Chapter 4: "I don't know where I'm a'gonna go when the volcano blow."

Chapter 4

"I don't know where I'm a'gonna go when the volcano blow."

Billy Ray got about as far as the motel parking lot before the dude in the Hawaiian shirt he was chasing dove into the back seat of a car that had slowed down for him, gunned the engine and took off down the street.  It halted about 500 yards away, the guy lowered the back window, tossed the envelope out onto the street, and then took off out of sight.

Cursing and sweating, Billy Ray trotted up to where the envelope lay on the street, reached down and picked it up.  What the hell?  Opening the envelope and scanning the contents, Billy Ray didn't think that anything was missing, but that just made even less sense.  Why would someone lie his way into his house, steal a bunch of papers and then throw them away minutes later?  Clearly, this situation called for more points of view.  Billy Ray headed for his favorite home-away-from-home, White Man's Paradise Bar and Grille, James "Jimmy" Buffett, proprietor.

"Hey Billy Ray," Jules the bouncer greeted him, Jules' friendly creole-French accent sounding odd coming from such a huge man.

"Well hey, Jules!  I haven't seen you in a while.  Where you been at?"

"Concert tour security for Jimmy's last trip.  Went all over the country --even up to the U.S. and Canada.  Those crazy Canadian girls, mon dieu!" answered Jules, laughing and shaking his head from side to side.

"Oh yeah, I remember hearing about that tour.  Didn't it turn into a benefit for Montserrat?"

"Ah, oui. Those poor people.  Where you gonna go when the volcano blow, eh?"

"You should write that down, my friend --the boss could make a hit song out of it."  Both men laughed at the little joke.  "Speaking of el jefe Jimmy, where might he be?"

"At the bar, trying out a new bar-femme with the brain trust.  Go on back, he'd like to see you."

Jimmy's "Brain Trust" turned out to be him, his daughter, Julie, the bartender who was 'retiring' to get married, and Carlos, the Dominican busboy who had worked at White Man's Paradise ever since he swam ashore, after his escape raft from Baby-Doc's Dominican Republic broke up at the south end of the Key.  All of them were tasting the round of boat-drinks that the new prospective bartender, Sandee, had just made.

"This is a great banana-boat daiquiri," Jimmy said.  "Kinda makes me wanna sing, 'Day-o, Day-ay-ay-o! Daylight come and we wanna go home!"  Everybody laughed, and a couple of "Day-o's" floated up to the palm-thatched ceiling.  

"Wow, this Long Island Ice Tea Ferry is so fucking potent!" Savannah Jane fake-slurred.  "You're gonna go broke if this drink catches on, Dad.  Maybe you should charge a premium for this one," she laughed.  
Carlos looked a bit misty-eyed when he said, "Aye Julia, this Coconut Cuban Breeze reminds me of my favorite bar in Mariel, Cuba, the same place mi padre met senor Hemingway in the 1920's."

"Well," Julie said, "I think mine sucked!"  Cries of 'What?' and 'Aw Julie!' erupted from the Brain Trust.  "Okay, okay, the drink was good.  But she didn't flirt with ANY of us, not even you, Jimmy.  Babe, if you don't dish-out a little wink-with-the-drink, you're gonna starve.  And just LOOK at her!  No cleavage, no form-fitting T-shirt, just a stupid polo with for-fuck's-sake CHINO SHORTS??? You think this is some Richmond hotel bar, uh, Sandee?"

"All right, all right!" said Jimmy above the commotion Julie's rant provoked, "So she gets some fashion-tips from Julie, and she shadows you for a couple of nights so she gets the flirt-thing going on.  I mean, what Julie, you think anybody can replace you right out of the gate?"  Nods all around from the Brain Trust, and the boss made it official with a hearty, "Welcome aboard, Sandee!  Hope ya like serving rum to pretend pirates!"

It was then that Savannah Jane noticed Billy Ray standing there, smiling at the whole audition process.  "Hey Billy Ray," she called, "haven't seen you in a while.  Why're you buying a drink here when you've got the best free bar in the world?"

"Hey Savannah," Billy Ray called back.  "No drinks for me today.  Was just wondering if I could catch a word with your dad for a minute."

"For you, Billy Ray, you can have two," Jimmy laughed.  "You want to talk frente-a-frente, or can the Brain Trust stick around?"

"You know, I'd like them to stay if that's ok," Billy Ray said.  He then told them of everything that had happened, starting with his father's death and ending with the chase of the Hawaiian-shirted man.  There was a long pause, then Carlos spoke.

"In my country, Baby Doc's secret police would do things like this.  They were not so subtle, but they would break down doors, search papers, search houses, workshops, all looking for information.  What information do you have, Senor Ray?"

"Nothing.  The only thing they stole was the mailer-envelope, and they threw that out without taking anything."

"Hmm," said Julie, "is there something else they could be looking for?  I mean, do you have a lot of money or something else somebody could want?"

"I got a nice bottle of St. Kitts rum back at the bar-partment," said Billy Ray, "but other than that, its just my little monthly payment from Daddy's trust, and that just about keeps me afloat out here."

"Well Billy Ray," said Jimmy, "we'll keep an eye on you and a bunch of ears to the wind.  I'll put something out on the coconut telegraph too, and see what comes back.  Don't worry- we'll figure this thing out for you.  Hey, you sure you don't want a boat-drink?  Let's have a contest: Julie vs. Sandee!  What do you say, Brain Trust?"

"Dad, it's way too early for boat drinks!" Savannah Jane chided, but Julie was already pouring.

"I think I'll pass," Billy Ray laughed.  He said his goodbyes and ambled out the door, giving Jules a good-natured wave on the way out.  So, no closer to the answer, Billy Ray made his way home.  What, just what, was going on?  Who was the mysterious stranger in the Hawaiian shirt? And what did his dead father have to do with any of this?