Troubled Waters

by Jerry Cole

  “Mother, that is harsh and unnecessary.”

  “Perhaps. Sorry. But it’s how I feel.”

  Darren was silent for a moment. “I’ll give your suggestions consideration. I know things have changed in all areas of my life and you’re right, I may need to reconsider my options. I promise to keep you posted.”

  ***

  “Fishing? You’ve got to be crazy. Why would I want to do that?” Tyler slammed shut the book he was reading.

  Darren was perplexed at his reaction. A bit over the top, he thought.

  “It’s what fathers and sons do,” Darren tried explaining, but it sounded lame even to him.

  “It’s brutal,” Tyler insisted.

  “But you eat fish all the time. You eat meat—beef, lamb, chicken. And bacon—you love bacon. Don’t you think that’s brutal too?”

  “Yes, but I don’t have to do the killing.”

  “But that doesn’t absolve you from responsibility. You’ve just removed yourself several steps from the act.”

  Tyler thought about that. “But I like chicken,” he said matter-of-factly. “And bacon.”

  “Then you have to take responsibility for their deaths.”

  Tyler scrunched up his face. “Life is complicated, isn’t it?”

  Darren laughed. “You got that right, kid.”

  “I suppose you’re trying to bond with me before I go off to school,” Tyler said, “Is that it?”

  Darren nodded. “Something like that. So what would it take? Give me a suggestion.”

  “How about we go check out the Hadron Particle Collider in Switzerland. That would be something bonding, don’t you think?”

  Shaking his head, Darren said, “I was thinking of something a little simpler and closer to home.”

  Tyler gave that some thought. “Ok, then, what about that fencing business? You’ve been on to me for ages about that.”

  “Excellent idea. What’s your weapon of choice—epée, saber, or foil?”

  “Oh golly, haven’t a clue. Do they have kid’s sizes?”

  Darren hadn’t thought about that. “I have no idea, maybe they do.”

  “Why don’t I do an Internet search on that?”

  Darren’s phone rang. It was Ness. “Do that.” He answered. “Hi, babe.”

  “Darren, it’s good to hear your voice.”

  “So happy to hear from you. I’m so looking forward to seeing you.” He walked into his bedroom where he could talk privately.

  “Me too.”

  “I can’t believe we’re just a week away from the concert.”

  “You must be swamped. Is it all on track?”

  “Last time I checked it was. I’m not at the office, I’m at home. But I check in with Mom or Melissa every day… well, many times a day now.” Ness didn’t respond. “Where are you today?”

  “Philippines. Hot, muggy, and crowded. But we had a great crowd at the concert.”

  “I can’t keep track of your schedule.”

  “Me either.”

  “I miss you so much.” Again Ness didn’t respond. “I see you on YouTube occasionally. You look different.”

  “Yeah, we’ve been working on the look.”

  “You seem to be going away from the simple fresh boy look. Your hair is… wilder. I don’t know. And last time I saw a video of you, it looked like you were wearing a lot of makeup. A lot more rock and roll, and a lot less a guy just singin’ his songs.”

  “Philippe does these polls… I don’t know.”

  “Do you like where it’s going or not?”

  Someone was talking in the background “What?” There was more indistinct chatter. “Look I’ve got to go. We’re at Philippines customs and we’ve got some sort of problem.”

  “Will you call me later?” Darren asked.

  “Will if I can. Sorry.” The call ended.

  Darren stared as his phone. He sat on the edge of his bed and shook his head. It wasn’t right. Something was just not right. And there was nothing he could do until they could be together again.

  ***

  “No. No. You’re not staying in a hotel, Ness. That’s ridiculous and out of the question,” Kori said, standing steadfast in her kitchen.

  “I’m already there. I don’t want to put the sisters out again. There’s no point when I can easily afford it and I have a car and driver at my disposal.”

  For the first time, Ness was standing up to his sister. Kori was not used to this defiance and was perplexed. She looked at her brother and hardly recognized him. Not only had his look changed, but he also was surly and short tempered. If she didn’t know better, she might think he didn’t even want to be here.

