He was halfway down the ladder when a number of stewards appeared on the deck below. He’d just have to bluff his way through. When he got to the deck, he straightened his tie, smoothed his jacket, and started forward.
He had to fight the urge to run as he passed one of the stewards who was checking deck-chair lockers near the main stairs. Fortunately, the stairway itself was empty, and Adam reached the promenade deck otherwise unobserved. The rest of the stewards had dispersed, no doubt searching for him in other parts of the ship. Adam exited on the starboard side and walked forward. As he slipped through the door in the barricade, he realized his disguise might make him look suspicious in that part of the ship. Pulling off the jacket, he threw it overboard.
Moving quickly, Adam walked to the door that he’d entered with José. Opening the door, he looked down a corridor illuminated by bare light bulbs which threw grotesque shadows on the walls. From the far end of the hall, Adam heard voices and the clink of cutlery. He guessed it was the crew’s mess.
Moving as silently as the metal floor would allow, Adam tiptoed to José’s door and knocked. There was no answer. He tried the knob, which turned easily, then stepped inside, quickly closing the door behind him.
Unfortunately, there was no light in the room. He ran his fingers along the wall by the door but didn’t encounter any switches. Cautiously, he advanced farther into the room, trying to recall the floor plan. He remembered there was a lamp fixed to the wall above the suspended bed.
Suddenly a hand came out of the blackness and grabbed Adam by the throat.
“José!” he gasped before the hand tightened its grip, cutting off his air. Adam was just about to pass out when the grip on his neck loosened. There was a click, and light filled the room. José was standing in front of Adam, looking at him with disgust.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” he asked, taking his hand away and sitting on the edge of the bed.
“I knocked,” Adam managed to say, rubbing his throat. “You didn’t answer.”
“I was fucking asleep,” said José.
“I’m sorry,” said Adam, “but it was an emergency.”
“One of the college girls after you?” asked José sarcastically.
“Not quite,” said Adam. “It’s the weirdos in the white jackets.”
“What the hell do they want with you?” asked José.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. But there’s a chance for you to make some money. Does that interest you?”
“Money always interests me,” said José. “What do you have in mind?”
“When do we get to St. Thomas?”
“What time is it?”
Adam looked at his watch. “One-thirty.”
“In four or five hours. Something like that.”
“Well, I need to stay hidden until we dock, and then I’ll have to sneak off the ship.”
José wiped his face with the back of his hand. “What kind of money are we talking about?”
Adam took out his wallet and counted the cash. All told, he had close to three hundred dollars.
“I’ll need some for a taxi, but two hundred seventy-five is yours,” said Adam.
José raised his eyebrows. “I can’t guarantee anything, but I’ll give it a try. If you get caught, though, I’ll swear we never met.”
Adam handed over a hundred dollars. “You’ll get the rest when I get ashore.”
José nodded agreement and went over to his locker. He pulled out a pair of grease-stained khaki trousers and a torn flannel shirt. Tossing them to Adam, he said, “Put them on and you pass for crew. I got a couple of friends who hate the stewards as much as I do. Maybe they’ll help. You stay here. No one should bother you.”
Adam tried to tell José how much he appreciated his help, but José stopped him and said the money was all he wanted. Then he pulled on a pair of pants and left the room.
Adam put on the filthy clothes and stashed his own in the back of the locker. Then he looked at himself in the mirror above the sink. He looked terrible, but for once he appreciated his rapid-growing beard. He certainly no longer looked like one of the passengers.
The door opened again and Adam almost fainted, but it was only José.
“Next time, why don’t you knock,” Adam said.
“Hey, this is my fucking cabin,” said José irritably.
Adam couldn’t argue that point.
José sat back down on the bed. “I just talked to a friend of mine about getting you off the ship. He knows a way. Seems he used it himself one day when the crew wasn’t supposed to go ashore in St. Thomas. The problem is that it requires all your money up front. I got to pay off two other guys.”
Adam shook his head.
“Listen,” said José, “if you’re not happy with the arrangement, why don’t you leave?”
Adam got the point. He didn’t have any leverage at all. If José wanted to, he could take the money by force.
With a sigh of resignation, Adam pulled out his wallet. Keeping twenty-five dollars for himself, he handed the rest to José.
“You act as if you’re doing me a favor,” the sailor said, stuffing the notes into his pocket. “But let me tell you, we wouldn’t be sticking our necks out for this kind of money except we hate those steward bastards.”
“I appreciate it,” said Adam, wondering what the chances were that José was just taking him for a ride.
“You can hide here for the rest of the night. In the morning, after we dock, I’ll come and get you. Understand?”
Adam nodded. “Can you give me an idea of your plans?”
José smiled. “I’d rather let that be a surprise. You make yourself comfortable and don’t worry about a thing.”
Adam could hear José laughing as he closed the door.
Looking at his watch, Adam guessed that it was going to be a long night. He thought he was much too tense to sleep, but after a while he drifted off. He didn’t know how many hours had passed when he was awakened by loud shouts in the corridor. Adam recognized the voice at once.
“In this part of the ship, I am in command, and no one is going to search without my permission.” It was the captain speaking.
A deeper voice responded, “I’m in charge of the ship, so please let me through.”
Adam thought it might have been Raymond Powell.
Other voices began shouting, and Adam could hear doors being opened and slammed shut.
In panic, Adam glanced around the tiny room for someplace to hide. There was nowhere. Even the locker was too narrow to squeeze into. Then he had an idea. He pulled his hair forward over his forehead and yanked the grease-stained pants down around his ankles. Hobbling over to the exposed toilet, he sat down. A Penthouse magazine was laying next to the toilet, and he picked it up and put it on his lap. In a couple of minutes he heard a key in the lock and the door swung open.
Adam looked up. A steward was standing in the doorway. Adam saw Mr. Powell right behind him and heard Captain Nordstrom, who was still protesting. Powell gave Adam a look of disgust and moved on. The steward slammed the door behind him.
For a moment, Adam didn’t move. He could hear the group noisily moving farther down the corridor. Finally, he stood up and pulled up his pants. Taking the Penthouse over to the bunk, he tried to read but was too scared the search party would return. In the end, he fell back to sleep until a loud banging announced the ship had docked. It was five-fifteen.
The next hour and a quarter were the longest in Adam’s life. People would occasionally pass in the passageway, and each time Adam was sure they were coming to find him.
At six-thirty José came back.
“Everything is ready,” he said, going over to the locker and getting out the bottle of dark rum. “First, I think you better have a drink.”
“Do you think I need it?”
“Yup,” said José as he handed Adam a glass. “I would take it if I were you.”