This story is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locations or business establishments or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this story may be transmitted or reproduced in in whole or in part in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the Author or Publisher, except where permitted by law. Copyright © 2012 by Flip McHooter.
Because it's based in the past, some of it may not be politically correct as I have tried to be true to 1969.
Thanks to everybody who has emailed me, I appreciate the tips and feedback. Comments are always appreciated! Flip. 1977.flip@gmail.com
Chapter 33
The two high school swimmers, plus Lisa and the little men, stopped on the sidewalk next to the locker rooms while I continued on down the ramp to the dock by myself. "Give me two minutes to get in place, Kenji," I said over my shoulder, "then come on down."
"Got it."
I was glad I was wearing dark clothes because I could easily blend in and hide pretty quickly if I had to. I got down to the end of the dock and was pleased to see that Jordy and Chris had described the boat correctly. It had a high, pointed bow and the port side was tied loosely against the slip. The Anne-Marie looked like it had a decent sized cabin below deck and a big aft deck platform for fishing. Up close, I could tell that this thing had seen better days because the paint was peeling everywhere and the metalwork was all dingy and rusty. I turned around and looked down the dock and I could just make out Kenji starting down the ramp. He was ready to try and deliver his fake pizza, so I bent down and got as close to the bow as I could. Luckily, the cracked open porthole was right there but I didn't hear any music playing like Jordy and Chris had heard. Just a hint of light came through the tattered curtains, but unfortunately, I couldn't see anything inside.
I was surprised that Kenji was really getting into his role, because I could hear him quietly singing Marrakesh Express by CSN as he made his way down the dock. Or maybe he was just doing that to calm himself down. Either way, when he got to the end, he didn't even pause to look at me, and instead, went right to the stern and knocked loudly on the side of the boat, making me jump a little.
"Pizza Man!" he yelled out.
Waiting only a second or two for a response, he yelled again, "Listen to me! I've got the pizza you ordered, Captain. I'm sorry it's so late. I couldn't find your boat. Hey! Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Or am I, all alone?"
He didn't get any answer.
"Hey, I said I'm sorry I'm late but I'm not going to pay for this if I have to take it back. C'mon, just pay for it. You don't have to give me a tip or anything," he tried again. "It's still hot and it smells good."
The boat started to rock a little bit and then I could hear feet stomp on the inside stairs. Someone was coming out!
"What the hell's all this racket about?" someone shouted down to Kenji.
"I got your cheese pizza you ordered, Captain. I'm sorry I'm so late. I couldn't find your boat for the life of me."
"I didn't order no stinkin' pizza, boy. Get out of here." That voice sounded vaguely familiar to me but I couldn't place it. I hated when that happened.
Kenji tried one more time. "Isn't this the Lisa-Marie?"
"No, kid, it ain't. It's the Anne-Marie."
"Oh. Well do you know where that boat is? I've been trying to find it for the last fifteen minutes and I'm really late now."
"I don't. And I don't care. I'm busy. Now get, kid, before I get mad," the guy said. I wished he'd get closer to the railing so I could see him. I was positive that I knew that voice.
"Geez. Thanks a lot for the help, mister," Kenji said sarcastically, and headed slowly back down the dock, taking his time like he was looking for the Lisa-Marie.
I waited until I could hear footsteps going back inside, and then I stood up and quickly caught up to Kenji and we both met up with everyone on the sidewalk.
"What happened?" Lisa asked. Everybody was crowding around us.
"Let's go back to the car and talk. I don't want anybody in the locker room to hear us in case they're in on this, okay?" I said.
We hurriedly walked back to the car, and once there, Kenji and I told everybody what happened.
"Good. I take it everything is going according to plan?" Lisa asked.
"Yeah. So far, so good. Kenji, what did that guy look like? I'm sure I recognized his voice from somewhere," I asked.
"He was kind of creepy looking. He had a big red and purple bruise on his right cheek that he kept touching. He was shorter than you and Enzo but taller than me. His hair was cut like his mom put a bowl over his head and cut all around it. But he was too old to be having haircuts from his mom. And he had great big buck teeth that made him look like a weasel. That's about all I remember," Kenji said.
"Wait! Did you just say he looked like a weasel? Was he really skinny?"
"Yeah, I think so. Like he hasn't eaten lately or maybe he's a smack junkie."
