Among Crowds

The reception at the hotel ballroom drew at least two thousand people. Great towers of ice sculptures of brown pelicans and flags of blue, gold, and black with a broken trident adorned the Barbados locale. First Lieutenant Austin Farrar looked the part of a United States Marine officer. His fade showed off his dark waves against his light brown skin. The contrast was welcome as it allowed for a chiseled face and a toned physique that just hinted at his muscles under his Evening Dress “A” uniform.

Applause and shouts arose from the tables. Farrar sat at the bar. He looked as the pop star crossed the stage to receive yet another award for her philanthropy. She delivered a gracious speech. Pithy and polite, she captured the minds of all those in attendance…especially for Farrar. Sure, he liked her music and respected her business acumen, but what about the ability to give up all her riches and fame and be amongst the impoverished? Why did she stop at receiving awards? Why did she do that? If you’re going to be selfless and altruistic, why not give it all away? He found philanthropy only proper to causes that promote human flourishing and the mind. She deserved it, but could she do more, not out of guilt, but self-interest? He downed a sixth beer. The buzz continued to creep through his system. He asked for the check. He signed and was about to go when he ran into the pop star…Robyn Fenty. She wore a black gown with white diamond lace that looked like the night sky with plenty of stars on display.

“Excuse me, Miss, I––” he started.

She looked at him. Her glistening cocoa butter brownish-colored skin and soft features beamed towards him. Her petite figure looked like the statuette she gripped in her hand. She noticed the uniform. With her understanding of America’s military program coming more from her experiences as a junior army cadet and actual fighters on the set of Battleship, she knew. Her eyes narrowed. “Salute to you, sir,” she smiled.

“Miss Fenty I didn’t mean to––”

“Say less, Lieutenant. All is well.” She grinned and then kept walking to her legion of supporters and paparazzi into a car that zipped out of the area like a dust tail on a comet. Something soft struck his left pant leg. It was like a paw from a kitten or rabbit.

Is it true? He asked himself. Did I just meet the real Robyn Fenty?

He collected and reassured himself, Robyn Fenty had just met the real First Lieutenant Austin Farrar. He brushed off his shoulders and investigated what lightly touched him. The softness was a pair of black satin gloves she had left to float downward near the floor. Now, what to do with these gloves entered his thoughts.

On leave for the week in the tropics, Farrar felt he had to at least give back the gloves she had dropped. After leaving the ballroom, he journeyed down to the lobby and asked for Robyn’s manager’s number.

“I’m sorry sir, but we will not be able to give out that kind of information,” the desk clerk responded. A strong sense of determination welled up inside of Farrar. He went up to his room to change into civilian gear and a lot less formal attire. He sported a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and butter-colored construction boots. When he exited his room he saw Robyn at the end of the hallway. She had returned to the hotel to perform a late night show.

“Your gloves!” he called but she had already stepped into the elevator. Farrar sprinted. The door closed. A brief downer, he surpassed the feeling to give up on this quest to return the gloves. He could have easily saved them after his trip back to the US and authenticated them by an appraiser and sold them online for a hefty profit. No. He made decent pay for a Marine first lieutenant. He wasn’t hurting for cash. So, he pursued her. It turns out that she was back at the bar with husky security men looking like Easter Island moai with sunglasses. Farrar calmly walked past one of them. He stiff-armed Farrar. He took this as an understandable affront.

“No one allowed––”

“Sam! It’s okay. I think he has some items of mine,” Robyn addressed. She smiled and beckoned for Farrar to come to the bar once more.

He marched past the stone figures and met back up with the gloveless one. She smiled. It was a smile of reverence and an amicable way of showing her gratitude.

“Thanks,” she said with kindness and confidence in all of that one syllable.

“My pleasure, Miss Fenty. Enjoy your night,” Farrar whirled around to leave.

“Wait!” Robyn called. “Sit down. Have a drink.”

“I’ve had my fair share for this evening.”

“It’s on me.”

Farrar’s thinking changed right there. “I’ll have rum and water.”

“That’ll balance out those beers you knocked back when you bumped into me,” Robyn said. She sipped her whiskey and ginger.

“Absolutely my fault. Please pardon me,” he said. He didn’t have a begging voice only, a profound sense that he had committed some minor offense.

“Again, all is well. So what part of the states are you from, Yankee boy?”

“Delaware. I’m a Marine liaison at the Dover Air Force Base.”

“You grew up there?”

“As a matter of fact I did. Newark.”

“Oh, not too many clear water locales in that part of the East Coast, no?”

“None at all. Barbados is a special place to be.” He looked around at the astounding ballroom and the sparkling bar. His eyes then met with Robyn.

The bartender handed Farrar his drink in a coconut.

“I have to ask you…the media, your supporters, everybody seems to pronounce your stage name as ‘ree ONN ahh’...is that correct?”

