by Payne, Jenna
“I am, mostly anyway,” she told him smiling in return. His eyes sparkled in the sunlight and his pleasure in being with her was obvious. He took her hand.
“How can you be “mostly” off duty?” he asked amused. She squeezed his hand.
“I am just keeping an eye on the traffic. Not everyone is an expert at maneuvering their vessels, so it is good to see if anyone is getting too close. Once everyone is secure then we only have to worry about the drunks. People like to drink their margaritas at these things,” she said with a chuckle. As if on cue Katy and Sonny came out hauling the barbecue and putting it on the forward deck. Sonny looked up at them.
“So Captain, how can they have a Jimmy Buffett festival without the man himself?’ he asked.
“Beats me, but they do it every year. Sometimes he is here, sometimes not. I think most people just like to celebrate the music…and cheeseburgers,” she finished getting a laugh from him and Brock. Katy gave her a look.
“Don’t encourage him,” she said as Sonny began singing again.
“Come on cheeseburger boy, we have more stuff to get,” she ordered Sonny who obediently followed her back below deck. Chuckling Eve picked up her binoculars and looked around.
“I never would have suspected Sonny being so silly,” she told Brock.
“Yes, he surprises people. He usually doesn’t get this way unless he is very comfortable with his surroundings. It is good for me though. I have a tendency to ride a desk for too long. He is the one who kicks me to get me out from behind the desk and into life. We are a good team. I am the more serious and he reminds me when it is time to not be so serious. You and Katy seem to have a good working relationship,” he said. Eve noticed in the back of the rows of boats, one that was a lot like the Black Minnow. She vowed to keep an eye on it.
“We do. She was a wharf rat, always looking for work on a boat. We got along and when I realized I needed help she was the perfect fit. It is good to be able to work with someone you like and respect. It makes a difference,” she told him finishing her scan of the area. She handed him the binoculars. He raised them scanning the crowd of boats like she had.
“So how are you feeling about last night?” he asked casually. Eve glanced at him, admiring his profile as he used the binoculars.
“Good actually. A few years ago I don’t think it would have happened, but now I am kind of Zen with it. I am not sure why,” she admitted. He chuckled.
“That looks like the Black Minnow, Eve,” he told her.
“I saw it. We will keep an eye on her,” she responded. He nodded and swung the binoculars to the south.
“I would guess,” Brock began, still surveying the area, “that it is a thing of freedom. In our case we can do whatever we want in life. With the money we have, as long as we follow certain laws, we can do anything we desire. For you, your only restriction is how much fuel you have in the tank. After a while of freedom like that I think people, myself included, become more open and willing to indulge in their passions,” he lowered the binoculars as he finished. Looking at her he smiled. She thought he had a point and nodded agreement.
“It is a little weird being attracted to two men and spending time with both. Not in a bad way though. How about you two?” she asked curiously.
“Well, it is the first time we have ever done something like that together, but we are pretty secure and are good with it. You were wonderful and we had a great time, so why worry beyond not wanting to offend you. We are both very fond of you dear,” he told her. She took his hand again and caressed it with her thumb.
“Good, because I am very fond of the both of you and hope to find out where this thing goes. It is uncharted waters for me.”
He smiled in agreement and kissed her briefly before looking through the glass again. They stood in companionable silence on the bridge until both Sonny and Katy came back up. Both of them were singing ‘Margaritaville’. Eve and Brock started laughing.
*****
The fireworks were spectacular. Everyone cheered as they went off to a soundtrack of Jimmy Buffett. Eve was pretty sure Sonny was in heaven. The docking spaces were full and the crowd was loud and raucous. There was a lot of singing and laughing from everyone involved. Brock had got into the spirit and made margaritas so he and Sonny drank a few of those. Katy had one, but cut herself off and Eve stuck to tea until they got to their spot for the night. She was having a good time and was still able to keep an eyes on things. Brock gave her a quick kiss and headed down below to the head while the fireworks were getting bigger. Eve gasped when after a few minutes the finale came and the explosions and synchronized lights were really spectacular. She cheered with Katy and Sonny, clapping with the crowd until she realized Brock had missed the finale. She looked around and didn’t see him so she headed down below deck.
