The Peter Charles - 50. Chapter 50

Arriving home, Nicky met us, I was glad to be home and so was Shawn. He had to tell Nicky all about the board meeting. I just smiled. I told Glen that evening that he was on the board of the company. “I don’t owned any stock.”

“Yes, you do, check your brokerage account.” I then went to take a nap.

Tuesday morning I was back in form, actually I was a little slow when we were working out but Glen took care of that when he turned on the cold water.

Friday, Scott, Travis and Andy took their driving test, all three passed. I let them use my old car to drive to school, but they had to take the little ones, the older boys wanted to ride the bus. No way was Charles not going to ride the bus, there was a young lady on that bus.

Life became routine, no more fishing, the boat was in dry dock, however crabbing continued until it got too cold. The holidays always cause some activity. Thanksgiving was at the Wharf, we had a few more around the table, but the boys were up to it. We delivered the turkeys to the orphanage a week in advance, the boys went and helped, the cooks, they were glad to see them. They had a cookie for each of them.

I love the holidays, there were some sad moments as I remember my parents, but I knew some of the boys also remembered. The question was what are going to do for the Christmas break. Last year we went to Scotland. I gave the boys the assignment and waited to see what they wanted to do. I reminded them of our summer trip. I listened to them discussing where they wanted to go. It was Scott who came and said they wanted to go the Greece, the home of democracy. I never was in Greece so I thought why not.

Glen was all for it, and that was the plan. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we had a little crisis. Gram’s sister was getting worse and Gram wanted her to come and live with her. That meant the boys had to give up their rooms. Gram talked to them, Peter wanted to make sure Gram would be still in his life. Over the next few days, the boys moved their personal belongings into their rooms at the house. It was agreed that when Gram returned, they would get off the school bus at Grams and then we would pick them up later. That suited Charles, he could walk a certain young lady home.

The boys had a great time in Greece, They must have bought every book in English on Greece, their history as well as their mythology. We went on a fishing boat, the captain was surprised as the boys pitched in. Coming home, Scott and Travis had several pads of sketches. I expected that would result in a lot of oil paintings. Travis talked to his mom and he decided that he’d go to the university with Scott. Andy would be going to his dad’s alma mater.

The apartments were finished, it didn’t even look like the same place. Scott and Travis took the top apartment, Nicky and Jamie took the one across the hall from them. On the week-ends, we shopped for furniture. They wanted the same beds they had at the house. That wasn’t a problem, carpeting I let the boys pick out what they wanted. Nicky took his mom with him. I furnished the second floor apartments similarly to the third floor.

Terry wanted to check them out, I showed him the second floor, he sat on the bed. He asked how much rent, I asked him how much had he been paying, he told me and I said the same. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, if you feel it isn’t enough, then you can clean the halls and stairs.”

He smiled, I liked Terry he was a good kid and I knew I could count on him to fill in for me if I wanted a day off from work. Scott said I should furnish all of the apartments and ask for an upfront fee, to be returned after they leave and an inspection was made. I thought that was a good idea. I also decided it would be a male only apartment. I didn’t need the problems with a mixed group.

On Scott’s birthday, he got a yellow Smart car. He was thrilled. Diane bought a red car for Travis, I offered a car to Andy’s parents at a discount. His dad said he had a car for him but thanks anyway.

Diane came out to supervise the opening of Scott’s gallery, She brought with her a young man who worked in a gallery back at her home town. He looked at the pantings and then he saw Scott. Now I know Scott is a good-looking young man, I have seen a few heads turn when he walked by, boys and girls. But this is the first time I have seen Scott take notice. Diane picked up on it right away. They got busy hanging paintings, I noticed Scott was never too far away from Tony, his name was Anthony, but Diane called him Tony. By the looks of him, you would suspect he was Italian, tanned skin, black hair but he had blue eyes. That threw me off till Diana said he was Italian, his mother is from the north of Italy and his father is from the south of Italy. He was born and raise here but he speaks Italian.

That evening Diane went to stay at the Wharf, Scott wanted Tony to stay with us. Andy had left to go home but he would be back for the summer. So Tony slept in his bed, at least I hoped he did.

