After the Storm (22 page)

He was walking up the beach later when he heard his name being called and he turned to see Money Joe waving to him. He had been talking to a group of men on the beach and now he walked over.

‘Greetings comrade, how are the cabins?’ he said.

‘It was good of you to let us have them, Joe. You got business here?’ Owen nodded towards the men on the beach.

‘Some poor sods are about to be baptised. I’m up here to collect rent.’

They went up the hill together. Money Joe seemed to be having difficulty with the incline of the hill, so they stopped talking until they reached the summit when he said:

‘So you’ll do the Belize job for me?’

‘Sorry Joe but can’t be done. We’ve decided we’re not leaving for a while.’

Money Joe stopped walking. Owen wasn’t sure if it was his anger at his refusal or the steepness of the hill which made him stop in his tracks and breathe heavily. He waited for him to recover himself.

‘You with me or against me?’ Money Joe said finally and his voice was cold.

‘What do you mean by that?’

‘You make it a habit to walk under people’s houses?’

Owen’s scalp tightened. So he had been seen.

‘Only Maribel told me you left by the back way the other day. And I’m thinking why did you do that?’

Money Joe laughed nastily but the look he shot at Owen was deeply suspicious.

It was a day of torpid heat and it felt as if it was building to a storm. After breakfast Anna carried one of the plastic chairs from the kitchen and was sitting outside the cabin. She had started on her next novel,
The Crow
Road
by Iain Banks, when she saw Owen walking up the hill with a man she hadn’t seen before. The man had a paunch and a hippy gone-to-seed look about him. Owen must have been swimming in his T-shirt and shorts again because she noticed his clothes were wet and clinging to his body as he moved. She sensed he wanted to get away from the man at his side so she got up from her chair and moved towards them.

‘Anna this is Joe and these are his cabins,’ Owen said.

‘Hello.’

She shook hands with the man and his palms were clammy.

‘You’re English,’ he said.

‘Yes.’

‘How long are you staying on the island?’

‘Less than a week left sadly. It’s such a beautiful place.’

The man nodded and walked away from them without another word.

Owen watched Money Joe as he headed along the path that ran across the front of the cabins.

‘Is everything OK Owen?’

‘He can be such a paranoid jerk sometimes.’

‘He was a bit abrupt.’

‘Yeah, too much gin for too many years,’ he said.

‘Rob’s gone to Doug’s boat. Where’s Kimberly this morning?’

‘She’s gone down to French Harbour to have lunch with Vivienne and Olivier. Do you wanna see a traditional island baptism?’

‘Now?’

‘There’s a group of church folk gathering on the beach.’

‘And we’re allowed to watch?’

‘Should be OK.’

‘I’d love to. Wait while I get my sun hat. Some religious types think you should cover your head.’

She washed her hands quickly, grabbed her hat and locked the cabin.

There were about twenty people and some children standing in a group on the beach. Five men all dressed in matching pale blue shirts seemed to be in charge of the baptism. Anna approached the man in the group who was carrying a wooden cross in his hand.

‘Is it OK if my friend and I watch the baptism?’

‘You are most welcome and please join the family members gathered here to witness this joyful occasion,’ he said.

He had an American accent and pale blue eyes.

Anna and Owen sat on the beach, away from the others. The people being baptised looked like a local family dressed in their Sunday best. There was a man and his wife and three young boys. The five men in blue shirts led the father down to the sea and they waded out until the water was up to their waists. He looked nervous. They clustered round him and then immersed him totally in the sea and held him there while they said in chorus:

‘In the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.’

As they pulled him up out of the sea he was shaking the water from his head and smiling and looking around.

‘Is that joy or is it relief?’ Anna said.

Owen shook his head.

‘When people are desperate they turn to the church and you can make a person believe anything.’

The man Anna had spoken to now held the wooden cross up to the sky and looked at the baptised man and said in ringing tones:

‘Your immersion in the sea symbolises the death of the old sinful you. Your sins have been washed away by the cross of Christ.’

‘Amen,’ said the other men and they clapped their hands.

‘You’re not religious then?’

‘Nope. I don’t trust religious folks. Religion is a story you tell to comfort a child who’s afraid of the dark.’

‘Well that’s exactly the kind of thing my granddad would have said. He was an atheist, a militant atheist in fact.’

