Chapter 50 Turtle with one wooden leg - 12

"My name is Arnold Bam," said the man to Georges Taras. "It was I who called you from New York this morning, and I called you from Bangor two hours ago." He looked around and said, "You like red, don't you?" "The bathroom is white," Taras thought to himself as he replied, in a conversation that sounded like two spies exchanging silly liaison codes. He asked the visitor: "How about a cup of tea? I still have some freshly baked muffins. Today is Friday. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, someone brings me muffins." "Then I'll take it easy," Bam replied. "Honestly, I'm freezing."

Through the narrow window of his study, he looked out towards the Atlantic Ocean beyond Blue Hill Bay, and couldn't help shivering. "In my hometown," he said. "If the water turns that color, we'll all get under the covers and stay in bed until spring." "Where are you from?" "Cayman Brac. I'm actually a Little Caymanian though." Taras had checked the map hastily after Bam's call, but the map was disappointingly simple. “It’s my turn to be honest,” Taalas said. “I know next to nothing about the Cayman Islands.” "No need to say hello, that's normal. We've been a British colony since 1670; but when I first appeared at the Foreign Office in London, the officer in charge looked at me suspiciously and asked : "Are you absolutely sure it exists and is ours? 'I should mention in passing that we were discovered by Christopher Columbus himself in 1503. "

"Brilliant," said Taras. Bam smiled slightly. "Isn't it? It's not hard to find us. Just draw Cuba to the north, Mexico's Yucatan to the west, Honduras to the south, and Jamaica to the east. The big Caribbean Sea in the middle looks like nothing." No. But don't believe the delusion, we are there, right in the middle. We are made up of three islands: Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. Our capital is George Town, On Grand Cayman. According to last year's census, George Town has 7,677 residents, and the three islands have a total of 16,677 people. The problem is that Grand Cayman is far from Small Cayman is 143 kilometers away and Little Cayman is 8 kilometers away from Cayman Brac...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Just got on a bus and went to town. Fortunately, like many people, I have my own plane. I'm a banker. Almost everyone there is a banker; there are five hundred and forty-two banks on our land. In other words, there is about one bank for every thirty inhabitants, including children. Our main source of income is banks and sea turtles; we export fresh sea turtles or dried sea turtles for soup. What else do you want to know Is it?"

"I think this introduction is comprehensive enough," said Taras, somewhat surprised. "Instigate, yes! Flags. Francisco Santana told me your name and address, and he said we ought to have a flag. That's a real problem. We don't have anything but the Union Jack. Flags - at least not until last week. It just so happened that an idea came to my sister (she's our Foreign Minister too): take down that thing we hang in front of Parliament. My sister's cook drew the same with a sewing machine Hulu made one, and here it is." He put a long box on Taras' desk, took out a small piece of cloth from it, and spread it out.

"Oh my God!" Taras exclaimed. "What is this thing?" "This thing" was a sea turtle dressed as a pirate, with a black strip over one eye and a wooden leg. "Our coat of arms," ​​Bam said with an endearing grin. "Yes, I know it looks a bit odd, but my sister brought it up to the House of Commons. They all agreed it was as good as any other, except for Chip Fitzsimmons. But Chip Fitzsimons Adams always votes against any proposal with his eyes closed. In particular, he is my brother-in-law, and he and my sister are likely to be divorced." Taras sat down.At this moment he was confronted with two enemies: on the one hand, there was an immediate danger of laughing, and on the other hand, the threat was infinitely more serious. Although the visitor was lovely and charming, Taras had a premonition that something big could end. A tragic event is about to start from this person.Taras, however, maintained a British salacious tone as he posed the next question.

"Put some milk in the tea, will you?" "Just a little bit." However, another question that Taras posed later was of a very different nature. "What did you and Francisco Santana agree on?" "Mr. Santana, as an old friend, has convinced us that you, Mr. Taras, will assist us in all matters pertaining to our quest for admission to the United Nations as a free and independent nation. Financial matters have been settled , we have nothing to worry about in this regard, there is really no problem. Mr. Santana, as legal counsel, a company based in our country, has very generously given us an entire floor of the Manhattan office. Actually, we don't need that much Large area: The delegation I will be leading will have only one member, myself. The role of head of the delegation does not have much impact on my timetable, because I am already in New York often. Can you make all the necessary steps Arrangements, Mr. Taras?"

"of course can." "Today is November 9, 1979. Is everything ready?" All the blood in Taras' body was boiling. "Okay," he said, "that's perfectly possible. Did Santana propose a date?" "He was very much in favor of the date of May 5, 1980," Bam said. While drinking tea, he looked around curiously, his eyes were attracted by the piles of books, and he looked leisurely.Taras, on the other hand, had to put down the teacup trembling in his hand, thinking: May 5, 1980, and that day were exactly thirty-five years apart. He asked, "When was May 5, 1980?"

"The next General Assembly of the United Nations will open on that day. There may be representatives of about one hundred and sixty countries in attendance, and another twenty countries will send observers, the most important of which are Tuas, Rhodesia, the two North Korea. As a representative of a new member state, I will be given time to speak in the General Assembly and have the right to move a motion to all delegates who will let me finish my work. I will then move the motion, And then give a portion of my speaking time to another person who, frankly, I know next to nothing about.”

"But you know his name after all," Taras pointed out, his heart beating wildly. "That's true."