Chapter 35

Chuck

I checked on Lisa as soon as I woke up. Yesterday's encounter was too close to the confrontation on the island. This time it wasn't her adrenaline that got her, it was the cruelty of the men who had been dumped into the sea. It's hard to believe people could just kill the young couple and make the parents watch them get tossed overboard. It makes me shudder.

Then that poor older woman, about Missy's and Beth's age, just walked out and shot those men in the head. There could have been a hundred cops around and she would still have taken her revenge. Was it wrong? I think I would have done the same thing. Hopefully, she will recover from the horror of the experience.

Lisa had taken that incident hard and it came out when she began singing all of the Eva Cassidy tunes last night. Who knew that Lisa could do an entire album of those mournful blues ballads from memory? She came out of it a little when we sang together, and it did seem to relax her.

I had to think for a few minutes to remember that I didn't have to go back to the helm until noon. It was only six, but I needed to use the head and I really needed to get up so I wouldn't think of all of the bad stuff. At least Lisa looks like she's sleeping peacefully. Closing my eyes, I tried hard to think into Lisa's mind, but she was sleeping and I don't even think she was dreaming.

"What are you doing trying to look into Lisa?" Holy smokes, that was Mercy. I looked around to make sure I had heard that in my head, instead of out loud here in the cabin.

"Because I care for her; actually, I love her," I thought back, and hoped Mercy was tuned in.

"Good answer," Mercy whispered back to me.

I was up, showered, dressed, and in the galley ten minutes later. Mercy and Missy were beginning breakfast. I asked, "Mercy, weren't you on until four? Why didn't you go back to bed?"

She smiled, "Steve stayed up with me and I fell asleep on a couch. He was hungry when he woke me, so we came down when Dewey relieved me, or he actually relieved Steve. I fed Steve and he's taking a nap."

Mercy added, "You should know, Tiny and Henry passed us last night going all out. They radioed us that they were abandoning their vacation temporarily to get home so they could join the party to welcome us. They'll probably beat us by over a day. Steve said he tracked them on the radar and GPS to figure their speed. They were doing almost thirty knots."

I said, "At that speed they'll be there at least two days ahead of us. Hope they don't burn out those engines. I suppose they'll find out if the boat has the guts they say it has. But what about their vacation?"

Steve said, "The two couples would head back out Sunday or Monday for their vacation. They really wanted to be home to welcome us back."

Missy handed me two mugs of coffee and said, "Take one up to Dewey. He's about due for a potty break."

Up in the salon, I gave Dewey his coffee and we chatted a little. He showed me that the weather was going to be a little rainy and blustery later, and that there was no traffic near us. Dewey asked me, "What do you think, Chuck? Are we ready to get into some big time Caribbean luxury resorts?"

"I'm planning on it, Dewey. The biggest deal of all will be that my island people can prosper by raising most of the food we will serve at the resorts. There will be a lot of others employed at the resort as well, so it is an opportunity for the area to gain a significant employer. You and Steve are going to be honored guests every time you visit now. With your participation in this project, those people are going to think you two walk on water."

"That would mean you float over water, then," Dewey laughed at his analogy.

"It is going to be a good deal, Dewey. We can market a Caribbean resort vacation all over the Northeast and Midwest. I'll bet we will be swamped as soon as we advertise. Word of mouth will take care of it from there. We might even be able to get some cruise ships to stop by. We could build a bigger dock or pier that could support a big ship and if there is bad weather that could hold them up, we would provide a safe harbor for them."

"That's a good thought, Chuck, that might increase sales of tourist items at your planned shop," Dewey said, as he looked back over his shoulder."

He said, "Those guys on the motor yacht are sticking right with me. They are pacing us back about a hundred yards. It's almost time to drop sails and let them pull up to us for breakfast and to pick up their lunch. Go check on the folks below to see how they are doing."

In the galley, I saw that Lisa, the Asian sisters, Julie, and Gina were all up and helping with breakfast. There were already some kids sitting at their table with glasses of juice. I asked, "Is it time for us to tie up to the other boat yet? Dewey wanted to know so he could radio them and drop sail."

Beth looked at me and said, "If they want to get some breakfast, you better tie up. As soon as the kids are all up, food disappears fast. We need to make sure we save enough for our visiting couple. Hopefully, they will feel better this morning after a good night's sleep."

I went up to Dewey to tell him what Beth said. He radioed the other boat and began dropping sail. Dewey directed me, "Go out and make sure the fenders are still out and you might check how the sail is coming down to make sure it's being rolled up properly."

