CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SEVEN
2010 - Comfort Food
The next morning, I woke up, realized I was in Port au Prince and felt at peace within myself.
I grabbed my phone, walked out onto my balcony and, while basking in the early morning sunshine, decided to be the bigga bredda.
I texted Olmando, sending a photo of the view from my balcony and a short message:
Frè’m! you should be here with us!
There was a twenty-minute lag before he responded:
Send me the address and I’ll be there tomorrow
Is everything okay?
Gianina is up my ass. I can’t take it anymore.
Is she pregnant?
Too early to tell. Based on her attitude, I’mma say yes.
Be nice to her, Doe. And hold down the fort- I’ll be home in 2 weeks and we can kick it then.
Doe sent me a gif of Chris Brown saying Deuces and I left it alone.
Hopeton texted me at eight am.
You up? Ready for breakfast?
Yeah. Can you text Édo and ask him to meet us at the restaurant?
Pa gen pwoblem. Just shoot me his Whatsapp info.
Another connection made- Hopeton and Édo were now linked. I’d set up a Whatsapp chat for the three of us at some point.
After breakfast, I asked Édo if he had a favorite spot to change money.
“I hate ATMs and I don’t want to deal with any banks. Too much of a hassle,” I explained.
“Yeah, I have a few,” he said. “Are you looking to change a lot of money or just enough to keep you going for the next couple of days?”
“I figured I should get a lot, since I’m going to have to pay out the car, driver and security,” I replied. “And I can’t imagine they’re gonna come cheap. Not right now, anyway.”
Édo agreed.
“Let’s go tomorrow, mid-afternoon. Just shoot me a ballpark figure before we head out,” I said. “And I know this might sound crazy, but is there a big difference in rates out by Croix de Bouquets? If there is, I think we should head out there. I want Hopeton to get a look at the market.”
Then I remembered something I’d had planted in the back of my mind. “I also want to pick up a few machetes for the drive.” I knew our bodyguard would be carrying a gun, and for all I knew Édo would be, too- but I’d seen first-hand in Panama that a sharp machete is a good thing to have under your seat.
Édo nodded and said that would be an easy purchase.
“Oh,” he remembered, “Mireille and some other friends are going to stop by tonight around nine.”
“Nice,” I replied. “This trip is getting off to a good start.”
By nine-thirty pm, about a dozen of Édo’s friends joined us by the pool. Our dedicated waitress ran back and forth, ferrying bottles of champagne and rhum sours. Kompa was playing over speakers hidden in the foliage. We weren’t the only large-ish group partying it up. Foreign NGO workers, bougie locals, moun dyaspora- all of us were in effect at Hotel Karibe. One thing about a near death experience- it makes you want to celebrate life.
I spotted Mireille and her friend Fabi walking towards our group. I tapped Hopeton on the shoulder and said, “Come with me- I want to introduce you to someone.” We headed towards the two women.
“Pierre!” Mireille said, as she leaned in to give me a kiss on each cheek. I waved at Fabi.
“Mireille, Fabi, this is my friend and business partner, Hopeton.”
Hopeton took one look at Mireille and I swear to god, I could see cartoon hearts popping out of his eye sockets. He amended my introduction, directly to Mireille, “Hopeton Alphonso Silva,” then he leaned in and gave her a double cheek kiss.
I shook my head and let them be, walking around them towards Fabi.
“Fabi, it’s so good to see you again,” I said.
“Remember- I told you Haiti would love to have you back. And here you are,” she teased.
“And I’m planning to stay, as soon as I can wrap things up in Panama,” I replied.
Hopeton and Mireille rejoined us.
“I was telling Mireille how Port au Prince reminds me of Kingston in the Seventies and Eighties,” Hopeton said.
“Minus the natural disaster,” Mireille said with a hint of irony in her voice.
“Well, hopefully I can help out with reconstruction,” I replied. “How’s your project going?”
“It’s in the usual initial stage of bureaucratic disarray,” Mireille replied. “We’re supposed to commence onsite work next August. I’m hoping we don’t stray too far from that target date.”
“Is there any way I could apply for a project management role?” I asked.
“Yes,” Mireille said. “I’ll send you the URL for the online portal. Let me know when you’ve submitted- I’ll tell my field supervisor I referred you. And if you have time next week, I’d love to show you around some of the neighborhoods that we’ll be working in and maybe take you to one of the tent camps, if you’d like.”
“That’s exactly why I’m here now,” I replied. “I absolutely want to get out and see what needs to be done.”
At that point, Édo strolled over and joined us. He hugged Mireille and Fabi and gave them each a double cheek kiss. Then he headed over to me and gave me a light punch on the arm.
“How’s everyone doing?” he asked. “Anyone need a refill?”
