I bought my ticket back to Jamaica, flying in and out of Kingston. Arriving Friday, August third, departing Tuesday, September fourth. Any excuse to miss Labor Day in Brooklyn.
I had a very substantial checklist of things I needed to tend to before heading out, and very little time to get it all completed.
First up was Pierre, S-T Real Estate and PanStar’s coverage plan.
Pierre and I had done well with our property flipping business over the past few months, and his father had been doing an excellent job on the financial planning side of things. We were starting to see some decent money flowing in. I assumed at some point I’d have to sit down with Mr. Taveras and formally introduce myself.
Behind the scenes, Prentiss was starting to lobby for expansion.
“You got that kid out there, running crews and keeping track of expenses,” he rationalized. “Why don’t we take advantage of all of that energy while we have it? Mek him get a little renovation army together, and then you and I can throw some extra money into bigger projects. It’ll be a better return on investment!”
I let Prentiss know I didn’t think Cabrón would have the time or any sort of desire to take that on, and I was right. I brought it up to him when we met up at PanStar for our coverage meeting.
“That’s the same type of shit Mundo tried to have Lucci do over at HQ,” Pierre scoffed. “Except in that case it was supposed to be a crew running product and flipping EBT cards. C’mon now, Hopeton!”
I left it alone.
“Alright then, moving on,” I said, dropping the subject. “I’m heading out next week. August should be quiet, but I need you to cover for me while I’m back a yaad.”
Cabrón opened his mouth to say something then changed his mind.
“Yes,” I said, “PanStar has been taking up too much time. Your GRE test is coming up soon, and you need to study.”
Cabrón nodded, and reminded me that once his test was out of the way, he was going to start working on grad school applications.
“It’s about time,” I laughed. “You’ve been talking about this since 1998. Is there anything else you have lined up while I’m back home?”
“I’m gonna try to take out this girl that I met in my GRE class,” he replied.
“A girl?” I asked, legitimately surprised at this unexpected scrap of information. “I thought you weren’t interested in anything like that.”
“I’m not a robot, Hopeton!” Pierre shot back at me. “Just because I don’t talk to you about my personal life it doesn’t mean I don’t have one!”
“I’m happy to hear that,” I said. “Everyone should have a personal life. But in the meantime, I’m going to need you to be on call if anything jumps off with PanStar.”
“Like what?” Pierre asked. “I thought you just told me you and Bolo agreed that we were done with shipments coming in. And everything going out is covered by your hired hands, right?”
“I just need you to be my back-up,” I replied. “You’re the only one aside from me who knows the system. I don’t expect anything to go wrong, but I always need to have contingency in place.”
Pierre got up to leave, but I asked him to hold on for a moment.
“Take these numbers,” I told him, as I wrote down contact info for Ever Sure Security and Sranan Fleet Trucking Company. “Better to be safe than sorry.”
“What’s coming up for us?” Pierre asked as he headed out of the back room. “When you gonna fill me in on the next phase?”
“I’m not quite ready to speak it to the universe,” I replied.
The next day I went over to Clarendon Collision, armed with a bottle of Wray & Nephew and two big plates of curry goat from Prentiss’s favorite spot.
“Who dead?” Prentiss asked, when I handed over my offerings.
I laughed and told him I just needed to reason with him about some things.
“Alright,” Prentiss said, cracking open the rum, “mek wi reason.”
“First off,” I began, “I talked with the yute and he said no sah. He has no interest in leading his own likkle renovation army.”
“Did you try to change his mind?” asked Prentiss.
I shook my head.
“Let’s leave the yute be and just be thankful for where we’re at now.”
Prentiss and I ate in silence for several minutes. He slid the bottle of Wray & Nephew over to me. I poured some into a cup and drank it down with a quickness.
“You ready to head out?” Prentiss asked. I had a feeling he knew the real reason I’d stopped by bearing gifts that afternoon.
“More or less,” I replied. “But…” I trailed off. It was unlike me to not finish a thought, but this one had me stumped.
“But?” Prentiss prompted.
I struggled to put my thoughts to words.
“I know you and the wife don’t go back very often, but you do go back,” I said. “I’ve been gone for fifteen years and now I’m going to be there for a month. I don’t even really know what to do back there.”
“You’re from Kingston,” Prentiss replied. “What did you do when you were there?”
“Not a whole lot,” I admitted. “I never had a car. I never went to dances. Aside from work, church and meetings, I rarely left my yard.”
“Have you ever been to MoBay?” Prentiss asked.
I shook my head, no.
“Ochi?”
I shook my head again.
“Negril?”
I shook my head one more time.
“Mandeville? Port Antonio?”
“I think I may have gone to Black River once,” I told him. “But I’m not positive.”
“Rahtid!” Prentiss laughed. “I’m a poor country bwoy from Clarendon and I’ve seen more of Jamaica than you have.”
“The only thing I know is that I land in Kingston,” I said. “And I want to spend some time in Content Gap. With my family.”
“Did you let anyone know you’re coming?” Prentiss asked.
He knew the answer.
“You’re renting a car.” It was more of a statement than a question.
“Yes,” I replied. “I drove on the left side of the road when I was in England, and I have a lot of experience driving in the mountains in Panama, so I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it.”
“I hope so, because you’re going to be driving up and down, in and out of mountain passes the entire month.”
“I have no problem with that,” I said. “It’s what I need.”
“Here’s what I think you should do,” Prentiss said.
He then proceeded to lay out a very clear plan for me.
· Rent a car at the airport. Drive into Kingston.
· Start out at a hotel in New Kingston – “The Courtleigh, if you want to feel like you’re a businessman conducting meetings in Panama City or the Terra Nova, if you want to see what it feels like to be a colonialist downpressor.”
· Drive out to Content Gap and stay with family for a few days- “You might want to call them before you just pop up on them. They may want some time to get ready for you.”
· From Content Gap, drive across the Blue Mountains to Ochi and Oracabessa- “Call Lloydie now. Let him know you’ll be in town. You don’t have to stay with him, but if he offers, you should take him up on it.”
· Go out to Port Antonio with Lloydie for a few days- “Portie seems like your vibe. I think you’re going to feel at home there.”
· Drive down the eastern coast from Portie back to Kingston- Stop off for lunch in Morant Bay.
· Spend your last two or three days in Kingston- “Make sure to do uptown tourist shit. Get used to having money there, Hopeton. It makes a difference.”
I told Prentiss I should have asked him for pen and paper.
“How am I going to remember all of this?” I asked.
“It’s easy,” he said. “You’re going in a big loop- Kingston, up to the north coast, over west, back east, then all the way east and down south back to Kingston. I’ll write the names of the New Kingston hotels for you. You might want to book something in advance.”
I thanked him from the bottom of my heart.
“Anyway, you have the Internet,” Prentiss reminded me. “You can take a look at maps and do your own hotel research.”
“True,” I agreed.
“Just don’t forget to call Lloydie tomorrow,” he reminded me. “And if you feel like being extra charitable, you should call Lloydie’s sister to see if she has anything she wants you to carry down for her.”
“You know,” I mused, “I think I’m going to wind up in Portland or St. Thomas one day. Maybe not right away, but when I’m an old man.”
“But of course,” Prentiss agreed. “I can just picture you up in the hills, making brooms with the bobo dreads. That could be your second calling.”
