Chapter 16: Amazing Sisters

The Pro Shop was open and people were stirring all over the course as the grounds crew prepared for the upcoming tournament. Dad and I grabbed a bench in the ready area and sipped our coffee. The ready area was the area just outside the pro shop where the members checked in to play golf and get their carts. Because of the tournament this week there was only one other foursome getting ready to head out.

Suddenly a black SUV pulled up directly in front of us. Three Marine MP’s jumped out and quickly leveled their automatic weapons at me. “Alexander Masters, you are under arrest! Please come with me now,” one of them said.

My dad stood up and their weapons moved briefly to him. “We’re not armed. Can you tell us why you’re arresting my son?”

“He’s a terrorist. He destroyed US Government prop...” he was saying when he was interrupted by a female voice that I swear must have sounded like his mother’s.

“Stop that, young man!” Cynthiana called out as she approached us. With her was Kimberly, her cameraman, two Bahamian Constables, and two men in suits followed by a herd of reporters and cameras.

“Here. You’ve been served,” said the first man in a suit.

“With witnesses, I might add,” Cynthiana added, looking over her shoulder.

“What’s this?” the Marine asked. Then he told the other two MP’s to lower their weapons.

“Tell them to safe them and then return them to the vehicle. You’re all under arrest for trying to arrest a visitor to Bahama without first clearing it with us,” the second man in a suit told them.

It became complicated from there, and there was some shouting and posturing but the end result was that the Marines drove off leaving only their names, ranks, and serial numbers. The two Bahamian officials along with their constables parted soon thereafter. Kimberly directed the press to the dining room where they had arranged some early morning refreshments for the fourth estate.

That left Cynthiana standing alone with us. Dad quickly got to his feet to offer her a seat next to me on the bench.

“You did well, Alex,” she said to me.

“But I didn’t do anything!” I protested.

“Exactly. We knew this would happen and were just waiting for them to make the first move,” she explained. “You were perfect. You just sat there and didn’t talk or kill anyone.”

We talked for just a few more minutes until Sam Peterson walked up. It was 7:29. We all exchanged hello’s and then Dad and I started to the cart that had our clubs on it while Sam headed to his. It was then that I noticed the second set of clubs on his cart. A decidedly female looking set in a pink and white bag. Cynthiana just looked at me and grinned as she sat down in Sam’s cart.

On the first hole, Sam handed us yardage books for the Paradise Island Golf Course and explained the symbols. Most were easy to understand and logical. Then he pulled out a map and spread it in the seat to orient us to where we were and where we were going.

“To help speed up play, Alex will always go first from the black tees, Darrel and I will go next from the Blue tees, and then Cynthiana will go off the red tees. This first hole is a 385 Yard, Par 4, dogleg left. The pins are all near the center of the greens for today and tomorrow. Remember, your shots will all tend towards the ocean, on the fairways and especially the greens.

I wasn’t focusing and I knew it. This morning still had me rattled. My first shot went so far right, it probably ended up in the ocean. But I settled down and hit a provisional ball. I concentrated on fading it to the left and gave it the biggest swing I had.

“I think you’ll like it,” Sam told us as we moved up to the blue tees for them to hit. I’ll say this for Sam. He doesn’t waste any time on the golf course.

Sam was right. I loved it. He said it was only 65 yards to the green, plus five steps to the pin. Using my new wedge, I put it just past the pin with less than 10 feet for a bogie, which I made.

By the time we finished the ninth, I was shooting 34, including the errant tee shot on one. Cynthiana dropped out at that point, claiming she had work to do. She had shot a respectable forty-six. Kimberly showed up to take her place but had my dad move to Sam’s cart so she could ride with me.

“Scoot over, stud. I’m driving,” she said as she handed me a bottle of Gatorade. We talked as we drove to the tenth tee box.

“I’m sorry I missed last night,” she told me.

“Don’t be. There were enough women there that can tell you all about it. Just remember, no personal relationships in the media this week,” I said.

When we got there, I saw it was a Par 3, 212 yards long across a big lagoon that was part of the hotel’s famous aquarium attraction. Just the tee box, the lagoon and then the front edge of the tenth green. With tall Pampas grass to the left of the green and bunkers on both sides and just beyond the green on the right, this is one hole you just didn’t want to miss in any direction.

