1 Shore Excursion (12 page)

I danced with most
of the men in our group:
Charlie Wu, Angelo, Dr. Johnson,
and Pete Murphy. Chet Parker swooped by with Marjorie Levy.

To my surprise,
Fernando Ortiz
and
Jerome
Morgan
were there,
all decked out in full costume
and seemingly caught up in the
festive mood
.
Fernando even swept off his
black
hat and bowed
, flashing a
mocking smile
at
Hannah and Ethel. The little ladies
, who missed the “mocking” part,
looked pleased.

Maybe he isn’t so superior after all
, I thought
. He seems to actually be enjoying the party.

But when
Muriel Murphy sat down at their table,
both men
immediately
left
,
head
ing
for the bar.
I watched
Fernando
, as
Zorro
, talking in
low tones
at the
far end o
f the
bar
with Morgan, a
s Darth Vader
.
Or at least
Darth
was the right size and shape for
Morgan. With the mask and costume, it was hard to tell.
Later I saw Fernando danc
ing with Sylvia, who
in her costume
had a lush, uncanny resemblance to
Marilyn Monroe.

In fact, everyone but Jay and
Al
Bostick seemed to be there.
I was right about
Al
—
the party
was not his sort of thing
—
but Jay’s arrival should be imminent.

I got a
fresh
drink and posted myself near the door as promised, waiting
for
Jay and watching my gang have fun.
At 7:45 I heard Jay hissing “
L
ights, lig
hts
!
”
at the door, so I dimmed the switch for his grand entrance.

He slipped inside the room in the darkness, dropped the raincoat, and plugged himself in. The magician stood
on a chair
behind him and lit the sparklers.

He was magnificent.

As predicted, they loved him.
In time with the music, he did his little dance, made all his moves.
They hooted and
whistled a
nd c
heered, not just our group, but everyone
.
I’ve never seen him happier.
He didn’t even mind when the waiters doused his sparklers and shooed him out of the room before he
could
set off the fire alarms.

The dinner chimes sounded, and I was turning to leave when
Captain
Vargos
took
my elbow and propelled me out the door, saying,
“Tonight, the elusive
Sidney
dines with me.”

“D
o you see what I see, Angelo?
Sidney
is eating dinner with the Captain
.
”

“Yeah, and I bet before the night’s over, he
gets lucky
.
He’s slick, that one.”

“I wish he
’d get lucky with me
, don’t you, Hannah?

“I don’t know, Ethel, I’ve forgotten.”

Shards of
the
High Steppers
’
conversation drifted up to the Captain’s table.

Blushing,
I stole a
glance at Vargos
, whose
blue eyes glitter
ed
with
amusement.
He raised h
is glass in a toast
: “Here’s
to the High Steppers
, my lovely Sidney,
and to a magical evening.”

I would have loved a magical evening with this man. There was just one big problem. His wife. I had been attracted to him from the moment I met him
,
b
ut when Zoe told me he was taken, the bloom was off the rose.
Married guys fooling around just don’t do it for me
—n
o
matter how attractive they are,
and this one certainly was
.
I think they are all weasels.

“
A better toast would be to the faithful
Mrs. Vargos and all the little Vargoses
who
I
’m
told
a
re waiting for you back in Athens, Captain
.”

There was a moment of silence. I was surprised to see him
look
genuinely perplexed.
“
There is no
Mrs. Vargos
, Sidney, although I admit I have encouraged that assumption on occasion when I felt it necessary. It’s easier than saying, ‘I’m sorry, but I do not find y
ou attractive,’ don’t you think?
I
am not married.
Many captains are, but m
arriage is not easy for a
ship
captain.
It is difficult to make a marriage
and family
work well with such long separations.
Command of a ship like this
is very demanding, very difficult, and
actually
quite
lonely.
I am
on duty, working
away from
my
home
base
for months, in faraway ports and at sea
.”

“Well if it is so hard and lonely, why do you do it?”

He gestured toward the huge windows
that filled
the stern end of the dining room. A faint moon
had
emerged from
the clouds and
was gleaming on our wake, illuminating the churning sea.

“That’s why, my dear,” he said, smiling down at me. “The sea, as they say, is my mistress
. I do this job because I must.
It’s all I ever wanted to do, from the time I was a small boy
at Piraeus
.
But I consider it
to be a
fortunate
voyage
indeed when I meet and
find
myself
attracted to a beautiful woman.
”

H
e reached over and covered my hand with his.
His touch was so electrifying that I felt as if his
hand had burned a hole in mine
.
I heard
an explosion of
giggles from the
High Steppers table and, blushing again,
pulled my hand back from his.

He laughed.
“
You are delightful.
And I was pleased to learn from my staff this evening that you are following my orders and have stopped questioning them.
I’m glad
you
realized that
you
must
obey
me.
Perhaps you’d
like to come to the bridge after dinner
for some cognac
and view the stars with me through the telescope in my
private quarters
?
I am
becoming
quite an astronomer.”

That
“
orders
”
and
“
obey
”
remark brought me back to my senses.

“Thanks,
Captain Vargos, for the invitation. B
ut I have other things on my mind
. A
n unsolved murder, for instance, that no one
but me seems to be taking seriously.”

