Dave decided not to mention that weather conditions were becoming increasingly unpredictable all over the planet. He especially noted the effects experienced in Trinidad which is not far from Grenada, the island he was sailing towards for supplies.
A weather warning earlier in the week regarding a potential subtropical storm brewing in the Atlantic had petered out to nothing, so Dave was fairly confident that the timing of their journey was likely to be reasonably uneventful, but he always erred on the side of caution. He had not spent his whole adult life in the British Royal Navy and learned nothing. Far from it. He knew that wild weather can appear from nowhere at any time, as could unexpected strange flat calms.
When Grenada appeared on the horizon he yelled “Land ahoy!” to alert Khan and Olympia, who scrambled up to the deck with binoculars at the ready.
“Ever been here before?” Dave asked Khan, who shook his head saying “Never came this far south before, man!”
Dave grinned. “Be prepared then. Grenadians like to party hard and Christmas is the whole of December as I recollect!” Olympia cooed “Ooh party time again!” and Khan groaned to himself.
As soon as they closed in on the marina at St George they could hear music coming from somewhere onshore and Dave laughed. “See what I mean?”
Dave had prepared a list and left Khan and Olympia to acclimatise to the din of Grenada’s capital city. He smirked to himself knowing that they would soon be greeted by the nosiest people of the Caribbean and he was not wrong about that.
As soon as the Union Jack fluttering from the mast was spotted, several young people crowded around asking questions. “Where you from?” “Where you going?” “Can we come aboard?” amid singing “It is Christmas time again!” and gyrating all around the boardwalks. There was not a scowl in sight. The assumption was that this yacht was there to attend their raucous party season and to join in with the native sounds known as Soca Parang. Olympia jumped onshore and began imitating the moves. She was loving it, sea legs be damned!
—0—
Diamond was watching the finest snowfall she had ever seen falling over Kensington Gardens. It inspired her to dive into the back of a huge storage cupboard and bring out curtains of tiny Christmas lights for her windows. She was positioning a step ladder in the big bay at the front of the lounge when Frank caught her.
“What the fuck are you DOING!” he gasped returning from the kitchen with two cups of fresh coffee. “I’ll do that!” he demanded and tutted loudly before Dim had even lifted one foot off the ground to mount the steps. “Honestly, Diamond, I can’t leave you alone for a bloody minute! What if you fall? You are not fully healed yet, you know!” and Diamond raised both hands in surrender, laughing.
”You do nag!” she teased. “You are worse than my mother and that was a very hard act to follow, believe me!” but she sat down on her chaise longue. “No wonder you are such a convincing woman when you are being Fanny!”
Frank told her about his own mother and what an inspiration she had been for him, while he was hooking the lights to the window frames and plugging them in.
“My mum is a civil servant.” he explained. “Like me.”
Diamond was intrigued. “Does she carry a gun in her handbag too?” she asked, raising her eyebrows and smiling. Frank stopped what he was doing and gazed at this minx of a woman. “Oh, I see!” he smiled. “You have been poking about in my handbag, have you?” and he advanced menacingly to tickle her in revenge for this blatant invasion of privacy.
At that moment the housekeeper, still dressed in her outdoor coat and hat, appeared at the open door hesitating. “Oh, excuse me, Madam!” she said. “I didn’t realise you had company!” Diamond, thinking very quickly, introduced her to Frank. “This is Frank Ranger. He is my er…. friend.” and the housekeeper smiled and nodded in Frank’s general direction. She hovered in the doorway, looking very uncomfortable.
”Did you have a nice break?” asked Diamond, to fill the silence.
“Yes, Madam…. Erm…. well, actually, no.” came the response. “I was caring for my father. He had the vaccine and, well, it doesn’t seem to have agreed with him. He has been bed-ridden ever since!” and the housekeeper struggled to find words to continue. Diamond sensed that she was hiding considerable distress and went to comfort her. She took her down to the kitchen and made her a cup of tea, listening to the whole sorry tale.
When she returned she told Frank that she felt it was only right to accept the housekeeper’s resignation and waive the need for her to serve out a month’s notice. “That would be ridiculous!” she commented, “I mean, all over Christmas and New Year, working here and worrying about her Dad the whole time? No, that is just unthinkable. I will pay her a couple of months in lieu of notice and get Pru to find me a temp or something. We can manage, can’t we?” and Frank nodded, amazed at how thoughtful Diamond could be.
“Would you drive her to her father’s please? She is packing up her personal things right now. You know, I don’t think her father can manage without her, not even for one night!” and Diamond bit her lip.
“I am so glad I didn’t get that awful jab. I knew it was iffy, I just KNEW it.”
“Oh!” said Frank, surprised. “Well, that is a coincidence! I was on assignment abroad so I haven’t had one either! Maybe it is just as well. I have been hearing a lot of bad news about it online.” The Christmas cheer, the lights and the snow had suddenly lost their joy. “I will go and bring her bags down to the car….” Frank muttered as he went to the door. “Don’t worry yourself, Diamond. We will manage just fine!”
To access all the episodes of this ludicrous fictional tale of social media influencers and their self indulgent life, simply go to the pinned comment on:
Episode 17 -https://francesleader.substack.com/p/diamonds-are-occasionally-dim
https://youtu.be/saNvY4tD3wA NORMALCY - BIAS lmfao