by Matt Day
He could hear several voices, one of them had a definite accent, and the others sounded like those of immature men. High school boys to be exact.
He peeked over the railing, grinding his teeth together at the sight before him. Eight high school boys, all about Mateo’s age, including that young man, were gathered around none other than the two missing Batistos. Shorty and the other man, who had yet to earn himself a nickname in Charlie’s book.
The men were talking about profits, and deliveries, and protection…they were recruiting drug sellers! Charlie thought about his options for getting Mateo out of there without making him a target for revenge.
He watched them hand each of the boys a small plastic bag containing marijuana, and another small plastic bag, which he assumed contained cocaine. Free samples? These men must be desperate to get a network going. Stupid kids!
Making his way back up the stairs quietly, he reviewed his options. He could make a commotion and hope that Mateo would simply flee the area, or he could head back to the school office and call Morgan. In ten to fifteen minutes, several of Daytona’s finest could be scouring the school in search of the two Batistos, but the chances of them escaping before they could be caught were pretty high.
Just as he’d done while in the service, he quickly weighed his options against his objectives. He’d already covered his options; but what was the immediate objective? To get Mateo away from those two men. Seeing the red fire alarm on the wall at the top of the stairs, he went up the last few steps and pulled the handle down.
The screeching of the alarm almost deafened him, but as he peeked over the railing, it served its purpose. The boys scattered like mice when the lights were turned on. Objective accomplished.
He watched to see which door Mateo went out. The kid was heading for the front of the building. Charlie hurried back the way he’d come, reaching the front of the building just as Mateo came running from the main entrance of the building.
A steady stream of teachers and students alike was pouring from the building, and Charlie observed the kid for a few moments before he was seen.
Charlie tried to slow his breathing down and act nonchalant. The last thing he needed was for Mateo to distrust him. The kid needed some guidance and Charlie didn’t mind offering it.
Mateo stopped in his tracks when he saw Charlie waiting for him, and then slowly walked to where he was casually leaning against a tree, “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to take you over to my brother’s service station. You have a job interview, remember?”
Mateo looked relieved and nodded, “Yeah. I guess I forgot.”
Charlie nudged his chin towards the building, “Someone pull the fire alarm?”
Mateo grinned, “I guess. I doubt there’s actually a fire, but then again, you never know. Maybe I’ll get lucky and the place will burn down before tomorrow morning. Anyway, I’m ready whenever you are.”
Charlie smiled at him and led the way around the building to where his car sat parked.
“Cool car!” Mateo commented, having looked at it briefly once before, but not up close like this. ‘The top comes down?”
“Yeah. Pull those snaps right there and I’ll lower it.”
“Really? Thanks man. I think convertibles are really cool.”
“They are,” Charlie assured him with a grin.
After putting the top down, Charlie headed down US 1 towards his brother’s service station. “So, how was school?”
“Boring.”
“Already? Didn’t this year just begin?”
“Yeah. It’s gonna be a long year.”
Charlie chuckled to himself; that sounded about right. He remembered being that age and wanting school to be out for summer before the first day of the fall term was over.
“So what kind of job is this?” Mateo wanted to know.
“Stephen runs the service station he inherited from my dad. So - putting gas in customer’s vehicles, washing their windshields, checking the oil and air pressure in the tires. Just your basic car stuff.”
Mateo was silent and Charlie wondered at it. “You know how to do all of those things, right?”
Mateo nodded, “Yeah, well, kind of. I help Mom once in a while, but usually the men at the service stations do all the work.”
“Don’t worry. A smart kid like you will catch on quick.” Charlie hoped he caught on to the compliment.
“So, how come you don’t work at the service station? I mean, you said it belonged to your dad?”
“I was in the Navy when my dad decided to retire.”
“Really? What did you do in the service?”
“I flew cargo planes initially, but then one day I had to parachute out of my plane and I messed up my shoulder. They wouldn’t let me fly solo anymore after that.”
“So they sent you home?” Mateo asked, turning to glance out the side window. Charlie’s shirt was starting to give him a headache.
“No, I used my navigational skills to help with troop placement and intelligence.” Charlie glanced over to see if Mateo was really listening to him.
“The Navy taught me a lot of things.”
“Like what?” Mateo wanted to know.
“Honesty. Integrity. Doing the right thing, even when you don’t want to.”
Charlie realized he was pushing too hard when a hard glint came into Mateo’s eyes, “My Mom told you, didn’t she?”
Charlie knew the kid was smart. He considered his answer carefully. “I’m not gonna lie to you. Yes, she did. She’s really disappointed in you, and worried.”
“She doesn’t have to worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
“Yes, I can see that.”
“I can,” Mateo protested. “I know right from wrong. Gosh, it feels like she’s smothering me sometimes.”
“If you know right from wrong, prove it,” Charlie challenged him.
Chapter 40
“Prove it? But how am I supposed to do that?” Mateo was angry and confused. How dare his mother tell this stranger how badly he’d screwed up?
“Reach into your pocket and give me the samples those Batistos gave you right before the fire alarm went off.”