"I might know who that is," I said, turning to Lisa. "Remember when Jake and I ... wait a second. Jordy, you and Chris take Sloan out and see if she has to pee again, okay?"
"All right." You could tell they wanted to hear more and weren't all that excited to walk Sloan again.
I pulled Lisa, Enzo and Kenji away from the little men. I didn't want them to hear about Jake's and my adventure in the porno booths at the nudie theater. "Lisa, remember when I told you about that greasy guy that was coming on to Jake and me in the little porno booths, and when we couldn't get away, Jake went all ballistic and almost pounded him?"
"Yeah. Didn't he say something about Jake and my dad being like a `father/son' kind of thing?"
"Exactly. If that's him, then your dad is definitely involved and Jake has to be in there," I said excitedly.
"Then let's go!" Lisa said. "I don't want to wait any longer!"
"Jordy, Chris, put Sloan back. We have to do this, right now," I said. "Move it!"
"Shebang! C'mon Sloan, get in the car, girl."
"Okay, let's do this," I said, moving around to the front of the mom-mobile. "Enzo, Lisa and I board first while Kenji helps the little men up. We'll all just bust down into the cabin and take it from there. There are too many of us and he'll be overpowered."
"Should we bring the BB gun and the bat?" Lisa asked.
"No, I don't think so. If he has a gun I think we can still overpower him. He won't be scared of a little old BB gun."
"Okay, we're ready," Jordy said.
"Good. Let's go ... Wait! Stop. Everybody! Get behind the car, quick!" I said. A green sedan, exactly like the one we had seen in front of our house, had just come cruising down the street and was pulling into an empty parking space behind the locker rooms.
"Look over there. Isn't that the same car that's been hanging around our street?" Lisa asked.
"Yeah, I think so. Let's see where that guy goes. If he goes down the ramp then he's probably with them, and if he's wearing a suit then we'll know for sure it's them," I said. "Then we'll have to figure out how to stop him."
We stayed behind the station wagon for what seemed like forever, waiting for the guy to get out of his car. When he finally did, we could clearly see that he was wearing a suit.
"Think fast guys! If he goes down the ramp we're going to have to do something before he gets all the way to the boat," I said. "If he gets on the boat before we do, this thing is going to be a whole lot harder to pull off."
"No shit!" Lisa said.
"How can we stop him?"
"We can run after him and push him in the water," Enzo suggested.
"Right on! Great idea. Enzo, get the bat, and hurry. Once we do that you keep him in the water. If he tries to get out threaten him with the bat. Jordy and Chris, when we get to his car you guys let the air out of his tires, okay? Then catch up to us at the boat. Lisa, Kenji and I will run ahead and get on the boat first, and then we'll pull you up."
"Good plan," Lisa said. "Does everybody know what to do?"
There was a chorus of yesses, and once the guy rounded the locker room, we took off running after him. By the time we got to the sidewalk in front of the locker room, he was at the bottom of the ramp. About a third of the way down the dock, I spotted an empty slip to the right. If we could dump him in the water right there, it would be perfect. I pointed this out to Enzo.
"Bitchin'," he said.
"C'mon, guys, but be quiet," Lisa told us.
We crept down the ramp to the dock, and we were really lucky that the guy didn't turn around and see us. Enzo was in front of our little pack of merry men, and just as we got to the empty slip, Enzo was right there and gave him a hard shove with his shoulder. The guy stumbled a bit, overcorrected and then finally lost his balance. It seemed like he hung in mid-air for a minute before he did a belly-flop and splashed into the cold, black water. When he came up for air, he was thrashing and spitting water like a wounded seal, but there was no way he was going to get out with Enzo standing over him waving the bat. I just hoped that he'd be quiet so we wouldn't attract any unwanted attention to our mission.
Suddenly, the Anne-Marie's engine kicked over, sputtered, and then died out.
"Guys, hurry! They're trying to get away!" I yelled.
We were maybe three boat slips away now. I looked over my shoulder to see Kenji hot on my tail, Lisa just behind him and then back at the ramp, Jordy and Chris were just starting down the dock. Enzo was gesturing menacingly with the bat at the guy in the water. Then I heard the boat startup again, only this time the engine took. Just as I got to the slip, the running lights came on, startling me. I grabbed the side of the railing and in one quick movement I was on the deck. Kenji did the same thing and then together we grabbed both of Lisa's arms, pulled her up and she practically flew through the air and landed on the deck with a thud.
