Chapter 2

The girls were not sleepy, so I gave them a quick lesson on the radar, and told them I was going to take a nap.

The next thing I remember was my watch alarm going off, and telling me that I had slept for 4 hours. I took a quick shower and headed up the stairs. The girls were still setting at the controls talking and watching out the window. They both jumped when I spoke, and I thought it was a bit funny, but decided that maybe it would be best not to tell them. They wanted to know what time we were going to get there, and I explained that we might see land again in another 24 hours. I took Leta to show her the kitchen and asked her to make some coffee, and open a couple cans of chicken noodle soup. I turned on the work lights on the back of the boat and the "little cat" was still on the end of the rope. I did a quick check of everything on deck and decided it was OK, turned off the lights, and went back inside. Selena asked if there were any drilling rigs out here. I told her we were in some very deep water so I doubted it. We ate the soup, with some crackers, and sat there drinking coffee. Then the girls started asking questions like, what was Belize like, where would we live, what would we do? I just kept saying I've never been there, and I don't know. I told them that my plan was to start a boat service, and do repair work, depending on what I could find for a building. Selena was acting a little scared so I told her we could go in partners on her two boats. We could rent them out with, or without a crew, or maybe run a water taxi service. It would just depend on what we found when we got there. After we made some money we might change our plan one direction or another. Leta asked what she would do and Selena said we could give her a job. She said, if you could find another partner with money to buy in wouldn't it make things go faster and easier. I said "Yes, but finding someone with that much cash might be hard to do."

"If someone bought in, how much would they have to give you?"

"I don't know, Selena is putting up her two boats, fully loaded, so that's about $100K. This boat is probably worth 350 to 400 thousand, and I have around 50 thousand in cash to get us started." She said "So, if I had 50 thousand, could I be a partner in Selena's boats?"

"Yes, that would probably be fair, or you could give the money to Selena, and the two of you be partners, and I'll still start a boat service." No, No, they didn't like that idea. Then Leta said "How much would I need to be an equal partner in everything?"

"I don't want to put my boat in the business, I will use it for the business, but if something happens, I want it to still be mine."

"Well, how much, as a partner in the boat service business?"

"Well, if you gave Selena $50K, for half the boats, and you gave me $50K, for half the boat service, and Selena gave me the $50K that you gave her, and then, if I gave her a third of the boats, we would all be partners. But, all we have is two boats that belong to Selena and all my parts and equipment, plus my boat and $50K, so we are back where we started." Leta got up and said "I'll be back in a minute. Do ya'll want more coffee?"

When Leta came back, she was pulling her big suitcase with her. She laid it in the floor and opened it. Damn, the thing was full of money. Selena said "Oh shit, Leta, he's going to kill you." I was saying "Who's going to kill her?" But they were not listening. So I kicked the lid shut on the suitcase. They both looked at me and I said "Where did you get the money Leta?"

"I followed my uncle and my cousin and watched them put it in the trunk of an old car. The drug dealers would pick it up there." I asked what would happen to her when they found it gone? She said "They have no reason to suspect me of knowing where it was, and when it's not there, they are going to kill my uncle and my cousin, and that's fine with me. I think it is fair payment, for all their bullshit I had to put up with, for the last four years. Now let's talk about that partnership."

So, we did. Leta handed Selena $50K, and said "Here is for half of your boats." Selena handed it to me, and said "Here is for 1/3 of the boat service." Leta handed me $50K and said "Here's for my 1/3 of the boat service." I said "Wait a minute, I owe somebody for a third of the boats." Leta said "OK give me $16K, and give Selena $16K. OK, is everybody happy?" I said "I am." Selena said "I am!" and Leta said "I am too." Then she started passing out the rest of the money to each of us, and said "We might as well split this up, because I sure has hell can't spend all of it" I said "Wait, I know a better place. Let me get a couple of pillowcases." We put the money in the pillowcases and I took them to the left hull and went down the stairs to the kitchen. I showed them how you could pull the top step toward you and then lift up on it. Underneath was an open area behind the stairs. I tied the pillowcases at the top and placed them in the opening. Then replaced the step. "There you go, Partners National Bank. If you need it, you know where it is. You two go take a nap, because I will be ready for another one before long.

