Adventures In A Pair-A-Dice

by Terry Michael Peters

“Well, let’s see. Let’s go back to the morning that Kevin was killed. You do know that he’s dead, right?” I asked Bruce.

  “Yes, Bishop told me he had killed Kevin and I feel really bad about that,” Bruce replied.

  “So what was Kevin to you, anyhow?” I asked him. “A friend or just somebody like me that you were using to haul pot bales out of the ocean for you?”

  “He was a friend,” Bruce said.

  “Well, your friend is dead and if I hadn’t jumped over the side of your boat when I did, I’d be dead, too.”

  “Look, man, I told you I’m real sorry about Kevin and getting you involved. I’ll make it up to you somehow.”

  “Fine,” I replied, “but how you gonna make it up to Kevin?”

  “I don’t know,” he said putting his face into the palms of his hands.

  “Ok,” I said. “So what was Kevin’s involvement in all this?”

  “He worked as a boat mechanic at one of my father’s boat yards. I met him there. He was doing a lot of work on some of my boats and one day we got to talking. One thing led to another. He told me he had just moved to Florida a few months earlier. He said he moved down here for a job in the marine industry but he wasn’t making enough money to move his wife and daughter down to Florida like he had hoped to. So I offered him a way to do that.”

  “So, he’s got a wife and daughter in West Palm Beach?” I asked.

  “No,” Bruce replied. They hadn’t moved down yet.”

  “Alright,” I said. “After going over the side of your boat that day, I managed to get back to the States. I found out who you were and was wanting to know what happened to your sorry ass. I basically just called your house and spoke with your dad. He then offered us a deal to find you and that’s pretty much it.”

  I made no mention of the blue Mercedes, the suitcase of money or the fact that we had spent a good chunk of it. I wasn’t feeling very apologetic and I really didn’t like Bruce. He was a kid of privilege and was just too damn used to getting what he wanted.

  It seemed that his whole life his father had afforded him the best of anything he decided he wanted. Unlike Tom and I who actually had to work our asses off for just a few of the things we ever hoped we might have.

  Bruce asked how we made our connection to André.

  “From your dad,” I said. “He told us you guys grew up together during the summers in the Bahamas and we decided to check it out.”

  I wasn’t about to take the time to explain the whole thing to him. It didn’t really matter as far as I was concerned. Before Bruce could ask any more questions I ended the conversation by saying that was it – end of story.

  “Now, relax here till your father shows up.”

  “When did he say he’d be here?” Bruce wanted to know.

  “First flight out,” I said as I walked back through the door that adjoined the two suites. Tom followed me into the other room.

  Once inside, he asked “What now?”

  “Well, we wait,” I replied. “His father said he’d be down as soon as he could. I’m thinking it will be sooner than later. I’m hoping by this evening.”

  “Hey, what are we gonna do with all that money?” Tom asked. I could see he had already been thinking a lot about it.

  “I don’t know. What do you think?”

  “I’ve been thinking maybe we’d head out West.”

  “West?”

  “Yeah, to the Black Hills, you know?”

  Yeah, I did know. It had been years since Tom and I had ridden our motorcycles cross country to South Dakota to attend the cycle meet that went on there every August.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I’m thinking I need to spend some time with Linda.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” he said with a little disappointment in his voice.

  “Hey, I’ll think about it though.”

  “One last ride,” Tom said.

  He said it in a way that made me think he knew that this time I was going to make that full commitment to a relationship. One that would put the brakes on his and my ventures.

  “Really.” I said to him as he walked back into the adjoining suite.

  “Hey, wait a minute,” I said.

  Tom turned and I asked him if he could keep an eye on Bruce while I got some sleep. I was still tired and hopeful I could actually fall asleep this time.

  “Yeah, no problem,” he assured me as he pulled the doors closed.

  Before putting my head to the pillow I went to the hotel lobby and reserved a room for Bruce’s father. I was able to get one down the hall from where ours were. I informed the clerk that I was unsure of Mr. Saxton’s arrival time but that it would most likely be late that night. I also asked them to ring me in my room when he checked in.

  Back up in the room I showered again before hitting the bed. This time down, I was out like a light. I awoke to the room phone ringing. Picking up the phone, a man’s voice informed me that Mr. Saxton had arrived and that he was on his way to his room. I jumped up and got dressed as quickly as I could. I wanted to talk to Mr. Saxton about a few things before I put him and his son together. By the time I was dressed and out the door of the room I could see Mr. Saxton at the other end of the hall.

  I ran down the hall to meet him so that our voices wouldn’t be heard through the walls of the room Bruce was in.

  “Sir,” I said as I got closer to where he was. “I need to talk with you a minute.”

  He looked very happy and seemed real anxious to be reunited with his son. He asked if Bruce was there at the hotel.

  “Yes, sir, he is but I’d like to run a few things by you first.”

  “Yes, what is it?” he wanted to know.

  “Well, sir, I’d like for you to keep our deal we made and all our preparations and pretty much everything between you and me at least for a while,” I added.

  “You have my word,” he said in a way that I didn’t even have to question.

  “Thank you, sir,” I said. “This way.”

