Djibouti Read Free

goin by its length, but chubby. The tank’s topped off. Saab marine diesel below, but only fifty-six horsepower at twenty-eight hundred rpms, and that’s it. We gonna be out cruisin the gulf at six knots. The boat manager called this a power cruiser.”
    â€œHow much?”
    â€œMan said he wanted two thousand a week, eight for themonth. I showed him your piece with the write-ups and pictures. This a Frenchman leases us the boat. I tell him ordinarily the transportation is loaned to us no charge, since we show his company name in the film. I tell him he can even be standin by the sign says DJIBOUTI MARINE DESIGNS—LUXURY ON THE WATER. I tell the man, ‘But you not the Salvation Army, you in business, so I’m payin you,’ and put a wad of forty hundred-dollar bills in his hand. Now he’s holdin the money, can feel it. He says, ‘All right.’ Says, ‘Okay. You come back here in four weeks.’”
    Dara said, “I have to put him in the film?”
    â€œThe man’s savin you four grand. Course you put him in the film.”
    She paused, in the galley again. “Who cooks?”
    â€œI take the helm and keep track of where we at, you do the fish.”
    â€œAre we forgetting anything?”
    â€œThe food serviceman’s seein about gettin me a gun.”
    Dara stared at him, not saying a word.
    It got Xavier to smile. “I do whatever you tell me. Still, situations can rise up you never been in before. We out there among the bad boys with AKs and weapons fire rockets. They drinkin, chewin khat, so they feelin good they go hijack a ship. I said to one of ’em I’m talkin to in a club last night, ‘You always high you out to sea?’ The man say, ‘If we not drunk, what are we doin in a skiff and think we can seize an oil tanker?’ They on the sauce gettin millions for their ransom notes. It’s funny long as they don’t have eyes for Buster. ”
    Xavier would drop Dara off at the Kempinski and come back to see the stores put aboard. Get Buster loaded, ready to leave in the morning, 0600. This time, driving past the sailboat, there was no sign of anyone aboard.
    â€œMercedes came and picked ’em up,” Xavier said. “You didn’t see it? Billy Wynn has a man drives ’em around, he don’t haveto mess with traffic. He has a driver, you have me, and a suite at the hotel, price of a deluxe room, ’cause you a famous American filmmaker.”
    â€œDo I have to shoot the hotel?”
    â€œIt won’t hurt you. Use Billy you need a model. I bet a dollar he’s waitin for you.”
    â€œWith his girlfriend?”
    â€œI can’t speak for Helene, but I know he’s dyin to meet you. I told him what we up to.”
    Â 
    A T THE DESK SHE said, “Dara Barr. I have a reservation,” and turned to look at the Kempinski Palace’s five-star Arabian lobby, the fountain outside the entrance, while the desk clerk pressed keys and stared at the screen. Dara told him to look for it under Xavier LeBo, and the Somali’s face brightened.
    â€œYes, of course, Mr. LeBo. You must be his companion.”
    â€œI’m his boss,” Dara said. “We don’t bunk together.” She was given the card to open the door and was told her luggage would follow immediately.
    The room was nice, sort of French, a settee and a couple of chairs with arms, a carafe of what looked like sherry on the glass table. Dara got a bottle of ice-cold water from the bar compartment and drank it looking out at the swimming pool that seemed to extend into the sea. She saw one, no, two women in lounge chairs, but not together, lying in the African sun and Dara thought, Not today. Check on the cameras before you do anything. She called the desk to say she was still waiting for her luggage. Got “Yes, madam, immediately,” and went in the bathroom to wash her hands and fool with her hair for a few