She let out a hearty laugh and shook her head. “No, but it seems to have stuck. It’s “ree ANN ahh.’ I think a publicist early in my career mispronounced it and it took off like that. Nobody’s ever asked me that before.” She seemed interested like this was a long lost brother who had crossed her path. She giggled lightly.

Farrar felt an even greater boost of confidence. “It’s Friday, shouldn’t you be rehearsing for the game on Sunday?”

“I’ve got a flight in about an hour that will take me to Arizona. I’m so excited.” She said it like she was going to test drive a concept car. Excitement bubbled up in her voice and Farrar could sense her sincerity.

“To a wonderful performance,” Farrar toasted.

“Whoo!” Robyn exclaimed. They clinked glasses and sipped.

“That’s it. I gave you the gloves, I know your real name, and I’ve had my last drop of alcohol for the night.”

“It was nice meeting you, Lieutenant….”

“Austen Farrar.”

“Of course. Enjoy your leave on the island.”

“Thank you. It was a pleasure meeting you.”

“Likewise, Marine.” The two stones shifted when she got up from her chair. As she passed her gloves into her purse, she extracted a ticket.

“Oh, and I know you’ll put this to good usage. And don’t worry about your airfare or heading back to Delaware. You’re going to be in a box seat. Take pleasure in it,” Robyn smiled.

Farrar kept a straight face. “Thank you,” he said with a stern and honest response like a handshake. The superstar exited from his midst. He felt a glow. It was either from the libations or the run-in or both. And then a sledgehammer slammed into his consciousness. On Monday morning, he was supposed to report to the base. If he partied all night Sunday and even if he had an all expense paid trip to the game, he would still have to find time to sleep and be prepared for his role amongst airmen.

Again, the inclination to cash in on a heavy weighted item such as a skybox seat to the illustrious competition struck his mind. He told himself no. He went up to his hotel room. He pulled out a piece of stationary and a pen and made a pro/con list of what he could do. He then wadded that up and trashed it. He looked at his phone at the prices for airfare. He noted that he could possibly go to the game and then to Delaware and still squeeze in enough time for some shut eye and to prepare his uniform. With that on his mind, he rested.

Saturday came and he dressed in a white button down cotton shirt and khakis. He noticed that a woman had been at the bar with Robyn the other night. She was tallish, possessed flowing black hair and ebony skin. She wore a yellow and pink sundress. Her body complimented her choice in dresses. Her eyes looked like flint. Her waist looked like a pencil. He noticed her having lunch at the bar and grill he frequented last night. Farrar made his way to her.

“Good morning. I know you don’t know me––”

“You’re the glove guy. That was a great gesture. I know that Robyn rewarded you greatly.”

“That she did. But I wanted to talk about how to––”

“I’m Elina. I’m Robyn’s hairdresser.”

“My name is Austin. Shouldn’t you be on your way to the States, too?”

“We’ll be leaving together later. She’s got people everywhere she goes. It doesn’t matter what country, state, or city, she has a team ready to make her into the main attraction that she is.”

“Oh. I just wanted to know what I would have to do to get on this private jet to fly to Arizona and then Delaware.”

“Of course,” Elina said. “You see that man over there sleeping with his head on the bar?”

Farrar nodded. He saw a well-built black man with gray specks in his beard and a bald head. The man wore a pristine sky blue shirt, gray slacks and black loafers.

“That’s my husband. The pilot. He’s not drunk, he just gets up early to work out and comes down for coffee and half of a grapefruit, and a little rest. I tell him to just order in the room and take your nap there…he never listens.”

“If I wake him, will he be an angry bear?”

“He’s a kitten taking a catnap. Go on over there and rouse him from his slumber,” Elina instructed.

He followed the orders. He stepped to the napping pilot and tapped his shoulder.

“Ahh….” he responded. Then the pilot woke up and looked at Farrar.

“What do you want?” He asked this with clarity and full curiosity. He was about the same complexion as Farrar except he had a left green eye and a gray eye. They widened.

“Hey, you’re that Marine that Robyn and Elina were telling me about. Semper Fidelis,” he rolled up his sleeve to expose the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor emblem of the US Marine Corps etched in his flesh. “I’m Captain Parnell Irving. I got out as a major. Go figure!” He laughed.

Austin laughed lightly.

“What can I do for you, Devil?”

“I wanted to know how this whole action with the jet would work.”

Irving wrinkled his nose. “Simple. I take you over to the States this afternoon––”

“Whoa, shouldn’t we be setting out now, the flight’s about seven hours long…as you know.”

“You’re an infantry officer, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not aware of what us air wingers can do with time and space. I’ll have you in that hotel preparing for the game and ready to watch Robyn perform in front of over a billion people. I can do this. I have the capabilities. But if you want to leave––”

“I want to leave now, yes.”

“Alright, alright.” The jet’s about twenty minutes from here. You’ve met my wife,” the two men exchanged glances with Elina. They were glances of assurance and understanding.

“I’m going to gather my things and I’ll meet you down here in about fifteen minutes. Let me get your number in case anything comes up,” Farrar outlined.

