Gerry I have really enjoyed your writing over the last few days. I too had an unfortunate ending to my Negril adventure last year. I stepped in a stupid pot hole and busted the bone in my knee in three places. That was a pain. Glad to hear you didn't suffer from something as serious as that.
I figured I would rather have Chris' friends make the money instead of Gas, who had reneged on an original agreement about the cost of the rental and had already charged me more than he had agreed to in writing.
But we were fighting the clock cause this was Saturday night, and I was leaving Sunday to be picked up at noon.
Meanwhile, the night was still young. I wanted to go all out on my last evening in Negril, right?
I was set to meet Brasi at Bentley's, though I was late cause of all the drama. Bentley made a HUGE lobster dinner for me -- the best 30 dollars I spent all week.
I sat with him and Andy, who always is with Bentley, and together we schemed about whether we could pull one over on Gas, though at the same time doing the right thing cause the bike would be perfect in the end.
Andy figured one of those teens would tell Gas -- word spreads fast in Negril. I knew that would be bad, and I was hoping no one would say anything to him.
On the way back up the hill, I met Brasi at Cal Jam, a little live-music bar near Seastar Inn. There I met the guy a runs it, a reggae artist named "Crazy," and we hung for a bit.
By this time, Brasi had a scooter, too, so we followed each other to Seastar to check out the Saturday night party. Brasi had to make it an early night, so he headed back to Sunset on the Cliffs. I hung with the yardies, then went to see John Holt at Roots (it was kind of dead, and by midnight Holt still had not shown up yet), so eventually I made it back to Seastar Inn and had drinks at the bar with Chris. He said I was doing the right thing by having his guys fix the bike.
It's been 20 years since Chris arrived in Negril, met Francine, and opened Seastar Inn. The best thing about it is they're still madly in love. They were flirting and kissing, and I heard Chris whisper into her ear: "You were hottest girl up there on stage tonight, baby."
She smiled and quickly replied: "No I was not!"
Then they hugged and kissed again.
Chris implored me to come back soon, and I promised I would. Indeed, he is a great host.
I smoked up, having decided to ignore the Jenny's cake still in my fridge, and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep -- noteworthy considering the events of the past hours.
In the meantime, some more pics:
TOP TO BOTTOM:
Andy holds up the puffer fish I speared ....
Action shot: Lobster dinner at Bentleys ....
Folks enjoying the day at Xtabi ....
Some kids posing near Wise Choice store ....
Yet another drink at the bar .....
Oh no! So sorry about your accident but glad you are ok
...nevermind...
I woke up early Sunday, knowing I had a lot to do.
First, I had to enjoy my last bit of Negril, so I followed my usual last-day tradition of heading to Westender Inn, chilling there, thinking about my Life.
There's a lot I want to accomplish this coming year, a lot of plans to make, a lot of things I need to do to get to where I want to be. I am always trying to improve in all areas of my life -- mind, body and soul.
I want to get healthier, cut down on some bad habits. I want to be the greatest possible dad I can be. I want to be a great employee, better than I was last year, while also continuing law school (without telling my employer still) -- I am a very busy guy!
I also want to treat peeps with love and respect. I want people to be happier when I enter a room. I want my life to mean something, and I want to help others.
Also, I want to have a sheet-load of fun. That will NEVER change. Laughter will always be the most important thing in my life .....
Meanwhile, the damn scooter .....
The clock was ticking. I followed Marcus to a body shop guy in Redground, negotiated a price of 7000J to fix the scooter perfect, plus I gave Marcus 2500j for handling everything. So I was in for a bit over 100 dollars USD, but that's still better than $500 .....
While the scooter was being fixed, Marcus dropped me off at BB Barn with plans to pick me back up again at 10 a.m. .... CLives was picking me up at noon, and I still had not packed.
hope the scooter thing worked out well for you gerry - any pics of the damage to it?