I stepped to the tee and began my routine. Kimberly’s voice and all the other distractions faded into the distance as I began to feel the wind, which was picking up as the sun rose in the sky and heated the earth’s surface. Maybe it was my time on board the Serendipity, and all those hours just watching and feeling the wind, but I suddenly knew when it was time and with my seven iron, I put my shot cleanly to the front edge of the green where it rolled straight into the cup.

My ears were shattered by Kimberly’s scream as she shouted, “A hole-in-one. You just shot a motherfucking hole-in-one!” My dad and Sam added their enthusiasm and congratulations.

“Oh Shit!” I exclaimed. “I don’t have any money to buy the first round,” I said with a trace of panic.

“Don’t worry, the first round is on me,” my dad said proudly.

After dad and Sam shot (Kimberly said she would just drive today), I walked up to the flagstick and gently eased my ball from the hole with my fingers, careful to not touch the flag stick. I wasn’t sure why, but golfers are superstitious bunch. Almost worse than sailors. So I wasn’t going to do anything else. Kimberly took a picture with her smartphone as I did it, and then walked away from me so I couldn’t interfere with her sending it. Before we got to the 11^th tee, her smartphone was exploding with return texts. I put it out of my mind and focused on the 488 yard, Par 4 in front of me.

For the rest of the morning, I was ‘in the zone’ as they say. I was so focused on the course that I didn’t even realize when Sam and Dad quit playing and just rode along with me. We were back at the clubhouse before I realized that I didn’t have any more holes to play. It was just coming up on 10:30am.

I had shot a score of 30 on the back nine, thanks to the hole-in-one, for a total of 64 for the round. Sam had me sign the scorecard he had been keeping and then congratulated me on a fine round.

“Go home and take a nap. You’ve got your celebrity round at 2:20 this afternoon and you don’t need to practice with the way you’re swinging. You might practice with your putters some since you can only carry one of them in your bag on Thursday,” Sam told me.

We all thanked Sam and then Kimberly, dad, and I headed for our rental house.

After a quick bowl of soup and a seafood salad, I headed for my room. But Charlotte and Vivienne were in there waiting for me so I did an about face and headed for the patio. “Try the Serendipity,” Archara suggested but when I saw Eileen standing on the fantail looking like she was waiting, I ducked down behind a nearby bush and after a moments’ hesitation, removed my clothes and then slithered under the bush the few inches to the seawall and down into the manmade channel under the Serendipity. Like before, I found the rear anchor chain and just settled to the bottom. I hadn’t intended to, but the waters here were so peaceful and warm that I fell asleep.

I awoke with a start. Just like before, there was someone sitting beside me in a bikini and a scuba tank. My eyes opened wide when I realized it was my sister, Kelly Ann. When she saw my eyes were open, she nodded to the surface and stood wanting me to follow. Since I had lost track of time, I didn’t want her to risk running out of air so I nodded and quickly followed.

Her arm was propped on the fantail and her diving mask scooted back on her head when I lifted myself out of the water.

“Holy Ding-Dong, Batman,” she said in her best imitation of Robin, the boy wonder, (It was a holdover from our childhood of watching Adam West and Burt Ward re-runs on Nickelodeon).

I was so used to being naked, it didn’t occur to me what she was referencing for a moment, and when it did, I just shrugged and climbed the steps of the sugar scoop to grab one of the towels lying there. It looked like everybody was there, but it turned out it was mostly the women.

“Yeah, I suppose you’d better before one of the neighbors calls the cops,” Eileen said.

“Well, I’d be a fool to be the one to make him put on clothes!” Charlotte replied.

“Maybe you’re right,” Eileen said.

So no one said anything until my mom finally said, “Alexander! Put some clothes on, for Christ’s sake!”

I grabbed a quick snack and headed back to the country club for my obligatory ‘celebrity’ round. Before I left I had asked Kelly Ann how she found me.

“I didn’t. It was Jenna. She found your clothes under the bushes, figured out where you had gone, put two and two together and finally was able to see you on the bottom. But she hasn’t had scuba diving lessons yet, so I came to get you. The water is so clear here, don’t you think?” she asked. In our whole conversation, she never questioned how I was able to be down there so long. Aren’t sisters amazing?

Because we were using carts for the celebrity round, I didn’t need my dad to caddy, so he took the afternoon off. I went through the clubhouse and got my pairing sheet and scorecards and then went by my locker to get my clubs and shoes. Then I headed out to the staging area to meet the rest of my foursome.

Ben Albemarle was a big strapping guy from the Pacific Northwest and had a full bushy beard hiding his face, but I could detect warm eyes and a ready smile when we shook hands. Nara Ipowhani was the other tour player and he was from Bangladesh. He shook my hand but didn’t smile. I could tell he was focused on the upcoming match. John Sweeting was our celebrity.