Not wasting any time, I was first down the stairs to the cabin to find Jake. Lisa and Kenji headed up to the bridge to try and stop the boat from taking off. I could hear shouting and yelling from up above as I frantically looked all over the dark cabin for a light switch so I could see. Finally, giving up, I yelled out, "Jake. Are you in here?"
I didn't get a reply, but I did get a grunt. Yes!
"Keep making that noise so I can find you."
"Mmmh-mmmh-mmmh."
"Jake! I knew we'd find you. Are you all right?"
"Mmmh-mmmh-mmmh."
I started to feel him all over and quickly realized he was tied to a chair in the middle of the room. Unfortunately, he was tied up too tight, and it was impossible for me to see the knots in the dark for me to undo them. So I felt around his face, and expecting a rope, found a wide piece of sticky medical tape covering his mouth instead.
"Dude, I'm sorry but this is going to hurt," I said, but I didn't give him any chance to respond. I picked at the corner and then yanked it hard across his mouth.
"FUCK!" Jake screamed.
"Yeah, I know buddy. We can do that later. Are you okay?" I asked.
"I'm okay, now that you're here. But you've got to stop us from taking off. They want to take me to Mexico. If we get out of this harbor it will be difficult to get back to shore. Just go and then come back for me. I'm all right, Ryan. Go! Now!" Jake yelled.
As much as I wanted to be with Jake, I knew I was needed up top. I felt my way back to the door and then climbed the steep stairs. I could hear yelling and screaming above me, but whatever they were doing didn't seem to keep the guy off the controls. Then I heard the engine starting to rev up. I got out on the deck and took a quick look around. Lisa and Kenji were still on the bridge trying to wrestle some guy off the controls. I looked down at the dock and there was Jordy and Chris double timing it down to the slip. And Sloan was running right behind them! I guess she climbed out the window of mom's station wagon. I knew that the little men wouldn't make it in time because once they got here I wouldn't be able to reach out and grab them up and over the railing without one of us falling in the water. Someone had untied the mooring lines since Kenji and I were here and we were very slowly starting to drift away from the dock. But Sloan could still make it and maybe she could be of some help. But then the engine started to really rumble and I knew that in seconds we'd be too far away from the dock.
"Sloan! C'mon girl, hurry. Hurry Sloan, HURRY!" I screamed and started clapping my hands. She was running full blast and just as she got to the slip the boat started to pull away. "Jump girl! JUMP!"
And jump she did. She bounded up and off the end of the dock like a freakin' thermonuclear missile. Sailing through the air, she landed on all fours right in the middle of the deck, slid across the slick floor and then slammed to a stop on the starboard railing. But she wasn't hurt. "Good girl!" I said. Then, not wasting any time, I told her, "C'mon girl, go get that man. Get the bad man. Go get him!" and pointed up to the bridge.
She didn't think twice, and flew up the short, steep stairs to the bridge. I scrambled up after her and was surprised to see the weasel guy from the porno booths waiving a knife at Lisa and Kenji, and at the same time trying to steer the boat between the narrow docks out into the breakwater channel. I guess he was too preoccupied with everything going on that he didn't see Sloan until it was too late. She jumped up on him and bit down hard on his arm, causing him to drop the knife on the floor. He let go of the wheel to try and get Sloan off. But she wasn't having any of that and just bit him harder, shaking her head back and forth and sinking her teeth in deeper.
"Get your fucking dog off me, now!" the weasel screamed.
"No chance, you prick!" I yelled back.
"You're going to pay for this you little shit," was all he could seethe out.
Kenji was fast and he slipped down between his legs and picked up the knife, and was about to throw it overboard when I yelled at him to stop. "Take it below and see if you can cut Jake loose."
"Got it!" He scrambled past me and Lisa while the weasel continued to wrestle with Sloan.
Kenji was barely off the bridge when the boat made a loud screeching sound as the starboard side slid along the side of a smaller sailboat, tied up across the channel, sending the weasel and Sloan to the ground. The noise was sickening, but I didn't care.
"Lisa, think we can throw him overboard?"
"Yeah, I'm sure we can, but we'll have to take him down to the deck first and then throw him off the back."
