Jamaisvous went on to explain that coffee was grown mainly along the steep mountainsides hi the central section of the island. Obtaining the beans was troublesome and dangerous, but worth the effort.
Baskets of hot corn muffins were placed at either end of the table, along with small shining platters of butter and glistening Guayaba jelly. The main meal was the exotic-sounding Lechon Asado, which everyone was glad to see translated as barbecued pig. The roasted meat had a spicy, pungent flavor that came from an assortment of native seasonings. Jamaisvous pointed out that the dish was roasted over an outdoor fire, not within the walls of an indoor kitchen, and rotated by hand on a regular basis on a pole stack lengthwise through the animal.
The meat was served with a hot stuffed pepper on the side and a dollop of strong-smelling garlic sauce called ajilimojili that most of the group didn’t eat, except for Doc who was glad to partake of both Dean’s and Mildred’s helpings.
Asopao, a thick rice soup with more of the native herbs, accompanied the meat. Pepper and fresh asparagus tips were mixed into the thick liquids, causing Ryan to reflect that the soup alone was more of a meal than most of them were used to eating.
A pineapple cake with coconut shavings feathering its cream-cheese icing was presented for dessert and even though their stomachs were full, no one could resist taking a slice of the sweet offering. The edges of the dessert plates were lipped slightly, helping to keep the sweet pineapple juice from escaping as forks cut into the delicious confection.
“Keep feeding me like this and I’ll never leave,” Krysty joked.
“My dear woman, you may stay with me as long as you like,” Jamaisvous replied. “All of you. Puerto Rico is my own private paradise on earth, and I’m more than willing to share.”
THAT NIGHT, safe and snug in bed, Ryan and Krysty took time out in their private fortress room to make long passionate love, allowing themselves release time and again between the cool sheets. J.B. and Mildred did the same in then” own room across the hall, each of them savoring the privacy, since J.B. had never been comfortable with displays of overt emotion or passion in front of others.
The- other two rooms in the guest section of El Morro were currently empty. The one belonging to Doc was vacant, since the elder member of the group of survivalists was elsewhere within the majestic fortress. He had chosen to forgo bed and sleep in order to stay behind with a snifter of brandy and continue his discussion with Dr. Jamaisvous.
Dean and Jak agreed to serve as the eyes and ears for the rest of the group. To pass the late-night hours before they were relieved of guard duty, Dean suggested they amuse themselves by playing an old children’s game.
He had found the box in a parlor cabinet off the dining room where all had retired after the dessert for drinks. Chuckling over the discovery, Jamaisvous had told Dean to take the game with his blessing, and do with it as he wished.
“What the hell is a ‘Cootie’ anyway?” Dean remarked, turning the worn cardboard box in his hands to look at the words printed on the back.
“Looks like big bug. Hate bugs,” Jak replied with a frown, his red eyes narrowed into dusky rubies as he stared at the photograph on the front.
Dean silently read the instructions that had been conveniently printed on the back of the game box, along with cartoons illustrating proper play. “Seems triple simple to me,” he finally declared, opening the lid and taking out a flat numerical spinner.
“See, we spin this thing here, this spinner, and when it stops it points to a color and a body part. We pick one and start building the Cootie. Whoever gets his Cootie built first is the winner,” Dean told the watching Jak.
“Stupe game,” the albino said, rolling his eyes as he held up a yellow segmented insect leg made of soft plastic. “Making big bug. No need make. Go out find plenty.”
Dean dumped the contents of the brightly colored box onto the surface of the wooden table they had pulled into the hall, right outside the doors leading to the individual bedrooms. Red thoraxes, orange bodies and blue heads joined a scramble of yellow insect legs on the tabletop.