Chapter Two
Reva Lobban and her boyfriend, Denton Dennis were meeting over lunch at Dodd’s restaurant in New Kingston. Just as they sat down to lunch into the restaurant, walked Karl Parker and Carlene Royal. Karl spied Denton and came over.
“Hi Denton, how are you? Reva, you look stunning,” he complimented Reva. The two men shook hands.
“Thanks, Karl,” Reva replied, as he went over to join the already seated Carlene.
Their food arrived and they started eating. Denton had chosen curry goat and rice and peas. Reva had chosen country style chicken and rice and peas.
“I didn’t know that you knew Karl.” “We met while I was at the bank.”
Denton noticed that Carlene had ignored them and went to take her seat in the restaurant. He knew that women could be moody sometimes. He wondered if she had a grouse against Reva. They continued eating. They were together three years now and had a two-year-old daughter together. Denton was a tall man and carried a small beard. He would be twenty-seven years in a month’s time. Reva was a medium sized woman, but very attractive. She was twenty-four years of age. She worked as a customer service representative with one of the largest furniture and appliance dealership on the island and was stationed in Constant Spring.
Denton was an external auditor. When they had finished eating, they both returned to their respective posts.
Karl and Carlene were just about finishing their meals. He had chosen ackee and salt fish and locally grown food. She had chosen rice and peas and fried chicken. Karl was a medium size, brown complexioned man, going on thirty years of age.
He ran a stationery distribution business in Half Way Tree. Karlene was a tall, copper colored woman and was a supervisor at a large department store in Kingston. She was going on twenty-five years of age.
***
Syd Daniels was a thirty-three-year-old fitness enthusiast. He didn’t drink alcohol nor did he smoke. He was the farm manager for a hundred-acre property in Bog Walk, St.
Catherine. This was orange country. He had been working with Mc Kenzie Farms ever since leaving agricultural college ten years ago. The company was able to supply juice manufacturers as well as people coming on to the farm to buy fruits for the retail trade. He had a wife and three children.
Both of them drove their own vehicles. His wife, Yasmin, was a supervisor at a commercial bank in Spanish Town. So, it was no problem getting the children to and from school. They lived in Patrick City.
He was still angry over what had happened between him and Debra Menzies. They had an intense two-year love affair. She had walked in on him and her best friend, Antoinette. The next day she came and took her things out of the apartment and told him that the affair was over. He had pleaded with her, telling her that the girl had forced herself on him. But she never came back. He had virtually schooled her through university and helped her poor parents. Though she wasn’t the only woman he had.
Women were always telling him that they liked his physique. Even women older than him wanted him to go to bed with them. He had obliged, most times, especially if they looked good.
He had seen Debra around. She looked even more beautiful than four or five years ago. He knew that she was living with a guy by the name of Simon Carter. He had seen her with two other guys, Karl Parker and Dean Morgan. He had no doubt that they were her lovers.
How unreasonable she was. She had left him because he had been unfaithful to her and here she was being unfaithful to her live in lover. His mother had warned him about spending money on her, but he had been too besotted with Debra to listen to her.
He had felt like doing her something. What she had done still hurt him. What he had done for her and her parents, he knew that most men in Jamaica would call him a fool. Yasmin didn’t mean much to him. It was only because she was looking for a husband and he a wife and children why he had married her. She was just an ordinary girl. He wanted somebody like Debra.
His friends would hate his guts for being with such a beautiful woman. He wondered if she had been unfaithful to him while they were going around. If they got back together, he would lay down the law as to how he expected her to behave. She would have to leave her boyfriend and stop seeing those two guys. He knew that her father was still alive. He wondered if Simon was helping her with the medical bills. Maybe that was the reason she had to turn to those two guys. Syd got up from around his desk and decided to go out to Linstead and have lunch.
***
Merris had just reached home when Dean drove in. After they had dinner, they saw that the children did their homework.
The helper then got them ready for bed.
“Dean, when last have we gone out?” Merris asked as they sat in their living room that evening.
“I’ll say it’s been a long time, I’ll admit, but whose fault is it?”
She got up off the sofa and flaunted her body at him. She was maybe an inch or so shorter than Debra. She was copper colored. He knew that she looked fabulous. She went to the gym at least three days per week in the mornings. Dean on the other hand was a tall copper colored man, going on thirty years of age. Merris was two years younger.
“You look fabulous, baby,” he told her.
“And you look so handsome and well groomed.” They shared light kisses together before pulling apart. “So can we go out tomorrow night?” he asked her.
“Where will we go? How about Brenton Walker’s place in Gordon Town? I love the view and the food is delicious.” They have gone there before for dinner and dancing.
He thought that it was a place for older people, but agreed to take her up there.
“How come, you’re home so early?” he asked her.
Normally she worked until after eight o’clock. He had complained that she wasn’t finding time for him. She told him that she wanted to make a success of the hotel and spa. She said that the business was very competitive with several new hotels coming onto the market.
“By the way I saw Debra Menzies in Karl Parker’s car this evening.”
Dean was shocked. What the hell was Debra doing in that guy’s car? It’s no secret that he has a bad reputation with women. Merris saw the look of dismay on his face and sprang at him.
“Why are you looking like that? Is it because I told you that I saw Debra Menzies in Karl’s car?”
“Of course not, I know both of them. Debra is along with Simon Carter and Karl is along with Carlene Royal.”
“You know a lot about these people’s affairs. I suppose I could ask you about quite a few people and you could tell me about their lovers. Are you and Debra lovers?”
“What kind of question is that? If you must know, she is a business associate of mine.”
“Dean if I ever find out that you and that girl are lovers, I’ll have you thrown out of the company and out of this house.”
“You’re rubbing it in. If you want to find out if I have other women, why don’t you hire a private detective?”
“I have good friends out there. You’d be surprised what they phone and tell me.”
Secretly he was worried, the house was in her name alone. The company belonged to her family. She could get rid of him in an instant.
“I have never been unfaithful to you, baby. I’ll never be.”
She looked at him.
“You know Dean, I’ve always been curious as to what you did during the time I was convalescing after I gave birth to Sean and Raquel.”
He laughed and took some more of his sorrel beer.
“I can always restrain myself. You know that’s what I did.” “We have to make sacrifices. I’m trying to build our hotel brand. We have plans for both Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. So don’t complain if I don’t come home early or if I say that I’m tired.”
He laughed and drank some more of his beer.
“Anyway, I’m feeling very tired, so I’m going up. I’ll see you in the morning.”
She got up and went upstairs. He was left to recount his life so far with her. Outside it had started raining. He pulled back the curtains and looked through the glass. The last time he checked they didn’t have anywhere leaking. They had met at the university. She had been reluctant to talk to him. He was not one of the rich guys on campus and he didn’t drive a car. She had only started talking to him after she saw how good a dancer he was. Some of his friends said that she was spoilt. They told him that David Markman was a hard man. Many people who worked for him said that he was impossible to deal with. Markman had chased him from his house the first time he visited Merris. His wife, Ann, had been sympathetic towards him.