CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED TWELVE
2010 - Market Research
Édouard made good on his promise. He had us on the road by eleven am and by 9pm we’d seen a much bigger cross-section of the currency market than I’d expected to ever have access to, as a no name moun dyaspora. Then again, it’s like he’d told me the night before: all it is down there is contacts.
“What do you say we stay out for a little while?” Hopeton asked, once our scouting mission was wrapped. “I’d rather get dinner in town than just go back to the hotel and battle Bwa in dominoes.”
Édo translated this for Josny and Bwa. Bwa raised his arms above his head, turned around to face the three of us in the back seat and smirked. Josny, concentrating on a pack of moto taxis swarming around the truck, told us to just tell him where we wanted to go and he’d make sure we got there.
Édo told Josny to drive to a side street where there was a row of food stands with seating.
“That’s exactly what I’m in the mood for,” I agreed. “Sip some bouyon, drink some kleren and watch people go by.”
“Kleren’s the local bootleg liquor,” Édo explained to Hopeton. “You gotta watch out, because it’ll kick your ass.”
I laughed, remembering all of the times I’d seen Hopeton and Bolo crack open a bottle of chirrisco and go shot for shot until there was nothing left.
I lightly elbowed Édo in the ribs and asked, “What’s the chances of us finding lalo this late at night?”
“Slim to none,” he replied. “Lalo’s vaguely similar to callaloo,” he explained to Hopeton. “It’s usually made with crab, so it sells out early.”
Hopeton shook his head. “You are truly obsessed with food, Pierre.”
“I truly am,” I agreed.
We pulled up to a row of makeshift food stands. Long white tables were laden with heavy aluminum pots filled with soup, rice and other good stuff and sheltered by homemade awnings constructed from lightweight aluminum poles and UN-issued tarps. Electric lights and blaring sound systems were powered by portable gas generators. Each stand had its own little picnic table seating area. It was hectic. I loved it.
“A dwa,” Édo directed Josny.
We exited the truck and followed Édo to an empty table. A lady came over, took our drinks order and said she’d be right back to tell us what food she had left.
“Now this,” Édo proclaimed, “is NOTHING like Jamaica.”
A quick glance told me we were at the spot favored by taxi drivers, and since we’d arrived right as the road slowed down for the night, the place was packed. The lady came back and told us, “Lalo a fini. Nou gen poul fri epi bouyon, ak diri ak sòs nwa.” I got the bouyon, everyone else got the fried chicken. And a round of Prestiges.
Once we were done with all of that, Hopeton called our debrief to order.
“Alright,” he said, “I feel like we learned enough today to confirm it makes sense to focus on Port au Prince as our base of operations. The market down here is too small to accommodate our intent.”
Édo and I nodded. Josny and Bwa waited for us to revert back to Kreyol.
“Yeah, I still feel like setting up in Croix de Bouquets and Carrefour is the most logical move,” I agreed.
“Where is Bwa from?” Hopeton asked Édo.
“Bèlè,” Édo replied. “Or, Bel Air, as you pronounce it in English.”
“Okay. This is what I’m thinking,” Hopeton said. “We’re going to need to set the network up. What we have right now is start-up capital and experience in the business” - he nodded at me -“someone who can help us connect to legal sources of transfer” - he nodded at Édo - “and potentially someone who can organize security at each point” - he nodded at Bwa.
I jumped in with an idea that had been running through my mind all day. “And I feel like there’s gotta be some connection with taxi drivers and maybe truckers. I’m not sure yet what it is, but I think it’s something worth figuring out.”
Édo seemed excited by that thought. “I don’t know any people who drive trucks, but I know people who own fleets of trucks,” he said. “And one thing I hear about a lot is that smaller operations- you know, people with maybe one or two trucks out on the road, have a harder time regulating their income flow. So, a lot of them wind up subcontracting to my friends’ families’ companies. They’re not making nearly as much money as they do, contracting routes directly, but there’s no capital outlay on their end, so they gotta go with it while their pockets are low.”
“That’s brilliant, actually,” Hopeton said. “Street changing is a daily grind. And floating loans to truckers wouldn’t be much less laborious, but it’s easier to plot out and return on investment would be greater.”
I smiled and said, “It just clicked in my head while we were going up and down the roads today.”
Hopeton turned his attention to Édo.
“I need you to explain the very topline basics to Bwa,” he said. “We’re going to need to get with him once we’re back in Port au Prince. I want to know about his people. How disciplined they are. What he can mobilize for us. How much it will cost. I’m going to need a network of lieutenants. But don’t go into any great detail. Just tell him we need to meet with him in Bel Air. And I don’t think we have anything for Josny right now, but let him know we’re working through things and we may need to get with him, as well.”
Then he turned to me.
“Pierre, I need you to pay close attention to this conversation,” he said. “If you think there’s anything else they need to hear, or if he starts going too deep- jump in.”
There was one last thing on Hopeton’s mind.
“Édo- you, Pierre and myself need to have a sit down to discuss what your role would be, if you want in.”
Édo smiled. He wanted in.
