Cranberry Clairvoyant (Azealia Banks Story)

Crazy and Uncured

They couldn’t hear us, no matter how loud we yelled. It was silly of us to think they could ever hear, anyway. We had to out-swim the ship, make them see us. The water was calm and cool as our arms and legs swooshed through it, delivering us to the side of the ship quicker than we expected.

It docked by a pretty pier on the water with loud birds circling overhead. In an orderly line, as always, the passengers exited the ship and stepped onto the pier buzzing with conversation like bees.

“Let’s wait a minute,” Darrius pulled me back gently when I reached to approach them.

“For what?”

“We don’t want to make a scene. They just docked; let them settle a bit and then we’ll speak to your father.” He suggested.

“I won’t be speaking to anybody! I’m going to yell at them for leaving me stranded to die, and then I’ll show them how we’ve been living like cavemen.”

“We haven’t been living like cavemen, actually. We’ve had everything we’ve needed, and we look pretty healthy,” Darrius was saying from behind me. I couldn’t listen to him; instead, I lifted one leg onto the pier and stomped right over to the entrance of the ship. I marched up the stairs, disregarding the stares and gasps and questions that instantly came my way. So far, Dad was nowhere in sight. I pushed past everyone until I was in the ship’s lobby. Still, he wasn’t here.

“Where is my father?” I asked someone who was passing by me.

“Right there,” The girl pointed. I looked up to see my father in a formal suit and tie, walking down the stairs regally with his head held high and his lips pressed grimly into a perfect line. Down each step he went, carefully descending until finally he was eye-to-eye with me. My heart jumped.

“Good night.” Dad nodded to me. And then, just like that, he walked past me as if I was nobody.

“Hey, wait a minute—

“Leave him, Azealia.” A pair of arms was pulling me back from my father as I ran toward him. It wasn’t Darrius; he stood in front of me, trying to catch my father’s attention himself. I turned around to see Milan. After all this time, seeing her felt strange. She hadn’t changed one bit—not even her expression changed, still a slight smile laced with seriousness and her head tilted to the side. I breathed in and out, fuming on the inside as I remembered that day. It was her who made me do this; Darrius left the ship and it was she who told me to go after him through that door. If you really thought about it, Milan was the reason why I spent that time on the island.

“You!” I screamed, slapping her as hard as one of my hands could manage. She stumbled backward and prepared to strike me back only when Destiny came between us with her arms outstretched.

“Stop this!” She yelled. Then she looked at me, grabbed my wrist, and pulled me into the storage room and locking the door after Milan joined us. She turned on the light and sat down on a wooden stool.

“What are we doing in here?” I asked. The room was stuffy and narrow, cluttered with cleaning supplies and other tools that the janitor used. There was barely enough space for the light fixture above our heads or the stools that Destiny and Milan sat on.

“It’s good to have you back.” Destiny smiled.

“Don’t play games with me. I spent what felt like a year on a dangerous, faraway island, I had to defend myself and almost died twice, and I swam through a storm all the way here to get to you. So tell me what’s going on!”

“No, Zee, I mean it when I say that I missed you. I know you’re upset, but Milan and I have been seriously worried about you. You’ve been gone for almost two months now.” Destiny explained, standing up to caress my arm. “A lot of things have happened while you’ve been gone.”