Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
“Fucking scumbag! I bet this place is crawling with harbor trash like that. We've got to be
very careful from now on, that guy knows you fancy Liz, and who knows what he'll do.”
“Yeah I know, but that was most uncalled for, screw him! I'd knock his tired old head off
in a fight, the scrawny little shit!”
The next day word got around about the knife incident. We were warned by a few of the
workers to be cautious of the local sailors; there was a bad element amongst them, and
several incidents had happened where the police, even the state troopers, were called in to
intervene. There had been several murders, armed robberies, a suicide, and even a crazy
sailor who was fed up with the constant screaming of the jets taking off overhead and had
fired shots at a few of them with his rifle. A man's wife had mysteriously disappeared one
night, and no trace of her had ever been found. The man denied vehemently any foul play,
but locals knew otherwise from all the fights and arguments between them. We were to
meet him years later in Kauai.
There was also the famous case of the elderly couple who were murdered on the lonely
island of Palmyra, a thousand miles south of Hawaii. Their boat Sea Witch was stolen by
their murderers only to turn up in Waikiki some months later. The boat was originally from
Keehi Lagoon, and we met a man who had actually owned her at one time. This incident
became quite a well known movie, and now as I write these chronicles, the murderers are
due for parole. Yes, Keehi Lagoon was as nefarious a place as you could imagine.
We continued with our boat-busting job, and John Anderton and the yard owner came by
to see the progress. The owner was a harassed, grey, and stress-lined man. I could tell he
worked hard and played harder. He was a straight shooter as well. “You men are doing a
fine job; I see you work like me; full speed ahead or not at all. Good for you both, and keep
it up. Don't you worry about what the boys in the yard are saying; I like your speed.”
I looked at Gavin: word was getting around. The Reid brothers were cleaning up! We'll
show 'em yet! Encouraged, we resumed work with gusto, and the splintered wood flew out
of the interior. I kept an eye out for Liz, but for the whole day she avoided the yard. I was
disappointed and was wondering what kind of fool I was even taking an interest in a girl
like her. I did not really know her at all. For all I knew she could be just like Armchair
Steve, birds of a feather … but I couldn't believe this; there was something very special
about the lass.
We had showered and were climbing aboard Déjà vu when Liz came rowing sheepishly
over. She had with her a large steel pot, her backpack was on her shapely back, and Zephyr
was in his look-out spot in front. “Permission to board, skipper?” she said apologetically.
“I'm really sorry about Steve's behavior last night. I've never seen him do anything like
that before. I brought you some soup I made as a peace offering.”
