A Forced New Start
My mother and I have always had more of a sister relationship, than a mother and daughter one. I would never question her choice of boyfriends and never complain but something about her new boyfriend Roger that was quite fishy. I knew my mom had been in a long-distance relationship, and I knew that they were engaged, but what happened next change the course of my own life. Roger and I got along I guess, we never and still don’t have a great relationship but he was more a quite kept to himself man, very sarcastic as well which I did not like. Nonetheless, I did not care about their relationship, as far as I knew it was my mom’s life and I was not concerned with whom she wanted to spend it with. I was 11 and during that time I had my whole friend group intact, my best friends Amber and Katherine, as well as my grandmother who was more of a mother figure to me at the time. Life was easy. That night in my cozy little living room in Hollywood, Florida my mom started talking to me about how our lives were going to be different and I was unsure by how she meant it. She began to explain how now we had to move from where we lived and I asked her where naively. “We are moving to Grand Cayman.” She told me with the biggest smile. Nothing rang in my mind to where this place could be so I asked, “Where exactly in Florida is it located?”
I had a little globe that use to sit on my desk with my dinosaur computer. I was looking all over Florida to see if there was a place called Grand Cayman, and I couldn’t find it. Finally, after telling my mom I could not locate it, she told me it was in the Caribbean. That idea induced panic. I glanced over to Cuba and Jamaica, and still could not see it. My mother took the globe herself and then realized I wasn’t joking around. She then explained, “It’s a small island only 21 miles long, with a small population of 40,000 people.”
I automatically hated it not because of what it was, but because I was being removed from everything I knew, everyone I had known, and all of my experiences and places I loved. That whole year I dreaded the idea of moving, but knew I had no choice. Often I would find myself crying before my shower so the sound of the water could drown out my sobs.
I had to say goodbye to my grandmother who raised me, and that was one the hardest thing to do. We stood there hugging, both of us crying. My mom kept rushing us because we needed to get in the taxi to go to the airport but I kept holding on to my grandma, smelling her violet perfume wondering when I would be able to smell it again. Not only was I moving, I also had to leave my grandmother who was practically my mom and now had my mom try to actually be my mother. I didn’t like it. I hated it in fact that all of a sudden my mom gets remarried, pulls me away from everything I knew, and then on top it, tries to be my mother now. I remember lifting off the runway and just tears of sadness streaming down my face.
We landed late at night and approaching the island, I was confused as to why it was pitch dark, barely any twinkling lights glowing. I was also confused as to why we had to walk down the stairs on a mobile stairway that connected to the plane, and walk out the runway into the airport. I had never seen anything like it. The air smelled like salt, and it was so humid and sticky, even at night. The stars were so beautiful; you could see every one of them in the pitch-black sky. After the process of getting our bags and clearing immigration, it was time to get the car and go to what I would soon call my new home. Everyone spoke so differently, almost like a Jamaican dialect but a little bit more clearly and there were people still out walking and riding their bikes on the roadside. There were No traffic lights and just roundabouts in sight. We were also driving on the left side of the road, which scared me when a car was headed our way. Every road we took was dark, only lit up by an occasional streetlight.
The first look at my house was an unfair sight due to the fact that it looks completely different in daylight. I heard every bug imaginable, and many frogs while I was waiting for my stepdad to unlock the door. The moment I stepped foot inside that hothouse, two thoughts went through my head. First, no wonder this man needed a wife. There were dust and spider webs everywhere showing signs of neglect and no cleaning. The air also smelled faintly of cigarette smoke because he used to smoke inside. My second thought was it’s hotter in here than outside. Just a sense of discomfort came over me. I could only feel disgusted and even more homesick. That night I slept with the windows open on a futon bed. Around two in the morning, the roosters began to wake me up. That first night I could not sleep, mainly because of the shock of my new living conditions, and all the animals that were making noises outside.
The next day, with the sun out, I was able to get a good look at my surroundings. The yard was very green and the neighbors were very far apart. There were so many palm trees and flowers. Wild chickens and roosters were grazing all over, and later I was told it was a normal thing. There were iguanas everywhere, as well and just this salty air smell because the ocean was a minute walk away.
I stepped outside the house for a moment and the house was built on columns with a wrap-around porch. I walked to the front portion of the porch and looked out onto the two-lane street and thought, this is now the place I call home, this is a whole new way to live. This was a second chance at life, or a second place to fall in love with.
