Should Have Known

Should have known the morning was going to be a little sketchy when the cashier at the hardware store asked me for ID after Id been in there twice weekly for 7 months and then handed me back a 500 peso note because a piece the size of deer tick was missing from one corner. 
Sure enough after leaving the hardware store we were headed through Sosua on the way to the farm with 15 pieces of 16 foot lumber on the roof of the Tracker. An officer who I’ve seen every other morning for same 7 months with much larger previous loads on top waves me over with a very aggressive forearm and index finger. He starts yelling at me in Spanish that I’m driving a car and not a truck. Long lumber should be carried in a truck he said! You need a red flag on the end of that lumber he said. Leave your car here and go to back to the hardware store for a flag he said as he pointed 5 miles back in the opposite direction with the same index finger. I left the officer mid wag and walked calmly through two lanes of traffic horns blaring as I spotted a man walking towards a bus stop in a red t shirt on the other side of the street. Please sir I said. “Would you mind trading your Red Bob Marley shirt for my Blue Masters Surf Reunion shirt plus ten bucks”. The two of us stood there half naked for a moment and then I ran back to the car grabbed the duct tape and in one rapid motion wound the roll around Bob Marley and the 1 x 8’s before thanking the officer politely and hitting the gas pedal. Rest of the day was quite peaceful. Bob Marley will be joining us again tomorrow.