“Today is the big day” as Imani Clark talked to herself glancing at her beautiful reflection in the
mirror. She saw that she had the biggest smile running across her face as if she had just finished
running a marathon at the Olympics and won first place. Imani had been waiting for this day for
quite awhile now. Today was the day she was going on that cruise to the Bahamas with the man
she loved dearly, her boyfriend, Antonio. The two had been planning this vacation since January
of 2010. This cruise was just a one day cruise. They would leave at 8 o clock in the morning at
the departure site in Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale, arrive at Freeport, Grand Bahamas at 12 o
clock in the afternoon, where they will be there for four hours, then would be back at Fort
Lauderdale around 10 o clock at night. A couple of days ago, Imani was talking on the phone to
Antonio making sure they had everything in check for the cruise when all of a sudden, he said “ I
have a surprise for you when we get to the island but, don’t be expecting it right when we get
there ”. Imani with a confused look on her face replied ”Ok”. Imani had this sudden tingling
feeling in her stomach that she knew what it was. She thought “Maybe Antonio will propose to
me, I mean, he’s such a great guy, he’s a Christian, respectful, and we been together for two
years, it has to be that”. Well that day finally came and Imani was estatic. She had one thing on
her mind “I have to get that ring”. All of a sudden, she heard the door bell ring, and she raced
downstairs as if somebody was racing her. When she got to the door, to her surprise, it was
Antonio holding a bouquet of flowers. “Thank you so much, their beautiful” said Imani. As the
two drove away in Antonio’s white pt cruiser, Imani couldn’t help but wonder what her parents
will react if they found out she was going on this cruise with Antonio. Imani’s parents were a bit
over controlling and exuberant. Her mother always thought worse case scenarios and her dad
just didn’t think it looked right for Imani going on a cruise alone with a boy. Back in the day,
when Antonio and Imani were going out only for a couple of months, Antonio would break his
promises, he have these exotic lame excuses for not coming to see her, he lied about everything
and most important, he cheated on her. Her parents known all Antonio’s little schemes he played
on their daughter, which is why Imani thinks her parents won’t let her go. She explained to them
that they should accept the fact that she is a grown woman and can handle her own situations
even if they don’t turn out to be good ones. Imani also mentioned that that has all changed and
their deeply in love with each other and nobody will change that. Her parents never really gave
her a yes or no answer on going on this trip so; Imani just took this into her own hands and
allowed herself to go on this trip without her parents knowing. She was terrified but excited
because she couldn’t stop wondering what her boyfriend was going to give her. As they arrived,
at the departure in Fort Lauderdale, they aboard the ship with no problems or complications and
started sailing the big ocean blue sea.“Here we go my love” as Antonio whispered in Imani’s ear
with his lips almost slightly pressed upon her cheek as if he were going give her a quick kiss on
the cheek. As they walked around the ship, trying to make time fly faster, they found a casino
and a bar aboard the ship. They both gambled a little bit sipping on their margaritas on board. As
they both went to go use the bathroom to change into their bathing suits, they noticed the ship
stopped suddenly which means they must have made it to the island. They quickly darted out of
the bathroom and onto the island so they could have time to shop around and go to the beach.
“Antonio, we made it! Isn’t this place beautiful?” said Imani. The first thing they did was to go
to the beach for a little bit and enjoy the cool waters of the Bahamas. Time passed slowly, as
they enjoyed the day together at the beach, and shopping, Antonio starts walking towards an old,
shack-looking restaurant. In her head Imani thought, “What in the hell are we doing here, it looks
broken down and un-sanitary?”But, she kept her mouth shut and followed him into this
restaurant hoping he had a really good explanation as to why they were there. “Isnt it beautiful,
Imani?” asked Antonio gazing into her eyes. She couldn’t say no to his face ,so, Imani just
nodded her head softly. They found a table and sat there until Antonio decided to start the
conversation. “Well, babe, we been together for 2 years and you know how much I love you
right”? “Yes I do baby, very much so” replied Imani. “Ok here it goes. Imani the thing I had to
show you was this” said Antonio. “Is what”? replied Imani. “Oh my gosh babe, it’s this
restaurant, I bought this restaurant” said Antonio. “What! Why?!” replied Imani. Imani was
devasted that the fact instead of thinking her boyfriend was going to propose to her, he told her
he bought this restaurant. There were thoughts just rushing into her head like how will they still
be together; Seeing as how Antonio has to stay at the Bahamas and run this business. Imani,
disappointed and hurt, started heading back to the ship leaving Antonio behind. Not only will she
have to face her parents back home alone, but, she will be facing reality.