Death in the cemetery

They were on their honeymoon.
After two years of dating, Joshua managed to ask Anita to marry him, and they went honeymooning on the beautiful island of St Lucia.
At first, Joshua had been a little skeptical about the idea of going to St Lucia because he’d never been to the Caribbean before and he wasn’t very tolerant of foreign foods, but Anita had her heart set on it, and so he reluctantly gave in.
And what a marvelous idea it had been too! This was the most fun they’d had in years!
The weather was great! There was not a cloud to be found in the sky. It was hot, though humid.
They had only been there for two days and already they had a tan. Anita’s already luscious brown skin was glowing! And Joshua’s pale white skin was toned and evenly bronzed.

On that faithful day that the incident happened, they had been round the island on a bus tour. It was great! They visited the Diamond waterfalls, the sulfur springs, the famous Pitons in Soufrier, and took a walk in the rainforest. Anita even held a two meters long snake that a man was parading in the mountain. The snake looked tamed but Joshua still didn’t take the chance and was amazed when Anita did.
The whole holiday so far had been a great success!
Anita looked so relaxed and beautiful in her shorts and vest. It was a huge difference from the usual grey or black suit she wore everyday to work.
They previously hired a Suzuki Vitara and put the top down.
After a long and tiring day, they were heading back to their hotel in Rodney Bay and got stuck in traffic on the highway near an airport – not the one they came from. The traffic had been very slow moving, bumper to bumper.
He looked at Anita who was sitting next to him in the passenger seat.
Just three days ago, they solemnly swore their undying love and devotion to each other in England, he reminisced.
She now looked at ease, her legs were curled up beneath her on the seat and she played with a lock of her thick black hair that was wet and stuck to the back of her neck and shoulders by the humidity. She seemed to stare into oblivion all the while nodding along to reggae music playing on the radio.
Joshua watched a bead of sweat that emerged on the nape of her neck run and bury itself in between her breasts. It was very sensual and to his surprise, he got aroused by it.
Since they’d been there, the sex had been amazing! They’d had more sex than Joshua at least, ever had before in the space of two days.

***
‘Joshua’ Anita said suddenly, bringing him back to reality. ‘Look over there, a coconut stand!’ She pointed to the other end of the road, at the junction of the highway. A rasta man was standing near a red Toyota van filled with coconuts at the back of it. There was a handwritten sign that read: Get your coconuts and coconut water here!
‘Can we Joshua?' Anita pleaded staring at him with beady eyes. ‘You can’t come to the Caribbean without having a coconut’ she pursued when he didn’t look convinced.
Joshua never had a coconut before but Anita seemed excited about it so, he agreed to pull over for a coconut when they arrived at the junction.

At the round about, he turned left towards where the rasta man’s van was parked. They parked the jeep and ordered two coconuts. The rasta man had a very bright and lively demeanor, which Joshua had come to realize was usual of Caribbean people. But this man bizarrely smiled a lot. His eyes were half closed and he didn’t seem able to stand still. He wore no top. His shorts were torn, dirty, stained, ripped jeans. His shoes (if you could call them shoes) were filthy! They appeared to have once been trainers now transformed into dirty, overused, torn slippers. And he was wet from head to toe.
Joshua was a little wary of him but dismissed his cynicism,since Anita didn’t seem dismayed by him at all.
The rasta man expertly cut up the two coconuts, creating a small hole on the side of them and inserted a straw in each.
Anita and Joshua drank the water. It was very refreshing and sweet – there was nothing else like it!
Anita moaned in approval.
When they finished drinking the coconut water, the rasta man cut the coconuts in half and cut out two make-sift spoons from the coconut shells so that they could scoop out the flesh from inside.
While they ate, they looked about them and noticed that there was a cemetery on the right of the highway. In that same moment, there was a sudden gust with the faint smell of the ocean.
‘Is there a beach around here?’ Anita asked the rasta man.
‘Yeah man!’ he started off. ‘Vigie beach!’ It’s just behind there’ he said pointing somewhere beyond the cemetery.
They looked puzzled.
‘Is it deserted?’ Anita queried. How could there be a beach near a cemetery, she thought.
‘Nah, nah!’ he said. ‘You go straight up this road,’ he pointed to the long of the highway that was parallel to the one they’d come on, ‘yu’ll reach the airport, and the beach is on your right’.
Anita nodded but still looked puzzled.
‘Man…you can even walk through the cemetery to reach the beach’ he added.
Anita and Joshua shuddered. What a grim thing to do! Walk through the cemetery!
‘Honey, can we go?’ Anita predictably said.
‘How did I know you were going to say that?’ Joshua refuted.
‘Well we haven’t been to the beach yet since we’ve been here.’ She replied.
Joshua grimaced.
‘Oh come on… can we go? Please! Please, please, please…’ Anita begged.
‘Yeah man! The water is well nice.’ The rasta man said gesturing at his rapidly drying body. ‘Take your lady to the water, man! You know! You and your lady can go for a little swim, man.’ He grinned widely, his eyes still half closed.
Joshua hated the fact that the man meddled in Anita’s and his business, but feeling outnumbered, he gave in.
‘Fine! We can pop up there. But not for long, OK?’ he tried to be firm but Anita bounced in joy and kissed him.

