Back at Jimmy's, Teddy watched the boys roughhousing on the beach as Uncle Stu washed down a few more empanadas with a couple of Cristals, his favorite local beer.
"That gun's gotta be illegal. Should we be driving around with that thing?" Teddy spoke under his breath and looked around as if they were being spied on.
"In the U.S. owning a 30mm cannon would be outright illegal. I think it is still the Wild West down here, as I understand it." Uncle Stu spluttered around a mouthful of empanada.
"Keep it down!" Teddy hoarse whispered. "More like the Soviet Union during the Cold War. This place is full of wire taps and informants!" Teddy kept looking around furtively.
He spotted the same portly police officer staring at them from the alley across the street. Teddy was careful to keep his head moving so they did not make eye contact. When he looked back, the overweight lawkeeper was gone. "I don't like it around here."
"Why?" bits of empanada flew free.
"I think we are being watched." Exasperation showed on Teddy's face. "Having that gun on board isn't going to convince anyone we are just underwater archeologists."
"First, I know we are being watched: we are gringos in Cuba. Second, we are just a couple of underwater archeologists who needed a boat for cheap, we are not responsible for how it was outfitted. Finally, it may come in handy."
"Yeah, right." Teddy's concentration was elsewhere. He shouted for the boys to come back and if they wanted anything, as he called for the check.
Trying to appear as casual as possible, he looked around the neighborhood over top of the check while reading it. As he went to lay down a few Cuban pesos, he noticed a small folded paper. Opening it he read: observados. He didn't have to be a professor of Spanish to know what that meant.
"Let's go." Teddy stood abruptly, almost knocking over the table. Uncle Stu grabbed his beer just in time to finish the last drop. The boys grabbed the last two empanadas for the road.
"Why are we going this way, Dad? The boat is over there." Caleb pointed in the opposite direction as they walked down a dirty little street they'd never been on before. He had always been the observant one.
"I just want to see what's on the other side of town." Teddy looked over at Stu knowingly. "Don't you boys want to see the wild side of Cabo San Antonio?"
"Excuse me, Senors." The plump Cuban version of Barney Fife stepped out of the shadows and blocked their path. Up close his appearance didn't improve. An unfortunately pockmarked face peered out from under greasy hair. "I notice you around town… I welcome you." Jose Luis grinned his most welcoming brown toothed grin.
"Thank you, Officer. We've been enjoying Jimmy's fine cuisine and the diving is awesome!" Teddy had come looking for an encounter and now he couldn't recall why. "You have a very nice town here."
"Gracias, Senor! We like it much too!" The heavyset local lawman moved forward to squeeze Caleb's shoulder in what would have been a kind gesture from anyone else. Uncle Stu stepped smoothly in front of Caleb and grabbed the man's fat little hand.
"Thank you very much for your welcome, Sir! We love your town. We come to dive. Pretty fish." Uncle Stu didn't have to try hard to play the obnoxious American tourist. The atmosphere changed as it became clear that a test of strength was beginning in the longer than usual handshake.
As he had stepped forward, Stu had too much momentum and he nearly landed on the stout cop's right sneaker. Correcting at the last minute, he merely scuffed the upper with the toe of his sandal.
The change that came over Pauncharillo was sudden and radical—he stared at Uncle Stu with the dead eyes of a snake and he turned a simple handshake into a battle of wills. Uncle Stu didn't know why the cop was squeezing his hand so hard, but he wasn't the kind of man to bother finding out before reacting.
Skinny he might be, but he possessed that rare wiry strength that belied his frail frame. Four to six hours a day in a UFC training gym bore down on Jose Luis' tender sausages that were only rarely called on to slap the faces of old women—Joshua and Caleb both winced along with Jose Luis as they felt as much as heard the crack.
"Good night, officer!" Teddy jumped in and pulled Uncle Stu away. "We thank you for your hospitality!"