CHAPTER 7 – FISHING AND BBQ

DAY 10 – ST KITTS HARBOUR – NOON

FRANC

I go through the boat one more time.  I am looking forward to this.  I haven’t been fishing for a long time and need it badly.  I have had a word with mom and she’s promised to set things up for me. They will be on Isle Kay while we fish.

“Guys you ready?!”  I call out as they come down the gangplank and if there was an award for cutest doppelganger, Gus would win hands down!  He’s wearing the same style of Bermuda shorts as Brian but a different colour with the same colour shirt.  Leather Bear is even dressed for the occasion.

“Miss Franc!  Miss Franc!”  Gus shouts excitedly, waving at me.  “I’m so looking forward to today!”  Then he stops and stares at the boat, okay cruiser, his eyes as big as saucers.

“We’re…Miss Franc, we’re going on this?”  Gus asks.

“Yes Gus.  We’re going on this.”  I smile at him, he is just adorable!

“Holy crap!”  Debs gasps as she takes it in.  “This is gorgeous!”

Slowly Gus’s face start to fall.  “What’s up Gus?”  I ask.

“Where’s Mr Justin, Captain Ben and Miss Leda?”  He looks round the empty deck.

“Down here Gus!”  Leda calls up.  “We’re just making sure everything is up to the captain’s meticulous standards!”

“Metic…?”  Gus begins.

“It means very high.  Sonny Boy.”  Brian is just looking in awe.  “Incredible.  So, can we aboard?”

“Oh sorry.  Sure, we just need to get the rest of the food boxes on.  Emmy, do you want to go check them?”

“Yes sweetie, no problem.”  Emmy boards and I don’t think I’ve seen Ben smile like that!

“What’s the point of boarding if things aren’t there?”  Michael asks grumpily.

“I didn’t say things weren’t there.”  I reply just as tersely.  He is so fucking annoying! How they are friends is beyond me.

“Okay women and children first.  So that would be Leather Bear to start as he’s the youngest.  Where am I putting him?”

“Thank you Miss Franc.  Can he sit there in the window right up front?”

“Of course.”  I take Leather Bear very gently and place him exactly where Gus wants him and quickly come back.  “Now you Gus.  Guys, they’re boarding!”  I yell and Leda and Justin come up.  Justin is holding a life jacket.  “Now Gus when you board, I want you to go straight to Mr Justin and put on that vest understand?”

“Yes Miss Franc.”  He looks a little worried but with Mel right behind him, he slowly makes his way down the gangplank.  “Hello Mr Justin!”  He skips to him and puts on the vest.

“Okay everyone else, have at it.”  I smile and then wave at the local crew as they approach, when there’s a splash.

“For God sake, Michael!”  Vic roars.

“I got it mister!”  Maceo, one of the local kids, yells and dives into the water.

“What happened?!”  I demand, looking for where Maceo went in.

“Michael pushed passed me and I dropped my case. I was lucky I didn’t go in too!”  Vic retorts but then holds up his hand.  “Sorry Franc but that case has my pills and…”  He trails off, clearly having said something he shouldn’t.

“Are you on a cocktail?”  Ben asks, having joined us when the commotion started.  He and Vic had got to talking at the bar and he knows a fellow sufferer.

“Yes.”  Vic is not looking at Rodney.

“Okay, hopefully it hasn’t gone too far down.  Maceo is an excellent diver.  Look he’s coming up!”

We all hold our breath as Maceo holds the case above his head with one hand and heads to the steps before running to us with it.

“Here you go mister.  I don’t think anything fell out.”   He looks at where he dove in.  “But if they did, we can dive down for them. It’s not that deep.”

“Vic, would you like me help you check?”  Rodney asks and Vic looks relieved.  “Do you have your script? Maybe I can get you close with one of my pills just for the day. Blake, could you come and have a look?”

“Absolutely.”  Blake comes over and between them, they check and mercifully they are all there but one tube is full of water.  “Be right back!”  Blake calls out as he runs back to the ship.

