By Bridget Trenkle
‘How hard can it be? It’s a
tourist destination after all. I’m sure there will be plenty of people
who can help me,’ Barbara thought as the plane landed.
This was a bigger risk than she
was used to taking—vacationing in a Spanish speaking country, but she had
promised herself that she would not let being single again stop her from
travelling. She had booked a week in Cozumel Mexico as a gift to herself for
her thirtieth birthday.
Arriving at the hotel, she was
relieved to see that it looked clean and respectable. Barbara had made the
reservations by fax and had only a few tour books to go by so she wasn’t sure
what she would actually be getting.
After unpacking, Barbara headed to
the tour desk in the lobby. Sitting behind the desk was a young
dark-skinned man with wavy brown hair and brown eyes.
“¿Habla inglés?” She was determined to use the few phrases of Spanish that
she knew.
“Sometimes,” he replied, smiling,
his eyebrows raised in a solicitous manner.
“Would you be willing to now
please?”
“For you, of course. How can I
help you?”
Barbara was wary of men in
general, and good looking ones in particular, and was caught off guard by this
young man’s sweet demeanor. ‘A ladies man, to be sure,’ Barbara thought.
“Uh…do you have a map of the
town?”
“Si...yes,” opening up a
tourist map.
“Can you show me where Avenida
Juarez is on the map?”
“Si,” he said, circling both the hotel and the street she was
looking for. Cozumel was an island town and it only had one main street.
It wasn’t as if she could get lost.
“Gracias,” Barbara replied, as she quickly collected the tourist map
off the desk and moved towards the exit. ‘Oh my, if all the men
in Cozumel are like that, I’m in trouble,’ she thought.
As Barbara entered the hotel lobby
after getting fitted at the dive shop, she looked up towards the desk. He
wasn’t there, and she was surprised to feel a smidgen of disappointment.
She knew that it was crazy to feel that way. ‘He’s got to be at least
ten years younger than I am,’ she thought.
And then, there he was. He had
been hidden by a large column so she hadn’t seen him until she arrived on the
landing where the desk was.
“Hola, welcome back!’’ he said.
“You find the street okay?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“My name is Mauricio. You..?”
“Barbara. Mucho gusto,”
she added, reaching her hand out to shake his. Surprised by the softness
of his skin as he cupped her hand with both of his, she gasped. ‘What
is wrong with me?’ she thought, ‘this is not like me at all!’
“You like my island?” he asked
playfully.
“Yes...so far so good; I only
arrived this morning.” Barbara said with a slight edge to her voice. Like
a dog who gets its hackles up when it senses danger, Barbara’s New York City
upbringing flared her ingrained suspiciousness.
“Where you from?”
“North America.”
“Where?”
“Originally New York, but I live
in San Francisco.”
“Is pretty there, no?”
“Yes, it is,” she said a little more
curtly than she meant to. Wanting to get the focus off of her, she asked for
tourist information; after all, that was what he was supposed to be doing, not
asking personal questions.
“Si, you want tour? We do
tours here,’’ pointing to the desk he was sitting at. “Maybe you want boat
tour? Jet ski? Motorbike?” Mauricio gathered a handful of brochures and
passed them to Barbara.
“Thank you, I’ll look them over.
Do I sign up here?” pointing to the desk.
“Si, conmigo,” Mauricio
said, smiling.
Barbara was having lunch at the
poolside cafe the next day when she saw Mauricio heading in her direction.
“Buenas dias señorita,” he
said as he approached.
“Buenas dias,” she said,
smiling. ‘What the heck, it won’t kill me to be nice,’ she thought.
“Please, sit.”
“I come to ask, you want to sign
up for tour?”
‘I’m sure this is his job, to
follow up,’ she thought. “Uh...I haven’t
decided yet. I go scuba diving tomorrow. Renting a motorbike sounds good; maybe
later in the week.”
“Is this first time you dive?”
“No, but first time in warm water.
I just got certified last month in Monterey Bay, California where the water is
freezing cold and you have to wear a full wetsuit, boots, cap and gloves.” Barbara
was surprised at how much she was enjoying this contact with him. “And there
you mostly see huge fields of kelp which you have to be careful not to get
tangled in. The truth is that I got certified so I could come to warm tropical
places like this, and see the beautiful fish and coral reefs.”
“Ah, you will love it,” he
replied, “it’s a beautiful world under the sea.”
“Do you dive?”
“Si, señorita, it is part
of the life here.”
“It is a beautiful island.”
“Ah, so you do like my island,
yes?”
