Game of Wit and Chance_Beginnings

by R. Scott Tyler

  About then the Captain came into the room. He took a beer, thought better of it and replaced it with a cola and began his 'welcome' speech.

  "Welcome aboard to you few, brave passengers who will make your way to Taipei or Manila with our ship and crew these next six days. There aren't a lot of rules, but the ones we have, we keep. If you need anything, please let my first mate know and he'll see what he can do to accommodate you. As you're all probably aware, this isn't a luxury cruise. That being said, I hope you find it interesting. Feel free to wander around and talk with whoever you like. For your own safety I will ask you to follow the directions given you by any crew member, though. The sea can be a strong and unforgiving mistress when the mood strikes her. By the way, we've left the dock and are on our way to Taipei." He gave a little salute and exited the room.

  Boris noticed the subtle motion of the boat and knew they had departed. He figured most of the people that traveled using this level of ship probably were aware of it as well. He tipped back his beer and then headed to his cabin for a couple hours of sleep before dinner.

  Dinner was simple. There was a chicken Arroz Caldo, basically a rice porridge with chicken bits, along with Paksiw, a fish boiled in vinegar. There were copious amounts of rice to go with the fish, as well as a spicy tomato, olive, onion sauce to go over the works. If anyone happened to be vegetarian, Boris guessed they had the option of leaving out the fish and the Arroz Caldo. Just like Gilberto, the cook apparently liked to make puto, a sweet cake, as there was plenty of that for dessert.

  Boris wasn't much of a reader and he didn't smoke, although the thought of six days on board made him consider taking it up just for something to do. The one thing he did like to do, besides drink beer, was to watch the stars. He decided to go out on deck as the sun was setting to see what the cloud situation would be like.

  Finding a place on the main deck was easy as there were not a lot of people out there. Exactly zero, from what he could see, but the sky was clear and promised some great star gazing, assuming they didn't light the deck of the ship like an airport runway when it finally got dark. Wandering around in the twilight he realized he wasn't the only one on deck. There were other sailors out doing their jobs, getting the ship ready for the evening and making sure all was well with the rigging and tie-downs.

  Seeing a stack of crates covered with a heavy canvas tarpaulin, he asked one of the crew if it would be okay if he went up to have an unobstructed view of the stars. "Sure, no problem. If you get knocked off by a big swell and fall in the ocean the Captain won't go back to get you, though." When Boris didn't react, turning and simply starting to climb the pile of crates, the sailor ended with, "But it doesn't look like we'll have any swells tonight."

  Boris rolled his eyes and laughed to himself. He'd been piloting boats since he was six years old. Maybe not this big and certainly not in the middle of the sea, but he'd been in rough water before and he knew he wasn't going to see any of that tonight.

  #

  Later on, laying on his back on the tarp, he looked at the constellations above him. Boris always started with Orion when it was out at night, specifically in the winter months. It was one of the easier constellations from which to orient himself. From there his eyes were invariably pulled first to Taurus to the Northwest of Orion and then Gemini to the Northeast. He located various navigational pinpoints that grounded him in space. Using the brass mono-scope he loved, he lost himself in this exercise until, a couple hours later, the smell of pot made him look around for the hippies.

  Spotting them a hundred feet away, he studied the shadows around them to see what was going on. As he eyes got accustomed to the shadows, he saw several other figures milling around a pile of crates that was maybe only three feet high. There was a person on their back on these crates, their legs bent back and to their sides, with another person actively working between them. Squinting harder he made out the Filipino sailor that had given him a lukewarm warning about getting tossed in the sea by a swell going at it between the legs of the fifty year old Australian woman. She was writhing around, holding on to the edge of the crate to keep herself from being rammed back away from the brown man's toy.

  The hippies seemed to be just lounging against other crates nearby, passing a blunt between themselves and pointing every once in a while. On the other side of the frenzied couple, the Australian woman's husband, or at least traveling companion, stood smoking what Boris guessed was a plain cigarette. He was watching intently, but with no particularly noticeable emotion.

