the Scuffy - 9. Chapter 9

Morning did come early. It felt like Glen just settled in my arms when the horn sounded. He jumped and almost fell out of bed. Between the need to get moving and having to empty our bladders, we ran up to the deck naked, shorts in hand. Standing at the stern, we watered the ocean. Pulling on our shorts, Ron and Nicky joined us.

“Okay guys, let’s get the nets up, then we can eat.” Ron and I took the port net while Glen told Nicky what they were going to do. “Don’t forget the tuna and lobsters,”

Glen showed Nicky the tins, “Tuna go in here, and the lobster goes in the ice chest,” handing Nicky the rubber bands.

As the winch began to bring the net up, the fish started to fall on the deck. I watched Nicky, and he was doing okay. A couple of tuna fell on the deck, Glen handled them, no lobster. With the port net emptied, we dropped it back into the sea. We moved to the starboard net. “Ready guys?” Don and I started to pull the starboard net. As the fish were dumped on the deck, Glen and Nicky began to push the fish toward the holding tank, one tuna, and no lobster.

Once the nets were back in the water, “Let’s eat.” Glen made coffee, Ron microwaved the egg and sausage sandwiches. I got out plates and began to pour the coffee. I watched as everyone was standing while eating and drinking coffee.

“Ron, put the extra sandwiches on the counter. You all can get them if you’re still hungry.” I topped off Uncle’s coffee, leaving a little for his extra. “Want another biscuit?” He nodded, and I set one on his plate.

I took my coffee and went to the stern where I waited. Didn’t have to wait long before Nicky, Glen, and Ron joined me. “Do you think we should change?”

“Let’s see what the two o’clock pull is like. If it’s like this morning, then yes, we’ll move.”

The pull at two wasn’t that great. “Nicky, we’re going to move. We are going North about two miles and then West about ten miles, whats our heading?”

He looked at where we sat and where we wanted to go, “This is like a math problem.”

“Right, so how do we go?”

“Well, we go north and then west, but the best way is to follow this line.”

“Yes, it’ll be quicker and less fuel. So set the coordinates, mark the map and let’s go. But first, we need to pull the anchor.”

He went with me while I showed him how to pull the anchor, smiling all the way. At the helm, I started the motor and watched Nicky steer the boat on the path he had chosen. Ron watched and smiled.

I felt Glen’s hand on my shoulder, “He loves this. Now not only is my dad in your court, so is my brother.”

“And not your mom?” I got jabbed in the ribs.

Arriving at the new spot, Nicky looked at me. I nodded, he turned off the engine and switched to the battery. “What’s next, Nicky?” He thought for a split second and headed to the stern. Glen and I watched, as proud parents, as he dropped the anchor.

Glen clapped him on the back, “Good job Nicky”

By the look in their eyes, you could see the brotherly love they had for each other. “Lets bring a few more tins up.”

“You hoping for tuna?”

“Yep”

We spent the time hosing down the deck. “You’re going to need to paint the boat soon.”

“Yes, this Fall, when it goes into dry dock, it’ll get a new coat of paint and maybe a new name as well.”

It was a few minutes past five, “Do you want to eat now or after we pull the nets. I figure by the time we get the nets in it’ll be half-past six.”

“Let’s eat a little now and then finish after the nets are pulled in.” We all looked at Nicky and laughed.

“How about you fixing yourself a sandwich, and then we’ll eat after we pull the nets in.”

That suited Nicky, Glen showed him the bread and the leftover pastrami from lunch. We sat on the bench, while Nicky ate, discussing Ron’s upcoming wedding. Next week would be his last week working on our boat.

“We’ll miss you, but if you ever miss the smell of fish, you’ll be welcomed back.” We laughed at the face he pulled. “Ron, I meant to ask you, does Jim have a freezer on the Falcon?”

“Yes, a small one, I’ll get the info and the dealer and drop it off. You can get it from your uncle.”

“Nicky, aren’t you going to offer us a bite of your sandwich?” We all began to laugh at the face he made. He left and went to the bow.

“Come on, guys, it’s a little past six.” Seeing Nicky eating has given me an appetite. “You and Glen take the port side, Nicky and I’ll take the starboard side. He needs to learn how to bring in the nets.”

Glen and Ron started to pull the nets to hook onto the winches. Nicky saw that and came with the paddles. I opened two tins just in case. I wasn’t disappointed, no lobster but six tuna. I could only get four in a tin versus the usual five. “Okay Nicky, you and I will pull in the starboard net. You need to hook the open edge on the winch, that will form a basket when bringing the net up.” I watched as he pulled the net, ready to hook the open edge to the winch. Glen stood ready to help if needed. He wasn’t needed.

“Great job Nicky” His smile was my reward. I’m going to love this family.