The weasel looked at us wide-eyed and said, "No, don't do it. I can't swim. Please don't take my ship from me. Don't throw me overboard. I'll let you guys go. I promise!"
We didn't buy it. Lisa grabbed him by his shoes and I grabbed his free arm, the one that wasn't spewing blood. I told Sloan to let go, and after a giving me a weird look like I was nuts, she stopped flailing her head and released her bite. The weasels arm was spewing lots of blood and it was starting to go all over the place and was making things kind of slippery. I was proud of Sloan for doing that to this creep. With a lot of effort, and all of us a bloody mess, Lisa and I were able to maneuver him down the steps and to the back of the deck. Lisa and I gave the squirming weasel a final shove and he fell and landed on his back in the water below. He flailed around a bit and then sort of disappeared into the darkness. I doubted that we'd be seeing him anytime soon.
"What do we do now?" Lisa asked.
"Go downstairs and make sure Kenji has Jake free," I said, looking around at our options. "I'm going to go back up and try to steer this thing over there between those two docks and into that empty slip. I'm not sure we're going to fit and I'm not sure I can stop this thing so it might get really bumpy. Just make sure Jake's untied because if I sink this thing it's going to be very difficult to get him off of here."
"Okay, on my way!" she said as she headed down the stairs.
Up in the pilothouse, I turned the wheel as hard as I could to the left, towards the docks on the side that we came from. It was easy to spin the wheel, but I was surprised at how slowly the boat reacted. It was turning way too wide and way too slow, and then to make matters worse, the back end clipped the front of a big catamaran. Still, the boat didn't even slow down. I looked at the controls and found the throttle and slowed it way down, but not completely off. Unfortunately, that didn't do much and we were still moving way too fast for the narrow channel. I knew these things didn't have brakes and then I started wondering if maybe I could figure out how to put it in reverse. I looked all around at all of the knobs and switches but didn't see anything that looked like something I could use.
I looked up to see the empty slip that I was aiming for slowly go by. Shit! I spun the wheel around to try and straighten the boat out and was happy to see that it didn't look like we were going to hit anything at least for the next minute or so.
"Is Jake free?" I yelled out down below.
"Almost. One more rope and were done," Kenji yelled back.
"You better hurry because we're about to get wet!" I screamed back.
The good thing was that we were back on our side of the docks and close to the station wagon. The not so good thing was that straight ahead of us at the end of the channel where a bunch of rocks that were piled up to keep the water from eroding the soil. And in about two or three hundred feet we were going to crash right into them! Then we were going to have a serious problem on our hands.
I decided it was time to give up, so I pushed the throttle all the way down and then turned the engine off. If we crashed, actually, when we crashed, I didn't want to risk a fire. After telling Sloan to follow me, I raced down the short, steep, blood splattered stairs just as Jake, Lisa and Kenji were coming up from below.
"Get on the deck and brace yourselves. We're going to crash into the rocks any second," I said. "Sloan, down!" Luckily, she knew I meant business and she minded me.
Everybody got on the deck and held tight onto the railing, waiting for impact. Off to the right I could see Jordan and Chris standing at the end of one of the docks, mouths hanging wide open as we drifted by. The next thing we felt was the bow of the boat starting to rise up, like a plane starting to take off up into the air. The only difference was the loud, grinding sound of the metal hull being ripped apart on the big rocks. Luckily, we must have hit the sandy bottom first, because when we finally came to a stop all of us were able to remain standing.
"Is everybody okay?" I asked.
Everybody said they were, so I rushed over to Jake and grabbed him around the shoulders and pulled him tight into me. "Are you okay?" I croaked out, and then tears came hard and fast and started running down my face.
"Yeah, Ry. I am. They didn't hurt me. But you know what? I knew you'd come and save me," he whispered in my ear, and then kissed me firm on the lips. "I love you so much. Thinking about you is what kept me going."
"The minute the Dark Man told me you were kidnapped, getting you back was my only thought. And we did it!"
"Guys, there's time for that later. We've got to get out of here before the cops come," Lisa said.
"Hey, Ry. You were right. Looks like we're going to get wet," Kenji said, pointing over the rail.
"Good. We'll be able to wash off all of this gross blood from that creepy guy," Lisa said.
