The Peter Charles - 21. Chapter 21

It was after dinner, everything cleared and clean that the question about what the future will hold for Robby and Stevie. Glen and I were sitting on the bow watching the sun set, when Robby came and sat besides us. I made him sit between us. “Sir, what is going to happen to me?”

“Well, the police will notify your mom that you’re on a fishing boat. When we dock, we’ll unload the fish, then we’ll go to Glen and my home where we’ll shower to get rid of the fish smell, then we’ll deliver fish to certain customers, mostly the boys parents and in your case we’ll deliver fish to your mother. Is she a good cook?” He nodded yes “Then the boys who work the boat get a share of the profits. Your share of the profit, since this is your first time, will be fifty dollars. As you learn to do more and more, you could get a full share of one hundred fifty dollars.”

“So I won’t have to work the streets anymore?”

“No, you won’t have to work the streets.” His smile was all that I needed to know we did the right thing.

His seat didn’t have a chance to cool before Stevie sat down. “I heard what you told Robby, but my case is different. I don’t have a home.”

“Are you and Robby good friends?”

“We are friends, I don’t know how close we are, we worked the street together and looked out for each other.”

“Isn’t that what friends do, look out for each other?”

“I suppose”

“What if you lived with Robby, I don’t know how big their house is but if there is room, would you do that?”

“Yes, but I still need to work.”

“How much did you make on the street and what if I told you, you could make more off the street. Would you be interested?”

“Yes, I didn’t want to work the street. But when you have no money, you do what you have to do to live.”

“If I find a job for you plus fishing on week-ends, would you take it?”

“Yes, as long as it doesn’t involve working the streets.”

“Okay, let’s see how this week-end turns out. Keep your eyes open, ask the boys to help you learn the jobs they do, the more you do, the more you’ll earn.”

“The sunset is beautiful.”

“Let’s go to bed, this will be the last time we sleep unmarried together.”

“Naughty, naughty”

Walking into the galley, “You two aren’t sleepy?”

“We don’t know where to sleep.”

“My fault, I forgot to tell Nicky to show you the cabins. Come with us.”

They followed us to the cabins, “This is our cabin, and the boys cabins are along both walls. They put their names on the doors, see like here. This cabin is empty, you can sleep here and in the morning I’ll give you some paper and you can put your name on the door.”

“This door has our name on it, unless there are more Robby and Stevie?”

“Nope just you two” I opened the door, turned on the light and the cabin was empty.

“Good night boys, four am wake up. The heads are at the end of the hall.”

“The heads are the bathrooms”

When we got to our room, Peter and Adam where snuggled together. I looked at Glen, he smiled as he climbed in bed.

Four am did come early, this time Peter and Adam just turned over, Glen and I went to water the ocean and over the next ten minutes, everyone was adding to the ocean.

Scotty started the coffee and hot chocolate. The boys were heading for the nets when I asked them to wait. “I want the new boys to see what you do and I’d like them to help on the next pull. I also want to teach them how to clean fish.”

We were sitting at the table drinking coffee and hot chocolate when two sleepy boys struggled into the galley. “Good morning, ready to work?” They nodded yes but they were still sleepy. “Coffee or hot chocolate?” It was one and one. “After we bring the nets in, we shall have breakfast and then you can go back to sleep if you wish.”

I sent Robby to the bow and Stevie to the stern. I went to the bridge and watched. The fish nets were ok, we’d be going back in the afternoon on Sunday unless the fishing picked up. It looked like Charles’s stern nets were quite full but they only had four lobsters, big enough to keep.

“What does the fish hold look like?”

“About a third”

“Charles, how about your holds?”

“Shrimp a third plus a little, only a few lobster.”

“Breakfast is ready.”

“Thanks Scotty, Travis.”

I enjoyed breakfasts on the week-ends. Working, Glen and I don’t have the opportunity to sit and enjoy breakfast with the boys. I watched Stevie and Robby while the boys talked. I think if I looked hard enough, their eyes were wet. I know mine would be if I saw how these boys interacted and wished I had that comradeship. But what Stevie and Robby didn’t know yet, they’ll be a part of this group. Breakfast over, the boys helped to clean up, all of the boys helped, and I know two boys who headed back to bed.

