I decide to take a 'five' and ask Malik to hold the fort while I go on the other side of the square to take a leak. I stroll across the square and head toward the Broadway maxi stand. But before I could reach there I see a well dressed young lady in some kind of uniform standing just by Cipriani statue. She look like she was waiting for transport or something. If is that she doing then that is the wrong place to be.
I move up beside she in a kind of authoritative way.
" Good Looking, you' waiting on transportation?" I say.
She turn around and watch me with cut-eye like she is a meat inspector. She got her thick dark hair comb back from her forhead and remind me of one of them film stars.
" Why you ask that?" she say.
" I is a dectective. I can pick up on things like that," I say.
" Oh!" she say and smile. She look like she is impressed. " But you ain't look like a detective."
" I working under-cover," I say. " Detective Kissoon is the name. Mark Kissoon."
She look at the hand I stuck out for a second before shaking it.
" I'm Karen Singh," she say.
" I can tell you're not a regular in town," I say and feel safe in this guess since I am a regular in the square and she can't remember me.
" No, I'm from Tobago. I just start working down Frederick street," she say.
" Where you heading ?"
" I heading home."
" Where is home?"
" Meh mother tell me not to let strangers know where I living," she say with a smile and I can't decide whether she serious or she joking.
" But I just tell you my name. We ain't strangers no more," I say.
That is when we hear the 'boom' from somewhere in the St. Vincent street area and the ground shake a little bit. We turn to see what happen in that direction. Maybe somebody playing the ass with a firecracker but that sound too big for a fire cracker. I can't make any sense of what cause that noise. The crowd standing around and everybody straining their necks in that general direction and talking 'bout earthquake. For a moment everything seem to be at a standstill.