The men went through the same process with the mother. She looked deeply moved and tearful as they pulled her out of the sea. There were the same words followed by more enthusiastic clapping. Then it was the turn of the three children. One of the children, the smallest boy, had started to cry. He was clearly overcome by the occasion with all these grown-ups gathered together and his family the focus of the attention.

‘Poor little kid,’ Owen said as he watched the small boy cry out in fear as the men in blue approached him.

‘They’re very young. You’d think they’d wait till they were older, let them have some say in the matter,’ Anna said.

‘Powerless,’ Owen said.

‘Sorry?’

‘You’re powerless when you’re a young kid. Your parents have all the control.’

Anna thought that this was quite a harsh way of looking at the relationship between a parent and a child. Then she recalled her own conflict with her father and decided that Owen had a point.

‘Yes, and you go along with what they want because you need their love and approval,’ she said.

She was watching the little boy and she sighed.

‘That sounded heartfelt,’ he said.

‘I was thinking about when my father and I fell out and how he clamped down on me. Mind you I was fifteen at the time, not a kid.’

‘What happened?’

‘There was this boy, Ricky, and he ran the rides at the funfair and I got into what my father called a deeply inappropriate relationship with him.’

‘That sounds a bit strong.’

‘Well I had sex with Ricky on our last night together; just the once. I can’t begin to tell you how amazing I thought he was. His life seemed thrilling. He travelled all over the country with the fair and I saw him on the first night they came to Canterbury. You know those rides, the ones with the carts that swing round so fast, waltzers I think they’re called? Well Ricky hung onto the front of ours while my friend and I were cowering back in the seat. I went along every night after that so I could see him.’

‘And your father didn’t like that?’

She nodded.

‘He was horrified. I was under the legal age, but it wasn’t the only reason. He can be a snob sometimes. He grounded me; actually locked the door to my bedroom. I couldn’t say goodbye to Ricky and it caused a major rift between my father and me.’

She laughed suddenly.

‘What’s funny?’

‘I wrote tons of terrible poetry about how I felt.’

The man with the wooden cross came over to them. The baptisms were over and the little boy was being comforted by his mother.

‘I’m John Morgan. Do you have any questions? I’d be happy to explain the work of our ministry here in Oak Ridge.’

‘I was interested in the total immersion. At home we just sprinkle water on the baby’s head,’ Anna said.

‘We believe total immersion is important. It symbolises the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You come out of the water freed from the dominion of sin.’

Dominion of sin
;
she didn’t know what to say to that. Owen was standing next to her and she felt, rather than saw, him shiver.

‘The little boy seemed a bit overwhelmed by it all?’ she said.

‘Yes it is a very big thing for the children. But look at him now. He’s so happy he did what his big brothers did.’

It was true; the little boy was running along the beach with his brothers, shouting with pleasure.

‘We’d best be getting back,’ Owen said.

She thanked John Morgan and his pale blue eyes beamed a kind sincerity at her as she shook his hand. Owen had turned away. They headed back up the hill to their cabins and he shivered again.

‘Are you OK?’

‘I’m starting to feel strange, kinda shivery and achey. Think I’ll lie down for a while.’

He went into his cabin and shut the door.

Anna went into her cabin. The heavy heat was making her feel depleted and a bit low as she contemplated an afternoon and an evening on her own. She wondered why she had told Owen about Ricky. She rarely confided to anyone about Ricky even though her memory of him was still so vivid. She thought it always would be because you remember the first one. Those strong arms emerging from the rolled up sleeves of his black T-shirt, his smell of diesel oil mixed with Lynx aftershave and an edge of sweat. She hadn’t been able to look away from the bulge at the front of his jeans as he hung onto the front of the waltzer cart staring at her. His confidence was sexy. He knew how to do it and he had initiated her into sex on the bed in his mobile home as the tinkle of the fairground music came through a half open window. Her father had raged it was a cheap sordid encounter. It wasn’t like that at all. Her feelings for Ricky had soared and for her it was a glorious initiation. But her father’s disgust had troubled her.

Olivier looked even more French than his mom, Kim thought, as he opened the door and welcomed her into Vivienne’s private quarters above the bar. His dark hair flopped over his forehead and he had her round brown eyes. Kim had come to help prepare the food and join in the lunch for him and his three friends. They were setting off to the villa in West End that afternoon. Vivienne’s flat was very much like the woman, welcoming and warm. It was richly coloured with an abundance of cushions and throws on the two purple sofas and a red glazed vase of irises standing in the middle of the dining table. Olivier led Kim through to the kitchen and the two women hugged.

