Roni woke to the sound of rain, the drops hammering lightly on the metal roof. She lay in the cool of her room and thought about how it would affect her day. Maybe it will be a day of reading versus a day of exploring. She rolled out of bed and threw her running shorts on. Regardless of the weather, she was going to go for a run. As she made coffee she looked out the window, the blue sky was flecked with a couple of dark clouds, not-so-stormy skies with rain falling through the sunshine. A few frogs were still doing the night medley as Roni watched a lizard outside in the yard. With his tail curled like a rope on a dock he run across the sand into a conch shell and then poked his head in and out. A rooster crowed in the distance. She stepped out back to look closer at the lizard and could feel the moisture thick in the air. She suspected it was typical tropical weather and wouldn’t hang around too long.
It had been years since Roni was off somewhere alone. She could hardly remember a time it wasn’t with Mack, then Mack and the kids. Even at home, most of the time, there was someone around. She had thought it would be strange to be by herself. It was why she’d hesitated when Mack suggested it, but it wasn’t, not here. After her coffee Roni decided she would run the road in the other direction and find out where it went. The dark cloud had moved away from the house, taking the rain with it. Roni clipped her small iPod to her shirt and put her earplugs in. Some music this morning to keep me going. As the road wound past more houses and then veered to her right, she kept following it until it emptied onto a beach. The soft, moist sand made her running more strenuous for quite a ways. The stretch of beach ended at a broad expanse of overgrown mangroves, hibiscus and pines, so she picked a dirt trail to her right. When it eventually led her back towards the Green Turtle Club, she realized she’d done a big circle. Several golf carts went past her as she ran, the people always raising their hands in hello. Not like New York for sure, people are friendly here…so nice.
Showered, dressed, and beach bag packed, Roni decided she would go back to Pineapples. Maybe she would be able to talk to Lashanda if she was working. She’d enjoyed Lashanda, found her to be a bit feisty, and Roni figured she could get more information about the who’s who of GTC from her. As she drove she noticed a couple of roosters lingering near the road, they seemed to run free like Joe. A golf cart passed her, going the opposite direction, a group of girls headed toward the Green Turtle Club. It looked like they had dive bags with them, and she figured they were probably going to Randal’s Dive Shop. She came to a turn where Joe had obviously been, a fresh pile of horse poo in the road. Smiling at the thought of him she remembered that Devin had warned her about his messes.
At Pineapples, she parked in the same place and followed the path down to the bar. Good, she’s working. Lashanda was behind the counter with blue eyeshadow today. Again, up to her eyebrows, and a blue T-shirt. Roni chuckled finding it amusing that Lashanda liked to be color coordinated. Yesterday she’d thought it a fluke, but now she knew it was her style. A girl with a sense of style was never a bad thing.
“Good morning, Lashanda.”
“Mawnin’, Ms. Roni,” Lashanda said with a lilt. “Why ya come so early? Nobody us’lly show less it time fo’ lunch?”
“‘Cause I’m up, already got my run in, and I’m curious. Have to go somewhere. Figured when no one else is around, you’ll have to talk to me,” Roni teased.
Lashanda laughed.
“Kin ah git ya somepin’?”
“Maybe water, it’s a little early to start drinking,” Roni said.
“Never ta early on Green Turtle,” Lashanda said, smiling.
Roni took the bottled water that Lashanda handed to her and again noticed her fancy nails. They were obviously an extravagance by island standards.
“Have you been on GTC all your life?” Roni asked.
“Born here,” Lashanda said. “Yeh, ma whole fam’ly fo’ a lon’, lon’ time.”
“Generations, I would guess. Read yesterday that most of the people on the island can trace their roots back to the original settlers. That’s amazing,” Roni said.
“Way, way back,” Lashanda said.
“Lashanda,” a woman’s voice called from a distance.
It was devoid of an Bahamian accent. Roni looked around, but didn’t see anyone.
