Fate Interrupted 3 (5 page)

Chapter
Six

Duffel bags,
camping chairs and two coolers quickly settled into the rear of the boat as the
limo drove away, the chauffer off to kill some time before returning to pick
them up in a few hours. Seagulls cried out from above, circling the fishing
vessels known to have tasty scraps hiding in the crevices. The blue of dusk
fell upon the marina like powder, morphing the tall buildings of downtown
Milwaukee into towering silhouettes against an orange western sky.

“God, I’m
stuffed,” Jon said, rubbing his belly and surveying their gear from the rear
deck. He swayed a little with the tied down boat. “I should’ve brought some
Dramamine.”

Shaun stepped
aboard in penny loafers and nodded to the boat’s captain – a short man with a
grizzly beard and white hair curling out from a dirty painter’s cap. “Don’t be
such a gash in front of the captain, Jon. It’s rude.”

“I feel queasy!”

“I hope that
guy’s not drunk when he picks us back up.” Ben watched the limo’s taillights
fade into the night. “He could kill all of us.”

“We got everything?”
Dean asked with one leg perched on the boat and one on the dock. The wind
tugged at the white t-shirt hugging his chest while he rested his hands on the
hips of his
getting dirty
jeans.
Satisfied they hadn’t forgotten anything, he pulled his Brewers cap down lower
and stepped aboard, smiling at the captain as he passed by.

“Is that
everything?” Ben said from the dock, checking his watch.

“I just asked
that.” Dean unfolded a camping chair and set it next to the larger of the two
coolers.

Shaun waved Ben
aboard. “Let’s get after it, Gilligan!”

Ben glanced back
to the parking lot and then to his watch again. “I feel like we’re forgetting
something. I think Jon left his
floaties
in the limo!”

“My
floaties
are right here!” Jon yelled, grabbing his junk and
then dropping into a camping chair next to Dean.

Dean passed him
a cold can of Shaun’s latest homebrewed summer ale before cracking one open for
himself.

“While
we’re young and horny, Ben!”
Shaun said, opening a cooler.

Dean frowned.
“Never talk about being horny on a boat full of guys.”

Shaun held up
his hands.
“My mistake, bachelor boy.”
He snatched a
cold can from the ice and turned back to Ben. “Let’s do this
thang
!”

Dean watched Ben
paint the parking lot with his roaming eyes. “Would you feel safer putting a
life vest on?”

“How
about a skirt?”
Shaun yelled.

“Alright,
alright,” Ben said, his bulky chest deflating as a long breath left his lungs.
“I’m coming.” His black boots scraped against the dock’s wooden planks. At the
boat’s gate, he tossed one last glance over his shoulder.

“Welcome aboard,
son.”

Ben stepped
aboard, nodding glumly to the stout man in overalls and rubber boots.
“Captain.”

The captain,
locked the gate behind him, untied the boat from the dock, and turned to face
them. “I’m Captain Taylor and this lovely lady
yer
boardin
is Cassandra.” His lips – cracked from the hot sun
- parted in a crooked smile. “Be some smooth
sailin
tonight, lads!
Perfect for
reelin
in the
big one
!”
His chin
craned forward and his voice dropped. “Now, who’s
gonna
get it?”

Dean and his
friends stared at him, blinking in the quiet that followed.

The captain
arched a bushy eyebrow.
“No one?”

Shaun looked to
the others and then lifted a shoulder to his ear. “I will I guess.”

Captain Taylor’s
eyes widened. “Good to hear, lad! And you probably will at that.” He spit out a
gravelly laugh and stepped through an open sliding glass door leading to a
small enclosure in the middle of the thirty-seven foot boat. “The big one is
out there tonight, boys!” he said, settling into a worn chair behind the wheel.
“The big one is out there.”

Ben nudged Jon
in the ribs. “I got your
big one
.”

“So I’ve heard.”

Ben’s
shit-eating grin plummeted.
“From who?”

“Whip it out,
Ben. I
wanna
see it right now.” Shaun jerked his chin
toward Ben’s bulky belt buckle. “Do you really have a tattoo of Iron Man on
it?”

“Jesus Christ,”
Ben grumbled, running a hand up and down the brown peach fuzz blanketing his scalp.
“I’m going to kill her.”

“There’ll be no
whippin
out of any cocks on this vessel, lads!” the captain
barked over his shoulder. “That is rule number one.” He turned on the running lights.
“Rule
number
two: no boom-boom on the boat!”

Jon scrunched his
face into a ball. “There’s a bathroom on here?”

“Aye,
Pippi
Longstocking
, below deck,
but it’s only for the ladies.”

“Oh great,” Jon
grumbled, holding his belly. “I think I’m getting a stomachache.”

“Just go in the
water if you have to,” Shaun suggested, handing Ben a beer.

“Are you nuts?
That water is freezing!”

“Water’s always
a season behind,” Taylor confidently confirmed, flipping some switches and
starting the boat. “Lake’s too damn big!”

“Maybe we should
wait for Jon to go use the bathroom real quick.”

Everyone turned
to Ben.

He thumbed
behind him. “There’s a bar right across the street.”

“Yeah after you
cross about three square miles of marina parking lot,” Shaun said, turning to
the open water and pointing. “Let’s get this party started!”

Captain Taylor
eased into the gas and gently pulled away from the dock.

A car screeched to
a halt in the parking lot behind them. Ben’s head whipped around to see a dark
silhouette pop out from the backseat of a taxicab and start sprinting toward
them.

“Stop the boat,”
Ben yelled, handing his beer to Jon and shuffling to the gate.

“Wait!” the
shadow yelled, backpack swinging from one shoulder, weathered planks crying out
beneath thundering steps.
“Stop!”

