And so it began.
She gave him a slow smile. “Correctly.”
In their quarters at night, the crew members disrespected the passengers and made jokes about them. But Jeff admitted to himself that he envied them—their backgrounds, their education, and their easy ways. They came from noble families and had attended the best schools. His school was Uncle Willie and the carnival.
“Are you gay, Jeff?”
“Are you gay, Jeff?”
“I’m Louise Hollander. I own this boat.”
Jeff looked at the woman for a long moment before answering. “Why not?”
She sat up startled. “What?”
“I don’t think it’s any of your business, Miss Hollander, but the answer is no. What I am is selective.”
She gave him a slow smile. “Correctly.”
“You’re the first town I ever made love to. Uncle Willie used to warn me that their daddies were always the sheriff.”
“Did you want to see me, ma’am?”
“Then if you want to get your money’s worth, you better let me get on with my job.” Jeff moved on to the next upright.
She sat up startled. “What?”
One of the carniers was a professor of archeology until he was expelled from the college for stealing and selling valuable relics. He and Jeff had long conversations, and the professor had imbued Jeff with an enthusiasm for archaeology. “You can read the entire future of humanity in the past,” the professor used to say. “Think about it my son. Thousands of years ago there were people like you and me who dreamed, told stories, lived their lives, gave birth to our ancestors.” His eyes had taken on a distant look. “Carthage—that’s where I’d like to go for an excavation. Long before Christ was born, it was a great city, the Paris of ancient Africa. The people had their games, their baths, and their chariot races. The Circus The Maximus it was as big as five football fields.” He had noticed the interest in the boy’s eyes. “You know how Cato the Elder used to end his speeches in the Roman Senate? It said, “Delenda est cartaga”, “Carthage must be destroyed”. His wish finally came true. The Romans reduced the place to ruins and returned twenty-five years later to build a great city on its ashes. I wish I could take you there one day, boy.
“You’re the first town I ever made love to. Uncle Willie used to warn me that their daddies were always the sheriff.”
Jeff walked over and examined the suit. “It doesn’t have a zipper.”
“I’m trying to get rid of it,” he said. “I have a problem with the zipper.”
Jeff looked at the woman for a long moment before answering. “Why not?”
She gave him a slow smile. “Correctly.”
They made love on the deck where the soft tropical air caressed their bodies like a blessing. They then lay on their sides facing each other. Jeff propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at Louise. “Your dad isn’t the sheriff, is he?” Jeff asked.
Louise Hollander had two husbands before she was twenty-one, and her lawyer had just reconciled with her third husband when she met Jeff. The second night they were docked in the harbor at Papeete, and as the passengers and crew went ashore, Jeff received another call at Louise Hollander’s lodgings. When Jeff arrived, she was dressed in a colorful silk thigh-high slit.
And so it began.
On the last night before the schooner docked in Tahiti, Jeff was called to Louise Hollander’s cabin. She was wearing a transparent silk robe.
