“Thanks, this paperwork can be a little ridiculous.”
“Says a man holding an empty cereal box…”
* * * * *
Collide
After hearing Holmes rave about the food at the Italian Fisherman, Joel figured the place deserved a chance. He was skeptical when it came to restaurants but, after all, he was in Key Largo and not the south of France.
When he walked into the fishnet-lined foyer, it was obvious that the place was filled to capacity. With the exception of a few empty stools at the bar, every table and chair was occupied with mostly obvious tourists who were in the place for the first time; people who didn’t care about the wait or the service. They were loud and usually well intoxicated by the time their main course hit the table.
As Joel approached the hostess podium, he couldn’t help but notice the view of the bay through the crowded room. The Italian Fisherman was a waterfront restaurant that featured an ample dock to complement its bay front deck. Most of the patrons, however, used the parking lot.
“How many in your party sir?” the perky hostess asked, interrupting his gaze at the setting sun.
“Just myself.”
“Okay. It’ll be about a fifteen to twenty minute wait. Feel free to wait at the bar. Your name?”
“Joel.”
“Okay, Joel.”
The wait wasn’t a problem. Joel had waited three times that to get into certain restaurants in San Francisco. Besides, the view projected by the sunset eased his frayed nerves. He could see what Holmes saw in this place.
By the time he walked up to the bar Joel felt lucky, as there was only one barstool left.
“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” he asked the girl who occupied the next stool.
“No it’s not, I’m by myself,” she replied in an almost depressed tone.
A stoke of luck, Joel thought to himself as he looked over at the girl. And then it hit him. She was the girl he spotted from the top of the bridge the day before, broken down on Card Sound Road with the red 300ZX. Up close, she appeared to be about twenty-five and very attractive. Her sundress was a complement to the olive skin it covered, revealing her long legs that were crossed and dangling down the side of the stool. Her auburn hair was naturally curly and she didn’t wear a lot of makeup. She had a natural beauty despite being down about something. Her eyes were the most striking feature. They were almost turquoise in color. They had to be contacts, Joel thought. He took another look but she seemed to be in another world, playing with a cocktail napkin between her fingers.
“Blind date?”
“What? Oh, no. I’m waiting for my father. He doesn’t know I’m here though.”
“Wait a minute. You’re waiting for your father, but he doesn’t know you’re waiting for him?”
“Well, I know it sounds weird but...”
“Oh, no. Not at all.”
“No, I know it sounds weird, but I haven’t seen him in a long time and the last time I did see him, well we didn’t exactly part on good terms. This is a place we used to go as a family and I heard he still came here often. I wanted to see him again in a place that was sort of a neutral ground.”
“This guy, your father, he sounds like the real intimidating type.”
“He used to be, until he started drinking though. It really changed him.”
“That’s funny, it’s usually the other way around.”
“Yeah, well my father’s kind of backwards.”
“My name is Joel by the way.”
“I’m Tessa,” she said, extending her left hand.
Joel noticed the white band of skin around her tanned ring finger.
“When was the last time you ate here?” he asked.
“About six months ago. We used to come here quite often actually, at least until my husband passed away.”
“I’m sorry,” Joel said in a softer, more compassionate voice.
“Don’t be. He probably had it coming to him. He was killed in a boating accident.”
How ironic, a boating accident, Joel thought, rubbing the bruise on his right thigh.
“Any kids?” he asked.
“Yeah, one, a little girl.”
“I bet you’ve got a picture.”
“It’s six months old, but real cute,” she said, already digging into her purse. “Her name is Monica. This was taken at her third birthday party, a month before her father was killed.”
“How is she taking it?”
“Not very well, I’m afraid. Bobby loved her very much. She notices he’s gone but I don’t think she understands. She drops everything when there’s a knock at the door.”
“Where is she now?”
“With a friend of mine who babysits occasionally,” she said with another depressed smile. “How about you, any kids?”
“Who me? No, I’m not that lucky. Too devoted to my career I guess.”
“Career-minded, that’s a lousy excuse. What do you do?”
“I’m an accountant.”
“Oh really,” boring she thought. “Here in town?” she asked.
“Yes, it’s a local firm.”
“Alazar?” the hostess called.
Tessa stood from the cushioned stool. Without thinking, Joel also stood as he continued to explain.
“Well, this is my table,” she said, unsure what to do or say next.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I usually don’t push myself on...”
“It’s okay. If my father hasn’t shown up by now he probably won’t.”
“Well if you don’t mind…” Joel said pulling out her chair.
Joel sat facing her with the backdrop of the mangrove-clad Florida Bay engulfed in the orange and purple sunset behind him.
“How did you meet your husband, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“After high school, I went to Miami-Dade South in Kendall. We took world literature together, at least for the first five or six weeks. I finished, he didn’t.”
“It doesn’t seem like you were very well matched with this guy, I mean with all respect.”