“Justin, can you show Gus around this beautiful vessel?”  Vic asks.

“Sure no problem.  Come on Gus. You are going to love the bedrooms and there may be a surprise for you.”

We all go quiet as Vic turns to Michael. I stop the local crew from boarding and send Maceo to join his father.

“How do you think I would’ve coped without these pills?”  He demands.

“I’m sorry. I just wanted to board and…”

“I know what you wanted to do Michael and once again, cut that shit out!”

“It would only have been one day.”  He pouts.

“Michael, stop being a fucking asshole!”  Rodney snaps.

“Jesus!”  Brian grouses.  “Vic, are you okay?  Do you need to take any now?”

“Yes, he needs to take this one.”  Blake’s arrival is timely.  “I’ll get you fully replenished when we get back but this should be enough for now.”

“Are you sure we can go?”  I ask and Blake nods.

Once Vic takes his pill and settles on one of the loungers, we’re off!

As the crew prep the lines for the fishing, the mood starts to lighten, thank fuck.  Although he is sulking like it was a simple mistake.

“Okay people.  First let me introduce the crew. This is Joseph, his son Maceo, RJ, Pete, Orlando and Maceo’s friends Curtis, Mattie and Shaba.”  Everyone waves their hellos, well almost everyone.  “So what’s going to happen is that we’re going to pull the pots up first and if we’ve not got lobsters then the kids will dive for scallops and oysters.  Don’t make that face at me Justin, they’re good!”

“I hate oysters!”

“You’ve never tried them!”  I point out but then notice the deer in headlights look on his face and the smirk on Brian’s.

“Pot coming up!”  Joseph calls out and as we all wait, Justin is actually crossing his fingers.  “We got four!”

For the next hour, we pull up pot after pot full of lobsters and Justin looks delighted.  The kids however look disappointed and I can’t have that.

“Go!”  I grin and one by one they dive overboard and Brian takes the pictures.

Another hour later, we have loads of oysters though Maceo seems to be excited about something and talking animatedly to his dad.  And I think I know what it is…

“Where’s Gus?”  Joseph calls out grinning.

“Here Mr Joseph!”  Gus waves at him from the lounger.  “Shall I come down?”

“No we’ll come up.  Maceo has something for you.”

As we head to the lounger, Gus looks eagerly at Joseph as he sits down.  “Do you know what this is, Gus?”

“A shell?”

“Close.  It’s an oyster.  Now as well as being good eating, oysters are good for one other thing.  Do you know what that is?”

“No Mr Joseph.  Daddy, do you know?”

“Yes.  But I think you’d rather be surprised by this Sonny Boy.”  Brian smiles camera poised.

Joseph carefully opens the shell and there it is a pearl!

“Wow oh wow!”  Mel cries.  “Seriously, that is beautiful!”

“Momma, what’s the white thing?”

“A pearl.”  Mel replies, taking it gently in her hand so she can show him properly.  “You can make jewellery out of it.”

“You can?”  Gus gasps.

“And Maceo and I are giving it to you.”

“To me?  Why?  I don’t remember being especially good?”

“Because I like you Gus.  You are a very polite and kind boy.”  Joseph replies.  “You helped your daddy with his ties and socks when you could’ve been playing.”

Mental note, give Eyl a big kiss on the cheek when I get back on board!

“Thank you Mr Joseph.  Thank you.  But would you be mad…”  Gus stops and bites his lip.

“Mad about?”  Joseph asks and then nods.  “You want to give it to momma?”

“Please.  But if I’m extra-extra-double good, can you get me two more? I’ll pay for them if you think I’ve been bad.”

“You won’t have to pay and I won’t be mad. By the end of the stay here, you will have two more.  Who are they for?”

“Two really super-duper people!  One is for daddy and the other is for Mr Justin.  So he and daddy can have one each to remember each other.”

I’m not sure where the strangled noise came from but we reached the island just in time.