  When the brown man made his last big thrusts into the woman's dark crevice, another Filipino sailor stepped out of the shadows where Boris hadn't noticed them before and took his place between her legs. The sailor that had finished tucked his package back into his pants, glanced up to where Boris was watching, and left. The second man was quicker than the first and he pulled out after just a couple of minutes.

  Turning to get himself put together as a third man emerged from the shadows, the hippie who was free of the blunt quickly closed the distance between himself and the just completed sperm donor and sunk to his knees in front of him. He quickly took the still semi-erect cock into his mouth and began to suck it deeply while he clung to the ass of the man, sliding his pants down over round, muscled globes. After the sailor made a few weak protests, he gave in and quickly started pounding the hippies face almost as fast as he was pounding the Australian woman's pussy a few minutes before. When he came a second time, the hippie smashed his face against the Filipinos black, hairy crotch and rode with the thrusts.

  Boris glanced over at the second hippie just in time to see him cum on the deck of the boat. The third man in place on the Australian then came and the Australian man stubbed out his cigarette, then helped his traveling companion off the crates.

  And the show seemed to be over.

  Boris almost laughed out loud.

  Julia's Death 1984

  The Opium runs were very productive. Boris found an easy swinging doorway in and out of Shanghai, where anything was available, but there were many ears and outstretched hands. In a crowd of millions it was easy to get lost.

  However, Boris was connected to a unique and talented jazz singer and Julia shared some of her connections with her brother.

  #

  The first run of Opium Orlando facilitated for Boris had been a bonus for him as well in that it eliminated negotiations by the more experienced Mayor. As Boris became a more regular customer, he bargained more shrewdly and Orlando had to keep tightening his supply chain. At some point, greed seeps more deeply into all equations and multiplies the unknowns. Sometimes the greed pushed more efficiency and profit into the deal. Other times it threatened to dissolve the foundation and destroy the house of cards that the foundation only barely supported.

  #

  The bank of phone booths at the Landmark Center Hotel on the Bund was a favorite afternoon office space for Orlando. Tuesday found him speaking into the seventies modern mouthpiece of the phone in the third highly polished, wood paneled booth. "It can be done. If not by you, by someone else. There are plenty of poppies in the field, one of them will bloom for me. Go intimidate someone else, I'll find a new seller."

  This particular deal was the largest one Orlando worked on so far with Boris. The smuggler wanted a hundred and fifty kilos of pure and he needed it tomorrow night.

  What Boris hadn't told Orlando was that the deal was different than usual. He would deliver to an Indonesian this time. Manny was responsible for the introductions, hoping to keep his cut of both operators, both into and out of the port. Slightly unusual, but not unheard of, at least by Manny. Boris would be picking up in Shanghai and delivering to a small Indonesian island to the south of the Philippine province of Davao. The area was on the fringes of both countries, was always embroiled in political challenges, and tended to have indistinct oversight and authority.

  #

  Manny knew he'd screwed up when the group of Chinese police charged into h
is lowly office on the docks only hours after Boris left. As usual, the absolute requirement of the paperwork he was required to keep existed, but none of it would lead them anyplace because it was all either missing significant information (names, dates and vessel numbers) or was simply falsified.

  One of the things required was a sailing plan from Boris so the Chinese could, theoretically, trace him from Shanghai harbor to his next port. None of the boats leaving from Manny's dock ever went to their next documented destination. Boris’ stated destination was Manila. However, he would not even pass through the Taiwan Strait, he would avoid that typical route to Manila and head down the east coasts of Taiwan and the Philippine Islands to cut hundreds of miles off the distance to his actual destination.

  At any rate, Manny was a bit more worried about his own hide than about Boris at this moment. He would warn him of the 'situation' with the Chinese drug police the next time he was able to get off a message.

