Lucy and a friend, Susie MacNamara, were on a trip to Havana, Cuba on a boat, in 1940. Fred (with HAIR!) and Ethel Mertz were on board, although they didn't know Lucy or me yet. Rudy Vallee is on board, and both Susie and Lucy commence to chase him around, fighting over who should get him.

Then they arrived in Havana, where my friend Carlos and I were waiting for the boat to come in.

Then, because Lucy and her friend complained to him about the lack of eligible bachelors on board the ship when he promised them romance, the cruise manager offered me and Carlos $10 to escort the ladies for the night, then told Lucy and her friend.

Lucy told me later that she said she'd take the one with the mustache (Carlos) but Susie wanted Carlos too, so they flipped on it. Lucy lost and asks for 2 out of 3, but Susie insisted.

I said I'd take the blonde (Lucy's friend) because I didn't like redheads, so Carlos and I flipped on it. I lost and asked for 2 out of 3, but Carlos insisted.

During the horse-drawn carriage ride, Carlos and Susie really liked each other, but Lucy and I didn't really. We stopped, Lucy asked why, and I said, "Up there, that peak, is supposed to be the most romantic spot in Havana. It's said that when a boy and a girl gaze at that peak together they fall instantly in love." We looked at the peak together, and went "Ehh..." at the same time.

Then I took the four to El Tambor, my uncle's restaraunt, which had drums for tables ("Clever," Lucy said). I bought a flower for Lucy and then was cajoled into singing a song-- "That Means I Love You". At the end, I did the drum beats that mean I Love You, and Lucy does them back. We started doing drumbeats back and forth. This continued and finally she demanded "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?"

I said, "Please, not here!"

Later Carlos and I came by the hotel Lucy and Susie were staying in to sing the same song and Lucy came out, heard the cruise director (who had stopped by to give us our money) saying "Here's the $10" (but didn't not hear Carlos and I refuse the money), went in, and told Susie. When we began serenading them, the girls dropped flower pots on our heads.

The next morning we came by and asked "Is it an American custom to drop flower pots on the heads of the ones you love?"

The girls come around, and Lucy said, "No, but it is an American custom that when a couple fights, they kiss and make up."

"That's a nice custom," I replied.

We kissed.

Suddenly Lucy started crying.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"We have to go back to America tonight and we'll never see you again!"

I responded that we had to have permanent jobs in the U.S. to get to America, and that maybe Rudy Vallee (who Lucy said they knew "personally" but really they just chased him around the ship) will let us audition for him.

Lucy tried to get Rudy Vallee over there without telling him of the future prospects, but he only seemed interested in singing his own songs. Lucy got mad at him, he got mad at Lucy, I got mad at Rudy for being mad at Lucy, and total mayhem ensued.

A drunk poured some rum into a water jug to hide it from a judge. Then Lucy, me, Carlos, Susie, Rudy, Ethel, Fred and a dozen others came rushing into the judge's office, and finally what happened was Rudy left $100 that should have "covered the damage" and they all left so Carlos and I could get the papers they need, except for Lucy and Susie, who had to stay to make sure $100 will cover it. It didn't, and they end up needing $93 more. They were thrown in jail with the same water that has the rum in it, and only a short amount of time until the boat left for America.

Well, naturally they got drunk, and ended up breaking out of jail quite easily, even though they are terribly drunk. They do escape though, and ended up getting on the boat by sitting on a big net holding a lot of bananas. Ricky tries to help them up and ends up holding on for dear life.

And that's how Lucy and I met...if you don't believe that, then you don't know Lucy!