Chapter 4

 

            I must have looked mighty surprised.

            “Hi. Sorry to scare you like that. I thought it’d be fun.”

            I couldn’t stop staring. He was so different from the last time I saw him. His face was haggard and sallow. A thin beard spread over his cheeks. The sparkle in his eyes was gone, replaced with a harsh look of importance. What made me really scared, the thought that horrified me, was that he looked a lot like Dad.

            What could I say? “Sorry about your hand. I didn’t know.”

            There was silence. I still couldn’t get over him. All of the rips in his jacket made him look like some one else entirely. He looked sick. His skin seemed too white in the sun. Obviously, he had lost a lot of weight.

            “Scott, I’m glad I caught you here. Is everything going okay?” he said.

            He was questioning me? After not showing for five years I thought it was the other way around.

            I chose my words carefully. “Where have you been Dan? And what happened to you?”

            He sighed. It sounded so loud in the silence. Truly, there was no one else in the world but us right now.

            “I’ve been traveling, on foot. I blew most of the money on cards. I couldn’t find work in many of the other towns and eventually I came back here.”

            “When did you come back?” I asked.

            “Last year. I’m staying with Rose. Her parent’s don’t know.”

            Gambling, traveling, staying with Rose. I knew that wasn’t all he’s done, but I didn’t want to press him. I didn’t think I could handle it anyway.

 

            Having him thrust into my life was enough

 

 Rose, the last word that entered my mind.

“Wait, how are you staying with Rose? That’s not possible.”

            Rose’s family was very religious. They practically lived in the church and had Father Bill over so much that people thought he was one of the family. I couldn’t picture Dan, looking as he did, any where near that house.

            “Well, her parents don’t know obviously. I stay in the basement most of the time, and when I get lucky she lets me in her room.” He smirked. “Anyway, there’s a reason that I caught you today,” He said. “I’m going on the trip with you.”

Him and Dad together? There was no way that he was. He was telling me too many things. I hadn’t even fully realized he was back.  

            “Dan, you can’t. Dad will kill you when he sees you! What are you thinking?”

            “I’ve already talked to Uncle Harvey. He said I could come. Dad doesn’t know yet. I was hoping you’d walk there with me, you know, to lighten the impact.”

            I never saw him so worried in my life. His eyes weren’t meant for pleading. It made you want to wretch when you saw fearless, dark eyes turn soft. He was here, standing in front of me. For the last five years, I’d been wondering if he ever thought about me, if he even remembered me. He had become like a character in a book; they seem real, close to you, but you know you’ll never see them on the street. And now, I was seeing my character.

            “Why do you want to go anyway? It’s just another trading trip,” I said.

            He looked at me; eye brows raised high like black crescents. We stood staring like that for a bit and then he spoke, “W-w, I mean, I just thought it would be a change of pace. You know?”

            Something wasn’t right. It was the way he looked right when I said it, like I of all people should know why he wanted to go. I didn’t feel like playing the detective so I dismissed it and continued walking toward the docks. Dan followed closely behind.

 

            When we reached the docks, Dan walked beside me like we’d been doing that the whole way. Half the crew was there already. Most of the rigging had been done. Harvey was yelling at a few crewmen to hoist up the sail. The young lad at the sign in, Robert, was tugging in front, face shining like an apple in the sun. Everyone else seemed to be in his shadow, amazed at his vigor. 

Dan and I both stopped. Everyone else was in his shadow…except Dad. His raven black hair stood out against the white sail. Each pull of the ropes made his muscles ripple in the morning light. Neither of us said anything, we just watched.

I remember telling Suzie once about when the sail comes up and how it’s one of the greatest things you can see. The powerful wind whips it like it’s nothing, but when it’s finally up, all the wrinkles melt into the sail. It stands tall, proud, drawn tight like the muscles of an ox. Power glows from all around it and blows through you, sweeping fear along with it.

It was all good until Dad turned. His face instantly went from pride to rage. His face was scratched with deep wrinkles and his eyes burned with hatred. I looked at Dan. Dan was paler than before. His lips looked like blood on a frozen tundra.

Dad was moving. He marched off the ship onto the dock. Harvey must have foreseen what was going to happen because he stood at the end of the dock, blocking my Dad’s way.

“Move Jim,” my Dad said. No one called Harvey by his first name. It was always his last.

Uncle Harvey didn’t move. He took a step forward and rested a hand on my Dad’s shoulder. “No. You’re a good man Tom, but I’m not going to be one man short because of you. Dan’s coming with us.”

Dad’s eyes didn’t leave Dan. His gaze pierced, through Dan shooting revulsion and loathing into his soul.  

“You’re on my ship Tom,” Uncle Harvey said. “And you will stay or leave. Decide now.”

Dad moved his eyes from Dan to Uncle Harvey.

“He causes any trouble, gives any s**t, and you’ll find your man overboard.”

He looked at Dan for a minute, then stomped off to the ship.

“Boys, please come, we need some help putting in the rudder,” Harvey said.

 Me and Dan were so surprised that we just kept staring at Dad walking back up to the ship. Dad never backed down. You can’t just scare a lion away when he’s so close from his prey. Something was going on. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. Then something even weirder happened. One of the crew called Harvey over, pointing at a man peeking out of the alley. He had on a silk top hat and a black suit. Harvey went over.  They talked for only a moment, and then the man vanished into the alley. In all my life, I’d never seen Harvey near a man dressed like that. When I asked Harvey what it was all about. He just patted my head, saying it was nothing. Something was going on.