Courage, or a Jamaican Sunrise

A little Courage, or a Carribbean vacation not well remembered.

This story relates something that happened to us recently, and a few years ago. It is told in dialog form as best I can remember, and I hope you enjoy it. The conversation was between me and my lovely wife, Andrea.

Last weekend we were sitting in our living room going through some old boxes trying to make some order of all our stuff, and hoping to get rid of lots of things. Each box was somewhat like Christmas....things we hadn't seen in several years and had almost forgotten. We were both absorbed in sorting through old familiar things. And then she found something that began this adventure. Old photos. She said:

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"Hey. I was just digging through some boxes in the secretary and guess what I found...here are some of those pictures we took on that vacation we enjoyed down in Jamaica several years ago....remember?....what a nice place we stayed in...cabanas right there on the beach, and they had that good reggae band at that little pavilion next door."

"Yep,....neat trip. Good music, good dancing, and as I recall, the natives were friendly too.....very friendly."

"Here's one of our cabana, and here's one of us with that fellow we met the first night.."

"Yes, I remember him well ....what was his name?"

"William,...just like yours. Remember...He took us over one day to that small cove where you and he dove for some lobsters and then we cooked them right on the beach over some driftwood....really neat day and an interesting guy. Didn't wear a whole lot of clothes though....None of them did. When he came up out of the water I don't think he had on any underwear ....sure didn't look like it."

"So you did notice that he definitely wasn't a girl. I thought you might have..."

"Could hardly miss that, could I.....and he wasn't particularly shy about it. I remember also he had that quaint British way of answering me ' Yes Miss' with that clipped accent.....or 'No Miss'..... even though he knew I certainly was no longer a Miss and was with you, my husband. I liked it though...it was different. Made me feel a bit girlish, flirty."

"Well you weren't exactly wearing an overcoat either on that little excursion....three strips of very thin cloth covering about 6 inches total and leaving very little to the imagination, especially when it got wet...you were virtually naked....you looked good though."

"I thought you'd like that suit...bought it especially for the trip...wanted to get your attention,.. turn you on."

"Not just me. I don't think William took his eyes off you once you took off your beach shift or whatever it's called... that coverup. Those guys aren't shy with their admiration. When you were coming up out of the water you looked like, what was her name? Bo Derek in that movie, 'Ten'....sleek and dripping ...... caused a stirring in my swim suit, and I noticed an even bigger one in William's. I'm sure we were both thinking similar things...and I wondered at the time if maybe he hadn't picked this very secluded cove for a very secluded afternoon with us., y'know, just in case something developed."

"Well, to be honest, as I was swimming and looking at you two hunky guys in skimpy shorts up on the beach, certain thoughts flashed across my mind too...but I certainly wasn't about to say anything. It was a good thing that I was wet and dripping from the sea, though... After thinking about those things for a few minutes I would have been embarrassed because I got a bit wet looking at you two while I was out there in that warm water..the salt water was perfect cover."

"When you came out of the water, you looked naked, and gorgeous. He and I both just watched you....thinking the exact same thoughts, I'm sure."

"Oh, I didn't notice."

" Yeah, right!"

"Well, it did make me feel good, having his attention since I wasn't a twenty year old any more"

"Few twenty year olds look like you looked and we both appreciated it. I don't think he was exactly leering, just openly admiring everything he was seeing, which was most of you."

"Thank you sir."

"I never did tell you about the conversation he and I had when you went for a dip and we were getting ready to cook those lobsters did I!'

"Nope, you didn't"

" Well, William asked me how long we had been married....and I told him 'twelve years'......and he asked me, 'After all that time did we always come down to the islands just to enjoy the sun and sand, or did we ever look for something 'special' on these trips?"

"That was kinda bold wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but it could have been taken as just an innocent question if I had acted offended, which I didn't. I knew what he meant, but I said that so far our trips had just been for the sun and sand. He kinda looked at me for a second after that.

