Smuggler's Blues: The Saga of a Marijuana Importer by Jay Carter Brown Read Free Book Online Page B

Jamaica, but he had no money to rewrite his airline ticket. His mother had given him a charter ticket to Morocco for a three-month tour and he had little choice but to see the tour through. After Bishop left, Brandi decided that she would like to spend some time in a warmer climate too, so she decided to come to Jamaica with us.
    We phoned Robby in Montreal and found out that he and Paula were leaving for Jamaica the following week and that Ryan and Sally were coming down around Christmas time. Barbara and I were looking forward to sharing Christmas with our friends.
    When we landed in Jamaica, after a three day stay in Bermuda, I could not have felt more alive. We stepped off the plane and smelled the fragrant tropical air. A warm breeze from the ocean blew across the tarmac as we made our way past the singing choir of welcoming hostesses. After an hour of milling around the terminal with several hundred incoming tourists, we finally exited Jamaican Customs and Immigration, rented a car and set about finding Robby’s villa.
    His directions took us to Hopewell, about fifteen miles fromMontego Bay. When we reached the villa, we saw that it was a two-storey white house situated right on the ocean. From the first moment I laid eyes on it, I knew we had made the right decision to come to Jamaica instead of staying in Europe. The ocean was an azure shade of blue and crystal clear. A fresh water swimming pool was situated right next to the salt water sea, with lounge chairs laid out around the perimeter of the pool apron. The sun was beating down, with temperatures of about ninety degrees that were offset by a refreshing ocean breeze.
    It was great to see Robby and Paula again. Robby and I smoked a fat joint on the pool deck and discussed the contrast between London and Jamaica with congratulatory grins of satisfaction. Barbara and Paula made themselves each a Tia Maria and milk and started making up for lost time on all the gossip. My old friend Sunny from the days of the E - 24 scam would come around to sell us weed. He had become a friend of sorts, as well as a guide to the customs and habits of his fellow Jamaicans. Ryan and Ross came down a few weeks after we arrived and they all stayed at the house with Robby, me and our wives. It was great to see Ryan again because he was always the life of the party. Ryan liked to do magic tricks and he was very good at the art of illusion. Unlike most magicians, Ryan would amaze you with his magic and then show you how the trick was done.
    I spoke to Ryan about Barbara’s five grand investment and he told me of a refrigerator compressor in Montego Bay that was ready to be shipped to Canada for repair after being filled with weed. The only thing holding him back was the cost of the weed. I found that a little disconcerting, since Barbara’s money had been more than enough to cover twenty pounds of weed and a used compressor. From what I could see, Ryan was in Jamaica with Ross and Robby pulling off other scams. I couldn’t help but think that he was using Barbara’s money to pull off the other scams, without paying me any dividends. He told me not to worry, that he was coming back down to Jamaica with his wife Sally on a three-week cruise and that he would take care of business then. He said he was shipping his Thunderbird down to Jamaica, at the same time, to use around the island. That reallyset my warning bells buzzing. He was telling me that he was still seeking financing for the scam, but he had five grand to take a cruise with his wife and his car. I showed my displeasure but all I got was the cold shoulder. Finally I told Ryan that if something did not happen soon, I would take over the scam and ship the compressor myself.
    A few days after he arrived, I had Ryan show me where the compressor was being stored. He led me to a house at the main intersection of the highway into Montego Bay. The house was on a hill where a lone Jamaican blacksmith, named Tyrel, looked suitably