“Tony is a nice kid, I hope he doesn’t distract Scott from his studies.”

“He’ll probably go back with Diane, he only came for the gallery.”

“I’m not sure, Diane might ask him to stay and manage the gallery.”

“If that happens what are you going to do?”

“What can I do? He’s eighteen, an adult. I’ll ask him to be careful and don’t be in a rush, enjoy the trip.

“Like you did?”

“Hey, I was a lot older and it was your fault, running around naked.”

“Yep, I’m glad I did.”

“Me too”

Morning came and we were back on our schedule, Scott came to work out along with Tony. I looked at Glen, did they or did they not. With all of us naked working out, I wondered what Tony thought. From what I could tell, he lived up to the stereotype of an Italian.

After showering and dressing, we took our coffee and headed to work. I never realized how much our life was routine, working out, showering, coffee and heading to work, breakfast at Marge’s kiosk, lunch at Stella’s and then home again. Routine, we need to break up the monotony of the routine.

Scott, Travis and Andy would graduate this year. Scott and Travis were spending the week-ends painting their bedrooms, they had their favorite pictures hanging in their living room.

As the gallery was being completed, walls established, lightening installed, Diane was having a ball. Tony was helping John Adams and his crew. Scott let it slip that Travis and him were cooking lunch for the crews, I thought that was a nice idea. Diane said she couldn’t get over the fact that Travis was a good cook. I thought it was strange that she never mentioned Harry, Travis’s dad.

The weather broke late April, we could start fishing again. The boys were glad to be back on the sea. Fishing after the winter break was always good. We were coming in with full loads every weekend. I saw Jim at the Wharf and asked him how he was doing. He said he was following his semi-circle and doing very well. Jim’s semi-circle was about two to three miles south of our semi-circle, We followed the arc and did very well, of course we were fishing about ten miles out from the coast.

As the end of school was approaching the boys began to get excited. “Glen, we have the new boys, Gus, George and Vinni. Should we take them with us?”

“I think definitely Gus, you’ll need to check with Vinni’s dad, he may need him at the Pizza Parlor. I don’t know about George. He’s Scott’s age so he may be looking at colleges this summer. Let’s talk to him and find out what plans he has for the summer”

Gus and Paul were excited about trip. I had papers for their parents to sign, medical release forms allowing Glen and I to provide treatment in case of an accident or illness. I talked to Vinni’s dad, he didn’t think Vinni could go. He said he needed him at the store. George said he was going to spend the summer checking out colleges, “I’d like to go but Dad said I needed to pick a university, maybe next year.”

So we had our crew. I asked Charles to get a few of the guys together and plan our trip. “Keep in mind the marinas where we could get fuel and water.” I gave him two weeks to do it. I had already looked over the route and there were several marinas on the West coast as well as the East coast.

The big day arrived, Terry took over my job for the summer. One thing I wanted to do on this trip was to meet again with Shawn’s people in Scotland. We took two days to shop, I had my chefs pull together menus and then we would buy food to support the menu. I took the truck and went to a discount store in the city where we could buy by the case. Scott and Travis had fun, as I pushed the platform cart around.

Loading everything in the truck, “I hope we have enough room in the freezer for all of this meat,”

“The freezers are empty. We emptied the freezer and refrigerator last week. Most of it was bits and pieces, we used those in the meals we prepared.”

“Good, the fruit we can put where we store the beer. It’s cold enough there.”

The evening before we were to leave, the boys ordered pizza to be delivered to the boat.Vinni brought the pizzas, I could see he was disappointed about not going. I told him it was important to help his dad, he said he knew that. Then I heard, “Not too late to sign on, is it?” I looked out and there was dad, he had a suitcase.

“No, as long as we’re in port it’s not too late.” Vinni’s dad came and gave him the suitcase, Glen went and brought a medical form for his dad to sign. “ Vinni, if you don’t let go of your dad, we can’t move the boat.”

“Now wouldn’t you like to go as well, Dad?”

He laughed, “I wish but if you ever have another Father’s trip, count me in.” He hugged Vinni. He whispered something in his ear, Vinni kept nodding yes. He ran on board as his dad walked back to the Pizza Parlor. Charles blew the horn, then Johnny got the anchors, lines in and we were on our way.

