Voyage of the Defiance

by S. E. Smith

  He frowned when he saw it was Jerome calling. Glancing back at the house again, he stepped onto the boat and looked down in curiosity at the cabin. He held onto the side as he walked down the steps.

  “What do you want?” He said.

  “How’s grandma?” Jerome asked.

  Tyrell frowned and muttered a curse under his breath. “What do you care? Man, whatever you’re doing almost got us both killed last night,” he snapped, anger lacing his voice. “You need to keep your shit away from us.”

  Jerome was quiet for several long seconds before he finally spoke. “You’re right,” he muttered. “I’m leaving town for a while. Things are too hot. Where’re you staying?”

  Tyrell closed his eyes and leaned a hand against the smooth ceiling. They were staying with his Auntie, but he wasn’t going to tell Jerome that. He was stuck sleeping on the floor in his cousin’s room until his grandmother’s house was repaired.

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said, opening his eyes and staring down the companionway. “We’re outta the house until it’s fixed. I just need you to stay away from us, Jerome. I told you I don’t want this kind of life, man. I’ve got plans.”

  “You always were the smart one, bro,” Jerome replied in a quiet voice. “Tell Grandma, I love her.”

  “I will,” Tyrell replied as a wave of fatigue swept over him. “Stay safe.”

  Jerome didn’t answer, he just ended the call. Tyrell slipped his phone into his back pocket again and moodily glanced around the cabin. Makayla didn’t know how good she had it. She was living in a big house right on the water, had a fancy boat, and she was just throwing it all away.

  He ran his fingers over the smooth surface of the stove before walking toward the front of the boat. Glancing around again, Tyrell shook his head at how so much stuff could be placed in such a small space. He opened a door that was on the far side of the couch and stared. It was a bathroom, if you call the tiny area with an alien toilet in the middle of it one. There was a sink barely big enough to fit his hands in, and a spray shower head attached to the wall above the sink.

  He closed the door and peeked at the cushions that formed a bed. An uncertain smile curved his lips and he glanced over his shoulder. He’d never been on anything like this before. Deciding that it wouldn’t hurt to see what it was like, he crawled up onto the cushion and rolled onto his back.

  “I’d hit my head if I sat up,” he muttered, raising one arm to touch the ceiling. He let his arm drop to the bed and folded the other one under his head to act like a pillow. “Damn, it even has a TV and stereo!”

  Yep, he thought as he closed his eyes again for just a moment. Makayla’s crazy. She doesn’t know just how good she’s got it.

  Tyrell decided he would tell Makayla that when she came back. He’d stop her from making one of the biggest, and stupidest, mistakes of her life. In the meantime, he’d just relax while he waited for her.

  The sound of the water gently lapping against the hull and his exhaustion from the night before pulled at him. He wasn’t even aware of his mind growing fuzzy or the dark edges of sleep that dragged at his consciousness. He definitely didn’t hear the sound of the bags being tossed onto the companionway or the start of the engine. If anything, the gentle sway of the sailboat in motion helped to rock him into a deeper, dreamless abyss.

  Chapter 18

  Makayla glanced around the kitchen one last time, adjusting the bag of toiletries in her hand. She swallowed down the fear and misgivings. This was it. If she was really going to do this, she needed to leave. In the back of her mind, she ran through all the safety and operating steps that Henry made her do every time they went out. The last couple of weeks, he had made her do everything.

  “You never know on a boat, Makayla,” Henry had said as he stood beside her while she navigated along the Intracoastal channel toward the old drawbridge for the first time. “If I fell overboard or had a heart attack, you might find yourself having to handle the Defiance on your own. I want to make sure you can do it all. From now until I know you can do it by yourself as if it was second nature, you’re going to be in charge.”

  It had been scary, but not as scary as the first time she had taken the Defiance out on her own. Henry and Jason had followed in Jason’s boat. Still, she had only soloed the one time. Deep down, she knew she was being reckless and unreasonable, but it was like some dam inside her had broken free egging her on.

