By: Zuri Lovelace
Zuri was up all night. Typical, as she is the queen of procrastination when it comes to packing, no matter where she is going. But she had to admit, she was anxious and excited and it was keeping her up. She was packing for a much-needed vacation to the Dominican Republic! She had never been before but had been obsessing over the pictures of the resort she would be staying at. She was truly excited for a break from her monotonous job. Thank goodness for friends; her bestie Tonya decided last minute she wanted to celebrate turning 25 in a big way. They picked a resort and book the vacation and she had been on the countdown ever since.
Finally, the morning came and Zuri’s mom drove her to the commuter bus that would take them to BWI Airport. The moms exchanged conversation, pleasantries and laughs, the girls said their goodbyes and they were off. Zuri and Tonya talked excitedly about what they wanted to do once they finally got to DR.
After a modest 4-hour plane ride, and a 30-minute taxi ride, the girls had stepped into paradise! The resort was gorgeous. They offered rum punch at the front door, had two sprawling pools, all the drinks and food you could imagine and a huge, white sand beach with the clearest blue water. Zuri could not stop smiling. She knew this was going to be one of the best vacations ever.
The girls checked into their room, unpacked their bags and took a nap. They were truly jet-lagged. Later on, they got dressed up for dinner and afterward, ended up walking the resort and going to the resident nightclub. While they danced the night away and threw back rum shots and jack and cokes, Zuri wandered outside to find a bathroom and saw a man who clearly worked at the hotel. He was fine; sun-kissed skin, slim, athletic body and a boyish face. She asked him where the bathroom was and they flirted a little, which was rough because of their language barrier (she knew she should have paid more attention in Spanish class). Nevertheless, they carried on their cheeky conversation before she went about her night, joking to Tonya that she had found her summer fling.
The next day the girls laid out on the beach for a little while, recovering from the night before. Zuri got up to get some food from the beachside grill when she saw the guy from the night before. The beach air must have had her feeling herself, because she marched right up to him like she knew him. She said hello (in Spanish, hey at least she knew that much!) and asked his name. He told her Emmanuel and smiled back at her. He was too good looking for words. She asked him where he lived (like she knew the Dominican Republic like that) and how old he was. He asked her where she was from in the U.S. and kept calling her “bonita”. Zuri was easily flattered. He told her that he could show her and Tonya around and let her know what things to avoid around the resort. She told him she might take him up on his offer. He had to get back to work but Zuri had a feeling she would be seeing him again.
She ran back to the beach and told Tonya she saw her summer fling again. Tonya was not trying to hear about exploring with some random person, and neither was Zuri, but the thought of having the option fed into Zuri’s adventurous side
All throughout the trip, Zuri kept seeing Emmanuel. She even found herself going off by herself to talk to him and have steamy make out sessions and sexual romps all up and down the resort. She felt liberated and was getting it. What had gotten into her!?
The last day of their vacation, they were out on the beach when she heard a whisper behind her. It was Emmanuel! He motioned for her to come into one of the private, enclosed changing cabanas on the beach. She gave him a look to let him know Tonya was around and that she wasn’t going to leave her. She sat back down in her chair.
“What are you doing?” Tonya said.
“What are you talking about?” Zuri replied.
“Why don’t you go over there? He is into you girl, you better get on that!”
Zuri was surprised, most friends wouldn’t encourage that, at least not during a trip that was supposed to be for their birthday. But, Zuri was not about to object. She snuck into the cabana and they went at it like animals. He kissed her so slow and deep, she forgot where she was for a moment.
Before the girls left the beach, Emmanuel approached them. He tried to ask Zuri something but she really couldn’t understand him. He brought his friend, another person working at the resort, over to translate for him. Emmanuel wanted the girls to come out with him and his friends to some local, hole-in-the-wall bar that night. Zuri kept making up excuses while he kept trying to prod them off the resort. She could tell that Tonya was uncomfortable. He eventually gave in after Zuri gave him her number and he said he would stay in touch.
Fast forward to 3 weeks after their glorious vacation. Zuri had told all of her friends about her Dominican fling (not really lol) and suddenly she gets a text from an unknown number. It was none other than Emmanuel. He texted her saying that he missed her and wished that she could come back and see him again. She immediately text Tonya.
“Girl you better not answer him back! Do you have WhatsApp?” she exclaimed. “You are gonna run your cell phone bill up!”
Zuri had never heard of the app but she quickly downloaded it and continued their conversation. Google Translate became her best-freaking-friend. Looking back, Zuri didn’t know what she wanted or thought she wanted from this. Where did she think this was going to go? He was in an entirely different country. They barely spoke each other’s languages. But yet she was still eager for him. Maybe it was the compliments he showered her with. Or the excitement of dating someone that was totally different from her. Or the fact that she had been out of the game for a while. She can’t pinpoint it. Whatever it was, she should have nipped it in the bud after she got back on US soil, ahhh to be young and naive again.
Suddenly their conversations turned….odd. He wanted her to talk to his cousin in New York so he could tell her what a good man Emmanuel was (and he really did try to call her!). He told her about how much he loved the U.S and wanted to travel. Down the line, the kicker came. He sent her a long message on WhatsApp and she had to get one of her best friends to translate it for her, quicker and more reliable than Google Translate she would soon find out. When her friend sent her back the translated message she was shook. He wanted her to go to the DR Embassy in DC and give them his name and age and tell them that they were in a relationship so that he could come to States. The AUDACITY. She was shocked. Not so much because he was obviously trying to use her (which was bad enough) but because he thought she was dumb enough to do that! She was even madder at herself, for even letting whatever they were doing, come to that. Who did he think he was? Who did he think she was? Her friend, Lena, who translated the message for her, called her immediately concerned.
“Did you tell him anything? Does he know where you live? You haven’t given him any money, have you?” she asked worriedly.
The answer was a resounding no to all, and she ensured her friend that was the last time she would EVER be talking to him again. She deleted the app, blocked his number, and put his whole existence out of sight and out of mind. You know Zuri had to tell Tonya. After her initial shock, they belly laughed at the situation.
“Bitch can you believe this!?” Zuri said to her over the phone.
“I told you not to text him back!” Tonya laughed.
But that would not be the last of Emmanuel, oh no. 2 years after this whole debacle; Zuri was on Facebook, and got a friend request and a message from none other than…Emmanuel! Mind you, Zuri has not spoken to him since she deleted that app. She was floored. After perusing through his Facebook (come on, you know she had to), she found out that he had not only moved to Florida (surprise surprise) but that he had gotten married to an American born woman only a few months earlier! And they just had a baby, who was only about a month old! Zuri sat at her computer and bust out laughing! At this point it was comical, but she could not believe what she was seeing. He was determined to get to America one way or another.
Moral of the story, Zuri is not Stella and she no longer is going on vacations to get her groove back.
Poundcake Proverbs 