I looked over the side of the boat and was happy to see that we were only about ten feet across the water from the last slip. Then I looked up and saw Jordy and Chris running down the dock and stopping just at the end. "Are you guys all right?" Jordy called out.
"Yeah, we're good. Jake's here and he's okay too," I said.
"Shebang!"
"Yay Jakey!" Chris yelled and jumped in the air.
"Sloan's not going to like getting wet," I said, turning to Lisa. "We're going to have to drive home all wet and with a wet, stinky dog in the back."
"I don't care. I just want to get us all back home safe and celebrate. Then we'll figure out how to get even with our dad," she said.
"Roger that, Bucky," Jake said.
"Since I crashed us, I guess I'll go first. Jake, once I'm in there, drop Sloan next to me and I'll guide her over to Jordy. Then the three of you jump in and swim to the dock. Watch out for each other because it's definitely going to be cold and there might even be weird currents in there."
I didn't wait for an answer, and just jumped off the railing and into the black water, six or eight feet below. To say it was cold would be an understatement. You would think that the ocean in southern California would be warm in the middle of summer, but that wasn't the case. While I treaded water below, Jake picked up Sloan, and carefully hefted her over the side. I think she had a pretty good idea that she was going to get wet because she started to put up a fight. He let her go and she dropped in and immediately started to swim towards Jordy and Chris. I was swimming right behind her when I heard three more splashes and knew that the other guys were on their way. Sloan was able to lift her two front paws up on the dock, and with me pushing from behind and Jordy and Chris pulling on her collar and her front legs, we were able to get her up and out of the water easily. Lisa swam up to me and got out next, followed by Kenji, Jake and then myself.
Standing on the deck, both boys latched onto Jake's legs and wouldn't let go. Lisa couldn't help herself, and grabbed Jake with one arm and me with the other and pulled us all in tight. Realizing she missed Kenji, she said to him, "Get your ass over here, mister," and we all erupted into a fit of giggles.
"Where's Enzo?" I asked the boys.
"He's with that man. He had to pull him out of the water because he got tired and looked like he was going to drown," Chris said.
"C'mon guys, we better get over there and make sure Enzo's all right," I said, breaking up our little love-fest.
Everybody broke their embrace with Jake, and we all started to run down the dock, made a turn at the end and then ran down to the other dock. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the guy laying sprawled out on the deck and Enzo sitting on top of his back, holding the baseball bat to the back of his head.
"Enzo, are you all right," I asked as we rushed up to him.
"Yeah, I'm fine. But this asshole thinks he can just run away. I had to persuade him a little to get the story out of him, though. He might be a little sore tomorrow, I think," he said. "Jake, it's good to see you. I'm glad you're okay."
"Me too. If you hadn't given him a whack or two, I would do it," Jake said. "You know what? I still might."
"So what's the story?" Lisa asked.
"It seems that Ace paid this guy and that other guy on the boat to grab Jake so Ace could take him to New York with him. I guess he is getting transferred there or something like that. Anyway, the plan was to take Jake to Ensenada where they were going to charter a cheap cargo plane to fly them all to New York. We're lucky we got here when we did because they were about to take off. Isn't that right, dick-weed?" Enzo said, as he pushed the bat harder into the back of the guy's head.
"Yeah, yeah. That's right. Get off me," the guy said.
"What should we do with him?" Lisa asked.
"Break his legs for taking Jakey," Jordy said, quite seriously.
"We should throw him back in the water and let him drown," Chris said.
"I think we should strip him naked and make him run home," Kenji said.
"Did you check to see if he had a wallet? Get his name?" I asked.
"No. I was too busy holding on to him," Enzo said. "See if you can find it."
I bent down and lifted up his wet and slimy suit jacket, then felt around his ass looking for a wallet in his back pocket. He had a big one and it took me a minute to get the soggy thing out. When I opened it up I gasped. It was packed with money!
"Jake, count this." I told him, giving him the wet money, while I dug around in his wallet for more. "He doesn't have any ID or anything else with his name on it. He must have ditched it before he came out here."
"Give me that, you little shits," the guy said, as he tried to get up. Enzo had to hold him tighter and pressed the bat down hard into the back of his neck. I had a feeling that Enzo must be getting tired and that we should probably hurry this thing up. Luckily for us, no bystanders or cops had come out - yet.
"Jordy, you and Chris hold onto his feet so he doesn't get away. Take off his shoes and toss them in the water. He won't be needing them any time soon."