While they were asleep I went to the right side stairs and put a finishing nail in a hole which locked the step from sliding forward and keeping it from opening. If they ask I could tell them there was plumbing behind the steps on this side. I don't think they are going to need any of their money. I should have plenty for what we are going to do. I just don't want them knowing that there are two hideout holes.

When the girls got up and made their way to the cabin, we talked for a few minutes, and I asked Selena to take over and I would try to fix us something to eat. Leta and I went to the kitchen, and I started looking through the cans to see what I could find. Leta said "Damn Levy, you're just a real gourmet cook aren't you?"

"Well, I didn't know I was going to have company. Hand me that can of Spam, and go keep Lena company."

"Lena? That's' cool."

"Yep, Lena, Leta and Levy. The "L" Team. Hey that's what we will name the new company, "L" Team Marine"

We had fried Spam sandwiches and coffee for breakfast. I had just finished mine when I remembered I didn't have any bread. "Hey, where did you get the bread?"

"At the store, where do you get bread? We had it in the food from our boat. We need to go through the box of food, there are a few things that are not going to last long." Yeah, La Pesca is not known for the variety of can goods available in the stores.

I started showing both girls everything they would need to know, to run the boat, and get to where they wanted to go. We were going over distance and time, and finding where we were on the GPS, when it occurred to me that we were going to get to Progresso Yucatan, Mexico after dark. I told them, "Here is one of those decisions we have to make. I am not in favor of getting there and trying to find a fuel dock, and navigating the port in the dark. I've never been there and it could be tricky." Leta said "So speed up."

"Nope, we can't do that, I'm not running those engines at top speed unless I have to. The decision we have is, do we want to get there and wait outside the port until morning, or just slow down and get there at daylight?" Leta said, "Lets' get there, then we can all get a nights' sleep."

"Nope, everything we have is on this boat or tied to it. Like I said, I have never been there, and it might have pirates that would sneak aboard, kill us all and take what we have."

"Pirates! Levy, there ain't no pirates."

"Oh yes there are, they just don't fly a skull and cross bone flag to let you know who they are. They would sell the boats to the drug dealers, but we would be dead so it would not matter to us. You better start thinking, La Pesca is not the only place that has bad people."

"Well, why didn't you just tell us that's what we are going to do?"

"Because if you two don't start thinking, you are going to get killed, wind up being someone's bitch, or working in a whorehouse for free. I am not bullshitting either of you. The world is not a little fishing village and you can die damn quick if you don't pay attention."

We pulled into the fuel dock at Progresso about an hour after sunrise. It was still a bit early for the locals. I had Lena handle the lines and the dock worker and I filled the tanks. Leta and Lena had a boy about 12 with them and told me to give him $20 for food and tear a fifty in half and give him half of it to insure that he came back with the food. We pulled up to the wharf, out of the way, and waited on the boy. I paid for our fuel and we talked to the man about what we could expect from the sea as we went around the tip of Yucatan. He said to "Stay out about a mile, because of shallow water, and because we could see anyone coming out of the marsh areas. If we did see them, we could be sure that they were going to try to take the boat. Don't stop for any reason. They are real bad people, and the police are not any help. When you get to Cancun, there should be no more trouble. The boy and a woman came back with our food. They had so much that I thought the woman came to collect the balance of what we owed her. She tried to give me change. I gave the boy the other half of the 50 dollar bill, and he was as happy as anyone had ever been.

Damn, we had potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, onions, peppers, lettuce, and a few things that I had never seen before. And away we went.