It took just a second to check the fenders. The sail was being collected very evenly, which was a lot to do, considering how much sail we had out. I stood and waited for Jack, who was standing on the bow ready to toss me a line. As soon as I had the line, Dan disengaged the props and the stern of the boat gently swung into the Lucky Lady. Jack had made his way aft and threw me another line. I heard Dan cut the engine as I pulled the boat into us. Almost as if we had planned it, the stern and swim or dive steps of the motor yacht were right at our boarding platform and ladder. I'll have to remember what cleats I used to tie them down so they will always be able to easily use the boarding platform.

The two men came on board, stretching and asking, "You have any of those wonderful Bloody Marys made?"

I smiled and said, "No, but I'll make you one. Do you guys think you should drink this morning?"

Jack said, "I do, because sleepyhead just woke up. He slept all night. I'm going to eat and sack out until this afternoon."

We entered the salon and I made a couple of Bloody Marys for the two guys. As usual, as soon as you make one or two, a dozen people are up at the bar wanting one. The rest of the band came up to the bar for their wake me up, as well as Ben, Sheila, and Sheena. Barb from the band went over to the controller and fiddled around there for a couple of minutes and came back. She handed Jack a CD and said, "You have to listen to this. This is Lisa. I think you guys should release an album of just her. She is terrific."

Jack took the CD and went over to the controller and punched some buttons. We heard the snap and pop of the speakers, and shortly after, we heard Lisa's voice singing "Ain't No Sunshine When He's Gone." Jack and Dan listened to that while they drank their Bloody Marys. Before the next song began, Jack went over and pulled the CD. He asked, "Do you have another of these, Barb?"

She said, "Sure do, three more of them to be on the safe side. I think I pulled everything down correctly, or at least the way you taught me on our controller back home."

Dan said, "That sounded pretty awesome. I can't wait to hear what else she sang. Come on, Jack, let's go get some breakfast."

The two men finished their drinks and went below. The rest of the folks migrated below and I told Dewey, "Go on, go below to eat and I'll stay up to make sure we don't drift off."

Dewey grinned and said, "Put the radar back up to fifty miles for early warning. No sense in having a collision avoidance system and not use it."

While I waited, I checked the weather again and could see how we would see some rain in a couple hours. The forecast was for three to four foot seas, so it was going to be smooth for us. I don't know how well the little boat handled weather.

While I was sitting in the captain's chair, Mr. Mitchell, the man who we had rescued yesterday, came up. He said, "Before they take off, Millie wants to get our clothes off that thing. I think that boat will be up for sale as soon as we get back. Neither one of us wants anything to do with it; it has too many bad memories. We had some good times on it, but a terrible experience ended it."

I told him, "How about waiting for Jack and Dan so they can help you. I'm sure you'll feel better having someone with you."

He nodded and looked at the bar, "You wouldn't think ill of me if I had a drink this morning, would you?"

I smiled, "If you're going to drink a Bloody Mary or Irish coffee, you'll just be a regular. There's mix in the big jug behind the bar, glasses in the tray, and ice under the lid at the end of the bar."

When he was building his Bloody Mary, he said, "You folks live right. This is a magnificent boat. You all must be doing all right to have something like this."

I told him, "Just lucky. All three of us have made some good deals and this is one of our benefits."

The man smiled and waved a welcome with his hand toward the stairs. As the older woman came up and hugged her husband, she said to me, "We never did introduce ourselves last night. I'm Millie, and this guy with an early morning drinking problem, is Bob. We're the Mitchells."

I said, "I knew your name was Mitchell, but that was all. Would you like a Bloody Mary too, Millie?"

She grinned, "That would be nice. I need to keep up with the lush here. It seems as if all we've done is drink since we boarded yesterday. We ate something, but everything else after a glass of water has been booze."

I smiled as I handed her the drink. She sipped some then took a couple of big gulps. "That's good, why didn't we have some of this on board? If we get another boat, we're going to be sure to have some of this for the mornings."

Bob asked his wife, "So do you think the best thing is to sell the "Afterlife?"

Millie hugged his arm as she said, "I think we should do that. I want to paint over the name so we can use it on our next boat. It will seem more fitting now than ever. I know another thing we will have is enough guns around on the boat so that if anyone tries to do something to us again, we will have something hidden away to use on them. I love the water, Bob, but I hate the way some people can be."

I offered, "You know that is not common. If you talk to the Coast Guard, they will tell you when there has been a problem in the area. Just stay away from some of the South American ports and you'll do all right. Always dock at a yacht club that has a good rep and you should be able to avoid problems like that. I'd bet you didn't dock at a resort but went to a public dock."

