It seemed the black man was enjoying his meal by the way he was cutting that chicken into thick slices like a pizza. I had been nervous that he’d complain about it being over-cooked or if it was cold. He was the kind of man who would deliberately try to find something wrong just so he could complain. It seemed like he enjoyed being one of those feisty customers.

I had noticed their beers were being drained and went to check up on them to make sure if everything was still on point.

“Are you enjoying your meal guys?” I asked with a smile.

“Yes. It’s lovely. Thank you,” the Indian man nodded while he cut another piece of his T- Bone.

“Can I refill your glasses gentlemen?” I asked again.

The black man picked up his glass and drank all of the beer in one gulp and passed me the glass without a word.

“Yes. Another one would be lovely. Thanks,” The Indian man replied while he also told me to top the one he was drinking up.

“Alright,” I responded while I went to the bartender to refill for me.

“Please pour it in a new glass. This one that hasn’t been finished.”

“And the other one?” the bartender asked.

“Nah, just fill it up in the same glass. That guy is an asshole.”

“Don’t worry I’ll sort him out for you,” the bartender said smiling.

We teased and giggled. After he had finished, I went back to the table and gave them their beers. They seemed to have finished their meals, so I took their plates and went to put them in the sink in the kitchen.

“Are you still alright?” Mark asked again. “Is that man still giving you trouble?”

“No I think he’s okay now. That peri-peri kept his mouth shut.” We both laughed out loud.

I saw Anthea chilling with the bartender as I went to join them.

“You seem to be doing well and handling that man with good manners,” Anthea congratulated me.

“But he must watch out because I don’t want him messing around with my girls,” said the bartender. His girlfriend must be a lucky girl to have a man like that, I thought. I’d feel safe with him. He seemed like the type of person who’d protect me.

“We are not your girls! Get it into that big forehead of yours!” Anthea protested.

I sighed, holding back a giggle.

“Come on Anthea. He’s being sweet,” I responded.

“Narrh. He just wants to get into your pants.”

The bartender winked at me.

“Ooh, is that so?” I asked looking at him with naughty eyes as if to say, ‘let’s go get it on’.

We all sniggered.

“Excuse me,” the Indian man called out for my attention.

“Thank you for your great service,” he said, giving me a R200 tip. I was so surprised that he’d give me so much money for just doing my job. I heard about the tips, but didn’t expect this much. I thanked him.

All of a sudden it started raining heavily and the boat started rocking. A storm had made the ocean violent and the waves were choppy.

The boat moved sideways making us lose balance. The black man had fallen from his chair and the table slid across the floor. Then there was a crash. The boat had hit something which made the red emergency light started flickering.

“What the fuck is going on over here!” the black man protested.

I had no answers. I looked at Anthea. She had knocked her head and was lying unconscious on the floor. The bartender had come to me without me noticing

“Come on, get up,” he said, pulling me up.

While we went to the boat controller to find out what was going on we saw that water was rushing into the boat.

The captain had lost control of the boat. A huge wave washed the bartender into the ocean.

“Help me!” he shouted. I knew he would drown if I didn’t rescue him. But I couldn’t do anything as I if I let go of the railing I would drown too.

Then a gigantic wave flipped the boat right over. I thought that my life was about to end.

***

Tell us: What would you do in last moments?