Katani's Jamaican Holiday (11 page)

We sat on a concrete bench under one of the shade trees nearby. After Grandma took the first taste of her ice cream, she sighed with happiness and joked, “Remind me about cholesterol when we get back to Brookline. This ice cream is the best I’ve ever tasted!” No doubt about it, Grandma Ruby had fallen head over heels in love with Jamaica.

Afterward we went to look in the stores. I love hotel and museum gift shops. They always have cool treasures
that regular stores don’t, and this one was no exception. We bought Jamaica T-shirts for all the family back home. A skirt made from crinkled material, colored yellow shading into green, caught my eye. I thought it would go perfectly with my black blouse—the Jamaican colors.

“You like that skirt, Katani?” Grandma Ruby asked, coming over to me and fingering the crinkly fabric. “I think we can get this for you. And how about one for Olivia, too? You girls deserve something nice. I’m so proud of the way you’re trying new things and really connecting with our family here.” She opened her arms and gave me a big hug.

Ugh. What a way to make me feel even more guilty! Now I really felt like a rat and a half for not telling her anything about the night before. That’s the thing with doing something you know is wrong: It just eats at you and ruins your good times afterward.

I ended up buying five Rasta tams (a hat that looks a little like a beret) with fake dreadlocks attached at back. If I hadn’t been feeling so guilty, I would have laughed out loud when I imagined the stir the BSG would cause when we all wore them at the same time.

As we were checking out with the T-shirts, skirts for me and Olivia, and tams for the BSG, I noticed all the books about Jamaica lined up near the register. I remembered that I hadn’t told Grandma Ruby my idea about the book exchange with Olivia’s school yet.

“Grandma, I have a great idea,” I told her. After I explained it, a big smile spread across her face. “Why, Katani, I am so proud of you. That is a lovely idea.”

Outside, I noticed that there was an Internet café near the mansion. I asked Grandma’s permission to use it to send an e-mail to my friends back home. Grandma looked at her
watch and said, “Make it quick, Katani. The Devon House chef will be coming out soon and I don’t want you to have to search for us.” She gave me some money, and I raced to the computer.

I hoped sharing books with a Jamaican school would make up for keeping the truth from my grandma and frightening Ol’ Madda Bird. I wished I had the time to tell the BSG about this whole big mess; I could really use their help.

W
hen I got back to where Grandma and Selvin were waiting, they were sipping iced tea and mopping their brows. The temperature was in the nineties and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, so it was really hot. I begged for a sip of Grandma’s drink because I was thirsty too.
It’s incredible how good a cold drink tastes in the sunny Caribbean
, I thought as the iced tea chilled me out.

I was in the middle of another slurp when a man in a crazy white hat came out. “Won’t you come into the kitchen?” he invited us. Selvin had brought samples of Nana’s Banana Bliss for the chef to taste. My grandma was so excited to present Nana’s Bliss that her hands shook and she grabbed mine.

The kitchen in Devon House was jaw-dropping-amazing. I was going to have to describe this place to Avery’s brother Scott and Isabel’s sister Elena Maria—they both love to cook. The whole staff was dressed in white with these cool chef hats. They were cutting and chopping, and I even saw a whole fish head with the eyes and everything.

But the coolest thing, or should I say person, was the
head chef. I expected one of those chefs from TV—you know, like one of those smart-aleck types waving his hands around and telling everyone what to do. Except the chef wasn’t a man after all. Instead, it was a small, soft-spoken woman named Chloe. She had come all the way from England and, before that, a country in Africa called Ghana.

“Welcome to my kitchen. Please be seated and I will be with you in a moment. I must prepare the crème brûlée for the Trinidad ambassador. I am sure you understand that the crème cannot wait,” she explained as she smiled to us all. I stared at my grandma. I mean, who talks like that?

She sprinkled some brown sugar on a dish of custard, and then she grabbed this crazy blowtorch-looking thing and lit the dessert on fire! Flames shot up from the dish. I figured this must be some important ambassador to get such a fancy dessert. “She is caramelizing the sugar,” Grandma Ruby explained.

After she washed her hands, Chloe came over and sat down at the table with us. I noticed that she was wearing this awesomely cool African bracelet—the bead design really popped. When I told her how much I liked it, she pulled it off her wrist. “Please,” she said, “try it on.” That lady did not have to ask me twice.

“I love this. It’s so beautiful,” I
oohed
and
aahed
.

“You may keep it,” Chloe said casually, like it was nothing to give some girl you barely knew a beautiful bracelet. I looked at my grandma, who understood my dilemma. She tried to explain why I couldn’t accept the gift.

“Chloe, this is so lovely of you, but I can’t allow Katani to accept such a special gift.” My brain was screaming,
Yes, you can
, but I didn’t say a word. This situation was way too complicated for me to handle.

