by Inia Jardine
'Hey you guys, Willow, Flower and Rainbow, mwah, mwah, mwah, kiss the mommy! How are my three precious cuddle buns doing?'
I love catnip, it's like weed for cats. It makes them so happy and relaxed.
'Kiki, are you alright my girl?' There has been no sign of a seizure yet but I still worry. I'm a worrier by nature. I worry about Cynthe, I worry about our future, and I worry about Jonah. Will he be happy with nothing to do? He has such a clever mind. Would he join Henri in Gorgoleta-Trochilus or would we have to leave Jamaica to start over again somewhere? Will he still love me when I get older?
'Penny for your thoughts Lilia. You are far away, I can see. You have been rubbing Kiki's ears so much that she is starting to get irritated with you.'
'Sorry my girlie. I have just been thinking about us Big J. What is going to happen to us in this strange and wonderful place?'
'He pats the bed next to him and says 'come lie with me, we still have seven hours in the jet. Let's relax a bit after we get something to chew on. I think that over there may be a mini bar.'
'I will take a whiskey with lemonade if they have, otherwise a G&T. Do they have crisps or must I go to the kitchen area to see what they have in stock for us? I will also find some bowls to give the cats & Kiki their water.'
I find some fresh fruit, individually wrapped cheeses and crackers already laid out on a beautiful platter in the small fridge. Henri has really been very considerate of our every need and provided everything we may need. He also provided pouches of cat and dog food which I load on the tray together with Gorgoleta crockery. We are going to eat in style indeed.
Well-fed and happy we lay back on the bed, dressed in the soft cream coloured gowns provided for us. 'You know; I can get used to this very easily. I am not even aware of the fact that we are a mile high except when I look out of the windows. The reality of flying over endless ocean with no land in sight bothers me a bit though. Will you go and find out from the pilot what the emergency plans are? I don't want to jinx anything but I need to know.'
'I had a chat with the pilot on the way home last time and he assured me that with the Rolls Royce engines this G6 bird is extremely unlikely to get into trouble. The only problem...' and Jonah starts humming the Twilight Zone theme music.
'For fucks sake Jonah, what!' I stress. 'No, it can't be. Not that!'
'Yep, I'm afraid so. We are going to be flying straight through it. As Barry Manilow sang -…Bermuda triangle made my Lilia disappear...Bermuda Triangle don't go too near...'
'Will the pilot tell us when we get close?'
'No, I don't think so, he will concentrate very hard on dodging all alien craft and strange looking clouds.'
'Don't you believe it Jonah? There has been so many planes and ships that have totally disappeared in that area. There must be something terrible lurking to catch unsuspecting entities.'
'Lilia, just hold on to the fact that we will go down together if we go down. Like Winnie the Pooh said, I don't want to live a day without you. It will be the best way to go, I promise. In extravagant style, and maybe we even meet some cool aliens along the way!'
He changes his voice to a creepy Twilight Zone voice and continues...'Methane hydrate, micro burst storms and extreme weather systems. Or is it squalls with electromagnetic fields, time warps or UFOs? Whatever it is, I will face it with you!
This dangerous and strange area was actually noted for the first time by Christopher Columbus and old sailors started calling it the devil's triangle. Strange lights in the sky, compasses going wild, worm holes, ghost ships with no passengers, pirates or giant sea monsters...here be dragons...was written on old maps.'
'Oh for fucks sake shut up Jonah. Now that you have scared me into another blood group, could you please make me relax again?'
'With pleasure my darling. It will be my extreme pleasure. Henri has a few nice DVD's here; do you want to watch something?'
'I wonder if he has any Tyler Perry movies. I love those. Especially the Madea ones. But I think I have seen them all. I want to watch something funny.'
'I can check for you if there are any.'
'You know that we can also YouTube a movie as I read on the info brochure that this jet has Wi-Fi.'
'Let's do that then.
'Have you seen Diary of a mad black woman?'
'I don't think so, let's watch it. Even if I have seen it I will watch it again. I have yet to see one of his movies that I don't like.'
As the movie starts on the big screen over the bed I realise that I have seen it and relax in Jonah's arms. Throughout the movie I listen to him laugh and my heart wants to burst with love and joy. He is so relaxed and happy; I wish we could stay like this forever. Safe and secure up in the clouds with the cats and Kiki. Heaven. I slowly drift off to sleep.
'Hey woman! You fell asleep when we went through the Triangle, are you still here?' He laughs and kisses me awake. 'That was such a good movie, I have not laughed so hard in a long time. How could you fall asleep?'
'I've seen it Jonah and I was so comfortable sleeping with my big teddy bear.'
'Your teddy bear wants attention.' Hmm I can see that. ‘I just wanna be… your teddy bear, put a string around my neck and lead me everywhere…’ he channels Elvis.
