“Tell me more about your visit to our other Mexican clients,” Pilessar ordered.
Castille reported in short, clipped sentences on the outcome of his Mexican visit. It had obviously been successful, though had not been without its challenges. He’d had to personally ‘encourage’ one debtor to make payment.
“Max? How did you encourage him?” she asked.
Castille explained the methods he had used to secure the outstanding payment from Frequente a few days earlier. As Castille spoke, Pilessar’s response was classic her – nods at reasonable intervals during his brief monologue. She showed little other reaction as he spoke. Castille also reported briefly on his visit to Panama the week before where again, The Organisation’s clients had all been ‘encouraged’ to pay up and had done so. The one case which had given him some trouble necessitated some arm twisting, but payment was eventually secured. This came after Castille had threatened to make a video of a Government official’s longstanding proclivity for and interest in young children, particularly boys, public. That threat got the payment over the line. Castille was no sweet bread.
Pilessar said little to Castille about his upcoming Barbados assignment. Both knew what the assignment entailed and why he had to visit. The details had been left to him to arrange with his local cohorts doing the implementation. He confirmed ‘all was set to go’ the next day. That was good enough for Pilessar.
Their meeting ended at 10:00 p.m. Before leaving the wine bar, they pretended to have a whispered conversation for the benefit of anyone who may have been watching them for the past half hour.
They left the wine bar together, side by side but not holding hands. Once outside and out of sight of the wine bar’s patrons and its security personnel, they went their separate ways without exchanging any final words. Castille continued walking up the street before he hailed a cab which took him back to his Hialeah apartment. Pilessar’s chauffer driven limousine quickly pulled up to her location. Once she was inside, the driver gunned the limousine into traffic and headed in the opposite direction. Ten minutes later, Pilessar was back in her penthouse suite overlooking Miami Beach’s cruise ship docking piers.
Though Pilessar was an attractive woman, Castille had never thought of her in any sexual way. He only saw her as his boss who, as Head of The Organisation, he worked diligently for.
***
JJ, P’s Disco’s early DJ, would recall a few days later that he had recognised but not paid any attention to the middle-aged man who had sat by himself at table #4 in the dining area. Even top people need time to relax, often by themselves. After all, that was what he was doing at P’s Disco twice a week where he escaped from his demanding day job and line of work. JJ was therefore focussed on what he was at P’s Disco to do that night. The middle-aged man was not unlike other similarly aged men who regularly patronised P’s Disco during the early part of each night, often accompanied by younger female partners. JJ knew from experience that most of the females accompanying middle-aged men were seldom their spouses or usual partners. The difference was that this man remained on his own throughout his stay in Ps Disco. Having a female partner seemed to be of no interest to him. JJ made a mental note of the time while observing that the man was enjoying the music being pumped out, especially by the side to side head movements he had made to Eddy Grant Walking on Sunshine.
***
Half-way through his eight to twelve (ETT) set, JJ felt the need to raise the night’s musical tempo. Hour 3 he called H3F3 (the ‘floor fillin’/funk you zone’ hour). During this hour, he endeavoured to get the majority of patrons in P’s Disco onto the dance floor for at least one jam, up-tempo or mellow. His playlist tonight was Band Of Gold Never Gonna Let You Go, The Players Association Turn The Music Up, Grey & Hanks Dancin’, Aretha Franklin Get It Right, Archie Bell & The Drells Let’s Groove, Geraldine Hunt Can’t Fake the Feeling, Luther Vandross Never Too Much, Francis Joli Gonna Get Over You, Driza Bone Real Love, Teddy Pendergrass Joy, Stevie Wonder Part-Time Lover, Slave Just A Touch of Love, before cooling it down with a mix of Inner City Whatcha Gonna Do With My Lovin’, S.O.S. Band Just Be Good to Me, J T Taylor Long Hot Summer Night. To crank things up again, he played a mix of War Galaxy, Chic Good Times, The Sugarhill Gang Rappers Delight and Will Smith It’s All Good.
The segment worked. The dance floor remaining almost filled to its capacity. Even those in the dining area, close to the bar were tapping their feet, clapping their hands, snapping their fingers or rolling their heads from side to side while conversing. JJ’s masterful mix of BIT grooves kept patrons happy.
