Chapter 17-Contests Galore

We made our way through the masses of people. Everything was a flurry of bright colors that had me looking in all directions to catch glimpses of some of the elaborate costumes people wore. The eight of us drew quite a few stares. We were some of the most elaborately dressed.

"Its party time!" shouted Kat as she spun her way through the crowd, grabbing random guys and dancing with them for a few moments before we moved on. We had agreed to meet Terry, John, and Trisha at a café when we got there.

The café’s name was translated as "The Hot Spot" and it was right in the middle of the party. Waiters and waitresses dressed in bright uniforms dashed around trying to bring drinks to the many people who were already sitting down to simply watch the party take place. We spotted the three in a large table near the entrance and we nearly burst out laughing when we saw what they were wearing.

Terry was dressed in a bright pantsuit with yellow pants and an orange top. Scarves in alternating shades of orange, red, and yellow were wrapped around it and her hat had a bright sun festooning its top. John was wearing a pair dressy white paints with a white shirt. Over that was a bright blue scarf around his waist and a blue jacket with gold buttons. On his head was hat with a white base and then patterned in blue. Blue tassels were hanging around the edge of the rim. Trisha was wearing a long, flowing dress made of layers of gauze in all colors. Long sashes on each side were clasped to her wrists by dainty bracelets. A headdress of wrapped printed scarf was wrapped around her head.

"You kids look great," said John, rising when we approached. He looked more jolly than ever.

"You three don’t look so bad yourselves," said Kyle with a smile to the two, older ladies.

They smiled like schoolgirls and Trisha said, "Thanks."

John picked up a pair of maracas from the table and shook them shouting, "Lets dance!" When he said it, I realized he looked a lot like someone from a Mexican Mariachi band. That was probably the affect he was going for. We all took his cue to run out into the crowd and soon we were moving to the music.

Before we could really get into it the music stopped and a distinguished looking gentleman in a suit walked up on stage and began speaking in Patois, everyone cheered while he spoke. When he finished, he repeated himself he began reading in English from a paper in his hands. "Hello and welcome to the Solstice Festival. There will be a grand parade all the way around the island in three hours, I invite everyone to follow and bring cheer to those who could not attend the festival. It may take hours but we will go until we drop," he said happily. Again, everyone cheered and we joined in. Beside me, Kat screamed enthusiastically.

"What a great idea," said Joseph, his eyes were bright in the cheer of the festivities. The man repeated himself in Spanish and French as well. I noticed that many of the people who cheered at the French were wearing some of the scantiest outfits. They had a habit of going nude and the beach, as we had seen earlier, and it seemed to carry over here. I chuckled and then started dancing as the music began again.

Joseph whirled me way from the others and we danced together, the music guiding our moves. Life around me seemed to slow and blur so that only he and I existed. We stared into each other’s eyes, equally captivating the other. We swirled and dipped, moving faster and faster, together. The passion of the moment and the mood had fully taken over each of us and we danced and danced for moments up end until suddenly, we stopped. I breathed in deeply as the reverie shattered. The crowd had formed a cicle around us and sat fixed, staring at us. The ending of our reverie had come with the ending of the first string of songs. I glanced at a nearby clock, an entire 20 minutes had passed in a blink of ecstasy. The people around us cheered. Joseph and I merely stared at each other, neither believing the other, or even ourselves, could dance that well.

"You two should enter the dancing contest," said a man near us after our watchers had finished cheering.

"Oh I don’t think-" I began to speak but Joseph cut me off.

"Why not," he said with a smile. "It’ll be great."

"Well," the man said. "If you would like its right before the parade begins. The last contest of the night."

Continuous contests had been rolling since the gentleman, who I think was the leader of Bequia, finished speaking. An entire stage was dedicated to the events. "Lets go check it out," I said to Joseph. He nodded and we pushed our way through the crowd.

Up on stage an eating contest was about to take place. Not just any food, but extremely spicy local food. I noticed that Mitch, Trisha, Brad, and Morgan were all taking part in it. All our other friends were off to one side of the contest stage and we made our way over to join them.

"Hey guys," I said through the roar of the crowd.

Kat grinned over at me and said, "Shh, its about to begin." Kyle gave us a glance that seemed almost annoyed but then turned his eyes back up to the stage. Lindsay was toward the front and was intently staring at the eaters. Mitch waved to her and she smiled.

Suddenly there was a large gunshot and the eaters began digging into their food. There was a whole spiced chicken, a pot of soup that seemed to be making the competitors’ eyes water, and a large plate of spicy vegetables. There was not a drop of liquid on the small tables but in the front of the stage there was a large trough of water.

I cheered for Mitch since I knew him more than the two young guys and the older woman but Kat was alternating between all of them and Kyle watched with a smirk and folded arms. John and Terry cheered for their son and Lindsay cheered for both her mother and Mitch. Our four lasted longer than many of the other competitors, but of them, Brad was the first to go. He apparently didn’t like spicy food very much and just did it for fun, so soon he was up in the front shoving water down his mouth. Mitch wasn’t as much of a spicy food buff as he thought himself to be and also hit the water before he had finished half his food.

