The wind dried my eyes and whipped my hair straight back from my face. “Oh, me? I’m the guy who’s looking for sex and adventure.” I smiled. “Yeah, a few days ago Gun tells me, ‘Hey, I’m running this charter to the Bahamas. Doing a little diving and sportfishing, you interested? I’ll get you on for a special price.’ he said to me.” Jimmy tried to get a word in but I didn’t let him. “So, I asked Gun straight out, ‘Will there be women?’ that was the first thing I wanted to know. And he said the last charter was equal men and women. Sure, I said. Why not? Especially after finding out it was only $225. How can you go wrong—three days in Paradise, women, accommodations?” We both smiled at the reference to accommodations and women. “So, Gun mentioned you were in the Navy?”

“45 years!” He stared at me as though gauging my reaction. There was pride in his thin face and the stiffness of his spine. “Yep, I’ve covered a lot of ground. Just to give you an idea, I had a hand in the first spear-gun design for the Navy. And, I was in on the latest design, too.”

“Hm…wow, man.”

“Yeah… Never got any credit for it,” he said making an ironic smile with one side of his face, perhaps a mix of resentment and pride. “Yeah, the Big Wigs hog all the credit for those things.”

In the dawning light, with the rough sea splashing in the background I felt some of the guy’s life, not more stories, but the real good parts as well as the disappointments. “Hey, Jim, I changed my mind. Can you steer while I find Gun?”

“Go ahead,” the man said, taking the helm.

Climbing down from the bridge my fingers failed to hold onto the slippery rail and I almost fell off the ladder straight into the sea in one freaking instant! My hand got jammed in a ladder rung while twisting from one arm, and the elbow cracked against a steel cleat, stunning me. I pictured myself swallowed by the immense churning waters below. It was a fright to know that I’d die in that dark nothingness before they even realized I was gone.

I staggered from side to side getting back to Gun’s cabin. On the way, there was a lattice curtain behind which were coming sexual noises, gasping, panting, rising and releasing of pleasurable sensations. It must be another berth behind the lattice with people having sex. Was it Ally? It couldn’t be Joni and Carl. Everyone else was sleeping below. It had to be Ally, perhaps doing it with one of the other Hammerheads. But, in her pleasure she wasn’t addressing anyone else that I could tell. I listened until I felt like a pervert, about 30 seconds when my own peculiar level of voyeuristic curiosity was satisfied. That’s the Sweet Spot alright! Then I withdrew.

But, if she wasn’t with anyone, offering the services of my own manhood could be the right thing. At least it wasn’t the worst idea I ever had. Or, the worst offer she might get.

Joni came around the corner, so I pretended to be walking in the opposite direction. As she heard the noises she cracked a smile, and whispered, “So, what are you waiting for? Get in there.” She grinned with her large happy face. I considered doing it for a moment, but felt lightheaded when thinking about the long night and the upcoming day, and opted for rest instead. Perhaps it was a last-minute fear of rejection. Besides, if something was meant to happen with Ally it would happen anyway.

But, after Joni left I reconsidered my decision not to offer myself to Ally. How, though? Call her name? Tap the screen first? Um, Ally, Did You Call? Joni would know how to break the ice but she was gone now. As I approached again and heard more sounds, the intensity of Ally’s pleasure began slowing down, killing my own excitement and will.

When I did reach her berth the boat suddenly rolled up on a big wave and threw me hard against the lattice curtain. It broke through, and I landed in a closet-sized berth on top of an astounded Ally, who was alone as expected.

“My God! I’m sorry!” I exclaimed.

“My God!” she shouted. “What are you doing!”

“Nothing!”