Chapter 8: Hola My Friend
“Happiness
is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if
you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your
shoulder.”
-Henry
David Thoreau
Lucy cued up the next
song. She announced to the class, “Let’s
tek it to dee islands, mon!” As soon as
she said it, she looked over at Jamarcus self consciously. Had she really just imitated her version of a
Jamaican accent? Right in front of
Jamarcus Demont, her new employer? What
was she thinking? More importantly, what
was he thinking? She soon found out as Jamarcus laughed a
throaty laugh and replied, “Less see wut ya got woo mahn!” Jamarcus’ sparkling white teeth smile left no
question of how much he got a kick out of Lucy’s impression. The whole class laughed and got started into
the new hula routine Lucy had choreographed.
“Don’t mind me,” laughed Jamarcus as the class started into a fun hula
to steel drum music. The steel drums
took him away back to how he had ended up in Boomerang Valley in the first
place. Steel drums always reminded him
of home…
The next two years following
his mami’s death were extremely hard for Jamarcus. He had to find a whole new circle of friends
in Miami because he lacked the will power to not participate in their
lascivious activities when he hung out with them. He enrolled in Alcoholics Anonymous and found
the support there he needed to quit his drinking habit. He quit going to night clubs and was repulsed
by the skanky women he had once found so alluring. More than anything, he longed for a woman to
look at him with true love in her eyes.
He was quick to notice that the women he had been associating with had
only true lust in their mascara crusted, raccoon eyeliner eyes. He wanted more out of life.
He kept his promise to
his mami and started going to church. He
was fellowshipped by others who shared a high moral code and he made friends
only with those who shared his same moral standards. He was impressed with the peace that came
into his life when he put God first.
Jamarcus gave up his gambling habit and got a real honest, hard working
job as staff at the local fitness club.
He completed his studies at University of Miami, without a tutor, and
earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business with a minor in Exercise Science. He continued to ask God what His will was for
him but was frustrated to receive no answer.
Then one day he got a
call from his homeland informing him that his papa had suffered a heart attack
in the middle of the night and had passed away.
Jamarcus could hardly believe what he was hearing. No, it was too terrible. Grief stabbed him in his very soul. He cursed God. He pleaded to know why his papa would be
taken too when Jamarcus knew he had kept his end of the bargain by putting God
first. He booked the first flight out of
Miami to Jamaica, packed his bags once more, and boarded his flight. He was mad at God but still offered a prayer
so his heart would be able to handle the loss of yet another parent.
Jamarcus threw his
carryon in the overhead compartment and took his seat next to a rough and
tumble looking character. He looked like
he was in his 60’s and had the most amazing handlebar mustache Jamarcus had
ever seen. He was holding a black battered
Stetson cowboy hat on his lap and as Jamarcus looked down, he noticed shiny black
cowboy boots. Jamarcus though the guy
looked like a cartoon character, complete with Wranglers, and plaid western
shirt with a red bandana tied around the collar. A woman that looked like Mrs. Claus was
seated directly across the aisle. She
too looked like she had just come out of a wild west movie. Wow, these two are gonna stick out like sore
thumbs in my country, Jamarcus thought to himself. The
cowboy’s wife flashed a sweet smile to her husband and there was that look
again…true love. Jamarcus recognized it
as the same look on his mother’s dying face.
As the plane started to taxi towards departure, the cowboy stuck out his
hand and gave Jamarcus a firm handshake.
“My name is Joe
Jacobs. And you are?”
“Jamarcus….Jamarcus
Demont. What brings a cowboy like you to
Jamaica?”
“I am due for a
vacation. I have been the owner of
Boomerang Valley Fitness for over 20 years.
Ever heard of Montana? “
Jamarcus nodded yes, although
he had never heard of Boomerang Valley.
“Well, I have had my
club for sale for a while. I’m getting
too old for this. Me and the Mrs., we just
want to settle down and relax in our ranch.