They thanked the man, jumped in the jeep and headed in the direction that he indicated.
They saw the airport and sure enough, the beach was on the right. Surprisingly, there were quite a lot of people there. There were a lot of cars packed, two or three food stalls and music coming from somewhere.
Joshua packed the car between the almond trees that surrounded the beach. Anita jumped out, bare footed, her sandals in her hand.
‘It’s beautiful Joshy!’ she said loudly gazing at the ocean.
There were people, in the water and on the sand having picnics. Some were in their cars and some were queuing at the food stalls.
‘We should get some food honey, I’m starving!’ Anita twisted her face while rubbing her stomach.
‘Yeah, I’m starving too!’
They hadn’t eaten since breakfast that morning at the hotel.
The only thing that the first stall had to offer was junk; like - crisps, biscuits, peanuts, soft drinks and water. Nothing sensible to eat!
There was another stall with a barbecue grill outside of it. The smell of roasted meat floated to them. Anita was excited while Joshua was wary. There was a choice of roasted pork, chicken wings, thighs or breast with roast bakes (some kind of roasted bread). They ordered four chicken thighs, two roast bakes and two soft drinks. Then, Anita pulled out a bag from the back of the jeep and they headed for the beach.
‘It’s amazing honey! The sand is so warm and the water looks so inviting!’
‘Yeah, yeah.’ He replied uninterested. ‘Let’s walk lower down where there aren’t too many people’ he commanded.
They walked for a bit towards the same direction from which they’d come from, towards the cemetery. It was definitely more peaceful.

***

‘Let’s settle over there… underneath the almond trees.’ Joshua said.
Anita pulled out a huge towel from the bag, laid it on the sand and set up the picnic.
The view was breathtaking!
Anita closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. She breathed in deeply the smell of the ocean and exhaled contented. She gazed at the horizon. ‘It’s beautiful!’ she stated out loud.
‘Yes you are’ Joshua said staring at her adoringly.
She blushed and nudged him.
‘Not me silly. The scenery! There is something magical about the ocean, don’t you think?’
‘I suppose’ he said with a neutral, uninterested tone.
They had different interests in that area. She loved nature while he loved man-made things such as architecture, cars and technology.
She continued to stare at the ocean.
‘Aren’t you gonna eat?’ he said contemplating the last bake.
‘Yes! Oye!’ she snapped when she realized that he had eaten two of them already and nibbled on another. ‘I thought that you didn’t like Caribbean food!’
‘Well, turns out that it wasn’t that bad’ he giggled.
‘Yeah, so I see!’ She ate up quickly before he attacked her food again.
She gazed again towards the ocean.
‘Oh Joshua, look, the sun is setting!’
‘Huh, yes very nice! He said bluntly.
Suddenly, Anita’s face lit up as if having arrived at the idea of the century. ‘You know what we should do?’ she faced Joshua with a sly smile on her face.
‘No, what?’ Joshua said intrigued.
‘Well…’ she lowered her eyes and tugged gently at his vest, exposing his torso a little. ‘People are going, the sun is setting…’ she now looked deeply into his eyes searching to see if he understood what she was getting at. ‘Kinda romantic, don’t you think?’ She smiled cheekily.
Her body language was very provocative. She brought her chest forward, accentuating the roundness of her already perfect breasts. She moved a little closer to him. The wind was blowing through her now dry hair.

