A Bad Mistake

Will's face was angular-it descended to a pointed goatee. His skin was mahogany colored. He was a taxi driver who drove a '76 Pontiac with orange and black V's on the hood. There was no other car like it on the island.

He was married to Rita. One day, he came home early and found her with Colin, a young Vincentian male. Will opened the trunk of his car and grabbed a spear gun. He loaded a 38-inch steel arrow and stretched the bands taut. Then, he wheeled around and fired from a distance of 4 feet-hitting Colin below the ribs on the left, entering his spleen and exiting his back. Colin fell with a surprised look on his face. Will walked over and yanked on the arrow shaft, but the prongs, which were meant to skewer a fish buried into the back muscles. Will wanted to reload so he could kill his wife too. Rita ran screaming down the road.

It didn't take the police long to find Will, who offered no resistance when they arrested him.

Will was taken to a grimy jail next to an open marketplace where his mulatto mother sold nutmeg and coconuts.

Two years earlier, Will had given Jim a ride to a bar where after a few beers he told Will about Gia, a brunette, who looked younger than her age. He had dated Gia for an entire summer, then she went to a different school for a year; they exchanged letters every week. He was in love, so he proposed to her and she accepted. But Gia was a liar and an overachiever with a 70% disabling anxiety level, who had no intention of marrying anyone. The signs were there, but Jim ignored them. For example, Gia said she would meet Jim in St. John's for a week holiday. Like a fool, he rented a villa- Gia never showed up and never called to explain why. She never apologized either. A friend of Jim's said "you're really taking it on the chin this time, buddy." Will told Jim she did him a favor by not marrying him, although he didn't see it that way.

Eleven years after they broke up, Gia saw Jim's picture in a magazine and sent him a brief note with her phone number. Jim debated whether or not to call, finally deciding he could tolerate five minutes. After a few pleasantries and Gia telling Jim he wrote"beautiful letters," Jim said: "I've got to go." Gia said: "wait- where did we go wrong?" Jim replied: "I don't know."

Their entire relationship was built on sandy beaches (Black Sand Beach, Grenada, BWI and Todd's Point, Greenwich, CT); but the sand shifted, according to the wind and left no trace of their tracks.

Will was hanged for his crimes. Jim's punishment was harsher- an inability to forget.