“So far,” Barbara said, chuckling
a bit. “We’ll see how the week goes.” They said nothing for a moment and Barbara
felt a blush come to her cheeks. ‘I hope he didn’t notice that.’
“Well, if I want to rent a
motorbike, can I rent one here at the hotel?”
“Si, conmigo,” he replied,
raising his eyebrows slightly as he smiled.
“Is everything contigo?”
she asked, feeling impressed with herself that she knew how to say ‘with you’
in Spanish, and in spite of herself, enjoying the flirtation happening between
them.
“Si, if you like.”
Lugging her weight belt, her BCD
jacket and her tank from the back of the van to the boat was harder than she
expected. As she reached the boat and started to haul the equipment onboard,
she saw him come out of the cabin. ‘What the...??’
“Buenas dias señorita,” Mauricio
said, “welcome aboard.”
“What are you doing here?!” she
asked, her surprise making her voice squeak a bit.
“I am dive master for trip,” he
said. “Let me help you.”
“I don’t understand,” Barbara
replied as she handed the tank up to him and climbed on board. ‘Can this be
a coincidence? How did he know what dive I was scheduled for? Oh yeah, I
mentioned it. But still...this is too weird.’ Barbara got an uneasy feeling
in the pit of her stomach.
Mauricio just smiled. ‘I work
extra jobs, to help my family,’ he said. ‘Maybe I am not what you think,’ he
added as he reached to take another passenger’s tank on board.
‘Wow...I don’t know what to
think,’ Barbara mused, but she had to
admit that she had pegged him as at least a hustler, if not a gigolo. ‘Maybe
he’s not.’ Barbara felt a little embarrassed for stereotyping him. She
hated it when she saw others making generalizations and here she had decided
something about Mauricio because he was young, handsome and from Latin America.
“You are young to be a dive
master,” she said. “How long have you been diving?” She knew that you had to be
at least eighteen to even begin the course and you needed at least sixty dives
to become certified. ‘Well I guess it would be pretty easy to do that here,’
she thought.
Smiling, he said “Señorita,
disculpame. We can talk later. Now, we go dive.”
As she jumped from the boat into
the water, she was elated to feel the warmth of the water on her skin; with
only her bathing suit and dive equipment, she felt like she was swimming in the
nude and the sense of freedom was exquisite. As she waited for the other
divers, she looked through her scuba mask into the water and below her she saw
brightly colored tropical fish and coral reefs; the beauty and grandeur of the
underwater world was awe-inspiring.
Gliding with the current, not
having to exert any energy at all, the inhale and exhale of her breath
meditative; Barbara was ecstatic. It was as if she was in an aquarium but she
was the specimen, so small in contrast to the coral reef she floated by, the
fish and other sea creatures wondering who this strange bubbly intruder was.
On their last dive, as they
approached a tunnel Mauricio had briefed them about, Barbara pointed to the
left to indicate to her assigned diving buddy that they should be following
Mauricio’s assistant. They had agreed when on board that they weren’t
going to go inside the tunnel; it had been crystal clear--those that wanted to
do the tunnel were to follow Mauricio; those that didn’t would follow the
assistant.
‘What the hell is she doing?!’ Barbara shrieked to herself. ‘Stick with your buddy’ was
the cardinal rule in diving, and here this woman was swimming away from her,
following the group that was going towards the tunnel. Barbara tapped on her
tank to try and get her attention. ‘Oh shit!’ She wasn’t close enough to
either group to get anyone else’s help. Feeling panicked, Barbara started
swimming, trying to catch up.
‘Oh God,’ Barbara thought as she reached the opening. ‘Slow
and steady.’ She wasn’t actually claustrophobic but she definitely didn’t
like the idea of going into an enclosed place underwater, and she didn’t think
she was experienced enough to maneuver close quarters. Luckily it wasn’t as
narrow as she thought it was going to be, and within a few minutes she saw the
opening on the other side, though no sign of her buddy.
‘Whew,’ she thought, feeling relieved at this ordeal being
almost over. Just at that moment, she felt her regulator get tugged out
of her mouth, and she started breathing in water. ‘What the..?’ Her breathing tube had snagged on a
stalactite above her. At that very moment, someone grabbed her arm and thrust a
regulator in her mouth. A tap on her scuba mask directed her eyes to the
person in front of her. It was Mauricio. He had come back for her.
Keeping his hands on her shoulders
as she sputtered and cleared the water she had taken in, Mauricio waited till
her breathing had returned to normal, then gave the signal for them to swim out
of the tunnel together. As they reached the location for ascent, he again
tapped on her scuba mask. Waving his finger between their eyes, he
indicated that they would go up together. Wrapping his arm around her waist,
maintaining eye contact, Mauricio began the ascent, and slowly they rose.