Jacob’s Ranch has been handed down for generations and now it is finally
our turn. Unfortunately, with this
economy the way it’s been, I haven’t had a single offer. Business at the club just isn’t what it used
to be. People keep telling me I need to
use social media to market more effectively but I haven’t a clue what they are
talking about. I hired a guy out of college
to help me but all he wanted to do is check out the ladies that work at my
club. As a matter of fact, he just
skipped town with the wife of one of my good friends after I fired him…I don’t
need a predator like that in our small town and especially in my club. So anyhoo, I figured that my wife and I
should take a vacay before the money runs out and we can’t afford the mortgage
payments anymore. If our club goes under,
we won’t have anything left for retirement.
I asked her where she wanted to go and she said she had always wanted to
go to Jamaica. So here we are.” He gave his wife’s hand a squeeze and she
smiled.
Sandra Jacobs giggled,
“Sorry about my hubby…he’s a talker. How
bout you? What’s going on in your life? Where are you headed? What brings you to Jamaica?”
Jamarcus told them how
he had just graduated from University of Miami.
His field of study in business and exercise science impressed Joe Jacobs so much that he just flat
out asked Jamarcus if he would like a change in scenery, implying that Jamarcus
had what it took to be an owner of a club.
Joe Jacobs was selling the club for 2 million dollars and had already
dropped the price down to 1.5 million. The
only way Jamarcus could get that amount of money was to go back to gambling…but
that was way out of the question.
Jamarcus threw his head back and laughed. Even still, Joe gave Jamarcus his business
card. The photo on the card showed the
most beautiful mountain scenery he had ever seen. Me?
Buy a club? Move to Montana? Yeah right, Jamarcus thought to himself but
he tucked the card in his wallet anyway.
The rest of the flight
into Montego Bay, went quickly. Joe’s
wife Sandra joined the conversation telling Jamarcus about the beauty of
Boomerang Valley. She told him the
history behind the name. Apparently,
Boomerang Valley was so beautiful that even when people would try to move away,
they would always come back…just like a thrown boomerang always comes back to
its owner. College students would leave
to get their education and within five years of graduating would somehow find
their way back to their little town. She
talked about the wonder of each of the four seasons: the blaze of beautiful fall foliage, the deep
blankets of white in the winter, the vibrant greenery of the spring, and the
mild summers that always cooled off just a bit at night. It sounded like heaven to Jamarcus.
He was tired of the
humidity in Miami and was praying for a job opportunity that would allow him to
relocate. The thing that really sold him
on this Boomerang Valley was the slow pace of life that Joe and Sandra kept
referring to. They had raised their five
children there and couldn’t think of anywhere else on earth that was better. In Boomerang Valley, people didn’t lock their
doors. In Boomerang Valley, there
weren’t any gangs. In Boomerang Valley,
people trusted you with a simple smile and a handshake. Boomerang Valley was comprised of mostly God
fearing Christians so politically they were quite conservative. Jamarcus loved envisioning such a place and
secretly wished he did have the money to buy the fitness club.
Joe and Sandra then let
Jamarcus tell them his story. They wept with
him as Jamarcus told of his grief at losing both parents in three short
years. They smiled as he told them his
conversion story of how he found God.
Jamarcus didn’t usually tell his whole life story to random strangers
but this couple from Boomerang Valley was different. He enjoyed their naïve innocence and genuine
concern for him. Somehow he knew it was
more than mere coincidence that they would be on the exact same flight to
Montego Bay and in the appointed seats.
As the plane landed, Jamarcus felt sad at having to say goodbye to these
fine Montanans. He made sure to give
them all the insider info of where to eat and where to avoid. Joe embraced Jamarcus’s wide shoulders and
said, “Boy, I think you are destined for great things. I am so happy that our paths have
crossed.” Jamarcus was taken aback by
his choice of words. His mami had said
those exact words to him three years earlier.
