Hills of Acapulco

The sun's rays bothered no one but Stella at the moment. It had been one of her many distractions. She glanced over at Donte who lie comfortably on his back. His eyes were closed under tinted sunglasses. It was as if he were absorbing all which was good from the sun, and leaving her that which remained. Stella shifted her own tinted lenses along the bridge of her narrow nose. She then held up her hand to cover her eyes. Still, there was no escape. Stella even used her body as a shield, turning her back towards the sun. The glowing rays felt like a branding iron on her dark skin.

"Wut's wrong wit' you?"

It pleased her knowing that Donte had noticed her suffering.

"It's too hot!" Stella used her hands once more to shield her eyes. "The sun jus' too damn bright today."

He peered at her from the top of very expensive lenses. "Too hot? It's like eighty-three degrees out here. It ain't but forty-two back in Greensboro."

"That don't mean it ain't too hot, Donte! I'm freakin' on fire right now."

He shifted his head towards the pool as if checking to see if it was still there.

"Then get in the water, Stell. Damn room come wit' jacuzzo, and private pool. Shoot...might as well use it."

Stella moved from side to side in her reclined lounge chair. She tried her best at being comfortable.

"You gettin' in wit' me?"

"Nah. I'm good w'er I'm at."

Stella sat up and looked at Donte's relaxed body. His reclined chair was almost at full extension. In her mind, she had grabbed his chair, and shook it until he was thrown onto the patio floor. Stella then took in some air and slowly breathed out the thought.

"Wuts wrong wit' you anyway? We in freakin' Acapulco." His eyes were closed again. "Its February, Stell, and we in Mexico...the Pacific coast of Mexico. This ain't in no freakin' Cancun, girl. We in Acapulco!"

Stella turned away her face. His relaxed state had only fed her annoyance. Instead, she looked pass the Acapulco Bay towards the hills that rested on the other side of the water. She could see nothing there to distract her from discomfort.

"You don't have to remind me where we at, Donte. I been here befo'."

"Good...act like it then."

His reply had angered her even more. She did not think that such a thing was possible.

"Well, ya know, its kinda different this time."

"Different? Hell, aint nothin' different 'round here. It's still the same ole' city."

"I'm not talkin' about here, Donte."

"What you talkin' 'bout then?"

"I'm talkin' 'bout us. I'm talkin' 'bout this." 

Stella stood to her feet then pointed at her belly. Donte opened his eyes again and looked at the long brown legs that branched out from the yellow bikini. He then moved his eyes upwards to see the small mound that showed above her waist. He quickly closed them and turned his head to the right.

"Wow, Donte! You can't even look at me right now?"

He refused to give a reply. Stella tried to force one out of him with her stare.

"Let's jus' enjoy ourselves, Stell. We'll talk about it later."

"Talk about it? Talk about it?"  She could not keep from frowning. "Yo' child is not a it, Donte." She pointed at her little hill. "This it is a boy. It's yo' son!"

"Do we gotta talk 'bout this now? And why you standin' over me like that?  Sit down somewhere!"

Stella took her seat on the edge of her chair. She simply could not lie back down. Restlessness had now consumed her.

"Why you even bring me down here, Donte?  I mean, why now?"

His eyes remained closed beneath the lenses. "Cuz we need it, Stell."

"We need it?" Stella breathed out once more. "We need it?!" she repeated, this time louder than the first.

"That's right...we need it. I mean...look 'round this place. Its beautiful down here...the beaches, the hills."

He lifted his torso from the lounge chair and finally removed his sunglasses. "Hell, we can do whatever we want. We can rent a boat to La Quebrada and see them fools dive off the cliff. We can go tuh Puerto Marques and check out the beach. Hell, we can even go to Old Acapulco if ya want? You know you like it out there. That's what you said last time."

Most days, Stella would have enjoyed hearing him speak of the neighboring area. She loved how the Spanish words roll off of his tongue. Most times, his Spanish sounded better than his English. There were times when he would do such things to impress her; however, he had not manged to do so in months.

"Dammit, Donte, this ain't 'bout me walkin' down no damn beach! This 'bout us and our baby... and 'bout you not responding to nothin'.....nothin' I ask you!"

Donte adjusted his lounge chair and leaned backwards into it. He then placed his sunshades back to his nose.

"What? This ain't important?" she continued, pointing at the little mound.

He glanced at where she pointed, then angrily looked upwards. "What you worried 'bout, Stell? You know you gon' be taken care of."

"Is that it Donte? I'm jus' gon' be taken care of...like...like a baby-momma? Is that what I'm gon' be to you....yo' baby-momma?"

"Nah, Stell," he answered. "It ain't like that."

"Then tell me, is nothing gon' change, other than me havin' a baby?"

"Ain't that change enough?"

The words were beneath his voice, as if not wanting them to be heard. Donte leaned forward, and quickly stood. He couldn't manage to see the reaction on Stella's face. He stepped towards the patio table and poured himself a highball of tequila on ice. She watched his dark bare chest as he took a long deliberate sip. He refused to make eye contact with her. Once again, he retreated to his usual private place.

