New Homeport Island (32 page)

“There’s the trick, you hit on something that actually is a
 personal matter. But, were it not I would still have the right to
 not testify against myself, and all I am left with now is
 establishing, it was in fact irrelevant. But, I will tell you as I
 mentioned before, I am accustomed to shielding you from things
 you don’t need to know, and…well, the squadron commander
 and I had a difference of opinion.” Bruce looked confused as
 that question seemed as though he were leading in a specific
 direction and despite Bruce having been one of the
 commissioned officers on board he had no knowledge of this
 ever having happened.  
Brosuer spoke as an adult speaking to an unruly child
 and said, “No Captain, it goes to your state of mind and general
 conduct. Were you not harassing a third class petty officers
 girlfriend and father for applying the instruction per the navy
 manuals rather than ‘doing it your way’ which caused many
 failed evaluations?” Artimus responded, “There seems to be
 some question as to whether or not I am the captain now and I
 am reasonable, so I understand your confusion but at the time I
 was absolutely the captain and those were my decisions to
 make.” Brosuer replied, “I don’t think so Captain, it was an
 illegal harassment for which you were placed on house arrest
 and confinement, you still don’t see that error as you don’t see
 the errors you are making now.”
Artimus was cleaning the underside of one of his
 fingernails with a thumb nail looking distracted when he replied,
“Well, that’s your opinion.” Brosuers looked at mike and said,
“I move that that be recognized as a fact.” Artimus uttered,
“Object” Bruce Deckly declared, “Objection” Brosuer extended
 his hand toward the judge to prevent him from acting to quickly
 then asked; “On what grounds?” Deckly responded dismissively,

“It hasn’t been established.” Mike said, “Over ruled. It is
 recognized as a fact that Captain Artimus’s house arrest and
 confinement was the result of a crime, the court recognizes he is
 still in denial on that matter and will hear more as to whether he
 is currently in error and whether he actually recognizes that.”  
We watched from the mountain top as these events
 unfolded, they eventually adjourned. And we watched Artimus
 much less confident and smug in his cage, he seemed fascinated
 with his finger nails being clean, he even started polishing them
 with sand.
Athena and I had dealings with Artimus before he was
 intrusive and voyeuristic on personal matters and later tried to
 say he just wanted to be our friends. We were the only native
California’s that suffered this but we both knew how to party, I
 had social skills that were good and public speaking wasn’t a
 problem, Athena had a better look about her but in high school I
 had taken a work experience program and earned a two hundred
 hour certificate in food preparation and management which in
 comparison to a mess specialist made me a gourmet chef. I’m
 not sure what drove him so zealously at Athena other than a
 possible sexual attraction but I had been in a porn shop when old
Dave tried a nineteen seventies style beer run, except it wasn’t
 beer it was a dildo he needed for a prank and the two guys
 working the counter weren’t over worked under paid college
 students they were the co-owners and security cameras were
 everywhere these days. His impulse control was only moderate
 and his maturity seemed to be based on peter pan.
She and I slept together on the mountain top that
 night, I cuddled up to her and she nuzzled in despite the lack of
 wind blowing across us. We had a bound, upon meeting we
 initially had an attraction to one another, but her interest faded

as she saw me overworked in a destroyer engine room and
 marred with grease, oil, and all the failures of being on Ol’
Dave’s ship. She was sweet and smelled like home.
Tammy had started becoming more active at night, she
 was going from bush to bush just to see if it was only Joseph
Leos that was keeping Tommi in the bushes. Tammy found a
 well-rounded stick, nice and smooth and the end had been
 rounded and smoothed with stone and sand. She had her
 suspicions so she sniffed at it and found what she was looking
 for. She slipped off her pants and pulled down her panties,
 kneeling there looking at it in the moon light, she whispered a
 name to it and slowly slid her knees apart. She reached down
 and used circular motions on her labia and then tugged at her
 lips until she dripped with moisture. She placed the stick
 beneath her and impaled herself, caressing her breasts and the
 back of her neck as she rode they stick at a steady canter. Athena
 woke to the call she heard below the mountain top, “Your my
Stud! Your my Stud!” Then Athena pulled my hair.
The next morning they moved at such a slow pace we
 weren’t sure if the trial would continue. I told Athena I should
 probably do some fishing today, since I noticed Michelle
 seemed to have lost someone. Athena said she’d take notes on
 this trial and Mitch joined her on the hill top as I headed down.
Mitch mentioned in passing, “Mike’s over there now Rob,
Tommi and Michael are taking care of the boilers and Tim’s
 stilling looking for those pigs.” I replied, “Alright, I’m fishing.”
As the trial continued they lined up and took their
 places in their court circle kneeling and sitting on dried grass
 and green palm leaves, the captain was ushered in and he said,
“You know before we start, I’ve been thinking and first I want
 to thank you for your service, but I’d also like to address some

