Written By Brad Harness
The rest of my time ashore as tour guide for Francine and Henri was brief. I pointed out some statues, a nice park where everybody fed the pigeons, before sitting at a cafe for a beverage. Henri shifted in his seat, anxious to get going, whereas myself and Francine were content with sipping on our tall cool drinks under the merciful shade of the table’s umbrella.
“Sure is hot, eh?” she commented.
“It’s like this almost the entire year,” I replied. “I was here once after a hurricane and the humidity was something else!”
Exasperated, Henri slammed a hand on the table, startling both of us and toppling my nearly empty glass. I scrambled to catch it before its remaining contents spilled out.
“Let’s get out of here,” he growled. “For me, dis is enough of de sun and de sights. Back to de ship, Tabernac.”
I looked at Francine and she raised her eyebrows, setting down her drink and gathering up her things. “Okay, Henri. We are coming.”
We stood there for a moment, Henri looking around. “Which way back to de ship?”
I considered our options and assumed he would not calm down until we were back aboard the Caribbean Princess.
“That way,” I pointed, “is the shortest way back to the ship.”
“Bonne!” he said, stepping off the curb in that direction, leaving his girlfriend and me to catch up. I noticed a place that all the tour guides make a point of indicating to their tour groups. I had not got out more than a few words when Henri closed me down.
“I do not care, Bobby. Tour is over. Just get me back to de boat,” he added, hugging his cigar box close to himself. We were so caught up in his antics and finding the right path to follow, that we failed to notice we were being followed by two of Puerto Rico’s finest. They were about a half a block behind us and kept their distance, one of them radioing information back to the police station. Presently we arrived at the foot of the gangway leading onboard our ship. It was not yet ‘All Aboard!” time, so there were only a small number of other passengers around. As Henri signalled to Francine to go aboard, the policeman grabbed his wrist from behind and confiscated the cigar box.
“Hey! What’s going on?”
Next Week: Part 7