‘Humm, I think I see what you mean’ Joshua said mesmerized. He put his drink down and leant in for a kiss.
She kissed him softly and caressed his lower lip with her tongue teasingly.
He was fully aroused now and was going in for it whether people were watching or not. This was the advantages of being in love, you became carefree and now that they were married, it was like a license to have sex all the time, anywhere they felt like it. It was exciting!
‘Not here Joshy’ Anita gently pushed him back.
‘What?’ he said annoyed. She’d burst his bubble and pulled him back from the trance.
‘There.’ She looked towards the water.
‘What? But we don’t have any bathing suits.’
‘Do we need any?’ She smiled, got to her feet, undressed to her underwear and run to the water.
‘Anita!’ Joshua called after her.
‘Join me!’ She replied.

She was so playful! What choice did he have but to follow? He took off his white vest but left his … what he called his ‘Caribbean shorts’ on.
He walked towards the water. The crashing waves seemed daunting to him, but the water was surprisingly cool.
Suddenly, he noticed that Anita was no where to be found.
‘Anita! Anita!’ he called out, beginning to panic.
She emerged under the waves.
‘What?’ she giggled.
‘Don’t do that! He snapped.
‘Come on Joshy, I was just playing.’
‘Well it’s not funny!’ He said annoyed.
She leant in for a kiss and held on to him tightly as the waves came to and fro.
The water was waist high. Her bra was wet and see-through. He could see her stiff nipples underneath.
She smiled widely looking at him.
‘I love when you look at me like that’ she said as she threw herself into his arms and kissed him passionately.
He pulled her closer and she wrapped her legs around his waist.
This was a daring side of her that he hadn’t known before.
‘I’ve always wanted to do this’ he heard her whisper.

***

It was dark now! There was light in the distance near the airport and the moon was out. The sound of the waves was dominant but the faint sound of the occasional cars that passed on the nearby highway could also be heard.

Anita was completely naked under the water in his arms. He loved feeling her naked breasts against his bare chest.
She was tugging at his shorts but Joshua was scared to lose them to the waves so he did not follow through with what he knew she wanted him to do.
‘Let’s go on the sand.’ He whispered.
She nodded and continued kissing him.
With her legs still entwined around his waist, he carried her to shore. She became heavier the more they left the water.

He laid her down on the towel gently, all the while still kissing her. He caressed her and she moaned in pleasure.
Joshua heard a faint hustle in the nearby bushes but dismissed it as the wind or something. But then, he heard it again. He broke the kiss and focused on the bushes, searching for something – anything. There was nothing.
‘What? Why did you stop?’ Anita asked dazed.
‘I thought I heard something.’ He continued to peer at the bushes.
Anita looked but saw nothing as well. ‘There’s nothing there. You’re just paranoid.’ She pulled him back to her and began kissing him again. She tugged at his shorts again and this time he removed them. He could feel her smile.
She threw herself at him, forcing him to lay flat on his back. She mounted him. She was in control now.

Joshua could see her silhouette in the moonlight. Her hair was still wet.
He touched her and felt her nipples stiffen again under his touch.
‘You’re beautiful!’ he said softly.
She bent over him and kissed him.
‘shstshsht’ There was that noise again and a giggle this time, but only louder.
Anita and Joshua brusquely stopped and looked towards the bush. There was still nothing. All they could see were leaves and branches.
‘Is someone there?’ Joshua shouted out.
Anita grabbed her cloths and tried to cover her nakedness.
‘shstshst’ There it was again but the noise was more distant as if it was getting away.
Joshua put his shorts on and went closer to the bush. He could see the shadow of a man getting away in the distance and then it disappeared.
‘Ahhhhh!’ There was a deathly scream in the cemetery.
‘Joshua, I’m scared.’ Anita said clinging to him.
‘Let’s go.’ He ordered and they hurried back down the beach where they’d come from.
They climbed into the jeep and headed back to the hotel.
They said nothing to each other all night. It was almost like they had committed a crime and were forbidden to talk about it.

***

The next day, they awoke with a knock at the door. It was room service with breakfast. With it, came the local newspaper and on the first page was the headline: Death in the cemetery.
Apparently, a man was found dead in the cemetery near Vigie Beach. It was said that his pants were to his ankles and that he might have been high on Marijuana. Cause of death was a blow to the head that he sustained from falling on a tombstone.
When Joshua examined the picture, he shuddered. It was the coconut man.