The Blue Tango Salvage: Book 2 in the Recovery and Marine Salvage, Inc. Series

by Chris Poindexter

  “And you think you can grow enough to feed all these people,” I gestured around the room.

  “Sure,” Rick confirmed. “And probably enough left over to sell at the Farmer’s Market.”

  I imagined that the grow system would also help them explain the supplies they need for the underground growing system already in operation.

  “We’ll run the park’s gray water through a tiered purification system and store it in a pond where we’ll grow tilapia,” Nat explained.

  “That’s the part I couldn’t remember,” Teddy interjected. “We already run our own waste treatment system and water reclamation. We’ve been upgrading the plumbing to separate the gray water from the houses for two years now. Even though I think it’s crazy raising fish when you can go over to river and catch a boat full.”

  It was an ambitious project, one of several Teddy was undertaking to try and broaden the income base of the park. Getting caught was an ever-present possibility but the specter that haunted Teddy more than law enforcement was the national trend toward legalization of marijuana. Legal weed would make his operation subject to competition, taxation and regulation. The park’s primary cash flow would dry up almost overnight.

  “What about you two?” Belle asked. “What do you do?”

  “We’re in marine salvage,” I said honestly.

  “Damn, I’ll bet that’s an interesting line of work,” Belle chimed.

  “It has its moments,” I confirmed.

  “What brings you to our little corner of heaven?” Belle asked.

  “You writing a book, Belle?” Teddy asked jokingly, but it was a joke hiding a message. Quizzing Teddy’s friends about their business with Teddy was a bad idea. Belle got that message, loud and clear.

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to pry,” she said, sitting back in her chair.

  “Teddy, Flower and I go back a long way,” I explained.

  “That’s the truth,” Teddy chuckled.

  “Q and I had a couple days and decided it might be a good time to catch up.” I didn’t need to explain to Belle why we were here but I didn’t need her going around with hurt feelings and unanswered questions. I didn’t tell her all the truth but enough of it that she could fill in the rest of the blanks with a plausible story. The way to get people to stop looking is let them think they found something.

  “We shot some hogs this morning,” Q volunteered.

  “That would be the sliced ‘cue in tonight’s buffet,” Teddy informed. “Them hogs eat so much citrus they end up tasting like oranges.”

  It was true; you could taste the citrus tones in the meat, which was fantastic.

  Steve spoke for the first time. “Some of them hogs get kinda big.”

  “That they do,” Teddy agreed. “When they get up over 300 pounds we have to send the boys out to put ‘em down. A boar that size don’t run, they stand and fight. They’ll get tusks about yay long,” he held his fingers about six inches apart. “Them tusks will tear up the dogs and we’ve had ‘em charge the field hands.”

  “One time they had to climb up in the trees to get away,” Steve added.

  “You know Bobby at the shop, right?” Teddy asked.

  “Hard to miss him,” I grinned.

  Teddy smiled. “He hunts those big ones with spears.”

  “No shit?” Q asked.

  “Makes them himself,” Teddy confirmed. “Kinda looks like a sword on the end of a pole. Blade’s about three inches thick. He’ll go all cammo go hunt those fuckers with spear. Funny as shit but he brings one back pretty regular.”

  Flower materialized at the table. “Am I interrupting hunting talk?” She leaned against Teddy and wasn’t that much taller than him even when he was sitting down.

  “Teddy was telling us about Bobby’s hunting technique,” I informed her.

  “Ha!” she exclaimed. “He is a sight all painted up and carrying that big ass spear.”

  “Mr. Q,” she said turning the smile his way. “One of the boys went and got your little house pest. You won’t have any more trouble.”

  “Thanks,” Q said evenly, still too gun shy to engage her in actual conversation.

  “Miss Charlotte’s going to be here later,” she informed him. “She’s in the band.”

  “Really?” Q couldn’t help himself.

  “Mmm-hmm,” she confirmed. “She is truly multi-talented,” she confirmed with a wink.

  I believed that and, I didn’t say anything to Q, but I was guessing Miss Flower knew that from experience. She never came out and said it but I always got a strong two-way vibe from her. I was equally certain there were interesting times at the big house when Teddy was out hunting or fishing. Flower wasn’t really the sitting around type.

  “So when are we going to get to meet your lady love?” Flower asked me. “I am eaten up with curiosity.”

  “Three or four days,” I speculated.

  “I guess I’ll have to start planning a girl’s night out,” she smiled. Now it was Q’s turn to grin.

  “Yeah, doesn’t that sound like fun?” he asked me, punctuated with a pop on the shoulder.

  It did not sound like fun and I gave Q the scowl of disapproval which bounced off him like a sparrow off the windows of a giant skyscraper.

  Teddy chuckled. “Hey, isn’t it about time to start the entertainment?” he said to Flower.