  #

  The Chinese police were several steps behind the Chinese drug lords who were undercut by the deal with the Indonesians. Orlando stepped on the tail of a venomous enemy when he brokered the deal for Boris, even though he had no idea he was doing it. As the Chinese police were heading to the wharf, the Chinese drug lords were heading to Orlando's favorite hangout.

  Their original intention was to slit Orlando's throat in the nearest alley when they cornered him, but they saw an unexpected opportunity. When it became clear that he would wait until the club closed and go home with the pretty jazz singer, they decided to send a stronger message. One that would be hard to miss. A warning that would be heeded by others in the business because it would include family.

  #

  Orlando knew something was wrong the moment he and Julia stepped from the cab that evening. Before he could turn and get back in the vehicle, the driver panicked and sped off. The two menacing looking thugs closed in quickly outside Julia’s apartment door as a third blocked their entrance. Orlando went for his gun and Julia kneed one of the assailants straight in the nuts. Orlando watched the second assailant knock her out cold with a smashing jolt to her lower left jaw. Orlando had never taken the possibility of his failure very seriously, but was now overcome with a simple carotid artery move.

  When he came to, the first thing Orlando saw was Julia bound in a chair opposite him.

  "Ah, good, you're both finally awake," said a voice behind his left ear.

  He made an effort to free himself and was awarded with a baton to the left side of his head.

  "You made a big mistake stepping into our territory. The Indonesians are ours. Tell us who you're working with and maybe we’ll let you die with dignity."

  The person talking moved close enough to Orlando for him to smell what might have been last week’s fetid dinner churned up in an unharmonious stomach. His captor’s breath smelled like an old bait bucket.

  He felt his gag being loosened.

  In his periphery vision a large blade came into view. The tip was pointed at Julia.

  "Make any noise that I deem inappropriate and your girlfriend loses an ear," said Bait Bucket.

  Orlando recognized one of the associates from earlier as he stepped up to Julia, ran his fingers through her hair clearing it from her left ear and slipped an urban hunting knife under the lobe.

  "Okay, who's your contact and how did you find out about the Indonesians?" Bait Bucket loosened the gag enough for Orlando to speak.

  "Don't hurt her, she has nothing to do with this! It's between you and me!" Orlando said.

  The knife came up tighter under Julia's ear and her eyes widened as she tried to stretch her neck away from it.

  "That's very admirable of you, but doesn't come close to answering the question. Give me a name," Bait Breath replied.

  Julia looked wild eyed at Orlando, made a muffled sound through her gag and shook her head in fear. In doing so she nicked her own ear on the sharp knife and a trickle of blood started to ooze down her neck from her ear.

  "Boris…Boris James. That's the contact person and the transporter. I don't know anyone else, I swear!” Orlando replied.

  “Where is he from? Who does he work with?” Bait Breath asked.

  Orlando watched with wide eyes as the big knife pressed against Julia’s throat.

  “Everything I've done with him has been between here and the Philippines! I had no idea he was working with any Indonesians!" Orlando answered.

  Orlando didn’t think it was possible, but he saw Julia’s eyes open wider. Then she sagged like a tire with a ruinous leak, deflating before his eyes. He could see that even if they got out of this alive, it was over. Julia James, the most beautiful singer he’d met in his life, now thought Orlando had used her this entire time to get close to her brother.

  Orlando had given the only name he knew for Boris, but James wasn’t even Julia’s last name. It was her stage name.

  "That's more like it. Keep it up and you might save your skin or maybe even that of your pretty girlfriend.” Bait Breath said. “Tell me more about this Boris James and when you started dealing with the Indonesians."

  "I swear, if he's dealing with someone other than Filipinos, I don't know when it started," Orlando answered.

  "Oh, that's not a great answer, is it? If you know nothing, you're not worth much to us. We might as well cut our losses and move on,” said the man, “Are you sure there isn't something else that might help save your skins?"

  "The Mayor of Manila. That's who I've worked for, he'll vouch for me and you can ask him!"