I asked if either of the girls had ever fired a rifle. "Nope", but Leta said when she lived in Killeen, she lived out by the airport, and most of the neighborhood boys had pellet guns, and that she had fired them a lot, and was as good as any of the boys. I didn't want to tell her that she was probably a better shot than me. We looked through the arms locker and she picked out an assault looking rifle and said, "I want this one." We found the magazines for it and loaded them up. We decided that if each of us had 6 magazines of 30 rounds and we couldn't stop them, we were probably gonna die anyway. We looked for places on the deck that offered a little cover but a bullet could go through anything on the whole boat. We decided that if they came after us that Lena would drive and we would try to stop them from getting close enough to do any damage to us. We watched the coast and for the first 3 hours it was just a lot of really nice looking houses and villages. When the houses stopped I told Lena to get out about 2 miles to give us a better chance of running from anyone who might chase us. One boat did come out and it looked like he was going to try to intercept us, so we both started banging away at them. They turned around and we had no more trouble. We reloaded the magazines and carried them in with us. We sat there a while, and I said "You know girls, I think I should warn you about the dangers of pirates."

"Shut up Levy, OK."

"OK, no problem, I would never be one to tell you I told you so. But in the future, when I tell you there is danger, if you don't listen, I'm going to take off my belt and whip your Asses."

The next day we were in Cancun and both the girls wanted to stop. I said "What? Have you got new bikini's you want to try out?"

"No, but we are going to buy us one."

"Well now, that's different. Let's pull this boat in and see if we can find some security for it while we do a little shopping." I found where the most expensive boats were and decided that they had to have security, so we pulled in. Only $500 a night with security and emptying the holding tanks was extra. No problem, "I'll set the alarm to make sure nobody gets into the boat. Be sure to let the guards know, because the siren could wake the dead 20 miles away, and there is no way you could shut it off without the code. I'll just blip it here so you will know what I mean." Damn that thing is loud. "Yep, I am sure we can hear it from wherever we are. We should be back in a few hours."

We did buy a few clothes better suited to the area, and the girls did find bikinis, which was just fine with me. Lena had cheered up a bit and was now talking at the same non-stop rate that Leta had. We bought some fruit and a bit more food and got bread and tortillas that we couldn't get in Progresso. The next morning it took two hours to get to the fuel docks and get the poop tank emptied. The girls thought the place was wonderful. I told them that the bill was almost a thousand dollars, how long did they think we should stay. "OK Levy, lets' go." The girls were wearing their bikinis and waving at everybody. Things were looking up.

We decided to start looking for a home along the way. The first place that caught my eye was Puerto Morelos. They had a really nice sea walled harbor with plenty of room for a boat yard. We docked and went in to talk to the people. Yep, they had plenty of room, and he would lease the land to me for only both girls', one arm, and a leg plus $2,000 a month rent. And whatever I built, in the way of buildings, would be his if I left. Well we were moving right along, out of there. We stopped at Playa del Carmen. It was like party central and the only boats were the ferries to Cozumel. We stopped at any place that even looked like it might work and worked our way down to Belize. Ambergris Key might work, but we decided to look around a bit. We made it to Key Caulker and decided to look around. A lot of boats going every which way. Mostly young people. Very few cars. Lots of bicycles, motorbikes, and golf carts. I hired a young man to look after the boat. I tore a hundred dollar bill in half and gave him half of it. I explained that if he tried to open the cabin the alarm could be heard on the mainland and I would hunt him down and break his neck.

We found a restaurant, with tables out front under a canopy and had just ordered, when two guys pulled up in a golf cart and asked if those catamarans were ours. "Yeah, are they OK?"

"Oh yeah, no problem with where they are, the boy told us which way you went. Do you want to sell one of them?"

"Well come on in and set down, we can talk about it." They were from Florida, and had been living here for two years. They were scuba diving instructors and guides and while searching out new diving areas had run their boat into a very large rock, which promptly busted a hole in it, and it sunk. They were rescued by one of the island sightseeing boats. They had made several trips back in a small motorboat and salvaged everything from the boat. They were trying to get a salvage boat out to re-float it. They had plenty of customers booked and they stayed busy year round. Lena asked "If they had the cash to buy a boat?"

