He started paddling with all his strength, keeping his eyes locked onto her flashlight hitting the water, until he realized he was rocketing forward. He jabbed his paddle into the water, bringing it forward to stop his slide, but it was too late. His kayak smacked into hers with a thud.
“Sorry,” he said.
“It’s OK. You’ll get used to it. Turn off your light.”
He did as he was told.
“Hey, I thought your flashlight was on...”
He realized the glow around her kayak was coming from below. It took a second for his mind to comprehend what was happening. At first he thought he was looking at a reflection of stars in a sky completely clear except for a few drifting clouds. As his eyes adjusted, it became clear the light came from where her boat and paddle skimmed the water.
A blue glow. A sparkling comet’s tail. The streak from a wizard’s wand. The glow intensified as they paddled toward the center of the bay, illuminating the bottom surface of the kayak. A ball of blue fire appeared under Edward’s boat as a fish darted by. He swiped his hand through the water, for a moment it became ethereal. In the blackness, the luminosity under them created the illusion that they were floating over eddies of stardust. Edward looked up at Mary. She was beaming at him, her paddle resting across her lap. The rippling radiance shimmered on her arms and face.
“Is it magic?” he asked.
“Bioluminescence. You have to get here just after sunset. That’s when the organisms still have the sunlight stored in them.”
“They’re alive?”
“Mmmh. Sort of like fireflies. They’re all over the oceans, but this bay keeps the same warm temperature for them to flourish.”
More small fish darted under them, creating neon tubes that lit the dusty saltwater. Edward hit the water with his paddle and watched it flame up. Then he hit it purposely to splash Mary’s kayak. The water splattered against it with the same effect as fluorescent paint and black light. Mary took her paddle and returned fire, splashing the glowing water onto his shirt, making it look surreal and radioactive. The splashing escalated until they were both giddily slapping water, laughing and yelling for the other to stop, making a bonfire of blue flame that reached over their heads.
They paddled around and then spent a long time just peering down into the depths, watching the occasional minnow or angelfish darting under them and the fiery blue tails that followed. Then they reclined in the seat, paddles across their laps, and stared up at the stars, letting the easy current turn them.
When Edward and Mary finally returned their kayaks to the rental shack, one and a half hours had passed since they’d entered the bay. Mary asked the owner to call a taxi, and then they ambled down to a beach, carrying their shoes. They stopped at a campfire to dry off and chat with a German family staying in the nearby rentals. They stood over the fire to catch the heat, Mary pulling her damp shirt off her stomach to hold it over the flame.
Edward talked to the German father, but kept watching Mary. She peeled off her shirt and, in only her shorts and bikini top, the narrow curve of her waistline glistened. She caught him looking at her and looked away, looking from the family’s two young children asleep on a blanket, up to the white forms washing onto the beach. And then she looked back at him.
Tonight, tonight, tonight. Tell her. Tonight.
~~~
“I need to paint. The colors inspire me. Magical. I need to find an art store.”
“Did your pencils run out?” Mary asked.
“I need acrylics and canvas.”
They exited the Road Town ferry terminal, walking side-by-side into the warm night and onto the main pier with all its vendors and tourists. Along the shoreline street, people pressed in at the smoky entrances to the small nightclubs that only opened when the cruise ships were at anchor. From where they were on the street the blasted music collided and became a noisy collage of tones and beats.
“So, you really liked it?” Mary’s eyes narrowed on him as he answered.
“Mary, I really, really, really liked it. Thank you for taking me.” Edward almost took her hand.
He looked down into her eyes until she looked away. She appeared happy with his answer. It had been a perfect evening and Edward was sure it was the perfect time to tell her how much he needed her. As they strolled past the last nightclub, the crowds thinned to only the young locals collecting around the steps of the store fronts, smoking cigarettes, and drinking beer. There the street grew quiet enough to say what he needed.
“Mary, look, I had a lot of fun tonight, but not just because of what I saw.” He started on the script he had worked out on the ferry ride back. “I had fun because of who I was with, and I don’t want you to feel pressure, but, I just wanted to, well, you know, tell you how I feel because I’ve got to – and, Mary, I think you know there’s more between us—”
He looked to his side to see Mary wasn’t beside him anymore. She hadn’t heard a word he’d said.
He turned around to find she had stopped thirty feet back and was speaking to her ex-boyfriend, Isaac. Isaac was sitting on the top steps of a storefront deck, surrounded by four friends, each holding large convenience store cups – obviously filled with more than just soda.
“Yeaaahhh,” Isaac said, taking in whatever Mary was saying, lazily eyeing her with his mouth hanging open. He nodded when she finished and ran his tongue across his bottom lip. Then he scratched at his dark chest exposed under a silk dress shirt, the top three buttons open. He wore an oversized gold medallion that glimmered under the street lights as he moved it.
Mary moved her hands up to her hips and tilted her head slightly. Edward quickly walked over to stand beside her. From there, he could see Isaac’s eyes were watery and red.
“You been smokin?” Her Caribbean accent surfaced in her abrupt words with such strength, Edward glanced at her in disbelief that she was still the same person he had just been walking with.
The four young men sitting around Isaac let out a burst of whoops and hollers. “She got you, man! She got you!” one of the boys cried.
Isaac nodded at his friends and then swiveled his head back at Mary.
“Girl, you know I been missin you. Way doonh you come visit me place anymore?” Isaac swayed slightly as his wet eyes looked over Mary.
“You completely drunk.” She wobbled her head. “Doonh call me out on the street no more, you hear?”
More excitement erupted from Isaac’s friends. Knees were slapped. One whistled.
“Heyyyy, girl. I doonh know why you not come drink wid us.”
Edward could feel his jaw muscles tensing. He bit down hard and took a step forward to put himself between her and Isaac.
“Is this guy bothering you?” he said loud enough for Isaac to hear.
A burst of laughter and cooing taunts.
“It’s nothing.” Mary turned away. “Let’s go.”
She started walking away in the direction of her boat. But Edward stayed where he was long enough for Isaac’s lethargic gaze to land on him. Isaac made a show of turning his head from side to side before looking back at Edward. It was as if Isaac had just noticed him standing there.
“Who dis white boy?” Isaac aimed a thumb at Edward. “He needda get back on da boot. Get back on da boot, boy!”
The five laughed. From somewhere behind him, Mary called out to him, but he stayed where he was.
“What’ya gonna do? You gonna make me?”
Laughter and screams exploded from Isaac’s friends. Isaac, pushing off the step, stood and stepped down to the street, the noise behind him growing.
“Boy, I put you back on dat boot,” he said while switching his weight from one leg to the other like someone slow dancing.