Mañana - A Better Day

"Here." Leo said, offering her a slice.

"Won't have time to taste it anyway." Emily said, tipping the beer back.

She emptied half the bottle before she took a breath.

"Damn. You're gonna fit in well at the island." Leo smiled happily.

"How do you think I dealt with the stress of life? I drink. A lot." Emily said, downing the rest of the beer, "I'm gonna get another."

"I only got six back there. At your rate they aren't going to last the trip!" Leo said worriedly, "Don't drink it all!"

"Shut up!" Emily said, "Fuckin' throw my luggage out the door and think you can tell me not to drink your beer."

She dropped the empty bottle in the cooler and pulled another out. She stood there, swaying with the plane, and downed another bottle. Sighing contently, she belched and dropped the empty bottle back in the cooler before coming back to her chair with the third beer.

"Angry drinking isn't that good for you." Leo smirked.

"I just lost fucking everything I own except...thirty nine dollars. I think I'll drink as much free beer as I want." Emily said, stuffing the money back in her pocket after counting it, "Ya jackass. God this crap isn't even good for a buzz is it?"

"Well, by the sound of it, you probably take more than shotgunning two beers to get buzzed." Leo said, taking a sip of his own beer before putting the lime wedge back in the bottle.

"Hey, you guys got a bar on this island?" Emily asked.

"Yea, pretty nice place too." Leo said, "We have a pure blood Irishman working the bar. He makes the absolute finest gin in the still he built himself. The stuff will melt your socks off."

"Thanks to you I have no socks to melt off." Emily grumbled, "As you can see, these tan slacks, this horrid shirt, these sunglasses and the fly-covered bucket hat is all I have left for garments."

"No underwear or bra?" Leo teased.

"Shut your mouth you perverted jackass." Emily said flatly.

"Well how about this. I'll make a bet with you. If you aren't the happiest you've ever been in your entirely life by this time next week, I will take you back up to Key West and give you a thousand dollars to buy all the new clothes you want." Leo said, "How about that?"

"Pfff. Like you'd really do it." Emily scoffed at him.

"Fine don't believe me." Leo said, "But remember that I own a plane and a beach house on an island that I help create. An island that, mind you, is it's own country."

"How did you guys even manage that? I mean, how do you start your own nation?" Emily asked.

"Well Jim just bought an island from the Cubans and gave them a million dollars to allow him to secede from them. So technically it is it's own country right now. I mean he bought an eighty square mile circle with the island right in the middle of it. If I remember right, the island is like nine miles across or something. I remember him saying it was around sixty square miles of land. Cost him like thirty million dollars or something." Leo chuckled, "Crazy bastard would've paid anything Castro wanted for that island."

"Castro? As in Cuban dictator Fidel Castro?" Emily said flatly, "Your friend bought an island from a world-ranked evil dictator?"

"Oh come on. Castro's not that bad. I mean, sure when he was younger he was an ass. But now he's really just a bit of a more open minded leader of a country. Most of what you've heard is all just political propaganda from America." Leo explained, "But he was sure glad to hear an offer on some of his unused land. I mean the island had, and still does have, a banana and a pineapple plantation on it. But other than that, it was pretty barren. Some of the natives still live there, but for the most part it's just us islanders."

"Huh. So where is it exactly?" Emily asked.

"It's something like seventy-file miles south east of Trinidad, a little below Cuba. Pretty peaceful waters." Leo said.

"That close? Don't you guys ever worry about any war or anything dangerous from Cuba? Any drug runners?" Emily asked.

"Drug runners! Ha! Sweetheart, half the residents of the island grow and smoke Marijuana. No drug runner is gonna bother with us when we break American law ourselves. As for danger, no. Nobody in Cuba cares. They like us being there because we bring in American tourists and lots of American money. Nothing is worth as much as an American dollar down there." Leo explained to her.

"And this plane, do we have to stop in Cuba for fuel or anything?" Emily asked.

"Pff! Nah! This baby's got a flight distance of over two thousand miles when it's tanks are about three-fourths, which is where I like to keep them. That way I can get a full load of cargo and take off without much of a problem. I topped her just over three-fourths on my way up here when I stopped in Havana to get some beer!" Leo chuckled, "Naaah, considering our flight is only about three hundred miles, should only take us about two hours before the island is in sight. Sit back, relax, listen to some music!"

