As the sun begins to sink into the western horizon, the wind behind them picks up strength. At first, everyone smiles and laughs as the tiny boat begins to pick up speed and the temperature cools. But as twilight turns to night, the captain begins to look nervously over his shoulder. One by one, each passenger turns to see huge thunderhead clouds forming behind them, the wind increasing its strength. As the first stars begins to appear, lightning flashes across the sky and the sound of thunder grows closer.
Concern turns to fear as the captain begins giving sharp orders to Bouki, “Top off the fuel in the motor. Get it started now.” As the crewman unscrews the cap on the motor’s fuel tank, the captain lowers the sail. The wind is blowing much harder now, but the captain is able to get the sail lowered and stowed as rain begins to fall. The warm, soft rain is a relief and many of the passengers hold their heads back, opening their mouths to swallow the rain as it falls. A few even strip out of all their clothing and try to wring their wet clothes into their empty water jugs.
Suddenly, everyone’s attention is drawn to the captain as he begins shouting and swearing at Bouki. The motor will not start. The captain shoves Bouki aside and begins pulling on the starter rope. The rope pulls freely but the motor will not fire or sputter. It just will not start. After several minutes of pulling on the rope without result, the captain becomes winded and stops to think. Slowly, he opens the motor’s fuel tank and confirms that it isn’t somehow empty. Then reluctantly, as if he desperately wishes he could be anywhere else, he puts his nose to the tank opening and sniffs. Then the Captain turns slowly to Bouki and says in a low yet urgent voice, “The fuel doesn’t smell right. Give me the can you used to fill it.” Bouki hands him one of the fuel cans and the captain carefully sniffs it too. Then Captain pours some onto his hand and tastes it. His shoulders slump and he looks at Bouki. “That bastard sold us water, not fuel. You put water into our fuel tank. This motor will never start.”
Everyone stares in disbelief, until all the passengers start asking questions at once, shouting over each other, the entire boat rocking violently as everyone struggles to reach Captain on his perch to plead that he say it’s all a ruse. In less than a minute the passengers exhaust themselves and begin to cry or stare off into space. Henri watches as the captain and Bouki exchange a long stare. Captain nods and without another word, the two of them climb out of the wallowing fishing boat and into the dinghy.
Before anyone can react, the captain cuts the dinghy’s rope and shoves away from the side of the larger vessel. Bouki begins to pull on the oars until the life boat is out of reach of anyone on the fishing boat. Now the passengers begin to scream and shout. Some fall onto the slippery deck while others plead, some threaten, everyone trying to be heard over the din. But the captain doesn’t turn back and Bouki keeps pulling on the oars. This has the effect of silencing the passengers, with the exception of some racking sobs. When the captain is barely visible, he calls back to them, “We’re going for help. Just stay in the boat until we return.”
The dinghy disappears into the mist and fog. The passengers begin look around frantically, shoving past each other to look into the hold, but each emerges onto the deck empty-handed. Another crack of thunder sounds simultaneously with a blinding flash, as a lightning bolt strikes the fishing boat’s mast. Everyone on the boat crowds to the stern as far as possible from the mast. Another lightning strike lights the sky and Henri sees an enormous wave coming straight for the boat. The wave effortlessly lifts the bow of the boat out of the water and Henri finds himself launched into the air and into the stormy sea.
Henri kicks and pulls with his arms until he finally breaks the surface and can take a deep breath. That deep gulp is mostly seawater and a puff of air, as a massive wave crashes over Henri and submerges him again. Coughing with eyes streaming tears, he manages to fight his way to the surface again and sees a piece of debris floating nearby. He slowly swims toward it and grabs onto a chunk of wood with both hands. After taking a few coughing and retching breaths, he begins to get his bearings.
He sees Jocelyn struggling to keep Espwa’s head above water in the churning sea. He tries to swim toward her, but the waves are too high. Other passengers sink into the water around them, their hands reaching toward the sky as they sink. The rain is falling sideways now, its hail-like drops and gusting wind flaying him mercilessly. Henri turns his face back and forth in agony as the hard rain lashes his exposed skin. Finally, he collapses back onto the pile of debris. He licks his parched lips and opens his mouth in the hopes God will grant him one final mercy. He feels the embrace of peaceful bliss, as he sinks into the sea.
A lightning bolt splits the sky and in that flash of strobing light, the struggling fishing boat slowly capsizes and quickly slips into the inky water, taking another handful of passengers with it. One moment they are screaming and pleading to “Bon Dieu”. The next, they are gone as if God never even dreamed of them.