  “That it is.” She reached down and kissed Teddy on the cheek and moved off toward the low stage set back in the corner. A couple volunteers moved in to clear some chairs off the dance floor and we all had to get up to scoot our table back a few feet. The lights came up on the stage and a few in the crowd started whooping and clapping in anticipation.

  Flower walked out on stage as the band took their places. She had to drop the mic stand down a foot to her level. She tapped on the mic and two obedient thumps indicated it was working.

  “Y’all enjoy dinner tonight?” she asked the crowd, which drew a few people yelling “Yeah!” and general murmur of approval.

  “You can thank our guests Mr. Fatman and Mr. Q for supplying the hogs,” she said with a gesture at Q and I. That drew a smattering of applause, though I was pretty sure everyone knew the dogs did most of the work. Q blushed anyway. If he was uncomfortable with the workings of the female of the species he was even more uncomfortable with public attention.

  “Tonight we have Jay and Swamp Rats--” She was interrupted by thunderous applause and cheering. Apparently Jay was pretty popular.

  She waited for the crowd to settle. “Teddy and I just wanted to tell all of you how much we appreciate that you’re all a part of our family and how much we appreciate all your hard work.”

  That drew another round of applause, with Teddy getting several back slaps from people nearby.

  “Now let’s have some fun!”

  And the crowd went wild. Miss Charlotte wasn’t in the first set and the band started off with Joe Diffie’s Honky Tonk Attitude. Immediately the dance floor was jammed with a crowd of line dancers, Miss Flower front and center. Some of the kids came out to join their parents including a little girl about five, the spitting image of her mom, who crawled up in Nat’s lap. She regarded Q and I from the safety of her mom’s arms and Nat had to talk up over the music to tell us her name was Ellie.

  The band really was good. The music was loud but clean and they were tight. They followed up with two more line dances and then switched to Tommy Castro’s version of Make It Back To Memphis and their own cover of Travelin’ Band.

  “These guys are good,” Q said over the din.

  “Yeah, not bad,” I agreed.

  The dancers were getting tired and Miss Charlotte made her appearance. The band slowed it down with a cover of Blue. Besides a firm rack Miss Charlotte also had a healthy pair of lungs, belting out the song with seasoned power. About the middle of song she started walking between the tables singing to different people, eventually ending up at our table where she dropped into Q’s lap belting out that Q should be
blue over her.

  Q turned beet red and looked like he wanted to sink into the floor. Apparently Miss Charlotte was also a crowd favorite. She was also clearly popular with the kids and her familiarity with Q suddenly elevated his status with little Ellie.

  “Are you Miss Charlotte’s boyfriend?” she asked before the next song got going. The rest of the table busted out laughing, Q looked like a trapped animal, which just made it all the funnier for Teddy and I, laughing until we had tears in our eyes. Q was not amused.

  “We’re just friends,” he said to Ellie defensively.

  “Are you gonna kiss her?” Ellie asked, which prompted another bout of raucous laughter from the table. Nat had to explain to her that wasn’t a polite question to ask.

  Teddy let Q squirm a bit longer and then rescued him with a suggestion that we all head outside for a cigar. Q was visibly relieved to get away from the table and it was more than a little amusing that someone so tactically capable was a complete klutz in social situations.

  Teddy passed out three cigars, followed by the cutter and lighter and we all took a minute to enjoy a smoke and the humid night air of central Florida. About 10 billion bugs serenaded us with their own bloodthirsty song, temporarily kept at bay by clouds of cigar smoke.

  “The pie thing is over right now,” Teddy informed Q. “That shit’s in the past.”

  “Good to know,” Q said.

  “The damn office looks like a flower shop,” Teddy chuckled. “Mrs. Thornberry really laid it on thick.”

  “It’s going to be time to get back to work tomorrow,” I said, actually a little sad it was so soon.

  Teddy nodded. “The boys will have your van ready in a couple days,” he informed us. “Shaping up pretty nice.”

  ‘Really appreciate all your hospitality,” I said.

  Teddy waved it off with his cigar. “Ain’t nothin’, brother. You and yours are welcome here anytime.”

  We were interrupted by Miss Charlotte. “Sorry to interrupt,” she said with a smile so big it looked like she had extra teeth installed. “Could I have a word?” she said to Q.

  “That’s our cue,” Teddy said heavily. He and I dropped our cigar butts in a can and made our way back inside.

  “I actually think she likes him,” Teddy said once we were inside. That was my conclusion as well but the romance would have to end in the next couple days. They both had jobs that made relationships more than a little complicated.

  “He won’t realize that until she hits him upside the head with something big and heavy,” I sighed.

  “Wouldn’t be the first time,” Teddy grinned. “That girl does have spirit.”

  “I thought they were taking the house apart last night,” I chuckled.

  “Wouldn’t be the first time for that, either,” Teddy joked. “The girls get a little crazy sometimes. We don’t hire them for their gentle nature or sanity,” he reminded me.