As the net emptied, the guys were busy. Seven tunas, no lobsters, but that was okay. I checked the hold, almost half full. “I think next week we’ll head for these waters. We seem to do better here.” Dropping the net back in the water, “Let’s eat.”

“What’s it look like, Kev?”

“We got thirteen tuna Captain, and the hold is almost half full. I think we’ll be going back a little earlier.”

We had TV dinners for dinner. Glen had picked quite an assortment. Everyone made a choice, it wasn’t bad, but since we don’t have time to cook and the crew needs more than sandwiches, these were perfect. We stood around chatting as we drank our coffee. As the sun set, I pointed it out to Nicky, we went to the bow and watched. “That’s beautiful”

“Yes, Mother Nature knows how to paint a pretty picture.”

“Well, guys, I’m turning in.” We all said good night to Ron, and then like we all thought it was a good idea, we all turned in. We had to water the ocean and make a trip to the head.

“Nicky did well today.”

“Yes, he surprised me. He’s a fast learner, we’ll miss him when he goes to school.”

“Are you going to allow him to have a party?”

“Yes, I trust him. If I trust him to steer my boat, I’ll certainly trust him to have a party.”

“You like him, don’t you.”

“Yes, but it’s his brother who I love.” That got me a snuggle and a kiss.

Sleep came easily, and that damn horn came too early. Glen and I had to take a leak, led by two boners. We took care of those by watering the ocean. Two others joined us as we finished. “Let’s pull the nets, and then we can eat.”

Glen and Ron took the port side. I watched as they hooked the net to the winch. The winch creaked as it began to pull the net up. Uncle heard that and came out to see what was happening. The net was full, you could see fish jumping out on the deck as the net approached the railing.

I looked at Uncle, and he was smiling, he saw what I saw, tuna. “Get ready Nicky, there’s a lot of tuna in the net.” I had enough tins to hold maybe thirty tuna, “Nicky, do you remember where the tins are? Go and bring up all of the tins down there.”

Glen came over and helped to put the tuna in the tins I already had. I pushed the fish toward the hold. Glen had filled all the tins. I was hoping Nicky would get here quickly. I had no fear; he appeared with four tins and went back for more. We filled three of those tins. I notice some of the tins had only four tuna in them. There was no way a fifth would fit.

“Ron, help me with the starboard net, Glen you and Nicky bring up all the tins, I think we’ll need them.” Again as Ron and I started to pull the net in, we could see the fish trying to jump out. Glen picked up a paddle and began pushing the fish toward the hold.

“That’s the last of the tins.” Then the fun began. Ron grabbed a paddle as the fish were dumped. Between the three of us, we got the tuna in the tins while Nicky handled the paddle. When we finished, the tins were full. The holding tank wasn’t full, but I decided we should go in. Nicky wanted to drop a net to see what we would catch as we headed for the dock, I let him drop the net as I watched.

When we got about three miles from the dock, we pulled the net. I couldn’t believe the fish. We filled the hold and the livebait hold. We had two tuna that rode the net in. Uncle blasted his horn about a mile from the dock.

Ron and I tied the boat up at the dock. Glen and Nicky started to unload the tins. I saw Roger watching from his boat. Cannery people were on time. I watched as they checked the scales. I had Nicky record the weights as the tins were weighed. I asked for more tins, the driver and a helper brought over ten more tins, I laughed. “I need at least five more, but ten would be good.” They looked at me.

As soon as they brought the empty tins, I took them on board and brought Nicky’s net onboard. The two tuna were put in one tin, Ron took it to be weighed.

Between Ron, Glen, Nicky, and I, we began to pack the fish into the tins. As always, if I saw a nice fish, it went into my ice chest. It didn’t take me long to fill both of my ice chests. All of the fish were on the dock. Uncle was busy selling fish. Grandmother was there with the two boys. I went and told the youngest boy I’d pay him to carry the fish Uncle gave his grandmother. The grandmother introduced the boys to me, the oldest was Charles, and the youngest was Peter. When I told Peter I’d pay him, he was ready to give me a hug.

“Peter, I smell like a fish. I’ll come and see you later then you can give me all the hugs you want. I slipped five dollars in his pocket. The kid had a smile that warmed your heart. Waving goodbye, they left.

Uncle looked at me, “You like those boys?”

“I know what it’s like not to have a father and mother. Maybe I can add some joy to their lives. Except for you, I had no one. Now I have Glen in my life, and for the first time, I’m really happy” I gave Uncle a hug, he was like a father to me when I lost my parents.

I paid Ron and told him to take some fish. He did, “I see you kept the best for yourself.”

“These aren’t mine, well, not all.” I hosed down the deck, went and collected the sheets and pillowcases as well as Uncle’s. We picked up the ice chests and headed home, detouring to the bank.