JJ didn’t notice when, around 10:40 p.m. Pierre Pilgrim popped his head out of his office to see what all the hooting coming from the dancefloor was about. Pilgrim was delighted to see his patrons enjoying their night out by working themselves into a frenzy in response to the hot tunes JJ was pumping out. Pilgrim was delighted with himself for having made the decision to invite, no push, if not demand, that his school friend should play.
Good job JJ, Pilgrim thought to himself on his way back to his office. still commending himself for having made this to happen. Like JJ, he knew that tonight was going to be another great night at P’s Disco, even though the night was yet young, with hours of music still to be played. He diverted into the dining area as he caught sight of a couple of familiar faces.
***
The Prime Minister and Jacklyn ‘Jackie’ Motby were having a nightcap on the patio outside their master-bedroom overlooking the expansive grounds of their official residence, Ilaro Court.
It had felt like a long day to Motby. He had gone to his office at Government Headquarters early as usual and after a couple of meetings, he had attended the House of Assembly (Barbados’ Parliament). The House had been adjourned following the lunch break because of an ongoing water problem that had been affecting segments of the Greater Bridgetown area over the past two weeks. He had therefore returned to Government Headquarters to attend to some paperwork before he’d left at 4:00 p.m. for Ilaro Court to relax a little. Following a shower, he had changed and headed off to the first part of Petra Carmichael’s retirement function at the Cathedral before attending the reception.
Jackie had gotten little real ‘family time’ to catch up on the revised plans for their daughter Kimberley’s wedding, now seven weeks away in mid-June. She used this opportunity before they went to bed to update the ‘father of the bride’ on the new arrangements.
Motby listened attentively to what Jackie was saying. He could find no fault with what he heard. He was not worried about the wedding arrangements, for he knew that with Jackie, his sister-in-law Gillian Nowell, Kimberley and her very best friend from school Jenny Wisdom (her Matron of Honour) that all of the arrangements for Kimberley’s big day would be splendid and well taken care of. Nor was he unduly concerned about how much the wedding would cost him. Jackie would be stylish but economical.
He was however worried about Kimberly’s punctuality. She could easily be more than thirty minutes late getting to the Church. Being one for punctuality, with Kimberley somewhat being the opposite, he knew he would have his work cut out on her wedding day ‘to get her to the church on time’. Tradition be dammed, he thought. Motby did not believe in brides being ‘fashionably late’, on their big day or otherwise. He decided there and then that he would find a novel way to get his daughter to the church on time on her wedding day, but would keep his method to himself as he knew that the country would be watching.
“All sounds good to me, honey. Once you and Kimberley agree, I’ll concur. Ready to turn in?”
“Yep. Though I’ve not had as full a day as you’ve had, I think it was that glass of champagne at Petra’s do we toasted with that has gotten to me. Don’t get me wrong, it was very nice, but it certainly had a kick to it. For tomorrow night’s dinner, I’ll offer our usual wine, unless you want me to offer something different – like what we had tonight?”
“I agree that we should stick to the tried and proven…wouldn�
��t want you to be nodding off while hosting Captain Selwick for our long-planned dinner with him!”
“Won’t matter, he won’t drink any of the wine we offer anyway, because he has to fly back to London on Thursday afternoon.”
“You’re wrong there, honey. BA changed their Barbados stopovers last month, I understand. Crews now get two days off after flying to Barbados. So, as he will arrive tomorrow afternoon, he won’t fly again until Friday afternoon, no evening. He’s taking up BA’s late flight leaving Barbados at 8:30 p.m.”
“So, you expect he’ll have a glass or two?”
“Probably, well, I sincerely hope he does. I’d be most surprised if Captain Selwick doesn’t take a glass with us. Whether he does or not, I would have kept my long-term promise to provide a meal for him here, just to say ‘thank you’ again for the beautiful flight he flew between London and Barbados after my September 2015 visit.”
“Fine. Lights out?” asked Jackie.
“Yes indeed, tomorrow should be an easier day for me – long again but pleasant,” replied Motby.