Jamarcus waved to the couple from Boomerang Valley and then remembered
why he had come home. His shoulders drooped
and he sighed at the task at hand…burying his father tomorrow.
The funeral once again
was simple and beautiful. Once again,
friends and family from all over gathered to celebrate the life of Raymone
Demont. On top of the casket during the service
was a photograph of his mami and papa back in their younger days. As he got closer to the picture he saw that
his mami and papa were sharing that same look in their eyes. True love!
Jamarcus wondered if he would ever experience that in his lifetime. He wanted desperately to settle down and have
a family. As they lowered the casket
into the ground, Jamarcus felt once again alone and lost. His brother leaned over and said, “Don’t cha forget…the
will is to be read in two hours.”
Jamarcus decided to go back to his favorite place on the beach until
then.
As he walked around the
now weathered gazebo from a tropical storm that hit earlier that year, he
thought back to the last time he had been there. He shuddered at the thought of his liquor
problem. He had now been sober for three
years but he still struggled with temptation every now and again. This time as he knelt in the sand, he wasn’t
overcome by sin and guilt as he had been when his mami had died. No, this time he felt strangely at
peace. Indeed he was sad about his
papa’s passing but he felt strangely calm.
As he prayed to God once more, he asked God to show him his
destiny. He pleaded that the way would
open up for him to relocate out of Miami but he also knew there was no future
for him in Jamaica. He had left that
island lifestyle a long time ago. Even
his Potoise accent had faded except for a few words. He ended his prayer by saying, “Not my will,
but thine be done.” He dusted off the
sand from his black pants and hurried over to the lawyer’s office.
Jamarcus and his older brother
Darrius, arrived to the attorney’s office for the reading of the will. Raymone Demont’s boat rental business had started
with only one boat but from the time his sons had grown from toddlers to teenagers,
the Demont family business had grown into a lucrative enterprise. Since Darrius was the oldest and was helping to
manage the business, he inherited all assets belonging to his papa: the house, the business, the vehicles, and
even the fleet of boats. Darrius was
very thankful for his new inheritance but was curious as to what Jamarcus was
to inherit because there was nothing left.
Although Jamarcus had no desire to go into the boat rental industry, he was
disappointed that he had received nothing in the will. He asked the lawyer to please continue. The lawyer explained that the inheritance for
Jamarcus was a little bit tricky to explain.
All the will said was that Jamarcus had to go to his papa’s bestfriend’s
home to claim his inheritance. Jamarcus
left the office feeling confused and extremely curious as he headed across town.
Simon Nali had an
unassuming house but was known to be quite wealthy. Nobody ever really talked about how he
acquired so many riches. All Jamarcus
knew about him was his papa had told him he was the type of guy who would give
the shirt off his back to a person in need.
Jamarcus trusted Simon as his papa did.
Simon answered the door and ushered him into the parlor. Simon sat across from Jamarcus in his large
oak desk.
“What can I do for ya
boy?
“I was told to come
here at the reading of my papa’s last will and testament.”
“Ah yes…it is tame.”
“Tame for what…I mean
time for what?” Jamarcus tended to slip into Jamaicanese whenever he visited
home but he was trying desperately to sound educated because after all…he was a
college graduate.
“Tame for you to claim
yo destiny.” Simon pointed at a painting
Anja Kessler’s Laughing Waters. Jamarcus
instantly recognized the tropical greens on the seashore landscape as the exact
spot he had just come from. The heavenly
blues in the painting reminded him of God’s mercy that had poured out on
Jamarcus the day he had given all his sins to God. Jamarcus thought to himself that he would
love that painting and hang it up wherever he ended up in this big world. He couldn’t think of a more appropriate gift
from his dying father but he was confused that Simon had called it his
“destiny”.
“Go ahead boy, tek it…it’s
yours,” Simon smiled mischievously as he watched Jamarcus gently take the
painting from the wall. As he lifted the
painting off the big hook which held it in place, he had to blink his eyes a
few times when he caught the glimmer of a silver combination lock. A hidden safe in the wall? Was this some kind of joke? These kind of things only happened in the
movies. He set the painting down by his
feet and curiously looked back at Simon.