  “How’s Dad doing?”

  Kori crossed her arms to calm her agitation. “He’s doing better. The pneumonia has gone, but it’s weakened him.”

  “He’s not down at the boat, is he?” Ness asked, obviously incredulous.

  Kori relaxed her arms and shook her head. “No, thank heavens. Can you believe Tanis has actually set up a small office near the harbor? They book sight-seeing tours and fishing trips. Now he spends his time there, gabbing with potential customers and, believe it or not, they are actually starting to be successful.”

  “I’m happy to hear that.”

  “Yes, Tanis has done a great job promoting the new venture. She’s made up brochures and placed them in all the restaurants, shops, hotels, and bars. She even goes down to greet the buses from the capitol when they arrive and hands out flyers to the tourists.”

  “Good for her.” Ness stood smiling at Kori and finally asked, “Would it be possible to have some coffee?”

  Kori was caught off guard. She had never in her life not offered a guest coffee as soon as they’d arrived. “Oh, I am so sorry, don’t know what got into me. Of course.”

  She busied herself spooning the coffee and sugar into the briki. She looked over her shoulder. “Would you like something to eat with that?”

  Ness sat down at the table. “What you got to offer?”

  “Got some lemon chicken, or some left over spanakopita.”

  “Mmm. I’d like some of that. Nobody makes it like you do.”

  “Let me heat it up for you.”

  Ness was beginning to seem more like his old self, she observed. Kori didn’t know all that was going on in his life, but she suspected it was a hectic and disorienting existence. Maybe he would calm down at home. Being with his family couldn’t help but stabilize him and bring him back to his old self. At least, that’s what she hoped.

  “What do you hear from Darren?” she asked as she brought Ness his coffee.

  Ness looked at his cup and took a sip. “Not a lot. He’s busy. I’m busy. We chat for a few moments, and either I’m called away or he is.”

  “Didn’t you tell me he’s organizing that big concert?”

  “That’s right. I’m going to be in it. It’s next week, and then we’ll see each other, and hopefully have some time alone.” Ness didn’t seem too enthusiastic.

  “Are you two okay? Doesn’t sound to me like you feel the same about him.” Kori set down the heated spanakopita.

  “Oh no. We’re fine. It’s just… I don’t know. Life takes over.”

  “I remember when you were here with him, how happy you seemed. There was a sparkle. If you don’t mind my saying, I don’t see that in you now.”

  Ness sighed, and then looked up at his sister. “This whole singing gig has been a lot of work, Kori. It’s exhausting. And there’s so much new stuff. So many distractions. So much change. Know what I mean?”

  Kori nodded, but she didn’t really understand. How could she? Her life was so simple and quiet, and even boring. “How long can you be home this time?”

  “Not more than a few days. We’ve got to rehearse for the big concert, with some new songs. We’ve got a few new band members and there are some agents that want to represent me for some big name European commercials.”

  Kori frowned. “Ness, is this r
eally what you want? It seems to me you were much happier when you were just singing in a bar and coming home at night with a few Euros in your pocket.”

  “Nestor!” his sister, Tanis, cried out as she came into the kitchen. She threw her arms around his neck and leaned in to hug him from behind. “You... Are... A... Big... Old... STAR! You are! You’re in all the magazines, and Lia displays them in the window of her news shop.”

  Ness laughed. “Yeah, my curse.”

  “Curse? Why ever is that? Isn’t this what you always wanted?” She twirled around the table and sat in a chair so she could see him.

  He shrugged. “It’s just that I never imagined it like this. Always on call. Always in the public eye. With barely any private life. Sometimes I wonder what the point is.”

  “But you’re making the music you always wanted. You’re becoming famous. You have money. You can have and do anything you want,” Tanis said.

  “I guess I just need to get through the initial development phase. Then hopefully things will settle down.”

  Their father came into the kitchen and put his hand on Ness’ shoulder. Ness reached up and put his hand on his father’s. “Papa, come sit with us.”

