Callaloo & Salt Fish

Friday night I was on my way to pick up my son from his best friends’ house when I got a call from Island boy/Daniel. “Hey,” he said, as if nothing had transpired between us and, well, nothing had really. Just that it took him an entire week to get back to me, yet again. I went in, no holds barred, and was very straightforward, asking him all of the questions that I needed answers to. He stuttered a bit, stammered, but ultimately I felt as though I’d gotten the truth out of him. He said he needed to see the smirk on my face and wanted to discuss this with me in person, if possible.

“What time you getting here?” he asked. I told him precisely when I’d be arriving: 3:00pm.

He called me 30 minutes after I checked into the hotel and 20 minutes later we met up at a little café near my hotel for drinks and a chat. You name it, we discussed it. He says he didn’t even know I’d left him a voicemail because he’s terrible at checking them. I can relate because I never check my home voicemails and one of my close friends never checks her cell voicemails. She figures if it’s important enough, the caller will call back. But Daniel saw that I'd called. He admitted to that. In fact, he was expecting my call and he answered but didn't say anything. Hence my anger.

While showing him the pictures of our lovely hotel room, I snapped a picture of him blushing. Then I asked to see his ID and he showed it to me. He was born exactly 3 years and 1 day after me. Our birthdays are 1 day apart. Then he took me to dinner where more talking took place. He gives the best hugs. That night at about 11pm he came back, as promised, to drive me and my cousin around to a couple of clubs. We were trying to find a reggae spot to satisfy my cousin’s reggae jones, but no dice. At the second club, he and I got pretty steamy on the dance floor.

“He was all over you like a cheap suit!” my cousin teased the following morning. And he was. And I can’t say that it wasn’t fun or that I didn’t like it because it most definitely was and I definitely did. After the club he dropped us off at our hotel and stayed behind to talk to me in the lobby. I went up to my room at 4am.

The following day he called me at 1pm saying he’d just gotten up to make breakfast.

“What you making?” I asked

“Callaloo and salt fish with bread fruit. You ever had it?”

“No, but I’ve heard of it,” I said.

“Want me to bring you some?”

“Sure :)”

I won’t give a play by play of the entire 2.5 days/48+ hours (a LOT happened in that timeframe) but suffice it to say, I got more than the closure I was hoping for. Much more. And I’m now a fan of callaloo with salt fish and bread fruit.

Although I like Daniel, if I never see him again in life, I’ll be just fine. I am content with having known him. And I honestly feel like I do know him now.

Since I wrote this, he's called me twice.

Also, there’s a new candidate on deck. He’s a single dad who has full custody of his 13 year old son, has an exciting job that pays well, he’s American so I can fully understand him when we talk, is over 6 feet tall, bald, and grew up around the same neighborhood as I did. He told me he got saved 8 years ago but he doesn’t go to church every single Sunday. Oh, and he’s 5 years older than me. Since we met about a week ago, he’s asked me no less than 5 times to marry him and I have to admit, it’s a little disconcerting. He swears I am everything he’s looking for but he truly has no idea who I am. Marriage is the last thing I would hastily jump into, and it’s concerning me that he has no qualms about doing so. His reasoning behind wanting to marry me is highly suspect. I’m giving him a chance to get to know me and for me to know him, but something tells me this will be extremely short lived. We’re scheduled to go out to dinner this coming Friday.