Dominican Dirt pt. 2

Luciano was one of those light skinned Dominican men who i'm sure had no problem collecting dollar bills from the female clientele at this resort, his hair was coiffed in that trendy euro-football star style known as the Gents and his white pants and shirt were snug enough to let you know that Luciano was in fine shape, he smiled a lot and spoke English a little and since rule 1 in the dope fiend's handbook is bartenders and cab drivers are always good for info if not product i politely smiled back at Luciano as i drained my second beer and motioned for my third, he poured my beer and brought it over smiling, i slid a couple bucks across the bar and said gracias, he kept smiling and i motioned him to lean in a bit, i smiled back and asked, you wouldn't know where to get some smoke would you? he smiled broadly and said si, si si....

Let me say that at this point i was thinking fucking hell, that was easy... of course nothing is ever that easy unless you're in Amsterdam or Jamaica (or Denver), but for that fleeting moment the spirits rose, there are always moments when hope springs eternal for the fucking wastoid and of course Luciano runs off and through a doorway and comes dashing back, still smiling, and places a glass ashtray in front of me, i smile and shake my head saying, no no, como usted and i pause trying to figure shit out and then switching back to English i say, smoke man smoke, sorta laughing and making what i think is the universal sign for toke and of course there's my new buddy smiling and he runs into the back room again and reappears with a glass dish full of cashews, by this time i'm laughing hard and tossing cashews in my mouth and saying no no, Luciano is looking back a bit perplexed and finally i say, ah! and again making like i'm having a toke i say Bob Marley, Luciano says Bob Marley? and then it hits him, oh yes si si amigo, i can get Bob Marley...

At this point Luciano leans in close and says si amigo i can get you, he begins washing some glasses in the sink nearby and looks over his shoulder at his co-workers and then begins talking some more, i must be careful he says and gestures with his head towards a tall, dark-skinned, pot-bellied man, that boss me smiles, i glance over then sip my beer and tell him i understand and that i don't want him to get in trouble, these are prime gigs in this country and i don't want the kid to loose his job scoring me weed though i know it happens at these places all the time, he keeps washing glasses and explains that we can't get it on the resort but that we need to go just off, then it's okay and he can get it done no problemo, he explains that he gets off at 4 today and to meet him up near this same bar around that time and then we'll be able to go just outside and get things done, i smile back and ask how much? he says whatever you want, i tell him about $40 American, figured that would get me through the week, and he smiles and says again, around 4 up here, excellente!! i grin and drain my beer and head off for a day floating in the Caribbean Sea and swimming to the pool bar...

And so at 4 i make my way to the lobby bar where he works and he sees me and motions me toward the front desk and he comes out from behind the bar pushing a cart filled with ice buckets, ice, table clothes, and begins heading towards some conference/ballroom while chattering away in his broken English about how his boss is making him work over and that we can move things until tomorrow or later at 7 when he gets off, i explain that i'll be back up at 9 to watch the game in the casino bar and he smiles and says that work and to meet him around here, near the conference rooms at 9pm, great i say and head back to the bar for another Presidente before heading back to the room to relax before dinner...

At 9 i'm in my appointed spot waiting and hoping this won't take forever cuz i have a game to watch, Luciano pops his head out of the conference room, he's sweating and his smile is fading, i'm beginning to wonder if he's full of shit or not very good at this game, he motions for me to get up and we walk to the end of conference rooms which lead out to the entrance of the resort and towards the mall i was in earlier that morning, he disappears and re-emerges between two tour buses and hisses for me to come up there, i walk up the sidewalk and he, still sweating and bit wide-eyed, tells me to wait by the buses and that he'd be back in 5-10 minutes, my spider sense isn't exactly tingling yet but it's awake and i smile and say sure sure no problemo, he runs back towards the conference rooms and i begin trying to wander idly trying not to look like an American tourist trying to score drugs, which at the time i look plenty like in my book but a few people pass and say hola and i realize the paranoia is creeping in and i haven't even smoked any gear yet... and so i wait, i see a skinny stray cat and chirp at her and she comes cautiously walking over and she rubs against my legs a few times, i scratch her ears and off she goes into the night, i on the other hand am still waiting... then that hissing whistle again and a person clad in white is waving me towards him...

Now if there's one thing i learned when i was in the damn game was that it's always a good idea to take note of your surroundings, i knew there was some kind of industrial site to my right, maybe the resorts physical plant/laundry room/ meth lab, straight ahead and across the street was the mall and supermarket, behind me the resort and to the left of me a parking lot and what looked like apartments, i've travelled the Caribbean and Latin America enough to know that often times the resorts will build apartments for some of their workers to live in, i had noticed employees of the place either getting their cars and driving off or walking into the apartments, groups of two or three women, the lone guy, now Luciano was standing in the parking lot out of view from the resort and waving me over... and so into the dark parking lot i walked...