Where Ever The Blue Sea Takes Me - Legend

                              Legend

A man named Johnny settles out at sea on his boat he had named The Queen Lattifa just after a divorce hearing with his wife he had married eight years earlier and lost his son James in it all.
While out at sea Johnny finds a way to cope with his heartache of his situation and he later finds a place that was shown to him supposedly by the heavens that has an endless supply of tuna,becoming a millionaire. As the years go by he regains custody of his son James and raises him on board his ship teaching him how to be an ocean fisherman himself and in his teachings,he teaches his son James that his life is where ever the blue sea will take him.

Where Ever The Blue Sea Takes Me - Chapter 1

                                     Chapter 1

 

I left my wife and kid that horrific day. I had an idea as to what i was going to do. My idea had started with an everything pizza at Pizza Mans. It was a rainstorm outside, had felt like the tropics and was sad to lose your wife and kid to a divorce and was not proud of it. Where i am getting at , is one of those years that you do not get back.

I was getting a ride to the docks with a buddy of mine named Tom. A five dollar bill had covered his gas. In all, it was the least i could do, was just five bucks.

The horn had blew to The Queen Lattifa, tom and i could here it with the truck windows up. we got out of our seats and onto the wooden dock, faced and walked towards the rig. Tom did not want to get on board, i did though.

I could see that the deck had needed some work. Everywhere i had looked was a muddy boot print. I felt back for the person with the muddy boots. I knew they will be scrubbing it up. I was trying to check my own boots too to see if i was not tracking the deck up too. Down and about scrubbing, swishing and a-swaying the deck. The captain is me. I had explained to Tom. He could not believe what i had said.

Scrubbing with soap and bubbles, i noticed my bucket and it was filled to the rim with them. Tom, he had proposed i use water. a big deal it is, the difference between cleaning with water than with soap and water. He had left so fast he had almost forgot his truck keys. I knew he would of been back if he did. A horrible dog had came at me. He did not get the chance to bite me though. He ran to my ship with his owner yelling no at him. He had finally of listened and had turned back.

The time had changed, my heart was beating fairly quickly. It is not easy cleaning the ship deck and almost getting bit by a writ wilier in the process, specifically if that dog knew how i had felt about it. I had been out at sea only once before when i was a little boy with my dad and plenty of times since then. The ship is ready to go, i thought. My thinking and excitement had a lot to do with it, but the open sea is dangerous. The dog was gone.

At holding the steer, i looked back at the docks. The writ wilier was still upset. He had barked at me the whole way out to sea. I knew he had wanted some of my fresh meat. In a birds tune, i had started talking to them. Here bird, here, i said. It is OK. I will not hurt you.Come here.

The high waves had caught my brown eyes. I had looked over the rig edge to see if they were normal, six inch waves had been crashing the boat sides. I kept watching. On one wave splash was nine inches, it had came to me that they might get bigger.