He turned up the radio and Emily sighed, rubbing her face tiredly, "You're still a jackass!"

*******

CHAPTER 3 - BANANA WIND

Emily wasn't sure how long they had been in the air. A few hours at least. They had already flown over Cuba, Emily knew because Leo had gotten a call from a ground station in crude English. After telling them who it was, they had a good laugh together. Apparently Leo was well known in Cuba and they loved him. Emily was surprised at first and then realized it only made sense he would be known if he helped buy an island from Castro and often flew to Cuba to buy things.

"We're almost there. You should be able to see the island right in front of us soon." Leo said.

"Oh really?" Emily said, looking around eagerly.

"Tell you what, put these goggles on." Leo said, digging a pair of aviator's goggles out of a pocket in the side of his seat.

"You're not gonna throw me out of the plane too are you?" Emily asked as she slipped the large goggles down over her eyes.

"You think I'm crazy?" Leo chuckled, "Don't answer that. Take these binoculars. Now climb into the nose and pull open the gunner's hatch."

Leo put some binoculars around her neck and pulled open the hatch between the seats. Emily looked at him and then looked back down at the hatch.

"Go on. I'm not going to do a loop or anything. Just don't drop my binoculars." Leo said, "You'll be able to see the island much better."

"Okay." Emily huffed, stepping down into the hatch.

She crouched and shimmied forward into the nose of the plane. Leo closed the cabin hatch behind her and she was left in darkness. Finding the handle, she twisted it and was almost hit in the head as the hatch swung down. A roaring wind filled her ears and she flinched back. Her hair snapped around and she climbed forward and poked her head out of the hatch. The wind roared in her ears and she could hear the engines buzzing behind her. She realized that she wasn't going to be pulled out of the plane up here and she shimmied her arms out of the hatch. Standing up completely, she looked around with her arms on the nose of the plane. The wind whistled in her ears as she looked at the beautiful blue ocean all around them. She could see the sand bars and underwater Caribbean formations beneath the waves that spread out for miles. The air smelled salty and fresh and the sky was strikingly beautiful.

"Wow." Emily sighed.

Just then she noticed the strip of land barely visible on the horizon. Pulling up the binoculars, she looked through them at the island and then back at Leo. Leo smiled and nodded, pointing ahead of them. She continued to stare at the island. It seemed sizeable for an island that was owned by a single man. Every second they flew, the island came more and more into view. She could see what Leo had been talking about. In the middle of the island, on the northern shore, it looked like someone had scooped a perfect circle out of the island. The large bay looked exceptionally sheltered from the open ocean since the entrance to the bay was only about a hundred feet across. Adjusting the binoculars, she managed to look close enough at the bay to see the dozens, if not hundreds, of sail boats moored there. Leo had been right, there were some docks close to the shore, but almost no boats were tied to any of them.

As they got closer, she got a better look at the whole island. From the eastern tip of the island, a massive fruit plantation spread inward for at least a mile. Much of the island was still just trees and tropical forest. A single road went from the eastern tip to the western tip. Some smaller dirt roads spread out from that one, most of them too overgrown to be seen from the sky. Some houses and huts could be seen throughout the center of the island, but most of the housing was on the northern short and around the bay with all the businesses. As they flew closer, Emily could pick out some more of the finer details of the village. The houses were all wooden buildings. Most had shingle roofs and not much more than screens for windows and doors. There were nearly no vehicles in sight. She could see one small pick up truck parked near the middle of it, but most of the people seemed to be walking or on bicycles. It seemed very rural and yet that made it all the more enticing to Emily.

She started to look closer. She could see some power lines hung on boards that were nailed to live palm trees. She kookier all over and started to notice about a dozen wind turbines lined up among the trees on the fruit plantation. They were clean white and seemed to be just spinning away happily with the ocean breeze.

Just then Emily realized that it seemed entirely too quiet. She looked back and he heart skipped a beat when she saw that the engines had stopped spinning. She looked worriedly up at Leo. He waved to her, motioning for her to come inside. She nodded and ducked down unto the nose. Closing the panel tightly, she climbed back into the cabin.

