Fatal Pursuit

tres

I thought I could handle Spain's heat given that I live in Miami and I'm Trinidadian, but I was wrong, so very wrong. It was a type of heat that one cannot fathom if they've never experienced it. Not dry nor humid, just downright unbearable.
Although I couldn't complain too much because my skin was browning nicely but my hair was gaining volume by the hour and it was getting more difficult to manage.

I wasted no time in Googling some African braid shops and when I found one that was nearby and whose work looked promising, I walked in. With the help of Google Translate and a picture from Pinterest, I explained to them the style that I wanted.
The two sweet Guinean ladies who ran the shop tag-teamed my head and in 3 and a half hours, I was left with these gorgeous box braids that fell down my back.

I looked at myself in the mirror as they massaged mousse into my scalp and I couldn't help but admire my own reflection. At that moment I felt like I could actually look at myself and say that I was beautiful. It didn't feel corny or deluded, it felt genuine, it felt deserved.
I paid them 50 euros, double of what they asked, and headed back to the AirBnB.

When I had returned, a very content-looking ash blond stranger was sitting at the kitchen counter, "Hola!" he waves.

"Hi...let me guess, you're here for Genevieve?"

He smiled and looked away, "Yes. My name is Dante, like from Dante's Inferno. I'm from Italy."

Oh, so this is the "really hot" guy that G met last night. He was pretty cute but didn't seem to be G's usual type. She tends to either go for guys who look like they have no direction in life or multi-millionaires, no in between. But Dante looked so wholesome and sweet.

G emerged from her room wearing one of my bikinis that she borrowed months ago and never gave back and a crochet cover-up on top of it.

"Hey girl," she squinted her eyes at me, "oh... you got your hair done."

I ran my fingers through my fresh braids, "Yeah! What do you think?"

"Yeah, no they're uh ...interesting."

I furrowed my brow, "Interesting?"

"Yeah I mean, I just never seen you with like... dreadlocks before. It's just different. I just think your real hair looks better. But anyway, me and my boo," she linked arms with Dante, "are going to the beach, they're having a couple's event, I know you don't have anyone but you can still third-wheel if you want."

"I'm good."

"Alright," she shrugged her shoulders and looked back up at Dante, "babe can you wait for me outside I'm gonna go grab my hat."

He smiled warmly at her, "Of course." And craned his neck down to peck her on the lips.

Before crossing the threshold he turned to me and in a hushed tone said, "By the way, I think your braids look really nice." and winked.