The shadow grew
closer as the dock ran out of real estate. The backpack flew through the air
and hit Jon in the leg. He cried out in pain, the shadow sprinting alongside
them.

“Stop the boat!”

“I can’t!” the
captain said, reversing the propellers. “It’s too late! You’re
outta
dock!”

Ben threw open
the gate and held his arms out. “Come on, Will! Jump for it!”

“Will?” Dean
muttered, getting to his feet.

Will glanced
ahead and saw he was almost out of dock, so he ran faster. “I’m going to die!”

“Do it!” Shaun
hollered, cupping the side of his face.

Ben raised his
arms higher.
“Jump!”

“Oh shit!” Will
wailed, planting his left foot on the last eight inches of wood and launching
himself into the air. His arms cart wheeled toward the boat in slow motion, a
terrified look strangling his face. His right foot found the last six inches of
the boat and there was a loud grunt as he shot forward, tumbling into Ben’s
open arms. They spilled onto the middle of the spacious deck and came to a
rolling stop.

Shaun, Dean and
Jon stood over them with incredulous looks glued to their faces.

Will looked up, chest
heaving, salt and pepper hair sticking up in all directions. “Holy mother of
Mary, I did it!” He stumbled to his feet, turned back to shore to see the dock
fading away, and thrust both arms high into the air. “I did it!”

“Jesus Christ,
are you okay?” Dean asked.

Will looked
himself over, calmly smoothing his hair and orange Polo shirt. “I think so.”

“Well, I’m not,”
Jon grumbled, rubbing his shinbone. “What the hell’s in that damn backpack?
Bricks?”

Will
grabbed
the pack from the peeling wooden floor. “Sorry,” he
panted, slinging it over his shoulder. “I never leave home without my bug-out
bag.” He shook Dean’s hand, a big smile on his face. “Glad I could make it,
Deano!”

Dean stared at
him slack-jawed, arm shaking up and down as they passed row after row of
different sized boats. “I didn’t even know you were coming.”

“Surprise!”
He then clapped
hands with Ben and pulled him to his feet. “What’s up, Dragon!”

“You knew about
this?” Dean asked.

Ben slapped a meaty
hand on Will’s shoulder. “Of course I knew about this. This is my guy.” He
squeezed. “Holy shit, that was insane! I didn’t think you were going to make
it.”

“That makes two
of us,” Will
said
, catching his breath. “Did anyone
get that on video?”

The others stared
blankly at him.

“Shit,” he
hissed.

A disbelieving
laugh slipped from Dean’s lips. “Wow. Does Evy know you’re in town?”

Will shook his
head, taking a cold beer from Ben. “And don’t tell her either. I plan on creeping
out of town tomorrow morning as hung-over as a Jaybird on the Fourth of July.”

Shaun furrowed
his brow. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“But damn excited
to be here, boys! Thanks for having me.” Will
blew
ice
from the top of the beer can. “I haven’t been out of the house since the
Thong Song
came out.”

Jon and Shaun
traded silent glances, and Dean quickly introduced them to the man he had only
met three times before.

Will shook their
hands and opened his beer with a loud crack. “I’m really excited for the
wedding, Deano, and couldn’t be prouder to have you for a son-in-law.”

“Me,
too.”

“Maybe sometime
we can go camping or something.”

Dean smiled.
“I’d like that.”

“Really?”

“Sure, why not.”

Will took a long
drink and swallowed with a satisfied sigh. “Can’t believe both of my baby girls
will be married soon.” He smiled warmly, looking from Ben to Dean. “First one
to get me a grandson gets a new tree house.” Will cheered them with his can of beer.
“But it has to be a boy. I can’t do any more girls.”

They all laughed
and drank their beers, the wind in their faces and the brightly lit shoreline
shrinking into the background.

Dean shook his
head. “I still can’t believe that jump.”

Will closed his
eyes and let the wind run through his hair. “This is going to be fun.”

“Wait till you
catch one of these suckers out here,” Dean said, wiping beer from his upper lip
with the back of his hand. “This isn’t
Saylorville
Lake.”

“It sure isn’t.”
Will gazed out across the vast body of water before them, taking it all in for
a moment, and then casually rolled up on Captain Taylor. “Mind if I drive for a
bit?”

“Aye,” the
captain replied dully, lazily navigating past the breakers. “Nobody drives the
boat but me.”

“That’s too
bad,” Will
said
, tipping the can back. “How deep does
this thing get anyway?”

The captain slowly
turned to him. “Deep.”

“Way to go,
Ben,” Shaun whispered.

Ben unfolded a
chair and joined the circle forming on the rear deck. “What’d I do?”

“You invited
Evy’s dad when we just got a fat sack of Bubble Gum.”

Ben’s eyebrows
dipped.
“Bubble gum?”

“Yeah,” Jon
whispered, leaning closer. “Five joints worth of Colorado’s finest,
yo
!”

Dean’s eyes
darted to Will, who was busy talking Taylor’s ear off in the partially enclosed
helm. “Are you serious?”

Shaun nodded,
his face nowhere as bright and cheery as the one slapped across the can of beer
in his hand.

Dean shook his
head in disbelief. “You only brought five joints?”

Ben laughed out
loud, the wind ruffling his black v-neck.

“You’re better
than this, Shaun. Your brew is served in seven bars across this town now.”

“Screw you,
Dean. It’s eight bars and you know it.”

Ben glanced at
Will and the captain. “Well, what about the captain anyway? If there’s no
boom-boom on the boat, there’s probably no smoky-smoke either.”

“We were
planning on paying the captain off,” Shaun told him.
“But
Evy’s dad?
He’s probably a cop!”