by Black, J. C.
“As I left my little brother on the Sea Witch, my mind was racing through the different scenarios of my plan. While we were back on the deck of the boat arguing about who was going to give my old man the bad news I suddenly remembered a deep water canal on the west side of Big Pine Key. As far as I knew the only way to reach that part of the island was by boat. Well if I was right about the canal and I can find the old channel markers that Topino Rock and Sand used to bring their barges in and out of the canal. Then I can tow the Sea Witch in there, off load her cargo and hide it in the mangroves. It was damn near a perfect plan and would only take a couple of hours if I used the crane on the tugboat to transfer the cargo to shore. The only problem was Tony. He didn’t have any experience rigging cargo and I didn’t have time to teach him. Well, one thing is for sure, if we pulled this off, we could be in Key West at the boatyard sipping on some cold one’s and nobody will ever know about our hidden treasure. Just as I was about to call Tony on the intercom system he entered the wheelhouse. He told me that he had spoken to our old man and informed him that we had a little setback and he didn’t seem upset at all. Pop did say that there was a slight change of plans on his end and asked if we would mind towing the boat up to the Stock Island Boatyard. He figured that since the Sea Witch had so much bow damage it would be better to dry dock her there so we wouldn’t be rushed to fix her.”
“Pop was right of course, the Stock Island boatyard was bigger and much better equipped for the type of work and man-hours it would take to rebuild the damage hull of the Sea Witch. Tony went on to tell me that he had found some old charts of the lower keys. I open the charts and sure enough, right there off the southern point of Big Pine Key was the channel marker that I needed to find the canal. Hell, it was even marked in red, I scratched my head and thought to myself, I bet the Captain had used this location on the island to offload cargo in the past. Well at this point, it did not matter who knew about that canal, the only thing that matters to me is that Tony and I get to unload the cargo of the Sea Witch and get back to Key West without being busted. As we headed up the Gulf of Mexico to Big Pine Key, I explained to Tony what we were going to do. I needed him to be very careful when he was rigging the crane. The last thing we needed was to drop a load of cargo or for one of us to get hurt.”
“As I rounded the cape of Big Pine Key, I could see the channel markers that would lead me into the deep-water canal. I throttled down the engines of the tugboat and turned into the channel, I told Tony to tighten the tow cables on the Sea Witch. We had made good time getting here and I was feeling confident that we could be in Key West before nightfall. Then I heard Tony yelling at me from the aft deck to slow down so he could attach another starboard line to the Sea Witch. Tony had become a real good deckhand over the summer and I trusted his judgment when it came to rigging a tow. As we entered the canal, I could see the waves hitting the rocky breakwater on the north side of the island. I knew that this was a critical moment in my attempt to maneuver the hundred foot Sea Witch into the entrance of the deep water canal. If I was too loose control of the large shrimp boat at this time, we would hit the jagged rocks of the breakwater and both boats would sink right there in the unmarked channel. We wouldn’t even have a chance to send out a S.O.S before my tugboat and the Sea Witch would break up and start its 200-foot journey to the depths of the deep-water channel. I didn’t tell Tony how dangerous it was to try to enter a canal without a second tugboat controlling the stern of the Sea Witch. Nor did I tell him if we were to hit the rocks that the suction of the two boats sinking would draw us down to the ocean floor. What would be the sense in worrying him? After all, the chance of living though the impact was probably a hundred to one and it would all be over in a matter of minutes. So I just said a quick prayer and pushed the throttle controls to full speed ahead and as the twin big turbo Caterpillars roared and came to life and we entered the safe waters of the hidden deep-water canal.”
“As we passed the breakwater that protected the canal from the open sea, I spotted an area of mangroves about three hundred yards up ahead that would be a perfect spot to unload our cargo. As we approached the north bank of the canal, I yelled down to Tony to drop the stern anchor of the Sea Witch. I watched as Tony tied off the two boats and I shut down the engines of the tugboat. Well we did it, now all we have to do is get this damn load off the Sea Witch and on to the shore so we can go home. I looked at my younger brother with pride, after all, he had done a great job and I had trained him well. I told Tony to wipe that shit-ass grin off his face, because we still have a lot of work to do if we want to be home for supper. I am getting tired of your damn cooking anyway and I am looking forward to a good home cooked meal. He answered with the same cocky attitude that I had grown use too. So we get back to work so we can get the hell out of here? He grinned and grabbed his work gloves as he walked toward the cargo hole. I climbed up into the crane as he started rigging the first load. We work together like clockwork as load after load landed on the beach and five hours later, I seen Tony wave to me and give me the single to shut off the crane. I hollered down at him to get back to work, that we didn’t have time to take a break. He looked at me with his famous shit-ass grin and he yelled back at me that we were done, that was the last load. I stepped off the crane and onto the deck of the tugboat for the first time in hours. Thank god it is over, now we can head back to Key West. It didn’t take us long to turn around the Sea Witch and head out to sea. And once we past the channel marker I knew this ordeal would be over in a few hours. Tony had laid down for a nap after taking a short lunch break and I was having a cup of coffee in the wheelhouse, the tugboat was set on autopilot and heading due south. We were making good time and running at a smooth twelve knots, at this rate, we arrive at the boatyard in Stock Island by five o’clock and the Sea Witch was high and dry by sunset.” Megan looks like she is enjoying herself, I love the way she was twirling her pony-tail with her fingers.
