The Atua Man by John Stephenson

Author:John Stephenson [John Stephenson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: -
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2019-10-10T04:00:00+00:00

Saturday May 27, 1989

The end of that week Larry moved back on the boat with his daughter Melanie. She was in great shape, very pretty, and tall like her dad. She had an infectious smile and greeted both David and Jason formally at first, but her handshake turned into a quick hug as if to say, “it’s going to be rather intimate on this boat and I want things to be fun and congenial.” In everything else – except in her height – she was his exact opposite. Where Larry was stiff and wiry, she was smooth and fluid. Where Larry never revealed what he really wanted, Melanie was straightforward and frank. As nice and polite as Melanie was, Larry was mad and abrupt.

“What did you two do to Byron?” Larry was not really interested in an answer. “Because whatever you did, he left. You two are going to have to pick up the slack.”

Larry unlocked the aft cabin and opened the companionway for Melanie. “Come, darling, let’s get you settled.”

The boys looked at each other and laughed. “Pick up the slack?” Jason said. “Byron did nothing but occasionally steer.”

A few minutes later a truck pulled up opposite Mata‘i’s mooring and honked its horn. Larry popped out of his cabin and ordered Jason to bring the repair guy out to the boat. He was lugging a new heat exchanger to install, and some brackets with six jerry cans for extra fuel and water. The man installed the brackets and jerry cans on either side of the forward cabin, and then went below to change out the heat exchanger.

A half hour later another truck arrived and began honking. It was from the market, delivering their provisions for the next three months. Larry said he couldn’t count on getting anything from the Marquesas. The boys started stowing the food, but Larry interrupted and told them to leave that for later.

Larry and the boys walked up Boulevard Pomare to the gendarmerie to get their papers and straighten out the firearms issue. Larry warned the boys to say as little as possible, noting that they couldn’t speak French anyway. However, if they were asked about rebel groups or the purpose of the guns, they were to plead ignorance of island politics and say that the guns and ammo were only there for their protection.

Larry came out of the gendarmerie headquarters smiling and totting his weapons. The authorities had had no problem with the guns, however, they did with the ammunition. Larry was allowed to keep one box. Next, Larry led the way to the immigration office. The boys waited outside guarding the guns while Larry retrieved the crew’s passports and visas. The last stop was the post office, and Larry went in alone.

David didn’t trust Larry and bolted into the building. The clerk handed Larry a package of letters tied up with a string. Larry untied the string and sorted through the mail. He refused two of the letters and handed them back. David thought he saw his name on one.

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