Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (Ch. 15)

Iburg had done it again.  She somehow arranged a Yamaha Scooter for me to use at my disposal between 10a and 12:45p everyday.  And only then.  She knew I needed it apres surf, solely for the use of darting over to play chess with The Legend.  The Legend had moved south east of town, and because of the 1.5 mile distance between us, our chess time had suffered a huge hit.  His nickname for me is Columbo.  He calls me Colombo because I like to mumble and murmur his thoughts and my false strategies during our matches.  Peter Falk style.  He’s constantly telling me to Cool it Columbo!  

Having the scooter has been really nice.  The Warden uncovered this pretty decent bike that needed some minor work; New battery or maybe a starter.  Maybe both.  Who knows?  New rear view mirrors.  Stuff like that.  I think she convinced the owner to lend it to her and she would make all the repairs, get the thing tuned up real nice, etc..  She told me it would only cost me 1000 pesos, and that I could use it until I went back to The States. 

I guess she had to promise the owner of the scooter that she would also visit him a couple times a week and have Spaghetti dinners with him??   That seemed weird to me, but Friday insisted that Todo was Bien, and that I stay out of it.  Truth is, the spaghetti dinner promise wasn’t a cause for alarm or query.  You haven’t been in a deal, until you’ve been in a Puerto deal.  I apologized for meddling.  And she was right.  I just wanted the scooter to align myself again with some A-Level chess.  And that’s precisely what I got.  And that’s precisely what I did.