Phoenix Rising

With a little greasy crawling and continual references to the three hundred thousand that he had lost back to the tables, Henry managed to arrange a two week stay in the hotel at the back of the casino as well as enough player points to feed himself and drink a little as well.

So it was that three days after his loss he sat in the midst of a busy gaming floor looking longingly at the women and men who played at the tables. There but for a seven rolled, that damned one and six, stood Henry, at the centre of the storm.

He found himself sitting next to a guy in jeans and T shirt who by coincidence was drinking the same brand of Bourbon by the glass full. Not having had a conversation for three days, Henry made a comment which was answered in a friendly fashion and the conversation was under way.

“Name’s Larry, call me ‘Las’.”

“So what are you doing here? Las,” said Henry’s new friend as they raised another glass.

“I’m one of those people who get stranded when the cruise ship leaves on time,” replied Henry.

“Huh, bad luck.”

“Times two, I was well ahead on the craps and then I lost it and missed the ship.”

“So? Wired for some money then?”

“Can’t until next month.”

“Well that’s a shit result, what you gonna do for the next few weeks then for money?”

Henry laughed. The whole problem was one of tedium, nothing else now, so he felt that he could relax and not feel so depressed about the whole thing.

“Nothing, I’m living on my player points!” said Henry.

“Well I am a pilot, for Nassau harbour, I might be able to find some work for you. There is always a need for casual labour to clean and polish the boats and so on.”

“I’m not sure,” pondered Henry. “I mean it’s not going to bring much.”

“Just saying. A couple of hundred would at least see you with a better grade of Bourbon in your hand, if nothing else.”

“Where do I find you? I mean if I want to take it up...”

“We’re at the end of Potters Cay; come in tomorrow afternoon and maybe something will have shown up!”

When Henry was back in his room he contemplated the idea of working. Never had a hundred dollars seemed so much money as it looked like now.

Boredom.

That was the main problem. Being occupied always needed dollars, and in Henry’s case, thousands.

*****

The next day Henry found his steps taking him to Las’ office. The thought of having another chat with the pilot was almost as attractive as the idea of earning a few dollars.

The office was not busy and Las was sitting in the sun outside smoking a cigarette and having a tea.

“Hi,” said Henry. “I just thought I’d come along to see what’s going on.”

“Not much at the moment, but funnily enough I think that I’ve found a berth for you, on the ‘Phoenix’.”

“Oh, I really didn’t want to leave Nassau. I suppose that I was looking for harbour work!”

“As you like,” replied Las with a grin as he offered a cigarette to Henry.

After a few moments Henry could not help himself asking about the job.

“Well,” said Las as though he had expected the question and already got his thoughts in order. “You see that small cruiser, there?”

He pointed at a fairly large motor yacht, the Phoenix, that was sitting lightly in the water on the dock.

“Mmm.”

“Well they are looking for a reliable man to take with them on a week’s fishing expedition. All he has to do is to man the wheel and make sure that the boat does not drift when they go diving.”

“I’ve never sailed a boat like that,” said Henry as he looked at the thirty metre boat and pondered if he could bull-shit his way on board.

“Nothing to worry about, Henry,” said Las. “I’ll introduce you and then we’ll take a quick trip on mine to show you the ropes. Piece of cake really.”

Las stood with a grunt and led Henry down the quay to the motor cruiser. It was an old fashioned fifties wood hulled cruiser that was both low and sleek, but was covered in brass fittings and mahogany that made it look dated compared to the gleaming translucent hulls of the ships moored to either side.

He bent down and rapped on the deck before they used the gang plank to board.

“Nothing the girls like better than a bit of old fashioned courtesy,” he commented as he called out, “permission to come on board.”

A young woman emerged onto the deck and smiled when she saw Las. Dressed in slacks, a loose top and just bare feet she stepped over the wooden deck and shook Las’ hand.

“Trudy, how’s it going?” said Las.

“Hi there, Las,“ she said in a breezy voice. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Henry,” said Las as he introduced them. “He’s had a couple of years experience on the water and might be the man who you’re looking for to man the boat.”

“Sounds good.”

Trudy led them down the deck to a sunken stair that down into the bowels of the ship. Emerging from this stairwell was a man of about fifty who smiled and introduced himself as Steve.

“Call me ‘silent Steve’,” he said with a grin.