"Well no, we thought we would see if you could lease us one." When we finished eating, Lena and Leta got in the golf cart with one of the guys and he took them back to the boat, and came back for us. We all got on the Cat that we were towing. It needed to be washed down, as it had been towed about a thousand miles. Lena started the motors and I untied the lines and told our guard boy that we would be back in a few minutes and I would give him another $10. She let each of them drive, then we all stood on one side and jumped up and down rocking the boat. They talked about adding a ladder to get back, and I told them that, "In the stuff on the big boat, there was one that mounted on the front, and would flip over to use." Hell yes this is better than anything either of them had used. So we talked. They claimed that their business would net $100K a year. When Lena asked them why they didn't have money for a boat we discovered that they were both party animals. I didn't say anything because the girls were asking enough questions for me to learn what I would have asked. I told them we didn't know if we were going to stay here or not, it would depend on if we could find a large enough building close to the water with a dock. Daniel "Dan" McNiel, said there is one right next to us but it hasn't been used in a long time and the dock would have to be rebuilt. We tied the cat back to the big boat. I paid our guard and told him, we were going to look at the building next to the divers. If we took it, and he wanted a job, to stop by. He left smiling. The other one was named Joseph "Coop" Cooper and he rode with us to show us where their place was. Dan took the golf cart.

When we got to the building we tied up at their dock. The building looked to be very run down, from the outside. We didn't need a key, because the walk in door was open. Damn, I wonder if there is a market for pigeon shit. We looked around inside and out while Dan and Coop were off a ways talking. I asked if they knew who owned the building, when in walked our guard boy with a man, who told us he was the owner of this fine building. I asked him, "How much he wanted for it?"

"Oh, it can easily bring a thousand dollars a month." I said "Yeah, I can tell how easy it is, by the amount of pigeon shit in here." We looked at the outside again and there was a little bit of property on the south side, maybe 40' wide. "Does this property go with it?"

"Yes everything goes."

"Are you new in Belize city?"

"How about electricity, for several large saws and routers?"

"Yes, it can be done."

"How much cash do you want for the building?"

"$60K."

"No, I don't think so. Here is the best that we will do. If, and it all weighs on if, you can find me the people to repair the building, dredge the waterfront and build the dock. That's carpenters, cement, electrical, and plumbers, we will give you $40K cash."

"Oh no, no, no, I can't take less than $50K."

"Make it $45K, or we will get right back on the boat and look somewhere else." He thought for a minute and we started moving toward the door." OK, OK, $45K cash."

"Is there a lawyer on the island?"

"Oh yes we have one, I know him very well."

"Yes, I'm afraid of that. All right, when you get the contractors lined up for the job, Come and find me and we will do the deal. He left and I turned to Dan and Coop. "It looks like we will be staying, so we will work with you on the boat."

"After watching you deal with the building owner, I'm not sure we can afford the boat."

"Well, I wouldn't want to be unfair, so you can deal with Lena and Leta for the boat. Whatever they decide will work for me.

We now are minus a boat and own half a dive school. The new Financial Officer is Leta. She will be taking the money from the customers and paying the wages. I think party time for Dan and Coop has just been drastically reduced.

We found our guard boy waiting for us. He asked if we wanted to buy a new golf cart. He told us there was a family moving back to the USA and they had an almost new one for sale. We borrowed Dan's cart and the girls along with Russell and I piled in and followed Russell's instructions on how to get to the peoples house. They had an EZ Go, four seat that was gas powered, it was about a year old. I had no idea what a golf cart cost so I just listened while the man told me all about it. "How much are you asking?" He would and did take $6,000 for it. We even got the gas can. "OK which of you want to drive it back to the boat? One of you can drive can't you?"

"Well, a go cart is sort of like driving I guess."

"Hey Russ, can you drive it? "He was out of the back of our cart, and had it heading to the boat, before I could get back in Dan's cart. "Let's take this cart home and go eat."

We took Russ with us to eat and found out that his mother did washing and ironing and his dad drove a water taxi to Belize City and back, a couple times a day. I asked "How many kids his age where on the island."

"Maybe 25."

"Did any of them want to work, cleaning the bird shit out of the building?"

"Probably all of them."

"Is there any place we can buy wheelbarrows and push brooms and a couple of shovels?"