“Yeh, Lala?” Lashanda called back.
The woman attached to the voice appeared around the side of the bar that was open for access. She had long, gray hair and wore a pink dress that resembled a muumuu. Her breasts were very large and obviously not constricted by a bra, Roni noticed, as they moved freely under her dress as she moved. It was easy to see she was on the heavy side.
“Oh, I didn’t know we had anyone here,” Lala said, surprised.
“Dis here Roni. She stayin’ at da doctor’s place.”
“Hmm, yes, I heard that you would be staying awhile,” Lala commented, looking Roni over briefly before turning to Lashanda.
“On the menu today, we have a conch salad, jerk chicken, and hamburger and fries,” Lala said.
“Okay, I git it on da board,” Lashanda said.
Roni smiled, amused that the woman didn’t even say “hello” or “nice to meet you”, which Roni thought to be proper. Having done what she came for, Lala turned and walked away. Roni couldn’t see where she was going as she retreated down an apparent path behind the bar.
“Dat de owner. She kinda crazy, but nice. Well, mos’ da time,” Lashanda laughed.
She pointed to an old photo in a cracked frame on the back wall. In it was a young, voluptuous girl, big bouffant blonde hair, heavy makeup, and a very skimpy outfit, her bosoms busting out above a small bra like top.
“Lala Laroux, when she was a young’un.”
“Wow. No wonder those boobs waggle like they do,” Roni joked.
Lashanda smiled cautiously.
“She useta be a entertainer in Miami. How she make her money to buy dis place long ago when nobody wan’ it,” Lashanda said. “She fix it up, make it de bar, feed peoples. It pretty nice, I guess.”
Lashandra shrugged her shoulders as she pulled the chalkboard from the wall. She took a bar rag and started wiping off yesterday’s menu. Roni stared at the woman’s image and wondered what kind of entertainment Lala had offered.
“Is she married?” Roni asked.
“Long time ago. He run off wif anodder woman who come here vis’tin’. Now she jes’ have da dum’ ass,” Lashanda said rolling her eyes.
“Who’s the dumb ass?” Roni chuckled.
Lashanda looked at Roni with a leery expression. Roni figured she wasn’t too sure about saying too much to a white woman, especially a stranger to the island.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be nosey, just curious. You don’t have to answer me,” Roni said.
Roni didn’t want to push her if she was uncomfortable giving her information. Once Roni apologized about digging for information, Lashanda’s face softened.
“Harrison’s da dum’ ass. He fresh from da rehab. Lala take ‘im in so he kin git back on he feet. Give him de job takin’ care da place. She useta date him, million years ago, fo’ she marry. Don’ know why ever he so dum’. He fall back in da bottle already, shoes an’ all. Lala jes’ let he stay. I ain’ sure why,” Lashanda said, shrugging her shoulders again.
Roni smiled having an instant visual of how “shoes and all” looked. A caricature of a man falling into the top of a liquor bottle fully clothed and disappearing flashed in her mind.
“Can I have a look around the place?” Roni asked.
“Sure. Dum’ ass live dere,” she said, pointing to the structure to her left.
“He doesn’t live with her?”
“Naw, Lala live dere,” she pointed to the house on her right. “Behin’ Lala’s house is some cottages she rent. Res’rooms back over dat way.”
Lashanda pointed behind her.
“Dere be a small unit ‘bove dat. Efficency she call it. She rent dat too if she kin. If ya follow da path past da resr’ooms, it take ya ta de odder dock.”
“Okay, I’m going to check the place out,” Roni said, getting up. “I’ll be back.”