  Flower rejoined as the table, fanning herself with a paper plate. Sweat glistened on her brow. “Whew, dancin’s hard work,” she informed us. “Where’s Mr. Q?”

  “Outside talking to Charlotte,” Teddy informed her.

  “I think she likes him,” Flower observed.

  “We were just saying the same thing,” Teddy chuckled.

  “Think he knows?” she asked perceptively.

  I shook my head.

  “I’m sure she’ll fill in that box for him,” she surmised. “We didn’t pick Charlotte ‘cause she’s a wallflower.”

  “I’m going to head back,” I informed the table. “Does Q have a ride?”

  “He may be getting a ride in the parking lot as we speak,” Flower reminded me. “We’ll make sure he gets home.”

  “Oh, I need another case of beer,” I remembered.

  “Just stop by the kitchen door on the way out, they’ll fix you up,” Teddy instructed.

  I ran into Q coming back in.

  “I’m going to grab another case of beer and head back,” I informed him. “I assume you’ll be sticking around.”

  “Yeah...uh...Charlotte..”

  “I get it,” I filled in for him. “We gotta get back to work tomorrow so you need to be frosty in the morning.”

  “I don’t think my back could take another all-nighter,” Q said. “These scratches itch like crazy.”

  “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  I drove around to the kitchen door and there was already someone waiting with a case of beer and a box of cigars. The park was pretty much empty except for the night time security patrol that had one of those enclosed electric cars. It had a flat metal rear deck with two big dog kennels mounted on it. They waved as I drove past. It was easy to get sucked into the insulated life Teddy had built here. It was safe, it was remote and it was removed from the rest of the world. A little bubble of humanity that managed to map out, and live by, its own set of rules. I still believe mobility is the ultimate freedom in the modern world but, if you had to be nailed to the ground, this was how to do it.

  When I got back to the house I cracked a fresh beer and fresh cigar and got a jump on tomorrow’s work. I used my phone to set up an account at a particular dating site. Not because I was looking for a date but that was how we made contact after an A1A. We picked this site because it had a private message feature.

  We also had a code for the ads. On even numbered days the ad would mention a car and on odd days a dance. Tomorrow was odd day, so I posted this ad in the Missed Connections section.

  YOU - The cute nurse in Miami who ran off and left me. I miss you. Let’s cha-cha.

  FM1473

  After that all I had to do was drink beer and enjoy a smoke. I had already determined I was going to stop the cigars once we left. As much as I missed them, it was time to let go of that relic of the past. But I sure was enjoying these last few.

  Once it was gone I headed off to bed.

  Chapter 15

  The next morning my phone was already blinking at me that I had a response to my message in my private inbox.

  FM1473 - Sorry about the hasty departure. Let’s do the blue tango.

  A1009

  I sent her a private message with my new phone number, surprised at how excited I was to hear from her. It was a nice morning so I decided to take my coffee out on the back deck and was surprised to find Q already there.

  “You’re up early,” I said by way of greeting.

  “Charlotte stayed over,” he said, slurping his coffee. “She gets up early.”

  “Which means you get up early,” I chuckled.

  “She’s a peculiar girl,” Q said thoughtfully. “She fucks like a guy.”

  “I assume you don’t mean…”

  “No, not that,” he said, shaking his head. “She’s kind of aggressive.”

  I left Q alone with that thought because I really didn’t want the details. But it was interesting to see it put him out of sorts. He’d been with lots of hookers, we had our own version of the accommodating girls that Fred managed for us, but this was different. Q and Miss Charlotte had connected but it was on her terms and that bothered Q for some reason.

  “Alpha females are a different breed,” I explained. “Kinda like V.”

  “Is Amber?” he asked intuitively.

  “She will be,” I said honestly. “She’s still coming to grips with her past and fucked up family life. Once she does she’ll be a lot different person.”

  “Like V?”

  “Hard to say,” I mulled. In many ways this was an uncomfortable discussion. “V, Flower, Charlotte and Amber are all chiseled from the same rock. They have some qualities in common but they’re also different in ways.”

  “You think they’ll butt heads?” Q caught on.

  “Amber and V? Oh, yeah,” I sighed, “you can already see that coming. Flower and Charlotte settled their shit long ago.”

  “What do you think will happen?” he asked, now curious.

  I shrugged. “In truth I’m a little afraid to find out.
You know she’s bi, right?”

  “Who?”

  “Charlotte.”

  “She told me,” he admitted and then the light finally dawned. “Charlotte, Amber, V, Fl--”

  “What are the odds?” I asked. “Statistically just 14% of the wider female population.”

  That gave Q something to think about and he’d have a lot of time chew on it before the understanding finally surfaced. It was no coincidence but still a complex and nuanced truth and Q didn’t like complexity.