"No, but they could bring what they had."

"What should I pay them?"

"Three dollars an hour was plenty, and they would work hard for that much."

"How much does a carpenter make, for a weeks' work?"

"Oh, maybe $200." Russ drove us back to the Boat. I told him we could drop him at his home but he wanted to drive. When we got to the boat, I told Russ, "Take the cart and find any kids who wanted to work, tell them to be here in the morning, and bring their own brooms, rakes, shovels, and at least two wheelbarrows. Keep the cart and bring it back in the morning."

We climbed up the ladder to the boat and I told the girls I was going to take a shower and go to bed. When I woke up the next morning, I could tell that something was wrong, two something's. "What the hell are ya'll doing in here?" Lena said "Well, I was sleeping. Leta was mumbling, and got out of bed and headed to the bathroom."

"Lena what's going on?"

"Nothing, we were just lonely."

"OK, we better get some breakfast before the kids get here." While we ate I asked what they had going on today. Leta was going to go with Dan and Coop to pick up some divers at the taxi dock. She would have them drop her off before they went out. I could hear the kids coming out on the dock. Damn we have a good turn out about 15 kids and 3 adults. I told Lena to get a pen and paper and write down the names and watch them during the day. If any of them didn't want to work then we wouldn't use that kid again. Most of them were good workers and a few were exceptional. Lena got them marked on her paper. At lunch, I sent Lena, Leta, and Russ to get burritos and cokes for everyone. We washed our hands with a water hose and soap and sat in the shade of the building, eating. These were friendly kids, and you could see they wanted to work and needed the money. We cleaned the property and piled all the trash in one big pile and burned it. Russ took three, one hundred dollar bills somewhere and got smaller bills. He had to pay 2%. We got everyone paid and the place was already looking better. The next day Leta and Lena went with Coop to pick up some more divers. They were back in about an hour. Russ came and told us that we needed to go to the lawyer's office. There were 6 people that I did not know. They had come from the city on the taxi. Russ would take us back to the building and then shuttle the others. By the end of the day we had contracts for all the work to be done and the title to the building. 6 weeks later we had a three bedroom apartment built at 2nd story level in the building. They sprayed a foam type insulation on the ceiling of the building and then painted everything bright white. All the lighting and electrical was in. The floor had all the joints filled and it was painted a light gray epoxy. The big doors had been totally rebuilt and all the windows replaced. We had a new 40 X 80 carport attached to the south side of the building and a new 10' chain link fence all the way around the place. There was a gate by the front on the north side and a fence connecting to the building. The outside was white with a canary yellow roof. The waterfront side of the building was lettered with "L" Team Marine. A welding shop in the city was making racks, shelves, wheeled cradles, and the sawhorse type sanding stands. We had everything off the big boat and inside the building.

The company doing the dredge and pilings had sent me a guy who built us a crane with an electric start 30hp gas motor that powered a hydraulic system. It had plenty of reach in the extended position and could probably lift the big boat. It would work well for unloading plywood, lumber and pallets of motors, epoxy, fiberglass and other materials from the delivery boat. I had ordered $200K of materials, through Anita, having them shipped direct to us. We bought a used LP gas forklift for the shop. The equipment like saws, routers, sanders, drills, bits, sandpaper, and on and on. We got it opened, supplied, and ready for work. The only work that got done was me playing instructor to half a dozen people. Key Caulker had a new High School that had only been open for a few years, Prior to that; they only had a grade school. Education had stopped at the 6th grade for most of the long-time residents. The students at high school had a choice of going 8 hours, or 4. The school system was good about changing things to fit the needs of the students, within reason. I had 5 of their students and Lena. Leta was better in the office plus she was taking care of the divers. After 6 weeks of training they could build a boat, under a lot of supervision. We were doing the wood assembly, sanding, fiber glassing, fill and fair and almost everything else in the carport. We had the compressor outside to keep it cooler and we had plenty of fans, water and cokes. I was trying to work it where Lena did all the final assembly. Russ and one of his buddies were doing the engine tests, and hanging them on the hulls when Lena was ready for them.

