The hurricane predicted to hit Miami in under 36 hours had now earned a name of its own. 'Hurricane George'.

Unless you knew a terrible George it did not sound like the kind of thing that made you think disaster. Actually, it sounded unsuspecting. Friendly, even. It was the type of name that you uttered with a tone of indifference and little thought when you retold the happenings of a long day to a close friend. A side character.

Marley saw 'Hurricane Ava' more fitting. He knew a terrible Ava.

And it felt more than right to conflate her with a natural disaster. Perhaps 'Ava' might be the type of name, in ignorance, you said with a smile and a quickened heartbeat, but with wisdom you'd come to know better. Like a hurricane, a woman named Ava may seem far in the beginning and all the devastation she causes in the distance you never even heard of, but the moment she draws near you begin to take notice of her. The heat in the air dissipates as she brings rain with her, the tide speeds up to match your adrenaline and you think these are all good things. But the thunder after the lightning is unmistakable and the adrenaline isn't out of happiness, but fear. Marley Mason, as everyone should, became quickly aware that Avas held enough power to lift roofs off the top of houses and dismember hearts from ribcages with the same type of wind. How many other beautiful names were just as unforgiving? Today, Marley Mason though about that.

He exhaled.

Dark clouds were all over Bayside now and the air was fast and cold. Marley could see the palm trees whip and thrash through his bedroom window and he followed their movements. Maybe he invested too much, too quickly. Maybe he didn't know her that well. Maybe he misinterpreted what they were because he was Marley Mason, mute and slow while she was Ava DeLoughery ravishing and quick.

Maybe that's all there was to it. Maybe he was just as blind as he was mute. The world, he felt, was continuing to compound on the shaky slab of wood roofing his tiny bedroom. Lightning flashed outside.

The stretch of skin where Richie had punched him still ached. As did other places, but Marley could only handle so many sources of pain at a time before he was sucked into somewhere dark. Like last night when he had spent hours lying awake and the sound of Ava's footsteps leaving him were still lingering. He had thought of how badly he wanted to get revenge on Richie, he thought of how people like him never got their justice, he thought of how Ava managed to stomach leaving him there, he thought of how he couldn't even watch her leave, look her in the eye, because there was still blood and water and sand impairing his vision. When he thought of all these things last night, it did not matter that he was lying in the comfort of his own bed, at home, protected and safe. Somehow, he was still on that beach. Helpless. He cried, then, and everything went dark until this morning.

To avoid that happening again, on this gloomy day Marley Mason wondered how he could relieve the sting of Richie's fist on his face. Ice from the fridge downstairs was probably the correct route to go. The boy would have to put it in a cup with some water to avoid suspicion from his father, however, and then hurry back to his room as quickly as possible so it wouldn't melt. Ice. Just ice, for now. Marley concentrated. His chest cavity would just have to wait. He took his pillow and squeezed it into himself as if to at least temporarily clog, fill, jam, the hole already there long enough to get up.

There was a knock at the door. It opened and Tafari Mason briefly and stepped in, "Get ready," he told his son, "We're going to work." Tafari knew Marley had heard him, yet the boy did not move. The man sunk his teeth into his bottom lip and watched the boy for a moment. "You don't want to talk, mi know. But we haffi get up. Last day of work before the hurricane then we need to come back home and board up." Tafari went to shut his son's room door but not before he gave the lifeless figure on the bed a final glance and said to him, "Yuh will get tru it. Everybody get tru it eventually."

After silence, there was a, "When?"

Tafari halted. Marley Mason turned to stare at the man in his doorway and, from his position on the bed, waiting for an honest answer. Tafari opened the door and stepped inside. He moved over to the bed and sat on the very edge of it where Marley could feel the dip of the mattress but not the shaking of his person. "What do you remember about mommy?"

Marley stared at the shoulder of his father's back. "I remember she loved you. I remember she loved me." His eyes found his father again. I don't think you remembered that when we left her to move here."

"No," Tafari corrected, "I remember. Of course, I remember that. But Marley, sometimes we care deep for a person and they care deep for us but that does not mean we are their priority. Sometimes people love us because we are available and it is easy to love us in second place to something else. Your mother loved me, but she loved her addiction more. Like her, I had to make a choice. So I chose you and me first over her because we was never first for her anyway."

"But you were the one that left her."

Tafari did not get riled up like Marley thought he would at the bitter tone in his voice. Disrespect, it could have easily been determined as. Instead, the man smiled. "Marley, before I eva buy that plane ticket your mother leff wi. I just did stop chasing her."

Marley thought about that briefly as his lips sealed again. He never thought you could love two things and have one come first over the other. He thought love was suppose to be unconditional and infinite, like in the movies. And he never thought you could leave and stay simultaneously. That parts of you could be in two places at once.

He thought of Ava sitting around the booth of Jah-Jah's Jamaican Jerk Foods, waiting patiently for him, yet, with her phone in hand waiting patiently for something else too at the same time.

Tafari Mason stood up.

'Now," he said to his son, "get ready."

*

Marley Mason expected no one to come into his father's jerk food shop today but customers filed in like always; not as much as usual, but they were there nonetheless. His father was right. So, Marley got to work. Like any other day, he took orders, ignored people's confusion when he didn't speak and gave everyone what they needed.

He looked over at the spot where Ava DeLoughery used to wait for him but now there was a family there. They were a little louder than the other customers and their family had overflowed the seats. Upon eye contact, a man from the booth signalled Marley over.

Marley exhaled and took out his notepad. He braved himself to step into that space again but the boy didn't have the chance to click his pen to life before the man spoke, "Yo dis a by far di best Jamaican food we have from we come up here."

Marley looked up at them.

The man continued, "Don't it, Sasha?"

The woman he was looking fondly toward paused from disciplining two of the children sitting next to her. "By far!" she laughed.

Marley examined the table. He counted seven of them in total and he didn't know how he didn't recognise it before. Their smiles said it all. They were Jamaican.

The man looked quizzically at Marley. "Yaadie, right?"

It was a secret code between them. A test. Their eyes held onto one another for a split second before Marley beamed and nodded.

"See it deh!" The man laughed. "Yaadie!"

For the first time, Marley seriously thought of how many other Jamaicans had been coming to this restaurant all along. How many had sat in this very booth before Ava Marley ever set foot past these doors? In this building, Marley realized, he had a little piece of home. He promised himself he'd pay more keen attention to the best parts of Jah-Jah's Jerk Foods.

On the other side of the restaurant, Tafari Mason was watching. This morning he had been worried that he might have to put his son back into the kitchen. Allow him the space he needed to re-sink into his safest shell. But, the boy clearly didn't need it anymore. He was still hurt, Tafari knew, but he was still alive too and learning to deal with the pain, exposed. Tafari Mason stared at his son and went at ease knowing the boy's eyes weren't so dim that he couldn't see the light still in them.

Later that afternoon, however, when the hurricane breeze came knocking on the front door of the shop, Tafari decided it was time to go home.

Whew! Let's pretend like this update isn't extremely late and just enjoy Marley's progress? For real though, readers, I've been working through the direction of this story and I didn't want to release a chapter I wasn't proud of. I have a better grapple on what I want to say with this story now. What did you guys think about this chapter?

This week's dedication goes to because they blazed through this book so quickly and was disappointed that there wasn't an update. This is for you! Thank you for your support! Remember if you vote and comment the next dedication could be you!

Last thing! I didn't know if you guys heard but my new poetry book "Today I Passed Your House And Realized I Wasn't Over You" is being released on March 15th! Guys, when I tell you this is my best poetry yet, I'm not kidding! Go add it to your library to be notified when it drops!