Two Tamas In Paradis, Episode 9, Rum Pudding

This is the ninth episode of the novel Two Tamas in Paradise. It is the fourth novel in the Trace Troy South Pacific Adventure series. It will be posted in episodes. The plan is for two or three a week. There are fifty episodes. It has not been published yet. The reader is given a sneak preview. 

It suffices to say that because this is one novel in a series, there may be things not understood unless one knows what has taken place in previous novels from this series. Here is a link to the first novel in the series: The Big Gamble in Paradise, paperback or Kindle.

Rum Pudding

Day passed into darkness. And with the darkness came thunder, lightning, and rain. It lasted the entire evening. At times. the lightning is a friend; it allows one to see how furious and dangerous the seas is and at times how calm and secure it is with nothing to fear.

Trace, Sage, and Makani sat at the mess table. Sage speared a Mahi Mahi before the storms struck. Makani cleaned and filleted it. 

“Makani,” Trace said, “this was the best meal you have ever fixed.”

“Amen, to that,” Sage added.

“I triple that,” Makani smiled. “I good cook, if say so myself.” He joked. “What you say, time to talk about raise.?”

Overhead, the rain beat steady against the quarter’s roof. Every now and then, a particularly heavy burst would come. It might last five minutes and then return to the steady rain. Lightning beyond the portholes flashed like neon signs on a busy street. Thunder echoed near and far. At times, sounding like a bowling alley. 

Trace and Sage helped Makani clear the table. Then Makani dished out small bowls of rum pudding.

“First time I try,” Makani said, placing three bowls and spoons on the table. 

“Next time,” Sage joked, “leave out the pudding and just serve the rum.”

“It is amazing how the violence of the weather can bring peace,” Trace said, tasting the rum pudding. “Oh, that’s good!” 

“My god!” Sage said with his mouth full, “If you had blue eyes, I’d propose.”

“You not right in head,” Makani said, tapping his temple.

“You just noticed that?” Sage said.

“No, first time I say,” Makani said. He smiled and looked at Sage. “But you not right in good way.”

“Makani,” Sage said seriously, “if I came here and not met you, I’d have missed a lot. You're a good fella.”

Maknai wore a tight smile as if holding something back.

“Go ahead,” Sage urged.

“When cowboys get drunk, they say stupid things,” Makani said. “Next time, not much rum in pudding.”

Sage and Makani continued to talk and joke back and forth. Trace remained silent and content with their playful banter. He was certain that leaving Sean and Chuck in Bora Bora paid unexpected dividends in the esprit of The Tramp Islander.