Coffee is a major lifeblood of Ethiopia's economy, (a quarter of the whole) accounting for around half of the livelihood of 15 million peopl
"The existence and consumption of coffee has many advantages in human society, but perhaps the lesser reported advantage is what it can offer the environment.
There is arguably no other monocrop so capable of thriving in an intact, natural ecosystem, and in Ethiopia, where coffee is a major export, the adoption of climate-compatible and conservation strategies among coffee growers recently proved a major success, with over 5,000 acres of land reforested, 45% increases in household income, and a 70% increase in exported coffee.
Coffee is a major lifeblood of Ethiopia’s economy (we’re talking about a quarter of the whole), accounting for around half of the livelihood of 15 million people, 95% of whom are small landholding growers.
In the ecologically critical Ilu Ababor Zone of nation’s western region of Oromia, where Coffea arabica is native, Farm Africa led a project on sustainable agriculture among coffee growers inside 19 local forest management cooperatives totaling around 4,000 people between 2021 and 2024.
The results were better than a hot cup of coffee on a cold early morning, as the residents took to the skills, incentives, and even stakeholder meetings with great interest and dedication according to a report on the project entitled Coffee for Conservation.
Of the project aims regarding forest management and conservation, the objective was to instruct the landholders and growers in ways to get everything they needed from their forest homes without felling too many native trees.
For example, locals were shown how to cultivate fast-growing trees optimal for firewood in small plots, as well as methods on how to maximize the growth cycle of these fuel trees. Six tree nurseries were opened and staffed by around 60 people taught to sell seedlings for reforestation of native woodland in the area.
By the end of the project, over 300,000 seedlings had been planted over 5,000 acres of forest, and they enjoyed a five-year survival rate of 85%. Climate-smart practices such as cultivating bamboo for making the mats on which the coffee beans are dried, removed the need to truck in bamboo from other regions, while 66% of homes were able to be convinced to switch to energy-efficient wood stoves to reduce fuel consumption.
Most of the landholders growing coffee or managing the forest had plots for vegetable and fruit production to feed their families and those of their communities through trade. Percentages of these Ethiopians who adopted climate-smart farming techniques increased from 49% to 76%, while 10% more began growing fruit and vegetables. Income generated from the increased production amounted to around 280% more than what was made before the project, adjusted for inflation.
Coffee production, marketing, and returns, have all improved. 73% more coffee from the Ilu Ababor region is now export-quality than in 2021, and 44% meets the standards for specialty grade, which is up by 20% from 2021.
Connections with national financing intuitions have allowed some of the co-ops to buy proper equipment for drying and storage, as well as support by city marketing agencies who could work directly on behalf of the Ilu Ababor growers to carve out a space in the national and international markets.
“Prior to the project, our limited knowledge meant we had to sell our coffee to local traders at lower prices,” said Abde Musa, a member of the Abdi Bori forest management cooperative. “Now we’ve taken control and are the ones negotiating and determining the coffee prices.”
Co-op leaders received training in business management, quality control, and certification processes, which majorly improved their incomes. One of the 19 co-ops in particular grossed $58,500 on their coffee sales.
Project wide, incomes and access to financial services almost doubled, with the latter now reaching almost 100% of the community.
Lastly, deforestation plummeted in the area to just 0.08 acres a year.
There’s so much good news to read in the report on the project’s success beyond the headline data, like the Abdi Bori co-op’s incredible rise which saw coffee revenue increase by a multiple of 20 from 2018 to 2023, or Solomon Mekonnen’s story of turning his land into a forest farm that produces export-grade coffee, firewood, and organic honey, or the tremendous involvement of women at all levels of the education and participation.
It’s a document that captures the very real phenomenon that African problems are best solved with African solutions."
Reminder to avoid buying anything crochet new from big stores. Crochet (unlike knit) CANNOT be done by a machine and must be done by an actual human being. The person who made it was definitely not paid an appropriate amount for their labour. Most big stores use sweatshops anyway and I know it’s hard to completely avoid buying anything from a major store. But if those specific items don’t sell, we can send a message to companies that we don’t want items made fully by hand using slave labour
This summer, avoid any new crochet items. You don’t need THAT specific top that badly
I think you guys would appreciate this stuffed animal my sister bought at a fair trade store recently. It's a guinea pig made of alpaca wool and it just looks SO ANGRY. But it's also just a round puffball with a face on it.