I almost panicked at what i had seen. My pant legs were dirty and soapy. My gut had growled over the seagulls. The bulging scene of my shoulders and arms had stood out a good inch or two from my rain resistant yellow jacket. I could see i was getting hungry. I could not take it all in, i did not belong at home with my ex wife and kid . I was far away from anything on this boat, The Lattifa, the rig and would not be returning for a while. I had belonged at sea. I was a deep sea fisherman. I was raised on a boat out at sea. There is the story. The deck was scrubbed nearly raw. I seen i had did a nice job and no doubt that i could not feed myself. Around my head was a fisherman hat. At closer range, i seen it was a blue jean make and model. Four holes were put in the top for breathing purposes. As i had turned the steer with my hands, something else had appeared. There, scurrying in the water, it was a swordfish. I supposed he would not be there long, wavy letters in the water it had wrote.
It is weird how a fish can swim underwater for a really long time. Yet they need air to keep breathing,just something that had come to my mind or something i had thought of, or the memories coming back of the divorce.
What i seen the swordfish do had spelled out my ex wife's name. To say the least, i started my fishing line to eat it for it. come on bite, i said, i am going to eat you. He had caught on that i was not his friend . he had left the boat edge. I took a bath with the fish hose on the deck and washed all of the stress from my body. I drank some warm whisky i had had in the cabin and ate some old shrimp legs i had left over from the last catch. I hurried down to the lower deck fridge and got more. I ate shrimp leg until i could not eat any more.
I had slept all night until five in the morning. Early in the afternoon i had gotten bored. I understood and soon it was late afternoon, i could be fishing a while. I knew i would catch some more swordfish as soon as i had navigated in the right spot.
The next morning, just after sun up, i had pulled in a swordfish. I had anticipated the catch, i reeled it in and had put it below deck with the others. I had thanked the heavens for the food. With a straight face, i said, more the better in heaven. And, you can all stay as long as you all would like. I almost had laughed out loud.
I was contemplating where there would be more swordfish. With one more prayer i had set more hooks and had headed west. I could not help but to notice more movements in the water. I had noticed the way the fish were headed, never going east just west,yet with the currents.
The swordfish had swam by the boat and was by the numbers, the time was kept for each swordfish and was one minute per. Yes , plenty of swordfish, was the perfect sign of wealth. Where the ocean was seen from the front of the deck, i had looked out into it and had went back to the steer of the rig. My hands had steered the steer. As i had watched the sun rise get brighter, i had thought these words, good morning,sunshine. Good day and great fishing!
I did not have to say good morning. I could of said good night, but to not steer toward the fish would be a foolish move on my part. It would run me broke. The money would of slowly of went delinquent.
I had no idea where the seagulls had went. Perhaps it was far away or maybe was closer than i had thought. I had tried to believe they were closer. It was not possible that they had went far. I thought something more would have happened in my life, was it very unusual of me to just take off out to sea alone. Perhaps i had too much of life or maybe i just needed a way to make money. Whatever it was that had led me out to sea, i was trying to sort it all out.
I am going to the north pole and with the help of god and the heavens, i will catch a lot more swordfish.
To me it had made a big difference where i was headed or where i had fished. My new black sweat shirt would keep me warm, time and again, place to place. There would be a no i am not working. When my hands had started to hurt at the steer, i would breathe hot air into them and break for some seconds. Water from the waves were blasting up the sides of the rig and had soaked the deck, had almost froze it before running back into the sea. It was food that was fished occasionally along the way. Through the ice burgs, the snow or the sleet rain i would fish, not turning back.
Some afternoons i would nap in the cabin den on a hammock. The long journey i knew had just begun. There would be a lot of hook bating and some close injury;s. My warm filled belly was full now and again. All was fed. Once more fish would fill the lower deck fridge . I will be completely happy. After the north pole had been reached there was only one way of knowing it, i had thought and it was by the amount of ice burgs that were seen on the way. Memories of when i was a kid, an old boat named The Queen Stacey and two other of my dads ship mates,were fishing like my dad Nicholas. Memories of the northern fishing tournament,UN believable first place medals and fallowed with my fathers death and his funeral. He died of a stroke at the age of fifty. As i turned the steer gauge to auto pilot i had started to remember how i had barely survived the Queen Stacey wreck and then i had thanked the heavens once again. No, maybe i will manually drive this rig. I might crash. I was about three quarters of the way to the fishing spot where i knew all the tuna was. It had an estimated catch price of three hundred thousand dollars. I stopped in the cabin and had another warm whisky. I did not leave any hooks UN bated. The dead of the day was a perfect chance to make some dough. I wore some fisher mans gloves that i had had in the cabins storage box. As i waited patiently, the gloves had kept my hands warm. The middle of the afternoon sunlight was out for a second.
I threw all the hooks in the water. As i did two swordfish were already caught in them. I had cranked them both onto the deck  and rolled them into the lower fridge door. I held one fish up to get a better look. There they were, a good nine on the sword scale. One was large and long. Upright swords that were as long as my arm. The high smooth surface of there skin was slimy. The other one the hook was lashed from its rough no bite catch. It was a clean snare though and i am sure would make a great penny. I had them all down in the fridge. There was a new story to tell my son James. As i lowered them i had covered them in ice, my mind had remembered back through the years,back to my childhood days. How great full i was to have a lot of swordfish on board. Swordfish after swordfish the money was there.