"Acapulco," he voiced, looking directly into the sun's brightness. "Did I tell ya that Sammy Davis, and them other guys...the, the Rat Pack ...They use tuh hang out here back in the day? And who know what other famous people?"

"Donte, I don't give a damn about no Rat Pack, or who-the-hell ever it wuz. I'm talkin' 'bout us...and our child."

He gave another hardened look. "Why you still worryin' 'bout this shit! I said you wuz good."

"Oh, I'm good? I'm good, huh?" she repeated. It became a habit. "Well, who gon' take care of me then, Donte? Yo' daddy? He the one makin' the money. It's his furniture bizness, not yours. You ain't showed up to work in a ovah a month...maybe two."

"Don't worry 'bout when I show up fuh work," he voiced.

"And you 'pose to take care of me though," she added sarcastically.

There was silence.

She watched him move towards the edge of the patio to peer over the still bay. He looked as if he, himself, had just conquered the city, just like the stories he had told of her of Hernan Cortes. He was the 'so-called founder' of Acapulco, he would say. Donte was so proud of the tropical cities he had visited. It fulfilled him in ways that she simply could not understand. He was proud to be doing the things that most young black men were unable to do; and he was only twenty-six years old, she thought. He was still young, still indecisive. He was good at traveling and picking the best hotels; but, he excelled at not much else. His gift at doing very little had made it easy to question his actions. Oh, how she desperately wanted to believe in this man...in her man.

"Do any of this have to do wit' David?" she asked. It was the first time she had said the name in years. She soon regretted saying a word.

"What you say?!"

She had to continue; she needed to continue. "Are you gon' spoil our son the way yo' daddy spoiled you, Donte?"

He awkwardly placed his drink onto the table. Half of his alcohol had spilled.

"What the hell do David got to do wit' this?"

"I don't know. You tell me?"

"What?!"

"Our baby deserve better, Donte. And you not committin' to us.  Seems to me that you still runnin' from David."

"What the hell you talkin' 'bout?!"

"And the more you run, the more yo' daddy gon' give you, cuz he feel he can keep you close that way."

"He what?!" Donte voiced loudly.

"He scared he gon' lose you, Donte. So he let you do whatever you want."

"What the hell David got to do wit' this, I said?!"

Stella fell silent.

"I said, what-the-hell-do-David-got-to-do-wit'-this?!"

Stella looked at her feet, then moved her eyes upwards to the little hill that rested above her waist. The thought of her baby growing inside of her gave her the strength she needed to finish what she had started.

"You still feel responsible for the accident, Donte. And you keep runnin' away from it...from everything. You run from yo' parents, you run from the truth 'bout David, and now you runnin' from me and our baby."

His eyes narrowed. "Runnin' from David?!"

Stella had now stood where she had been sitting. "That's right. You think you the reason he ran off the road that night. You think that its yo' fault cuz he was pickin' you up from Memphis. You think that becuz he died, and you still livin', that every 'lil bit of it was yo' fault. But it ain't."

"What the hell you know?! How you know it won't my fault?! You won't there! Won't nobody there!"

"But you didn't kill 'em, Donte."

"What the hell do you know, Stell?!"

She walked slowly towards him.

"I know what you know, baby. I know that he was a user, and I know..."

"Don't say that 'bout my brother, Stell!" Donte's eyes began to moisten. He turned them towards the bay.

Stella walked even closer to him. "Baby, I know that David used..... So do you, and so do yo' daddy."

Donta turned his back towards her and closed his eyes. He fought hard to constrain his tears.

"You couldn't save him, baby."

She placed her hands weakly on his shoulders. He responded by taking a step forward, away from her. Stella took another step and repeated the action. This time, he was less resistant. "You don't have to carry that alone, Donte. I'm here fuh ya, baby."

He wiped his eyes with a hand, and directed his sights across the bay to the gorgeous homes and hotels that rested on top of the running hills. He then fell silent.  Stella thought she had done the worse.  She had broken her man.  She had forced to go to a place that he had not been in years.

"I couldn't get him to stop... Not that night, not when we wuz kids. Not never."

"He was yo' big brother, Donte. You did what you could."

"I couldn't stop it, Stell," he cried. "I couldn't do nothin'."

The once menacing sun had moved towards the ocean as dusk approached. Lights were slowly shining on the bay from the hills that erected the city's luring homes and resorts. For the first time, Donte failed to see the city's beautiful landscape. His thoughts were on other things, more important things. He moved his hands behind him as he reached for Stella's warm body. He placed one hand on the small of her back as she held him close. He moved the other hand along her hip, and then upwards towards her protruding belly. He stroked her stomach softly with the back of his hand. Stella moved in even closer and pulled tightly onto her man's chest. She then looked out onto the still magic of the Acapulco Bay. For the first time, she had viewed the beauty that she had never managed to see. It was same view that Donte loved so much. She immediately felt a stronger connection.

Donte maintained his sights on the bay, as well. His mind was now filled with new and provoking thoughts. The view seemed much different than it had before. It had lost some of the grandiosity and pompousness that he had loved so much. Oddly; he did notice that the waters seemed far more settled, than ever.