"Women in Hebron is a Palestinian nonprofit fair trade cooperative under the Idna Cooperative Association for Embroidery and Handicrafts. Idna is a mid-sized Palestinian city of around 25,000 people, located to the southwest of Hebron in the West Bank."
Synopsis: Living paycheck to paycheck, Eddie really wasn’t in the best position to date. Marli moved back to the city she was raised in, starting over. When Eddie sees her by chance, he couldn’t let the opportunity slip away like so many others in his life. Drawn to his rugged, silly charm, Marli was ready to explore love again.
Still, as they got to know each other there were pieces of them they hid away, afraid that revealing the truth too soon would ruin a good thing that had only just begun.
18+ Mature Readers Only
ONE
Drills and air compressors sounded off. The automotive shop was ridiculously busy, but Eddie didn’t mind; it made the day go by faster. After pulling a compact SUV into the pickup lot, he walked back into the garage. He wasn’t in a rush, despite the mounting tickets. He was tired, and all he could think about was smoking a bowl on his lunch break.
In all honesty, he hated working at the mechanic shop. He hated his boss, Karl, who didn’t think much of him at all. He didn’t even try to hide the fact, either. Eddie wondered why he had hired him to begin with, but an extra pair of hands was just an extra pair of hands at the shitty chop shop. He put up with it because, well, he really needed the money.
His only friend at the shop, TJ, whom he could commiserate with, had quit a few months ago. He moved on to a much better-paying job doing third shift at a cold storage warehouse. Eddie couldn’t do nights, but TJ informed him of a possible first shift that would soon be available and promised to put in a good word for him.
He had been waiting for weeks now without a callback. It took everything in him not to quit and coast. But he had done that way too many times now. Hopping from one job to another. It would just prove everyone’s point about him. Damn it, they were a little right, though.
“Hey, Eds,” an old coke bottle lens colleague called out to him as he was preparing to do an oil change.
“Yeah?” he sniffed, wiping his nose on the cuff of his thick work glove.
“Look at these,” he said, waving him over.
He looked at the nearly bald brake pads on a black Nissan Altima. It wasn’t a new model, but it was only a few years old, still in decent condition.
“Shit!” Eddie hissed.
“These bitches are about to give out.”
“What the hell they doin’? Driving with e-brake engaged?”
“I don’t know. It’s a woman’s car; they know how to fuck anything up.”
“Heh,” he pulled his ear awkwardly and stepped away then.
Finally, on a break, Eddie was in the main lobby, standing in front of a vending machine. Grabbing snacks before he smoked himself out. There weren’t many options, and all that was left didn’t seem very appealing. He settled on a bag of plain potato chips and trail mix for the generic M&Ms inside.
As the trail mix dropped, it got stuck on the side of the drop chute.
“The fuck,” he muttered, smacking the side of the machine.
Behind him, the desk clerk was speaking to a customer, listing the diagnostics of their car.
“Uhh…” He heard a long, exasperated female sigh. “That’s okay. I just need the oil change today.”
“You sure? We can rotate the tires, but the guy who worked on your car stressed that your brake pads need to be replaced.”
“Yeah, probably,” the woman said dismissively. “But just the oil change today, thanks.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m sure. I’ll even come back here to get it done, but I don’t have time for that today.”
Eddie peeked around the corner, overhearing the conversation. The woman he saw taking her key fob back was not what he expected at all. He really didn’t know what to expect, honestly, but the brunette with a nice blowout and full cherry-tinted lips caught him by surprise. The shop wasn’t patronized by an attractive clientele—ever. For a moment, he noticed he had stopped breathing as he took her in.
He shook his head to himself, as she would even give him the time of day. She was nicely dressed, in a black low-cut top and stretchy pleated slacks. She probably worked at a bank, he guessed.
With a fleeting glance toward him, he nearly shied away, and she left. Even with her car off the lot, he could hear the brakes squeak even down the road.
…
“Have you heard anything, man?” Eddie asked into the phone pressed against his ear as he walked up to the school yard.
“No, but your resume is on top of the list, dude,” TJ said on the other end. “I’m tight with one of the office girls—she’s kinda cute, actually.”
He rolled his eyes. “Alright, fine.”
“Karl still busting your balls?”
“He doesn’t bust my balls,” he grumbled.
“What are you doing tomorrow?”
