Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary

Three men wait in Havana's Pearl of San Francisco Café to beg Harry Morgan to take illegal immigrants from Cuba to Florida for $1,000 apiece. Morgan would like to oblige but cannot. He could lose his boat or be jailed. Morgan never carries cargo that can talk. The men are offended. Morgan watches them leave, good looking and well dressed, seemingly wealthy. Morgan sees a car drive up and bullets fly from a submachine gun and an automatic shotgun. The men are killed. Morgan slips out the back way, and down to his boat.

Johnson has chartered the boat for three weeks of fishing. Morgan furnishes the tackle. Eddy arranges the deal and earns $4 a day helping Morgan. Eddy casts off when "the nigger" comes aboard and starts fixing bait. He is a fast, smart worker who spends his pay on rumba...