Mateo was looking at him like he had two heads. “It was you! You set off the fire alarm! Why would you do that?”
“To save your scrawny ass! Do you have any idea what those two goons are mixed up in? Do you?”
“So their looking for some kids to help them sell some marijuana at the races, so what? There’s a lot of people selling it, why not me? I mean, I’m not going to sell it, but I could.”
Charlie bit back the retort that sprang to his lips. Telling the kid how stupid he was would only make him rebel further and that was not the objective. Charlie needed to keep the big picture in mind. “Answer me this question, Mateo. Is smoking marijuana a good thing or a bad thing?”
“Bad, but not if you control it. I mean, if you only used it like once a week or something, it might not be so bad.”
Charlie glanced over at Mateo before asking, “You’ve used it?”
“Once or twice. Just to try it out.”
“And did you like the way it made you feel?”
“Yeah, it kind of relaxed me. Took away some of the worry and stress for a while.”
Charlie nodded his head, “I used to think that about alcohol as well. Did you know I was married when I went into the Navy?” he asked, changing the subject.
Mateo shook his head, confused at the abrupt topic shift, “How would I know that?”
“You wouldn’t, so I’ll tell you. I had a beautiful wife, who was pregnant with my very first child. I went off to war, and she stayed here and played mommy. I was gone for almost five years.
“When I came home, I had a hard time dealing with all of the changes in my life, so I turned to alcohol. I don’t drink now, but back then, I drank almost every day.”
“Why are you telling me this? You stopped drinking when you wanted to…”
�
�That’s where you’d be wrong. I stopped drinking, but not because I just woke up one morning and decided I didn’t ever want to taste another drop of alcohol.”
“Then why’d you stop?” Mateo asked.
Charlie inwardly smiled, he’d known the kid was smart. Seemed he was quick as well. “Do you really want to know why?”
Mateo slowly nodded his head, not sure if he did or not, based upon the tone of voice in which the question was asked.
“My wife and daughter died when a man, probably much like I was at the time, drank too much and then got in his car. He came around a corner and hit my wife and daughter. He killed them both.”
Mateo cursed in Spanish and Charlie bit his lip to keep from echoing the sentiment, “That sucks!”
“Yes. Big time! So I made a decision to never put myself in the position of hurting another human being that way. Marijuana is no different, and it leads to using other, worse drugs. Not to mention getting mixed up with the mafia. That’s always a really bad decision in my book.”
“Mafia? Who said anything about the mafia?”
“Mateo, open your eyes. Those men you think are looking out for you work for the Cuban mafia.”
“No! No!” Mateo tried to deny that he had had anything to do with the man responsible for his father’s death, even vicariously through his worker bees. “You can’t be serious?” When Charlie nodded, Mateo felt tears form behind his eyelids. He was heartbroken that he had even considered being a part of what they were offering. “Why are they allowed to do this to us kids? Why can’t someone like you stop them?”
“Because we have a justice system, and it works on facts and truth. But you my friend are in a unique position to fix this particular situation.”
“How? I promise I won’t have anything to do with them anymore.”
“Do you honestly think that will fix the situation? What about your pals from school who get involved with them?”
“Man, what have I done. I invited them to come to the school that day at the beach.”
Charlie pulled into the service station, waving at Stephen as he stepped out to greet them. Turning in his seat, he looked Mateo in the eyes and told him, “You can fix this by reporting what happened today, turning over the evidence to the police, and convincing your friends to do the same.”
“What if they come after me or my family?”
“If you tell Chief Morgan everything that’s been going on, they won’t be getting out of jail anytime soon.”
Mateo was silent as Charlie stepped from the car. He watched the two brothers exchange brief handshakes and a laugh. He had messed up royally! Now it was time to fix it like a man.
Pushing the car door open, he stepped out and stood up straight, “I think I need to borrow your phone, sir.”
Charlie grinned at Mateo while Stephen looked confused. “Sure. It’s right inside.”
Mateo headed towards the building with a heavy step.
Stephen turned to Charlie and asked, “What did I miss? The kid looks like he’s getting ready to face a firing squad.”
“The kid’s becoming a man.” Charlie filled Stephen in on what had been going on and Stephen was very impressed with the kid’s sense of responsibility.
When Mateo came back out, he addressed Charlie first, “Chief Morgan asked if you could drive me by the station when we’re done here?”
Charlie nodded, “Sure thing.”
Turning to Stephen, he held out his hand, “My name is Mateo, and I am looking for a job. I don’t know much about cars, but Charlie assures me you can teach me anything I might need to know and I’m a fast learner.”
Stephen shook his hand and then slapped him on the back, “You did good kid. And the job’s yours if you want it.”
“Yes sir. I do. Want it, that is. When would you like me to start?”
“How about the day after tomorrow? Take a day off. You deserve it.”
Mateo grinned at both men, feeling more like an adult and less like a mixed up teenager for the first time in his life. “Sir, could we maybe stop by the hospital before we go to the police station. You were right; I do owe my momma an apology.”
“I’m sure she’d appreciate that. Let’s go.” Shaking hands with his brother, Charlie told him, “Tell Janey ‘Hi’ and that Carmelita enjoyed getting to meet her. We’ll have to do that again.”