‘Olivier got promoted last week. He’s team leader now,’ she said.

‘Don’t go on
maman
,’ Olivier said rolling his eyes in embarrassment.

‘What great news, congratulations,’ Kim said.

She smiled over at Vivienne and seeing her face shining with pride and joy as she looked at her son made Kim’s heart ache a little bit. Olivier left them.

‘He’s so handsome,’ Kim said.

‘Would you like some wine
cherie
? I’m going to have one glass of white.’

‘Thanks.’

Vivienne handed her a glass. She pointed to the old clock which she had put in pride of place on her dresser.

‘My grandmother’s clock is working perfectly now. It has the sweetest chimes on the hour.’

Kim looked at the clock. Vivienne had put a photo of her grandmother, who was Garifuna, right next to it. The photo was in a silver frame.

‘I’d love to make a home all pretty and comfortable like you’ve done Viv. Now what do you need me to do?’

She helped Vivienne prepare Olivier’s favourite dishes: mackerel with horseradish sauce, green beans cooked with shallots and sprinkled with almonds, a large bowl of cous cous enlivened with black olives, spring onions and red peppers and a generous cheese board. As they worked side by side Kim told her how frustrated she felt at Owen’s attitude.

‘It’s like he’s changed his mind about selling the boat without any discussion and I’m supposed to go along with it. And he’s sulking now and won’t even talk to me about it.’

‘He’s always been very attached to his boat.’

‘Sometimes I think he loves that boat more than he loves me.’

‘You know that’s not true.’

‘If I’m so important to him why can’t he see I wanna go home?’

Her eyes filled as she chopped the spring onions finely.

‘How long have you two been together now?’

‘Nine years.’

‘He needs reminding you have needs too.’

Vivienne topped up Kim’s glass.

‘Thanks, we were right out of money when we reached Belize City last time. If we hadn’t met Rob and Anna we’d have sold the boat then.’

‘So he will sell when you run out of money again. And you can go home.’

‘He’ll have to. But he could sell it now for a good price. Gary knows a Dutch guy who’s looking to buy a wooden boat. Owen hasn’t even called him.’

‘Men can be so stubborn.’

‘Somehow I’ve got to bring him round Viv.’

Kim laid out the cheeses on the board.

‘We’re gonna sail over to Port Royal tonight for the party.’

‘To the Carters’ jetty?’

‘Yeah; we’ll moor there and sleep on the boat.’

‘Look out for some friends of mine tonight. They’ve been booked to do the music and they’re very good.’

‘If they’ve been together twenty years how old do you reckon she is?’ Kim asked.

Vivienne was chopping a red pepper into thin slices.

‘I’d say she’s a well preserved forty-eight.’

‘And Gideon?’

‘A bit older.’

Vivienne turned and washed her hands under the kitchen sink, letting the cold water run over her wrists. She dried her hands and held them against her cheeks to cool her face.

‘Well I’m sorry you won’t be there tonight,’ Kim said.

They carried the platters of food through and laid them out on the table and called for the boys to come eat.

Kim left two hours later after helping to clear up. Vivienne was driving the boys over to West End. As they parted on the street she hugged Kim.

‘Have fun tonight. And stop worrying. Owen will come round.’

Kim caught the bus back to Oak Ridge. The Carters had a private jetty with plenty of moorings and she reckoned a lot of the guests would sail to the party. Their villa was not an easy place to get to by road. She was going to shower and do her hair and make-up in the cabin but she wouldn’t put on her dress until they had moored at the Carters’. She would wear her gold sandals and gold earrings with the white dress and she needed to check what Owen was gonna wear. He was a reluctant party-goer and he never liked dressing up smart. As she headed up the hill she was singing under her breath. The sky didn’t look so great. Thick clouds tinged with grey and purple were massing above and the air felt heavy as if a storm was brewing. She remembered that Rob was diving with Doug today and sleeping over on his boat. She’d told him to take some Dramamine tablets with him, in case he got a recurrence of his seasickness. She opened the cabin door and Owen was lying stretched out on the sofa.