Trisha and Morgan both ate away though. Neither of them were very heavy and it surprised me that they could pack away so much food. Lindsay explained to me after we hadn’t gotten tired of watching people eat that her mother loved spicy food. Their family and the Heinmans often went out to eat oriental food, particularly Thai, and nothing was too hot for her. We chatted for a bit then turned our attention back to the stage as the eaters were approaching the final leg of the competition. Before, it had mostly been a contest of who could withstand the spice but now it was down to who would finish first. Four competitors were left, Morgan and Trisha among them. The other two were both men. One was very large and the other was of fairly good size.

I noticed something, both of the other men and Morgan had saved the vegetables for last and were just now giving them disdainful looks. Trisha had begun with them and was now making her way through the chicken. "Mom had the right idea," said Lindsay. "Those vegetables are the worst because the other foods were simply seasoned. The vegetables are spicy in their own right and have a much worse affect because of it. She ate them gradually through the meal and things are looking good for her." She finished the explanation and shouted, "Go mom! Go Morgan!"

The largest man stuffed three peppers in his mouth at one time to increase his speed but after a moment of chewing his face went bright red. He began shouting something in what sounded like German and ran for the water trough. He shoved his head inside of the water and held it there for a few minutes. Both the other man and Morgan looked almost frightened at his actions and at their vegetables. Trisha just smirked and ate away at the chicken. Morgan gave the vegetables a final look then stood and bowed to Trisha before getting a drink of water and leaving the stage. We all patted him on the back when he joined us. "At least you got third," said Brad. "I must have been one of the last."

We watched for the final minutes of the competition as Trisha began to look a bit queasy. The man was flinching at each vegetable he ate but he didn’t look full at all.

"Go Trisha!" we all shouted. "Just a little more." She saw us and smiled then quickly tore off the rest of the chicken and ate it down quickly. The crowd roared as the judges came over and declared her the winner. We all rushed onto the stage. Brad and Lindsay buried their mother in huge hugs, the woman was smaller than most of them, and then they handed her a box full of premium Caribbean spices and a trophy that was topped with a red pepper. The other man and Morgan each got bottles of spices as well. We exited the stage and congratulated them. We watched a few more contests, danced together and separately, then it was time for the dance contest.

Both Joseph and I, and Mitch and Lindsay entered. Mitch swore that he was alright when we tried to dissuade him but I noticed that after all the food, his steps were a bit shaky. He thought that he would have more time to recover but the two of them were the first couple to be called to the stage. The band on the next stage had turned their speakers toward the contest stage and played for the competitors. Mitch and Lindsay got up there, then had no idea what they were going to do. They looked at each other, shrugged, and started to tango, then switched to a messy waltz, and ended with swing dancing. Mitch didn’t know how to swing dance so it was hilarious to see Lindsay leading him. None of it fit very well with the music being played but they just laughed at did it anyway. The crowd went absolutely wild for them, though it was apparent that they didn’t know what they were doing, and they exited with a quick flourish.

Many other couples danced. Some were bad, some mediocre, but some absolutely blew us away with how well they danced. As Joseph and I walked up on stage I whispered, "We don’t have a chance."

He whispered back, "I know but we’ll have fun."

We decided to dance how we had been earlier, though neither of us knew exactly what we had done. When the music started we pressed together and let the melody dictate our moves. Again, we were locked together as though nothing else truly existed. When it ended, Joseph dipped me into a deep, passionate kiss. It wasn’t like any kiss I have ever had. The world seemed to explode around me and I nearly gasped. He raised me to my feet with a shy smile and then the crowed cheered louder than they had for any of the professionals, though not quite as loud as they had for Mitch and Lindsay. Our moves hadn’t been the fanciest but they seemed to sense our emotions. We exited the stage and waited for the results. They announced the top three dancers, none of them were either of us. I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed, though I knew we wouldn’t win. The three couples had seemed professional.

"Hold on though," said the announcer who read the message on a piece of paper in English. "We have three honorable mentions." Joseph gave my hand a squeeze and we waited in anticipation. The first people they brought up were an elderly couple who had amazed the crowd by moving as though they were twenty year olds. Their honorable mention was for, "Giving us all something to hope for."

"We’ll bring up the next two couples together since they seem to know each other," said the announcer, then he turned in our direction. "The first are Mitch Flagstaff and Lindsay Lockhart for being the crowd favorite. The second are Melanie Potter and Joseph Winbey for entrancing us all." We walked up to applause and collected our trophies.

Mitch asked if he could borrow the microphone and they gladly gave it to him. "I just wanted to say," Mitch said with overdone emotion. "Thank you to everyone. I want to thank a number of people. Firstly, Lindsay for actually knowing how to swing dance and being so lovely. Her mother for letting such a sweet girl dance with a ruffian like me. My friends for trying to stop me because my stomach hurts now, hey they tried. My neighbors for always yelling at me when I dance naked past the windows. Bob, the school janitor, for whopping me with a broom one time. And most importantly, my first grade teacher for complimenting a picture I once drew. That compliment gave me the strength to be where I am today. One last thank you, I want to thank you, the fans for supporting us through the good times and the bad." He bowed and everyone cheered for him. I clapped between my laughs and then we exited as he handed the microphone back.

The announcer took the microphone quickly and then put on a grin. "Well," said the English announcer at the same time the others talked in different languages. "Its time for the parade to begin. Everyone stand at the side of the streets and if you like, you can dance behind it, or walk, or whatever you like. Good night."