Where Ever The Blue Sea Takes Me - Chapter 2

Chapter 2 

I had figured a fisherman needs his tools and his gear to fish for swordfish. I do not mean just hooks and lines either. I mean a rain resistant suit and liver bait too and a lot of sharp over sized hooks to get the big ones with, the kind that do not warp or bend, the kind that do not break.
I was eight years old when my dad had first taken me fishing. I am sure other boys my age were taught a trade. It is easy for a young boy to want to be a boy and play with his friends. It starts grabbing at my brain and hanging onto it and does not let go easily. It gets better and better, until finally it goes away. If fishing was originally easy, i am sure my mother Stacey would still be alive and not of had her heart attack, but she is not. I did not want my mother to die. I wanted her to see her grand child and the boat i had bought.
I had to have something that would pay the bills and put the food on the table. I would talk to my father in spirit about it. I had scratched my head when he did not answer. Well, Nicholas, i said,i hear you had seen my boat. I am sure you will have one in the after life. I might as well of slept the day away, but i got to make a living,i said, i have to get my kid back. I want this three hundred thousand dollar catch. I could see by the fish i was reeling in that there was a good chance i would, and did.
I had thought,my god,this load is a lot of money and that is what i need right now.
I had iced all of them before they had spoiled. I had cleaned them too. I feared the weather. Off to the dealer i said and the steer was turned back toward the south east. Besides, a fisherman only gets one good catch a year and that is during the end of his season, not until i cash in will it be over. I understood that well. There i was a hundred feet from an ice burg. My home was on the ship on the water front of Florida Bay. The water was fresh and the bird life always had woke me up. It lay on the coast beautifully there. The land was sanded until it hit merchants and city street asphalt. I always had a ride when i had left the boat. I was the first one to call a taxi if i did not have one. My ex wife had lived in my home on st. Nicholas Ave. It had three bedrooms,one bath and a master bedroom. Behind it was another condo and was similar to it. In the evenings and early in the morning it had fog from the city traffic and pedestrians had been making there morning jogs. Up in the Appalachian mountains would be six inches of snow fall. The ocean front would be seventy five degrees. The rich sand would be warmer and full of lots of sand castles. To a young boy it was the thing to do and it was the number one niche in the day. I had traveled to the Bermuda triangle once. I knew i would never go there again though and the weather there was too fatal. The people in Florida are amazing. I would spend years of getting to know them. After leaving out to sea, i would wave fair well to them. That i would call my fair well hand shake. Then, at sea i would look back and remember the coast. I would clean the deck sometimes to get my mind from thinking about it.
I had thought i was in the south already. I did not even get any sleep yet, up all night long, steering the steer with my sore hands.
I was a fisherman from the day my father and my mother had me,a natural born. I had caught every kind of fish from crab, to octopus, even swordfish.
As the morning had glew of the deck and had shined better. I seen it,it was money that was in my feature as i had went back to my childhood. It was hard to think about it. Good swordfish were always worth more money and they were plenty in the lower deck fridge. I gained six pounds since i had left Florida. If mom was here she would compliment me.
I am going to have to eat again soon, i thought. I never had went more than a day without eating before. its not healthy at all. I am so hungry,i said,my stomach and i feel week.
I am going to eat, i had told it. We will have tuna burgers. I cannot wait for them to finish cooking on the ships gas stove. It burns my appetite to even think about it.