“I don’t know, man. I have my kid tonight, but she’s going to her mom's early.”
“Ah, okay. Well, the cute girl from the office invited me out. You should come.”
“Hm. I’ll see. I’ll hit you up.”
“Alright, dog,” he said, hanging up.
When his daughter, Sarah, ran out of school, he was there behind the pack of parents waiting on her. Her smile widened when she spotted him. Taller than the moms and bleached blonde.
“Daddy!”
“Hey, lovebug,” he said, hugging her and taking her backpack to carry.
When she climbed into the passenger side of his van, he buckled her in and shut the door for her.
“Are you ready for your trip?” he asked once they were on the road.
“Yeah. I asked mommy if you could come.”
“You did?” he asked, surprised. “What’d she say?”
“She just said that you couldn’t.”
“Mhm. Yeah, lovebug, I’m sorry. But-but you two will have fun.”
His relationship with his daughter's mother, Amy, was rocky to say the least. The love between them had long gone, so he couldn’t even imagine being confined in a car for the 2-hour trip with her. He doubted Amy would like that either.
If it weren’t for Sarah, they probably would have cut all ties. Before separating, they had tried to work it out, but admittedly, Eddie just didn’t try hard enough for Amy. Sarah was three and a half then. That killed him, but he just wasn’t in a place in his life to be who she needed him to be.
Sarah was eight now, and though far from perfect, he was doing his best. Still, Amy always found something to be upset about. His best wasn’t good enough for her because he bordered on the line of general adult expectations. There’s no praise for doing what you’re supposed to do.
While he and Sarah were eating cereal at the breakfast bar the following morning, there was a knock at his apartment door to his surprise.
“Is that your mom?” He said, with a full mouth as he checked the time on his phone.
They weren't running late in the slightest. When he answered the door, Amy let herself in. He noticed then that she had only come to scope his place out. It was an annoying habit of hers, especially now. He didn’t live in the most amazing place, but he had upgraded past the worst shoeboxes he’d used to rent. It was a little out of his budget, but he worked to live somewhere safer for his daughter to visit.
He lived in a remodeled studio in a ten-unit brick complex on the first floor. Though secondhand, he had a comfy bed, and he made sure to have a pull-out couch. When his daughter spent the night, he slept on it while she took over his bed.
“Taking off early?” he asked, after Amy told Sarah to brush her teeth and get dressed.
“I wanna beat the traffic…” An awkward silence hung between them. “Uh, you have any plans this weekend?”
“Me? Nah.”
“Right. I wanted to tell you—if Sarah hadn’t spilled the beans already, that Roscoe is coming with us.”
Amy had been with Roscoe for nearly a year now. They were acquaintances in high school and reconnected. He was a track jock then, and now he works as a high school cross-country coach. He had a son of his own, and from what his daughter said, he was an annoying little shit.
“What?” He raised a brow.
“Well, you know, we’re at that point now…”
“So you’re going to your hometown to bring him to meet your parents, then?”
“Well, yes, Eddie, that’s part of the trip.”
He scoffed. “Well, good luck to him.”
“You wouldn’t let Sarah around him if you didn’t think he wasn’t a good guy. Most importantly, he's responsible. Reliable.”
“Right, right,” he pressed his lips together, taking the jab.
It didn’t feel good hearing that. Their relationship was far from salvageable. Both of them have dated people here and there, but learning that she was bringing her boyfriend to meet the parents, it was serious. He was regretting that he had sacrificed his weekend with Sarah for their trip now.
“Just letting you know.”
“Okay,” he said dismissively, rubbing his jaw with his knuckles.
“I really like him, Eddie. Actually… more than that. Sarah’s being slow to warm up to him, but I think she will, too. It’ll work out in the long run.”
“The long—what do you mean by that? You know she’s my kid, too, Ames.”
“I don’t mean it like that—”
Sarah had walked out of the bathroom then, interrupting them. What they didn’t know was that she could hear them despite talking in hushed tones. Suddenly, she didn’t want to leave at all. She clung to her father’s leg and whined while her mother tried to coax her off. Though it broke his heart, Eddie encouraged her to go and reminded her of all the fun she’d have at her grandparents', and she reluctantly listened.
…
Eddie was being truthful about not having plans that same weekend. He smoked a fat bowl that evening, and was scrolling pornhub on his phone until he found something to his liking. With a hand inside his Adidas track pants, he hit play and watched a girl shine her naked tits with baby oil when his friend TJ called, interrupting him.
