Chapter 3: Riley

Tybee Island, Georgia
September 1985

"Dear Lord!"

Tony chuckled as did Rebecca, who was seated next to him on the couches on the back deck of Kalliste. Beth Porter hadn't changed much.

"Sorry, I mean, I saw this thing when you guys came home but I've never been inside. This boat? Yacht? It's just amazing! You guys got to ride this thing all the way to New Jersey and live on it for over a month?" Beth was walking towards the two following Tina after she'd just been given the nickel tour below.

"First Kalliste is a she, not an it. We didn't ride her we sailed her," Tony replied.

"Well, OK," Beth said, sitting to Tony's left. "Still, I can't believe this thing, or her I guess. Who takes care of something like this, how can your parents possibly let you take it out and have parties off the beach?"

It was Labor Day again and Kalliste was anchored about a hundred yards off the beach. A sand bar had built up over the last year, keeping the yacht further from shore than they wanted. The simple expedient of tying one of the inflatable life rafts onto the back of Too! (which could only hold four people) and making frequent runs back and forth to the beach were getting the kids out to the boat and back to shore if they couldn't make the swim/float/paddle on their own. Tina had run into Beth Porter at the mall over the weekend and invited her along.

"I take care of her. Anita likes to work on the boat too. She's a little grease monkey. As long as it involves getting oily, greasy, and sweaty she seems to love it. The other girls help keeping the inside clean. All the guys will help when they are around as well. It is a lot of work though. And, well, she doesn't belong to my parents. She belongs to me. My grandfather left her to me when he passed a few years ago," Tony said.

"But..."

Tina cut her off. "Beth, just take that at face value, she really is Tony's. He has to answer these questions all the time. That's why he just tells people it belongs to our family. I mean that's even the truth. It's just when he says it that way everyone thinks it belongs to our parents."

"OK, I just didn't think that was legal, I mean you aren't eighteen yet are you?"

Tony laughed. If Beth Porter had any idea of just what was legal for a minor she certainly hadn't seen Cheri's custody order. He looked over at her, then beyond her out on the water. "You're about to find out just how legal it is. It seems the Coast Guard wants a look." Beyond Beth was a semi-inflatable Coast Guard boat with twin outboards approaching Kalliste. "Oh well, it's been a month. Let's see what new Coast Guard officer we have now."

Tina sighed. "They do this all the time. They all want to do 'safety' inspections when all they really want to do is have a look at Kalliste."

It wasn't a new officer. It was a new Chief. Tony actually knew the Petty Officer at the wheel of the boat by name and greeted him when he pulled up to the gangway that was lowered to Kalliste's waterline. "Rob! Good to see you again. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Rob smiled knowingly. "I think the Chief here would like to do a courtesy inspection."

"Son," the Chief Petty Officer said, "could I speak to the master of this vessel?"

"You are Chief," Tony looked at his nametag, "Anderson. What can I do for you?"

"We are here to do a Coast Guard inspection of this vessel."

"Chief my vessel is required to have an annual inspection by the Coast Guard. It's something I do each October before turning in my yearly registration. Now the registration number is clearly on the hull so either you can, or you already have, ascertained that there is no inspection required. Now, from time to time the Coast Guard requests that I submit to a courtesy inspection..." Tony stopped and looked at the man. He could see Rob behind him struggling not to laugh. From nowhere Rebecca appeared behind Tony and wrapped her small arms around his waist. It wasn't the full blown chill-pill treatment but Tony certainly got the message.

"Now listen here young man..."

"Rob," Tony said, ignoring the Chief, "do you still work for Bill McDonald?"

"Uhh, yeah, Commander McDonald is still the CO."

"Ahh, I'll have to give him a call tomorrow and see how he and Sheila are doing, she's due pretty soon isn't she?" Tony winked at Rob "I'm sorry Chief. Did you want to request that courtesy inspection?"

"Ah, yes, Mr.?"

"Smith, Tony Smith. I'm the owner and Master of Kalliste. Please, come aboard. You too Rob, she went through a major refit over the winter and I know you're dying to see her."

"Thanks Tony, I noticed she had at least an exterior going over and I see you had a radar installed."

"Come on up gentlemen and I'll give you the tour and you can inspect away. She's had a complete rebuild since you've seen her Rob. You aren't even going to believe it."

Tina saw Jerry in Too! moving out from the beach with the inflatable in tow. Both were full. This was all new to Anita and Cheri. They knew Kalliste, but they'd never been to one of these parties where she was the center of attention so they went along for the first ride to shore. It looked like they had collected quite a load. She recognized Kyle and Chrissie in the raft and she knew Cheri and Anita were in Too! with Jerry, Rhonda and Matt. You could get five in the little craft if one of them was Anita. Other than that she couldn't immediately recognize the rest of the kids in the raft, but it was full and there were still a few on the beach waiting for another run.

"Cap'n Tony," she called. "Too! is on the way back. How much longer for the inspection? The Coast Guard boat is in the way."

"We're about done I think." Indeed Tony was being handed his fifteenth perfect inspection in the last two years. He put it in the drawer next to the dashboard with the rest.