  “I’ll stay near the coast,” she muttered as she locked and closed the front door behind her. “I’ll program the navigational GPS like Henry showed me. I can do this.”

  She walked quickly down the dock, breathing a sigh of relief when she didn’t see Tyrell. He must have finally taken her serious. She quickly dropped the bag through the open hatch before turning to release the dock lines. Stepping down into the cockpit, she turned the key.

  Makayla glanced one last time at the old house with a sense of regret. She would take it slow and easy. As long as she kept the coast on the starboard side, she should be fine. She picked up the radio and turned it to channel sixteen before changing to channel nine after the bridge tender requested the switch. She needed to notify the bridge tender that she was approaching.

  “This is the Defiance requesting passage,” Makayla said in a surprisingly steady voice.

  “Passage granted, Defiance,” the bridge tender replied.

  A shiver ran down Makayla’s spine when she heard the one long blast and saw the bridge begin to rise. She waited until it was all the way open before she slowly pressed the throttle forward. Swallowing, she pushed down the nervous lump in her throat as she watched the mast pass between the open span, breathing a sigh of relief once she was cleared.

  Picking the radio back up, she thanked the bridge keeper before setting it back down on the console and wiping her damp palm against the fabric of her shorts. She glanced at the fuel gauge. It was full in preparation for her and Henry’s trip down to the Keys, a trip that they would never take now. Once she was clear of the jetty, she would unfurl the jib and raise the sail before turning off the engine. Her eyes scanned the bright, clear skies.

  Yes, she thought silently. Today was the perfect day to run away.

  *.*.*

  “So, what are you going to do?” Jason asked Henry as they worked on removing the hardware on his boat. “You might not have much choice if she refuses to go back to school.”

  Henry threw the cleat he had removed from the side into the five gallon bucket along with the screws. He sighed as he wiped the sweat from his face and neck. He wasn’t sure what he would do about Makayla, only that he wouldn’t give up. Regret burned in his stomach at being so harsh with her earlier.

  “I told her not to be selfish,” he admitted with a shake of his head. “You’d think I’d learn to keep my damn foot out of my mouth by now. That girl is the least selfish person I’ve ever met. Most kids would have been rebellious and in trouble with the law if they’d been through half of what she has, but she has kept her nose clean. I saw her grades when the school back in Tampa faxed them over. She’s got a three point nine grade point average.”

  Henry saw Jason open his mouth to reply. He frowned when Jason’s mouth hung open instead and his eyes widened. He glanced over his shoulder at the bridge. He started to turn back to ask Jason what he saw when his eyes froze on the sailboat passing under the open span. A curse escaped him, and he swiveled the rest of the way around before scrabbling over the side and up to the bow of the boat. Shielding his eyes, he stared in disbelief as the Defiance sailed by them.

  “What were you saying about her not being rebellious?” Jason asked, climbing up to stand next to his dad. He held up a pair of binoculars to his eyes. “I think she just stole your sailboat, old man.”

  Henry turned and grabbed the binoculars away from Jason. Lifting them to his eyes, he barely had time to catch a glimpse of Makayla’s dark hair before the cockpit was obstructed by the bridge. Turning, he thrust the binoculars back into Jas
on’s hands and climbed back down. He hurried into the cabin and picked up the VHF radio and flipped it on.

  “Hook up the battery!” Henry ordered when nothing happened.

  “Here,” Jason said, reaching into a sealed cubby hole and handing him a portable radio.

  Henry turned it on and turned it to channel sixteen. “Defiance, Defiance, this is the SeaTide II, over,” he said before releasing the switch on the side. He impatiently waited for Makayla to respond. He hoped like hell she had the radio on. “Defiance, Defiance, this is the SeaTide II, over.”

  Henry bowed his head and waited. He swore his heart skipped a beat when he finally heard Makayla’s voice on the radio. She sounded so damn young and he could hear the slight tremble in her voice.

  “This is the Defiance, over.”