As we drove south on US1, Megan rested her head on my shoulders as she listen to my story of the Sea Witch and when I quit talking she sat up and gasped, “Wait a minute, that can’t be the end of the story.”
“What happened to the pot that you left in the mangroves? Did you go back for it later on? Did you and Tony get in trouble? How did the Sea Witch end up back in the hands of the smugglers?” She looked at me bewilder awaiting the answer to her questions.
“Slow down Megan and give me a chance to tell you the rest of the story. In order to answer your concerns, I’m going to tell you a little family history about my father. I am confident that by the time I am finished, all your questions will be answered.” Megan curled up in the seat next to me and rested her head back on my shoulder.”
“Now as I was saying, what I didn’t know about the Sea Witch was the owners were members of a crime family based out of Tampa and as it turned out, were indirectly connected to my family. The Molino family and their two sons had migrated from Cuba to Miami, Florida in the late forties before the Castro regime had taken power of Cuba. The two sons of the Molino family, Manny and Benny went to high school with my father. Mike Caldwell would spend most of his spare time at the Molino’s home because he liked the warm feeling of being part of a family. Mike didn’t have a father image in his life, His father had passed away when Mike was a young boy and his mother never did remarry. Mr. Molino took a real liking to the young teenager and unofficially adopted him as one of his own sons. The three boys became the best of friends during their four years of high school and did everything together. Hell Mike spent more time at the Molino’s house than he did at his own home. Mr. Molino even bought Mike his first car for his eighteenth birthday. Mister Molino had always thought that when the three boys graduated they would join the family business, after all it was a cultural tradition that the oldest son who always carried his father’s name would take over the family business and continue to take care of his family. Well Manny, the oldest son had different ideas of what he would do in his life and it did no
t include him working at some nasty smelling fish house until he was old and gray like his father. Manny was smarter than is younger brother and wanted to be a lawyer so against his father’s wishes he went to live with his uncle in New York. Where he could study law at New York State University.”
“What did Manny’s father do about him leaving the business?” Megan asked me inquisitively. “Did he disown him like they do in movies?”
“No, Megan As much as his father wanted him to take over the family business, he respected his son decision to pursue his desire to become a defense attorney. After all, the family business could use a good defense attorney. The only thing that concerned Manny Sr. was the fact that his older brother Tito might not be a good example for his naive son.”
“Why Chris? What was wrong with Tito? Didn’t Manny trust his older brother?” Megan blurted quickly without thinking. I waited a moment before responding to Megan’s questions.
“It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his brother, it was the people that Tito worked for that he didn’t trust. You see Tito Molino, who started off as an enforcer for the mob in his younger years, had later become a capo in the Gambino Family.”
“What did an enforcer do for the mob?” Again, Megan interrupted my story with a slew of questions and impatiently crossed her arms in anticipation of the answers.
“Well the Gambian Family was in charge of the loan shark business and all the illegal gambling in the lower east side of New York. As an enforcer, Tito would collect any bad debts that the business might accrue.”
‘Was he a bad person? Did he break people’s legs like they did in the God Father?” She raises her brow and grips my right leg.
“No, In the underworld of crime, where they lived by a code of honor and the only laws they live by were the laws set by heads of the five New York crime families.”
“Did he hurt innocent people Chris?” she mumbles sadly.
“No Megan, Tito grew up being a god-fearing man and did not believe in harming his fellow man.”
“What does the word capo mean? Is he some kind of boss that runs the family?” Megan asks.