"That was so much fun!" Emily said, ruffling her windswept hair, "Why are the engines off?"

"We're landing. I don't need them." Leo said, "No worries, I'm just going to circle the island once and slide it right into the bay. Nice and easy."

"Oh, okay. So what am I supposed to do about the lack of luggage and all that?" Emily asked as she leaned forward to watch them descend.

"Find Jim at the bar. Him and his girl Desdemona will help you out." Leo said, "By the way, hope you can swim well."

"Umm...why?" Emily asked, watching the island pass by on their left as they circled around.

"I can't get close to the docks with all the boats in the harbor. So you'll have to swim a hundred yards or so to the shore and walk around the bay." Leo said, "That or I could turn the engines back on and take it in low over the bay and let you jump out about twenty feet off the water. That'd get you close to the docks."

"I swim just fine." Emily sighed, rubbing her face, "First my luggage, now you're just dumping me and running."

"Running? Sweetheart, I got a job to do! I gotta fly." Leo chuckled.

"Oh right. I suppose I'll have to find a job too." Emily sighed with a twinge that felt like she was back at home again.

"Oh no. You don't find a job unless you want to. If you don't wanna work, then you just get the fishing pole out of my beach house and you fish for dinner. As long as you can fish, you don't need money for anything." Leo said sharply, "Don't think this is like your life back home. You don't have to do anything here you don't want to."

"Well I suppose that's a relief. I'll have to at least see what the jobs are like here. Hope I don't have an asshole boss or anything." Emily groaned.

"Now that's something you'll have to get over right now. Nobody on this island works for a wage or a salary. Everyone here just does jobs for one another and gets paid whats fair. You just hit up the notice board in the bar, pick one that sounds fun and fair and go do it. Some will pay you to work for them until a jobs done or just a bit of extra help. The plantation is always open for more jobs and they pay thirty or fourty dollars for a day's work." Leo said.

"Forty dollars for an entire day's work? Isn't that kinda cheap?" Emily asked.

"You walk around the plantation for six or seven hours with a cart picking bananas or pineapples. Not exactly hard work." Leo said, "Plus the dollar goes a lot further down here than in the states. Plus isn't that like minimum wage in the states anyway? I mean you're making like five dollars an hour."

"Minimum wage is around eight dollars I think, but I suppose that's not bad considering I don't have to pay rent or anything." Emily shrugged, "Maybe I could just pick fruit for a few hours."

"And of course they always let you take home fruit instead of cash. I do love a good fresh pineapple." Leo chuckled, "I always get one out of the cargo when they have me run their stuff."

"Thief." Emily started to say but was cut off by the plane touching the water.

A loud roar filled the cabin as the water splashed against the bow. They rose a bit off the water and came back down. The plane started to slow down as it passed into the bay. Leo turned them a bit towards the shore, splashing along in the small harbor. Leo had been right, it was almost a mile across. There were almost a hundred boats plotted randomly around the harbor. It wasn't packed by any means, but Emily could see how they would have difficulty maneuvering a plane through that.

The plane slowly came to a stop and Leo looked over at her.

"This is it. Your new life." Leo smiled.

"Let it be a damn sight better than the old one." Emily chuckled.

"Ain't that the truth." Leo grinned widely, "Come on honey."

He stood up and walked to the back of the cabin. She followed him and he opened the door. The water splashed lightly against the bottom of the plane and the plane itself bobbed softly. Emily looked out the door and down at the beautiful clear water. She didn't know how deep the bay was, but it was crystal clear all the way to the bottom. She could see the sandy ocean floor and a school of colorful fish swam by.

"It's about twenty feet down here. Center of the bay is about forty feet. It's nice for scuba diving if you use the little air pump that I have on the boat." Leo said.

"You have a scuba set on your boat?" Emily asked.

"Nah. I just have a spool of about fifty feet of half-inch hose that's hooked up to an electric air pump. Just stick the end of the hose in your mouth and jump in." Leo chuckled and shoved Emily in the back.

Emily fell out the door with a splash. She hit the water, at first angry with Leo. She looked around the water as she sank, looking at all the beautiful ocean life around her. Kicking to the surface, she sputtered and shook her hair out of her face.

"Coulda warned me." She giggled.