Gliding through the warm water, the synchronicity of their breathing, looking into
his eyes, feeling his strong arm around her, Barbara thought ‘this is what
safety feels like.’
Back on board the boat, Barbara
looked for her diving buddy and saw Mauricio already talking with her. ‘Wow,
he takes his job seriously. I guess I’ll let him deal with her,’ she
thought.
Barbara was intentionally slow
getting off the boat and was the last passenger to disembark; she wanted to
thank Mauricio for his quick action and his professionalism. Mauricio was
already on the dock, and offered his hand to help her down; there was a charge
when they touched. It made her blush.
“Thank you, Mauricio, for
everything, really.”
“Señorita, let’s celebrate.
Tonight, we go to a special restaurant, yes?”
Dismissing the negative chatter
she heard inside, she said, “I would love to.”
As they ate, Barbara asked him
questions, hoping to figure him out. She learned that he was twenty, was the
oldest in his family, and the only boy. His mother and three sisters lived on
the Yucatan Peninsula on the mainland of Mexico, about a three hour trip by
ferry and bus from Cozumel. He travelled home every weekend to visit them
and bring them money. His mother made tamales and washed clothes but it wasn’t
enough to support the four of them.
‘Wow, maybe I was wrong,’ Barbara thought.
“Now, you,” Mauricio said.
Barbara shared that she was the
youngest of five, that her mother had died when she was eighteen, and that she
had been supporting herself financially since then; she worked as a counselor,
she told him.
“We are not so different,” he
said. “¿Cuántos años tienes?” Barbara had told him she had always wanted
to learn Spanish, so every now and then he threw some basic Spanish phrases
into their conversation.
Barbara rolled her eyes and
grimaced. “Here, we are different,” she said, feeling embarrassed. “Treinta.
Muy vieja.”
“Noooo...perfecto,”
Mauricio replied, reaching for her hand and squeezing it gently. “Tu eres
muy bonita.”
Walking back to the hotel, he
reached for her hand. “¿Está bien?”
he asked.
“Si, está bien.”
That night she lay in bed
reflecting on the day. So much had happened, it was hard to take it all in. She
flashed back to the dive. The trouble she had got into really rattled her. She
didn’t like to rely on anyone for anything; it was scary to feel like her very survival
depended on someone else, and she tried never to be beholden to anyone. If
Mauricio had not circled back, she wasn’t sure what would have happened. She didn’t
want to think about that. And yet, the feeling of safety she had being in his
arms felt good, hard as that was to acknowledge.
Thinking about what was going on
with Mauricio, she couldn’t help but smile. ‘We were able to find
things to talk about despite the difference in language and culture. Oh yes,
and age,’ she thought with a little giggle. They had kissed when he dropped
her off, and she was glad. It was a boost to her self-esteem to have this young
attractive Mexican man flirt with her, and she had to admit that she liked him.
‘Young, for sure, but very sweet,’ she thought as she drifted off to
sleep.
In the morning, Mauricio was at
the desk when she went down for breakfast.
“Buenos dias,’’ he said, smiling.
“Buenos dias,” Barbara said, smiling back.
“We have special night dive
tonight. You like to come?”
“Really? I don’t know...I kind of
messed up yesterday”
“Don’t worry. I’m the dive
master,” he said.
“Are there other people going?”
“Si,” he said smiling, “you will be safe, I promise.”
The night dive was almost
indescribable; it was like a whole different world. They did one of the same
dives that they had done in the daytime and it was amazing the different fish
and sea creatures seen at night. She wasn’t sure if he had done it
deliberately, but there were an odd number of passengers and so they ended up
being dive buddies. She was relieved and happy; she trusted him, at least
underwater.
They dove deeper and longer than
she ever had before, and on the ascent he again held her close, this time
gently turning them as they rose, wrapping his leg around hers. She could feel
her heart beating faster and she had to concentrate on keeping her breathing
steady. ‘Yes’ was all she could think as she reached the surface.
When all of the other passengers
were off the boat, Mauricio held out his hand, inviting her into his embrace.
“What did you decide; will you
spend the night?” he asked again.
“Yes.”
Barbara opened her eyes to see
Mauricio laying next to her, still asleep. She didn’t tire of looking at
his body, which to her appeared perfect--he was muscular, lean, his skin soft
and beautifully tanned. He was slightly taller but not by much and she loved
how their bodies fit together.
“Buenos dias, mi princesa,”
Mauricio said as he opened his eyes.