“Yeah, it was a fun afternoon. Maybe next time we can find some shallower water and anchor the boat. That would give us a little more freedom and we could do some diving.”
“Sounds good. Maybe this coming weekend. I’m free on Sunday afternoon again.”
“I’ll talk to Janey and let you know. Mateo, I’ll look forward to seeing you Wednesday after school.”
Chapter 41
Charlie drove Mateo to the hospital first, where Mateo had a very tearful reunion with his mother in the hallway. Clearing his throat, Charlie suggested they step into one of the empty rooms and they both broke apart and laughed.
“No, that’s okay. I’m just happy to know that Mateo is finally becoming a man.” Touching the cheek of her son, she told him, “You go and do what you have to do and I will see you at home this evening.”
Mateo nodded and then headed for the stairs, “I’ll see you on the ground floor.”
Charlie smiled at him, knowing the kid was giving him a few moments alone with his mother. “He’s a good kid.”
“Thank you so much. Whatever you two talked about was just what he needed to hear.” She took a step closer to Charlie, glancing around him and then behind herself to make sure they were still alone in the hallway.
Gathering her courage, she leaned up and kissed him, letting her lips linger just a moment longer than yesterday. When she pulled away, she saw Charlie smiling down at her.
“I’ll stay with him while he talks to Chief Morgan and then run him home. What are you doing for dinner?”
Carmelita shook her head, “I honestly have no idea.”
“Why don’t you meet us at the Seabreeze when you get off? After we’re through at the police station, I’ll stop and pick up Carmen and we’ll meet you there.”
“Charlie, that sounds wonderful.”
“Good. We’ll see you in a few hours then.” With a jaunty wave, he headed for the elevator.
Carmelita watched him walk away, the hula girls on his shirt swaying with each step and she once again wondered where on earth he came up with such hideous shirts. Not only did this one have hula girls in grass skirts and coconut bras adorning it, but swordfish were prominent as well. To make matters worse, the background was a green color that reminded her of mashed peas. Yuck!
Carmelita decided that if she and Charlie ended up having a relationship, she was definitely going to need to help him redo his wardrobe.
*****
While Mateo spoke with Chief Morgan, Charlie placed a call to Wally and arranged for him and Tommy to join them at the Seabreeze for dinner. He was anxious to share everything he’d learned with them and see what new information they might have come up with.
When Morgan walked Mateo out of his office, Mateo was grinning and seemed totally relaxed in the large man’s presence. Charlie noted that Morgan’s shirt appeared dry today, and then he noticed how cool the police station was. Wally did a good job!
“Charlie, thanks for convincing this fine young man to come talk to me. With the information he gave me, we have enough to put out an APB for those other two men’s arrest.”
“Good, I think we’ll all sleep a little better once we know they’re off the street. How soon do you think you’ll be able to pick them up?”
“One never knows, but with any luck, sometime in the next few hours. Keep your wits about you until then. With Eduardo Sorrano and Juan Veracruz enjoying the hospitality of my jail, the other two may be getting desperate.”
“I’ll keep my eyes and my ears open. Thanks again.” Charlie turned to Mateo, “We’re meeting your momma over at the Seabreeze for dinner, but we
need to go pick up your sister first. We should probably head that direction.”
Mateo nodded and then turned to Morgan, “Sir, thank you for everything. If any of those other boys give you a problem, you let me know and I’ll talk to them.”
“I’ll be sure and do that. Enjoy your dinner. Charlie, I’ll call you if I learn anything else.”
Chapter 42
Dinnertime, Seabreeze café, September 1, 1955…
“There’s Charlie now,” said Wally as he and Tommy waited inside the small café.
“Tommy. Wally, any news on your side?” Charlie asked as he and the kids entered the café.
“Not really. It’s actually been kind of quiet. Although, we did do some checking around down at the marina. Someone matching the mustache man’s description rented a 30-foot power boat Monday morning.
“The owner of the boat remembers him vividly because of his strong accent and he paid in cash, upfront. He also remembers he took the boat out by himself, but when he came back, he had two passengers with him. All Batistos.”
“That’s got to be the break we’ve been looking for. Could he identify the men if he saw them again?”
Wally shook his head, “I don’t think so. He’s pretty old and said he didn’t have his glasses on at the time they returned the boat.”
“What about the rental agreement? Didn’t he have one signed?”
Wally gave him another rueful grin, “Yeah. He rented it to a Mr. John Smith from Tampa.”
“Well, that seems about par for the course.”
Glancing at the clock on the wall, Charlie realized Carmelita would be arriving anytime. Digging in his pocket, he pulled out several dimes and handed them to the kids, “Go put on some music while we wait on your momma.” Looking over at Marsha, he waved her over, “You want to get us some sodas? We’re going to wait to order until their momma gets here, but I could sure use something to drink.”
“You got it! I’ll bring them right over.” Marsha started filling glasses with ice, and then soda. She mixed Charlie’s usual half cola – half soda water, knowing that his body couldn’t handle straight cola – too much sugar.
