Island Woman

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I was nervous when I knocked on Freddy's door. It felt strange to be knocking since I'd shared this apartment with him for over three years. We'd been close to getting married twice before our final argument and before I left on the ocean cruise. But then, that was a year and a half ago.
“Ya?” a skinny young blond said as she opened the door.
She was as thin as I used to be and dressed in sweat pants and a sports bra. She stood there chewing gum and looking at me.
“Is Freddy here?”
“Who's callin?” she said arrogantly as her gum snapped in her mouth.
“Judy.”
“Judy, who?”
“He'll know.”
She stared at me for several seconds and then walked into the bedroom, “Hey, Freddy. There's some pork chop here, says her name's Judy.”
I heard him say, “Oh, my God!” and the rustling of clothes and guessed he was dressing.
A minute later, Fred appeared in the doorway. I watched him stare at me as if he couldn't place my face. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. It had been a year and a half and eighty-one pounds since we last saw each other.
He stood there mouth open, tucking his shirt in and at a loss for words.
I started to feel uncomfortable and said, “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt.”
I turned to leave when he said, “Wait.”
I stopped and turned back.
“You just surprised me,” he said, “Come on in.”
I saw the new girlfriend standing behind him glaring at me.
“I just wanted to say hello and tell you I'm alright,” I said as I tried to decide what to do next.
“Ah... Ah...” he stammered, “We should talk. I still have some of your things...”
I shrugged and said, “I'm staying at my mother's if you want to call. Maybe we can make arrangements.”
He nodded nervously and made my retreat. As I waited by the elevator, I could hear the blond shouting something derogatory about girlfriends. It didn't sound good at all.
So, I'd done my duty with him. I'd made my presence known. He now knew that, although I looked different, I was OK. I went home and began to make a list of what I had to do in the next six days before I flew out for good.
The next day...
“I just don't understand how you could get so fat in such a short time,” said my less than tactful mother.
“Mama, I feel just fine. It was my choice. I like the way I am now.”
But, I was saved by the bell (the telephone bell that is).
“It's for you... Freddy...” whispered my mother as if this were some kind of conspiracy.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey, yourself,” he said, “Say, I'm sorry about acting so dumb. You caught us at a bad time. I really apologize for that.”
“Not a problem.”
“If you'd like to bring me up to date, we could have coffee. The same old place?” he asked.
My heart skipped a beat. God! How I'd wanted to see him again.
We met late that afternoon in the coffee shop where we'd gone every week for years.
“Ronda is working,” he said, “Don't have to worry about time.”
Again, I felt uncomfortable but smiled and hoped to make the best of it.
“So where have you been?” he asked, “On that island?”
I nodded and stared at my coffee cup and said, “It's been quite an adventure. Changed my life.”
He sat in silence, waiting for me to explain.
“As you can guess,” I began, “it started with the cruise. When we stopped in Madagascar, some of us took a two day trip to the Island of Bermona. The natives there have this crazy ritual of fattening their women similarly to what locals used to do in Mauritania, Africa. But here, they put their prospective brides in a wooden cage and the young potential bride has to eat everything the tribal members give to them. The idea is to feed them until they get really fat. Fat women are considered beautiful there, just as in Mauritania. So, when a young woman comes of age, she willingly goes to the cage and lets herself be made fatter. The fattening process continues in an on-and-off fashion over many months until the girl gets to be about as round as I am now.”
Again, I watched his eyes fall to my body.
“When tourists come to the Island, the locals perform a mach ceremony and lock a willing tourist women in the cage and feed them for a day. The tourists think it's amusing and the locals make some hard cash. I tried it and they stuffed the hell out of me. I had fun.”
“Is that how you gained so much?” he asked motioned to my body.
“Well... Sort of,” I said, feeling self conscious again, “But there's much more to it.”