“Buenos dias,” she said, pulling the sheet up over her naked body.
She was self-conscious about her own body, it not being as muscular or
lean as it had been when she was his age.
“Today, I take you on a motorbike
and show you the island, yes?”
“That sounds like fun,” she said,
smiling.
“Bueno, after my work; 4pm,
yes?
“Sure.” The mind chatter was
there, but only at a low hum. It was true she had paid for dinner the first
night and she knew she would be paying for the motorbike, but really, it was
probably the same cost whether it was one or two passengers. She didn’t think
she’d have the courage to rent one on her own, and if Mauricio was willing to
show her around, she rationalized that no matter what happened between them, it
really was a good opportunity to see the island.
“Slow down!” she squealed,
laughing.
“¿Qué?
¡No escucho nada!” he yelled back, tapping his ear
and shaking his head as he deliberately swerved the motorbike, bringing more
shrieks from the back.
The afternoon had been easy and
fun. They had zipped through the town during the afternoon, taking time to stop
at the beach to have a picnic meal and swim.
“I have a special place I want to
show you,’’ he said when they had stopped the motor bike outside of the rental
shop. It was getting dark.
“Uh, where is that?”
“To see stars,” he said.
‘Weird,’ she thought ‘another coincidence?’ She loved
stargazing. “How do I know I can trust you?” she replied. She meant it to come
out as a joke but the look of hurt and confusion that registered on his face
was very genuine. It pained her to see it. “Lo siento, lo siento;
I was only kidding; broma, broma. Si, vamos.”
“I like to invite you to my
house,” Mauricio said as they lay in bed the fifth morning of her stay.
“You mean your family’s house? On the
mainland? How long does it take to get there?”
“A few hours. We go tomorrow,
yes?”
Barbara’s alarms started blasting
in her head. It was one thing to have decided to have a fling with him, but
this was entirely another. She took some deep breaths to try and calm the
anxiety she was feeling. Or was it excitement? She really wasn’t sure. The
opportunity to see a part of Mexico that she was sure she would not go to on
her own, and experience how real people in Mexico lived, not the tourist
environment of a Caribbean island that was being overtaken by North American
fast food restaurants and retail stores, was alluring. ‘What to do, what to
do?’
She turned on her side to look at
him. The sunlight from the window lit his face and she was again struck by how
handsome he was. They seemed to have things in common. They genuinely liked each
other and were having fun together; why couldn’t she trust him? The buzz
in her head was mostly about what other people would think about these
decisions she was making. But really, nobody she knew was here, and it was
about time in her life to start doing what she wanted instead of trying to
please everyone else.
Taking a deep breath, she exhaled
slowly and said, “sure, I’d be honored.’’
The bus ride had been typical of
what she had read about in Mexico tour books: you could see the ground through the
holes in the floor of the bus, there really were people with crates of chickens
on board, and the rugged road and the nonexistent shock absorbers on the bus
made for a lively and bouncy ride. What she hadn’t expected was how many people
Mauricio knew and talked with during the trip, and how very gracious he was in
always introducing Barbara to whomever he was talking to.
When they arrived, Mauricio’s
sisters all came running out of the house to greet him, showering him with hugs
and kisses. As Barbara waited for the excitement to die down, she looked at the
house. It was a one story home, made of concrete, and it was well cared for. What
struck Barbara most never having travelled in the tropics, was the windows; she
had never seen windows in a home without glass before.
Once inside the house, Mauricio
introduced Barbara to everyone and there were “mucho gustos” all around.
His mother suggested they take turns taking a shower to rinse off the hot and
dusty ride before they sat down to eat. Barbara was handed a towel and taken by
Mauricio’s sisters to the corner of the backyard where there was a small
concrete stall with a cold water hose. ‘Wow, I sure do take a hell of a lot
for granted,’ she thought as she sprayed herself with water.
Just as she finished getting dressed,
Barbara heard laughter. Stepping out from the shower area she saw Mauricio
shimmy up a tree to pick some coconuts. Looking around the backyard, she saw a
banana tree and a mango tree as well. The simplicity of the life she was
sharing with this family was heartwarming and she felt grateful to be a part of
it.
“My mother needs an operation,’’
Mauricio said as they lay in bed on their last morning together.
“Oh my, what’s the matter?”
Barbara asked, thinking that his mom didn’t seem to be sick, and wondering
where this was leading.
“She has a problem with her
stomach,’’ he said. “I don’t like to ask, but can you help?”
“What do you mean?”
“We need ninety dollars. Can you
help us?”
“Hmmm...yes Mauricio, I can.”
