July 11

The S.S. Demeter arrived at the Strait of Istanbul. This was the eastern part of a natural strait in Turkey.

July 12

The S.S. Demeter arrived at the Dardanelles. This was the western part of a natural strait in Turkey.

July 13

The S.S. Demeter reached at Cape Matapan in southwest Greece.

July 14

The crew appeared to be scared and restless. The first mate asked them what was wrong, but they only crossed themselves in silence.

July 16

At the change of shifts, Black Russian Derrel Olgaren ran to the ship’s helm and waved to his Black Russian friend, Jerome Petrofsky. Jerome had been on port watch for eight hours and it was now Derrel’s turn to man the watchtower.

“Hello there, Jerome,” called Derrel. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

“Hallelujah! I been waiting up here forever,” came Jerome’s voice. “Somebody better start praying before I forget I know Black Jesus.”

Jerome hopped down from the deck.

“Preach!” said Jerome.

“What does that mean?” asked Derrel.

“Ay, K, I’m keeping it real,” said Jerome. “Let me hear it, let me hear it.”

“I’m sorry that I kept you waiting,” said Kellan. “I know that when you’re tired, every minute seems like an eternity.”

“I’m just playing with you, dawg. We good,” said Jerome.

Jerome gave Derrel a half hug by putting his right hand on Derrel’s right shoulder.

“Proverbs 14:30: don’t hate the player,” said Jerome.

Jerome walked away. Derrel stood for a moment, puzzled. His friend never talked like that before. He hoped that he was all right.

A few hours into Derrel’s shift, Kellan Amramoff came by and asked where Jerome was. Apparently, Jerome never showed up to his bedroom. The crew arranged a search party, but they couldn’t find any trace or clue of their Black friend.

Jerome had gone missing.