Apparently the Bermuda Triangle did not affect us in any bad way (except for Jonah turning into Elvis), and before we know it the pilot announces that we should be landing within the hour. We shower and change and get the cats back in their baskets, belted into the sleeper seats for landing. Kiki is still happy and smiling and ready for landing in her seat too. I read in the on-board brochure that the cabin pressure is actually much better than that of commercial airliners and we should feel refreshed after the flight, not tired. I really do feel good. And strangely happy.
We walk out of the plane into a very hot and humid Kingston. Phew, I forgot how hot it actually is here. Fortunately, Henri saw fit to send his air conditioned limo and driver instead of us having to stand in line to rent a car. A smart black G&T car is waiting close to the plane. The customs officials came on board to check our papers when we landed, and gave us an all clear. We are on our way to our new home.
∞∞∞
As we drive through the huge entrance gates to Gorgoleta Estate a couple of hours later I am rather happy to see the end of our journey. It was extremely pleasant but I do love being home at last with my fur babies. They need to settle and acclimatise. I am sure Kiki would love the ocean but the cats will have to stay inside for a few days first before they can go and explore. They may get lost otherwise.
Henri is waiting in front of the guest cottage for us. It is picturesque and even prettier than I would have guessed, hoped, dreamed.
'Welcome children, welcome home. Lilia, good to see you, welcome Jonah. I hope that you will stay here for a long time.'
'Hi Henri, great to see you! Thank you so much for your extreme generosity and all the wonderful experiences we have had along the way!' I hug him tight and then give him and Jonah space to talk. Jonah is a bit tense and I am sure that they would need a bit more time to completely relax with each other.
I take the cat's baskets inside and close the garden gate so that Kiki can run free and explore within the fenced area. Inside, after I make sure that all the windows are closed and switch the gorgeous white ceiling fans on for air circulation - I open the baskets for the cats and we start exploring together.
Oh my word this is a gorgeous little place. It is on two levels with our room and en-suite bathroom on the top floor. They lead to a huge lanai style balcony (which the cats will love) complete with curtains and shade screens. There is an en-suite guest room and study as well as lounge and kitchen downstairs. Just enough for us, perfect size with a gloriously wild garden all around. The fence is so hidden by creepers and shrubs that you cannot see it at all. Colourful hibiscus, bougainvillea, wild bananas, giant Strelitzias and the Jamaican lignum vitae with its beautiful purple flowers abound.
I get Kiki's le
ash and go back into the garden. 'Bye kitties, see you now-now!' I call out to the cats and take Kiki back to where Jonah and Henri are standing, obviously in quite a serious conversation.
'Oh Henri the house is lovely! Everything is so beautiful.'
'I am glad you like it Lilia, when your furniture arrives you can obviously replace all the rattan and the Gorgoleta linens. You can even paint every room in your colour scheme exactly as you want it. The guest cottage has always been available for my business partners but I am sure there are many nice accommodation facilities nearby where they can stay over. It is yours now.'
'I do love decorating and may just go crazy with lavender shades, what would you say about that my love?'
'Lilia you know I am used to living with your colours, I have grown to love it too. It is peaceful and calming. But just look at these beautiful butterflies!' They are all around us, it is spectacular.
'Where would be the best to see the other kinds of butterflies and the doctor bird hummingbirds Henri, in your garden or the forest?'
'Those are the Jamaican monarchs, I hope you will get to see our giant swallowtails too, they are very rare but we have them on the Estate. They especially love hibiscus just like the doctor birds, you will see them feeding there often. I have planted many flowering shrubs all over. I don't allow the use of poisons anywhere on the Estate so they are safe. We also keep their food plants for the larvae to grow fat on.'
'They are beautiful.'
'Lilia loves all things flying, hopping and creeping.'
'It's wonderful, then you will have many frogs and chameleons too, I love them. Is there a pond or bird bath in the garden Henri?'
'Not in this garden Lilia but you are welcome to show my gardener where and how you want it and he can do it for you. There are all sorts of small creatures around as it is wild jungle, I was hoping that you will not be afraid of crawling and creeping things.'
'I always say that I am more afraid of people than any animal or supernatural monster as only people have the capacity to be evil.'
'Well our security is very good around the Estate, you should feel safe at all times.'
Henri hugs me, and we set off toward the path leading into the forest.
'Let's go down to the cove, I have something to show you. Jonah, it is quite steep in places, would you need a cane?'
'Maybe to be safe, yes I will take it.'
'I can't wait to get to the water! I have been ready and waiting to wriggle my toes in the sand and walk in the water for a long time now. Kiki is very ready too. She must be extremely hot.'
