I ordered a Coke because I had to work at five and Russ ordered another rum punch and then together we ordered garlic chicken with rice and beans and johnnycakes. We stuffed our faces and we talked. I told Russ the long story of my relationship with Oscar and then he told me that he was down in the Virgin Islands because he had been offered a job with a hedge fund that was owned and operated by Todd Croft, whom he had known during his college years.

“At Northwestern?” I said, proud of myself for remembering.

“Todd flunked out freshman year but he hung around Winnetka and we had some business dealings.”

I laughed. “Business dealings? At eighteen?”

Russ sighed. “I haven’t even told my wife this story…”

“What?”

“Todd had a contact who wanted to sell alcohol to underclassmen in the dorm. My sophomore year, I was an RA—resident adviser—and in exchange for me looking the other way, Todd gave me a cut of his profits.”

“Russ!” I said. “I wouldn’t have pegged you as a criminal.”

“We never got caught,” Russ said. “I have a trustworthy face, I guess.”

“So I take it Todd has moved on from the smuggling business?” I said.

“High finance,” Russ said. “And I mean high. Todd is an impressive guy, though. He got a job working in one of those boiler rooms, calling people cold and encouraging them to invest money…and now his hedge fund is worth nearly three billion dollars.”

“No wonder you’re going to work for him,” I said. “What an opportunity.”

“For the past seventeen years, I’ve worked for the Corn Refiners Association,” Russ said. “But the pay is peanuts and my wife, Irene, is unhappy. She keeps a stiff upper lip. She’s from some pretty hardy Scandinavian stock, but I can tell she thinks I’m a failure. And most days I’m pretty sure she thinks about leaving me.”

“Oh my God,” I said. “She would have to be crazy to think about leaving you.”

He stared at me a second with a look of utter amazement and something changed between us then. I felt equal parts terrible and triumphant about it, but terrible won out and I didn’t even stay for a swim. I plunked down ten bucks for the food, offered Russ my hand, and said, “I wish all visitors to our fair island were like you, Russ. Thank you for your help with Oscar. I will forever be grateful.”

Russ held my hand and said, “Stay a little longer, can you?”