Bob said, "Yeah, we did dock at a public dock because we thought it would be cheaper."

Millie said, "It was my fault, Bob, you wanted to dock at that one resort, but I nixed it. I'll never do that again."

Bob said, "What do you think, let's trade that boat for one a little bigger, say forty to forty-five feet."

After thinking a few minutes, Millie said, "Probably a good idea. We could have used more room on the boat and we did need more fresh and grey water storage. I think that if we do get another boat, we're going to stay around the Gulf and up the east coast for a while. We might even want to go to England for a look around. What do you think, Bob, want to go to England?"

Lisa had come up and heard Millie talking. She said, "You know, we just came back from visiting Europe. We went to Ireland, on to Italy, and back to the Riviera. It was a great trip, except we could have spent more time sightseeing everywhere we were."

The sweet lady said, "My goodness. You two are pretty young to be able to do all of that. How do you do that?"

Bob said, "The man here said he and his buddies have been lucky in business and this boat is one of their rewards."

Lisa said, "So you know us, I'm Lisa, and this guy is, Chuck. When the other guys come up, we'll introduce you to everyone. You two are the Mitchells?"

Millie said pointing to the man, "This is Robert – Bob, that is, and I'm Mildred, but I prefer Millie."

Lisa said, "Go down and have some breakfast. The kids aren't devouring the world this morning, so you should be able to get something."

Bob said, "I want to get our stuff off the boat. Don't let those boys take off without us getting our clothes and things."

As she headed down the stairs, Millie said, "You get everything, Bob; I don't even want to look at that boat."

Lisa gave me a hug and a kiss. "Thanks for letting me get that out of my system last night. I was so overwhelmed with how terrible that was, and the look on that sweet lady's face when she shot those men, was just too much for me. The music and singing got it out of me."

I told her, "Jack and Barb think the recording they made of your singing is good enough for an album. You may be re-recording some of that to mix in. I thought it was good myself."

Lisa said, "You really made it nice listening to that bass behind me. It was sweet that you played that big thing with me. We'll have to practice some ballads together for some real blues feelings. I'll bet we can put together some music that will be good listening."

Dewey came back up and said, "Better go get breakfast, it's beginning to disappear."

After Lisa and I ate, we checked on Jack and Dan to find that they had completely cleared the couple's personal possessions from the boat. All that was left was some bed clothes, towels, and the food in the fridge and lockers. Lisa and I helped the two guys cast off and move away from our boat.

Steve walked out and said, "If you look back there, you'll see the Irish Bell closing on us. According to Dewey, the Bell is moving along at about twenty-eight knots. Dewey says they want to tie up to say hi."

I said, "With all of these stops, it's going to take us a week to get home."

Steve said, "How about we send those two guys ahead with the Irish Bell and they can dock at the yacht club. They'll beat us by a day or two, but if we don't have to stop, we'll be there faster."

I went into the salon to have Dewey radio the Afterlife. I told the two guys what we thought and they agreed that would be good as they felt they were not using the fuel efficiently by idling along behind us. I had them come back to tie up so they could get whatever food they will need.

Lisa and I tied them up again before going across the deck to throw out more fenders to join the Irish Bell as they motored up to us. We had experience tying up to this boat and were quickly joined with a gangway between the two decks.

The Irish kids were down the ladder hunting for their friends before the first adult put their head over the rail. Michael waved and came down. He asked, "What's the story with the boat?"

Steve took him into the salon to give him the scoop. Lisa asked me, "When we get going again, let's get the kids up and do some Tai Chi or perhaps a little defensive training. When something like this happens I always feel the need to practice and learn."

I helped the ladies of the Bell down the ladder and showed them into the salon. When the captain came down, he asked the same question Michael did. I told him to go into the salon where Steve was explaining it.

Lisa said, "Damn, it's like we have to be damn near assassins one day and a couple of days later we have to fight off a bunch of bubba pirates. You got all of the IDs I pulled off those guys, right? We can turn them into the Coast Guard in case someone tries to locate them. Did you look at any of them?"

"No, I really didn't think it would be important," I answered. "I suppose we should go through them; they are down in the office. If they have any money, we'll give it to the Mitchells."

It took another hour for the folks from the Bell to get done visiting. All of the kids came running up the stairs to beg the Irish parents to let them stay on board with us. Michael laughed and called us Pied Pipers, "You guys are going to end up keeping them if you don't watch out."

