One Drunken Night In Cancun
The floral shirt I donned the day before was now drenched in an aroma of scents. What's that? A hint of gin? I don't drink gin. And um, rum? Wait- no, more specifically, coconut rum? Oh no! The scent of the devil's choice drink stung my nose.
"Tequila" I groaned as an instantaneous headache crept up and I rolled over till I was on all fours, peeling myself off the springy mattress.
One at a time, my eyes opened to a bright, nauseating sun striking through thin white curtains which blew gently with the wind. Past the glare, I began to focus on the scenery outside. A baby blue sky with tiny clouds scattered unevenly across the expanse gracefully kissed the majestic cyan oceans, whose waves rose and fell in symphony.
As I regained my vision, my hearing returned and I could hear the sounds of a vibrant group of musicians playing cumbian music mixing with the talk and chatter of crowds of people. I patted the ruffled sheets for my cellphone and opened the screen to twenty-seven missed calls and fifty-four messages. The weather app pinged.
"32 degrees. Scattered clouds, Precipitation: four percent..."
Wait. What is that location?
My eyes widened as I read the letters at the top of the screen.
"Cancun, Quitana Roo, Mexico"
I flew to my feet, temporarily struggled to keep my balance, and then ran to the windows. I flung open the curtains and stared, beyond the balcony, at Playa Marlin glistening before me. I looked around the room, which I probably should have done sooner, to find my best friend sprawled out on the floor, a giant straw belonging to a long drinking glass hanging out of her mouth on one side and drool on the next. I shook her till she woke up in a panic.
"What? What? What happened?"
"I don't know, you tell me, Sophie."
She looked at me dazed and confused, and obviously hungover, possibly more than me.
"Where are we?" she asked, although not fully aware as yet to her surroundings or the real puzzle surrounding that question.
I shoved my phone in her face and after several hard blinks to gain some focus, she blurted out loud,
"How the eff did we end up in Cancun!"
Like a genie responding to someone rubbing its lamp, a soft knock emerged from the door. We both looked at each other, telepathetically discussing whether to answer it or not. I mean, we did not know how the hell we ended up there, nor if we were supposed to be there. We both took turns nodding at each other, each trying to pass the responsibility of who was going to answer the door to the other, as the knock repeated itself. Finally, I grabbed her by the hand and figured, if I must go down, I'm not going down alone.
"Buenos dias, senoritas and how are we enjoying our morning?" a short, stocky man dressed in a blue blazer, black and white striped shirt and khaki pants with brown shoes and a brown belt welcomed himself inside the room.
He looked around the room and the cups and bottles tossed around it and with a smile, he said,
"Ah, I see instead of conquering Cancun, Cancun conquered you" and then he laughed, and shaking his hands in the air said he would send housekeeping up to clean up, before attempting to leave.
"Um, excuse. If you don't mind me asking, do you know how we got here?" I asked before he could reach the door.
He spun on his heels and, with that same friendly smile as though my question did not shock him at all, he answered, "why, Bingo, of course. How about a little less tequila today, verdad?" and then he was off with a flash.
I looked at my best friend and after a brief moment of silence, we both erupted with laughter as the foggy memories began to clear up. That Thursday, I had attended my grandmother's funeral. My grandmother who had raised me most of my life after I lost my mother and my father was still stationed overseas. The woman who was the centre focus of my life for many years, and I, hers. The angel who worked well beyond retirement so that she can help fund my university studies.
That evening, it was my brilliant friend, Sophie's idea to go have a drink, or two. We then found the place where my grandmother would go to play "Boozy Bingo" and after several rounds and several drinks, we still didn't win. Then, the cutest old man approached us. My grandmother, in her old age, had found herself a secret lover, who no one noticed had attended the funeral that day. He handed us two tickets to Cancun that he had planned to gift my grandmother with that weekend, for her birthday on Saturday.
Our skepticism over what transpired that led us to the shores of Playa Marlin turned out to be misplaced, and instead I found out the truth was a lot more comforting than expected. My grandmother never missed an opportunity to live life without any safety harnesses, and in her true fashion, I spent the hours after her going away ceremony doing just that. As I sat on the warm sand, recovering from possibly the worst hangover I have ever experienced, I felt a peace overtaking me watching the waves as they rose and fell in symphony; the sounds of their crashing like music to my ears. One drunken night in Cancun was definitely how my grandmother would've wanted me to celebrate her life, and how she probably would've celebrated her birthday that weekend, because that's how she lived her life - spontaneous, vibrant and mostly drunk.
#cancun #mexico #tequila #gin #coconutrum #inlovingmemory #drunkennights #playamarlin #cumbia