  I walked Mr. Saxton into my room. As he came through the door I could see him looking perplexed as there was no sign of his son. Before he could question the fact, I pointed toward the door that adjoined the two suites. He looked relieved.

  I went over and opened up the door to see Bruce and Tom watching music videos on the television. The reunion was as I had expected. Bruce’s father, a decent man, embracing his only son with real love. Bruce, basically going through the motions like a spoiled rich kid. What an ass, I thought.

  “What time is it?” I asked Tom.

  “Almost two,” he replied.

  “Wow, I’ve been asleep that long?”

  “Oh, yeah,” he said.

  “Let’s see if we can find a beer,” I suggested to Tom.

  We excused ourselves from the family reunion and we all agreed to meet at eight at the hotel restaurant. Walking out of the hotel we could see that everything was closed up and the street was empty. I walked back inside and asked the clerk behind the desk where we could get a beer this late.

  “You mean early,” he said.

  “Yeah, this early.”

  “The Seaman’s Club,” he suggested.

  “The Seaman’s Club?”

  “Yes, it’s just out of town up on the hill.”

  After getting directions from the hotel clerk, we set out in the dark to find the Seaman’s Club. His directions took us off into a more residential area of town. We found the place and it ended up being a watering hole for the local folk rather than for the tourists visiting the islands. A place more like where you would have found Tom and myself hanging out back stateside.

  As we approached, the scent of pot filled the air. Just outside the door of the place stood a group of four passing a joint around. We nodded friendly like as we passed them on our way through the door.

  Inside the place didn’t look as nice as it did on the outside and the outside didn’t look that good at all. The beer was cold though and the guy tending bar was a
friendly Rasta man who knew Joseph. Our reputations had preceded us there that night because he knew who we were before we even explained.

  Over a few rounds, Tom and I went over all that had happened in the past couple of days. Tom’s concern was with Bishop and what he would do. I explained that I thought the best course of action was to leave for the States right away. After all, our work here had been done.

  “What about Ava and Evonne?” Tom asked.

  “What about them? Since when are you so concerned about leaving some women behind?” I wanted to know.

  He didn’t answer.

  “Hey,” I offered up, “We’ll check in with them before we go. Maybe they’re in our future.”

  “We gonna close up now, mon,” the bartender informed us.

  “Ok, man, we’re outta here.”

  It was now about four in the morning and I was still wide awake. Tom was one who could sleep or be awake depending on what was going on. We walked back to town and down to the main pier. From there you could see the lights of the two big cruise ships that were at anchor in the harbor. We sat there and talked about money, girls, the past and the future until the sky started to lighten up with the rising of the sun. We then decided to go back to the hotel and get some breakfast.

  We had agreed to meet with Bruce and his father for breakfast at eight o’clock but we were hungry and decided not to wait. As we walked into the dining area, I was surprised to see Bruce and his father already there and seated in the back area of tables.

  “Good morning,” I said as we approached the table.

  “I couldn’t sleep,” Bruce’s father said in a matter of fact tone.

  “Yeah, we didn’t even try,” I said to him as Tom and I slid our chairs up to the table where they were seated.

  “Did you guys order?” I asked.

  “No, not yet,” Bruce’s father informed me.

  We all ordered up breakfast and before it was served, the restaurant started filling up with guests who were all eager to eat and get on with their day. As the waitress was serving us our food I took notice to Joseph coming through the door of the restaurant. I couldn’t remember asking him to come by for us.

  He looked anxious and as he made his way around all the tables, I could see a look of urgency on his face. As he got closer I started to get a little concerned. Once at the table, without saying a thing, he slid a newspaper down on the table in front of me.

  Before I could say anything, I noticed there on the front page of the morning paper was a picture of an airplane hanging from its tail like a fish from the hook of a salvage barge. Then I noticed the tail numbers. It was Bishops 210 Cessna.

  Damn, I thought and started to read the article. It started with saying two local men died after their plane crashed shortly after takeoff. It mentioned the two occupants’ names but neither name was Bishop.

  The story was continued on ‘Page 2’ so I quickly opened the paper. There was a passport photo of each of the men. One was, in fact, Bishop. As it turned out, Bishop was just a nickname he went by.

  I felt nothing, no sorrow and no remorse for his demise. After all, this was a guy who had instructed his people to kill anybody with Bruce that day on the boat. The other man who died in the crash was the one that admitted to Bishop that he had left me for dead that day in the closet on Paradise Island.

  Leaving the paper on the table, I turned it the other way and slid it over in front of Bruce. When he got finished we all just looked at each other.

  Finally I said, “Problem solved, right?”

  Bruce’s dad then read the article and wanted to know if this news was good or bad.

  “Oh, it’s good,” I assured him.

  I knew that Tom had suspected I wasn’t just over there checking out Bishop’s 210 shortly before we left but he never asked. Neither did Bruce.

  The article explained that people at the airport saw the plane take off and climb. At about 1000 feet they heard the engine quit. Then the plane nosed over and crashed into the ocean about 100 yards offshore.

  I looked up at Joseph. “You hungry?” I asked.