"He said that since it looked like I had brought all my special with me, maybe I ought to think about something special for you, maybe a special island treat on this trip. I laughed, knowing full well what he meant, and told him I'd think about it. He wasn't very shy about his appreciation of you or his suggestions and he was really nice looking too...kinda dark cocoa....bigger than me...and he wore some kind of aftershave or deodorant or something that smelled like bay rum a little. You said it reminded you of the islands, and you liked the smell and the idea of the name. I think you told him that."

"Unh huh, I did.......and if I had ever decided to live out one of my fantasies....the one about trying it sometime with a black man....I think he might have been just what I'd have been looking for...... Almost makes me regret I never have."

"Um hmm...you said you weren't interested in a guy who was really black black...but one more like Harry Belafonte...kinda milk chocolate, and attractive, and big...you don't like small guys."

"Nope, I don't. Oh well...probably good that it was only a fun to think about.. a fantasy and all those years ago."

"Wellll.....that's not exactly true in the strictest sense of the word."

"What do you mean in the 'strictest sense of the word?'"

"Well...it's kind of a long story."

"I've got time."

"And I was never sure about bringing it up."

"Why not?"

" Ummm...because I didn't know what you might have been thinking, ...after that vacation, I mean."

"How so? What do you mean?"

"After that trip you never again really mentioned the subject of maybe how it would be...being with a black man, That had been one of those fantasies you shared with me when we told each other pillow talk secrets in the dark at night prior to making love. We'd imagine these adventures and describe them and get each other turned on and I think we called that one the Islands experience. But then you just didn't really mention it any more ... after that trip I mean. I thought it could have been for one of three reasons: 1.You lost interest because it was just a fantasy anyway and we had others. or 2 You thought I might not have been too happy about the idea and might be a little jealous or upset by it,.. or 3. It was no longer a fantasy any more. I'm sure lots of women think about that......but I don't think too many actually do it. I don't know though...not something often discussed in casual company."

"I don't know either, but anyway what was your conclusion as to the reason?"

"Well, we've never really talked about everything that happened on that vacation. You haven't brought it up since, and I haven't either....I was thinking you just kinda wanted to leave certain parts of that trip as a pleasant fuzzy memory, and not really talk about them too much. I knew the real answer, thought maybe you did and might be embarrassed about it."

"You mean, about that night I got pretty well snockered on that Jamaican rum and danced and teased around with the island boys? I wasn't wearing a lot of clothes then either, was I? Must have been a bit wild and scandalous but it sure was fun. You said you enjoyed watching me flirt with them. "

"That too, but you danced with them almost every night...at least every night we went to the little pavilion, which was three or four times.....You wore those tiny tight little mini-shorts and those halter tops or baby-doll tops that tied in the middle and you wore no bra...but the island boys were used to having white girls down from the States that wanted to do a little flirting and dancing and acting in ways they wouldn't at home...they could be daring and try things 'in the islands' because they knew they'd be flying back to whitebread America in a couple of days and nothing would ever get back home. I'm sure the Jamaican guys were hoping for a bit more...and I'm sure some got it from time to time. So to them you were just one more hotty blonde working off her island fantasies ,, and maybe a possibility.."

"Well, yes...that was fun and erotic and a bit exciting...I'll admit, and you didn't mind did you? You couldn't dance....your knee was still sore from that skiing accident and you could swim, but not run or dance or anything, and you told me to go ahead and enjoy myself, so I did... I really did."

"Nope, didn't mind....I figured this was fun for you, and I'll admit I got a little turned on watching you flirt and tease and dance up sexy and close with those guys, because I figured I'd be the recipient of all that jungle fever you were catching ....which I was, indeed, so no...I didn't mind. Good therapy for you and good outcome for me. You danced hard enough every night to break out in a sweat sheen with those guys, and especially with that William....and it made all your cotton tops stick to you like glue, which certainly showed your assets very nicely ...... we definitely all noticed, although you didn't seem to ...or didn't care. But lady, you were something to watch....long blonde hair, tight body, nice big breasts and sensual dance moves. I'm sure thoughts of getting you into the horizontal position went through quite a few male minds in that place, white and black."

