The Peter Charles - 42. Chapter 42

After delivering our fish, we had a meeting with the boys. “This summer, when school is out, I thought we’d take a cruise down the coast, maybe even to Mexico. So I have a project for you boys, I want you to check the coast for canneries in case we decided to fish a little, I want you to check the coast for marinas, and to plan activities for when we are at sea.”

The boys were excited, they would be on the boat for several weeks. Glen was worried that they would get bored. “I’m sure that there are places we could stop to allow them to get off the boat. It’ll be fun.”

“And expensive”

“It’s only money”

Monday morning everything returned to normal, the boys went to school, I went to work for a long day and Glen went and delivered fish as well as going to work. I think routine is the stabilizer of life. It can get boring, but there’s something to be said about stabilization that routine brings.

Stewart called and said the court hearing for the adoption of Steve and Frank was schedule for this coming Thursday at two pm. Lunch was provided by Glen, “Stella was glad to see we were back fishing. I gave her two extra to make up for it.”

“I think next week we’ll give the orphanage a check to cover additional expenses when we won’t be fishing. I’m sure the food we have provided has been welcomed.”

“Shouldn’t we give it to the Diocese?”

“No, they’d keep some of it, I’m sure. This way the orphanage gets all of it.”

Monday on the way home I told Glen about the hearing on the adoption of Steve and Frank. “I asked him about Shawn, he said he was waiting for some papers from the immigration people. It would be nice if we can do all three at the same time.

“Have you heard anything from Callum?”

“No, I saw my credit card statement and they have bought the plaids. I wonder if Shawn has spoken to them. Remind me tonight in case I forget.”

“Have you notice the smells when we get home. We’ll miss Scott when he goes to college.”

“I still haven’t found an apartment for the boys. The Realtor I contacted hasn’t found anything either.”

“Maybe you’re going about it all wrong. Why don’t we look for a building that has apartments? If its close to the University, I’m sure we’ll have no problem renting it to students.”

“I like that, it would be a long term investment as well as a source of income. I’ll contact some brokers tomorrow and see what they have.”

Dinner was very good, Scott and his team are getting very good at preparing dishes that I would never try. “I think we’re getting spoiled.”

After dinner, I met with Steve, Frankie and Shawn. I informed then that we had a court appearance on Thursday concerning their status. I think they knew what that would be about.

The rest of the week proceeded as normal, I did talk to Donaldson telling him I was going to take the summer off and volunteered Terry to work in my place. He agreed if I could get Terry to sign up, I could have the time off. At lunch at Stella’s I mentioned to her that I was taking the summer off if Terry could cover for me. “Why did you tell that to Stella?”

“Who do you think will tell him and who do you think will make sure he takes the summer internship?”

“Smart” Amy took our order, she said she was enrolling at the University. I smiled, Glen mouthed, ‘definitely he’ll work’

Thursday in front of our favorite Judge Bronson, he approved the adoption of Steve, Frank and Shawn. The boys were all smiling,

Friday we took our new van to work and stopped at the school to pick up the boys. Beside our boys we had Paul and Rusty, they were excited about going fishing.

Later when Glen and I were alone, “Do you think the boys are really excited about fishing or just that they are all together on a boat?”

“I think it a combination of the two. They certainly handle the nets without us. In fact, I don’t think we’re needed anymore. I enjoy the time we spend with the boys, there are no distractions as when we’re at home. I enjoy our time together as well, at home you are always busy in your office or doing something around the house. Here you’re mine and the boys, but mostly mine. Do you know what I like the most? The time we spend in the evening with Nicky and Jamie. We don’t do that at home, too many boys to divide our attention.” I looked at him, he smiled, I gave him a kiss. I agreed with him. He and I don’t spend a lot of time together. There’s always something that requires us to be involved that seems to be against us spending time alone with each other.