  “Makayla, what are you doing, girl?” Henry asked in a husky tone. “As soon as you can, turn her around and bring her home.”

  There was a long pause before Makayla responded. His fist clenched around the radio until his knuckles were white. It was only when he felt Jason’s hand on his shoulder that he relaxed his grip.

  “I’m going home, old man,” Makayla finally said in a soft voice. “I don’t belong here. I miss my mom and my friends, Henry. I… I have to go home.”

  “Makayla,” Henry started to say before he released the switch on the side and looked up at the ceiling of the cabin.

  “Dad,” Jason said, resting his hand on his father’s shoulder. “Have you thought that maybe she needs to do this?”

  Henry shook his head. “She doesn’t know anything about the ocean, about sailing. She’ll get herself killed,” he replied in a hoarse voice.

  Jason shook his head. “Not if we are there with her,” he responded quietly. “She’s a natural at this and she has more common sense and guts than anyone I’ve ever met, including my own kids. She… She reminds me a lot of you… and me.”

  Henry turned to look at his son’s grim face. “I can’t lose her, Jason,” he said as grief welled up inside him. “I lost her and Teresa once; I don’t want to lose them again. This… If something happened to Makayla, Teresa would never get over it.”

  Jason nodded. “But, if you try to stop Makayla, who’s to say we still won’t lose her? I don’t want to lose Makayla either. You once told me that the ocean could show you who you really are,” he reminded his dad. “You told me that the first time I took the Defiance out on my own after I got busted for taking that car for a joyride. If it wasn’t for the fact that Teresa was terrified of being out on the boat, it might have helped her. You were right, dad. We can track the route she is most likely to take and guide her if she needs it, but let her do this.”

  Henry swallowed, remembering the incident that happened when Jason had been fourteen. He had been upset that Jason had been caught sneaking out at night. One night, Jason and Timmy Owens, a boy that lived down the street, had stolen Timmy’s mom’s car and taken it for a joyride. They had been caught after Timmy lost control and flipped it into one of the canals.

  Timmy’s mom hadn’t wanted to press charges and the boys had been sentenced to community service. Henry decided that it was time Jason learn a little respect after he gave him some lip about doing it. Against Mary Rose’s wishes, Henry had given Jason an ultimatum, sail to the Keys by himself or go to the Sheriff’s Youth Ranch. Jason had thought the trip to the Keys would be a piece of cake and a time to party. Instead, he had faced the challenges of staying alive and understanding what isolation and loneliness were. By the time he got to the Keys, he had changed.

  Henry nodded, pressing the switch. “Defiance, this is the SeaTide II. Keep your bow to the wind and an eye on the radar. The ocean is a wild lady when she gets stirred up, Makayla. Respect her and be safe. Over.”

  “I will,” Makayla responded. “This is the Defiance. Over and out.”

  Henry’s hand slowly dropped to the console and he stared blindly out the front window. In the distance, he could see the top of the Defiance’s mast. In his mind, he ran through everything that he’d been teaching Makayla about sailing. There were probably a hundred and one things he’d forgotten to mention, he just hoped none of them would cost her, her life.

  “I hope we know what we’re doing, Jason,” Henry said in a low voice.

  Jason squeezed his dad’s shoulder. “I’ll call Julie and let her know what is happening. We can take my truck,” he said, turning to walk out of the cabin.

  Henry listened as Jason talked to his wife and quickly cleaned up the items they had been working on. He gripped the portable VHF radio in his hand. He had to go by the house and get a few things, including the tracking number so he could follow the Defiance. He’d also make sure he had a list of numbers in case there was an emergency and they needed a boat.

  “Dad, Julie said she’d get the things together for me. I’ll meet you at your house in half an hour,” Jason said.

  Henry turned and nodded. “Would Julie mind watching Breaker for me?” He asked, thinking of the Akita waiting patiently for him under the boat.

  “Of course, the kids love him,” Jason said. “I’ll take him with me.”