***
“Trevor, do you think you’ll get a send-off like Petra got this evening from the Prime Minister, whoever he or she is, when it’s your turn to retire?” asked Diane Burke, slightly the worse for wear as he lay in bed following their intense bout of lovemaking after their return home from Carmichael’s dual retirement function.
“Not a chance in hell!” Colonel Burke replied. “Nor would I expect or want one, given the sort of work I do…but I’m happy that the PM did this for Petra. She really deserved it for all the hard work she’s put into her job. She certainly made his task as PM easier since she took over as his PS. I’ve enjoyed working with her. She was, no is, efficient as hell. A friendly but thorough and no-nonsense individual.”
“I’ve always found her to be pleasant. I hope she gets to enjoy her retirement, though from what the PM’s suggested, I think he’s got something lined up for her to do. Any idea what that might be?” Diane asked.
“No idea, though I wouldn’t be surprised if he offered her a diplomatic job overseas…possibly the UN, Canada or the UK. London most probably, if I know the PM. He’s not mentioned anything to me, and why or should he? After all, it’s his appointment to make. I expect Cabinet will go along with what he wants.”
“Okay, and by the way, I still don’t know if tomorrow evening’s dinner guests are vegetarians, or don’t like seafood, etc. Can you please find out for me ASAP in the morning? I’ve pretty much decided on what I’d like to prepare, but I’d hate to get it wrong! If I do, they might send 007 to finish us off!”
“Come on, Diane, don’t be so melodramatic…they wouldn’t do that, would they? Seriously, to put your mind at rest, I’ll call Sir Thadeus (he wants me – us to call him Thad) tomorrow morning to be sure that everything’s fine. Why not let me know what you’re going to put on the table and I’ll ask him if it’s fine with them. Okay?”
“Thank you.”
“Can I get some sleep now please?”
“Sure, after some more of you know what!”
“Right. Round two it is. Let’s do it, D –”
“Not very romantic, Trevor! Surely you can be more enthusiastic?”
“All right, ’let’s get it on, baby,” he said in his best attempt at a Barry White voice impersonation.
“I suppose that’ll have to do,” Diane mumbled.
***
Hon. Richard Preston Dawson MD, MP, Leader of the Opposition and his wife Dawn were already in bed. They too were discussing what Motby might have been referring to when he suggested that Carmichael would be used in some future Government role.
“Dawn, I think Jeffrey will offer, indeed might already have offered, Petra a diplomatic posting. I don’t think she’s in anyway political, so making her a Government Senator would make no sense and I don’t think would be accepted if offered. What’s your bet?”
Dawn shrugged her shoulders, “Well, the HC slot in London is available, but the UN Ambassador job is also up for grabs in a few months’ time. Take your pick,” said Dr Dawson.
“I’m going for the UN, that would give Petra a few months to herself before taking up her position.”
“You may be right. We should know by weekend, as someone in Cabinet is sure to leak her destination, if indeed it’s a diplomatic posting.”
***
Pilgrim greeted Fred, Charlee, Joe and Stef. They did not try to signal their arrival to JJ in any way as he was busy keeping the club’s patrons intoxicated with his musical mixes. Pilgrim, having been pre-warned by JJ that a couple of his BIB workmates and their partners were coming in any time after 10:00 p.m., had reserved a table for them for the evening. Pleasantries exchanged and drinks ordered before deciding what they would eat, Pilgrim excused himself to return to his office.
***
JJ acknowledged a waved greeting from a patron walking past his DJ station with a thumbs-up response. Where were his work colleagues? Running late, he guessed. Just then, a loving feeling came over him and he decided to play his favourite song Earth Wind and Fire That’s the Way of the World before going up-tempo again ahead of his ten-minute 11:00 p.m. break.
“Nice tune. JJ knows his onions,” said Stef, a music buff in his own right. “The song is all about love, humanity, compassion…brotherhood and the like. Again, I say, nice one JJ.”
“Yeah, I’ve liked this song from the time I first remember my dad playing a CD of it to me in the car on the way to school on my seventh birthday,” said Charlee.
***
Joe’s contribution to the evening was, as usual, to tell a few jokes. For a serious young lady, she had never been opposed to laughing at a funny situation. Her discovery of Laurel and Hardy clips on YouTube had given her situations she could laugh at and share with others. Laurel and Hardy jokes in particular were now regular features of conversation when away from official BIB duties with her closest friends, a few of which of course were her fellow BIB team leaders.