ISLE KAY

FRANC

I look to the shore and hope mom managed to do something.  And fuck me, she has!  She has set up a windbreak, about seven foot high from the mouth of the cave all the way to the sea on both sides.  Then there’s the tent…a Bedouin tent!  A fire pit has been dug out in readiness and then there’s the covered hammocks!

“Alright people, let’s disembark!”  I call out when I regain the ability to speak as we had all been rendered silent.

One by one we make our way incredulously to the, quite frankly, oasis.  “Jesus Franc!”  Debs gasps.  “You went all out and then some!”

“Nothing to do with me, I called my mom and she did it.  You have a fan Brian.”  I smile at him and hand him another crate, but then he goes to Joseph with it, saying something. Then he just smiles that knowing smile that Joseph has and nods.

“Are there any other people here?”  Gus asks looking round.

“Yes but way on the other side.”  I tell him.

“So we’re like Robert Gusto?”  He looks around again.

We all look at each other in confusion.   “Do you mean Robinson Crusoe, Gus?”  Justin asks chuckling and removing his life preserver.

“Yes him.  Ooh momma come look, there’s a couch!”  He cries, running into the tent.

We get everyone settled.  Carl and Debs decided they would be in charge of food after Emmy told them what was needed to be cooked.  Vic and Rodney are sitting on some rocks, having a much needed chat.  Ted, Blake, Mel and Leda are having a swing in the hammocks and Gus…well Gus is in his element, because he has Rhubarb with him.  Custard does not do sand!

“So we’re off to…”  I start to smile as Gus does the squirmy pee-pee dance!  “Gus, can you yell goodbye and Maceo, can you take him?”

“Bye!  Maceo quick!”  Gus yells.  Maceo scoops him up and runs to the portaloos.

“Actually wait up, I need to go too!”  Michael calls out and runs after him.

“Let’s go.  We’re going to miss the good stuff!”  Joseph orders.

BACK ON THE CRUISER

“Okay, what the hell was the rush?  We’ve got all afternoon?”  I ask.

“It took forever to get out of the room, such deliciousness now…”

“Emmy?  What are you doing here?”  I look at Joseph, who shrugs.

“Waiting for us to land.”  He smiles.

“We landed.  We’re going to the grounds now.”

“What?!”  He shrieks and dashes to the back of the cruiser and sees the island receding from view.

“And we’re not turning back, we’ll miss the good stuff.  So why not just take a seat right here next to Ben.  Nothing’s going to happen for a while.”  Joseph smiles, steering him gently back towards the loungers and presses a glass of champagne into his hand.

ISLAND KAY

MICHAEL

God I needed that!  As I rejoin everyone, there’s laughing and the kids from the boat are either playing with each other or staring into puddles.

“What are they doing?”  I ask Mel.

“Rock pooling.”  Mel murmurs, rubbing her stomach.  “Gus is having so much fun.”  She yawns.

I stretch out on one of the hammocks.  “Can you believe that boat?”  I laugh.  “It’s huge!”

“It has to be to catch the tuna.”  She replies, sipping some water.

“Speaking of which, where is it?”  

“Gone to the grounds to fish.”  She replies, sleepily.

I sit up so fast that I manage to tip myself out of the hammock.  Once I stop spitting out sand, I grab my phone.

“Mister, what are you doing?”  One of the kids asks me.

“I’m doing grown up stuff.  Trying to make a phone call.”

“Well you can’t call on that because you won’t get a signal. You need to use the ship to shore phone.  The one that Blake is using.”

I rush over to Blake and he ignores me patting him on his arm.

“Michael!  Come over here!”  Ma calls out but I need to phone the ship to get them to come back.

“I’ll be over in a minute Ma. I just need to make a phone call when Blake is finished!”  I glare at him, hoping that he takes the hint.

“Michael, you want me to come and get you?!”  She snaps.

I stomp over to her. “What it is?”  I demand.

“Sit your ass down!”  She orders.  “Blake had an emergency call from his second in command so he might be a while.  The cruiser is not coming back for another 4 hours. And after you’ve pushed past Vic to get to Brian, you ain’t moving out of my sight!”