The steep and narrow path winds through the indigenous forest, or almost jungle as it is very dense and we eventually get down to a rocky terrace. From there we are astonished by the clifftop view of Gorgoleta Estate's private beach, a protected cove. 'Oh Henri, this is absolutely amazing! What are you building down there, they look like some kind of foundation terraces or something?’
'Are you going to move down here? Tired of the old plantation house?' Jonah asks.
'No, this is my gift to you. I have started with the foundations but from here on you have carte blanche. This is the venue for your new dream home. It will be on three levels and you have no limit as to costs. You can build a huge mansion and fit it out exactly as you want. It has the best view on my land, is protected from storms by the cove and will be sturdy, built on rock to last forever.’
'But Henri, I love the guest cottage. It is all we need; I don't want a huge house. I don't want to sound ungrateful but...Jonah?'
'Henri, Lilia is correct. She will feel safer in a small place further inland, the guest house is perfect as it not only has the ocean view but also the breeze coming up the hill. We can hear the crashing of the waves and it has the green of the forest surrounding it. It is really what we would prefer. I'm sorry, we don't want to be unappreciative of your extreme generosity and you already have gone to so much trouble.'
I suddenly have a brain wave. Bella calls it my bees. A bee or two in the bonnet. 'Henri, Jonah. Listen to this. You already have some of the foundations - what about a small accommodation facility seeing that we are now taking away your guest accommodation? A few rooms per level on the three levels already established, with a ground floor lobby and restaurant? And a pool like our grotto pool at home Jonah?'
We have been pondering different ways to generate an income and this would be the perfect spot for an exclusive little getaway which we can manage on behalf of Henri.
'Tourism is Jamaica's lifeblood is it not? A very upmarket but quiet place. Minimum number of guests, no noise, no motorised water sport, just all environmentally friendly activities like windsurfing, glass bottom boats, snorkelling...maybe kite surfing? What do you think?'
'Whatever you want my dear, you and Jonah are my only family and my heirs. I want you to stay here forever and will do everything humanly possible to make that happen. I mean it, no limits on expenditure. There is a strong mountain spring which leads to a waterfall and clear rock pool. From there it leads down to the cove, it is even prettier than the well-known Frenchman's Cove up the coast. You will never run out of fresh water. Go crazy with your plans!'
I glance at Jonah and see his mind doing many calculations, monetary and emotional ones.
'Only this one will be Cubanman's Cove!' Henri laughs at that; I can see he likes it.
'It's all so romantic. We could maybe only cater for honeymooners, or couples only. No singles to distract lovers or children around to lessen the romantic atmosphere. We could serve only vegetarian food, we could be so special and unique everyone would want to come here!'
'With a special and unique price tag too I presume.' Henri is already doing the math.
‘Oh definitely. Keep the riff-raff out.’
'No children, I like that but what about Cynthe or Bella's baby when they come to visit?'
'Jonah, Cynthe will have our house and Henri's plus the gardens to explore, she would not need to go down to the hotel. The prices Henri, of course. It will have to be steep, exclusive, but we need to generate income to repair some of the damage the past has done to the people of this country. We will only employ locals, we can have community programs, we can set up Trust Funds for kids who want to study and come back to Jamaica to work and empower the country. It can be amazing! Whilst driving through St Thomas I saw extreme poverty but a lot of colour and hope too. I just love that everything is so green.'
'There are so many poor, where will we start?'
'Closest to home is always the best place to start, but don't forget, I still have another dream too Jonah.'
'The animal sanctuary. I'm sure we can get to that eventually, correct Henri?' Jonah winks at Henri and he smiles.
'I am going to have to expand my business dealings to keep up with you two and all your plans – but land there is enough of. When I purchased the land from you Jonah, I had to do it anonymously. At that stage you would never have it sold to me otherwise. I purchased additional land on all three sides to ensure the privacy as well as safety of the original Estate. It will be good to have life around me again. Thank you so much for coming home.'
I embrace Henri and Jonah also walks closer to have his turn. 'Thank you for making a lonely old man happy my children. I thought my life was over and I have lived for nothing. Now I know why I worked so hard all these years.'
'What exactly do you do Henri?' Jonah asks. I was waiting for that.
'Jonah...' I try to change the subject but Henri shakes his head.
'No Lilia, it's OK. Jonah has the right to know. Gorgoleta-Trochilus started dealing in 'not so legal' goods during the trade embargo with Cuba, but we have since moved into legal import and export. It's all above board now.'
'Is that why you left my mom & me and went back to Cuba all those years ago? I was only a year old.'
'Yes Jonah, I'm sorry for that now. In 1962 a young family did not fit into my dangerous world and I did not want to expose either of you to unsafe situations or po
ssible retaliation from my business contacts. Several of them were quite terrifying individuals and cartels. We were in the middle of the missile crisis and Cold War. Some of us were convinced it was the beginning of the third world war.'