"So what's this got to do with what you said about "not exactly true" about me and my island fantasy. Dancing and sweating out the rum drinks on a live dance floor to good reggae music in the islands doesn't exactly count as fulfilling my innermost secret thoughts or anything."

"No....but do you remember our bartender, Bertram?"

"Of course... nice guy. Met him that first afternoon over at the Pavilion bar."

"Right....but do you remember what he told you our first afternoon at the Pavilion... about the rums of Jamaica....the quality and the effects they had?"

"Yes...he said that there were good rums from Jamaica for drinking, but there were also some strong rums that were very smooth to the taste, but very lethal....Cruzon 151 was the most potent one I think. He said it slid right down nice and easy without burning, and left no hangover but I'd better watch out because it was sly and would creep up on me with no warning. I didn't care, though....I was with you and you crept up on me every night."

"Yeah, I did.....but do you remember about the special island drink he told us about? It had two names: One was the 'Courage, Up and Down' and the other was the 'Jamaican Morning Sunrise.'

"Yes, kinda"

"But you don't remember exactly what he said, do you?"

"Noooo....not exactly. Something about special meanings for each name."

"Well, we were sitting at his bar talking about all the white girls that came down here, some who wanted just to dance and flirt like you were doing, and some who wanted a bit more of a full experience, but who just didn't quite have the nerve to make that last step. Most of them went home a bit disappointed and frustrated, because they just couldn't work up the nerve, or turn loose of their inhibitions, or whatever......but Bertram said that this drink, the 'Courage Up and Down' was something that they could order and try if they needed an excuse for anything that happened later. He said though that he always told them exactly the same thing he told us....so they'd know the "Rules of the Rum," as he called them. Forewarned, and so forth. After that, they were on their own.

"He said that this drink, the Up and Down, was made of blended tropical fruit juices... very tasty...and it was made with the 151 rum, which was so smooth that you barely could taste any alcohol at all...but it was seriously potent....and he laughed and told us that the name allegedly came from the fact that after drinking one of these drinks, a lady could summon up the Courage to lift her skirts up and pull her panties down...for one of the island boys....and that she would never have done it without help from the 151. Then the next day, she would only have a fuzzy pleasant memory of the way things went the night before, and a slight or no hangover due to the quality of the rum.......and home she would go to the States vaguely remembering, if she did at all, that she may or may not have had a full 'island experience.'

And if she remembered and had some regrets, she could always blame it on too much rum, " the 151" .....and he laughed and told you that you had better be careful if you heard me ordering an Up and Down for you because I obviously was up to no good and had devious plans for later that night with you........and then he turned to me and said,

" And Mon, you had better be watchin' this fine lady, you being all crippled up like dat...She get too much of the music and the rum into her and you look out on de dance floor and she be gone ....gone bush on you with one of deese handsome Jamaican boys."

"And we all really laughed at that, but I noticed you kinda seemed to think about his comment just a second or two. You always raise that one eyebrow when you are thinking about something....it's a giveaway".

"I remember that conversation....And what was that other name? and why two names for the same drink?"

"That other name was the Jamaican Morning Sunrise. Bertram explained that it was the same drink exactly, but by that name it was used in an entirely different way."

"And what was that?"

" Well...if a lady did decide she wanted a full island experience, and had kinda reached an agreement with one of the local fellows, then without actually saying anything openly she could let him know that she was willing by asking him if he would mind buying her a Sunrise. What that meant was, that she was admitting she had perhaps never been with a black man before....he was going to be her first ....and by drinking this drink he bought her, at her request, not only did it tell him that she had decided 'yes' without actually saying anything at all but it would also pretty well wipe her concerns away and help ease her on over into the right mood ..... And Bertram said that a lady had to be very careful about this though, because it was a very widely known and accepted tradition that once that drink had been requested by a lady, it was agreed that there was no turning back, no changing of minds. Every Jamaican male knew about that drink, what it looked like, and if it was ordered, what that meant. Rules of the Rum, again. You could spot it easily because perched right in the top of that icy drink was a large half slice of a fresh orange...the 'golden sunrise.'"

