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.
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.
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