Deep Water Blues by Fred Waitzkin

Author:Fred Waitzkin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2019-03-22T14:10:44+00:00

Part V

After two nights in the small rotting town jail, Bobby was released with a stern warning to leave Dennis alone.

“Or you’ll be right back in here, or worse,” the police sergeant warned.

“What do you mean, worse?”

Bobby slowly ambled back a half mile along the dirt road to the marina, trying to make sense of what had happened to his life. He walked past the little shack where he’d made sculpture most evenings, but that ardent work now seemed remote and unappealing. Bobby was distracted by thoughts of his young bride and their great passion. It was hard to pull himself back. He didn’t feel like the man who had dived into feeding sharks to save drowning Haitian youngsters.

Dennis was standing beside his pickup truck speaking to one of his men. He looked up at Bobby, smiled with squinting pig eyes. He looked back at his plans for a fourth new guesthouse on the beach.

It occurred to Bobby one of them was lost in a dream.

“Hey, man, come on,” he said to Dennis, reaching for the past, when Dennis had followed him around the marina like a puppy.

Standing on the path just below his empty dining room, Bobby felt a surge of the old Bobby. He knew how to make promises. He knew how to charm. He could handle Dennis.

Dennis’s building manager walked over, asked a question.

Bobby grinned at Dennis as he had in the dining room crammed with high rollers. Dennis had reached for Bobby then, tried to gain his eye. Dennis had had to wait his turn. Bobby was probing for the right way to work his way back inside.

Bobby smacked Dennis on the shoulder. “We never discussed any of this. You can’t build a city in my marina.”

Bobby started to laugh. It was funny. It really was funny. Like a clichéd old Western when the rich bad guy comes into town, makes threats, and drives honest settlers away, takes over all the land. Dennis laughed as well—two buddies sharing a joke.

“Really, man? What were you thinking?”

“I don’t think so much,” Dennis answered without irritation or surprise. It was true. He didn’t think too much. Dennis heeded needs and instincts above all else. And Bobby’s return to the island had freed him in a way he couldn’t yet define. Dennis felt bolstered, energized.

“You can’t do this, man.”

Dennis nodded once, walked a few paces to his pickup, reached inside, and showed Bobby a stack of building permits with official seals from the Ministry of Works and Utilities in Nassau. Everything looked in order.

“You see?” Dennis said, putting the papers away. And he shrugged, to say, Yes, I can. What will you do about it?

~

Meanwhile, in the ruined sailboat, Mike wrote feverishly on his laptop. Locals coming by the marina saw less and less of him, and by the time Dennis erected his hamburger bar, Mike had virtually disappeared. It’s a mystery how he lived, where he got food and fresh drinking water, how he washed himself, how he survived the onslaught of mosquitoes and sand fleas after a rain.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.