Sail Away

                                                           Sail Away

“Ahh, this is nice,” Todd said, while reclined on the small cushioned bench of the Savvy Lucia. Lena looked up at the blue, cloudless sky through new Ray Bans. Todd was right. The sea was calm and the weather perfect. She was glad she that Todd had agreed into an outing with Robbie and Julie.

“So, Lena, what do think of our new sailboat?”

“Absolutely lovely.”

“Robbie’s friend Mitch, from the marina, renovated the boat along with the galley so that we can live on her for months at a time if we wish.”

“Is that your plan?” Lena asked, smiling at her friend.

“A trip around to world to exotic ports sounds exciting,” Julie exclaimed as she pulled her blonde hair back into a ponytail. “Excuse me.”

Lena watched as Julie went below deck and then turned her attention to Robbie who was steering the boat. Robbie had inherited money from his parents when they passed away from a car accident two years ago, but most of his windfall was from the stock market, of which he was a genius.

Lena sighed and leaned back against the railing, listening to the sea slap against the hull as the boat bobbed along in the waves. They were two days into their trip, heading to the Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale and then back.

“Anyone for a drink?” Julie asked, bring a tray on deck with glasses and a pitcher of tea. Lena took a glass of tea. Todd stood and walked to the cockpit. Julie sat down beside Lena, but before she could say anything, Butch came up on deck, his shaggy brown hair falling around his face.

“Well glad to see you up and around,” Julie said.

“Yeah, glad to see you to sis.” Holding to the boom, he stepped over Lena and leaned over the railing. Lena thought he was sick, but he raised back up and took a deep breath.

“Nausea gone?” Julie asked.

“Yeah. The Zofran really helps. I’m glad to have gotten a prescription for it,” he replied and helped himself to a glass of tea. Poor Butch, Lena thought. He had spent the last two days in his cabin sea sick. He was usually fine with sailing, but occasionally it hit him with cruelly. This was one of those times.

“I was really worried about you. You truly were green around the gills.” Lena said.

“It was bad, but as I said this Zofran is good stuff. How are you Lena?”

“Butch, don’t…” Julie began, but Lena touched her tan leg.

“It’s okay, Julie,” she said, then hesitated when Todd came back and dropped down beside her with a grunt. She cast her eyes sideways at him and then looked back at Butch.

“I’m okay. When we return, I go back to my doctor for a couple more tests. He wants to make sure the tumor isn’t resting on my optic nerve.”

“What if it is?” Butch asked, looking at her seriously. “And I know Julie said it was benign, but can that change?”

“Surgery for sure if it is. The doctor said it was unlikely to become malignant, but the surgery did have risks.”

“And if it isn’t pressing on the optic nerve?”

“Then I see a neurologist about the seizures. Then it will depend on what that doctor finds if I need to have it removed.”

“Wow. I hate that Lena. Where you having seizures? Is that how they found the tumor? Will you have to do radiation?” He continued. Lena could feel Todd stiffen. Todd was friendly with Butch, but didn’t care for him. Actually, Lena thought he was jealous of Butch.

           “No. No seizures, but I was having phantom smells and headaches.”

“Phantom smells?”

“Yeah. Smells that you can smell but are not in your environment. I could smell cigarette smoke and no one around us smoked. I happened at various times and places. I went to our family doctor. She sent me for an MRI and found it. As for radiation, I don’t know, but the scary part is not knowing if I could have seizures the rest of my life.”

“Oh, Lena. I’m really sorry you have to go through all that.”

“We all have things in our lives we have to face. I just wish this had passed me by.”

“I’m sure everything will turn out fine for you.”

“Yeah.” She sighed and realized the afternoon was fading into evening. Julie excused herself and went down to the galley to start supper. Lena rose to help her, but Julie insisted that Lena stay on deck and relax and when Julie insisted, Lena knew she meant it.

           “You know Lena,” Butch began, leaning on the boom with his arms folded and his chin resting on one tattooed arm. “There’s an old pirate legend about the sea.”

           Lena laughed. “Seriously?”

           “Yeah. I heard about it once when we sailed to Port-a-Prince a couple years ago. I won’t tell you where I was when I heard it, but it was quite interesting.”

           “Alright. Tell me the myth of the sea.”