  “Thanks, Jason,” Henry said, walking behind him to the ladder they had propped up against the boat.

  Jason stopped and looked at his dad, a serious expression on his face. “Makayla’s my niece and Teresa’s my sister. You aren’t the only one who doesn’t want to lose them again,” he said before he turned and climbed down the ladder. “Come on, Breaker, let’s go, boy.”

  Henry stepped down and hurried over to his truck. Sliding in, he shut the door and started it. Shifting it into reverse, he tightened his lips in determination.

  “Mary Rose, I need your help,” he said in a low voice as he drove down the narrow road and over the railroad tracks. “That girl has a lot of me in her and you always knew how to handle that. I’d appreciate it if you could lend her a bit of the gentle guidance you used to use on me, I’d sure appreciate it.”

  Feeling like he’d done everything he could for the moment, Henry focused on making a list of the things he should take with him and a mental map of the route Makayla was bound to follow. She’d head south along the coast toward the Florida Keys. As long as the weather stayed clear, she should be fine.

  Chapter 19

  Tyrell rolled again and felt his stomach turn over. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked in the dim light feeling disoriented. Sitting up, he bumped his head on the ceiling. Grabbing his head in his hands, he fell back down against the cushion with a soft moan.

  “Ouch! What the…,” he muttered before he blinked up again. “Aw, man.”

  Rolling over, he scooted off the end of the bed and stood up. Almost immediately, he had to grab a hold of the doorframe as the floor under his feet rocked. For a moment, his stomach followed the movement. His eyes swept up to look through the opening. He could see Makayla standing up behind a large white console, the wind blowing her hair back away from her face. A sense of dread swept through him when he felt the boat rock again as she turned the large silver wheel attached to the console.

  “No, oh, no. Please, no,” he whispered as he began to realize what had happened. “Oh God, please, no, no, no.”

  Stumbling forward, he grabbed the railing on each side of the opening and pulled himself up through the hatch. A loud, startled scream escaped Makayla when she saw him, but he ignored her. Instead, he staggered over to the side of the cockpit and looked out over the railing at the distant shoreline. His mouth opened and closed, and his throat worked up and down, but no sound came out. He finally turned in a slow, agonizing circle, gazing all around him at the water surrounding the sailboat until he was finally facing Makayla again. This time when he opened his mouth, the words came out.

  “I don’t know how to swim,” he said hoarsely, staring at her with wide desperate eyes. “You’ve got to park this thing and let me off. This black boy don’t do water, especially water where things can eat you.”

&nbs
p; *.*.*

  An hour later, Makayla refused to look at Tyrell. He could glare all he wanted. She wasn’t turning around. It wasn’t her fault he was on her boat. She had told him to leave! She pressed her lips together, glancing briefly at where he was sitting in the opening to the companionway. He had one foot on the step inside and the other pressed against the opening to hold him steady as he leaned back against the freshly painted fiberglass hull. He had been on his cell phone for the past twenty minutes, texting.

  At least it has shut him up, she thought crossly as she returned her gaze to the ocean in front of her.

  “Has anyone ever told you that you’re one crazy white girl?” He asked, glancing up at her even as his thumbs continued to tap against the smooth screen of his phone.

  “Yes,” Makayla replied in a clipped tone. “You.”

  A reluctant smile threatened to curve her lips when he growled, actually growled!... under his breath. She thought only fictional characters in a book did that. She hoped he didn’t start thinking he was some kind of monster. She’d see if he was telling the truth about not knowing how to swim if he did.

  “So, who are you busy texting? The Coast Guard?” She finally asked in curiosity.

  Tyrell glowered at her before returning his attention to his phone. “I already tried that,” he muttered. “Their website said they would respond within the next forty-eight hours.”

  Makayla couldn’t quite stop the startled laugh that escaped her. She shook her head. A low groan escaped her when her hair blew in front of her face. Reaching up, she pushed it away.

  “What’s wrong?” Tyrell asked, glancing anxiously around. “You’re not going to crash this thing, are you?”