“Oh, but you must let her have it.” Chloe looked at
Grandma Ruby. “This is one of my Jamaica bracelets. It symbolizes the motto of this beautiful nation.”
Out of many, one people
, I remembered. “I make these bracelets for a hobby and give them away to people I like.” She chuckled and gave me a wink. “I cannot be in the kitchen all the time. The beads relax me. I would like Katani to have this bracelet as a remembrance of her trip to Jamaica, so that she can share her good times and memories with those around her.”

This time, Grandma nodded okay. I jumped out of my seat and gave Chloe the biggest hug. I practically lifted her off her feet.

“I’m going to make some notes and sketch the patterns on these beads in my design ideas notebook right away!” I told her, pulling out my Island Inspiration pad.

“Katani is an aspiring fashion designer,” Grandma Ruby explained as I scribbled.

“That is wonderful, Katani!” Chloe said with a smile. “If you like my bracelet, you must have good taste,” she joked. Then she turned back to business. “Now we must try the Bliss.”

Chloe nodded to Selvin, who was falling all over himself to impress her. He had laid out perfectly cut slices of Bliss. All of us were nervous as Chloe lifted a slice to her mouth
and took a tiny bite. I guessed chefs had to take small bites. I mean, if they took big bites day after day, they would get really huge.

I was surprised when Chloe took another bite and then another. Finally a big smile spread across her face. “This is perfectly wonderful banana bread. I think we would love to serve it to our customers.” And then she squished her eyebrows together. “But unfortunately, we won’t be able to start serving your marvelous Bliss for at least two months.”

“But, Chloe, why? We can deliver tomorrow, if you like,” Grandma Ruby asked in a worried voice as she leaned forward in her chair.

“Yes, Madame, and I am sorry,” she said in a very soft voice. These Jamaican people were so polite. “But, we have just this very morning signed a contract for two months with the Manteca Bay Bakery Company for their Banana Bread.”

Grandma looked at Selvin, who straightened his shoulders and stood up. I felt like crawling through a crack in the floor.

“We thank you for your time, Chloe. I hope that you will allow Nana’s Banana Bliss to come back and present to you again.” Grandma offered her hand to Chloe

I wondered if I should even give my bracelet back, but I could see that Chloe looked very upset too.

“Yes, yes, definitely. You must set up an appointment with my assistant. I am sure that we can work something out at the end of the contract with Manteca. It will be fine, you will see.” What a terrible situation! I didn’t know who I felt worse for: Grandma Ruby or Chloe.

Selvin packed up the rest of the Bliss and with that, we left the fancy kitchen and made our way in silence to the car. How disappointing.

Once we headed down the road, Grandma turned to
Selvin and said, “I told you that man must be spying on us. How would he know that we were coming here?” I could have sworn sparks were flying out of her eyes.

“Come now, Ruby,” Selvin tried to explain. “Him go all over the island. I think it’s only a coincidence.” Grandma snorted in disbelief and turned on the radio to the local reggae station. I couldn’t help thinking about Precious. Grandma might be right about Mr. Biggs spying on us, and I was pretty sure who had betrayed Nana’s Banana Bliss. But how could I tell her?

I don’t remember much of the trip back home after that. I was so tired that I fell into one of those sleeps that you don’t even know you are asleep until someone tries to wake you up. Then you feel like you are flying in from another planet. I didn’t open my eyes until we drove into the driveway and I heard the goats.

I raced out of the van, mumbling that I needed to take a shower. Olivia was in the bedroom asleep. I shook her awake. “Olivia, Olivia, we are in deep trouble. Wake up now.”

“Katani, I can’t, I’m too tired,” she groaned, and then put the pillow over her head. But I wasn’t having any of it. I ran to the bathroom and wet a face cloth with cold water. I ripped the pillow off her head and placed the cold cloth on her face—an old trick of my sister Patrice’s when she wanted me to get up on Saturday mornings.

Wouldn’t you know it? It worked for Olivia, too. She was awake in a flash. “Katani, what is your problem?”

“Olivia, it’s time to tell the truth.” I lost no time telling her what Grandma Ruby had said about Mr. Biggs spying. She finally got it. She looked at me with those big brown eyes of hers. “Do you really think that Mr. Biggs and Precious could be trying to sabotage the bakery?” she asked.

“I don’t know what this is all about, Olivia. But we’ve let it go too far. We have to tell.” I twirled my hair around my finger.

“What he could do, Mr. Biggs?” she asked in a dismissive tone.

“I don’t know, but if he wants Banana Bliss, he could be planning to get to every resort before we do. And Precious could even give him Aunt Faith’s secret recipe”

“You’re right, Katani. But, I’m going to be in big trouble.” She shook her head.

“You aren’t the only one, Olivia. My grandma is going to be pretty unhappy too.”