The boys quickly changed into their uniforms, Steve went to the Wharf to work, Scott took Travis and Sammy shopping, Nicky and Jamie went for chicken and I called the pizza place for the spaghetti. While we waited, the crab master had his troops catching crabs. Glen and I watched from the bridge, I smiled as he leaned into me. I placed my arms around him and pulled him closer, resting my chin on his shoulder, I kissed his cheek. He turned and gave me a kiss that held promises for that evening, I was glad we were alone.

I saw the boys coming back from Chicken Shack, laughing as they ate a biscuit. They dropped everything in the galley and headed back to help Scott. Soon that group arrived and Scott and Travis took over the galley. Charles came to the bridge and looked at the chart. “Dad, this is where we’ll head today.” I looked at the chart, nodded my approval, he was all smiles.

“Dad, the pizza is here.” I went down, took the packages of spaghetti and paid Vinny for it.

“Kevin, if I can get off can I go with you some week-end?”

“Sure, just let me know. We go out every week-end while school is in.”

With all of the boys on the boat, including the Crab Master and his crew, Nicky blew the horn. Then you could hear Charles, “Johnny, get the anchor, Joseph, bow lines, Jonathan, stern lines”

I looked at Glen, “Bossy isn’t he?” Then as the replies came, the engines started and we headed out to our fishing spot. Again I decided we’d head back right after lunch on Sunday. As long as the kids had school, that would be my plans.

Scott was busy preparing supper with the help of Travis. They looked out as the sun set, out came their drawing pads and colored pencils, dinner could wait. Actually Joseph stepped in and kept an eye on things. He made hot chocolate for the boys who didn’t want to drink coffee. Shawn stood in the bow playing his pipes. He said the mermaids loved to hear them. Nicky came down from the bridge, got two bottles of beer and went back up. Charles was in charge of the wheel.

The boys began to do their homework, there was no hurry but they knew that to get it out of the way fast left more time for them to do what they wanted to do to relax. Glen and I had coffee while we watched the sun set. If you’ve never seen the sun set on the ocean, you have missed a Mother Nature wonder. Our artists came in and finished preparing dinner. Then we heard, “Johnny, drop anchor.” We have arrived at or fishing spot. Andy and Sammy, took two boys with them and dropped the bow nets. Johnathan and Joseph, took the frozen fish cleanings, as bait to the stern nets and dropped them. Robby and Rusty set the table, we were ready for dinner. David started the prayer and now all of the boys joined in.

Dinner with our boys was always fun, the conversation involved school activities, “Dad, do you remember the boy who had the free lunch we talked about?”

“Yes, how’s he doing?”

“He smiles a lot now. Do you think we could take him with us one weekend. He’s a nice kid and I think he’d like it.” I looked at Glen, I could see the wheels turning.

“I think that would be a good idea. Let’s set it up for next week-end.” I looked at Glen, he smiled and I knew he had an ulterior motive. I remembered Glen had the project of making sure none of the kids had a free lunch. Later that evening when we were alone,

“Glen, how many kids were getting a free lunch?”

“There were eleven, it’s hard for me to understand why they were getting such a small lunch. I asked the principal and she said that was what the government provided. I didn’t understand what the government provided, so I asked her. She said the government provided free food from the government surplus. I didn’t understand that, she further explained that in certain industries, the government buys the surplus at a discount which allows the products to maintain their profit margins. She said she gets butter and cheese, so the free lunch kids get the cheese. I asked about the butter she said that is used in the kitchen. I think she was lying, I’ll bet the butter was taken home.”

“What happened when you said you would pay for their lunch?”

“She said that wasn’t necessary since the government provides the food. I told her, I’ll pay for their lunch. She didn’t like it.”

“Did you get their names?”

“No, Scott got them, every time a free lunch was served, he took the kids name and took the tray back and then bought the kid’s lunch. Word gets around and soon they all came to him, he has been giving them lunch money.”

“He never said anything abut doing this.”

