Chapter 9: Shopping

Malcolm led Jason down the hall to the elevator. Both men had changed back into their T-shirts and shorts once they were back on the Bottoms Up. From the lobby, Jason followed Malcolm out onto the streets of Bridgetown, a small warren of upscale boutiques and downscale tourist traps. “Let’s go in here first and get you guys some shoes,” Malcolm told the teen, pointing at a store across the way.

“Lead on, Doctor Jenson.”

“Call me Malcolm, and call Caroline by her name, too. We run a pretty informal ship. No need for anything too fancy, although Captain Sorenson seems to prefer Skipper or Captain Jimmy.”

“Uh, okay Doc ... Malcolm.”

Malcolm ushered Jason into the shoe store, a small boutique where the black clerk disdainfully eyed their attire. Malcolm ignored him, knowing the almighty dollar would clear up that problem. Looking down at Jason’s Nikes, he said, “Okay, let’s start. We’ve only got a few hours to get everything done, so we can’t dick around. You need to get some beach sandals and something dressier, maybe a nice pair of loafers. Maybe something like what I’ve got on,” pointing to his own Bass Weejuns. “You get started while I find something for the ladies.”

“How do I pay for them?” asked Jason nervously, eyeing the prices, marked so discreetly yet so outrageously.

“Don’t sweat it. I’ll cover for you until we can get somewhere your folks can pay me back.” Malcolm left the lad in the small men’s section and wandered into the much larger women’s department. He glanced down at his sheet of sizes to refresh his memory and was relieved to remember that the three Meredith women were all size 6B, just like Caroline. That started an idea in his mind.

He selected three pairs of identical beach sandals and four pairs of identical dressy sandals, with three-inch heels and ankle straps. Caroline had her own beach sandals. Returning to Jason he found the boy choosing between two pairs of loafers, with a pair of sandals sitting beside him.

“Any ideas?” Jason asked.

“Well, tassels are a bit flashy, I think anyway. Besides, you can always buy some more stuff later in the week if you need to. We only need one decent outfit for dinner tonight. After that, on the boat, it’s pretty casual.”

“Makes sense,” Jason admitted, setting aside the fancier shoes. The clerk carried their purchases to the small counter at the front of the store and rang them up. The shoes ended up in a large bag which Malcolm handed to Jason.

“Now we need to get you some clothes. Do you know your sizes? Or are you too tall and skinny for off the rack?”

“I can still get most stuff off the rack, in a long or tall size. My last suit had to be tailored for me, though.”

“Figures. Well, you don’t need a suit, but you do need something better than shorts and a T-shirt.” Malcolm led the way down the street to a men’s shop. The shoe bag was deposited behind the counter, and this clerk was much more interested in helping, especially after noticing the size of the purchase from down the street.

“Now, guys I can figure clothes for fairly simply. It’s women that are the trouble.” Turning to the clerk, he said, “The young man will need a sport coat, dark, and a couple of pair of khakis to go with it. Two or three dress shirts, socks, that sort of thing.”

“Of course, sir, that won’t be a problem. Of course, for the slacks we’ll have to have our tailor measure for length, but he can have them to your hotel by tomorrow evening.”

“That will not be satisfactory, we’ll only be here for the evening.” The clerk protested that the tailor was booked solid. “Bring him out here anyway,” commanded Malcolm. Still protesting, the clerk did as he was bid and returned with a surprisingly young Oriental, also protesting. Malcolm simply peeled a hundred-dollar bill out of his wallet, and the protests died down markedly. When a second hundred was produced, they stopped completely, and with a third both the clerk and the tailor began active assistance. In short order, Jason was the proud possessor of a Navy-blue double-breasted blazer, two white dress shirts, two silk ties, four pair of dress socks, underwear, handkerchiefs, and a belt, and two pair of khaki dress slacks, being altered by the time the clerk began ringing up the order. The tailor promised they would be ready by the time they finished shopping. Gathering their purchases, Jason waddled out onto the street behind Malcolm.

“Well, we can’t go anywhere with you like that.” He stepped out into the street and flagged down a taxi, a rather beat-up Honda. As the driver jumped out and opened his trunk, Malcolm waved him over. Pulling a fifty-dollar bill out, he tore it in half and gave half to the driver. Jason stared, goggle-eyed, as Malcolm said, “Take these down to the Bottoms Up. She’s the sixty-five-footer at the end of the third pier. Throw them on board and come back here. We’ll be in that shop over there,” pointing to a large tourist type swim and casual wear shop, “You’ll be our driver the rest of the day, and you’ll get the rest of this and another one besides. Sound fair?”

The driver eagerly agreed and loaded up the purchases. Malcolm led Jason into the third shop with the comment, “It’s always nice to find people so friendly and cooperative, isn’t it?”

Jason laughed. “I think I want to be adopted.”

In the third shop Malcolm had Jason buy several T-shirts, a couple pairs of shorts, and another swimsuit. This store was not a boutique and no clerk helped them, so they paid for these purchases and handed them to the taxi driver who had returned and was waiting for them outside. He took off again, and with Jason decently outfitted for a while, Malcolm settled into the task of dressing Babs, Maggie, and Mary.