Suddenly we heard Cousin Cecil’s truck come into the yard and park. Both of us flinched when we heard how hard he slammed the door.

“What’s my dad doing home so early?” Olivia asked, sounding anxious.” It’s only four o’clock.”

I didn’t know, but immediately I began to feel apprehensive. Olivia and I grabbed each other’s hands. There was trouble ahead.

Then we heard Grandma calling, “Olivia, Katani, please come here immediately.”

It was an order, not a request. Hand in hand, we dragged ourselves to the veranda, where Cousin Cecil, Selvin, and Grandma were standing, waiting…for us. I knew that our faces said that we were guilty even before we were accused.

“Tell us, Katani. Tell me, Olivia,” Cousin Cecil said. “Where were you last night when we thought you were both in bed asleep?”

I couldn’t even manage to stammer out an answer. Olivia and I looked at each other miserably. Had Precious ratted on us to Cousin Cecil?

“This morning, first thing, everybody at the bakery was talking about how thieves tried to break in on the old lady you children call Ol’ Madda Bird, who is not a witch, as you ridiculous children believe. It is unthinkable that anybody around here would try something like that, so a couple of us went to investigate. We found out that late last night someone saw Precious on the road near Ol’ Madda Bird’s house and the bakery.”

“I know what she was doing!” I blurted out. I couldn’t believe I was interrupting Cousin Cecil when he already looked so angry that fire could shoot from his eyes any minute. But for the sake of Nana’s Banana Bliss, I just had to tell him what I knew. “Precious is—

“Katani, this is not the time,” Grandma Ruby scolded me. “But, Aunt Ruby, Dad, you don’t understand,” Olivia defended me. “Precious is—”

“Enough!” Cousin Cecil thundered. Olivia and I were shocked into silence. Cousin Cecil was stern sometimes, but I had never heard him raise his voice…until now. “It is no matter for you girls what Precious is or isn’t. As a matter of fact, I’ve just come from her house, and she has explained everything.”

“So you know why she was there last night?” I asked.

“Yes, Katani, I do, although I certainly do not feel the need to discuss employee issues with you girls. Ruby, you and I can have a talk about it after we are finished here.”

Grandma Ruby nodded. I guess if Cousin Cecil knew what Precious was up to, then everything was okay for Banana Bliss. But everything was definitely not okay for Olivia and me.

“Let’s get back to Ol’ Madda Bird,” Cousin Cecil
continued. “That poor, old, blind woman was so frightened by the intruders, she yelled for help, but when her neighbors came, they saw no one, only the open gate. The dog must have frightened them away. She is sure there was more than one.”

I knew then that, as my mother would say, our goose was really cooked. It wouldn’t be possible even to try to make up an excuse. If only Olivia had listened to me, I thought; then immediately felt guilty. I could have refused to go. Perhaps she would not have gone alone. My thoughts were all confused. I suddenly felt like lying down…on a nice beach somewhere, anywhere, as long as it was far away from here.

“Fast-forward,” Cousin Cecil continued, “to Precious leaving the bakery and meeting Olivia and Katani, who couldn’t say what they were doing on the road that time of night. It didn’t take long to figure out that our two young ladies here were on a midnight mission to scare a poor old lady who has done no harm to anyone.”

Grandma Ruby put her hand to her chest. “Katani, is this true?” I have never seen such disappointment in my grandmother’s eyes. Would Grandma Ruby ever forgive me?

“Do you want to tell us why you went to terrorize that poor woman?” Cousin Cecil demanded, after a silence.

Olivia gulped several times. Everybody was staring at us. I couldn’t speak. I tried to open my mouth, but nothing came out. I looked at Olivia and put my hands up. I was hoping she could pull it together. I couldn’t look at Grandma, so I just hung my head.

“Well?” Cousin Cecil said impatiently.

Finally, with many stops and starts, Olivia told them the whole story, in the tiniest voice I had ever heard from her. I finally managed to squeak a few words out too. “We never
expected her to be on the veranda; we just thought she would be asleep in her house, like everyone else.”

“We would never have scared her on purpose. We only wanted to get back the necklace from the dog,” a contrite Olivia explained.

“Well, I’m sure she’s grateful for that,” Grandma Ruby said sarcastically.

Ouch.
I was feeling terrible. What had I been thinking? A quick thought from health class raced through my mind:
The teenage brain sometimes prevents adolescents from predicting the consequences of their actions.
Perhaps I could plead adolescent confusion or something. I glanced over at Grandma Ruby. My defense died quickly when I saw her expression. It was her after-school Detention City look!

“Why didn’t you tell me you wanted to wear the necklace?” Cousin Cecil asked. Somehow his voice no longer sounded so stern.

“You won’t let me wear Mom’s jewelry,” Olivia insisted. “You say I’m too young, but I think it’s because you don’t want anybody wearing her things—not even me.”