“Call me Sweetie,” he said as we shook hands. Sweetie owned the largest boat store in the islands. When I told him about the crossing we had just completed in the Serendipity, he became my instant friend. I didn’t mind because we ended up as partners and discussed the various aspects of sailing catamarans versus mono-hulls.

“Don’t you need to warm up?” Nara asked me.

“No thanks,” I told him. “I’ve already played a full round this morning.”

“Do any good?” Ben asked.

“Middle sixty’s,” I replied.

“I think we’re in trouble, Nara,” Ben said.

“No way,” I told him. “It was mostly luck.”

“I should be that lucky,” Nara said under his breath.

“I’ll pass this time,” I told them when Sweetie asked if I wanted to wager anything on the round. “I’d lose everything I own if I start making wagers.”

They let it go and Sweetie got the honors. He even teed off on the black tees with us. Unlike this morning, I didn’t put my ball in the right out-of-bounds. Instead it ended up on the fringe of the fairway less than 100 yards from the hole.

My high school coach used to claim that a fast round of golf and a slow round of golf both took about four hours. Well that round took every bit of four hours, mainly because the course was crowded with foursomes, all with celebrities wanting to play with the professionals, and the professionals were working to get their games ready for Thursday. There would be no rounds played tomorrow (Wednesday) in order for the grounds keepers to get everything ready for Thursday morning.

I had carded a 34 when we made the turn and changed partners. I got to ride with Ben for the back nine. He had carded a 40 on the front nine and Nara had a 39. How I scored a 34, I didn’t know as Sweetie and I had discussed boats and crossings the entire way.

The back nine almost started off with me in deep trouble. My tee shot landed on the green, then rolled back, almost to the lagoon. It stopped in the high grass at the edge. Then I used my putter for two strokes and parred the Par 3.

I ended the round with a 71. Secretly, I was pleased because it was only my second round ever, under par. I had shot a 38 on the back nine. I think it was because I was tired. But Ben had kept breaking my concentration with questions when he found out I was only eighteen.

I said my goodbyes and wished Nara and Ben luck for the weekend. I told Sweetie that I would give him a tour the next time the Serendipity was back in Bahama. They had sailed for Ft. Lauderdale this afternoon.

When I got back to the house, I found my mom had made me meatloaf for dinner with mashed potatoes and green peas. I drank a gallon of ice water and cleaned my plate. Twice. Then I begged off from talking with everyone and went to bed.

Wednesday dawned overcast and muggy. Highs were only going to reach the low 70’s Fahrenheit (low 20’s Celsius). I fixed myself a cup of coffee and sat out on the rear patio and watched the sun break the horizon. I could imagine Captain Alfred on the bridge of the Serendipity doing the same thing and it gave me a warm feeling.

Suddenly I jumped to my feet and ran inside. “Isabella!” I cried. “Come help! Quickly!”

Isabella was there in a heartbeat, her hair tussled and sleep in her eyes. She had her ever present pistol in her hand, still in its holster.

“What’s wrong, Alex,” she asked, looking all around.

“It’s the Serendipity! She’s got a weird harmonic in her electrical pulses. I think it’s in the port engine. We have to radio them now! Before something blows and she sinks.” I said almost in panic. The lights began to flicker on and off as I told her.

She grabbed my hand and told me to calm down. Somehow, she wasn’t as effective as Carina had been, but she led me outside to the patio and made me sit down. Then she told me to practice my breathing so her phone would work to make the call. When that didn’t work, she moved inside as Jenna and Carina came out together.

“There he is,” she said to Jenna, then, “Watch this.”

Carina quickly straddled my lap, her short, sheer gown riding up to semi-expose her privates while her breasts practically fell out of the loose-fitting top. She didn’t sleep in any underwear. Then taking my head in both hands, she kissed me.

“I can’t ... I don’t think I can ... kiss my brother!” she told Carina.

“It’s like a conditioned response and Alex responds very quickly to it,” Carina told her. “You saw what good it did for Isabella to ignore him, right?”

“Well, yeah,” Jenna replied hesitantly. “But kiss my brother? I don’t know...”

“If you value your life and the lives of your family, somebody has to,” Carina said before letting it go. She knew the teen would figure it out on her own and pushing wouldn’t help. Then she looked into my eyes and then down to our crotches. She could both see and feel the tent in my gym short.