Henry looked at him, impressed. It was not that he was huge or muscle-bound but he was clearly an incredibly strong man. Just the grip of his hand had made Henry gulp as the enormous fingers enveloped his hand and squeezed almost to the point of pain.

Trudy smiled and asked of Steve, “Where’s Valerie? Still in Nassau?”

“Yep,” was all that Steve said.

“OK then, Henry. What we need is really quite simple,” said Trudy, “We are heading out to the Turks and Caicos for some fishing, a little diving and then back here. If the weather holds a week or maybe two, if it turns bad then we probably are out only a couple of days.”

Henry smiled. He was normally good at begging for money but he was not sure that he knew how to ask. He was rescued by Las.

“You said that you were offering a hundred a day, for the right man?”

“That’s right,” said Trudy. “So between a few hundred and a thousand probably. You’ve got to keep the boat ready, a little polishing and staying out of the way as well as you will be sort of butler as well! You can cook?”

“I do a mean omelette,” laughed Henry, “and I know every cocktail under the sun so there should not be any problem!”

“Sounds good,” said Trudy, “be back here at seven tomorrow and we’ll be off. Bring a passport.”

*****

Las and Henry stood looking at the Phoenix for a moment from the dockside. There was no doubt that the old-fashioned lines of the big boat combined with the wood and brass made it a stunning work of art.

“Listen,” said Las. “You’d better take my card, we’ve gotta meet up for your lessons later and you’d better take my number.”

“OK,” said Henry as Las opened his wallet and pulled out a card with his phone number already scrawled on it in his untidy hand. Henry noticed that the wallet was stuffed with cash.

All in hundreds, but he affected not to notice.

‘There must be plenty of opportunity for a bit of business as a pilot,’ he thought as he changed the subject.

“That Trudy, she’s a bit hot,’ he said.

“Yep! She’s a looker,” said Las as they headed back to his office after a casual ‘good bye’. “But you should see her friend, Valerie! She was my wet dream for a year until I realised that she’s less horny than ornery, I like ‘em big and a bit older than most men.”

“Who’s that Steve character?” asked Henry.

“Not sure, because I don’t think that he’s with either of them, the two women.”

“Strange!”

“Not really, Valerie is pretty rich, or at least she has loads of money from what I can gather and Trudy is her girlfriend. Steve’s just their factotum and the pilot of the cutter. They are here about once a month for the diving and so on.”

“Oh right.”

Henry felt a little let down, Trudy had struck him as a bit tasty and he was disappointed that she was probably not available.

Chapter 3 : North.

***

Henry had arrived, on time, with his one bag and a feeling that he was embarking on an adventure. The money was just a joke to him, it was the trip and the escape from boredom that had hooked him.

The two hours on Las’ boat, yesterday, had given him a good understanding of how to steer and handle the boat. Not really as difficult as he had imagined, with a wheel and the various throttles and so on he quickly understood how it all worked.

He could not understand why Las had so taken with him and showed him the ropes all at his own cost. On the other hand Henry was a man that took for granted that all his friends loved his wit, his easy going manner and his good looks.

He was shown a cabin at the very front of the vessel that just fitted a barred cot and a small cupboard. A single thick glass porthole allowed him to look out and a sink provided a trickle of fresh water.

Steve spent almost all of his time tending to the huge engines and doing various tasks that Henry took to be the normal run of the mill of operating the cutter.

Valerie.

Henry could understand Las’ interest in her. Tall, and big in every way, she had been striking years ago, but it was made pretty clear early on that the two women formed a close couple and that even Steve did as he was told when Valerie ordered it.

Henry soon found that he was at a loose end and when Valerie noticed it she started to give him a stream of things to do.

Polish the brass work on the decks, cook a meal in the galley, make cocktails, wash up and keep lookout. Even with all this petty work to do Henry had time to observe the boat’s occupants and make judgements about them.

As far as he could see, Steve was nothing more or less than the mechanic, odd job man and oft times steersman of the boat. Calm and unperturbed he did as he was told by the two women without a murmur.

On the other hand, Trudy seemed flighty and constantly happy. She spent a great deal of time on the foredeck soaking in the sun, topless and seemingly unaware of the gaze of a rather avid Henry. He watched her undress and then lie first face down and then she turned to even the tan. She was slim, narrow hips and waist and long legs.