I
put
down my napkin and pushed back my chair.
“
Good night
, Captain
,
and thank you for the hospitality. As far as your orders go, I’ll do the best I can.
”

I almost collided with a waiter
as I
fl
ed the dining room, heading
for the open deck and some
fresh air
. I was grateful to find the deck
deserted
so I could
vent
in priva
te
.

If my grandmother and Aunt
Minnie the Methodist
could have heard the words I used when I reach
ed the deserted rail of the Promenade
D
eck, they would have
wanted to
wash my mouth out with soap, twice.

What made me
really
angr
y
was the s
ure and certain knowledge that
deep down inside I knew that I
was deeply attracted to him, in spite of his arrogant, macho
orders and
assumptions.
I wanted to
believe him and not Zoe about the existence of a wife.
I wanted to trust him. I didn’t want him to turn out to be a lying rat.

“My, my, my, what ugly words!
You should have been a sailor.
I don’t see what you’re so upset about.
Why were you swearing?
What happened?
It l
ooked
to me as if
you were having a
fine
time up there with old lover boy Vargos.
”

In my rush to the rail, I had
not seen
Chet
Parker, lounging in the shadows on a deck chair, smoking a cigarette.
His perfectly cut white dinner jacket and boyish blond hair gleamed in the reflection of the ship’s lights as he climbed, laughing, out of the chair and moved toward me and the rail
.

“I really don’t think it’s any of your business,
Chet
,
” I
steamed
, blushing all over again
in the knowledge that my profanity
had been overheard.

Parker was still laughing and now he laughed harder than ever, choking on the cigarette smoke.
“Oh, God, you are so funny.
Oh, God, I wish you could have heard all those old women talking about you and that gorgeous captain.
Won’t they be disappointed that you turned him down?”

I couldn’t answer. Not and keep my job.

He looked at my face and
burst out
laughing
again
.

“Well, Sidney,” he said, wiping his eyes, and tossing his cigarette butt over the rail into the ocean, “good night, good night. I hope you have a good night.
Now let me go see who I can find to show me some stars!”

I could still hear him laughing even after the door
shut
behind him.

Right then, I just wanted to quit and go home, and by home, I meant all the way home, to Mississippi.

Life is much simpler in a small town in the South.
You know everyone.
They know you.
They mind your business, all right,
and that can be annoying,
but most of the time it’s because they really care about you.
And it’s home.
You are safe.
No
mystery murderers
or
lying rats there.
Well
,
some
lying rats,
maybe.
But
at least you know who they are
.
I leaned on the rail, watching the pale moon on the sea, my anger fizzling into sadness. I was suddenly
quite
homesick.

I was just about to resolve
to
quit the travel business forever and
run home to Mam
m
a when I felt Jay’s big arms wrap around my shoulders.

“Hey, kid, time to head for the cabin.
Give old Uncle Jay a big hug and forget about all this other
mess
.
We’ve got a big day tomorrow
,
and you could use
the
sleep.”

Have I told you how much I love Jay? As angry as he makes me, he is
still
the best friend I ever had, and he is always, well,
usually
, there when I need him.

W
hen we
returned
to the cabin
, we found
f
resh towels in the bathroom, beds turned down, room lights lowered, mints on the pillow, but no Daily Program.
Abdul, the room steward
,
usually puts the DP for the following day on our beds along with our pajamas, artfully draped.

The Daily Program is a useful little sheet
listing
all the ship’s activities, theme night information, the day’s weather, stuff like that.
Jay and I also use it to remind the High Steppers of any meetings schedule
d
with our group.
The next day’s
sheet
was supposed to
run
a notice
for the High Steppers to assemble in the Starlight Lounge at 9:00 a.m.

“Oh, hell, Jay, I forgot to check on
Al
.
I never found him to ask what he wanted to tell me about Ruth.”

“Give it a rest, Sid.
Al
can wait.
I don’
t give a rat’s ass about Al
.
Let the cops take care of it all tomorrow in Norway.
Let’s talk about tonight
, instead
.
Wasn’t my costume terrific?”

“Yes, it was, Jay.
You were marvelous.
I think it was the best costume you ever
made
.
Now stop posing and turn the light o
ff
.
I’m ready for this day to be over.”

The Daily Program shot under the door.

I grabbed it and climbed back into bed
.
I hadn’t gotten past
“
6:15
—
Morning Power Walk with Amy” before f
a
ll
ing
asleep.

I
had already
showered
,
dressed
, and grabbed a quick coffee
before we docked in the morning
;
I
wanted to
watch the ship maneuver into the harbor at Oslo.

The arrival into a new port is one of t
hose great things about cruises, and one that I love most.

I stood at the rail, the hot coffee mug warming my hands in the crisp air, watching as the pier
came
closer and closer, admiring the old stone buildings in the morning mist.

Like all of the Scandinavian harbors in the summer, Oslo’s is a busy place, with commercial vessels, ferries, fishing boats, pleasure craft, and cruise ships all jockeying for position.

Jay join
ed me at the rail just as the long ropes were being tied to the big stanchions that lined the dock. We watched as the gangway was maneuvered into place.

The cruise line suits
and the Norwegian immigration officials
had come
aboard
very early
on the pilot boat, and, according to
the cruise director’s PA announcement during
breakfast, the ship was already cleared for disembarkation.