Chapter 3 - Real life or acting?

“Oh yeah! How did you manage that miracle Dominique Martin?" she enquired. “You know what, don't tell me. After hearing about your past earlier, I changed my mind.”

“Haha!” he laughed “I had a link at the Firearm Licensing Authority who had managed to get my application approved for a small fee.”

“Dominique! You know that dark tinted sport utility vehicles are targets for the police,” Marsha said.

As soon as words left her mouth, he saw the lanky police man striding out into the roadway in front of him. Even though the vehicle was still almost 500 feet away from him, the officer had already positioned himself in the centre of the lane with his hand held high.

"What the hell is he stopping me for?"

"Crap!" Marsha said.

"Dominique! Look at your client,” Marsha said through her teeth.

Dominique turned his head quickly to the left.

"Mr Ming, please calm down why are you so jittery? There is nothing to worry about; this is fairly routine activity

from the police in Jantique."

“Relax and take a deep breath, we have this under control. Wipe the sweat from your brow, sit back and don’t say a word unless necessary. By the way stop clutching that travel bag,” Dominique said.

The tendons and veins in Ming's hands became more pronounced as his grip got tighter.

“Marsha what the hell have you gotten me into this time? You better do something about it and quick,” Dominique muttered.

            "Alright," she replied and turned to her right and looked at Ming and said, “Give it to me!” in a tone that Dominique was accustomed to hearing her use to reprimand the children. Her reactions were so swift that she grabbed Ming's carry-on bag placed it in her lap and ripped a back of her coffee and emptied the contents, in what seemed to be a twinkle of an eye.

“Dominique, stay calm but these packets look white and powdery. You were recommended by Mr.B and its automatic that I am suspicious, but it's a dead giveaway based on how you were holding the bag from we were leaving the airport,” Marsha said.

A chill ran though Dominique’sbody and he shivered as the words from Marsha’s mouth settled in his ears. His heart raced so ferociously, he feared it was about to come through his mouth.The thought of Marsha being strip-searched or housed in a dirty cell with common criminals was disconcerting, he felt nauseous and his stomach started to convulse, beads of cold sweat formed on his brow.

“Marsha, how the hell are we going to handle this?” he asked.

“Honey! I can’t go to jail in this outfit.

You know that we girls from uptown do not go jail in Jantique.” Marsha whispered.

“No worries with your Godfather being the special advisor to the Chief Minister, you would not spend more than a week,” Dominique replied and even managed a grin through his stress. “But you my dear could not manage in prison.You can’t even manage to stay one place in bed.”

Dominique moved slowly to put on his indicator to pull left and stopped on the soft shoulder. Inexplicably, the policeman went to the passengers’side of the vehicle.

“Please alight from the vehicle Miss,” the officer instructed.

Dominique watched as Marsha, calm as a cucumber gave her best impression

of Sharon in the interrogation room of the famous movie by catchingthe attention of the officer. Dominique was amazed and disturbed when he saw the man licking his lips while seemingly struggling to catch his breath after the view what was hidden beneath Marsha red miniskirt. It was as if it was a basic male instinct that the officer’s gun raised instantly even though his rifle was slung on his shoulder.

It was as if he was watching a movie and Marsha was the star and the audience was spellbound to their screens. Dominique chuckled ns wondered how a man could be acting so confused and disoriented because he glimpsed between a woman's legs?

It immediately came to him.

“Crap, Marsha was not wearing underwear beneath her miniskirt,” Dominique muttered to himself.

            Marsha’s smile was bright as if grease was on her teeth. Even the dog seemed to have been disoriented, and he too had no interest in the bag clutched to her chest; it seemed the coffee had worked.

In Mandarin, she told Ming to stay calm and relax. Her use of a foreign language seemed to have taken theofficer by surprise.

"We are the Martins and we are carrying our friend and guest an official of the Chinese Embassy to see his friend in Mandeville."

Only in the movies had Dominique seen these scenes unfold in this way. Marsha’s true calling could have been acting, in this sceneshe was the character of the sexy leading lady with an exotic foreign language. The stage was now set for the entrance of the leading actor and as if on que Ming started to smile then he flashed his diplomatic passport.

“Yes I am Diplomat,” he said in broken English.

The Officer said, “OK folks, you can get back in the vehicle.”

However, Dominique heard the cocky looking Superintendent say, “Wait this is a special operation and we must do a search of all vehicles. Constable, search everything.”

But just as Dominique was about to protest, Marsha’s legs seemed to crumble and her body collapsed like a sack of potatoes, froth camefromher at the mouth. The red miniskirt betrayed her splayed legs and creamy white flesh was now exposed with the fine mat of pubic bear covering her nest. Time and space seemingly came to a standstill, as Dominique's brain could not process what his eyes had just witnessed and he almost had to pinch himself to see if it was really happening.

His body finally reacted and he flung his door open and raced around the front of the car. His heart was pounding in his chest.

He began shouting.

"Marsha! Marsha! Move out of my way.”

He pushed his way through the two police men along with their dog who stood transfixed like statuesas they looked down on his wife lying on the ground.

Panicking and confused he tried to adjust her legs to hide her pride but he also wanted to cradle her head as he knelt beside her head. He gently brushed the hair away from her face and saw the white froth coming from her mouth.

He looked up at the men and shouted, "Are you just going to stand there and look at my wife's front get help she may need to be resuscitated do any of you know how to do that?"

Both men looked at eachother and did not utter a word.

"Fart! Absolutely no use,” Dominique said.

