ALPHONSO CALLS MARGOT TO THE VILLA, WHICH HAS BECOME their meeting place. Sweetness is with her, because she happens to be on the schedule for tonight’s soiree. But when they get there, the developers are frenzied. Alphonso is pacing, blowing cigarette smoke through his nostrils.
“What’s going on?” Margot asks Alphonso as soon as she enters.
“The fucking police.”
“Why are they involved?”
“A murder happened in the development area. They decided to shut down the whole fucking project until they find the killer. They think the activity from the construction could give the guy cover.”
“What?”
“We’re losing money, Margot. The longer the police make us wait as they investigate this crime, the more we suffer. Tourists aren’t going to want to come to a high-crime area. The investors are shitting themselves as we speak! I got a call from Virgil. He’s threatening to pull out.”
“Calm down, I can fix this.”
“How?” he almost shouts.
“Let me think.”
An idea, which was really a thought uttered too loudly, too prematurely, surfaces from Margot’s mouth; materializes into sound waves that halt the developers in the room, bringing them closer to the table where Margot sits. Alphonso too listens, his arms folded across his chest, visibly amused. “Where would we get the money to pay the reward?”
“We’re flush with cash, Alphonso, and you know it,” Margot says. “Sweetness alone is bringing in seven thousand a week. The other girls are just as profitable. We can do this.”
“So ten grand and we solve everything?” one of the developers asks.
“Yes, ten grand,” Margot replies. “I suggest we tell the constable about it so that he can relax his force. This money will have the residents of River Bank scouring every nook an’ cranny for the criminal. In the meantime, we send Sweetness to the police station.”
“Sweetness?” Alphonso asks. “Why Sweetness?”
“Because if you’re going to take over a quarter of the island, then you should at least be smart about it. Be nice to the police. They can be your biggest allies or worst enemies. Like women, they love it when you bring them gifts.”
The men in the room laugh. Alphonso laughs too.
“Margot, you’re brilliant,” he says.
···
Again people gather at Dino’s. There’s a search warrant for Charles and a prize of $10,000 in U.S. currency offered by the police department for the person who turns him over.
Word about the reward money spreads. No one knows why there’s such a high price to find a scrawny boy who killed a drunk in a bar fight. Macka thinks the money has to do with the development in the area. “Those developers don’t want no killah roaming ’bout di place. They want di worthy guests of dey hotel to be safe.”
Some men have already paid a visit to Miss Violet’s shack. They ransacked the place looking for Charles. The fact that they came in on a helpless woman means nothing to them; they were looking to fill pants pockets that only knew lint and loose change. They were already imagining the insides of airplanes and the promise of America. So when Miss Violet told them that she didn’t know where her son was, they grabbed her by the throat and pulled her hair. One drew a knife and the other one a rope. Her screams were heard only by Miss Ruby, who ran from her shack to find the woman tied up in her bed with cuts on her face.
Thandi is paralyzed with regret. She lies on the bed, curled up under the covers. She clutches the towel she never returned to Charles and sniffs it, trying to inhale the memory of him.
“But is what is dis?” Delores asks, standing over Thandi. “Me leave an’ yuh in bed. Me come back an’ yuh still in bed. Ah wah do yuh?”
Thandi shifts under the cover, quickly wiping away her tears. “Jus’ tired,” she says.
“Tyad? Somebody can tyad so long? Yuh don’t have nothing to do now the exams are finished? Get up!” Delores pulls the covers off Thandi. But Thandi doesn’t move. “If ah count to tree an’ yuh still lay dung, me will geet to yuh. Yuh know how much ah clock ah strike? Yuh have graduation rehearsal tomorrow, don’t?”