           “The pirates of old, when they wanted to have a successful day on the seas plundering, or knew they would be in battle, or even if they had sickness they would take two wooden sticks, like these, and tie them together.” He had picked up two sticks from somewhere and with a piece of string he pulled from his pocket, he tied them together. “The Captain would pierce his finger and drop three droplets of blood on the wood and toss it overboard while telling the sea what it was he wanted. If he was sincere, the sea would oblige and help.”

           “I have never heard of such nonsense,” Lena laughed again.

           “Hey, it has been said from the old days that the sea takes care of those who trust it.” Butch stood up and gave her a quick hug and went up to the cockpit to relieve Robbie. At the same time, Julie shouted that supper was ready.

           “Todd, let’s eat,” Lena took his hand as she stood up, but she could feel his resistance. “What’s wrong?”

           “Nothing,” Todd replied, moving to the steps and down into the galley. Lena rolled her eyes and followed. Her head began to hurt.

           At the table Todd was sitting opposite Julie and Robbie. He looked up and gave her a cold look.

           “Julie, I’m sorry. I have started getting a headache. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take a couple of ibuprofen and lay down for a while.”

           “Okay, but yell out for me if you need anything,” Julie said, while giving her a knowing glance.

           In their cabin, Lena took the medicine and lay down, drifting off to sleep.

It was dark in the cabin, except for the moonlight peeping through the oval window, when she opened her eyes. Todd was sitting on the side of the bed, his hand resting on her shoulder. She raised up on her elbow.

           “I came to check on you and see if your headache is better,” he said.

           “Yeah, it’s gone, but why did you get so cold to me earlier.”

           “Why did you have to pour out all your medical issues to Butch? Were you wanting sympathy and attention from him? If you were, he was certainly giving it to you?”

           “Butch and I have been friends for a long time. We were just talking.”

           “Yeah, I saw. Talking and then a hug.” Todd’s voice was bitter. “Maybe I should have stayed home.”

           Lena jumped up from the bed and grabbed her robe. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she left the cabin slamming the door behind her. Todd opened the door and shouted out that he was sorry, to come back, but she couldn’t. She stumbled up the steps to the deck and hurried to the back of the boat and hung her head and cried.

           She felt a hand on her back and looked up. It was Julie.

           “Need to talk or do you want to be alone?” Julie asked, sitting beside her.

           “Todd’s being a jerk,” Lena whispered.

           “Butch again?”

           “Yeah and Todd’s the last person that has the right to be jealous after his wild fling with Sondra from the bait and tackle shop.”

           “I know.”

           “And first of all, he knew Butch was coming along and second, Butch and I are friends. I love Butch, but as a brother. Can Todd not see that?”

           “Men see what they want to see, Lena.” Julie leaned over and hugged Lena.

           “I know.”

           “Are you going down?” Julie asked, getting to her feet.

           “I think I’ll sit here for a while.”

           “Okay, but if you need me, just call out.”

           “Goodnight, Julie and thank you.” Julie waved and disappeared below deck.

           When her friend was gone, Lena inhaled deeply. She would sit out here and let Todd cool off. She looked down on the seat and saw the two pieces of wood Butch had left and picked them up and smiled. She didn’t believe such nonsense, but she enjoyed his stories.

           Suddenly the boat dipped and she lost her grip on the sticks. She grabbed for them, but when she did a splinter slid into her finger. Wincing, she pulled the splinter out. Blood oozed down her finger as she groped in her pocket for the tissue she had stuffed there earlier. Her finger throbbed and she the horrid smell of cigarette smoke assaulted her nose. She was having a mini-seizure.

           Hurting, not only from the splinter, but by Todd’s words and vexed by her health issues, she stood up and hurled the sticks into the air, hearing them hit the water a few feet away.

           “I wish that I didn’t have to deal with Todd’s jealousy. I wish he would see that I love him and I wish that I didn’t have to deal with this illness. I want to sail away and never look back.” She uttered and put her face in her hands.

                                                                       ***

           “Lena! Lena!” Todd called out. Julie hurried to the deck, followed by Robbie and Butch.

           “What’s wrong?” Julie exclaimed, grabbing Todd’s arm.

           “I can’t find Lena anywhere.”

           “Let’s scatter and search every inch of the boat,” Robbie suggested as he went below. “She’s got to be here somewhere.” When everyone was gone, Butch stepped to the back of the boat. Leaning over her found blood on the bench and he noticed his two sticks were gone.

           “She’s fallen overboard and drowned!” Todd cried out, coming back up. “She was the love of my life.” He fell to the deck and sobbed as Robbie radioed for the coast guard.