The plan was to go about six miles out for the night and then head south. Want to know who wanted to drop the stern nets while we slept, Johnny and Johnathan dropped the nets. We slept till six, Scott had the coffee on, Steve and Scott were starting breakfast. The night before, I took out the charts, I had bought additional charts to cover our trip. I laid them, in the order we would need them, on the desk in the bridge.

When breakfast was over, the boys pulled the stern nets, we were ready to go. I went to the bridge with Nicky and Charles. I showed them the first chart, it would take us to the marina in California. There we would stock up on fresh vegetables and the fruit we didn’t buy. I would also fill the fuel and water tanks.

The boys were excited about going, especially Shawn. I stayed in the bridge and watched the boys. Glen yelled up if we wanted coffee, I said yes, Nicky said yes, Charles said no. Glen brought up two coffees and a hot chocolate for Charles. I showed him the chart for the first stop.

It was early the next morning when we made it to the marina. I had called ahead and they gave me the dock number. I watched the boys pull into the dock, I went down and dropped the anchor, Glen came and helped me with the lines. Nicky cut the motor, breakfast was ready. I went ashore and paid the docking fee. After breakfast, the boys went shopping, after an hour they came back with bags of fresh vegetables and fruit. They also had some hot bread, “The guy was taking these from the oven, I had to have some.”

With everyone back on board, I headed to the fuel station where I filled the fuel tank and the water tank. I paid the bill, waved goodby as we headed south. Our next stop would be at a marina in Mexico. I called to make arrangements, then I showed the boys the chart for that portion of the trip. We had been there before, Scott was hoping to buy some avocados. I wasn’t sure if they were in season or not. As it turned out they weren’t in season, too early. But the boys bought tacos for lunch, and that was okay. After lunch we set sail again, next stop Panama.

Going through the Panama Canal required an appointment, they alternated between in coming and out going ships. We dropped anchor till our appointment time, then with all of the boys on deck, we headed to the locks. I fully expect the boys to be dancing, but they weren’t. Through the Canal, we headed north. Our next stop would be Miami, there, we’d empty the waste tank, and take on more fuel and water. Scott wanted to do some shopping but I wasn’t sure if there was a store close to the fuel depot. As it turned out there wasn’t one, I told him at the next stop we’d go shopping.

Our next stop would be Norfolk, I knew that there was a military installation there so I figured there would be a marina as well. Checking the charts, there was, I called and reserved a dock. Arriving, I checked in with the dock manager, Scott was ready to go shopping. He took the cooking staff, Glen went to help. I looked over the charts, our next stop would be in Canada and then we’d head across the Atlantic to Scotland.

Glen and the boys came back carrying bags of groceries. They were smiling, having a good time. “The boys have been invited on one of the US Navy’s ship, if they perform.”

“How did anyone know they performed?”

“They were dancing to some music, they looked professional. I never noticed before but when they dance to the pipes there movements are coordinated and when they’re dancing on the street, their movements were coordinate. There was a Navy Captain at the store watching them.”

So after dinner, the boys put on their kilts and with Shawn and his pipes, we boarded the navy ship. The captain met us, the boys smiled, Shawn began to play and the boys began to dance. As the sailors on board gather round, they were cheering them and clapping, a few of the sailors tried to dance but they didn’t have Shawn as a teacher.

Shawn played for an hour as the boys danced. When they stopped, the men on that ship, clapped and gave everyone a sailor hat. The boys thanked them and then as Shawn piped, the boys danced off the ship and headed to our boat. We could see the sailors watching us as we walked away. We stayed the night, our next stop would be in Canada.

We topped off the fuel and water tanks, the waste tank was okay, we’d empty that in Canada. We left the dock, with a toot from the horn. As we passed the Navy Carrier, we blew our horn again as the boys waved.

We spent the night on the sea and after breakfast the next morning, we headed into a small fishing village on the North cost of Canada. I called and they had no problem with us docking there. We had no fish, but that was okay they still welcomed us. I did arrange to top off the tanks and to empty the waste tank.