"There were a lot of hidden messages in that drink, weren't there! But what, exactly, does that have to do with me...with us?"

"Well, this is the part that we've never discussed.....I just didn't know whether you were embarrassed about it, or didn't remember, or what...so I never brought it up...and neither have you ... until today because of those pictures ... It's about our last full night there....and you obviously must not remember all the details.. So we'll just have to blame it on the 151."

"Remember what? Blame what on the 151?"

"We were on our last night in Jamaica. Leaving the next afternoon We both hated to go back to the grind, and we had joked a little that morning that this was your very last opportunity for some 'real island action' and you'd better hurry if you expected anything interesting to happen.. But I also told you that I'd be keeping a close watch on you to make sure you didn't sneak off and 'go bush' with one of these local fellows. I said that I saw how you were flirting and teasing them and you'd better be careful with what you drank or I'd look up and you'd be gone. And you said:

"Oh yeah, I'll be careful alright and I'll definitely be ordering only what I want to drink tonight. You're not ordering me any Courage drinks.."

"And I jokingly said: " Nope, you'll have to order one of those on your own if you need more courage tonight". Then I laughed and said you'd only need half sized drinks though, because you weren't even wearing any skirt, so half the job was already done.

"I remember that...and it was actually true. Those shorty shorts weren't very big either."

"It was Thursday I think....and we went dancing again at the Pavilion Bar, We knew that this was it...our final night...and you were pretty well flying right along on the regular Mai Tais they were serving. Good drinks, strong rum, refreshing......I was resting my knee, while you were doing the usual...dancing, flirting, mostly with William, and drinking, and sweating completely through your top. I was watching you because I couldn't dance...and so was everybody else. You were certainly gathering a lot of the attention. Those fast numbers let you turn it loose out there, and William was pretty good too.

"You'd even tried a couple of slow dances with him and it looked as if you really enjoyed them too. You kinda molded into him for those. I noticed also that at times he was nuzzling down on your neck and murmuring to you and his hands were drifting a bit lower than they should have been and cupping your bottom, but you weren't objecting ...Your head was resting on his chest and he must have been saying something interesting to you because once you looked up at him for a moment and smiled. I don't think you said anything, just put your head back down."

"While we were dancing, he asked me how I was enjoying the trip, and I told him it was super so far....When we slow danced, he pulled me up against him and he had this huge hard-on. It was just there, rubbing against my bare stomach and he only had on those old worn pants. One tinsey layer of cloth between us. He knew I felt it, and I knew he knew. Made me wet, really wet thinking about what it looked like, right there a foot from my face. I swear I could smell me, and I know he could too. I wanted so badly to put my hand between us and just hold it, but I didn't. Had never seen or touched a black one before, and his was big, and right there. He leaned down and said that these islands offered a lot of interesting things that we didn't have up in the States....and I said to him,'What, for instance?'....and he asked me:

"Had I ever considered trying a little milk chocolate in my cream? I could find some of that down here very easily and in fact it was close enough to touch right then if I wanted to."

" I think I blushed, but I said ' No...not yet.'"

"and he said, 'You might find you like it...it has a very different flavor from just your regular old Stateside twelve year old everyday cream.'

" and I think that was when I looked up at him and smiled, knowing full well what he was suggesting. Didn't really give him an answer though. Sure kept me wet, though."

"Well, from my location it was pretty sensual to watch you two, and I thought what was the harm?...we were leaving and this would soon only be a fading memory, so enjoy a little temptation..... I did feel a twinge of jealousy, however, at the little intimacy you two were obviously sharing but I figured you were just pushing the limits of your old fantasy a bit to fill it in as much as possible, and I was the one who told you to go have fun, which you obviously were.