“This if from a 1933 film, Sons of the Desert, Ollie Hardy is lying on a bed feeling ill. As usual, his good friend Stan is close by, looking concerned and wanting to be of some help. Ollie says… ‘You’d better take my temperature…get that thermometer.’ Stan replies, ‘The what?’ Ollie responds, ‘Thermometer! You’ll find it on the shelf.’ Stan places the thermometer in Ollie’s mouth and starts to take his pulse, so Ollie asks him, ‘What does it say?’ before Stan replies ‘Wet and windy…!’”
Everybody in the BIB group cracked up. Fred spilt his drink when he slapped the table too hard!
“Let’s have another one, Joe, but keep one of your best jokes for the end of the night…sort of like our ‘one for the road’, as it were,” said Stef. He knew a lot – but not all of her jokes by now, having watched several of the Laurel and Hardy films with Joe that she had gradually been acquiring in the six months since she and Stef had become an ‘item’.
“Yeah, go on, Joe,” shouted Charlee with a schoolgirl giggle.
“Well, since you’re forcing me to give you another one…” said Joe.
“In A Chump at Oxford, Ollie and Stan somehow get enrolled at Oxford University in England. A student says to them, ‘Pardon me, but haven’t you come to the wrong college?’ Ollie responds, ‘Well, this is Oxford, isn’t it?’ The student replies, ‘Yes, but you’re dressed for Eaton,’ to which Stan replies ‘Well, that’s swell…we haven’t eaten since breakfast…’”
More cracking up!
Fred (not spilling any drinks this time) shouted, “Joe, that’s another fine mess you’ve got me into.”
Everyone at the table nodded and responded almost in unison, “Joe, Joe, Joe, girl, you de comedienne.”
Joe raised her glass to them. She’d heard this before…she stood up and bowed obligingly. She had a good one for them to end the night with.
***
Before leaving the DJ area to take his ten-minute break at 11:00 p.m., JJ inserted a CD mix of smo
oth mix of tracks. Four Tops Still Waters (Love), Bob James Westchester Lady, Eddie Drennon & BBS Unlimited Let’s Do the Latin Hustle, Junior Walker and The All Stars Walk in The Night. This enabled him sufficient time to take a bathroom break and go in search of his friends. He was pleased to see they had made it to the club and were enjoying their evening out together. JJ small talked with them for a couple of minutes and challenged them to hit the dance floor at some time before he finished his set.
As a parting gesture, he summoned Zelda Hughes and asked her to put a round of drinks on his tab for his friends. JJ expected his BIB colleagues and their partners to stay on at the club long after he handed over musical proceedings to P Disco’s Resident DJ, Grover ‘GP’ Price at midnight before going home. How long his friends stayed on in the club was of no concern to him. He was working the next day, they were not until Friday morning.
Back in the DJ area, JJ initiated Hour 4 (the ‘final get down’ hour) of his set. Patrons knew what was coming – some mellow tunes, one unusual hit followed by a mix of popular dance numbers they all knew. Tonight’s playlist was George Benson Love Is Here Tonight, Keni Burke Risin’ To The Top and Smokey Robinson Tell Me Tomorrow, Patrice Rushen Feels So Real (Won’t Let Go), Cerrone Give Me Love, McFadden and Whitehead Ain’t No Stopping Us Now, Narada Michael Waldon Tonight I’m Alright, Michael Jackson Blood On The Dance Floor, GQ Disco Nights (Rock Freak), Robin S Show Me Love, O’Jays Put Our Hands Together.
***
Later that night in Miami while Castille slept, Pilessar was trying hard to find something that she might entertain herself with into the early hours of the morning. There was nothing she felt like watching on any of the one hundred and fifty available channels on her cable television system. Pilessar, through The Organisation, was involved in supplying drugs but had never used them. Nor could a woman in her powerful position afford to have too many boy (or girl) friends in a place like Miami, so she’d often found herself isolated, somewhat unhappy. Resorting to personal devices for self-satisfaction had therefore become normal for her.
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