“Yeah, believe me, he doesn’t deserve all due respect. Look, I don’t know you very well, and I’m sorry if I seem to be dumping on you but…”
“Hey, no problem, it’s okay. I just hope...”
“It’s just nice to talk to someone who is not connected to my situation. My grandmother always said she wished there were strangers available to do nothing but listen so they could tell you what you are trying to say. You know what I mean?”
“Yeah, they’re called shrinks.”
“No silly, I mean someone who really is detached from the situation. They have no vested interest, not financial or emotional. And these people are only good for one visit. After that, they’re involved, ya know?”
“Exactly, but does that mean I’m only good for one visit?”
“We’ll see if you have any other useful qualities.”
Joel was turned on by her smile although he didn’t know how to handle her forwardness.
“Let’s get back to your husband - I mean if it doesn’t bother you.”
“Well the truth of the matter is that three days before Bobby disappeared, I mean, was killed, I went to see an attorney with the intention of getting a divorce. I didn’t know how I was going to do it. I just knew I had to. I would have done it sooner if it hadn’t have been for Monica. She loved her dad.”
“So now you feel guilty and relieved at the same time. Kind of the ultimate conflict.”
“Yeah, but worse. My in-laws. They think they will have a tie on me forever. Especially Bobby’s father. He almost takes it personally. They have sheltered me from everything. His dad, Roberto, is a very powerful man.”
“Do you think they are afraid of losing their granddaughter?”
“I’m sure that’s part of it but for Roberto, it’s deeper than that. It’s like he is trying to preserve Bobby’s honor or something. It’s a Cuban thing.”
“Oh, you’re not Cuban?” he asked.<
br />
“Well I look it. My father’s Irish and my mother, Greek. With the dark skin and the last name, people just assume I’m Cuban,” Tessa explained.
“Excuse me,” a slender waitress said as she approached the table.
“Are you guys ready to order?”
“Are you ready?” Joel asked.
“Yeah. I’ll have the lobster, with a wedge of lemon please and another white wine spritzer.”
“And you sir?”
“Ummm,” Joel mumbled as he quickly milled over the menu.
“I’ll have the same.”
“Good choice. I’ll have that right out.”
“Look, it’s not like I don’t want Monica to know her grandparents. I just think she needs other influences to balance her out.”
•
Roberto Alazar, Gordo, Del and Gus Greico were escorted to a table on the outside patio deck next to the boat dock. After a ten-minute wait, the men were thirsty and quickly ordered a round of drinks.
“You live in a beautiful place,” Greico complimented, reaching for a packet of sugar to put into his already sweetened drink.
“Thank you. We like it,” Roberto answered.
“At night, the sky is very clear. A stargazer’s dream,” Greico added.
“All the better to navigate by, right Gordo?” Del asked.
“I never learned how to do that. I’m used to my LORAN-C,” Gordo said.
“I will have to agree with you on that. A sextant would be hard to use in one of those small boats. My father taught me how to read the stars when I was a boy. We were usually on dry land though,” Greico said, pondering the past. “He was an engineer and well-versed with the precision line-of-sight equipment.”
“That is very interesting,” Del replied. “I am fascinated by the stars and their relation to us.”
“They are very fascinating Del and I have learned a lot from them. When I was a boy, we didn’t have the MTV and video games. I spent many nights lying on my back on the hillside with my father just watching the stars,” Greico said with a sad tone. “So what’s the recommendation for the evening?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Everything,” Gordo answered with his face buried in his menu.
“Don’t mind him, he’s hypnotized,” Roberto said with a laugh. “I like the dolphin myself. It’s usually very fresh.”
“That sounds like an excellent choice,” Greico replied, patronizing his new associate. He hated fish.
Everyone’s getting dolphin, Greico predicted silently to himself with a smile.
“Oh shit!” Tessa said as she looked down at the table.
“What is it?”
“I’ve got to go!”
“What? We just ordered.”
“I’m sorry!”
Tessa got up immediately and at a brisk pace, walked off the other end of the deck toward the parking lot. Joel couldn’t believe his sudden turn of luck. He threw down his napkin and stood to follow her. That’s when he noticed the four men seated at a table about twenty feet away. They were all staring at him. Three Latinos and an American. It was probably his imagination. They were probably taken by this crazy woman who bolted out of the restaurant without warning.
Joel caught up to her despite her brisk pace.
“Hey, wait a minute, what was that all about? It was your father wasn’t it? Hey look, you’re gonna have to face him. It’s just that simple. Will you slow down?”
“Look, I’m sorry, it’s not what you think. My father-in-law, you know the possessive one, just made a surprise appearance.”
The four at the table, Joel thought to himself.
“Hey, relax, look this is still a free country. It’s not Cuba.”
“Joel, it’s very sweet of you but...”
“Let’s get out of here,” Joel suggested.
The two got into her Nissan 300ZX. She couldn’t risk the senior Alazar finding it in the parking lot.
“You just don’t understand. It is bad enough that he tries to control my life. Could you imagine what would happen if he found me having drinks with someone other than his Bobby?”