“We have been working together on this project, I give him money in the morning and he does his thing. The kitchen staff didn’t like it, they have a ton of cheese, no butter, they need to decided how to use it. I informed the local government distributor that the school had no free lunch kids.

“They aren’t going to like that.”

“I know but there are a lot of cheap meals that they could have made with the cheese, one slice on two pieces of bread is outrageous.” I gave him a kiss, he smiled, Scott caught us. I grabbed him and gave him kiss on his cheek and a hug.

“You did good son.” He smiled and looked at Glen quizzically.

“I told Dad what you and I have been doing.” He smiled.

We pulled the nets at ten, I knew from what we pulled that we probably would go back not full, the shrimp nets were okay for the first pull. At four, Glen and I started to pull the nets and I was surprised they were full. I thought maybe there is a chance that we’ll go back full. I noticed Jonathan and Joseph came up for the stern nets. We hadn’t cleaned any fish so they had to use the crab scraps again.

Nets back, I told Johnathan and Joseph to go back to bed, I’ll call you for the ten am pull. No way, they’d go back to bed, up with the rest of the crew at eight ready for breakfast. The griddle was hot, Scott and Travis had batter ready for pancakes, sausages in the oven, hot chocolate on the stove, and the coffee was percolating. The smells were tantalizing. As soon as a stack of pancakes were ready, the boys lined up. Scott placed one pancake on their plate and told them to come back as he needed to make more. As soon as another stack was made, he set the platter on the table, the boys each took one and waited for the next platter. When one of the boys had enough, he left the table and soon there was just Nicky, Jamie, Glen and I when Scott sat down a platter for us and Travis, including himself. While we were eating the boys drifted back up with their homework.

“Dad, does this smell like fish?” He handed me his school book. I laughed, it did smell like fish.

“Did your teacher say something?”

“Yes, she wanted to know who had fish for breakfast. I started to laugh. She wanted to know what I found funny. I took my book to her and she smelled the fish. So I told her about us and the boat. She said I’d have to buy the book.” We laughed, buying the book wasn’t a bad idea, the younger boys could use it when they had the class.

The ten pull was okay, the nets weren’t as full but they were okay. The boys set about cleaning fish and giving the entrails to Joseph for the stern nets. The problem with so many boys cleaning fish, the amount of entails mounted quickly, the crab pails were used to hold them. They filled the chests with cleaned fish, headless, cleaned fish.

All of the boys were now able to clean fish, even Adam, he was a little slower but he cleaned fish, that was what was important to him. During the week, I made up more of my special soap which now we used on the boat. Even though their clothes smelled of fish, their hands didn’t after washing them.

Lunch was leftovers, spaghetti from last nights dinner, pizza from last week and a few sandwiches from last week as well. I told the kids it was a smorgasbord. They thought it was neat.

The next pull would be at four and then ten pm. Based on these pulls, I’d determine if we go in at noon or at two tomorrow. The four pm pull was okay, but we need some full nets and so far we had only one. Charles was smiling, “Why are you smiling?”

“The shrimp hold is almost full. I’m going to need that shrimp chest you bought.”

“What abut the lobster hold?”

“It’s okay, I don’t think it was be as full as the shrimp holding tank, but there will be enough for our customers.” That translates, there will be enough for Marie.

The boys had finished their homework by six in the evening, they turned their attention to our summer trip. One of the boys had a map of the western part of the USA and Mexico. “Dad, how far are we going?”

“You can calculate that. How far are we from the dock and how long did it take us to get here.” I watched the mental wheels turning. “Dad, there are a lot of canneries in Alaska.”

“We can go north and then south, make a list of the cities, I’ll check out their phone numbers and specific location.”

“There aren’t too many in the US, how about Mexico and South America, can we check them out as well?” “Sure, you know we don’t have to fish, this is a vacation cruise.”

They smiled which means we weren’t being restricted to the location of canneries.“Make sure you check out the marinas as well and particularly if we can dock The Peter Charles.”

