This is a Clique

If any of these kind of relationships started developing on the ship, you were supposed to go talk to the chaplain, Jack Hill about it. Laura had already been meeting with his wife, Myrna recently and had told her about Isaiah 62. Laura had been interpreting the verses spiritually, thinking it meant that she was going to grow closer to God. When she had told Myrna, she said, 

        “Sounds like you’re going to get a husband”.

We told Jack and Myrna our story and they considered it plausible. He asked us about physical guidelines, recommending we not kiss until marriage. I affirmed that that was my intention and he said that we should just carry on and see what happens, if circumstances would bring confirmation.

As Don Stephens and his family had left the ship, we were going to watch a movie with a group of friends in his cabin that night. The Good Samaritan was also coming to Jamaica that day and was going to dock alongside us. Laura and I were both looking forward to seeing our friends from the Good Sam again, especially Ted McKenzie. We invited him to come watch the movie with us. 

As you can imagine, anything that happens in a community like the ship spreads like wildfire and there can be a lot of misinformation and rumor passed around. If you want to keep something quiet, you have to play it very close to the chest. Those who were at the beach that day when Laura and I talked knew something was going on but we didn’t want things to become too public too quickly. My mom was also arriving the next day, so we wanted to tell her first.

When Ted came up to the Stephens’s cabin, I cryptically pointed back and forth from Laura to myself, bobbing my eyebrows up and down and told him something might be happening between us. Ted is one of those lovable, crazy kind of friends and he blurted out, 

        “What, there’s something going on between you two?” 

Laura and I shushed him down but enjoyed the humor.

You don’t have to have money to go on dates but it sure helps. I had enough to go get some ice cream in town but we also found free things to do. We would usually have to walk through town to get anywhere. One day as we were walking along, some local guy in a side alley punched Laura in the arm. It was crowded so I couldn’t identify who it was. On another occasion, another local guy offered to buy Laura for five cents - weird.

There was a bit of a problem. I didn’t like Laura’s best friend and her husband on the ship. Let’s just say there was some conflict in the area of personality. I also hate cliques. I hate it when certain people are always together and others are left out. I thought Laura and her friend were part of a clique. 

One day I got my food in the dining room and went to find Laura. She was at a table with her friend and when I saw them I said, 

        “This is a clique” and moved on to another table. 

That spread around the ship like wildfire and people who knew what was going on with us wondered if we were going to break up.

With Laura’s friend, the feeling was mutual. She didn’t really like me either, mostly because she didn’t want me to take Laura away. But when she saw that it was serious between Laura and I, she decided to try to get to know me. I didn’t help much but they asked us to go on a double date. 

They wanted to go to a nice restaurant over on Navy Island, which you could only get to by a ferry boat. I hardly talked the whole evening. It wasn’t that I was trying to be rude, I just didn’t have anything to say. I didn’t feel any connection and couldn’t relate to them. Laura was distressed by the whole predicament. It was like she had to decide between her best friend and her new love interest. Eventually, things would take a turn for the better but for now it was a source of dismay.

Me and my friend Ted McKenzie


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