5: KFC

APRIL 1st, 2025

FOUR AND A HALF YEARS LATER

Tasha woke up with goosebumps crawling across her skin.

The fan overhead was spinning, but the room felt hotter than usual, like something thick and electric lingered in the air. She sat up in bed, her long curls tangled, her yellow nightgown matted to her body, while her sheets were twisted and damp with sweat. Her heart beat a little too fast for her liking.

The dream still clung to her like mist.

She didn't remember all of it, just flashes: moonlight, lips brushing her ear, a hand gripping her waist. A whisper in the dark that coiled through her veins like smoke.

"Tasha..."

Her breath caught. That voice. It was him. The man from the gate.

It had been almost five years since she'd had that encounter with that man, yet still, his voice and eyes haunted her dreams. But last night's dream was different, in this one, they had almost kissed.

She shook her head and threw the covers off, hopping out of bed. "Lord, cover me under yuh blood," she muttered, drawing the cross over her chest. "What kinda dream dat now?"

She padded to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. Her brown eyes stared back at her in the mirror. They were looking wide and a little wild.

The way she was feeling was telling her she wasn't a child anymore. She wasn't sixteen. She was two months away from her twenty-first birthday.

She touched her lips unconsciously, like they'd been kissed in her sleep.

The knock on her door nearly made her jump out of her skin.

"Tasha!" Debby's voice rang through the house like a church bell with no filter. "Wake up, mi belly hungry!"

Tasha laughed and shook her head. "Mi coming!"

She threw on some shorts and an oversized Bob Marley tee before heading downstairs. The scent of fried plantains, saltfish, and fried dumplings hit her nose before she even reached the last step.

"Mummy, yuh smell up di whole kitchen," she said, stepping into the kitchen where Edith was flipping dumplings with military precision.

"Good morning, babygirls," Edith said with a soft smile. "Eat. Then you two can go by the plaza. Mi know unnu want to show off the little pretty clothes dem weh yuh get in the barrel." (I know you two can't wait to show off the pretty outfits you got from overseas).

Tasha smirked and grabbed a plate. "You are not wrong."

“Aunty Edith, dem dumplings here bad!”

“Thank you, Debs,” Edith smiled. “Now eat up. I'm gonna check on Mama Pryce.”

Debby sat at the table with her legs crossed, scrolling on her phone and sipping carrot juice like royalty. She grinned as Tasha sat down beside her.

"So," Debby said, not even waiting for her to take a bite, "you going to tell me what that white man was doing here last night? Or should I start assuming things?"

Tasha almost choked on her food. "What? Who?"

Debby leaned in dramatically. "Don't play dumb. Man looked like a Calvin Klein ad. I saw him jumping the fence last night. Girl, yuh never tell me Mr. Red Bimma was back in town."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Tasha protested. "You know mi haven't seen him since that night at mi sixteenth birthday party."

Debby's eyes widened. "Wait! Wonder if he's planning to kidnap you?!" She gasped and clutched her imaginary pearls. "Tasha! That's a Lifetime movie setup!"

"I know," Tasha said quietly, suddenly not feeling so hungry. "If what you're saying is true, then mi haffi be more vigilant. But mi nuh feel like he would harm me. When we met that one time, he didn't seem dangerous. More like... I don't know. Familiar." (I have to be more vigilant. But I don't feel like he would harm me).

"Familiar like 'daddy issues’ familiar or like 'sweet baby Jesus that man is fine' familiar?" Debby asked, dead serious.

Tasha gave her a look. "You're ridiculous."

Debby shrugged. "And yet, not wrong."

The rest of the morning passed in a blur. They walked to the plaza, grabbed ice cream, got catcalled by a group of tight-pants-wearing boys in fake gold chains, and dodged Mrs. Thompson from church, who always asked when Tasha and Rupert were getting married.

Rupert and Tasha had been dating for two years, and even though she was still a virgin, she couldn't wait to make love to the pastor's son. She even moved some of her clothes over to his apartment. He gave her closet space, and the two biggest drawers. It was almost official. All she needed was to forward her mail there as well. Debby found it weird that she'd been having sleepovers with a man she wasn't being intimate with. But Tasha didn't care what her cousin thought. She loved Rupert.

