Chapter 172: Nonstop

“Wowwww,” Marita’s eyes went wide in pure awe as she stared out the car window, mouth slightly open. Everything was so new, so big, so loud. She had finally left the soil of Vanuatu and stepped onto American soil for the first time in her life. New York City stretched out around her like something from a dream she never dared to have.

“Eh… look at dat one!” she gasped, pointing at a towering skyscraper that seemed to touch the clouds. “Dat building tall pass coconut tree! How dem build am so high? Mi no understand!”

The two suited men sent by Ravial to pick her up from the airport sat in the front seats, faces blank and increasingly frustrated. They had been driving for less than twenty minutes and Marita had not stopped talking once.

“An’ dis road… so smooth! No hole like back home. An’ all dis car… so many! Look, look! Dat one red like fire! An’ dat yellow one… why so many yellow car? Dem all taxi?”

The driver’s knuckles tightened on the steering wheel.

Marita leaned forward between the seats, eyes sparkling with excitement. “Excuse me, mister… how long we go take reach Leitana house? Mi miss her too much! We grow up together from baby days yu know. She my sister for true. Mi no see her for many months now. Mi heart dey beat fast just thinking about am!”

The man in the passenger seat sighed quietly. “We’ll be there soon, miss.”

“Soon how long?” Marita pressed, completely missing the strained tone. “One hour? Two? Mi can wait but mi too excited! Leitana pregnant too! Mother Superior tell me say her new husband invite mi come stay with her because she missing Vanuatu. Mi almost faint when mi hear! Leitana… pregnant! An’ married to rich man! Mi no fit believe am!”

She sat back again, pressing her face closer to the window as they passed another glittering building.

“Eh… look at dat bridge! So long! Like snake! How dem build am over water like dat? An’ all dis light… even for daytime dem dey shine. Back home we no get light like dis. Mi feel like mi inside movie!”

The driver muttered something under his breath in another language. Marita didn’t notice.

“An’ di people… so many! Different color, different cloth. Dat woman dey wear short short… Mother Superior no go like dat one bit!” She giggled, then pointed again. “An’ dat man dey walk with dog on rope! Why dog need rope? Dog no fit run away?”

The man in the passenger seat rubbed his temple. “Miss, please… just enjoy the view quietly.”

Marita blinked at him innocently. “Quiet? But mi too happy! Mi never leave Vanuatu before. Everything new! Leitana go laugh when she see mi. She go say ‘Marita, yu still dey talk too much!’ But mi no fit help am. Mi heart full!”

She pressed both hands to her chest dramatically.

“Mi pray every night say God go bless Leitana. Now she pregnant an’ have big house an’ husband who send plane ticket for mi. Mi no deserve am… but mi grateful. Mi go hug her tight when mi see her. Tell her how much mi miss her laugh, her voice, even her small small scolding when mi talk too fast.”

The car turned onto a quieter, tree-lined road leading toward the villa.

Marita’s eyes went even wider.

“Eh… dis place look like paradise! Tree everywhere… so green! An’ di house… wait, dat big big house na Leitana own? No way! Mi go faint for true!”

She bounced a little in her seat, clapping her hands.

“Leitana… mi coming! Mi sister… mi dey come!”

The two men in the front exchanged a tired glance but said nothing.

Marita didn’t notice.

She was too busy pressing her face to the window again, whispering in thick Bislama mixed with broken English, “Tank yu God… tank yu for bringing mi here. Mi no go waste dis chance. Mi go make Leitana proud.”

The car continued down the long driveway toward the villa, Marita’s excited chatter filling the silence the entire way.

She was here for Leitana.

And nothing in the world could dampen the joy bubbling inside her.

For the next two hours, after they left New York and finally reached the Connecticut countryside where the villa was located, Marita had still not stopped talking.

“Does she never stop talking,” one of the men seated in the passenger seat groaned under his breath, dragging his hand over his face.

“I’m already considering leaping out of the car. Someone shut her up….please,” the driver muttered.

Marita didn’t hear them. She was too busy pointing at everything.

“Eh… look at dat big tree! It tall pass our church back home! An’ di grass… so green like emerald! How dem make am stay green like dis? Back home grass dey turn brown when dry season come!”

The men exchanged pained glances but kept driving.

Finally, the large villa estate came into view.

Marita’s eyes went wide, her mouth falling open in pure shock.

“Jesus Christ…!” she breathed, pressing both hands to the window. “Dat… dat na house?! No… dat na palace! Look at am! So big! So white! An’ di stone steps… like king palace! Leitana dey live here? Mi friend Leitana? Mi no fit believe am! Mi go faint for true!”

The car rolled smoothly through the grand gates and up the circular driveway. The men practically leaped out the moment it stopped, relief washing over their faces.

One of them opened the rear door for her with forced politeness.

Marita stepped out, still staring up at the villa in awe, a bright smile on her face. She was very pretty, warm brown skin, bright green eyes, and a natural glow but her mouth, as the men had already discovered, was the problem.

“Tank yu, mister!” she said cheerfully to the man who had opened the door.

He gave a tight nod and quickly stepped back.

The two men guided her toward the grand stone steps, her eyes darting everywhere, taking in the sprawling acres of perfectly manicured grounds, the fountain, the tall trees, the sheer size of everything.

The front door opened.

Ravial Ashbourne stepped forward.

He was tall, broad-shouldered, and strikingly handsome in a dark, dangerous way. The black blindfold across his eyes only added to the mysterious, almost intimidating aura.

Marita stopped dead on the steps, mouth falling open again.

“Eh…?” she whispered, completely shocked. “Dis… dis na Leitana husband? He no old at all! Mi think only old man get money like dis! An’ why he dey wear blindfold? He blind? But he look so strong… so fine…”

Ravial descended a few steps, his presence commanding even without saying a word.

“Welcome,” he said, voice low and smooth. “You must be Marita. Leitana has spoken about you many times. How was your journey here?”

The two men behind Marita visibly tensed.

“No, no sir, don’t….” one of them tried to warn, but it was too late.

Marita’s face lit up like the sun.

“Journey? Oh my God, it was too good!” she burst out, words tumbling fast and thick. “Mi never fly before! Di plane so big an’ di seat soft like cloud! An’ di food… mi eat until mi belly full! Den when mi land, di car come pick mi… so smooth! An’ di road… so long an’ di tree dem so tall! Mi ask di driver plenty question but he no talk much. But mi no mind! Mi too happy! Leitana dey inside? Mi wan see her right now! Mi miss her too much! She pregnant an’ mi no even see her belly yet! How she dey? She dey fine? She dey eat well? Mi bring small thing from Vanuatu for her aome special leaf wey good for pregnant woman…”

She kept going, barely pausing for breath, hands waving excitedly as she climbed the steps toward Ravial.

The two men behind her looked like they wanted the ground to swallow them.

Ravial stood perfectly still, listening to the nonstop stream of words with a calm expression.

Marita finally stopped right in front of him, still smiling brightly.

“An’ yu… yu be Leitana husband? Mi happy to meet yu! Tank yu for inviting mi! Mi go take good care of Leitana while mi here. She my sister for true!”

Ravial tilted his head slightly, the corner of his mouth twitching not quite a smile, but close.

“Leitana is inside,” he said quietly. “It's a surprise.”

Marita clapped her hands. “Then make we go! Mi no fit wait!”

She started to move past him, still talking.

Ravial watched her for a moment, then turned and followed without a word, the two exhausted men trailing behind like they had just survived a battlefield.