Destiny Lingers

by Rolonda Watts

  “Now, you didn’t go up there to New Yawk and get so citified that you forgot about this fine southern touch of mint, did ya?” Chase rinses his nosegay of mint and then playfully hops back up the stairs. Still grinning, he saunters up to me, swipes the glass of sweet tea out of my hand, and then dramatically spears its surface with his stem of mint.

  There goes that smile again.

  On him.

  And on me.

  Chase and I sit in his two big wooden rocking chairs, sipping on our freshly minted sweet teas, telling our funny and most familiar stories, and looking out over the settling sound from underneath the marsh trees. I enjoy him so much, and he seems to enjoy my company as well. I wonder if I ever could have had a real future with Chase.

  “If you could have any dream come true, Chase, what would it be?” I ask.

  “Wow.” He seems taken aback by the question. “Any dream?”

  “Yes, any dreams come true.”

  “Well, ah … hm … let’s see … Well, I’d love to live right here with a good woman who truly loves me, this island, this sound, and this sea as much as I do. How’s that?”

  “Sounds good to me,” I agree. “If you and your girlfriend, Missy, work things out. Don’t you think you’d live here together one day?”

  “Oh, I don’t think so.” Chase shakes his head and looks out over the vast sound. “For some reason, Missy don’t like my potato house.”

  “What? Why not?” I am shocked at Chase’s answer. “You have built a beautiful home here.”

  “I dunno the answer to that one, Destiny, and there’s a lot I don’t know the answer to right now.” Chase looks sad.

  “I’m sorry. I just thought—well, it really is such a beautiful place, Chase, I just thought … well, I just hate to see you have to leave your home—a dream home that that you built and all.”

  “And a home that I love,” Chase interjects. I recognize the deep passion in his voice, and I know how much this house, this structure, this sound, and this sacred strip of land mean to Chase. All his life, this was his escape; Chase’s no-man’s-land, where he was safe from his father’s brutal beatings, his family’s racial prejudices and fears, and the taunting bullies who picked him to pieces every day because his family lived in a trailer park and was poor. Chase told me he always imagined the potato house was a real home where he also imagined he was happy.

  “Missy wants to live in a big castle off the island,” Chase explains.

  “Oh, I see,” I reply, but I don’t see.

  “Her dad is one of the biggest contractors around, and he wants to build his baby girl a great … big … house—with columns.” Chase motions with his arms. “Yeah, he wants baby girl’s palace to be a shining example of what ‘McKay Construction can do for you.’”

  “McKay Construction?” I ask. “They advertise on that big billboard just off the island, right?”

  “Yep, that’s the one. ‘Let McKay Construction build your dream home!’”

  “Oh, I see,” I say, afraid to push the issue much further.

  Chase stares out over the water. He looks as if he is deep in thought and those thoughts have taken him far away. I feel for him because those thoughts do not look as if they are soothing ones.

  “Hey, come on, it’s time to put you on assignment.” Chase snaps out of his pensive mood with a loud slap on his knee.

  “Okay, here we go again with this assignment thing. What do you want me to do? I’m on leave, you know.”

  “Just follow me.” Chase grins and extends his strong hand to me. I gladly take it and tumble down the stairs after him as we head toward the water. “C’mon, hurry up now.”

  Still holding my hand, Chase leads me down what looks like a hidden path through the gnarly marsh trees so dense they form a living tunnel. The marsh’s forest-like floor is of deep, cool sand, so Chase and I bumble and sway, gently bumping into each other as we trudge down the path toward the sound.

  “Where are you taking me, Chase?”

  “On assignment. I told ya.”

  “What assignment?” I ask again, tugging on Chase’s hand, as we break into the clearing.

  “That one,” Chase replies with a big smile as he points toward the water. “That one right over there.”

  My eyes follow Chase’s finger offshore. There, sitting in the sunlight, bobbing on the water, is a charming little shrimp boat. The bold letters painted on the side sport its name: On Assignment.

