RED SOX: Believe
FEEDBACK: is appreciated at p.phair@comcast.net
At exactly 3:45 am, Sunny checked her outfit in her walk in closet's full length mirror. Mr. Braveman told her they would be going out to the docks this morning. She dressed accordingly; Sperry Top-Siders, cropped khaki cargo pants, a heavy aran wool sweater, and finished off brilliantly with a black naval pea coat.
"It might be early, Ichabod, but one must always look one's best in business." She gave a small, sad sigh at the silence which answered her. "Okay, I'm going down to street level to catch my ride. Being late is never acceptable."
By 4:44 am, Sunny was annoyed and damp from the misty April morning. She tried calling Mr. Braveman to find out his ETA but each time his phone merely rang and rang. She was seriously considering calling the whole thing off and heading to her office when an enormous Cadillac Fleetwood cut across three lanes of traffic to pull up and over the curb in front of her building. Noxious bluish smoke spewed from the muffler. She could see Braveman behind the wheel but he laid on the horn anyway.
"Morning, little lady," he greeted her when she pulled open the car door. A stubby cigar was stuffed in the corner of his mouth. "We got just enough time to make the tide so hop in."
"Mr. Braveman," Sunny was furious when she sat in the springless seat, "you are late! It is unprofessional to be late. And, smoking? You can't be serious?"
The big man smiled and gunned the engine. "Oh, it ain't lit. I just use it like a pacifier. Now, give that door a hard slam and we'll be off."
Against her better judgment, Sunny shut the door. The weight of it made her wonder if she needed to increase her work out regime at the gym. The car lurched into traffic and Sunny grabbed for the seat belt. There was none.
"I…um, I can't seem to find the seat belt."
"Not to worry. I cut those things out years ago. Managed to disconnect that stupid alarm too. So, just sit back and relax and leave the driving to me."
Sunny didn't like the idea of careening through the city streets without restraints. It was reckless and dangerous. Sunny never engaged in reckless or dangerous behavior. But, there was potential for a great deal of money to be gained by working with Braveman and his company. She decided she would increase her risk taking just this once in order to secure the account. In the long run, she could serve the greater good as well as be adequately reimbursed. She would be able to help him address his more flagrant conduct which would make the entire community a safer place. At least, that's what she told herself.
The docks were as desolate as she expected for the early hour. This part of the harbor usually catered to day cruises and whale watchers. Activity didn't really gear up until after sun rise.
"This is the one you'll be shoving off on," Digger said when he stopped in the no parking zone next to the ramp to the moorings.
Sunny gasped before she could contain her surprise. "We're going out on a boat? I thought you said the job was at the wharf. Why are we going out in that? It doesn't even look safe."
The vessel was a converted lobster boat. It belched smoke from its engine almost as liberally as the Cadillac's muffler. The hull rode low in the water with the stern dipping toward the water line. Several seedy looking men were milling about the deck.
"The Dew Mi is plenty sea worthy, little lady. So, you just ease your mind and let the crew handle navigation. You're gonna see my demo girl sink a really big boat. I mean the thing is huge. She's been out there all night laying charges." Braveman said with a broad smile, "It's gonna be a real treat for you, I think."
"Me? Wait. You say 'me' like it's not 'we' on this trip," Sunny stated with her suspicion rising.
Braveman answered quickly, "I'm not going out there. Are you kidding? I get seasick something fierce. Shits, pukes, and the works, nobody in their right mind wants me on a boat taking a dump."
Sunny was frustrated. She didn't want to give up on such a lucrative contract before she actually started it. But, Braveman was not creating a trustful working relationship. Still, there was a lot of money on the line. As successful as she was, Sunny was not prepared to just walk away from millions of dollars.
"Okay, who should I ask for? Animal?"
"Nope, she's already out on the boat to be scuttled. You need to ask for Snotty. He's in charge of the operation until you get out to the site."
"Snotty?"
"Yep, great guy. Little bit of a coke head but that's his business, right? As long as he doesn’t get arrested on the job more than once a quarter, he's okay with me."
"I'm going to make a guess you don't have an employee assistance program," silence and a blank look answered her. "I'll include it in my recommendations."
