Black Waters (Frank Ocean Love Story)

Chapter 十六

Christopher’s View. ▲ †

Without my phone, I felt kind of helpless. And I wanted to hear from Darcelle, too. She might have gotten back to me since the day I went to her store, but I wouldn’t know because I don’t have my phone. Instead of buying a new one, though, I decided to just go to an Apple store and have them find it for me.

As I waited at the counter for the Apple ‘Genius’ to find the phone for me, I thought about where it could be. On Cannon Beach, maybe? Or maybe someone stole it from me while I was asleep there. It could be in the ocean, too. The tide could’ve come in and swept the phone away.

“Okay, I got it.” The nerdy white boy announced suddenly. “141 Sunset Boulevard…all the way in California.”

California? How did it—oh, never mind. Hodgy must have taken the phone by accident, and went back to California with it. No problem. I’m going back there anyway, so I’ll get it from him soon.

“Thanks, man.”

I left Apple, and started running away from it. I ran down the blocks and toward the store. I wasn’t sure I was going in the right direction, but something was urging me to go. Every now and then, I would trip and bump into people—some of them weren’t too happy about it—but I finally made it there. The Yellow-pages sign seemed to be smiling at me, saying “Welcome back.”

I looked through the store’s glass, and there she was—Darcelle was smiling and waving. Her curly, spirally hair was up in a bun and she had on a bright yellow scarf. I smiled back at how cheerful she looked. I walked up to the store just as she walked out, turning around to lock up.

“We have to close now. Come on, let’s walk and talk.” She said to me as she turned the key in the lock. We then walked away, toward the direction of Cannon Beach. I didn’t want to go there, though. I wasn’t in the beach mood.

“Did you get my message?” Darcelle asked.

“My phone probably got it, but I didn’t. It got stolen. What did you say on the message?”

“That I found out some good news about your guy. He’s in New York City.” Darcelle reported proudly.

“Really? I would’ve never guessed.”

I thought about Roshon being in New York…why would he go there? He never liked New York. Or did he? Damn. I already forgot his name, and now I’m forgetting so much else about him.

I’m sorry, Forrest. I’ll try harder to get in touch with you, I promise. I thought.

“Well, thanks for helping, Darcelle.” I smiled at her.

“You remembered my name?” She asked. She couldn’t hide her flattered blush.

“I couldn’t forget.”

Again, Darcelle blushed. I was starting to enjoy the girlish ways she had. Her smile seemed fragile, though—like any little thing could make it disappear. Something was a little funny about her. Or maybe it was just me. Maybe I was reading too much into her.

Darcelle and I held more cute conversation until we got to the bridge that let to Cannon Beach. I didn’t want to go there, and she could probably sense it. She pointed over to the pier on the other side of the beach.

“Have you ever heard of ‘Floral Dreams’? It’s a cool restaurant with a movie theater in the back. I bet you’d love it.”

Before I could answer, her hand was in mine and she was pulling me across the pier, past small children with ice cream cones and couples enjoying the sunset. A few of the happy couples looked at us and smiled, probably thinking Darcelle and I were a happy couple, too.  

Not that it was a possibility.

We were soon standing in front of the restaurant, which was bigger than I imagined. There were tables inside, some of them with more chairs than others, sitting beneath pretty yellow lighting. Loud but soft music was playing, and I could already hear the laughs of people inside enjoying the environment.

“You like?” Darcelle smiled when she caught me staring into the restaurant. I nodded.

“Lead the way.”

                                                                       * * *

When Darcelle said there was a movie theater in the restaurant, she really meant it.

Toward the back, behind a curtain, was a large movie theater. It was pitch-dark and empty. None of the seats were occupied. We sat in the very first row, right in front of the movie screen. There was even a self-managed popcorn machine in the corner. We didn’t eat any popcorn, though. We just talked while waiting for the pre-movie advertisements to finish.

“I don’t want to pry too much into your personal business, but…how do you know this Roshon guy?” Darcelle asked.

“He used to be my roommate.” I gulped, remembering old times with him. Oh, how I miss those days…

“In college? That’s nice.”

“No, not in college. He was a college dropout, looking to get back in. I had no intention of going to college. I was making music. So we shared this house together. It was him, his girlfriend, and I.” I explained. She nodded.

“So how come you’re trying to find him now? I mean, what happened that made you lose him?”

The way Darcelle phrased this question had a funny effect in me. It made me wonder…did I really lose Forrest, or was he the one that lost me? He didn’t run away, I did. But after what I confessed to him, he probably wouldn’t have wanted me around anymore.

“I left them. I had to focus on music. And I guess me leaving helped Roshon focus on getting back into college. So it was a win-win for all of us.” I said.

This made me think even more. Sure, it was a win for me, because I found Ajahni. But was it really a win for Forrest? Did he even get back into college?

New York. No, Forrest didn’t like New York. I remembered. He always liked more remote areas. So the only reason he could be in New York is for…

College.

“What about his girlfriend? Was it a win for her, too?” Darcelle asked. She seemed very interested in what I had to tell, like it was a bedtime story for a little girl.

“Mia? Actually…I don’t know. That’s a good question. I have no idea what happened to her after I left.”

And that’s right when the movie started. I stared at the screen, not really watching, but waiting for Darcelle’s next question. I was waiting for the question that would lead me to ask myself other questions, just like her past questions had been doing.

“Oh,” was all she said. “Well, I hope you’re able to find him in New York. I’m happy I was able to help, even a little bit.” She smiled. I couldn’t get over that smile—that cheerful, girly, innocent smile. It was innocence, wasn’t it? That’s what was so funny about her. Darcelle was innocent.

As I repeated it more in my head, the idea became clearer. Darcelle was….innocent.

“You know, Darcelle…you’ve helped more than you even realize. Your questions helped me think a lot more. Now I know a few more things about Roshon that I didn’t know before.” I said to her. I was trying not to focus on that one trait of hers that was so recurring in my mind.

“Really? Then you’re welcome, I guess.” She replied. Her eyes were beaming.

God, please. Help me think about anything else but that. Is there anything else I can think about?

No.

“And I bet you could help me even more.” I said, against my will. I was doing it to her. I was doing something I didn’t quite want to do.

“Oh yeah? How?”

“Well, first, we have to ditch this movie. Follow  me and I’ll show you.”

There it is. We left, and I took her back to the hotel. And I took it away.

I snatched away her innocence.