I took a cup of coffee and headed for the bridge. I wanted to check out the charts. If we were fishing for a full load, I need to see where we are in relation to last year, and why we aren’t getting full nets. I knew the other boats weren’t this far out so we were the only boat here. I looked at the chart and compare it to last year’s chart. I realized we were not as far out as we were last year. Next week I would mark the chart and then I’m sure Nicky or Charles would take it from there. “Dad, what’s the matter? Why are you looking at the charts?”

“Charles, I was trying to figure out why our nets aren’t coming in full. We are the only ones fishing this area so we should be pulling in full nets. Come here and look, I’ll show you something.” Charles came and stood by me, “Do you see this chart? This is the chart from last year. Now look at this chart which we are using now, do you see any difference?”

I watched him as he looked at the charts, making a comparison. His face was crunched up like he was studying the charts trying to figure out what was different. Then he smiled, “We are not as far out.”

I gave him a hug, “You’re right, we are closer in to shore than last year. Here take this chart and plot our next week’s coordinates knowing what you know now.”

“Maybe we should move when the nets are up?”

“No, this is okay, we’ll move to your new coordinates next weekend.” Looking at the coordinates again, I realized something and started to laugh."

What’s so funny?”

“Where did you get this chart?”

“In that drawer”

“Nicky, can you come to the bridge? Wait, you’ll see what's funny.”

“Nicky, where did you put the charts we used to give the coordinates to Jim?”

“In this drawer, why?”

“You didn’t tell Charles that these charts were for Jim, did you.” He realized that he didn’t and started to laugh.

“No, I didn’t. We have been fishing Jim’s old charts. I think, Charles, from now on we date and sign the charts so we don’t make the same mistake.”

“When I told you we’d fish using our old charts, I didn’t realize Jim’s charts where still on board. How about you go through the old charts and pull the ones we used for Jim. Bring them to me and I’ll file them away in my cabin.”

I left them to do that, walking into the galley for a new cup of coffee, Glen was sitting there reading one of the kids books. “Why are you so happy?”

“I was wondering why our fishing was not as good as last year. I thought we were following last years charts, turned out we were following last years charts only they were the ones we used to give Jim his coordinate and not the ones we used. You’ll see next week we’ll have full loads again going back.”

Again we left after the two pm pull. We weren’t full but we had a little more than last week. One hour out, Nicky or Charles, blew the horn. You could see the cannery truck pulling out, heading our way. Then “Johnny, anchor aweigh, Joseph, bow lines, David, stern lines.” The engine was cut and we were home. Glen and Nicky took off for the truck and car, Andy went to the Wharf returning with two pans and Steve. Charles was busy checking weights, so Andy and Steve filled the pans with shrimp and took half of the lobsters. Johnathan had the shrimp and lobster for the cannery men who unloaded the fish. Uncle was selling fish, as I looked out I had the feeling of, all is right with the world, at least my world.

The chests were moved, and we all headed to get cleaned up and deliver fish.

First stop was at Grams, she again asked me to call her during the week. I told her I would, Peter gave her fish, shrimp and a lobster. She smiled, her neighbor came out and Peter gave her a fish and some shrimp. We had to wait for Charles to get his kiss before we could leave. Lunch or late lunch was at Dad’s and this time we had hot dogs, I told the boys to make sure none were left as we didn’t want moldy hot dogs next week. We then went and delivered the fish to the home of the boys who went with us on the boat. Rusty was smiling, his dad came out and saw the fish, shrimp and lobster. Rusty took the pan, added the fish, shrimp and lobster. Being Sunday and school tomorrow, he said goodbye telling the boys he’d see them in school tomorrow.

This was repeated at all of the homes, it felt unusual in that the boys who didn’t live with us weren’t coming as they usually did. We had a late supper, a refrigerator raid. There was a lot of good food in that fridge and it tasted just as good as the first time we had it. Four more weeks of school, and then summer break.