“Brock, you here. You missed the big stuff. Are those cheeseburgers coming back up?” she asked humorously as she approached the head. The door was cracked open and she saw he wasn’t there. She checked the rest of the cabins and he wasn’t there either. She began to get nervous and went back up checking for him again before climbing up to the bridge.
“What’s up boss,” she heard Katy call.
“I can’t find Brock, he’s not down below,” she told her and began scanning the area around them as Katy began checking overboard with a suddenly serious Sonny. Eve could see several boats had already began making their way out of the area and she focused on the closest one. The lights from all the boats did a good job of keeping visibility high and she realized it was the Black Minnow. She grabbed her binoculars and focused in. She could see people in the water next to the boat and immediately started up the Eve’s Pleasure. She pointed where she was looking before Katy could ask. She had a pair of binoculars around her neck and raised them. With a better look Eve saw one of the men in the water was Brock. She felt a rising rage within her that she had not felt before, and with a snarl started moving her boat towards her friend. Katy and Sonny were shouting as she raised Coast Guard. She realized what was going on and it made her even more furious.
“This is Eve’s Pleasure… it looks like one of my guests has been kidnapped. I can see him being pulled onto another boat about fifty yard’s way. My location is…” she rattled off the GPS coordinates for the dispatcher. She kept one hand on the wheel and lifted her binoculars again. She could see Brock struggling with two men on the Black Minnow and suddenly he was free and diving over board.
“He went over!” Eve heard Katy call out. At that same time, she heard a shot and her hair felt like it was parted followed by the sound of a ricochet. She immediately crouched down with blood dripping down her face.
“Coast guard we are being fired on! Eve’s Pleasure is being fired on. We have a man in the water. Anytime would be good!” As she said the last, four more bullets peppered her bridge shattering the windshield and she cried out in surprise.
“Almost there, Captain Sage. Hold on. We have your passenger manifest, we understand, hold on,” the dispatcher told her. Eve loved the Coast Guard more than ever. Extremely rich people were always worried about kidnapping from various groups, and since they were on the far southern edge of the United States jurisdiction, whoever was on the Black Minnow, was making a grab for Brock. It was not unheard of and some people had actually paid the ransom that was demanded. Unfortunately, it was rare that the kidnapped person was found alive. Eve was not going to let that happen.
She quickly looked up over the dash and saw Katy had a spot light switched on to really light things up. Eve steered straight ahead towards the Black Minnow keeping Brock to the port side. She heard a few more shots but nothing hit the boat again that she could tell. Just as she came abreast of Brock she spun the wheel, turning so that she put Eve’s Pleasure sideways between the bad guys and Brock.
Eve saw a life preserver being thrown out and this time Brock was able to grasp it. Katy and Sonny were immediately reeling him in and as soon as he was on board she started spee
ding up to get away from the Black Minnow.
“We got him!” came Katy’s shout, and Eve moved the throttle forward further increasing their speed. Soon they were clear of the party boats entirely and she heard the sound of a helicopter. Then there were lights flashing everywhere and a voice on a loudspeaker.
“Shut it down Black Minnow. This s the United States Coast Guard. You are being detained. Shut it down Black Minnow.”
Looking back Eve could see a Coast Guard cutter had gotten close to the Black Minnow and the helicopter was hovering above it. She powered her boat down with a sigh of relief. Once the boat was resting she turned to go down to the others and felt a stabbing pain in her foot. She had forgotten that she had taken off her boat shoes earlier in the evening. She gasped, staggering to the railing. Holding on and standing on one foot, she could see blood running out of the deep gash caused by the shattered glass from the windshield. Shit, she thought to herself, this is all I need, as she watched blood flow pretty freely from her foot. She was also beginning to feel dizzy from her head wound. It only then occurred to her that she had been shot. She shouted for help and Katy was up to help her in an instant.