FISHING GROUNDS

JOSEPH

It’s looking good today.  I love doing these cruises.  We’ve found about six more pearls as well so Gus can have a choice.  I look to the sea and it looks calm and flat, no birds, no nothing, but I know better.  I see the ripple.

“Cast!”  I shout.

Even though, once he recovered from the trauma, Emmett wanted to lounge when Franc was showing them how to cast and explaining what happens. He got curious and he’s now joined us. He’s even done a good cast.

“You’re crossing Emmett, you’re crossing!  Move to Ben’s right!”  He moves real quickly and we wait for the bend.

After 10 minutes, nothing bites so we hook them up and retake our seats.  Franc alternates between looking at the leads and looking at the sea.

“Emmett, you’re up!”  She yells and grabs his rod and hands it to him.  “He’s gonna pull!  He’s gonna pull!”  She grabs him around the waist and sits him in the seat.  “Feet up!  It’s big!”  Once Emmett is strapped in, she pulls on her gloves.  “Lead’s going down, brace!”

“Holy fuck!”  Emmett yells as he’s pulled forward as the fish runs for its life.

“Reel!  Reel!  Reel!”  Ben shouts, helping him when the rod slips.  “He’s turning!  Don’t let him reef!”

For five minutes, Emmett and Ben wrestle with that fish to get it out from the coral reef and when he’s out, he runs again.

“Justin, you’re up!”  Franc yells and he leaps into onto his rod.  “Brian, you too!  Ben, I got yours!  What the fuck is this bait? It’s like an aphrodisiac to them!”

After a 15 minute fight, Emmett lands his first tuna.  Then fish after fish start to land.  There are looks exchanged between Brian and Justin.  I think there’s a competition there.  When he told me to make sure Emmett stayed on the ship but not tell Ben, I was more than happy to help. Ben is a good man and I think that Emmett is also a good man.

BRIAN

My shoulders are killing me!  “Is it always like this?!”

“Yeah pretty much.”  Franc smiles.  “I love doing these.  It’s amazing how many nelly bottoms suddenly find their fishing top on these things.”

I can’t help but laugh.  “How long we been out here?”

“About 3 hours.  You guys want to go back?”

“No!”  Emmy and I say at the same time.

“Got it.  Now we’re going to go round the…holy fuck that’s a bend!”  She cries.  “Justin, you’re up!”  But he’s below deck reapplying sunblock not that I noticed how fair his skin is or anything.  “Brian grab that!  Emmy get Justin!”

“JUSTIN!”  Emmy bellows and he comes running.

“Get in front of Brian and haul that in!”  Franc orders but it’s the smiles that intrigues me.

“What?!”  I gasp as whatever is on the end of it starts to go down deeper.

“You reckon?”  She looks at Joseph.

“Yeah.  I reckon.”

As Justin squirms into my lap, I forget everything for a minute.  First, he smells of coconut and pineapple and secondly, he fits perfectly.

Everyone goes quiet as the bend in the rod deepens.

“Hooked good, pull us back!”  Franc orders.  “Slowly!”

“Come on you fucker, come on.”  Joseph growls.

Emmy and I exchange bemused looks.

“Okay you two brace, because once he’s out, he’s gonna fly like fuck!”  Franc grins.

Justin and I put our feet against the board and his skin feels so soft!

As we back further and further out, other fishermen are smiling and shouting.  “Want us to go behind and drop a net?!”  One guy calls and Joseph gives him the thumbs up.  “We got you on the other sides bro, don’t worry!”  Another guy calls out.  Double thumbs up.

What the hell is going on?!

“The only way is ahead.”  Franc is fixed on the lead, which has slowly moved from left to right and then finally, under the boat.  “Emmy belt Justin!”  She orders.

“Why he’s not…”

“Rod belt Emmy!”  I order and he quickly attaches it to him and he settles the rod in its slot.

It’s like the entire world has gone quiet as the lead bends deeper but doesn’t seem to move.

“Brace!  Brace!  Brace!”  Joseph yells.