  Demetri sat in a chair near Ness. “Son, it’s good to see you. We talk about you all the time. Kori and Tanis keep me up to date with all your goings on. They watch the television, and I guess Kori uses the Internet. They tell me you are very successful. I hope you don’t forget your old Papa and your family.”

  “I’d never do that,” Ness said. “But they keep me very busy and I don’t always have the time to stay in touch or visit. I’ve only got a couple of days this time.”

  Demetri nodded.

  “I hear good things about your new venture,” offered Ness.

  “We’re getting under way. Just like you, we are starting out. But it looks good.” He reached over and patted Tanis’ hand. “She’s a clever one, this daughter of mine.”

  Kori turned to the refrigerator and started taking out ingredients for their next meal. “Anyone want to help me with dinner?”

  ***

  After lunch the next—and Ness’ last—day, Kori took Ness for a walk up a trail that led from the back of the house to an old goat shepherd’s shack, now long abandoned. They walked hand-in-hand without speaking, passing though the lemon grove. Ness observed the trees needed pruning if they were to thrive. But he had no time this visit. Would he ever again? he wondered.

  The ground was spare and rocky. It was a miracle anything could grow here, but they’d had the lemon trees, and up ahead the orange trees, even before he was born. They had been planted by his great-grandfather. He remembered, as a child, he and his sisters had put out a table by the front gate and had sold oranges, lemons, and bunches of wild thyme to the passersby. They didn’t make a lot of money, but they were allowed to keep it all and divided it amongst themselves.

  It was a cloudless late September afternoon, and a light breeze came off the sea. The summer grasses had dried out, and the breeze rustled through them, whispering ancient songs of harvest and the coming winter, when the wind would blow cold and the goats would seek shelter behind the low rock walls.

  Kori let go of Ness’ hand and wrapped her sweater tighter around her as they neared the top of the ridge. “I have something to tell you,” she said softly. “But I haven’t told the others yet, so don’t mention it to anyone.”

  Ness nodded. “I won’t.”

  Kori shot Ness a quick glance. “I’m seeing someone.”

  Ness looked at her and smiled. “Really? Who?”

  “Doctor Kaliki.”

  Ness scowled. “You’re sick?”

  Kori laughed. “No, I’m not seeing him as a doctor. I’m seeing him as a man. We’re dating.”

  “But I thought he was married.”

  “He was, but Anna died two years ago. Don’t you remember?”

  Ness shook his head. “I’m a bit stupid when it comes to remembering things like that. So, is it serious?”

  “Could be,” Kori smiled sweetly.

  “My, that’s big news. What if you got married? Would you go to live with him?”

  “Of course, silly.”

  “But what about Papa and the family? You’ve always taken care of everything.”

  “They’d have to pitch in and help. Your other sisters are quite capable. It’s not unheard of. And I have my life too.”

  The walked on for a while until they came to the shack. It was sheltered by several olive trees and had a bench out front where they sat and leaned back to enjoy the view of the sea. They could even see the town off to the right. A sailboat was just entering the harbor. It looked like a toy boat a boy might pull along the quay with a string.

  Both were silent, enjoying the peace and listening to the birds fluttering and chirping in the olive trees.

  Ness turned toward Kori, “So, have you done it?” he asked mischievously.

  Kori turned her head and gave him her big sister stare. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” She turned and stared out again at the view.

  “Then do you think he’s going to ask you to marry him?”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised. He talks about how lonely he is with Anna gone, and he seems to like my company.”

  “That doesn’t sound very romantic.”

  “Well, Ness, we’re both in our forties. How much romance can there be?”

  “Some, I would hope.”

  Kori, ever practical, answered, “I think romance is highly overrated. It doesn’t last in any event, and it’s much better to have a relationship based on friendship, and good sound principles of compatible living.”

  “Ouch. That sounds dour.”

  Kori nodded several times. “Just you wait. If you and Darren get together permanently, you’re going to find it’s much more important to agree on which side of the bed to sleep, rather than what you do in that bed.”