“Watch your step!” she yelled panicked that Katy could be hurt too.
Katy helped her to a chair yelling down to the guests to stay put and wait for the Coast Guard. Then she grabbed a medical kit.
“Jesus girlfriend, that is deep. I am glad the Coast Guard is almost here. Luckily your head wound is shallow, but head wounds bleed. Glass got you when the windshield shattered?” Katy asked, trying to be conversational. Eve couldn’t lie to her friend. Eve jerked her foot back several times as the pain shot through her foot and up her leg. Then gasping she told her.
“No dear, that was a bullet. The foot was glass.” Katy’s eyes welled up and a spot light flashed over the boat. Katy stood gesturing.
“The Captain is injured, she has been shot and needs a medic fast!” Katy shouted. Then she bent over and hugged Eve before dabbing her head wound and foot. She sniffled and seemed to gather herself. Eve had a feeling she was going into shock as everything took on an ethereal look. She could hear Brock and Sonny shouting for the Coast Guard.
“This is embarrassing. Getting shot and then stepping on glass,” she said. It came out a whisper.
“Positive Eve, stay positive,” Katy said at an attempt at humor. Eve was game.
“Ok, yippee I am still alive!” Laughing hurt her foot she found out.
The next day Eve was sitting on her forward deck with her wrapped foot up, a bandage on her head, and a margarita within reach. Sonny had insisted. Both men had been incredibly helpful and courteous. She was pampered by them and Katy until she felt embarrassed by all the attention. She had orders to stay off of her foot, and they were tied up at a dock that had offered the space for free after their ordeal.
It turned out that while they were all distracted by the fireworks, two men had snuck onboard, bided their time and when Brock was alone grabbed him. They had guns and Brock had done what they said because he had been afraid for his friends. Once on their boat he had fought back and dove overboard to escape. After some interrogation it was discovered it was a group of South American toughs who had thought to make some quick money. Too bad for them.
“I hope this doesn’t put you guys off of Key West?” she asked the guys.
“Not at all. The odds of it happening again are next to impossible. How about you. You are the one who got your boat, and your person, shot up,” Brock asked her gently. Eve shook her head.
“A lot of weird stuff happens in this part of the world. I never expected anything like this to happen to me and mine, but it does happen. Nope, I am sticking to it. Once I am allowed to anyway,” she finished with a comical glare at her First Mate.
“Just following doctor’s orders Captain. Then we can be on our way,” she told her. Then Katy bent over and kissed her check before heading down below.
“Where is she going?” she wondered out aloud. Sonny answered.
“It is barbecue time. You missed it up on the bridge last night. Now you get a front row seat,” Sonny said. He was sitting on one side of her, and Brock was on a stool in front of her. She could not help sighing, but then smiling. Despite what had happened she realized she had two gorgeous men waiting on her with her best friend riding shotgun. She could not be in better hands. She eyed them both with a slight smile and they watched her with concern and care. It felt wonderful.
“Well guys, I don’t know where this thing we have is going to lead, but I am more determined than ever to get there, how about you two? Not scared off from me?” she asked hesitantly. They both leaned in and kissed her, one after the other.
“No chance Captain Sage. You are stuck with us for the next two weeks at sea and much longer in Miami. Think you can handle us?” was Brock’s response. Right then Katy chose to come back singing.
“I like mine with lettuce and tomatoes!”
Eve sighed again.
THE END
Bonus Story 32 of 40
Her Mafia Landlord
Darlene awoke in her 95 Honda Civic for the fourth morning in a row with one of the homeless people of Los Angeles tapping at her window. Today it was a woman who looked old enough to be Darlene’s mother. Although Darlene hadn’t seen this woman before, her dusty face, gray-blue eyes, and curly blonde hair blended with the face of Darlene’s mother seamlessly as she tore awake from a dream about home.