Suddenly, there is an explosive move forward as whatever is on there takes off like a fucking rocket!  I haul Justin back into my chest with one hand and hold on to the rod for dear life with the other.

“Jesus what the fuck is that?!”  I shout as the engine kicks into gear a bit to catch up and the reel lets out.

“Reel!  Reel!”  Franc screams.  “Don’t let him go too far!”

“Oh yeah, we got one!”  Joseph yells as the crew cheers.

“One what?!”  I shout and suddenly something comes out of the water thrashing in the air and on the end of Justin’s line.

“Fuck me.”  He breathes.  “A sailfish!”

“Pull him back down!  Reel!”  Joseph yells as we reel him in from mid-air.

When he lands back in the water, he seems to be trying to go meet Neptune and we are struggling to pull him back up.  The entire boat is screaming reel, let out the line, stop but we just listen to Franc and Joseph.  After an hour, he’s still a good 100 feet ahead and Justin is exhausted.

“They fight like fuck.”  He pants, slumping against my chest.  “I’m so tired.”

“Come on its only 100 feet. You hooked him, you land him.  And if you’d like, I’ll rub your shoulders for you afterwards.”  I whisper in his ear. He looks up at me through his lashes.  “That’s got nothing to do with our bet. Consider it a nice thing for the other thing I’m going to get you to do.  You know when you lose…”

“Guys!  He’s coming back!”  Joseph yells.

“Wait!  Wait!  He’s gonna zag then we’ll get him!"  Franc already has her gloves on.

We’re reeling in from the front when suddenly he just veers off and we have to let the line out and then when he starts to head back out…

“Hard reel!  Hard reel!”  Joseph shouts”

Justin holds the rod as tight to his body as he can and I reel as fast as I can and inch by inch, slowly but surely we land him!

“Holy mother of God!”  I slump back in the seat and Justin almost slides to the floor in front of me.  “That was exhausting.  Can we eat that fucker?!”

“No, underweight. We have to throw him back.”  Joseph tells me.  “But we got your heroic endeavours on video.”

“Great, just great.”  I grumble.

“Oh don’t pout.”  Ben tease me.  “Want some sashimi?”

“Huh?”  I look across at him as I start to help Justin out of the belt.

“RJ has already prepped one fish.  Want some?”  Ben hands me a plate.

I sit up a bit and take the plate.  It takes a few minutes for me to realise, while we were laughing and joking with the crew, Franc, Emmy and Ben, that Justin waited to resettle himself in my lap and we’re still sharing a plate.

ISLAND KAY

MICHAEL

They have been gone for fucking ages!  I went to use the phone but it was gone.

“Look grandma!  Look they’re coming!  They’re coming!”  Gus yells bouncing up and down.

I’ve not had a chance to spend time with him either because of that fucking cat!

As it comes to a stop and they disembark, they splash up towards us and the boat moors on the other side of the island.  I make my way to Brian but Gus beats me to him, running into the sea to be swept into his arms.

“Daddy!  Did you have a good time?  Did you miss me?  Did you catched lots of fish?”

“Catch, Gus its catch lots of fish.  And yes I did miss you and yes I had a good time as did Leather Bear.”

“Come daddy. You should see what I did!  Maceo and the other big kids are so nice!  He showed me how to pool rock!  Rhubarb was so funny in the hammock. I drawed, no drew, a picture of him!  But I have to brush him as he was in the sand a lot.  And then we built sandcastles and then…”

“Sonny Boy slow down.”  Brian laughs as he carries Gus back to the beach and doesn’t even look at me!  “Vic, you doing okay?”  He calls out.

“I’m more than fine!”  Uncle Vic calls back.

“Ems, how did you do?!”  Ma calls out.  “Did you find your sea legs?”

“Yes thank you!  And I landed the biggest fish!”  Emmett grins.  “But Justin landed a sailfish, which are fast little fuc…fudgicles!”

“Auntie Emmy, what’s a fudgicle?”  Gus asks, holding onto to Justin’s hand.

“Frozen fudge.”  Justin replies quickly and there’s snickering but Gus frowns.