The captain of the Irish Bell said he would monitor a channel for the little boat as they were going to follow. Jack and Dan were loaded and ready as we helped the big boat get underway. The Afterlife idled away from us, picking up speed behind the Irish Bell.

No sooner had the two boats departed than Lisa had all of the kids on the rear deck. They got out the pads and we did some Tai Chi with the Asian sisters, Barb, Carolyn, and this time, Carlos and Ramona. It took over an hour to get some of the energy out of the kids, so they were not as eager when we told them to run the deck a few times. Again, the boys ran and the girls walked in a big cluster talking about whatever girls talk about.

The days became routine. Morning exercise, doing some planning for the islands, lunch, practice some music with the band and kids, supper, and more music in the evening, but fun stuff that we picked out of the fake book. Lisa and I did some more ballads together that sounded pretty good, but not anywhere as good as what she had done.

About the third day out, Lisa came to me and said, "You need to go below and talk to Gina. She is down there almost in hysterics. She thinks that now that we're in the States, we're going to send her back. I couldn't convince her, but you probably can."

Women, they can be so uncertain and misunderstand things. I knew Gina was acting funny, but I thought it just woman stuff. She hadn't been as warm at night as she had been, but again, all I could think of was that it was woman stuff. When I reached our cabin, Gina was laying on the bed with her face buried in the bed clothes.

"Hey, Italian princess, what's going on, what is the matter?"

I pulled Gina up and hugged her to me as she began sobbing. She choked out between sobs, "Oh, Chuck, we're almost to your home and you will probably send us all back to Italy. I want to stay with you and all of the women."

I said, "Where did you get that idea, Gina? I thought we talked about it and you were going to see how you liked it here."

"I know you said that, but you may have meant that after we were here a little while, you would send us back. I don't want to go back, please keep me."

Wow, how do you get it across that you are not going to do something like that. I told her, "Gina, you have become a part of us and everyone loves you. Your kids have become mine too, you know. They come to me with questions and for me to do things for them. They will enjoy being here just as you will."

"I do, I do enjoy being here, being with you. You are a man I want to be with. I now know you have money, but I don't care. My father has money and it doesn't make him happy. You don't act that way. You act just like an everyday man. I want that. I want to be with a man who is a good man, a common man, a man who likes his neighbors, and who is respected by his friends. Gio is afraid of the same thing, but she's different because she has been alone longer than me."

"Get up, Gina, let's go up on deck and enjoy some sun to dry your tears."

I gave her a kiss that turned into some urgency to get our clothes off. We were soon practicing the beast with two backs, but also receiving lots of kisses. As we rolled to our sides, still connected, Lisa began kissing us both and the two little Asian girls were equally as loving. Taiying soon claimed what Gina had been enjoying, and we were all making love to Sing a little while later. Before Lisa could get away, we all smothered her with kisses as I plugged into her to enjoy our special connection. When the two of us had collapsed, Gina rolled me from Lisa and attacked her center as if what I had left was special to her. Taiying and Sing spent the time kissing and hugging me.

All of us were laid back, nearly drifting off to sleep, when Julie came in and pounced on me, "It's not fair to have the rest of your women without me. I need some of you too, you know."

That was an invitation for the other girls to strip our mature lover so we could all make her feel good. It took a while, but she received another big donation from my overworked system.

On our fifth day, as we were passing the channel for Tampa Bay, four small aircraft flew over us. Not in formation, but circling us at about a thousand feet. They stayed with us flying back and forth, chatting with Steve on the radio. Everyone was going to be happy we were home.

I listened to the voices and identified Star, Brandi, Tank, and, son of a gun, Wanda, who kept asking if I was near the radio. When I said, "This is Chuck, go ahead," Wanda came right back, "Look who's learning to fly. John is pushing me through and I'll be doing my instrument training in another week."

I said back, "That'll be neat; you can fly me around instead of me doing all of the flying."

John came on the speaker, "It'll be awhile before she can fly the Citation, probably another thousand hours or so."

Before John unkeyed his microphone, we heard an "Ompff" from Wanda swatting him.

By the time we were passing Clearwater Beach, everyone on board was out on deck. The outdoor helm was open and we were moving along pretty well. A big fishing cruiser came up near us, and Tiny hailed us, "Welcome home, you guys. The world travelers have returned."

This was going to be a real nice welcome home.

It seemed like it took forever to get around and come down the channel to the yacht club. We were going to have to do something about that; the yacht club location, that is. It was fine for fishing boats and small day sailors, but not for our big boats.