He was out at the bar, wondering if Eddie was still coming. Feeling bad about his attempt to blow him off, he checked his wallet. He was good for a few.
Lately, he hasn’t gone out as much as he used to. Not because he had lost interest, but because his income was tight. With rent, the electric bill, and miscellaneous necessities, he also had child support payments. Amy got him for five hundred dollars every month through the court. If it didn’t make him feel like a jackass, he would have contested it to reduce the amount, but he was also too prideful.
While sipping on a beer at the dive bar, TJ got a text from the office girl he’d been talking to, who he expected to meet at the bar. Instead, her text led them to a house party. Eddie didn’t mind the location change since there was a huge ice chest with drinks he didn’t have to pay for.
After pushing around seltzers, he fished out a Modelo. He popped the tab and leaned against the railing on the back deck. While chatting with a few dudes who TJ knew from work, one of them lit a joint, which eased him enough to pull out his. Both crossed paths in the rotation.
A lone joint now rested in between his fingers after the group had sufficiently indulged. He had been pushed out of the work banter between TJ and his coworkers. Instead of hanging on the edge of the conversation, he scoped the rest of the partygoers from the deck. The deck wrapped around to the other side of the house, and just before it turned the corner, he did a double-take. It was her.
It was the woman with the bad brakes he saw a few weeks before. She was dressed much more casually, in a chartreuse halter top, a black skirt, and knee-high boots. She was speaking to a girlfriend with chunky maroon streaks in her dark hair, until she passed a coat off and left her behind.
It was a chilly night, and she put on the fur collar leather jacket. Eddie frowned, disappointed; it hid the curves he was tracing with his eyes. Turning around, holding onto her seltzer, she looked out across the yard full of people mingling. Down below, a group of guys tossed beer boxes into the fire pit to get it going. Her night was winding down, and she was just waiting for her friend to use the bathroom so that they could leave.
Eddie looked toward TJ, talking his ass off and paying no mind, and he slowly backed away. A white claw was to her lips, which she quickly dropped when he approached her.
“Oh, sorry, are you trying to get through?” she asked, pressing her belly into the rail to make room.
“Uh, nah. Nah, you want a hit?” he asked, holding the nearly finished joint toward her.
She glanced over her shoulder and then looked up at him with a small smile, taking it. He watched as her dark cherry nails pinched it against glossy, full lips. The ember flared bright as she took a deep hit.
“Thanks,” she said, strained. Holding the smoke in her lungs before blowing out.
Eddie bit back an impressed smirk. “Yeah, yeah. Um, we’ve met. Have you changed your brake pads?”
She tilted her head. “My brake pads? Wait… where do I know you from?”
“You got an oil change about a month ago.”
“Yeah? You work at the autoshop?”
“Eh, well, yeah. Not for much longer—hopefully,” he muttered. “But-but I’m Eddie.”
“Marli.” She smiled. “Well, that’s what everyone here calls me but—”
“What do you go by?”
“Mm, it doesn’t really matter,” she bashfully laughed.
“Sure it does. Is it embarrassing or something?” He chuckled.
“Nooo,” she snorted. “It’s Marlena. But no one pronounces it how I like, so Marli is fine,” she shrugged.
“Marlena,” he said, in his best attempt at a Spanish pronunciation.
“Close.”
“Aw. I didn’t think that was so bad.” He said, leaning casually on the railing beside her.
She glanced over her shoulder again, wondering where her friend, Reina, had gone, only to see that she had been caught up talking to a guy of her own, too. She had only come out to loosen up after a long week. She didn’t intend to talk to a tall guy with a brassy bleach job and hand tats tonight.
The more they spoke, though, the cover didn’t match the material inside. He was intelligent in the topics he presented, and he never interrupted her when she had something to add. In fact, he even seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say.
When he first approached, she pegged him for a fuckboy. The more they talked that judgement faded away. Even the lazy drawl of his words, which she assumed was his way of sounding cool, was endearing. Now she caught herself giggling and focusing on how sweet he seemed. How handsome he looked, too, with high cheeks, pouty pink lips, dimples, and searching green eyes.
“Marli!”
She turned to see her friend waving her over. It seemed like whatever happened with her guy was a bust.
“I think I have to go...”