“You were going to say a bad word, weren’t you Auntie Emmy?”

I have got to have a word with Emmett about how he speaks around Gus. As his future stepfather, it’s my duty.

“Yes I was.  But I stopped myself.”

“With a made up word?”

“Yes.”

“Okay then, you can use that made up word instead of the bad word if you are upset.  I don’t know what the bad word you were going to say was but fug…fudgicle is okay.”  Gus smiles up at him.  “But I won’t say it.  That’s right, isn’t it daddy?”

“Yes Gus that’s okay.”  He takes Gus’s other hand and they head towards the BBQ with Gus.

“Okay people, the food is going to be up soon!”  Carl shouts out and everyone starts to do things like I don’t even fucking exist. I’m furious!

As I turn to stomp up the beach, I hear a shout.  “Heads up mister!”  Just before the ball hits me straight in the face, knocking me flat on my back.

Half an hour later, I come to and find Carl peering at me.  “He’s awake!”  He yells as he walks out.  “Blake, what do you think he can eat?”

“Light soups and he definitely needs to stay in here.  The sun will be too much for him.”  He replies and Carl nods.  What the fuck does it have to do with him?!  “Michael, although you’ve just woken up drink this because you need proper sleep.”

“I’ll be fine.”  I state and stand up. A wave of nausea hits me and I wobble.

“No you won’t.  Now lie down and have this.”  He orders.

“Fine but I won’t sleep.”  I tell him but within 10 minutes I’m sound asleep.

BRIAN

I watch Franc and Leda start to set up a massive white sheet across the end of the windbreak.

“What’s going on?”  I ask Carl, while blowing on the corn dog for Gus.

“They filmed your fishing.  We’re going to watch.”  He replies.

“They did?  I didn’t notice.  Do you want that in a roll Gus?”

“Yes please daddy.  What’s the pink stuff?”

“Hot sauce.”  Justin tells him.  “You don’t want that. Have some mayo and oh I know...  Debs, can you pass the guacamole.”

“You guys have been busy.”  I laugh.  “How come it’s so green?”

“Peas and beans.  There’s raw peas and broad beans in there.  It’s great.  Carl had to take it away from me!”  Debs laughs.

“Do you want me to taste it first, Gus?”  I ask when he looks at it dubiously and then nods. I take a spoonful.  “Oh that is good, trust me Gus you will like it!”

“Mr Justin too.”

Justin takes a spoonful and he nods.  “Gus you will love this. Just try a little tiny bit.”  He dips his spoon in a takes a small but big enough amount and Gus slowly takes it into his mouth.

At first, he blinks after he swallows.  “Oh that’s so nice!  Yes, can I have some on my roll please?”

Soon we’re eating, laughing and drinking.  Gus has been sneaking pieces of food down to Rhubarb. Seems someone told him about the chicken!  But soon enough he’s tired and stretches out between Justin and I with Rhubarb over our feet.

“Maybe we should put him in a hammock?”  Justin suggests.

“Which him?”  I laugh.

I manage to get Gus up without waking him and put him in the hammock and he’s soon joined by Rhubarb.  I tuck Leather Bear behind his head and snicker as there is no need for a blanket.

“Beautiful boy.”  Justin whispers and kisses him on his cheek before we head back to join the others.

“Before we start the film.”  Franc calls out.  “I have some scores on the doors to announce.  Today we landed 47 fish between us, which is an excellent haul.  The prize for the best landing, of course, goes to Brian and Justin for the sailfish, which you will see in a minute.  Emmett did indeed land the biggest fish, then it was Brian, then Ben and then Justin.  But who got the biggest doesn’t matter, because it was one of the best days ever.”

“I do believe you said you would beat me?”  I whisper in Justin’s ear.

“I thought I would.  What with you being a City Boy and all.”  He nibbles on his lip.

“City Boy reference not helping you since I was going to be nice with your forfeit. Not so much now.”

“Just tell me.”  He groans.

“Oysters.  You have to eat oysters.”