  “You are kidding me!” I squeal with even more surprise and delight. “Is this what you were talking about all this time? Aw, I can’t believe you, Chase.”

  “Come on, Dee, whatcha say? Let’s go on assignment.”

  “Oh, my God! I wish all my assignments were like this!” I laugh.

  Chase helps me onto his boat, carefully taking my hand and ushering me aboard what turns out to be yet another one of his great refurbishing projects. It’s a funny little boat, but I can tell that Chase takes an enormous amount of pride in it, as he has redone her insides in a beautiful golden wood and painted her outside in a stark white with a deep-red trim.

  Chase takes me through the sound, and we spend the day traveling up and down the intercoastal waterway. It is a glorious afternoon, full of sunshine and wonder. We laugh and joke and talk about the many dart games we played as kids, playing at the piers, how many sour pickles we ate, where we crabbed under the little drawbridge using rotten chicken necks, and that we watched sea turtles lay their eggs. We learned that each of us grew up counting the tide tables, noting the ever-changing colors of the ocean, and loving the art of fishing, especially with a friend.

  On Assignment carries us gently down the waterway. We pass some children playing together on the banks of the stream. They are black, white, and brown.

  “Don’t you wish we could have played together like that as kids—all out in the open instead of hiding in case somebody saw us?” I ask.

  “Yeah. Sure do. I have often wished that things could have been very different for all of us back then.”

  Chase looks at me, and I feel a sudden surge of energy so strong that it feels as if the wind was just knocked out of me. I am so attracted to Chase that I can’t help myself. And by the way he’s looking at me, I believe that something is stirring inside of him too. I feel weak and alive and paralyzed all at the same time. I don’t know what to do.

  “You know, Destiny, I can’t make up for all the time lost between us, but I am so happy that we found each other again.”

  “Me too, Chase. I mean, who’d believe that after all this time we’d be sitting here together—On Assignment.”

  “Yep, pretty amazing, right?

  “Pretty amazing.”

  We sit here in momentary silence as the little boat continues her placid cruise down the water.

  “Destiny …” Chase turns from steering the wheel and looks my way. “I don’t think you have any idea how much I have thought about you over the years.” Chase smiles that special smile again. I admire the laugh lines growing around his eyes.

  The look on Chase’s face says his thoughts have drifted to days gone by. “I’ll never forget the night we first kissed. Remember how we used to dream we lived in the potato house together?”

  “Yes,” I say, remembering his sweet kiss. We hid in the moonlight for hours, despite our folks forbidding our even seeing each other.

  “I swear I would look out for you every summer,” Chase humbly confesses. “You just stopped coming to Topsail.”

  “I stopped coming because I had moved on, Chase. I think you know how much I wanted to be with you too. It seemed so impossible at the time to believe that we could have anything real.”

  “Hm. I know your folks weren’t happy about us.”

  “And neither was your mom.”

  Silence.

  “Destiny, I
never stopped hoping you were okay or that one day I’d see you again—and look, here you are.”

  “Yes, a broken woman whose husband left her for her best friend.”

  “That isn’t what I see,” Chase replies. “I don’t know how anybody could ever leave you.”

  “You did.” I hit Chase hard with the truth. “You stopped meeting me in the marshes after that night—after you got me all stirred up inside. You acted like you didn’t even know me when I saw you at the pier.”

  Chase turns away and sighs. He gazes out over the rippling water. The man I know I love looks deflated.

  “Dee, you know how different things were back then. Folks down here just aren’t as progressive as they are in your big city. Heck, your folks told me I could never see you again—my mother threatened to send me to live with my dad if I did—but I never ever stopped thinking about you, not ever.”

  It is the first time I have ever seen Chase so agitated, so upset. He scowls out at the sound, his face red. Then, finally, he breaks his simmering silence.

  “So, tell me … what the hell was he thinking? Who in the dickens would ever let you go?”

