Hurricane season is a strange time of year in the Caribbean. You can feel it rather than see it.
I was living on the tropical island of Nevis in the Eastern Caribbean. My home was a cottage on a multi-million dollar estate known as Caribbean Glory.
The property included two cottages, a great house, a swimming pool and a rain forest. It was owned by Gerald Staines, an investments banker and a poker-playing friend who was worth $30 million.
Now:
Gerald and I had met on St. Maarten, located about 60 kilometers from Nevis, about a year earlier. For six months we had been working on a book about international currencies, the global economy, and his relationship with the Russians, Chinese and other world governments.
My work permit had basically expired, and I needed to leave the island for legal reasons. But Gerald had asked me to stay for another couple of weeks, so we could finish the manuscript. He was a genial host, and I was only too happy to accommodate him!
My daughter, Rossana, was living in Gerald's other cottage. She was our secretary and would serve us coffee, tea or a glass of wine while we labored on the book. Gerald was paying her for her services and loved her. He was in his 80s, and Rossana would massage his neck and shoulders while he dictated his words to me.
The trouble was...
....Gerald's estate was located in the heart of a rain forest about six miles from the ocean. We kept the television on to track the weather reports. Although the sky was blue, it was scattered with dark clouds that were evidence of the building hurricane winds!
Each evening Staines would treat us to dinner at a different island resort. He was one of the most generous men I had ever met. Born in England, he was working as a teenage coal miner near London when the German Air Force bombed London during World War 2.
He went on to become an investment banker, and headed a $2 billion investment fund. The members included over a dozen charter banks and six governments that entrusted Gerald to invest their money to provide cash for retirement funds.
Gerald and I would sometimes play poker during the day at the Marriott Casino at Jack Tar Village in St. Kitts, located just 30 minutes away by ferry boat. The boat would make four scheduled trips a day from Nevis to St. Kitts and Gerald, and I always enjoyed the crossing.
After four or five hours of poker...
...we would take the boat back to Nevis to work on the book. Rossana would greet us with a prepared meal, and ask jokingly if we had 'broken the bank'?
"Not year, Dear," Gerald would say in his British accent. "But we are working on it."
On Thursday, my daughter finished up her work on the manuscript. Her two week vacation had ended, and she needed to get back to America to return to her job. Gerald and I drove her to the airport, she hugged us goodby, and the plane vanished into the darkening sky.
Gerald looked at me.
"That hurricane is pretty close," he said. "I think you had better reserve your flight to Miami."
I agreed with him, and we bought a ticket for the Saturday morning flight.
That evening as lightning crackled and the winds pummeled the coconut palm trees, we dined at one of Gerald's favorite resorts. A reggae band entertained us with a steel drum concert as a light rain fell.
The next day we finished the manuscript. As we settled down for the evening, the ski was filled with threatening clouds, high winds, and bright lightning. It was actually a beautiful view from the swimming pool.
"Are you worried about the flight?," Gerald said.
"A little bit," I admitted. "But I think it will be okay."
"I hope you're right," he said.
The next morning I boarded an American Eagle airlines flight. As we taxied down the runway...
...the plane nearly tilted over because of the buffeting winds! We sailed into the black sky and burst through into blueness.
My Caribbean adventure had ended, and I was heading home to America.
Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.
(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).
