In Vino Veritas
17:45, at Hooper’s Bay on an island of Exuma. We are in Commonwealth of the Bahamas. It’s Saturday and dinner is almost ready. But then the reality hits us, there’s no wine with the dinner. Blue eyes cycles to the liquor shop but it’s closed. What to do?
There is a bottle of wine to catch, so the bike heads further on the dark dangerous road. After a while there’s a white house on the right side of the road. There are cars on the yard. I curve my bike next to the house. A tall man there gets interested and asks if everything is ok and if he can help me somehow.
I told him I am looking for a liquor shop. I told him there’s a dinner waiting. I told him about the wine bottle which I don’t have. I told him about the shop which was closed. I told him this, and I told him that.
Tall man has intelligent eyes. He listens carefully and confirms that liquor shops are indeed closed. He asks which kind of wine I’m looking for. He tells me something and jumps into his car. Yes, I told him that I can wait 10 minutes.
I’m standing on the yard alone and the night of the Bahamas is getting darker. I wonder if others are missing me. I wonder if dinner is finished already. A car arrives and three men jump out. They ask if everything is alright. And then I see their batches. I am in front of the Bahamas Royal Police Forces, Exuma’s Detective Unit. I am looking for a bottle of wine from the police station. Uups!
Tall man returns with bottle of red wine. He is detective sergeant Forbes. And the bottle is for me. I would pay but sergeant Forbes says that it’s a gift. I didn’t argue, but I ask if taking a picture is ok. After few seconds of pondering, sergeant Forbes decides that it is. We call an officer on duty and soon my Nokia E7 captures a moment in front of Exuma’s Detective Unit.
I cycle back with a bottle of Lamothe Parrot, Vin de France in my backpack. Dinner is waiting. Wine, the story behind it and beautiful island of Exuma and its amazing people gets a special place in our hearts.
