Adios Muchachos by Daniel Chavarría Read Free Book Online Page B

he slowly drifted toward the surface, he took a final panning shot of the reef and the fish in every conceivable color against the white sandy bottom along the Caribbean island shelf.
    Suddenly the diver stopped his ascent and began to film upward, closing in on a topless swimmer alternating between a back stroke and a crawl. The rising diver surprised her; they horsed around a bit and then he pulled immediately beneath her to swim in unison.
    Together, he on the bottom swimming backward and she on top swimming forward, they executed a water choreography that no aquacade had ever shown. When the diver finally emerged, they both headed for the boat with the bronze lettering on the prow: RIEKS GROOTE.
    A deckhand was letting down a rope ladder with wooden rungs. The sailor leaned over the rail to take the flippers and air tanks. And when the diver removed his mask, the huge van Dongen nose again stole the show.
    Carmen remained in the ocean, only her head and shoulders above water. Rather than hide her beautiful body, the crystal clear waters gave it a magical evanescence.
    As van Dongen climbed the ladder, she asked, “What does Rieks mean?”
    “It’s a nickname for Hendryck.”
    “So Groote named the yacht after himself?”
    Jan turned around on the ladder. “Well, in a way. The boat was actually named in honor of his grandfather, but he was Hendryck, too. So in the end, it’s all the same.”
    Once aboard, van Dongen picked up a towel, and when Carmen rose over the rail, her breasts gloriously free, he covered her. She snuggled up in the towel and finished the climb onto the deck.
    “Old man Rieks was a big sailing fan.”
    A Chinese cook with an enigmatic smile asked from the stern, “Should I serve your breakfast now?”
    “Not yet, Chang, thank you. In about half an hour will do just fine.”
    “What do you mean in half an hour? I’m starving.”
    “I want my ecological breakfast first.”
    Carmen laughed and took him by the hand. “Now, why didn’t I think of that?”
    Arm in arm, they crossed through the sitting room and into the master cabin. With the towel around her neck and laughing at the pure joy of being alive, Carmen sat on a low stool and crossed her legs.
    Jan opened a bag, took out his black mask, and began to put it on.
    Carmen spread the ends of the towel, propped her fists on her hips and raised her chest to offer her breasts. As he knelt at her side to kiss her, she stopped him with a hand on his lips and closed her eyes in anticipation of the pleasures to come.
    “Why don’t you have your breakfast today without the mask?”
    Jan van Dongen raised his arms and let them drop in a gesture of resignation and impotence. “Don’t ask me to do that, Carmen. It would be a disaster. Without the mask, I’m dead in the water.”

Chapter
Thirteen

    Alicia was wearing a white frock that hung loosely on her body. She emerged in a cloud of steam from a glass and aluminum cabin. She was trying to take off her bathing cap as she raced to the kitchen to turn off the Italian espresso maker.
    She collected two demitasse cups, spoons, and the sugar. She poured two glasses of mineral water, put everything on a tray, and started off down the hallway. Passing by a vase, she snatched a carnation and added it to the tray. As she opened the door to the bedroom, she nearly bumped into Victor, who was up and about in a dark dressing gown.
    In a tone that bordered on rude, Victor explained, “No, no. I have my coffee at the table, after my shower, when it’s practically cold.”
    As he climbed into the shower, Alicia stood there looking at him with an expression on her face that eloquently said, “Now what wild bug got up his ass?”
    Then she raised her head, scrunched up her face, bit her lip, and finally walked into the bedroom. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she placed the tray beside her. She drank her coffee slowly, pensively. Finally she got up, checked her appearance in the mirror in the armoire, and