Three the Hard Way: A Play in Two Acts (10 page)

"What’s his name?" Jamaica asked.

"Patrick Walker."

"I never hear of him."

"A disrespectful old cuss from Trinidad who has been running off or flat-out stealing me customers. He is making it hard for me to make a good living."

"Is that why you come to me with this?" Jamaica said and held up the envelope.

"Yes. That is the reason why I can not give you the amount we have agreed upon," Springer said and once again dropped his head.

Black looked at Springer with his head hanging low and then to Jamaica. "You go on back to your boat now, Springer," Jamaica said to him. "Maybe I call ’pon this man. Have a talk with him ’bout the meaning of good business."

"Thank you," Springer said and got up quickly. He said good-bye to Black and Mr. Elgin, and Kevon walked him out.

"Don’t worry, Springer. This matter will be dealt with. You can count on that," Kevon assured his friend and went back inside.

"What are you going to do about that, Jay?" Black asked.

"Like I said, I will send someone ’round there to see what is really goin’ on with Springer."

"I want to be the one you send," Kevon said.

"That is not a bad idea. If this man is new to the island he won’t know you, and may do his tricks with you."

"I’ll go with you," Black said. "We’ll take a run at him first-thing tomorrow," he said and continued his conversation.

When Black was ready to leave he said good-bye to Mr. Elgin. Jamaica stepped close to him. "Let me talk to you for a minute," he said and pulled Black to the side and told him about Jacara’s appearance at the dress shop.

"You know, Jay, as soon as you said she called you, I knew she was goin’ to do something like that. But as long as there wasn’t any drama, I ain’t gonna sweat it."

"No worries then," Jamaica said and walked out with Black.

"None."

Chapter Ten

Mike
Black

Bright and early the next morning, I left CeCe asleep in the room, and me and Kevon went down to the dock to deal with Springer’s issue. When we got there and saw Springer, we walked up to him right away. Kevon leaned close to him. "Act as if we have come to charter your boat for fishing."

"As you wish," Springer said and went into his sales pitch. He showed us the boat and told us about his price and what we could expect from him as the tour operator. When Springer stepped away to prepare for the tour, it wasn’t long before another man stepped to us.

"Good morning, gentleman. It is a fine day for doing a little fishing," the man said.

"That’s what we come to do," Kevon said.

"Well, if it’s fishing you want to do, I mean, if that is really what you wish to do, then this not the boat for you."

"Is that right," Kevon said.

"This is a fact that is beyond question. My name is Walker, and if you want to experience a top-notch fishing experience, then I only ask that you come take a look at my boat, hear what I have to offer, and I will make you this promise."

"What is that?"

"I will gladly beat whatever price he offered you," Walker said.

Kevon turned to me. "What do you think?"

"We could at least hear what the man has to say," I said.

"Right," Walker said and led us away to his boat. Once we got to his boat, Walker went into his pitch. "If you’re looking to do some serious Bahamas’ fishing then look no further. It’s no secret that the Bahamas has some of the best sports fishing you’ll find anywhere in the world. The waters that surround Bahamas’ seven hundred islands are teeming with the most prized game fish."

"As I said earlier, that is what we come to do," Kevon said and looked back at Springer. He was standing on the deck of his boat, shaking his head, but smiling to himself knowing what Walker would face.

"This is a small charter, so you will receive personalized attention and instruction if need be. I am an experienced, energetic captain, and my goal is to make sure you have a great time. And I never come home without fish."

"How much for how long?"

"Four hour charters include free bait, and all of your equipment is provided. All fish are cleaned, and you keep all that you catch."

"How much?"

"What was Springer’s price?"

"How much?"

"Only sixty dollars per fisherman."

Kevon looked at me, and I nodded my head in agreement. "Deal. When do we leave?"

"Right now, if you are ready."

With that Walker, his two young crewmen, along with me and Kevon, boarded the boat and set sail. As we headed out for open water, Walker continued. "More and more fishermen come to Grand Bahama Island to deep-sea fish to catch the big one, and many leave doing just that. The warm tropical waters surrounding Freeport are home to some of the biggest and best deep-sea game fish on Earth. Just a few hundred yards offshore are marlin, yellow-fin and blue-fin tuna, king fish, barracuda, and wahoo. Deep-sea fishing the way it’s supposed to be."

"The water is a bit rough today," Kevon commented to one of the crewmen.

"There is a hurricane coming this way."

"I hadn’t heard that," Kevon said and glanced at me. I hadn’t heard that either, and thought that we should make plans to get off the island before it hit.