Sunny was not entirely sure she should get out of the car but staying next to Mr. Braveman any longer was not a great option either. He's begun to pass gas, she was certain of that much.
"How bad can a boat ride be?" She asked herself.
Sunny was considering writing her will on the back of her hand. The boat ride was beyond a nightmare. Rough seas tossed and churned around them. Ocean water poured over the sides only to drain back out leaving all imaginable debris on the deck. Sunny would not have been shocked if a bloated body got hurled in while they steamed along to the middle of the Atlantic. Or, perhaps, they were actually taking her to the North Sea or the Indian Ocean. The trip was becoming entirely too long for her liking.
Mr. Braveman's crew was of no help in alleviating her fears. Snotty was a short, wiry, mid forties white guy. He could not say one sentence without his nose dripping. He was, at least, pleasant. The same could not be said for the other three men on board. Skippy, the guy steering the boat, was a muscular black man with a shaved head and permanent sneer on his lips. When he walked, he needed to hip hike his left leg to move it forward.
"Don't think he got shot or something and that's why he got a bum leg," Mixer, the very chatty Asian man, had explained soon after they set sail. "He took a shock! Really, like when he was fifteen. Instead of being old he had his stroke when he was a kid. Amazing, isn't it?"
"Fucking shut your yap and do some work, you freaking lazy shit!" Sam, the angry Samoan, had ended the conversation almost as quickly as it started.
Sunny was left sitting on a cooler and holding onto the railing bolted to the wall for dear life. She accepted this was her worst business decision ever and was plotting out how she would end her relationship with Digger Braveman as soon as they got back to port. The engines cut out and brought her out of her cocoon.
"What's happening?" She shouted over the howling wind to Mixer.
He pointed over the starboard side. Sunny stood but still clutched the railing. She was able to see a mammoth ship less than a mile away. Between the two boats a motor powered dingy raced toward the Dew Mi.
Sunny was relieved to see only two people on the dingy. She was worried about the number of surly men already on board. Another four or five might have resulted in physical confrontations. While the possibility was not out of the question, a mob mentality might be harder to form with fewer than a dozen people. At least, she hoped this would be the case.
"Who's she?"
The man who had steered the dingy questioned Sunny's presence once he climbed aboard the converted lobster boat. The man was mid fifties. He was moderate height with a growing beer belly and ruddy cheeks. His head sported an atrocious toupee which was bulky but flat on top and furry with pork chop side burns.
Mixer was quick with an answer. "Digger found her to help us with Animal."
"Really? That'll be fun to watch," the man laughed. "I'm Dick Weed."
Sunny accepted his extended hand and gave a firm shake. "My, all you men have such colorful nicknames."
The man pulled his hand back and snarled, "My name is Richard Weed. It's not a nickname."
Sunny blushed. "I'm sorry. Please, forgive me. I'm not at my best today."
The guy glared at her before turning his back. He reached over the side of the boat and pulled somebody else on board. He dropped the body like a sack of potatoes. The woman scrambled to her feet and pushed her way to the boat rail.
Sunny stepped a little closer to get a good look at the one she assumed was Animal. Animal paid no attention to anybody or anything except the box in her hand. It had a flashing red button in the middle. Her hands seemed to tremble while she stared at it. In spite of the cold, she was wearing only jeans and a tee-shirt. Goose bumps covered the exposed skin of her arms. Her feet had a slight bluish quality to them.
"Great! A Goth," Sunny thought to herself when she saw the dog collar around the woman's throat.
Although, it was different than the traditional studded collars she'd seen teens wearing. This one had a thick plastic box fitted on the side of it.
"You call it, Animal," Mixer said and pulled out a stop watch.
"One minute, forty seven seconds."
"From the boom boom or from the first sign of smoke?"
Animal thought for a moment but never took her eyes off the ship anchored across from them. "Make it two minutes, thirty three seconds from me pushing the boom boom box."
The men had gathered around her. There was an uneasy murmur in the group. Sam took out a paper and pencil and started to scribble some numbers. He erased and re-wrote something.
"No fuckin' way. No way, no how, never!"
Dick Weed shook his head, "You talking or putting money down?"
"Forty says it'll take at least ten minutes."
