Jade Is a Twisted Green by Tanya Turton

Author:Tanya Turton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dundurn Press

Southern Hospitality

The next morning, the sun glimmered through the curtains, and Tay’s eyes flickered open as she smelled fresh waffles, shrimp, and fruit in the kitchen. The steam of the shower drifted into the bedroom and warmed the air. She rolled over and lay in the middle of the bed, held her eyes closed, and took a mental picture of the moment. The feeling of joy tingled from her toes to her scalp and she let it radiate through her body. She had manifested this moment; she’d meditated and seen herself in a plush bed, the sun shining on her face, and breathing warm air filled with love. Pride was at the root of her joy. It had taken fifteen years, but she was finally starting to feel settled. It was ironic, but twenty-­four hours in Atlanta was making Toronto really feel like home. She lay there thinking about Aunty Ma and how grateful she was to have her. Leaving home had been hard.

Tay remembered being eleven and arriving on that snowy day. She’d thought her aunty would stay much longer than she had, and that was her last trip to Toronto. At first she’d been consumed with a longing for the smell of fresh breadfruit, and the way her aunt would roast it outside on the wood fire as the rooster crowed. But the more she felt at home in Toronto, the more estranged from home she was. There was no way to accept and lean in to her life in Canada without accepting and releasing her life in Jamaica. The push-­and-­pull of grounding and longing danced inside her most days, one igniting or smothering the other at any given moment.

The sun was shining today. The trees in Georgia were magnificent. She was not home, nor was she supposed to feel like it, but this mundane fact of her being an intentional visitor brought her the solace she needed to lie a few extra minutes, eyes closed, air warm, letting the sun make love to her melanin.

Crystal peeked her head in the door. “You up?”

“’Bout to be.” Tay pulled the sheet up over her breasts and held it tightly, speaking reluctantly.

“’Ight, well, the girls told me to let y’all know we are having mimosas in the kitchen.” Crystal stood in the doorway, waiting for a response.

Still in a state of quiet reflection, Tay said, “Tanks, gimme ten.”

“Oh shit,” Jade walked out of the bathroom, still dripping wet and completely naked, rubbing a white towel in her hair, and clearly shocked to find Crystal standing in the doorway.

“Nice tits,” Crystal said, looking almost impressed. She closed the door quietly. She’d seemed completely unaroused by Jade’s nudity and bored by the exchange, her expression a staunch difference from the reactions Jade’s frame often received.

“She gay?” Tay asked, now sitting up in the bed.

“My theory is everyone is gay for the right person, but she has a boyfriend and no one has ever looked so dry in life, so — naw …” Jade continued to dry herself, moving from her hair to her neck and back.

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