Then she thought about how that dream kept pulling at her.

"Gal, yuh spacing out again," Debby pinched her shoulder.

"Ouch!" Tasha yelled. "You little Johncrow."

"Sorry, but mi been calling yuh name so long mi mouth tired."

"Cho man," Tasha hissed her teeth and rubbed her shoulder. "What were you saying?"

"When yuh going to leave Rupert? Mi keep hearing some dirty things 'bout him. He's not good for you. Him a man whore. Tell you ‘bout pastor pickney dem. Bad like AIDS.” (When are you going to leave Rupert? I keep hearing some dirty things about him. He's not good for you. He's a man whore. I keep telling people that a pastor’s child is the worst. They are bad like AIDS).

"But he's never pressured me for sex, though.”

"That's cause he grooming yuh to be a trophy wife, one that Pastor Myrie approves of. We know he getting pussy elsewhere mek him not pressuring you for none."

"Debby, enough! Rupert loves me and respects me enough to wait till marriage."

"So you're saying he's going to wait one more year to tap that booty?"

"Yes. I'll graduate from UTech this year, and he's giving me a year to settle into my banking job before we get married."

"Alright, Miss. Continue living in your dream world."

The two girls continued walking and laughing, until Debby saw the man she thought she'd seen jumping their fence.

"Rahtid!" she snapped. (Aye!)

"What is it?"

Debby pointed with her mouth. "Don't look, but right over by the peanut cart, there's a white man standing there, watching us."

Tasha began to turn, but Debby grabbed her wrist.

"Fool-fool gal! Didn't mi just tell yuh not to look?" (Idiot girl! Didn't I just tell you not to look?)

"Then how I supposed to know who you talking about?"

"Just follow mi lead," Debby hissed her teeth. "Yuh nuh ready for the mission at all."

Debby stepped into the street, dodging the fruit man who was trying to sell her a dozen spoiled oranges. She weaved through vendors and passersby until she stood in front of the man.

"Mi catch yuh now, white bwoy!" Debby snapped. "EVERYBODY! EVERYBODY! This man been watching us like he want to kidnap us!" Debby started to make a scene.

"Wait! No! Hold on, listen to me," the man tried to explain.

"Mi nuh want hear nothing! Mi see yuh jumping mi fence last night. What were yuh doing in mi yard?" (I don't wanna hear it! I saw you jumping my fence last night. What were you doing in my yard?)

"Debby, what the hell are you doing?" Tasha hissed.

"Putting the white bwoy on the spot. Yuh think yuh can come here and traffic we like slavery days?"

"Woah! Listen, miss. You’re taking it too far."

"Browning, yuh good? This whitey bothering yuh?" the peanut vendor asked. (Nice Girl, are you okay? This white man is not bothering you?)

"It's okay, Nutsy. Mi bet this is just a big misunderstanding," Tasha tried to calm the scene. "Right, Debs?"

"It is," the white man gulped. "You should listen to your cousin."

"Eh eh!" Debby shouted. She pulled off her slipper and started beating the man. "How yuh know we're cousins? How long you been watching us?"

The man just stood there, taking the beating, which felt like feathers over his muscles.

People were laughing, and some were taking videos and pictures.

Debby finally dropped her hands to her sides, breathing heavily. "What are you, the Terminator?"

The man laughed. "I'm just a tourist enjoying his vacation when a mad woman starts beating him with a slipper."

"So you saying you weren't watching us? And you didn't jump our fence last night to watch us powder our pokies?”Debby asked.

"I'm just fascinated by the culture and vibrancy of this place,” he let out. “And I have no idea what pokies are.”

"So what's with the camera?" Debs asked.

"People bring these on vacation to capture beautiful moments."

"Yuh sassing me, white bwoy?" Debby squinted her eyes.

"No, ma'am. I'm not."

Debby watched him for a beat. "What's your name?"

"Christopher."

"Well, Christopher, yuh scared the bejesus outta me and mi cousin, so you owe us lunch."

"Lunch?" His eyes widened.

"Yes, man. Come. KFC right 'round di corner," Debby said, pulling the white man through the busy street.

And all Tasha could do was follow them.