of the things I’ve had to keep from you as a navy captain. I can
 hear the groans and see the concern in your faces but it’s not
 about you. There has been an issue with the navy for quite some
 time we’ve recently labeled a ‘training issue’. In truth, our
 recruiters have turned away people that are too smart to be
 subordinate to someone with an associate’s degree from the year
 nineteen seventy eight. And now, we are paying the price, I’d
 like to remind you none of us are perfect but you did not get
 weeded out of that screening process. There are people smarter
 than you, they made sure during your recruitment that I as an at
 least average Navy Captain am smarter than you. I just need
 more time.”
Mike had slept okay but alone, something he hadn’t
 need to do since the trauma of losing the ship. Mike said, “The
 idiot’s will come to order, this court is in session, I the
 honorable Mike Elper presiding.” and he smashed the table hard
 with a stone in his hand.  
Artimus stood up and said, “If it please the court, I
 would like to discuss the possibility of a plea deal with my
 lawyer, or advocate, or whatever we are calling Bruce.” Mr.
Deckly said, “Your honor I think that should be allowed.” and
Brosuer shrugged, “I’d like to hear it.”  Mike said, “We’ll give
‘til midday. Court is in recess .”
Michelle came through the brush saying, “I got him, I got
 one, I got one.” Michael looked and she had blood on her hands
 and he said, “Oh god. Are you alright” Michelle pointed and
 said, “Over there…over there. I’m not sure if he’s dead.” Tim
 jumped to his feet and said, “Who!?” Michelle still too excited
 to communicate said, “I didn’t name him I going to eat him!”
Dave Miles stood up, obviously dizzy and said, “What the fuck

are you talking about?” Michelle said, “Boar stupid, I got a
 boar…help me…make sure he’s dead.”
They rushed over and there was a fair sized boar with
Michelle’s spear through its chest just behind a front leg. The
 boar was making a shuttering sound and trying to limp away.
Michelle yelled out, “For fucks sake kill it!” Michael ran over
 and grabbed its hind legs and pulled yelling, “Get a rock or
 something sharp!” Michael saw the blood and heard the sound
 of the boar as he pulled it back and he had to turn his head, but
Tim was a true harden redneck, he grabbed some line and hog
 tied the boar, pulled out the damaged spear and used it on the
 boars neck like an inmate in fulsome prison. Michael said, “Oh
 god, son of a bitch” but Tim didn’t hear him. Tim was in full on
‘hee-haw’ mode and the ‘general lee was flying through hazard
 county toward a pig-b-que’ to the styling of Waylon Jennings.
As the boar began what can only be described as a death
 spasm, Tim could be heard for a great distance yelling
“Woohoo!!” Michelle looked at him and said, “I killed him too.”
Tim said, “Hell ya, hell ya, you got him!” I was out fishing and
 wasn’t sure I had heard what I heard but the flying fish whistling
 through the air yelling ‘woohoo’ made me laugh. And then I saw
Hudlow waving at me from the beach yelling, “Hey Rob, they
 got him, they got him in a cage!!” I waved politely and he kept
 pointing with urgency toward the trial, he ran over and looked
 then strolled back and used his hands to focus his voice calling
 out, “Never mind he got out. I have spiders.” I called back, “Are
 you sure you don’t mean crabs?!” He called back, “maybe it’s
 crabs.” and then plopped down on his butt and fell back in the
 sand. I adjusted the sail and headed toward the next good spot.
Once I had hauled in I signaled for help to off load now
 much easier than it was when it was just a couple of logs.