"Oh what's the fun if you don't hit your new life with a splash?" Leo chuckled, "Just swim to the shore and walk up to the town. Find the bar, not hard to do mind you, and find Sean O'Brannigan. He's the rowdiest, craziest Irishman on the island and he'll help you out."

"Gotcha. Look for red hair and a temper." Emily grinned, treading water easily.

"You got the idea. Don't forget your hat!" Leo said, tossing her bucket hat out to her.

"Right!" Emily said, catching it and putting it on, "Hey, what about my shoes?"

"You won't need them that bad." Leo chuckled and he closed the door.

"Thanks." Emily sighed, "Hope you're right."

Emily started to lazily backstroke to the shore. She stared at the clean sky above her and the salty scent of the ocean wafted around her. She sighed and smiled, finally feeling the bubbling happiness that she had been hoping for. Maybe it was the soft movement of the ocean around her or the thought of living on a beach for the rest of her life, but Emily was finally starting to realize why Leo had done the things he did. Throwing her luggage out. Breaking her phone in half. Ditching her wallet. He was trying to make her break away from her old life as harshly as possible in order to force her to accept this new life. She had to admit that, if she still had her phone or her luggage, she would be reminded of her life before. Things in that suitcase or a call on that phone would remind her what she had left behind and she would inevitably end up worrying about something.

This way she couldn't worry about anything but what was right in front of her.

Turning over, she sank down in the water to her neck and her feet touched soft sand below. She could see tiny colorful fish dart away from her as she started to walk through the shallow water to the shore. Her clothes were dripping wet, but the sun was warm on her back and she adjusted the wet hat on her head before continuing up the beach. There were some houses set back among the trees, most of them simple houses without much additions.

Emily stuck her hands in her pockets and pulled out a wet fold of money. She sighed and stuffed it in her shirt pocket as she walked. Something about walking along this sunny, Caribbean beach was making her very happy. She waved to people she saw on the other side of the beach occasionally.

Her clothes were dry by the time she reached the cobblestone street that wound up from the beach. It led up between some business buildings that were actually made out of stone. She headed up the street, waving to a few passerby that waved at her. Everyone in town that she saw seemed happy to see her even though she knew absolutely none of them.

Ahead, she saw what Leo had meant about the bar. It was obvious. It was the only two story building on the island and it had almost completely open windows all the way around the building. There were a dozen people sitting, talking and laughing inside. She walked up the wooden steps and through the screen door. Everyone stopped and looked at her.

"Um...Hi." Emily said nervously.

"You must be Emily. I'm Jim." A man said as he walked down the bar towards her.

He was a middle-aged looking man with wavy brown hair and a thick mustache. He shook her hand and his ocean-blue eyes glinted happily. He was wearing lazy clothes, dirty shorts and a button up shirt that was hanging open and the sleeves were rolled up. He had a baseball cap on his head and a beer in his opposite hand.

"Yea, I am. How'd you know?" Emily asked.

"Well you're still wet, new to the island and Leo's plane had just come in." Jim chuckled, "Doesn't take a genius to figure it out when two weeks ago Leo was concocting his grand plan. Welcome to the island."

"Did he happen to mention throwing my luggage out the door while we were flying as part of the plan?" Emily asked, following him to the stools in front of the smooth wooden bar.

The building itself was just a plank wood floor with a dozen tables and a few dozen chairs. The bar lined one side with a wall of booze behind it and a rather impressive looking still built across the back counter. A stair case behind the bar led up to the second floor. Only about half the building actually had walls. The rest of it was thick wooden posts with screen netting in between them. A low wooden stage was built at the far side of the bar with a worn set of metal drums and a few instrument stands set up on it.

"Well that definitely sounds like Leo. So you been dumped here wit' nothing huh?" The Bartender chuckled with a heavy Irish accent, "I'm Sean O'Brannigan. I'm sure he told you 'bout me."

The bartender was somewhat like Emily had imagined. A thin, wirey man with shockingly red hair that grew curly around his head. He had a clean shaven face and cool green eyes. His clothes were more practical than Jim's, being jeans and a stained white apron.

"Yea, that you make a mean ass gin." Emily said.

"He would pick the best about me to tell." Sean laughed.

"So how do I get to his house?" Emily asked.