“When’s the next pull?”

“Let’s pull at twelve, then we’ll have lunch. I hope this pull will be a good one. I want to go back early if possible.”

Nicky, Jamie, Scott, Travis and Andy sat with Glen and I drinking coffee. “Dad, what’s going to happen with the new boys? They have had a hard life for being so young. I can’t imagine myself on the streets at night selling myself to live.”

“No, it isn’t a pretty sight and to meet someone who was forced to do that you wonder where is humanity in all of this. Stevie and Robby won’t be doing that anymore. I have in mind a job for Stevie and Robby will earn enough working the boat to not to have to go back to the streets.”

“What about Frankie?”

“Frankie, may end up with us. I’m sure his dad is in jail, I don’t know anything about his mother but for her to allow her husband to beat Franky as he did, in my world she isn’t a mother.”

“I suspect they all will be cocooning in the rec room most of the nights.”

“That’s okay, there’s plenty of space on the floor.”

The twelve o’clock pull was much better. I needed to decided to move or take my chances of going back late, full or early not full. “This pull isn’t much better, maybe we should move. I think we fished here last week when the dolphins stirred up the fish. I’m going to check the map.” Looking at the map, I listened to the weather report and then I made my decision to move. “Nicky, let’s move here with the nets down except for the stern nets, they need to be up.”

Nicky blew the horn, he yelled to Charles, “Nets up, anchor up. We’re moving.”

I watched from the bridge as Johnathan and Joseph brought the nets up, Johnny brought the anchors up.

Then I heard, “Net’s up” followed by “Anchor’s up” We began to move. My boys knew we’re not going in so they knew we were changing sites. You could hear them tell Stevie and Robby.

The new sight was further out from the shore. We were at about eight miles out and now I was heading about ten miles out. About an hour later, Nicky sounded the horn we were at the sight I picked.

Johnny yelled anchor aweigh, Charles yelled, “Nets down, need more bait”

“Let’s pull the nets and see what we have. It’ll give us an idea of what we might get here.” The nets were about 1/3 full, not a good sign if we stayed, so moving might be the right choice. I took Stevie and Robby to show them how to clean fish. Soon they were cleaning right along the pros. They had smiles on their face as they chatted with my boys. Charles was happy, he had his bait.

We pulled the nets at six and the move was right. “Dad, come and look at this fish.”

“It’s a monk fish. How many of these are there?”

“I put them in the small chest, what I could see.” He opened the chest and he had six in there. I went and got my knife, I cleaned them taking out the firm white flesh.

“This is going to be dinner tonight. Look through the hold to see if you can find anymore.” With the fish nets we use to empty the holds, they found three more. I cleaned them, “Take this back to Charles.” I gave the cleaned fish to Scott, “Scott, prepare this as if it was lobster.”

Now the question for the cooks was how to stretch that for everyone, Nicky had the answer, “Make a lobster bisque only use that instead of lobster. If you need more, use one of Charles’s lobsters.”

“What every you do make sure you make enough for seconds for the boys.”

“Dad, can we filet a few fish?”

“Yes, show Robby and Stevie how to do it.”

I took a cup of coffee and sat at the table watching the cooks cook. The boys came in to get a pan. Looking out the galley window, they were putting the filets in the pan.

We had dinner at seven thirty and it was good. I little spicy for Adam and Peter but they did all right, they had left over chicken and were happy. “Remember boys, four am”

Sunday’s four am pull was very good. We filled the big hold and started on the bow hold. The boys looked for the ugly fish as they called it, but they didn’t see any. Charles was happy his shrimp hold was full and he had several large lobsters.

“How did you know where to go?”

“I just remembered when we’d fish closer to shore, as the net loads decreased we went further from shore, so I just moved out further from shore.”

“But that isn’t the story you are going to tell the captains.”

“Do you remember the dolphin Adam saw, that was a mermaid beckoning us to follow her further out.”

“This mermaid story keeps getting bigger and bigger.”

I thought what till our wedding, it’ll really get big.