I had offered my stomach a piece of sandwich bread, it did not want it,but it had ate it anyway. He wants burgers and they are expensive. Do you know what they pay for in Florida for a tuna burger? Six dollars! If i had three hundred thousand dollars right now i would of had one as soon as i had docked this boat. I need one now though.
I had over baked a tuna burger before. I knew i could not do that this time. I had began watching them very closely. After watching them fully cook, i had put them on sandwich bread i had had on board in the cabin. Even though i was running low on bread, i had used them anyway, i had ate the tuna burgers fast too. Two would be good. I had heard the moat of it sink to my tummy. It had made me feel fuller than a white shark after a hunting meal.
I set the hooks up and counted them. There was thirty five of them and it told me that they were all there. Some of the hooks had some bait left on them. If the fish would of bit them i would not of had enough room in the fridge for them all. I said i will make the three hundred thousand dollars mark,but it was not easy.
I had steered the steer all the way to the midland.
The next day i could see the Florida shores.
 Late that evening i had my buyer tally up the seasons catch. As fast as i could, i had helped unload the swordfish,expecting a pay check. Instead he had paid me with a bag of cash. If the Easter bunny himself laid a golden egg, gold and all, i would not of been as pleased. I had jumped up and down  and i grabbed the one million dollar pay day. I shook his hand proudly while telling him good doing business with you. He had showed me that the hard work pays well and you do not need a crew to make it rich. The next morning i was at the fifth and third bank cashing in my jackpot,the greatest season ever . If this was not spectacular! I did not intend on spending it right away. I was saving it, but you know how money goes. My son James is one step away from being back with his daddy. I have a court date today to get him back. She has no reason to keep him from me. I know she wont deny my custody of him.
I was calm, i just could not understand her actions and she was not right about them. The tale behind her actions was bigger than my ship and everything i had lost was worth just as much. I swallowed my saliva and sucked it up. I almost wanted to tear a dogs hair out, everyday saying, come on,here doggy.
Mom would of beat him with a broom. I threw them all out though. Mom was the greatest broom swinger alive. She had put a three inch broom sliver in our old yell er dog named Sprite for eating her freshly baked blueberry pie.
It was bad enough that he had died from it. I never heard such a death story in my life.
It was a good hour until i had got over it again. The fish livers were bought for bait. Nasty and slimy,our bait is,started stinking up the south street cab.
After the cab ride was over,i said. That should be interesting. I do not think the cab driver would want to give me another ride ever again.
How is Aunt Janine? Aunt Janine was one of those wild chicks. She would be in the bars a lot.
I seen some of the hangouts she might of been in shaking her junk at the bartenders,but i did not check them. Thinking that they were going to see me in a bar knowing that i was a chimp hair from getting the custody back of my son, i think not. Janine could not comprehend that her drinking effects the whole entire family, messing around in bars. I would not look any further.
It wan not long now until court was in session. Every time the defence had favored me, they would laugh at my ex wife because she was broke and had no job. The custody was turned over to me.
Aunt Janine wont be seeing him for a while. She had said she wanted to see him badly six months ago,but where had she been, at the bar.
My dad would of torn my head off for even seeing Aunt Janine. Dad would of said, i do not want her to rob you too son. He knows everything Aunt Janine had done in the past. Dad had went back to rest in piece. He was dead and so imagination is his life source still in the living. He was here and there to me in life.