“But Bobby’s dead.”
“Right, and that’s just as much my loss as it is his and he wants to make sure of it.”
Joel didn’t say very much. What she was saying was starting to make sense and he was beginning to wonder if he should have stayed at the bar waiting for his own table, especially now as he was fearing for his life as the traffic in the slower lane was being passed a lot faster than he would have considered safe.
Tessa pulled the car off the main highway and headed down a dirt road that led to the waterfront. The car stopped just short of the concrete retaining wall that descended into the water. The cloud of dust that followed them down the dirt road overcame them and drifted past, floating over the water before disappearing into the night air. All was quiet.
“This was a special place to me. When I was in high school, we used to come here a lot.”
“I can see why. It’s very scenic.”
“Scenic my ass, we came here because we could get stoned and before the cops could get down that bumpy road, we’d have more than enough warning,” she said bluntly.
“That’s nice.”
Tessa was the first to open her car door. She got out and walked to the water’s edge. Joel followed suit, sitting on the passenger side wheel fender.
“The air feels good, but I bet that water’s cold as ice,” Joel said, watching her gaze at the dark water. Joel walked up behind her. “So tell me about your father,” he suggested, putting his hand on her shoulder.
“Well there’s not much to tell. He’s a small man who loves to drink. But he’s my father. And when I left him, it broke his heart. My mother passed away when I was seventeen, and well, things were never quite the same.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, removing his hand.
“It’s okay, time heals all wounds,” she replied, picking up her head to look Joel in the eye. “You’re sweet. So tell me again how come you’re not married, settled down, you know with some kids and a dog.”
“Well I was engaged once, to a girl from Atlanta, but, well I guess she wasn’t ready. She called it off. I wasn’t home enough. She needed more attention.”
“Ah, she fucked around on ya.”
“God, you’re blunt,” and right, he thought. “Let’s just say the feelings were mutual.”
With that, Tessa pulled off her sundress, exposing a blue bikini she was wearing underneath while kicking off her sandals. “Come on! The water’s great this time of year.”
Joel watched in disbelief as she dove from the retaining wall into the dark water below wearing a tenth of what she had on a few seconds before.
“Shit!” Joel said as he fumbled to the ground trying to pry off his pair of high-top tennis shoes.
“God, it’s great!” she yelled from the surface of the cool liquid; her voice echoing from the coral rock that surrounded the lagoon.
Joel wasn’t far behind. His body contorted and started to shiver immediately as his head broke the surface of the water, taking his breath away. He panicked for a second, not being able to breathe. Tessa watched him cough and shiver as she rolled over on her back and stroked across the water’s surface. She was amused more with the view of this man in his bright red Fruit of the Loom jockeys than his ability to bear the cold water.
“Shit it’s cold!”
“You’ll get used to it.”
“God, I hope so, what is this place?”
“It’s called Planter’s Point. It used to be part of a small pineapple plantation. Recently they used it for training dolphins. You know, for movies and TV; that kind of stuff.”
“What about...well you know, sharks and barracudas? Don’t they feed at night?”
“You can’t be serious,” Tessa laughed.
“No, really, I’m not.”
“They only attack things that are red,” she proclaimed in a more serious tone.
“You’re kidding, right?” he asked, protecting his crotch with both hands.
“This is nice. Thank you for coming with me,” she said.
“No, thank you. This is a pleasant surprise,” he replied. “When was the last time you were here?”
“In college. My late husband and I came with twenty of our friends from Miami-Dade. He proposed to me that weekend,” she said with a short smile.
“That’s cool,” Joel said.
“I’m sorry. I guess this makes you feel uncomfortable.”
“No, not at all. Why would it? Look, reality is that even the worst relationships have their good times. That’s why we enter them in the first place…right?”
“Thank you for saying that. You’re quite an amazing person Joel. So tell me, as an accountant, why did you decide to move to the Keys? I mean, accountants are pretty conservative by nature and this place is pretty crazy.”
“Well I do wear red jockeys.”
“That you do.”
“Well actually, I have a confession. I didn’t want to say anything at the restaurant, but since we are alone and you have been so open with me…I’m not an accountant,” he admitted.
“Thank God,” she said, relieved. “You didn’t actually get points for that one you know.”
“I’m a Customs agent,” he added as her face went flat.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No, this is my second day,” he said. “Why, what is it?”
Tessa went silent for a minute.
“Joel, I’ve got to go.”
“What is it this time?”
She was caught completely off guard by what she had just heard. She had let her feelings get the best of her. How could I say the things I did to this total stranger? I didn’t know him and now he was…God…he was…the thought was frightening. Bobby was a smuggler. Worse than that, his father Roberto Alazar was the king of smuggling in the Upper Keys, Tessa tried not to appear panicked.
“Really Joel I’ve gotta go!” she said, removing his hand from the back of her neck.
“Yeah…but…” Joel stammered while she exited the cold water and headed for the car.
Mid Ocean Page 19