“Well in a sense, that is exactly what he does. The word capo in Latin stands for captain and he works directly under the head of the family. Well Manny Sr. loved his son and didn’t want to jeopardize his relationship with his son so he decided to call his brother and express his concerns. Tito had a son as well and he was very understanding about Manny’s request and reassured his brother that Manny would be safe in his care. It would be ten years before Manny would return to south Florida and take over the family business. Manny never did finish law school and against his father’s wishes he went to work as a numbers runner for his uncle Tito. Manny was smart and it didn’t take long before his uncle put him in charge of his number racket business. In the next ten years, Manny surpassed his uncle status in the underworld and became a high-ranking member of the Gambino family. Manny continued to work for the New York mob family as the years passed and only seen his family on holidays and his periodic visits to south Miami on business trips. Growing up in Miami gave Manny had an inside advantage with many of the local drug smugglers and it didn’t take long for the Gambino crime Family to work their way into south Florida’s drug trade though Manny’s contacts. As the years went by he and his father grew further apart and seldom seen each other due to his father’s dislike of what Manny had chosen to do with his life. Manny Sr. was so upset with his oldest son that he disowned his older brother Tito for letting Manny get involved in organized crime. However, Manny Sr. was very proud of his younger son for coming back to work for his father after collage and soon turned over control of the family business to Benny. Even though Mike was not one of Manny Molino’s children he had always thought of Mike as one of his sons so he financed him in the boatyard business in Key West. After all having a boatyard in the family would benefit the fleet of fishing boats that Molino Family now owned. The three boys kept in contact though the years and would visit each other on special occasions. However, with Mike living in Key West he rarely had a chance to socialize with Manny on his visits to Miami to see his brother. In fact, he had not seen Manny for almost two years before the weekend that we salvaged the Sea Witch.” I was so engrossed with telling Megan the story about the Sea Witch that I didn’t realize that she hadn’t said a word in a while. I glanced down at her nuzzled under my arm and against my chest, I could see that Megan was getting tired and already dosing off to sleep. Damn she is beautiful. Mental note to self, try not to screw things up with this girl. We were just a few miles from town so I nudged Megan and suggested that we could get a room and clean up before going back to Key West. Megan snapped at me with a deep sense of anger and despair in her voice, I could see the tears begin to swell up in her eyes as if she was going to burst out in tears at any moment.
“What do you mean, we are going back to Key West?” I was shocked that she hadn’t realized that we were driving south to Key West before this moment.
“Have you changed your mind about taking me to Miami to see my father?”
“Listen Megan, I don’t have a problem taking you to see your father, but it bothers me that you did not let your grandparents know about your plans to hitchhike to Miami. Besides unless you have been lying to me about running away from home, I would think you would want your grandfather to know that you were alright and would be back at home in a few days. I am quite certain that he is worried about you.”
“What you are saying Chris, is that you do not trust me, and you are afraid that I will get you in trouble.” In my mind, I immediately went in the defensive mode.
Damn right, I am afraid of you getting me in trouble; your grandfather is the Sheriff of Monroe County and could bury me under the jail if he wanted to. Instead of saying what I was thinking, I decided to take a more subdued approach to control my little redheaded temptress.
“Of course I trust you Megan, but I would feel a lot better if I knew that your grandfather was aware of our trip to Miami and gave me permission to take you to see your father.” I looked over at Megan and could see the tears flowing down her cheeks and suddenly she started bawling uncontrollable, sobbing like a four-year-old child that fell off her bike and wanted you to kiss her boo boo’s and makes the pain go away. I am such a sucker; I fall for tears every time. If a girl wanted something from me, all she had to do was turn on old faithful and she got what she wanted every time.
“Megan, please don’t cry I didn’t mean to upset you, I just wanted to make sure that we didn’t get in trouble with your grandfather.”
“Besides, have you forgotten the weed in the trunk?” She smiles apologetically.
“Oh the notorious weed, what the hell am I going to do with that, everybody in town knows that I don’t smoke pot, much less sell it on the street?”
“No Chris I have not forgotten about the bale of pot in the trunk. That is why I was so surprised when you said that we were going back to Key West.”
“I just thought that we would try to sell it while we were in Miami.” As we crossed the bridge at Stock Island, it started raining and I could hear the roar of thunder off to the west of the island, a bolt of lightning crossed the sky and exploded in burst of light as black angry clouds covered the small island of Key West. Megan grabbed my arm and let out a scream as another bolt of lightning lit up the sky and exploded with a thunderous roar in the distance before agreeing that we should stop somewhere. She meekly asked me if I had some place in mind. I quickly answered that I did not care where we stopped as long as we could get indoors before this storm got worse. She did not hesitate a moment with her next question as she asked me shyly.
“What is wrong with your place? Don’t you have an apartment in town?”
“Yes, Megan I have an apartment on Fleming Street.”
“Can we stay there tonight Chris?” She grins.
“Yes Megan, we can stay at my apartment tonight.” She smiles and cuddles close to me.
As I drove through town to my apartment I wondered if I was making the right decision, after all I didn’t make it a habit of bringing girls to my apartment. Especially after dealing with that psycho bitch that stalked me and broke into my apartment. Nevertheless, I could see the smile on Megan’s face and decided that it would be all right to break my rules just this one time. I parked in front of my place so we wouldn’t get wet from the rain that had not stopped since we left Stock Island. My effort of trying to stay dry was a fruitless attempt, it was pouring so hard that by the time we made it from the car to my front door we were both dripping wet. I opened the door and let Megan into my apartment and I turned on the lights.
“Wow this is quite an apartment Chris, have you lived here long.”
“I moved here right after I finished high school, I wanted to be on my own and this was the cheapest place I could find at the time.” As she looked around the apartment, you could see the envy in her eyes.