He noticed that she still clutched the bag and when he attempted to ease it from her grasp, he felt the resistance in her arms.

"Marsha are you ok?” he asked while looking at her chest for signs of breathing. “Ming help! Help,” he cried out. ‘’Help me get her back into the car because these too baboons are just going to stand here all day.”

It took him by surprise that she actually winked at him; he placed his ears close to her nose to listen for sounds of breathing. The air from her nose and the froth smelt like snow mint sweets.

Butterflies ran amuck in his stomach. Shit! Was Marsha acting or is this real?

“Mr Ming, please help me to place her in the car.”

Marsha winked again and relief washed over his body at the sight of Marsha wink.The tension eased immediately from his shoulder and his face.

“If I think what I think you are doing it’sreally a desperate ploy to avoid a search of the bag that you are still clinging to,” he mumbled in her ear. The sun was merciless, beads of sweat rolled from his brow as and as the salty perspiration rolled into his left eye Dominique squinted and looked up at the policemen.

"You guys are supposed to protect and serve the public, the least you can do is to get the car door!"

Ming was standing by his side and opened the door before any of the other two men could move a muscle.

“Can I go?”

Dominique asked as he swept Marsha up in his arms and gently placed her on the front passenger seat. With the back of his shirt soaked with sweat and breathing heavily Dominique placed Ming's bag at Marsha's feet and closed the door. He literally leaped over the bonnet of the car. Dominique was already behind the wheel and starting the car when the senior cop apologised and offered an escort, to which he shouted through his windows.

“No thanks we can manage, from here if she takes her medication."

He would take his chances alone. The officers were covered in dust as the car's anti slip tyres bit the asphalt and sprayed them with loose gravel and sand.

Dominique looked at his wife and simultaneously all three of them began to laugh as Marsha adjusted her clothes and regained her composure, brushing her hair back in place.

“Honey use the mirror behind the visor and fix your lipstick,” Dominique said.

“So Mr Ming, do you think I can get an Oscar for my performance?”

“Most definitely, Mrs Martin you are truly gifted and blessed,” he chuckled and she caught a glimpse of his wink in the mirror.

“So, Mr Martin, what do you think?”

“Well Marsha your ego was not bruised and I know you would have done anything to save us from prison , my only concern is that now three men and a dog now know what you’ve been hiding under that red mini skirt, all you have to do is just look at Ming’s face.”

“Dominique, you’re such a spoil sport, imagine I just saved us from possible jail and you’re worried about men seeing my docking station.”

“Sweetheart I am not worried about the men, I’m worried about the nightmares the poor dog is going to have.”

He started to laugh until he almost choked on his own spit.

“Serves you right for making a joke about me and the dog, I recall it has made you howl at the moon a few times. As far as I’m concerned I

have not done nothing any good

woman would not have done to save her

man, what is  a little dirt on her clothes or a man getting a raise after gazing on her fat crotch. This outcome was much better than having some strange man or woman up in her crotch whileI was in a jail cell.”

"We must have a word with Mr B when we return; I never expected a package like this and worse for him to ask me to take on such a risky job without even a warning. Dominique please do not call him; you are going to be too decent to tell him how you really feel.”

"Marsha do you realise that things could have been dramatically different if your act never played off?”

The rest of the journey was uneventful; Dominique powered down the windows and cut his speed to within the speed limit, to ensure that for the rest of the long journey that they did not attract the attention of Jantique's finestlaw enforcers along the rest of the journey. A sense of relief overcame them both when they dropped off Ming with all his bags and powdery substance at the hotel in cool Mandeville. The bell man took his suitcase while he clutched the travelling bag.

Ming smiled and said, “Thank you for a trip I will not forget, I will ensure that all my friends are made aware of the discrete and professional service that you provide.”

He slipped Marsha a brown sealed envelope, with a note that read: for your trouble. When she opened it, she broke wind, and her eyes popped.

"Shit babes, you need a wash out," came spontaneously from Dominique's mouth.

“Dominique! Look at this!”

She opened the envelope wide for him to see.

"What the hell!” left Dominique's lips as his eyes nearly popped from head as he saw that the contents of the envelope contained ten thousand US dollars.

“Thank you Ming,” they said simuntaneoulsy.

There was a sense of familiarity between all three as the dramatic incident with the police had created a bond that made them feel like close friends. Ming smiled and nodded and walked towards the double glass doors of the hotel.

"Marsha, another job like this and our short term financial problems would be resolved.”

“Dominique, I was planning to have a conversation with Mr B about the incident with Mr Ming and the police, but in hindsight and the fact that we got this little token from Ming, it’s probably best to keep our mouth shut.”

“I think you are right babes.” Dominique responded, “We don’t want a soul to know the nature of the contents of that bag, just in case we get another charter.”

"He who keeps his tongue shall keep his life.”

“What? You know your bible, Dominique!” Marsha replied.

"Marsha, I have seen too many brave persons die because they said the right thing at the wrong time.”

Dominique took his time and drove out of the Port Cochere with the huge wihite columns and looked at the manicured grass on the rolling highs of the golf course that adjoined the hotel.

He looked at Marsha and said, “Honey why can’t we spend the night here and let’s learn to play golf. Who knows Ming might need another favour and tip us.”

“No Dominique, after what happened with him along the highway would you really want to spend more time with Ming and his bags? Let’s hurry and leave this place before somethings else happens you idiot.”

They laughed loudly at Marsha’s comments as she placed the envelope in her purse.