Three the Hard Way

Chapter 1: The Coaster Bus Squeeze & The Culture Shock

The heat bouncing off the Portmore toll was relentless, thick enough to suffocate a faint-hearted person. In the back row of a battered yellow coaster bus humming with bass from a heavy dancehall track, three girls were crammed into a seat built for two.

Kayla, smooth-caramel-complexioned, was already inspecting her immaculate bob haircut in her phone camera, adjusting a cropped top her stepmother had shipped straight from New York. Beside her was Jhanoya; light-skinned, with wide, sweeping hips and a slim-thick frame that made simple jeans look dangerous. Tucked tightly against the window was Shanique; chocolate-skinned, five-foot-six, with model-thin legs, soft shoulder-length curls, and eyes wide with quiet panic.

"Move over nuh, Kayla! Yuh a crush mi!" Jhanoya hissed, shifting her heavy thighs.

"Crush who? Gyal, look how small yuh stay! A yuh broad hip a tek up di whole seat!" Kayla snapped back, though her lips twitched with a grin. "Shanique, yuh quiet today. Yuh look like yuh see duppy."

Shanique swallowed hard, staring out at the chaotic maze of three-lane traffic, street vendors aggressively pushing bagged water, and the towering concrete structures of Kingston fast approaching. Fresh out of a peaceful, sheltered parish in the hills of St. Ann, she felt entirely out of her depth. Back home, skirt lengths were measured below the knee, and church attendance on Sunday was non-negotiable. Here, girls her age walked past in sheer mesh tops, screaming jokes over the roar of diesel engines.

"Mi just... mi nuh custom to di whole a dis," Shanique admitted, her voice soft. "The crowd, the speed... everything just fast."

"Cho, man!" Kayla laughed, waving a manicured hand. "Figet Di quiet country life, mi love. Yuh inna the big city now. First thing first: dem long jeans skirt yuh pack inna yuh suitcase? Wi burning dem tonight. Yuh have di height and di waistline for high fashion, but yuh dressing like yuh a pastor wife!"

Jhanoya smiled gently, placing a hand on Shanique's knee. "Don't pay Kayla no mind, but she right about one thing, Kingston a go test yuh if yuh look too soft. Hold yuh head up, keep yuh eyes open, and stay close to we. Wi inna di same Faculty, same major. Wi a go through dis together."

As the bus jolted into the Papine terminal, the trio stepped out onto the hot pavement; three strikingly distinct young women, instantly drawing eyes, unaware that their lives had just become permanently intertwined.