  “Garrett,” I reply matter-of-factly. “Hey, look, I don’t even know why I got married in the first place, Chase. I know I wasn’t ready.”

  “What? Buckled under the pressure?”

  “No, not at all. In fact, my folks warned me that I was making a mistake, that I wasn’t ready, and that Garrett wasn’t the right man for me. But I think I was really just running away from home, to tell you the truth.”

  “Hm. Just seemed like the thing to do at the time, huh?”

  “Guess so.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe everything’ll work out for both of us, somehow, Dee.”

  “I hope so, Chase. I sure hope so.”

  “Well, we’d better head back now.” Chase starts turning his boat around.

  “Yeah, sure,” I say.

  We travel up the waterway back to Chase’s house, mostly quiet, just enjoying the scenery and these precious moments together. Finally, we reach Chase’s slip, and he docks his boat.

  “Chase, thank you for sharing this day with me.”

  “You are mighty welcome, Miss Dee. It’s meant a lot to me. I enjoyed this time with you.”

  Chase hops off the boat, ties the ropes to the dock, and then offers me his hand.

  I graciously take it, but as I am preparing to disembark, the little boat drifts farther from the dock, and I almost tumble into the water—until Chase grabs me by the waist and hoists me over the lip of the vessel and onto the dock. I look up at Chase, who is looking down at me—and something happens; something electric and magical and crazy happens. Our eyes lock, and suddenly I can’t move. I smell him and feel his muscles flexing and his eyes staring down into mine—and something happens. Chase pulls me closer to him, his eyes locked into mine, and suddenly, he kisses me—a long, hard, deep and desperate kiss, just a hint of the boy I embraced before. This kiss is the kiss of a man. I swoon under his being, not sure whether to hold him closer or push him away, but my body and soul are so wrapped up into Chase that I just surrender into his kiss, into this feeling so strange, confusing, and welcome. Yet I feel that I am right where I am supposed to be. Where God has somehow led me after all of this time apart. Chase’s body molds into mine. I feel so happy, I want to cry.

  I am feeling that Chase and I can stay like this all day, until the persistent honking of a car horn breaks our bliss, abruptly snapping us back into reality.

  Chase steps back, looking out of sorts. I stand back, breathing hard, just as dumbfounded and looking to Chase for direction. What were we thinking? How did this happen? Why did it feel so good—so right? We stare at each other, knowing why.

  The car horn blares again in the background.

  “We better go, see who that is,” says Chase. “Could be an emergency.”

  I follow Chase back through the marsh trees, toward his house, and there, standing on the porch, tapping her espadrilled foot, is a tall, willowy blonde woman. Surrounding her feet are a half dozen shopping bags. This must be Missy.

  “Hey, honey!” she calls out to Chase with an excited wave. “I just knew you’d be out there on that silly boat again today. Come on and see all the pretty thangs I got for Sissy’s party.” Missy begins gathering her bags but stops short when she notices me also coming out of the brush behind Chase. She squints. “Oh … hello. I didn’t know you had company, honey.”

  “Missy, meet Destiny,” Chase says with a warm smile.

  “Chase was nice enough to show me the waterway today,” I answer.

  “Well, how nice.” Missy looks back and forth at the two of us. “I didn’t see your car anywhere.”

  “Well, actually—” I start.

  “I picked her up this morning,” Chase finishes.

  “Well, bless your heart. So y’all been tooling around since this morning?” Missy checks her watch. “Well, y’all’ve been on that water a good little while, hadn’t ya? I tell you, Chase could float on that water for a lifetime. I guess you could too, Melody.”

  “Destiny,” I correct her. “And yes, I love the water very much.”

  “How sweet,” Missy gushes. Then she turns to Chase. “Honey, I picked up a lot of pretty party thangs today. I wanna see whatchu think.”

  “Well, good,” Chase responds. “Missy’s little sister is having a big engagement party at the country club this weekend.”

  “Oh, how nice,” I reply.