“Spare some money for breakfast?” the woman asked.
The fact that Darlene had just been dreaming about her deceased mother made her see the woman’s request in a different light. The homeless in Detroit weren’t as ruthless as the ones she’d been waking up to in L.A., but back home they seemed to be more dangerous.
Darlene reached into her Seychelles shoe where she kept her cash hidden while she slept. Taking a few wrinkled singles from the wad, Darlene considered how she’d been rationing all of her money until she found a place to live. I can live without a couple bucks, she thought. Darlene unrolled the passenger side window and reached out for the woman to take the money.
“It’s not much, but I hope it helps,” Darlene said.
The woman curled her lips upon seeing that there were only two measly singles. “I’d rather take these bills and shove them up your ass with my teeth,” the woman said hoarsely before spitting with laughter. As the woman walked away without the money, Darlene felt the like the receiving end of some sadistic joke.
Darlene wondered what the point of that was.
There was no reason for the woman to be so malicious, and Darlene decided, against her better judgment, that she would never be a person who gives hand outs in Los Angeles ever again. If she were going to make it in this metropolis she would have to grow tough skin and worry about nobody but herself.
Darlene had done well for herself as an interior designer back home. After getting her degree from the University of Michigan, Darlene couldn’t afford to stay in Ann Arbor. She moved back to Detroit to live in her father’s apartment with him, above the Italian restaurant he owned. Although Darlene had made some connections in Detroit through her father, the Italian Mafiosos who hired her limited her creativity as an interior designer.
Since everyone knew and respected her father, they’d always pay her extra as a courtesy to the running her father used to do for the mob. Darlene didn’t love designing the same type of décor for Italian restaurants, bars, delis, and pizza places. A couple of her aunts opened up flower shops as fronts for money trafficking. These were the only projects that even mildly inspired Darlene. However, she didn’t like knowing that the hard work she put into orchestrating the perfect combination of furniture, colors, art, and spatial relation was spent on such mundane things. For Darlene, there was an art to interior design. It pained her to see her talent wasted.
The only conclusion Darlene could come to was that she would be forever stuck in the same cycle unless she left the Midwest. She would
have rather waited tables at her father’s restaurant than put any more useless energy into something she loved when it only made her life feel empty at the end of the day.
Before her grandfather passed, Darlene would visit him every Sunday. He’d make them runny pancakes and strong coffee while they’d watch old black and white monster movies.
“These movies,” her grandfather used to say, “these will make you the big money. These movies are the perfect front.”
“The perfect front for what, grandpa?” Darlene would ask.
“For the Hollywood Heist,” he’d laugh, spilling his coffee onto the card table where they ate breakfast. “I’ve been planning this job for years, Darlene. Just you wait.”
For years she thought it was an inside joke between them. Darlene learned, however, that her grandfather had been utterly serious. Before his death he left Darlene a detailed plan regarding the Hollywood Heist as a part of his will.
It wasn’t a joke after all, she thought. She didn’t tell the rest of her family about the heist plans, but they were part of the inspiration for her moving to Los Angeles. Darlene even brought the handwritten plans in case some crazy opportunity ever presented itself, or she became desperate to con someone into doing the dirty work for her.
All the work she got through her father’s friends helped Darlene save enough to rent an apartment in Los Angeles. At least she hoped that five thousand dollars would be enough to cover the deposit, first month’s rent, and any other bills, utilities, or expenses she would need to get herself set up in the city. She’d been hoping to find a friend or meet someone networking at a Meetup group, but so far those had all proven fruitless.
Well, she thought, I’m just going to have to resort to Craigslist. Going online to find some cheap apartment was the absolute last thing that Darlene wanted to do, but it was either that or continue to wake up being harassed by the homeless outside her car. She started to wonder if even they were more secure in the City of Angels than she was.