  That answer seemed to take the assailants back for a minute. They moved away for a brief conversation among themselves. All Orlando could hear was muffled exclamations and arguing. He knew it wasn’t smart to involve the mayor, but all he was thinking of now was his and Julia’s lives.

  "If you need more business, I'm sure I could swing some your way with him. He's a very powerful man in the Philippines…he knows the president personally!" Orlando said.

  The assailant’s conversation ended and the three turned their attention back to Orlando and Julia. The leader nodded to Orlando, who took the nod as a positive sign.

  "I can get you whatever you need in the Philippines. Connections, other jobs, you name it," Orlando said. Of course he was ignoring the fact he hadn't been back there since he was a child.

  When the person behind him slipped the gag back over his mouth and tightened it up again it took Orlando by surprise, but he knew it wasn't a good sign. He began to struggle and argue, but his words were unintelligible.

  Julia also renewed her struggle. She would have cut her ear even worse in the process had not the person holding the knife taken up a new task.

  He took a thin case out of the breast pocket of the suit he was wearing and carefully opened it up to reveal a set of syringes, spoons and a lighter. From the other pocket he took a package of white powder and scooped a bit out with one of the spoons. His cohort took the lighter and held it under the spoon, melting the powder into a clear liquid which the man holding the spoon then expertly drew up into a syringe with one hand. They repeated the process, preparing two syringes.

  The suit then proceeded to take out a rubber hose and tied it around Julia's arm. While the third assailant held her arm tightly, the suit found a vein and plunged the needle in, shooting her up with whatever was in the syringe.

  Julia looked on, horrified, but unable to move to stop anything that was being done.

  Orlando knew the end had come and was crying openly, mostly out of fear, but also in despair and regret from knowing he was the cause of Julia’s imminent death.

  After they finished with Julia, the process was repeated quickly for Orlando. His mind clouded fast and the last thing he took in before going into the final blackness was the three men untying both he and Julia, both of them slumping off the chairs as the rope and their own bodies gave up on them.

  Steven Receives the News 1984

  Steven sat on the chair in Captain Villanueva'
s quarters breathing heavily. The news of Julia's death was unbelievable and had slowed his thoughts to a crawl, muddling them with questions and rejections. He didn't know how to go on or what he should do next. The captain remedied that for him by ordering him to his quarters. "I'll come down myself in a bit and we can talk about what you need to do next. Drink the whiskey, it will settle your nerves a little."

  It was more or less an order. The livelihoods, as often as not the very lives of everyone on the ship, depended on the captain and his decisions. He was very used to making them and then ordering people to carry them out. Steven swallowed the harsh drink, saluted and turned to go to his bunk. "I am sorry, Steven. I'll be by in a bit."

  The pouring rain didn't matter anymore, the upcoming storm, Steven's skill at managing cargo and sailing operations, none of it mattered anymore. His savings, his aspirations, his goals, and the enjoyment he was looking forward to in the next port. None of it made any difference now. The only thing in front of him was identifying his dead baby sister's body in a foreign country, communicating the horrendous news to his father, who would certainly hold him partially responsible (why did you let her go, stay, live, sing in such a place?) and getting her body back to the Philippines. Julia must have a proper funeral, be blessed and laid to rest next to her mother, reunited much too soon.

  Julia and Steven were unusually close for eldest and youngest in a family with four children. Theirs was the sibling friendship that was most solidly equal. While Boris adored Julia and she him, nothing tended to come before Boris' own needs, even his sister. Steven would do almost anything for Julia and she had known it. Which was the reason that she held back when asking things of him. She wanted to be treated like a fully responsible woman, not one that could get her way with a whim.

  When she made her mind up to move to Manila she had asked him for help. Seed money, a loan, company and protection for the first month. He'd done it all, insisting she pay him back from her earnings. When she finished paying him back he knew she felt proud. He turned around and presented her with a savings account in both their names with all the money she’d repaid.