You see son,i said. He is looking down on us right now. James had got in the west taxi. I had joined him too. Him leaving home and out to sea with me. Oh, he was going to be a fisherman,just like his daddy, but her had never been away from his mother and his friends for more than a week at a time. He will used to it after a month, he is fifteen years old.
Once i let James play with his friend Jim because i felt bad for making him do more than his usual chores. I like being a nice dad. He enjoyed it when i was nice to him. His eyes had turned green and he gave me a hug. He mouthed off at me once and had drew back his voice when i had threatened him of his allowance. I had decided to give it to him the next morning however for his good behavior.
In no amount of time we were home on the boat at the docks. Then he had asked me about his mother. I told him she will see him soon. I got one of those mama boys i think.
My dad had always told me that raising a boy is not like fishing. This had opened a new can of worms for me. I had caught a lot fish, but not a boy.
There was not a thing wrong with my son. I did not have to snoop around in his room to know that.
I could not hook him and put him in the lower deck fridge with the other fish. He was too good for that in my eyes. Besides, he will see an empty locker and ask questions about it and beg me for money as well as sometimes give me the old sad song story.
Once i see him doing something wrong i will confront him and not until then. I have not seen anything yet. I had laughed and said son i love you boy. It had made a big difference to him that i showed him affection. I was happily convinced that he appreciated my affections. The love you plea helped him find his room,but like mine had to share a toilette. The news wore off as soon as he had seen the shower. Only this time he was happier.
I started pasteurising him again. I said, it is not much, but will have to do. I had thought he would be less satisfied with the bathroom. Nobody use my soap, James said. This had made my day. I had decided to sleep for a while. I had snick a tuna burger to bed with me and a piece of bread. I had fell asleep in some of the crumbs too. I would float away when i had slept and would bring back swordfish and crab legs when i had woken.
 I had made it alright until James had woke me up for his own tuna burger. The next fishing season was crabs. I began readying the cages at noon time. The coast was loaded with crabbing boats. I had sat and watched there crews ready there own ships. This year i was determined to get some good crab. I had needed James to help with the cages and the hooks. This time i had bribed him with a pay raise with training. I had told him if we get a good crab year that we will have an easy season and plenty of money.
This time is going to be different,i said. This time i know where the crabs are.
The evening had set upon us and the hooks and cages were ready and we were strapped in our season gear. I had tried to get nothing but the best. It was good gear too. My voice as the captain was brutal at times and had to be. I had to make sure no one gets hurt and we had a great season. I'm sure too many men has the authority on the water that we do. I would not be captain of the ship if it was not mine own.
By the time we were out on open water, i knew where we were going. My mind was locked in and my vision was perfectly clear. I had looked at our position on the water and gave James my best coordination. If i knew less about coordination,i said, we would of never of found a fish or a crab.
Why did your grandma have to die? She would of loved to see you James.
By the heavens and god were going to get crabbing this year, i know grandpas most famous spot.
Aw, said James. You got us on an Easter egg hunt. It is just because he adores my work and working with me. He is almost sixteen now and he acts more like he is twenty two. This will put some hair on your rear,i had told him. I think your wonderful James. You are finally becoming a man. I was going to help him throw the last cage in.

