When the ship turned and maneuvered into the docking area I saw her name was The Rapture. From a considerable distance I heard someone yell, and a bad word boomed across the open water followed by the strong wake of the turning ship. A festive crowd including limousines and valets was gathered on the dock to welcome the passengers. There was a red cordon around.

This time I was ready for the wake sweeping toward us, and braced myself against a railing while the boat shuddered like a trolley on bad tracks. Captain “Jockey Briefs” manning the bridge, who looked foolish except for the women by his side, barked orders and made hard sweeping gestures with his arm.

“High society fishing and boating festival,” Gun informed me.

“Look at that jerk in the panty briefs ordering everybody around,” I replied. “He looks stupid.”

Another newcomer climbed aboard our boat, and stated in my direction, “He looks stupid ‘cause he is stupid! That lazy-ass voice out there on The Rapture belongs to none other than Seaweed Joe!” The guy stood beside me, a crotchety-looking old timer wearing a floppy aviator-style skull cap.

“God, no! Look out, Jimmy’s back!” Carl announced, and he threw a make-belief punch at the new guy. “Heard you were on this trip!” Carl’s bald scalp and beak nose wrinkled in amusement. “How ya doing, Big Guy?” Carl seized the skinny old man in a playful headlock and rubbed the aviator-style cap into his head. Old Jim handled himself well, throwing a not-so-playful punch into Carl’s kidney that caused him to let go immediately.

“Oh, no!” cried Carl. “Not there, my friend, you know, not there.”

“Not there, either!” Jim removed his leather skull cap and pointed at it with a grin. “You know that, my friend.” He wore his cap with the earflaps turned inside out, or was the cap itself turned inside out? I couldn’t tell he was such an odd fellow.

I was more fearful about this venture each passing minute. Gun spent his whole life at sea. I was a suburban kid. Pavement, lawns, curbs, that was me. If I was so worried at this point, how would it be when there was nothing around but ocean and these people?

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