Eddie blew raspberries, disappointed. “Could I get your number at least, Marlena?”
She blushed. He said it with perfect pronunciation the second time.
“Hmm…” she considered.
“C’mon, that wasn’t bad, was it?”
“It wasn’t,” she said, looking at his lips.
His heart kicked against his chest. To his surprise, he actually felt butterflies. “Could I kiss you?” he boldly asked.
“You’re funny.”
“I am?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I can be fucking hilarious if you want.”
Marli bit her lip, but she couldn’t help tossing her head back and laughing.
“Ah, see.”
She kissed her teeth playfully. “You can have my number. And then you can take me on a proper date.”
“For real?”
“Marli!” her friend whined.
“Give me your phone before I change my mind,” she said, holding her hand out.
He quickly snatched his phone out from the back pocket of the black cargo pants he wore. A photo of his daughter lit up on the lock screen, but he quickly swiped up and clicked his contacts and passed it to her.
After adding herself to his contacts, she air-kissed the screen and passed it back to him with a departing wink.
…
Eddie debated on how soon was too soon to hit her up. He also wondered what would make a good date. He hadn’t been on a date in a long time. And back then, it was going to pizzerias, going to the skate park, or seeing a movie. That seemed too juvenile now. He was 29, and he felt like he should know some intimate date spots in his back pocket, but he didn’t.
The next night in bed, with no real date plans, he texted her anyway.
–Hey, this is Edward.
After a moment, she responded.
–Hey, Edward.
–Eddie. You know from the party.
–Yes… I know Eddie. What’s up?
He covered his eyes, ashamed of his own awkwardness. He’s never felt so lame.
Text bubbles appeared.
–So where are we going?
His eyes widened. “Shit,” he muttered.
–What’s your favorite restaurant? he typed quickly.
He silently prayed it wasn’t something out of his budget.
–Do you know Trattoria Delicio?
–On 59th? Yeah, that’s cool. Let’s go!
It wasn’t a terribly expensive Italian restaurant. It was a step above Olive Garden and a half step below the Cheesecake Factory. It was a place you’d want to put your best shirt on for. They set the date for the following weekend.
The days leading up to it, they texted quite often. Asking about each other's day and finding things in common. Sharing what they’ve been watching on TV lately. Discovering that they listened to a lot of the same music. Eddie had a more underground taste. Most of the links he sent her were from Soundcloud, and some weren’t all too good, she had to admit.
They didn’t get super personal, though. Just the basics, like their ages. Marli had just turned 26 in August. Since Marli knew what he did for work, he learned that she was a hair stylist. The details of each, they waited until they were face-to-face.
“Are you really meeting him up?” Reina asked.
Marli gathered her things from work space and tossed her tote over her shoulder. “Yeah.”
“Have you looked up his criminal record?”
She rolled her eyes.
“Seriously! You don’t think a guy who looks like that doesn’t have a past?”
“It’s a date. One date. I’m not marrying the guy.”
She shook her head. “Share your location with me at least.”
“Oh, my god, Reina. Chill?” she groaned.
“You don’t know him, Marli.”
“That’s the whole reason for the date. To get to know him. Can I just have this? I haven’t gone on a date in forever! I know you mean well, I do. If it doesn’t work out, then so what?”
She pressed her lips together, obviously she still didn’t approve. Marli shared her location to placate her then.
Eddie checked himself out in the bathroom mirror before leaving. He wore a grey flannel, dark work pants, and hi-top Vans. He ran some pomade through his hair and exhaled loudly as he felt nerves creeping up. He had never remembered caring this much. Any girl he had been with always seemed more into him than he was, so he hardly put in the effort he was making now.
It was five minutes past 7 o’clock when he arrived. He was late, and dread actually washed over him. He could be chronically late, and to his detriment, he could be overly blasé about it. So the dread he felt was rare. To his relief, though, it was Marli who showed up late. Five minutes after he arrived.
“I’m so sorry!”
“Don’t be, don’t be,” he said, giving her a half-hug.
He smelled so good when he gave her a half-hug. Fresh and heady. He gave her a dimpled smile when she complimented it.
She looked stunning. Her hair was in a perfect blowout, and her dark lashes were softly curled. In the evening light, he could see the amber and honey tones in her light brown eyes. When they were seated at a booth, he enjoyed how her boobs in her Bardot top rested nicely on the table top, too.