  Before he could reply, I offered him a chair and asked him to sit down. I called the waitress over and asked her to get his order and I would pay the bill for the table. I was feeling good. I was feeling relieved. Besides, I needed to spend the last of Bruce’s father’s cash advance. That well was drying up. Soon it would be our well and I knew that my spending habits would change from this lavish style to a much more conservative one.

  I asked Mr. Saxton if he had convinced Bruce to go back to the States with him.

  “Hey, wait a minute,” Bruce said. “This news changes everything.”

  Before he could continue, I said, “Hey, man, not everything is about you. Go home for your mom’s sake.” That shut him right up and he agreed to go back with his father.

  His dad pulled me aside on our way back our rooms.

  “I appreciate what you did in there and everything you have done. I’m forever grateful to you.”

  “Well, sir, you’re more than welcome, but your deal with us was very fair and we will forever be grateful to you, too.”

  We shook hands and headed back to our rooms. Mr. Saxton said he was going to try to get flights out for himself and Bruce later that day, if possible. As soon as he knew he would let us know.

  I agreed to meet him back in our rooms around eleven o’clock. I then remembered leaving Joseph at the table to eat his breakfast alone. As I entered the dining area, I could see him making himself comfortable at the table reading the newspaper.

  “Hey, mon,” I said as I reached the table, trying to imitate the way he said it.

  “So,” he said, “This mon Bishop, his death good for you, right?”

  “Well, I suppose you could say that. He wasn’t a very good man,” I said.

  “What are you drinking?” I asked Joseph.

  “Tea, mon, black tea. It good for you.”

  “Waitress,” I said to one that was passing by. “Could I get a cup of black coffee, please?” Joseph laughed.

  “Let me see that paper again,” I said.

  I reread the article and it did mention the fact that there would be an investigation into the crash to determine if it was mechanical failure or pilot error that led to the crash. I wasn’t sure just how thorough an investigation would be here in the islands but reasoned that even an idiot would notice the crimped fuel lines. I also reasoned that what had most likely happened was that the crimped lines allowed enough fuel through to start and run the motor but at full throttle power, the system couldn’t keep up with the demand for fuel.

  There was probably just enough fuel between the crimped lines and the carburetor to keep it running for a bit. For me, it was pilot error in the truest sense of the word. While lost in that thought, Joseph asked if I needed his services that day.

  “Yes, I do,” I said. “First off, where is this house you moved the girls to?”

  “Just up the hill,” he said.

  “You mean near the Seaman’s Club?” I asked.

  “Oh, mon, how you know about that place?” he wanted to know.

  “Tom and I were up there last night – well, actually, very early today to be exact.”

  “Oh, mon, that nasty place.”

  “Hey, the beer was cold.”

  “Ya, mon, beer cold, women hot.”

  “Hot women?” I asked.

  “Mon, you catch something bad there. No place for you to be,” he insisted.

  “Ok, well let me go get Tom and we’ll head up to the girls’ new place.”

  Back at the room I found Tom asleep on a couch in front of the TV. Neither Tom nor I watched much TV but when one was ever available we found ourselves watching music videos. We enjoyed the music and each song was a short little piece of visual entertainment. I figured I’d let him sleep and come back for him later.

  Back downstairs, I got Joseph from the restaurant and we headed off. On the way out I heard some
one calling out my name. When I turned I could see Mr. Saxton making his way toward me.

  “Yes, sir,” I said as he got close.

  “I was able to get a flight out this evening for my son and me.”

  “Very good,” I said.

  He wanted to know what Tom and my plans were.

  “Well, sir, I’ve been thinking I don’t really want to do another boat ride back to the States.”

  “Oh, the boat,” he said. “The boat is better off right here.”

  He went on to explain that it was Bruce’s boat to begin with and he was sure that Bruce would prefer it stay here.

  “Did you mention anything about the boat?” I asked.

  “No, as you requested, I’ve made no mention of anything to Bruce about our arrangement. He did ask and I informed him that it was all between just you and me.”

  “Ok, sir. Thank you.”

  I then asked Mr. Saxton if he and Bruce could meet up with us for lunch. I mentioned the name of the marina restaurant and he was familiar with it.

  “Ok, say around noon? Tom and I will meet you there.”

  Chapter 12

  The house the girls had moved into was a brightly colored two-story dwelling that sat on a hill which overlooked Philipsburg and the harbor. It was in a neighborhood where the residents seem to take pride in their homes. Each had typical island colored paint on the walls with little manicured lawns surrounding them.

  Many of the homes were built to accommodate the collection of water from the roofs that covered them. Most of the roofs throughout the islands were corrugated metal. These roofs would collect and send any rain water through gutters that would then direct the water to cisterns. Many of these cisterns were actually the basements of the dwelling itself. It was simple but yet, quite efficient.

  The girls must have heard the sound of Joseph’s car pulling up because before we even came to a full stop they were both out of the door of the house to greet us. Ava ran up and hugged me explaining her relief to see me.

  “We were worried about you guys,” she said.

  The girls explained that late the night before they had gone over to our boat to check on us. When Joseph’s brother Brian informed them that we hadn’t returned as planned that they got very concerned about our welfare.