Puerto Barrios, nighttime.
It's getting dark outside and James has just left the room, pommade in his remaining red hair, a half hour shower and clean clothes on his body. He is off to the Calle Nueve, the rowdy bar and bordello area of Puerto Barrios, together with his new american buddy who boasted to know the area.
I've plans to watch a movie at the local cinema tonight but walking down the stairs I can see a TV set in the lobby of my hotel with a bunch of locals around it.
A young black woman shyly looks away when I walk over to the reception to hand in my room key, I've seen the interest in her hazel brown eyes when she saw me coming down so instead of handing over the key I order a mexican Modelo beer and join the TV devotees who willingly offer me a free chair.
I offer the black lady a Modelo and soon enough, after a bit of chatting, invite her along for dinner.
She takes my arm possessively and guides me to a small restaurant on stilts with maybe 5/6 wooden tables, the insite lit up by kerosine lamps. Only two tables are occupied, at one table a young black couple the other one has got three latino men in their early twenties drinking Venado and Big El Gallo bottles.
On her suggestion we order belizian food, mexican frijoles, habanero chillies to heat things up and tortillas, to wash this stuff all down we drink caribean rum.
I tell her about my life in Amsterdam, my work at the market and my trips to Thailand, I wisely leave out the part of Nong and little Joy, the baby girl I got with her only a short year ago.
She tells me she comes from Belize but is living with her abuelita - little grand-mother in spanish - in Livingston beaming enormous smiles at me, showing me her pearl white teeth that have no irregularities.
When we walk back to the hotel through a dark Puerto Barrios, she takes my arm whispering in my ear "me hope see you again in Livingston" , her breath hot and promising, I can smell the habanero chillies and caribean rum on her breath when I turn my face to her. In the darkness of the night I can only see the whites of her eyes and teeth giving her a peck on her cheek before watching her run up the stairs of the hotel.
I sit on these same stairs for a long time watching the moon appaering from behind dark clouds