweetly.
Faye gasped in outrage and gripped her handbag, forcing herself not to swing it at Jasmine’s small head. Then suddenly, inexplicably, she felt incredibly calm and she simply laughed.
Whatever reaction Jasmine had been expecting, judging from the angry flush that stained her cheeks, it didn’t appear to include amusement. Faye laughed long and hard before fixing the other girl with a steely glare.
‘Well, that has to be the most ignorant statement I’ve heard for a very long time,’ she said, the humour seeping out of her voice. ‘First off, Michael wouldn’t know real culture if it got up and bit him, any more than you would, if that’s the kind of rubbish you come out with.’
Jasmine’s companion looked at his girlfriend in alarm as she stood rooted to the spot, staring at Faye in shocked disbelief. Caroline, tired of waiting, walked up to Faye and was just in time to catch the rest of her tirade. It was as if the years of pent-up frustration and irritation at the constant cultural put-downs she had endured had decided to unleash themselves, and Faye was now in full flow.
‘Secondly, if you have enough sense of who you are and where you’re from, it doesn’t matter in the slightest what colour your friends are because, as any intelligent person will tell you, friendship doesn’t come in colours. If it did, Michael shouldn’t have been friends with either you or your precious brother, since both of you are even paler than my white friend here!’
Jasmine’s jaw had dropped in shock and she gasped as Faye’s words poured over her like a cold shower. Undaunted, Faye took a deep breath before continuing.
‘And finally, for your information, in my culture, it is not acceptable to chase after other people’s boyfriends.’ She paused briefly, then added sweetly, ‘Oh sorry, I forgot, you’re not from Africa, are you?’
Leaving a speechless Jasmine staring after her, she nudged a stunned Caroline into life and they walked quickly out of the cinema. They had barely left the building when they took one look at each other and collapsed into helpless giggles. Staggering along the dark street, they held each other up and laughed hysterically, tears streaming down their faces.
‘Oh, oh, Faye,’ Caroline cried. ‘Did you see her face when you walked off? I thought she was going to faint!’ She paused, holding her sides painfully and panting with laughter. Faye leant against a lamp post, shaking with mirth.
‘Oh dear,’ she said, finally calming down and wiping her eyes with
the back of her hand. ‘I think I went a little bit over the top there, Caro. But that girl is such a bitch, she had it coming.’ She burst into fresh peals of laughter as she remembered the look of panic on the face of Jasmine’s friend.
‘Did you see the way that man kept looking at her?’ she gasped. ‘The poor guy looked ready to run for his life!’
They laughed all the way home, hardly noticing the discomfort of the hot tube packed with partygoers. Sharing a bottle of wine back at Caroline’s flat, they chattered for hours as only old and true friends can, eventually falling into their respective beds in the early hours of Sunday.
A few days later, as she walked out of the faculty building at the end of the last lecture of the day, she heard her name and turned round to see Brian hastening towards her. She greeted him with a warm smile and walked along with him for a few minutes, readily agreeing to his offer of a cup of coffee to ward off the chilly March winds.
‘Faye, I would really love to take you out.’ Brian’s warm brown eyes were serious as he looked at her. Faye stared back at him and, touched by the sincerity in his voice, she nodded slowly.
His face split into a huge grin and he stood up, picked up their empty coffee mugs and placed them on the trolley with the other used crockery. As they walked out of the busy cafeteria, he looked across at her curiously. ‘By the way, where are you from?’
Without hesitation, Faye replied, ‘From Ghana.’ He nodded with interest and hoisted his heavy black rucksack over his shoulder.
‘I’m from Barbados,’ he said. ‘Well, at least my parents are, but I like to think of it as my home too, even though the last time I went there I was only about ten years old. Have you visited Ghana?’
‘Oh yes,’ Faye smiled. ‘I was there only a few months ago and I had a wonderful time.’
Brian walked with her to the tube station before saying goodbye, and they agreed to meet the following evening at a wine bar they both knew. Elated at her decision, Faye headed for home. Her father was away on yet another overseas trip and was not due back for at least another week. William and Lucinda had also decided to take a few days off together and had left that morning for a short holiday in the sun.
From Pasta to Pigfoot Page 41