"Oh! Riley's here!" Beth pointed to the beach toward the group of about six teens waiting on the next run.

"Riley?" Tina asked. Then she remembered. "Oh that would be your brother. Your sister Cindy told me about him. I think she said something like he wanted to have my babies."

Beth laughed. "Yeah, he saw you at the concert at school. When he found out you guys were doing the thing on River Street on St. Patrick's Day he went down there on Saturday and stayed for both shows. He's definitely a fan of your band and of you in particular. He actually bought a guitar. Uhhm, probably wasn't his best move; he's pretty awful at it."

Tina giggled, "Well it's not for everyone. Or maybe he just needs lessons. I mean I hate the whole hero-worship thing, not as much as Tony, but still, when we're off the stage we really are just normal kids."

"Yeah, normal kids with a yacht."

"OK, we have some money. I know you didn't go to school with us Beth but we really aren't like that. We don't act like snobs whether it's the money or the music. It's like today. We don't just invite rich kids. Everyone at school knows if Kalliste is at the beach they are welcome to come out, have a soda or a hot dog and some chips or whatever. Everyone is welcome."

"I know Tina, sorry, I didn't mean it like that. You're right, you aren't a snob. I mean, you saw me in the mall and just invited me like we were old friends even though we really only met a few times."

"We are friends. Plus I met Cindy too, I guess she couldn't come? And Jenny as well, Rhonda met her so we put her up to that whole kissing thing on St. Patrick's Day in the parade. Is she coming?"

"No, Jenny is fourteen and in luuuuv! She's at her boyfriend's house. It's his birthday party today. He's no longer dating an 'older woman'"

Tina giggled again. "Ah well, it wasn't that long ago for me. I thought Richard Marcus was just it!"

"Really? What happened?"

"Nothing really. Rich is a science geek, I'm a music geek. After the initial attraction there just wasn't anything there. Believe me, at first, I thought he was the one. We're still good friends and he is still probably the cutest boy in my class. His father is Rebecca's doctor."

"So did it happen?"

Tina blushed and giggled again. "No, it got pretty close to that, but never all the way. I'm still, uh, inexperienced in that department."

"Well, maybe you'll like Riley, maybe not. He's a bit of a jock. He gets good grades, heck he gets better grades than I did by a little bit. I know he's my brother, but as guys go he's pretty easy on the eyes if you know what I mean." Beth thought for a moment. "OK, that sounded really bad didn't it? I didn't mean, ah, you know that he wouldn't do that, oh shit."

"Why do I smell a set-up coming here?" Tina replied with a smile.

"Aww, Tina, he wants to meet you is all. I know you don't know anything about each other. He's only seen you on stage. I know he's my brother but he's a pretty neat guy. Are we allowed to say that about brothers? It seems against the laws of nature or something. Hey your brother is a pretty neat guy too you know."

"OK, OK, I wasn't judging. And yes, I will admit I do kinda like my brother. He can be a bit protective and that pisses you off some times, but sometimes it makes you feel ... I don't know, warm, if that makes sense. But if you have your eyes on him you might as well give up now. No one is ever going to untie that knot that Rebecca has him tied up in. By the way, Tony!?"

"Yeah Tina."

"Wasn't the Commander's daughter born last week? You asked me to help pick out an outfit for little Katie."

"Seven pounds, five ounces, and nineteen inches. Mother and daughter are just fine and Rebecca helped me find a second outfit for Katie. I know that, you know that, heck Rob knew it. That Chief Petty Officer? I'm sure he'll figure it out next week."

"Did I hear tied up? Sounds kinky!" Rebecca said as she walked up to them. That set both girls off laughing again.

"Eh I think Tina was being metaphorical. I'm not interested in Tony. I mean he's cute and nice and all but I don't pick from another girl's garden. Tina was just saying you have him so tied up in knots that no other girl will ever untangle it."

It was Rebecca's turn to giggle. "I don't know about all that. I've had exactly one boyfriend and I'm planning on keeping him. It won't bother me at all if I never have another."

"Yep and you have him all tied up, look there," Tina pointed. Tony was walking their way across the deck. "That's the only boy in the world that would look straight into your eyes instead of at Beth Porter's famous mammary missiles!"

That, of course got all three of them into a giggle-fest.

"I'm pretty sure I don't want to know," Tony said as he walked up to them. He wrapped Rebecca in a hug and bent down and kissed her. "I don't want to know, right?"

"I think Tina was saying that my wonderful boyfriend paid more attention to me than Beth's jutting jugs!" That seemed to confuse Tony for a second, but set the girls off again.

"Ah, Beth," Tony released Rebecca and looked straight into Beth's eyes. He kissed her on the cheek and said, "damn you have some nice hooters!" All three girls crashed him to the deck.

"Uhhm Tony, do you have your hand on my 'hooters'?" Beth asked in the tangle that ensued.