I asked Leta who the diver guys were renting their building from. She looked up his name for me. I told her I was going over to see Dan and Coop. We talked for a bit and they whined a little because Leta wouldn't let them have more money. I told them not to talk to me that they had signed the contract with the girls and it was their problem. I asked them why they didn't get the building owner to fix their place up a little. When they had rented it, it had been vacant for a couple of years and the guy wanted to sell it but could find no buyer. The building was too small for any commercial use. They were living there and storing their equipment. What does he want for the building and the lot? Coop said "He wanted $25K for it when they rented it." I asked them to tell him that they were moving in with us, because we had office space and dock space. "Are you serious?"

"No, I want to buy the building, but I don't want him to gouge me because he thinks he can."

"Ohhh, OK. Yeah we will see him tonight." I went back to the shop and moved everything next to the office and laid down some boards outlining an imaginary office. Everybody that came by asked me what I was doing." Just thinking is all. I might do something and I might not." The next afternoon, when Dan and Coop got back from diving they had a visitor. I saw them pointing over toward the shop and then they all walked over and came through the big door. I said "Oh, there you are, see what you think about this. We can put the door right here, and put a walkway through to our office, so Leta can handle any calls you have." Ole Dan the actor man looked at it and walked back and forth between the boards and said "Yeah, this is plenty big enough. That's when our man spoke up. "You wouldn't be interested in the dive shop property would you?" I asked "What for? We have more room now than we need."

"I could let you have it for $20K, and the lot runs back as far as this one." I walked to the door and looked at it. "I guess we could tear it down and extend our dock but that would cost a lot of money that I don't want to spend. I wonder if I could have a channel cut into the lot over there."

"Sure, it wouldn't be no problem. I'll probably kick my ass tomorrow but you've got a deal. Let's see if Leta can type up a bill of sale, or something, and I'll get you the money. Twenty minutes later he had his pockets stuffed with money and was walking down the street. Dan said "Damn, I'm glad you didn't let the girls deal with him, I'd hate to see him completely broke."

"Now then, what if we tore that down and built a new building with say a new dock, 20 small bedrooms, a giant kitchen, a sales room, office and an apartment for you two. Could you bring in people for all inclusive dive trips? Room, board, everything in one package?"

"Sheeit, yeah we could."

The next day we called all the contractors that had worked on our building, and over the next few days they came over and looked it over, and went home to figure it out. I went to the lawyer and got the title work done. We moved all the dive equipment and boat to our shop and I put Dan and Coop up in a hotel for the duration of the project.

Dan caught me a day or so later and wanted me to go to Belize City, with he and Coop, to talk to a guy about putting a Bimini top on the dive boat. He wanted to make sure that where the guy wanted to mount it would be OK. They had a lot of equipment lashed down on their boat so we took our 28 and with coop driving, off we went. "Let me guess here, was Coop driving when your boat was crashed?"

"Yep."

"Thought so." We had to go up the river that runs through the city for quite a ways. Dan was pointing out different places and businesses on the way. The fabricator for the tops also made seats for most of the taxis'. While he was measuring for the top, I had him figure five rows of two seats per side for a total of 20 passenger seats. Twenty was pushing the limit if all of them weighed 200 pounds but most of the people and tourist are not that heavy, and who said you had to fill every seat. The fabricator knew his stuff and he asked about side rails with laced on vinyl covered canvas for the fence, the color to match the top. "Could we leave this boat?" Dan said "Take us to the taxi dock and bring it back? You got a place to secure the boat?" He had four big ugly dogs that patrolled the dock at night and his bedroom was right above the overhead door on the dockside of the building. "OK, run us down to the taxi, and I'll leave it with you." We rode home in Russ' father's taxi. I didn't know him but he seemed to know me so I started asking lots of questions. The taxi was a "V" hull and had an 80 hp motor on it. He filled the tank after every round trip and it took about 7 to 8 gallons. I asked what speed he ran and he said "If you got above 20mph the ride got real rough, so they tried to maintain a constant 20mph."