“Sounds good to me.”

Farrar packed his uniforms and toiletries and other belongings. He checked under the bed, the bathroom, and the closet and safe, just for good measure. He ordered one of the carts to be placed in front of his room. After applying all his luggage, he headed for the elevator. Once he reached the lobby to check out of his room, he successfully paid for it but noticed something: the Irvings were nowhere in sight. During the process of checking out, Farrar used his smartphone to cancel his trip back to Delaware in favor of going to Arizona.

Farrar texted Irving. He waited ten minutes for the couple. Thirty minutes passed. A feeling of heat surged through Farrar’s body. It was a burning that could not be doused except by his ability to think.

He knew that they would probably have forgotten the arrangement due to the fact that he wasn’t paying them. Robyn had directed funds into their accounts to ensure that they were ready to go to the game. With the aid of his phone, he again text messaged Irving. No avail.

The heat intensified. It was like hot coals started at the top of his head and tumbled down his spine. The heat didn’t make him sweat, however. His coolness under pressure stayed with him his whole life and was only underscored by his time as a Marine officer. His mind wandered. He thought about money. The tickets would be no good here. No one was headed to Arizona except for the hairdresser and the pilot. Part of him wanted to just see if he could reverse his decision, knowing that it could not be taken back once entered. Then, his phone buzzed.

“We’re almost done packing. Didn’t think it would take this long. We’re still on board for this trip. Pardon us.”

Sensations of hotness cooled in his mind and body and he finally exhaled. He threw his head back and congratulated himself for not acting out against the tardy Irvings. He saw them coming out of the elevator with two carts.

“You have to forgive us. We actually put our clothes in the drawers this time and our toiletries in the cabinets. We’re ready now, though,” Irving said with a toothpaste smile.

They reached the airport. When they got onto the runway, the personal jet awaited them. After their baggage had been placed on the plane, they took their respective positions. Irving found his seat at the controls and flipped the switches and produced a whirring sound as the engines began to awaken. Airport personnel cleared the plane to go. It was 11 AM Atlantic Standard Time.

During the flight, Elina sipped a mimosa. Farrar sipped water and looked out the window.

“I hope you’re not too sore about our brief tardiness,” she said finally.

“No, I’m over that,” he replied.

“Have a cigar,” she goaded.

“I don’t smoke.”

Elina kissed her teeth. “Oh, well. If you don’t want to live it up in one of the most luxurious flying vessels in the sky, that’s your problem.”

Farrar turned to her. “I didn’t want this trip. I was perfectly fine in the tropics and meeting one of the best pop stars of all time. Now that I can scratch that off of my bucket list, I think I’ll spend the rest of my time contemplating what I’ll have to look forward to after all of this over and I have to report to a lieutenant colonel who will chew me if I’m not bright-eyed and bushy tailed come Monday Morning at 0800 hours. So, if you don’t mind, I’m going to just sit here and collect my thoughts.”

Elina was not stung. Everything he had said was true. She felt an ease wash over her. It was a comprehension of the last few hours and the hours to come.

“Everything okay, back there?”

“Peachy!” Both Elina and Farrar chimed.

As the the three of them landed in Arizona, they piled into a luxury cargo van and journeyed to the posh hotel.

“We’ll have about three hours of sleep to get ready, eat at a restaurant, and go to the game. I hope you haven’t lost faith in me,” Irving called.

“I can never lose anything I’ve never had. I still trust you but I have no faith, so I can only have confidence in you.”

Elina looked at Farrar. It was an observer’s look. She studied him as much as an ichthyologist studies a pufferfish. “You’re selfish.” She didn’t say it with acidicness. She wasn’t even accusatory. In her short assessment, she simply wanted to point out a fact. There seemed to be a bit of wonder in her words. They could have been for anyone but they were just to test Farrar.

“I know.” His response seemed to be a bow. Like a pianist who had just finished the last note of a symphony, he remained even tempered and true in matter and in spirit. He fully acknowledged his rational self interest and let no one damper his fidelity to his mind, his body, his own self-worth. He quickly summed up his whole existence with only two words.

On Sunday, the luxury van escorted the three of them who journeyed to the game and found their seats in the sky box. Lobster, shrimp, ribeye steak and truffles and caviar complimented the champagne and top shelf cognac.

In a moment, Robyn came in and looked around. She stood with her child’s father, Rakim Mayers.

“I hope the amenities are to your liking,” she said, holding Mayer’s hand.

“If they’re not, we can certainly address the right people before showtime,” he suggested.

“Well, I’m glad you got here safely. Enjoy everything!” Robyn’s smile dazzled the room. Her aura and grace left a mark on Farrar. Elina then looked at her boss. Robyn rolled her eyes and then burst out laughing with the hairdresser. Farrar noticed this. He also took note of the way she carried herself like royalty but could walk among crowds and still be deified. She left with Mayer and proceeded to the most magnificent music stage on the globe.