  Ness laughed. “That is such a Kori thing to say. I just adore you. You’re going to make a wonderful wife and mother. You do plan to have kids, no? Then I get to be an uncle.”

  “Hey, Ness, one step at a time. He hasn’t even asked me yet and I haven’t agreed.”

  “Just sayin’…”

  Chapter Eleven

  Darren was in New York City, coordinating between the Philadelphia office and Linda Spencer, who was handling all the practical details of the concert. It was all coming down, for better or worse, tomorrow. And at this stage, Darren was expecting Armageddon.

  Linda was a tightly-wound, coffee-drinking, cigarette-smoking tornado. But everyone said she was the best. When she was working a major project like this, her blonde hair showed critically neglected dark roots. Her eyes, usually heavily made up, could bore a hole through the door of a bank safe. Her movements were staccato, and if she pointed at you, you’d better be on your way out the door or a guillotine blade would come crashing down to take off your head.

  Darren’s style couldn’t be more different. But he was her boss and was immune to her tantrums and beheadings.

  They were at the Radio City Music Hall, where the concert was going to take place. The concert would be broadcast live at nine o’clock, Eastern Time, but recorded for time delay viewings throughout the world. An entire call center in India had been hired to accept calls to collect donations for the project.

  Darren and Linda were standing on the vast forestage, looking upstage at the bandstand where a full orchestra would be in place. The individual acts and any of their accompanying musicians would be downstage of that.

  Darren was looking at the screen at the very back. It would be used to present video clips of their water projects. Melissa had done a great job pulling together quality demonstrations of their proposed projects. He turned to Linda. “Won’t the video seem a bit washed out on the television screen with all these other lights lighting the artists?”

  “I’ve instructed the director to patch in directly to the video when a segment is being featured,” L
inda said, sucking on her cigarette, even though there was no smoking allowed on stage.

  “I don’t know how you do it all,” said Darren, impressed. “It’s overwhelming to me.” Darren turned to inspect the vastness of the auditorium that sat six thousand.

  “Every one-a those damn seats is gonna be filled,” Linda said in her Brooklyn accent.

  “And up to a billion watching on the TV,” Darren said in wonder.

  “Hey kid, that’s why I get the big bucks.”

  “Have you been watching any of the rehearsals?”

  “Not my area. That’s the director’s gig. I got too much else to do.”

  Darren couldn’t help himself. “My boyfriend’s headlining in the second half.”

  “You a queer?” she asked unbelievingly.

  “Born and bred.”

  “Go figure. What’s his name?”

  “Ness.”

  “Ness what?”

  “Just Ness. Like just Cher.”

  “Oh. One-a those.”

  “One-a those what?” Darren asked.

  “One-a those uppity-do divas.”

  Darren laughed. “Guess he is… or will be. He’s still up and coming. Expect this exposure will send him over the top.”

  “Good luck with that. Best way I know to lose a lover is to have him be a mega-success.”

  That sobered Darren. “Hope not.”

  Linda turned to him. “Listen, doll, love the chatting and all, but I’ve got ten gazillion things to do yet. Got two dozen entertainers and their wives, husbands, and groupies coming into town and expecting to have their hand held till they get settled in their thousand-bucks-a-night suites and you know how much can go wrong with that?”

  “Plenty, I bet.”

  “You got that, cowboy.” She turned to leave but looked back. “You got my cell if you need me.”

  Darren waved. He stood in awe as the crew continued to work around him. He surveyed the surroundings and swore he would never do something like this again.

  He left the stage to take a taxi to JFK to meet Ness. He’d planned to meet his plane as a surprise and take him personally to the hotel. One fewer worry for Linda.

  ***

  Ness and crew were to arrive via private jet and would not be going through any of the usual JFK terminals. Instead, he’d been directed to an out of the way terminal far from the main hub, and the taxi driver was confused, frustrated, and short with Darren when he couldn’t find it. Darren attempted to be patient, but he was nervous about seeing Ness and let his pique show, just a little.