  “I’m praying one day Chase’ll give me good reason to throw a big party like that at the club. Right, Chase?” Missy elbows Chase, and then she turns to me and says in a stage whisper, “Maybe when I show him all this pretty stuff, he’ll get the idea.” She winks, giggles, and then nudges him again.

  Chase entertains her thoughts. I want to disappear. Better yet, I wish Missy would.

  I start looking for an exit. “Well, I really need to get back home.”

  “Oh, don’t go so fast,” Chase says.

  “Now, honey,” Missy chimes in as she reaches out and grabs Chase by the bicep before he can take another step toward me. “Let her go, if she has to go. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.”

  “Okay.” Chase detects my growing discomfort. “I’ll grab the keys.”

  Chase runs up the stairs and disappears into the house, leaving Missy and I standing outside alone.

  “Well, it’s nice to meet you,” Missy says, saccharine-sweet.

  I nod. “Nice to meet you too.”

  “So, now, how do you know Chase?” Missy squints.

  “I grew up here on the island. I recently inherited our family beach house from my aunt, who just died, and I’m here trying to pull everything together.”

  “Oh, I see. I’m so sorry for your loss. I do remember Chase mentioning something about a colored lady dying. Maybe that was your aunt.”

  “Thank you,” I reply.

  “So you mean to tell me that your family owned a whole beach house down here? On this Island? Topsail?” Missy squints in disbelief. “You sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure.” I’ve had about all I can take from this sugar-coated bimbo.

  “Well, now, who were your people?” Missy presses harder, as if she thinks she might actually know my “people.”

  “The Newells,” I reply. “My grandfather, Dr. Maurice Love Newell, and my grandmother, Garnelle Smith Newell, helped settle Ocean City in 1948. We’ve been here a long time.”

  Missy looks as if she smells something funny. “Oh, I see,” she says. “Well, I know that area you’re talking about. I’m just really surprised you know Chase.”

  “Well, actually I called him Chip back then.” I chuckle.

  “Oh, I see.” Missy looks stung by confusion.

  “Hey, what are you two gal
s chitchattin’ about?” Chase returns to the scene, dangling his truck keys.

  “Destiny was just telling me she grew up here. Says y’all knew each other as little kids.” Missy has not taken her eyes off me.

  “Yep, we sure did.” Chase smiles at me.

  “Well, since you’re visiting us down here and you’re such a dea’, dea’ friend of Chase, why don’t you come to our little party for my sister, Sissy, tomorrow at the country club?”

  You mean there’s a Missy and a Sissy? In one family? You have got to be kidding!

  “It’s gonna be so much fun,” Missy continues babbling on. “There’ll be lotsa real nice local ladies to meet, good food, great piano music. Don’t you think it be nice if she joined us, Chase?”

  “Lovely,” he complies.

  I look at him like he’s crazy.

  “Okay, so, I’ll see you tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. at the country club, Chastity.”

  “It’s Destiny,” I correct her again, even though I know this passive-aggressive bitch knows my name.

  “Oh, I am so sorry. It’s just such an unusual name. I’ve gotta learn to remember it.” She playfully wrinkles her nose at me.

  Like “Missy” isn’t a strange name for a grown-ass woman, I think.

  Chase drives me home, and I am still trying to figure out why he is with Missy.

  I don’t know what he’s thinking or feeling as we drive back to my beach house in silence, but it is clear to me that Missy is not where he belongs.

  “I want to apologize to you,” Chase says as he pulls up to my beach house. “I didn’t mean any disrespect back there when I kissed you on the boat like that. I just—”

  “No problem,” I say quickly. “We can act like it never happened, just like before. It’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not okay, Dee, that’s not what I meant. And it did happen—just as we wanted it to, didn’t we?”

  I start to get out of the truck.

  “Destiny, please,” Chase pleads, but I feel as if I can’t breathe, like my head is about to explode. I fumble with the door handle to escape Chase’s big red vehicle and all the confusion inside it.