“Have you been here before?” She asked, picking up a menu.
“Ah, no, actually,” he said truthfully. “My coworker told me it’s good, though.”
She softly smiled. “Talkin’ about me with your coworkers?”
“I had to tell someone. You’re a stranger.”
She scoffed. “Really now?”
“Like you hadn’t,” he boldly called her out.
“Hmm. Maybe. What are you having?”
He finally took a look at his menu, realizing he’d just been staring at her before then. There were dinner specials advertised of an entree with a choice of soup or house salad for a fair price.
“Uhm,” he rubbed his lips together as he made a decision. “This lasagna looks good.”
“Where do you see that?”
He flipped his menu toward her.
“Oh! Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll get the chicken alfredo, though. Are you getting the soup or salad?”
He lightly chuckled.
“What?”
“I’m not having fucking soup on our first date.”
She giggled. “Smart. That’s a huge red fucking flag.”
Once the waiter took their order, he placed a basket of sourdough rolls and garlic basil butter between them.
“I remember you saying you’re between jobs or something?” she asked, buttering a piece.
“Thanks,” he quickly said when the waiter swung back around with their salad. “Um, technically, I am not anymore. I’ve finally got a callback from that new warehouse on Council—better pay. I start this Monday.”
“Oh, congrats! I hope it goes well.”
“Thanks.”
When Eddie picked up his fork, she couldn’t help but stare at his large, tattooed hand. She also noticed how clean his nail beds were. The callouses on his palm made it clear he worked with them, but somehow they still looked soft. “Can I ask something?”
“Sure, yeah,” he said, wiping his mouth after a bite.
“Who bleached your hair?”
“Uh…” he bashfully laughed. “Me.”
She smirked, spearing lettuce.
“Why?”
“Just wondering.”
“Mhm. Your hair is so pretty. I should have known you were uh, uh—”
“A hair stylist?” she added, mid-chew.
“Yeah, I knew that, sorry,” he said, nervously running a sweaty palm over his pants underneath the table.
“No, it’s cool. My salon is a few blocks away from here—”
“Your salon?”
“Well, not my salon, no. Maybe one day, though.”
Eddie smiled. “How long have you been a stylist?”
“I started cosmetology school during high school. I worked at a salon in Forester straight out. Eventually, I specialized in fashion colors there. But um, I moved back here over a year and a half ago now. The salon I work at now is more… upscale, you could say.”
“Do you like it?”
She shrugged with an indifferent smile. “Eh, better pay.”
“Right, yeah.”
“Have you been a mechanic for a while?”
“Almost hitting a year.” In fact, it was the longest he had held a job.
“So you’re into cars then?”
“Into them?” he smirked. “I mean like them, yeah. Only as a hobby, but uhm… work is work.”
“Yeah, totally,” she nodded. “It can be like that sometimes. Even for me.”
“I’ve kinda had odd jobs,” he admitted. “I once had a job as a cook at a nursing home, until I got a job at Waffle House—“
Her brows shot up excitedly. “Have you ever had fights on your shift?”
“Nah, I missed out,” he laughed. “I only got to see the aftermath coming to my 6am shifts. But I’ve had to help kick out some drunk stranglers, every now and then.”
“No World Star shit for you then. So what else?”
“Uhm, one summer kicked my ass when I did roofing. I did landscaping with my cousin for a bit before, too. Sometimes I’ll log into Uber Eats and do deliveries for some extra cash. But, uh, yeah. Just to name a few,” he shrugged.
“So you’re good with your hands? I like that.”
She was being completely earnest, but he felt his cheeks warm hearing her say something borderline suggestive.
Their food arrived shortly after that, and they happily dug in. Marli even asked if he’d like a bite off her plate, and he offered his in return.
“Get a piece of chicken, too,” she encouraged him.
He felt himself beginning to relax. She was disarming in a way he wasn’t used to. She didn’t seem stuck up or too uppity like he initially assumed. He felt bad for thinking that, but she looked well put together and well groomed. He was used to being looked down on by people like that. Constantly being underestimated could really make you believe it was true.
Being on this first date with Marli, for once, he didn’t feel judged. Well, she sort of judged his hair; he caught that. But he was dealing with a professional, he’ll let it slide.
“You from here?” He asked, as he helped put her leftovers in a styrofoam togo box for her.
“Yeah. You?”