"They say it might hit the island in a day, maybe two."

The entire way out I relaxed and enjoyed the ride. I wasn’t into fishing at all. In fact, I thought it was as much fun as watching grass grow, but I loved being out on the water. I gave serious thought to buying a boat of my own. I had come close to getting one while Cassandra was alive, but since she didn’t share my enthusiasm for the water, I figured it would be a waste of money.

Once the boat was at sea and anchored for fishing, Walker and his crewmen began to breakout the tackle for me and Kevon to begin our day of fishing.

It was at that moment that Kevon chose to approach Walker. "Listen, mon, let me ask you a question?"

"Tell me what I can answer for you?"

"Do you think it was right what you did to the other tour operator?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we had made a deal with him to take us out, and then while his back was turned, you sneak in and promise to beat his price."

Walker laughed. "Well, you know, it was your choice to take advantage of my charter as opposed to his. I did not force to you get on this boat."

"That’s true, all very true," I finally stood up and said. "But I get the feeling that this wasn’t the first time that you stole a customer from Mr. Springer."

Once again, Walker laughed, but this time it was more of a nervous laugh as me and Kevon stood close to him. "What you must understand is that this is business and sometimes in business, you must be aggressive if you wish to do well."

"Nobody understands that point better than I do," I told Mr. Walker. "However, Mr. Springer is a good man with a business to run, too."

Kevon put his arm around Walker. "You think what you are doin’ is fair? I mean fair to Springer?"

"All is fair in business."

I laughed. "Mr. Springer is a very good friend of mine, so what you’re doin’, it ends today. From now on, if somebody approaches him, you will leave them to him. If somebody approaches you, he will extend you the same courtesy. And tomorrow morning, another friend of mine is goin’ to come around, and he’ll let you know how much it’s gonna cost you to do business at my dock."

"Are you trying to intimidate me?"

"Not at all," I said. "I’m not trying to intimidate you. I’m tellin’ you how things are gonna be from this point forward."

Walker turned to his men. "Pull up the anchor and take us back to the dock right away. I want you off my boat."

Kevon took out his gun and pointed it at the two crewmen. "Don’t do a thing."

Walker looked at Kevon and then back at me, by that point I had my gun out and was pointing it at Walker’s head.

Kevon leaned close to Walker. "Are you intimidated now?"

Walker raised his hands slowly. "Yes," he said quietly. Kevon punched him in the stomach and Walker fell to his knees.

"You there," Kevon said to one of the crewmen. "Get me a rope," he said and turned back to Walker. "I don’t think you have a good understanding of what I am saying just yet."

"I understand," Walker said, still on his knees gasping for air.

When the crewman returned with the rope, Kevon told him to tie one end to the bow and the other around Walker’s ankles. When the rope was tied, Kevon turned to the crewmen. "Now you can pull up the anchor and get this boat moving." They did as they were told and took off slowly.

Me and Kevon helped Walker get up and carried him to the side of his boat. Then we picked him up by his legs and slowly lowered him, face first, into the water.

"Okay, you can stop now," I said and looked at Kevon. "Pull him up."

"You understand now?" Kevon asked Walker.

Walker began spitting out water and trying to catch his breath.

"I don’t think he’s got it yet," I said, and we lowered him back into the water. "Move it a little faster this time."

By this time, Walker’s crewmen were smiling and gladly did what they were told. They thought that Walker had it coming to him and seemed glad to be a part of it.

"Okay," I said again, and they brought the boat to a stop.

Once again, Kevon asked, "You understand now?"

"Yes, yes," Walker spit out quickly before he started coughing and spitting water.

"Good, man," Kevon said, and we pulled Walker back into the boat.

"You can take us back now," I said. "But take your time. I love being on the water."

Chapter Eleven

It was already raining early the following morning. While Black was making arrangements for them to leave the island before the storm hit, he got a call from Chang. He had just returned to Freeport from his trip to Cuba and was anxious to get together with Black to discuss the details of their venture.

"To be honest with you, Chang, I was making plans to get off the island before you called," Black told Chang. "Why don’t we get together when we get back to New York? This way Martin will be able to sit in with us."

"Here is the situation. I spoke with Cristóbal several times while I was there. He is still here on the island. He still feels that we should make an investment in oil development."

"I understand that. It puts him in a better position financially. But we all agreed; oil is not where the future is."

"And that is still my position. That has not changed. As you said, when the oil is gone it’s gone. You can always grow more sugar cane."