Ebony Embrace

“Hey wait!”

One of the employees at the ‘Fantasy Lights bookstore’ called to me while I was strolling down the sidewalk back to my apartment. I began to wonder what he wanted to talk to me about, seeing as I returned the book I borrowed and paid for a new one to keep me busy with for the trip to my parents’ this weekend. Could it be the small oil stain I mistakenly smeared in the book? I guess I have to pay for the damages now. I turned around to listen to what he had to say to me, but when I turned I realised it wasn’t an employee at the bookstore. Or at least his face didn’t look like one I had been used to seeing there.

“Excuse me Miss, I’ve been trying to get your attention since you left the bookstore,” he said.

Why was he trying to get my attention? Was what came to my mind.

I couldn’t help but notice his features more closely as he got closer to me. He was tall and lean, which made him appear rather weak, even though I knew his strength was quite well displayed by his muscles, which were bulging and taut due to exercise. His hair was cut low, its texture wavy the colour a vivid dark brown. His face was almost the same colour as his hair, the kind of brown that hinted that he came from African roots, same as me. My eyes lingered on his lips for a moment before I pulled them away from his face.

“Yes?” I asked politely, not wanting to sound rude, but also because I wanted to find out why this stranger was bothering me. There was no way I could allow myself to think about how attractive he was. He probably thought I looked weird staring at him for so long, considering we barely exchanged words. I tried to ignore the heat rising on my cheeks. “What is it that you wanted to talk about, sir?”

His face lit up. He smiled brightly and waved me over to where he was standing on the sidewalk. I followed suit and walked towards him, hoping this might be a conversation that would lead me somewhere.

“Oh thank goodness, I was starting to think how I was gonna give this book to you, since you left it at the bookstore. I figured maybe you were in a hurry to get to somewhere that you forgot to take it from the cashier’s.”

“That makes sense,” I agreed with him. I must’ve totally forgot to get it after paying. I took the book from him to check if it was actually the one I paid for and saw that it wasn’t the one. The one he gave to me was titled ‘Cinderella is dead’ and not the ‘Ace of Spades’ I paid for.

The cashier must have confused it with something else, I thought. He saw the perplexed look on my face and took a glance in his briefcase. Before I could say anything else, he pulled out a copy of the book I expected.

“Sorry about that,” he apologised sincerely. “I must’ve mixed it with the couple other books I got” I didn’t hold it against him though, I was just glad he took the liberty to chase after me to give me a book I forgot. How romantic.

I thanked him for his thoughtfulness and we went our separate ways. I kept the book tucked safely in my purse and continued strolling towards my apartment which was seven blocks from where I was.

See, this is why I love New Orleans, I thought. Everything felt so peaceful, yet exciting at the same time. The bustling city, the jazz music, the art, the festivals, the high buildings, the people… everything was just a great place to be. A perfect place to live. If you were born here you wouldn’t need to worry about living anywhere else. New Orleans was a city I was passionate about after seeing the show ‘The Originals’ which has been my all-time favourite. Leaving my parents and moving out of Nigeria was prompt, but I never regretted it, even though I missed my family and nothing compared to the rich food and vibrant culture. I couldn’t believe I was finally going home after two years in The United States.