He nodded. “Born and raised.”
“Technically, I moved here when I was eight. I was born in Florida. My parents met on spring break in Daytona, but they’re both from here.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, you remember watching MTV Spring Break in the 90s?”
“They were on it?”
“No, but they were somewhere in that crowd.”
“No shit? They sound fun,” he said, swiping his card in the table kiosk. Thankfully, he had a little money left from what he had budgeted for the date. She wasn’t a cheap date by any means, but he noticed she was very considerate in the way she ordered.
“Eh, they were at least,” she muttered, grabbing her clutch.
Eddie glanced at her as he scribbled his signature in the card kiosk, trying to read her expression after the remark, but it fell neutral.
As they walked out of the restaurant, he held her to-go box as they walked slowly toward the parking lot down the block.
“You parked this way, right?” Eddie asked.
“Yeah.”
“Cool.”
Suddenly, he took her hand in his, leading the way. Just as she suspected, his tattooed hands were soft for a jack of all trades. She also noticed how her hand practically disappeared in his, too. Just being in his big presence, she felt an overwhelming sense of safety.
“Thanks for dinner,” she said as they neared her car. “I had fun.”
Eddie smiled. “Me too. To be straight up with you, it’s been a long time since I’ve been out like this.”
“Is that what you tell all the girls?” she playfully asked, but she secretly wondered.
“If there were any—they wish.”
They stopped at the driver's side of her car, and he slightly cringed, remembering the state of her brakes. It was a hazard on the road. A death trap, even. He placed her togo box on the roof of her car and looked down at her.
“So… Can I see you again—”
“Yeah,” she blurted, and then bashfully laughed.
His chest warmed, especially when she stared at the tip of his tongue brushing across his bottom lips. He didn’t ask this time. Instead, he cradled her head and heard the soft hitch of her breath as he leaned in for a kiss. Lips pillowy soft as they moved against each other. It wasn’t a timid schoolyard kiss, but one full of palpable tension finally breaking away as they gave into what they both had been thinking of.
“Oh my god,” Marli whispered when he pulled away.
She hadn’t felt something so real, maybe ever in her life. She pulled on him for more, unabashedly making out with him now in the dark parking lot. Just before she could get fully lost in it, she pulled away, reeling herself back in.
Eddie shyly rubbed his lips together, feeling them glide against each other from a mix of saliva and lip gloss. He hoped she would ask him to go home with her. His dick was practically pleading.
“I’ll text you when I get home…”
He swallowed. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, okay.”
“Thank you, again.”
“Mhm. Maybe we can link sooner rather than later?”
“Set it up.”
“I will,” he smiled.
Before she ducked into the driver's seat, he stole a kiss from her and shut her door.
“Oh my, fuck,” she said, under her breath, when she felt her panties dampen as she sat down.
The chemistry between them was certainly there from the start; she was just taken aback that it was so explosive. She could almost cry. Until now, she hadn’t realized she had been so deprived. He felt like a cool drink of water in the desert.
Eddie waved at her as she backed out of her parking space, and his brows shot up at the awful screech of her brakes. “God damn, girl,” he shook his head, taking a hit of his vape, as she drove away.
He caught himself touching his lips. His feelings were everywhere. He felt happy? For a long time, he had just been going through the motions. Tonight, it felt like seeing land in the distance after years of treading water and trying not to drown.
Inès Bressand is a Marseille-based designer working at the intersection of craft, material research and contemporary form. Influenced by natural materials and ingenuity of traditional objects, her Akamaeseries of sculptural woven bags demonstrates an innovative approach to cross-collaboration. The collection originated in 2015 during a research trip to Ghana, where Bressand began working with master basket weavers in the Upper East region. The creative process was guided by hands-on experimentation, observation and direct material handling — fostering long-term partnerships with a community of skilled artisans.
Critical Care (S7E5) vs Warlord (S3E10) vs The Omega Directive (S4E21) vs The Q and the Grey (S3E11) vs Fair Trade (S3E13) vs Jetrel (S1E14) vs Blood Fever (S3E16) vs Rise (S3E19) vs Nemesis (S4E4) vs Prototype (S2E13)
"Haven't you noticed that we often bargain with poor people, like street vendors and auto drivers, but rarely negotiate prices with wealthy individuals or businesses that make significant profits every year? It's time to change this system and reconsider our approach to bargaining and fair pricing."