"No, I'm pretty sure I don't. I do have a problem though. I do have my hand on someone's hooter." Tony knew it was Rebecca's breast his hand had landed on in the pile of bodies. He slipped it inside her bikini top and caressed her nipple. "It's not yours, those things are so huge you can land the space shuttle on them. But if it's my sister's, it's gonna be a little weird for me."

Rebecca moaned. "OK, never mind, seems I got the right one, or the left one, or ... oh whatever. Right girl anyway."

"It's me, Beth" Rebecca gasped. "I know Tony's a pervert and the whole three-way thing is probably in his mind right now, but it's my hand that's stuck and I can't move it. Dear God Beth how can you walk with those things? Oh, and I'm not gonna share!" That got Tina and Beth giggling again and they got up so fast Tony couldn't pull his hand out of Rebecca's swimsuit fast enough to not get caught.

"See what I mean?" Tina asked.

"Yeah, he could have groped," Beth replied, she almost sounded a bit disappointed.

"He did grope," Rebecca said with a smile.

"See what I mean?" Tina asked again.

The boat from shore arrived and delivered its passengers. Cheri and all the others jumped out and left Jerry alone for the return trip. Tina recognized some of the kids from school but before she had a chance to see everyone coming aboard Anita was standing in front of her with Tony and Cheri right behind. "Fix this," was all he said.

Tina had picked out that bikini for Anita only a few months before. It had been a little on the edge for her. Now, baby sister was already outgrowing it in all the right ways. The onset of puberty had set certain growths in motion. About a third of Anita's little nipple was visible along with her modest cleavage. Tina could simply tug the cup up and conceal it, and she did, but it was just going to happen again. She pulled Anita into a hug. "Alright baby sister, do you have another bathing suit with you?"

"No, I only had my old one from home, it doesn't fit," Anita replied.

"Well this one doesn't fit either. Your boobies are falling out. And you were all worried about not having enough."

Anita giggled, then got serious. "Uh, you could see me? I mean..."

"Yep, why do you think our brother brought you straight to me? Look, at our house it's not a big deal. I don't really care if Tony sees me, but in public? That's kind of gonna freak him out. That's what sisters are for I guess. Now let's see..." She turned to Rebecca, the next smallest girl on the boat. "Becs do you have any other suits on the boat?"

"Hmm, do you remember the one without the sides that drove your brother to attack me last year? I think it's down in the master cabin."

"Strange, I seem to remember you attacking my defenseless brother, anyway that ties at the top so it may work, might be a bit baggy on bottom. At least she won't fall out of it."

"Well she isn't quite as big as I was last year up top. I get the feeling that in six month's or so my boyfriend's twelve-year-old baby sister might just be bigger than I am there though."

"Oh please Rebecca. You've been working out six days a week for a year. You're a hot little hard-body and you know it. More importantly Tony knows it."

Rebecca giggled and stood. "As long as Tony has no complaints, I don't either. Come on, I'm sure the suit is there, but I may have to find it.

"Here it is," Rebecca said once they were down in the stateroom. She had pulled the old bathing suit out of the first drawer she opened. "Strip girl, try this on. We can't let you go advertising the good stuff. Gotta make the boys earn that."

Anita giggled and peeled off the skimpy bikini. She didn't care what showed or didn't in front of Tina or Tony, but she probably should try this suit on if she was going out among strangers. Having family other than her parents, well her original parents, was new to her. Tony loved her. Tina did as well and was her greatest confidante and friend. That made a certain sense, Tina was her sister and that was a new and satisfying concept for Anita. As things seemed to have worked Rebecca was also a great friend. Rebecca would talk to her about things that even Tony and Tina wouldn't, when they weren't busy teasing each other.

Both Tina and Rebecca realized that this girl was definitely going to break a few hearts. Puberty was going to be very good to Anita Breeland. Rebecca's old suit wasn't, in fact, baggy at all. Anita had reached five feet and was destined to be more curvaceous than even Tina. She would never be a tall girl, but she might hit Tina's five-foot-four. If her mother was any indication she'd be more buxom than either girl. In another year she and Tina would probably be swapping clothes; at fifteen Tina wasn't likely to grow any more and several doctors had concluded the same thing about Rebecca before they would allow her operation a year earlier. Tina wasn't sure Tony would even allow her to wear the suit at all. Where did all that come from in just two months? she thought.

Tony did do a double take when they emerged from below decks. He had very fond memories of that particular suit. Seeing it on little Anita, OK, not so little Anita, put some images in his mind that were a bit disconcerting. Was this what it would have been like to watch Tammy grow up? It wasn't something he wanted to think about, but it was something he couldn't stop thinking about. He focused on Rebecca instead, that cleared his mind somewhat. "Looking good baby sister," he said to Anita and gave her a wink.

Anita pounced on him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You are so good to me Tony, thank you."

She was peeled off of him by Rebecca, who kissed him on the lips and said, "What did I tell you about sampling the goodies little girl. This one is mine!"

Anita giggled at that. She realized quite some time ago that fantasies about Tony were just that. She didn't know a lot about girls and boys but she did know that Tony and Rebecca acted a lot like her parents did before they died. They were just, well she couldn't describe it, but she had heard the term, a couple.