“I suppose ya be wantin’
the combination?” Simon’s eyes sparkled
with delight as he called out the digits.
Jamarcus obediently turned the combination to each number as Simon
called them out. “Eight, twenty-one,
four, sixteen!”
Click…Jamarcus could
not believe his eyes when he opened the safe.
He saw piles of American dollars!
He had never seen so much money in all his life…even back when he was
gambling. “How much of this did my dad
want me to have?” Jamarcus asked
tentatively.
“All of eet!” cried
Simon. “But there is a catch. What you see before ya ees two hundred thousand
dollars. Your papa was countin’ on ya to
do something grand with this here money.
Ya may take ten thousand dollars now, no questions asked. But if ya have a business opportunity in your
field of study, you may tek eet all! De
catch ees I have to approve it.”
Jamarcus could hardly believe what he was hearing! Two hundred thousand dollars? It seemed too good to be true.
“Simon, I can’t take
this money from you.”
“Nonsense my boy, this
was de plan all along. Yo papa wanted to
surprise you de next time you kem home after graduation. I weesh he could see your face right now!” he
laughed. “I bet he ees smilin’ up in heaven.” Simon walked over to the safe. Jamarcus acted as though the money in the safe
was serpentile like and did not dare put his hand in. Simon grabbed a bundle and counted the
money…ten thousand dollars. He put the
wad of cash into Jamarcus’ palm and forced him to close his fist tightly around
the crisp green dollar bills. He was
overwhelmed with the generosity and sincere love of this man. His papa had been right, Simon Nali really
was one of the last of the genuine and honest men on the island of Jamaica.
“Thank you sir! Thank you so much Simon!” Jamarcus yelled out
as he left the house.
When Jamarcus got back
to his parent’s home, which now had been bequeathed to his brother, he set up
the painting on the dresser. He could
hardly believe his luck. He sat down at
the desk to try to make sense of things and as was his habit, he took his
wallet out of his pocket and threw it on the bed. For whatever reason, as the wallet bounced on
the chenille bedspread, the Joe Jacob’s Business Card came flying out and
landed on the floor. Jamarcus crossed
the room and picked it up. His mami’s
voice echoed in his head, “Everything happens for a reason!” Jamarcus thought about how drawn to the
Jacob’s couple he had been and wondered if he really was meant to cross paths
with these amazing people. He looked at
the mountain scenery on the card and read Boomerang Valley Fitness Center…where
people come to have a health ricochet.
Jamarcus fell to his knees and asked God for guidance.
After a heartfelt
prayer, he reached in his jacket pocket for his cell phone. “Hello, Joe?
This is Jamarcus…the guy you sat by on the plane. Yes, how is your vacation going? Oh good, glad to hear it. Well, the reason I am calling is I think we need
to meet. I would like to talk to you about
your fitness center.” There was nothing
but silence on the other end of the line.
“Hello? Joe?”
“Yeah, yeah I’m still
here. Can we meet tomorrow for lunch?”
“Perfect, I’ll be there!”
Joe and Sandra looked
at each other grinning ear to ear. They
too knew that everything happens for a reason.
Jamarcus hung up and texted Simon, “I think an opportunity has just presented
itself. Call me.”
…Jamarcus only watched
a couple of songs taught by the new Zumba instructor. What he saw was a natural born teacher with a
class that had the ultimate respect for their instructor. Everybody was getting a healthy cardio
workout and sweating up a storm. As Jamarcus
got ready to leave the room, a cute little brunette about his same age came up
to introduce herself. Everybody had been
so friendly to him since he made the move to Boomerang Valley. He thought it odd that this girl had touched
his elbow during their small talk. Maybe
he should ask her out sometime.
Zumba. Hola My Friend. Rec. 2012. Zumba Fitness, 2012.
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