Bahama Crisis

‘Not me,’ said Billy. ‘Billy One might, and Jack certainly would; but they won’t be involved out here.’ Billy One was Billy’s father, so called to distinguish him from Billy. Jack was his uncle and head of the Cunningham clan. ‘Is this guy, Butler, black?’

‘He is. There’s another thing. Any hotels you build here must be Bahamian-built and Bahamian-staffed.’

‘The Bahamas for the Bahamians – is that it?’

‘Something like that. No one else can hold down a job here if it can be done by a Bahamian.’

Billy jerked his head towards the lobby. ‘Your hotel manager – Fletcher; he’s white.’

‘So am I,’ I said evenly. ‘We’re both white Bahamians. But the manager of the Sea Gardens – that’s our hotel on New Providence – is black.’

Billy shrugged. ‘It doesn’t worry me as long as we have an efficient operation.’

‘Oh, we’re efficient.’ I looked up and saw Debbie Cunningham coming into the bar. ‘Here’s your cousin.’

She was wearing a halter top and a pair of shorts which were well named – a long-stemmed American beauty. ‘I hope this is okay,’ she said, and looked down at herself. ‘I mean, do you have rules?’

‘Not so as you’d notice. Our visitors can dress pretty much as they like – up to a point.’ I inspected her. ‘I don’t think you’ve reached the point yet, though. Will you have a drink?’

‘Something soft; a Coke, maybe.’ I signalled a waiter and she sat down. ‘Isn’t this quite a place? Have you seen the pool, Billy?’

‘Not yet.’

I checked the time. ‘I’m going to be busy for the next hour. Why don’t you give the place the once-over lightly and I’ll meet you at the desk. We’ll have lunch at home. If you need to know anything ask Jack Fletcher.’

‘That’s fine,’ said Billy. ‘You’ve told me enough already so I know what to look for.’

I left them and went to my office to do some hard thinking. When Billy had told me the size of his proposed investment it had given me quite a jolt, although I had tried not to show it. Forty million dollars is a hell of a lot of money and that much injected into West End Securities could provide for a lot of expansion. The problem would be to avoid being swamped by it, and it was going to be quite a puzzle to put together a suitable package which would keep both me and the Cunningham Corporation happy.

If Billy had been surprised by the Royal Palm Hotel he was equally surprised by my home and he showed it. I took him through into the atrium where the swimming pool was. He looked around and said, ‘My God!’

I laughed. ‘Ever been in Rome in August?’

‘Who goes to Rome in August?’ He shrugged. ‘But yes, I have – once,’ and added feelingly, ‘Goddamn hot. I got out of there fast.’

‘And humid – just like here. When I built this place I had an architect dig into the plans of Roman villas; the ancient Romans, I mean. I had a feeling they’d be building for the climate. This is not a reproduction of a villa – more an adaptation. With modern conveniences, of course; air-conditioning included. But my air-conditioning costs less to run than any of my neighbours’ because the building design helps. We used some of that know-how when we built the Royal Palm; that big, tall lobby is a natural cooling tower.’

Billy was about to say something when Julie walked out of the house. I said, ‘Here’s Julie now. Julie, you’ve met Billy, but I don’t think you know Debbie, his cousin.’

‘Hi, Billy, welcome to Grand Bahama. Glad to meet you, Debbie.’

‘You have a beautiful home,’ said Debbie.

‘We like to think so.’ Julie turned and called, ‘Come out of there, Sue. We have guests; come and meet them.’

My elder daughter emerged from the pool as sinuously as an otter. ‘Say “hello” to Mr Cunningham,’ commanded Julie.

‘To Billy,’ I amended.

Sue shook hands gravely. She had an impish look as she said, ‘Hello, Mr Billy Cunningham.’

Billy laughed. ‘A regular little towhead, aren’t you?’

‘And this is Debbie.’ Sue curtsied, something that would have looked better done in a crinoline instead of a minimal bathing suit.

‘How old are you, Sue?’ asked Debbie.

‘Eleven years, two months, three weeks and six days,’ said Sue promptly.

‘You swim very well,’ said Debbie. ‘I bet you swim better than I can.’

Julie looked pleased – Debbie had said exactly the right thing. ‘Yes, she swims well. She came second in the Marathon in her class.’

I said, ‘It’s a two-mile course in the open sea.’

Debbie was visibly startled and looked at my daughter with new respect. ‘That’s really something; I doubt if I can swim a quarter-mile.’

‘Oh, it’s nothing,’ said Sue airily.

‘All right, fish,’ I said. ‘Back into your natural element.’ I turned to Julie. ‘Where’s Karen?’

‘She’s running a temperature. I put her to bed.’

‘Nothing serious?’

‘Oh, no.’ Julie looked at Debbie. ‘She’s been having school problems and might even be faking it. Come and see her; it might buck her up.’

The women went into the house, and I said to Billy, ‘I think drinks are indicated.’

‘Yeah, something long and cold.’

‘A rum punch, but easy on the rum.’ As I mixed the drinks I said, ‘Air-conditioning in hotels is important if we’re to have a year-round season. We don’t want the tourists frying even if it is good for the bar trade.’

Billy took off his jacket and sat in a recliner. ‘You forget I’m a Texan. Ever been in Houston in summer? You know what Sherman said about Texas?’ I shook my head. ‘He said, “If I owned Hell and Texas, I’d rent out Texas and live in Hell.”’

I laughed. ‘Then you’ll see the problems, although we’re not as bad as Texas. There’s always a sea breeze to cut the heat.’

We chatted while Luke Bailey, my general factotum, laid the table for lunch. Presently the women came back and accepted cold drinks. ‘You have two very nice girls,’ said Debbie.

‘Julie must take the praise for that,’ I said. ‘I get any of the blame that’s going.’

Talk became general over lunch and I was pleased to see that Julie and Debbie got on well together. If the womenfolk of business associates are bitchy it can upset things all round, and I have known several sweet deals fall down because of that.

At one point Julie said, ‘You know Mom and Pop are coming for Christmas.’

‘Yes.’ It was an arrangement that had been made earlier in the year.

‘I thought I’d do my Christmas shopping in Miami and meet them there.’