Where Ever The Blue Sea Takes Me - Chapter 3

                                                            Chapter 3


 The fisherman job never did leave me homeless. With all the work there was to do every year, my teaching James had never been easier,it just kind of wore myself out over the years. Every time i had seen a fish out at sea, or up north, my age had hit me in the face.
Just a little while ago James had gotten his work permit from his school, Florida High School. The good ole lord had figured soon i would need a break and soon he was right.
It had all came to me after the years catch this year. From the extra money i had earned i could do just about anything,even retire,but James will not know that until i give him the news. I had heard he needed a feature profession anyway. I knew he would.
Throwing my boat his way would shock his little mind. I had hurried to bed.
It was always a pleasure to make a killer years catch. I usually had made more than i had anticipated. A fisher mans dream to make more. On this occasion James will now be able to make what i have made and in any way that he would like.
But, only on that day will he have that and this boat and an extra twenty five thousand dollars.
It was really a treasure to have him as a son and to have had the chance to teach him how to be a fisher man like me. Because of his being born i have managed to come this far in my life and my entire life was worth living. And, for that i am thankful. I had sat on my investments this long,what is another year going to hurt? On the deck was James waiting for the morning and us to start crab fishing. I had came to my senses, he wants to be a fisherman too - with a whole lot of fish to sell - every kind of fish, i had seen on and on.
There was fish i had never caught,sizes i have never seen. And, far up north were the biggest i have had in this boat. In lumps of fish,they were the fullest bunch - a seventy five dollars each. The swordfish were worth a pretty penny. But , on the contrary, the crabs were worth a bit more. I had thought about it over and over. By the time i knew what fish were worth the most, i was on octopus, sharks and wales. The thought i had forgotten. I was over the edge in my mind. The melon of a ten year old was better than mine own. How fantastic it would be if i could make an extra fifteen thousand dollars this season in crabs.
Every buyer in Florida would be highly wanting to price our catch - how can i get an extra fifteen thousand dollars? I knew what i could expect.
I had remembered a crab spot that had an endless supply of crabs that my dad had shown me and now i can show it to James. God helps those who helps others and not just themselves. I had thought long and hard about that. I had figured it in my mind. I had decided i would prey to god for help. There at open sea in the north, in the currents bend, it is where the crab spot is James. I preyed to god for plenty of crab too. It was a good prayer and it had came from the best of intentions.
When i had started sailing the boat out to sea, it was under way. As the cages were readied, i could sense the hot air was cooling as we had went further north. The wonderful seagulls were retreating back to the shore. The coldness of the rich northern air had chilled my spine. It was the time of the year to catch crabs. A big Orca wale had been seen swimming around and about the boat, he waved its tail in the water and then swam away. A mother seal had laid out on an ice mound. She was there protecting her young. They had stayed close to land. A cloud or two had gave an inch of rain and sleet. There was a giant wave even. I had heard James blow the boats horn to get my attention with it. I knew it had worked, the boats horn. I would have to start him on throwing the cages in. For all in all James, i said. It is time to fish.
I had took the baskets and had showed James how to throw them into the water and again i had watched him carefully. Slowly the crabs were brought on board and were poured from there cages. I could notify a buyer as soon as the fridge is half full of crabs and ice. In a crab season, i can easily make fifty thousand dollars from dads crab mine. I could crab fish for days. The more we fish ,the more we will make. There is a chance to get a hundred thousand dollars  - we got to fish like we never had fished before.
I could feel the seventy five thousand dollars in my hands. My boat,our deal,our split, my dads crab spot was beautiful,it was what it was, fishing as usual.
Dollars we can make. Then the crab cages were a little light, but i moved the boat some and there they were again. I had tried to name the years catch, i had called it Plentarnia. It had fitted plenty with the crab that was rolling onto the crab carts and into the ice in the fridge. Well, James thought i should have named it the year of crab fire. And, now there was more than twenty five thousand dollars in crabs and three days of crab fishing left  -  far more than expected. Some way, some how, we are going to make a hundred thousand dollars in crabs. I was determined to make that much. I had three million dollars in the Florida bank and thirty cents i had made after the divorce was final.
The next basket was getting lighter and lighter,but it still had cabs in it. I was searching for as much as we could get. I had helped us reach the sixty thousand dollar mark with a day and a half to remain. Then, i had realized at the last day we would only be able to reach seventy five thousand worth of crabs, but was twenty five thousand dollars better than we had counted on making at the start. It was perfect to retire on.
I had took James to the side and had told him the news, i said, when we cash these crabs in at the buyer tomorrow afternoon and we have split our parts i want you to know this. I want you to know James that i am getting old and i am retiring, i an leaving you my ship and twenty five thousand dollars plus your hard earned pay. I know James that you were shown all of the fishing locations that i and your grandpa had fished at for many years since i was just a little boy and i had said, the sea son is wherever the blue sea will take you.
I had dropped the steer to the south and had had us back in Florida by the next day in the afternoon. We received a cash sum of seventy five thousand dollars, we had said our fair wells to each other and then departed our own ways. And, ten years later i had invested my three million into the stock market and had became an up teen millionaire and James had built a life on board the boat for himself and had the best career he had ever had ever fishing on a boat.


                       

                                        The End