Michelle ran up with a smile that just told me she was so happy
 daddy was home with the bacon and said, “Look what we got.” I
 looked over and saw mama had gotten the bacon and said, “Holy
 shit!” I gave Michelle a hug and she squeezed my jock saying,
“Fish is good too babe.” so, I grabbed her as and kissed her.
Joseph looked over and mouth the words silently, “You too?” I
 smiled and shrugged as Michelle turn and swaggered back to her
 kill.
We hauled the fish over to our smoking stand and I stood
 over the boar and said, “Don’t lose too much blood we’ll add it
 to the bread as blood sausage, fill the intestine with meat for real
 sausage which will last without spoiling longer, But I’m not sure
I can handle making haggis out of the lung.” Tim stepped up
 beside me and said, “I was just thinkin’ jerky” I looked at him
 and said, “Ya, that too. And we might need the leather from its
 hide.” Tim said, “Ya” Dave Miles said, “I don’t know anything
 about any of that, you guys just make it so we can eat it please.”  
Chris Marcy stood talking with James Hudlow about the
 behavior of crabs, Hudlow stood there with his lips purse and his
 head cocked, Chris had been talking nonstop for ten minutes and
 had segued and diverted on tangents so frequently Hudlow
 thought he stepped on the remote control.
Mitch called down from the mountain top, “Artimus is
 headed over here.” Michelle said, “No fucking way are we
 accepting that guy as some kind of exile, Rob go talk to him
 before he gets all the way over here.” Everyone was very
 unsettled, we had seen some crazy shit go on over there. Our
 personal experience with that Captain was anything but positive,
 probably what made it so easy for us to walk away from
 everyone. I didn’t want to look the fool so I went far away from
 them to try a boiler, and now I was trying to make a large keel

hidden from them as well. So, I hastily made me way toward the
 clearing he would have to pass through to get to us and I was
 hoping it was swampy as it gets during high tide. As it happens
 luck was on my side and it was high tide.
I got to the clearing and Dave Artimus raised his hand and
 said, “Don’t try to cross, everyones been worried about trench
 foot.” he continued with a laugh, “I’ve been watching the
 women fascinated with their toes for days, I thought it was about
 their pedicures. But, I guess it was this huh?” I agreed and
 asked, “What can I do for you Artimus?” He winced with a
 grimace upon realizing I called him ‘Artimus’ and not ‘Captain’
 he had recalled the circumstances on the ship were in an urgent
 situation the crew had called him just Artimus rather than
Captain and decided it fit then as it fit now. The illusion was
 lost. He said, “I need some help, I need something to appease
 those guys over there, I’m afraid they’re gonna’ get violent and
 just start taking things. So I took a collection of money and so
 long as they hold to what we taught them all their lives they will
 accept they don’t just take things without giving money in
 exchange.” I replied, “On this side of the island money has been
 a bitter reminder of how little we have access to. We’ve made  
Chinese checker board and dominos to stay distracted and every
 time we eat the bread it’s a little celebration that we’ve gotten
 this far.”    
Artimus replied, “I need a boat and a little extra food, and
I’ll get them back under control. Is it you over here?” I replied,
“It’s like a roman senate over here, If you can get them to gather
 grain from the north of the island we can increase the bread, the
 yeast we found is nasty smelling and doesn’t take hold perfectly
 but it works, as far as fish the boat and net and sails would have
 to be made first. We collect and haul all we can and there’s

always the risk of over fishing a spot and not being able to reach
 their next favorite hangout.”
Artimus said, “Well give me something now or it a falls
 down!” I replied, “Shit dude, the only thing I can possibly spare
 are our only set of dominos and we’ll just make another.”
Artimus said, “That’ll…” and choked up a little then
 regained his breathe, “I can see them behind you and I just want
 you to understand I haven’t forgotten where we are, the
 dominos…I might be able to work that angle.” Athena ran up
 behind me and said, “I got ‘em Rob.” and she ran over and gave
 them to Artimus and gave him a hug. Artimus held them in the
 small cloth bag we had made from plant fibers, examined a
 couple and held them up and choking up with emotion he held
 them up and said in a very emotional way, “Thank you…I’m..”
 he began to cry and finished his sentence, “…I’m gonna’ get this
 fixed.”
As he walked away he murmured to himself, “I can’t
 believe I forgot games…entertainment, games.”
As we headed back Tim asked, “Why the hell don’t they
 just start working?” Mitch said, “They don’t know how dude.”
As we entered our campsite, joseph and Tommi stood there and
 asked, “What happened?” Athena replied, “We need more
 dominos” I said, “We didn’t get to use them long because they
 had to dry in the sun…too small for the fire. I’m afraid we need
 to jump up to marionettes and fireside stories.” Michael asked,
“Where the fuck is any of this really going?” I replied, “I fell a
 tree to try and make a keel for a ship that can hold the provisions
 to get us all the way back to real life, but the wood has to be
 boiled or steamed to be bent. I’ve been doing it out of sight
 because I hate my failures being too public; give me some more
 time on that.”