Chapter 50

"Junior? You'll be ok?" asked Chris. Chris, and her Twin, and Sarah and her Twin were about to dive into the Lake at Put-in-Bay and join the party. The King's Knight was anchored just out past the three fathom line.

David had told Andrea that 18 feet of water should be plenty. They had simply motored over to the bay. There definitely wasn't a problem finding it ... they were guided by the noise of ten thousand drunk or high college kids having a last weekend of decent weather partying. All too soon, the snows of winter would lock them in their campuses and the seemingly eternal wait for Spring Break.

Then they would flee the dorms and Greek houses and head for the great party in the south ... Florida, South Texas, Mexico would suffer through almost a month of ruckus and mayhem until the schools of the frigid north summoned their wayward students to 'get cracking.'

The psychology of the young adult party was actually necessary ... it promoted inter tribal relations, spread the gene pool and eliminated a few of the wilder bunch.

But mostly it was young people, men and women, newly released from parental domination, testing the waters of affluence. America was on the brink of a major political and social upheaval.

The Cold War mentality, terrorizing the children of the 1950 with nuclear drills and fear propaganda was soon to have it's revolt.

"We MUST stop the spread of communism," cried the rich ... isn't the American government the government of Money? Sure it is. Vietnam ... where the fuck is that? ... was descending into communism ... The United States of Commerce couldn't have that. Stop them ... at all costs. That the cost included the blood of their ... well ... not their children, but the children of their lesser neighbors ... didn't matter ... the freedom of commerce must be paid for with the blood of patriots

As part of their wider strategy of containment, which aimed to stop the spread of communism, the U.S. government viewed American involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam.

The North Vietnamese viewed the conflict as a colonial war, fought initially against France, then against America as France was backed by the U.S., and later against South Vietnam, both of which the North regarded as U.S. puppet states. Never tell that to a Frenchman.

Beginning in 1950, American military advisors arrived in what was then French Indochina. U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with troop levels tripling in 1961 and again in 1962.

These were the children of the Cold War ... these bikini clad girls and baggie wearing young men. And this was the way they chose to forget the threat of mutually assured annihilation ... these were the draft deferred ... the children of money and favoritism. These were the possible future husbands that the daughters of America spread their legs for in hopes of landing one. Bikini Bait.

The Bay was full of fishers of men.

Andrea said, "Yes, guys. Go ... have fun. I'll keep an eye on her. You really need to be back here by 11. We are David's bedroom, after all."

The four person splash was of good size.

The Knight was by no means the biggest boat. The Aphrodite was down from Detroit ... all one hundred and fifteen feet of 1930's opulence ... she reeked of privilege and power. She might be the biggest but the Aphrodite was not the only portable bedroom on the water.

Cabin cruisers to Lightning sailboats with a mattress on the slats bespoke of places to practice the horizontal mambo. There were at least two hundred boats ... some rafted together ... some apart. The King's Knight was the largest sailboat on Friday. Who knew what Saturday would bring?

Junior look askance at the riot, her mother was right ... this was no place for a thirteen year old virgin ... not only a virgin but an unexplored virgin. She asked, "Andrea? Wanna play cards?"

"Sure ... I'll get a deck and put on some music. Soda?"

"Coke please. Nothing too mild in the way of music, please ... let's rock."

The King's Knight didn't have the typical early 1960's music. No Beach Boys, Jan and Dean or Elvis. No, Andrea was a fan of the British Invasion. The Beatles music wouldn't be released in America for another year. She had the Beatles complete discography.

The Rolling Stones were completely unknown.

She had the CD's from the Stones first album, The Rolling Stones, all the way through Dirty Work, brought out in 1986. Others in her collection included Days of Future Past by the Moody Blues and all the better works of Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd.

For American music she had the Eagles, Grand Funk, and some southern rock. She filled the 20 disk changer ... punched random and turned it up.

Junior had set up on deck so Andy switched on the main deck speakers. They rocked ... and played Gin and War, drank Coke and Sprite, ate sandwiches and radioed for pizza delivery. Andie taught Junior the dances of the fifties and sixties and Junior taught Andy the dances of the future. They had a very good time.

What they didn't notice was the party was coming to them. This was music America had never heard. Soon they were surrounded by speedboats and kayaks, rowboats and cabin cruisers. It wasn't until the pizza delivery man stepped on deck and presented his bill that they realized they were the party.

"Oh ... what the hell," said Andrea ... she paid the pizza man and requested a hundred more..."Just deliver ... they'll get eaten." She counted out ten one hundred dollar bills and sent him back to the Bay.

Twin and Chris and Sarah and Twin excused themselves all the way across fifty or more boats just to get home. The boys handed and lifted and pulled the girls up over and through boat after boat after boat.

"'Scuse me ... coming through."

"Thank you."

"Make a hole ... coming through."

"Thank you."

"Lady with a baby ... coming through."

"Thank you."

"Just trying to get home ... coming through."

"Thank you."

The last boat was tied up to the swim platform. There were probably fifty to seventy five young people dancing on the deck of the Knight and the rest of the boaters were doing their best to dance on their boats and not fall off.

The pizza guy brought help, they climbed over boats and bodies and delivered stacks of pizza and soda. Andy and Junior passed them out as fast as the delivery man stacked them in the lounge.

Twin and Twin helped while the girls showered off the lake water and changed clothes. At 11 o' clock, Andrea shut the music off and the kids drifted away. The Knight motored out aways and started the high pressure hose. The pizza boxes were bagged and the soda bottles were shelled, then they turned on the water and flushed the deck. The fish loved it.

They motored back to Middle Bass, docked, David was waiting ... he was within reason drunk and everybody went to sleep ... even the twins and their girls ... sleep ... as in sawing logs not screwing half the night ... sleep.

Neither David nor Andrea were expecting that kind of self control from the boys ... neither were their girls.

"Nope ... marriage first," said the twins. "We can hanky but no panky until we're official."

David had mentioned something of the rights and privileges of a Captain in International waters. Marriage was part of that. That would be the bomb ... married at sea!

Saturday was wild ... Friday had been a party ... Saturday was nuts. When the Knight dropped anchor she was mobbed. Today, all the kids who were just getting to the Bay discovered that a huge sailboat was the center of attraction.

"They have the coolest music ... and the boat ... oh my." ... and variations of the theme spread through the thousand boats with more coming. The Twins were soon Masters at Arms ... the boat patrol. Try to look in places that were locked and you swam ashore.

Although it is unsuspected in the type ... there are nice football players. The Twins had backup.

Junior was tried twice ... each time, Twin walked over to the guy trying and whispered, "She's only 13... 13 is a hell-of-a prison sentence. I can guarantee Bubba, your cellmate, can stretch your asshole big enough to fit your head in it."