More mumbles followed but nobody spoke up.
"I'll take that action. Forty says Animal's within twenty seconds either way," Dick Weed said.
"You're on, asshole!" The angry Samoan shouted.
Dick smiled. "Your show, Animal."
Animal continued to stare at the boat across from them. She acted as if she had not heard a word. The look on her face was similar to a child on Christmas Eve. Only, there was an element of arousal in the way her nostrils flared.
She allowed her thumb to caress the red button. Her lips began to tremble. A small moan escaped from her throat as she pressed the flashing button.
Sunny was aware of the ticking stop watch. Muffled thuds echoed across the water heartbeats before the ship appeared to drop several feet lower into the water. A large wave pushed away from the stricken boat's hull. The Dew Mi rocked on the rippling effect. Animal's cheeks flushed. Sunny kept turning her head left to right in order to see Animal's features change with her growing excitement and to see the ship sinking. Unlike any movie sinking Sunny ever saw, the ship across from them was sinking like some giant, invisible hand was pushing it below the surface. It went down in one even, straight line of destruction instead of the traditional dipping bow.
The more the ship disappeared from the horizon, the more Animal shook. Sweat formed on her forehead. Her eyes squinted. Nostrils flared and occasionally snorted. The tips of her ears were bright red. And, much to Sunny's shock, Animal's nipples were hard points sticking out through her thread bare tee-shirt. Animal was making very guttural noises in her throat by the time Sunny realized what was happening to the woman.
"Oh my God, she's having an orgasm!"
Animal stiffened. Her eyes snapped shut. A gasping whimper escaped her lips before she collapsed backward to the deck.
"Two minutes, forty seconds." Mixer announced.
"Fuckin' A!" Sam shouted and stormed away.
Sunny was left staring at the woman passed out on the deck while the rest of the crew congratulated each other. Animal was oblivious to their high fives. The woman with a mass of stringy, black hair was about Sunny's height but painfully thin. She looked malnourished. She also looked young. Very young! Sunny worried this girl was in more trouble than she was actually trouble herself.
"Mr. Weed, may I have a word?" She didn't wait for him to agree. "What is the story? Don't try to tell me she's the savant of blowing things up either. There's something fishy here and it isn't the ocean."
Weed studied Sunny for a few moments before speaking. "I don't know what Digger told you but this kid is sick. Mental. Dangerously so. Did he tell you where he 'found' her? She was setting fire to our tool shed."
"Oh no," Sunny stomach flipped, "she's an arsonist?"
"Among other things. She's been homeless since she was eighteen. That's when she was released from juvenile hall. She did time for blowing up the science lab at her high school. Mind you, it was one of those diversional schools so they were use to nut jobs but she still shuttered the place." He kicked Animal's thigh and the woman rolled over and started to suck her thumb. "As you saw, she gets off on destroying things. I mean, really gets her rocks off. I've never had a broad come so hard under me that she passed out but this kid freakin' drops every time something goes boom boom. And, she talks like she was raised by wolves. She makes Sam sound eloquent."
"Fuck you, Dick!" The angry Samoan shouted from the boat house.
"Oh my," Sunny was feeling sick to her stomach.
Dick continued, "Not one guy here would turn their back on her. What do you thinks gonna happen when she get tired of sinking boats and dropping buildings? You think she's gonna find a nice fella and raise a family? Look at her. She look like the next president of the PTA to you?"
Sunny studied the woman snoring on the deck. If not for the sound of her breathing, Sunny could imagine a white chalk outline around the slumbering body. It was clear the girl had seen better days. But, it was also clear the girl was young.
"Mr. Weed, I appreciate the information. I understand your reservations about Animal. It would be foolish not to put a great deal of stock into her history…,"
"Here comes the 'but,'"
"…but she's young. Her life doesn't need to follow the path she started on for whatever reasons she was started on it."
"Society failed her?" Weed taunted.
"Yes, it has." Sunny gave a broad smile before stating her intentions, "I know I can help this young woman turn her life around. Given the proper support and counseling and educational opportunities, I'm sure some day Animal could be the president of the PTA or even the president of the USA…,"
The boat load of men burst into gales of laughter they steamed back to port.