Roni chose the path to the left between the bar and Lala’s house where palm trees, pines, and shrubs formed a sort of privacy screen for the owner. Lala’s house was a simple box shape, nothing outstanding about it, except that it was painted bright pink. How funny that a retired entertainer ended up with a small bar on Green Turtle. There were all forms of escapees. Further down the drive, Roni could see the cottages Lashanda had mentioned. Several of them had hammocks out front tied between palms. She needed to use the restroom, so she headed in that direction. Doors marked “men” and “women” faced her on the ground floor with a second story above, the efficiency. The building was white clapboard and very plain. Roni went into the women’s side and instantly noticed it wasn’t very clean and smelled of mold. There was a shower with a curtain on her left where water dripped from the corroded showerhead and a black line of mold ran down the wall in the back corner. A sink and toilet were on the other side, neither of which she wanted to touch. If Harrison was in charge of keeping this up, he wasn’t doing a good job. Roni squatted above the seat without sitting all the way down, then quickly washed her hands. She couldn’t imagine staying in here long enough to shower. The mere thought completely grossed her out.
She followed the path around the building. A staircase in front led to the second floor unit, she paused and wondered if the unit looked anything like the public bathroom. Shuddering, Roni continued along the path, noticing the small boats and parts of boats that were scattered on the shore to the right. Seeing that none looked to be in good shape she figured the boats were either abandoned or waiting for repair. A warped and weathered dock stretched out into the water directly in front of her. As she got closer Roni was surprised at how big the gaps were between the wood boards. She could see the ocean beneath right through them. She walked cautiously down the dock passing a fish cleaning station on her left about halfway down along with several boat slips, some occupied, some empty. The right side of the dock was open to the ocean. There didn’t seem to be anyone around. At the end of the slips sat a small white building with a roof that extended over the dock, forming a covered walkway. Further on, the dock became a T running left and right where boats could tie up.
Since the door was open to the building, Roni looked inside. It was a small cramped office. A desk filled with papers lined one wall, a wooden chair, some junk scattered about, and an old rotary telephone mounted on the wall was it. There was a worn, white leather chair, like a captain’s chair from a boat, sitting outside the door, holding it open. Roni stopped and listened for the sound of anyone, but all she heard was the water lapping quietly at the pilings. Roni sat down on the white wooden bench directly across from the chair. A slight breeze was blowing through the harbor, causing the water to ripple ever so slightly. She watched the sunlight play on the water beneath the dock through the gaps. The breeze felt delightful as it tugged at her hair gently. It seemed to lessen the humidity and the sunlight was prism like dancing to and fro mesmerizing her.
“‘Ello.”
The voice, breaking her quiet moment, made Roni jump. A tall Bahamian man stood before her smiling. Roni let out a nervous laugh, feeling now that she had somehow intruded.
“Oh, hello,” she said. “I was exploring Pineapples and ended up out here.”
“Dis de Pineapples dock,” he said. “Da boat dock. De ferry dock on de odder side.”
Roni understood only half of what he said, but he stated it in a way like she was lost. Like the ferry dock was probably what she’d been looking for.
“Yes, Lashanda told me,” Roni said.
Roni looked at him and thought he somehow looked familiar. He cocked his head eyeing her.
“I meet you on da road,” he said.
His accent was heavy, his words chipped and Roni tried to listen carefully to understand what he’d said. She bit the inside of her lip, thinking, trying to sort his words in her head.
“In da road wif Joe,” he explained.
“Oh, yes,” she said, feeling foolish she hadn’t recognized him instantly. “Devin, isn’t it?”
Devin sat down in the leather chair and tipped back slightly. He had a baseball cap on that shielded his eyes a bit. Roni realized that he hadn’t had a baseball cap on when he met her in the road. He’d been wearing a helmet. He smiled shyly at her, happy that she recognized him finally.
“Yez,” he said.
“Thanks for getting Joe to move. I wasn’t afraid of him. I just didn’t know what to do exactly.”
He smiled at her.
“I found where Joe lives…and met Bacon.”
Devin eyed her with a sort of curious look.
“Calvin, what a character to have those animals.”
Roni felt a tad awkward that he wasn’t joining in.
“Don’t you think?”
“Yez,” Devin said.