"Okay!"
"There must be at least two thousand dollars here!" Jake said excitedly.
"You little fuckers," the goon said.
"Shut up you pig," Lisa said, and then she bent down and gave his earlobe a good, hard twist. "It's blood money for kidnapping my little brother. I bet you got it from Ace. Wait until I get my hands on that asshole."
"Hey, look at this!" Jordy laughed, as he held up a small revolver. "It was tucked in his sock."
"Oh, fuck! Jordy, don't move. Just give me that nice and slow, little man," I said, holding out my hand. Everybody stood there in shock at the sight of the gun.
I grabbed the gun by the handle and studied it closely. This wasn't good. Not good at all. This really could have been a bad scene. I walked around the front of this jerk and stepped down hard on his hand. "What's this for?"
"Ouch! Get off my hand! What are you talking about?"
"This revolver that we found in your sock!"
"It's nothing. Get the fuck off of me," the guy said, trying to pull his hand out from underneath my wet, squishy sneaker. I just stepped harder.
"So now we've got a gun, a wad of money and a bastard here that was trying to kidnap Jake. What are we going to do with this guy? We can't just leave him here," Lisa said.
"What happened to the weasel guy from the porno? That was the guy that tied me up on the boat," Jake asked.
"We threw him off the boat into the channel after Sloan bit him hard on the arm. I'm pretty sure we won't be seeing him anytime soon. I bet he's swimming with the fishies by now," Lisa said, and reached down and gave the goon another hard twist on the earlobe. "You're next, you mother-fucker."
"Enzo, can you hold him for another minute? We're going to walk over here and decide what to do with him, but I don't want him to hear it," I said.
"Yeah, I'm good. He's got me all riled up again and I would love nothing more than to kick his mother-fucking ass," Enzo said.
"Jordy and Chris, hold on tight, okay? We'll be right over there for a minute."
"Okay. While we're waiting for you, can we tickle his feet until he pees his pants?"
"No. Well, at least not yet. Let us figure out what to do with him first."
"Okay."
We walked a few feet away and the four of us talked quietly about what to do next. So far we had been really lucky that no one had gotten hurt, especially now that we found the guy's gun. And we were even luckier that nobody had come out to see what was going on, which surprised me since we had been yelling like crazy and then the boat made so much noise when it crashed. The big problem now was what to do with this guy. There was no way that we could just leave him like this.
"So what should we do? Jake, is this one of the guys that took you?" I asked.
"Yeah, that creep and the weasel from the porno place."
"Did they hurt you?" Lisa asked. "Because if they did, I'm not going to go easy on that guy at all."
"No. But I hurt the weasel. I punched him really good in the face. After I did that they tied me up to the chair. I think they were afraid of me."
"Do you think the weasel is dead?" asked Kenji.
"I don't know. He had a really deep dog bite on his arm that was really bleeding and when we threw him overboard he hit pretty hard. He said he couldn't swim, but I think he was probably faking. Honestly, I don't care. But you know," I said, thinking out loud, "if he's not, he might have gotten out of the water on the other side of the marina and he might be making his way over here. If he is, we better get moving and get the hell out of here before he finds us. So what should we do?"
"Like I said before, we should just strip him and leave him here bare-ass. We can take his clothes and dump them out the window along the freeway or someplace on our way home. His car has flat tires so I bet they'll just give up and walk home," Kenji said. "Let's strip him and then let's get out of here."
"I think that's our best option," Jake said.
"Lisa?"
"Yeah, I guess. But I'd really like to mess him up first."
"Okay. Let's do it, but unfortunately Lisa, we don't have time to fuck him up," I said. "Let's strip him and then get out of here."
We turned around and walked back to Enzo and the little men. "Everybody grab his arms and legs and I'm going to try and take off his clothes and then we'll let him go. Buddy," I said, leaning down towards the creep, "if you mess with us we're going to start kicking and hitting you and then the little guys will tickle you until you can't stand it and piss and shit yourself. And then after that, we're going to dump your ass back in the water. Your choice."
"Fine! Just do it and get out of here. But you kids better know this: This isn't over!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever you say," I said. We had to turn him over so I could unzip his pants, but he didn't put up a fight or give us any trouble. I started taking off his pants and socks first and then pulled down his dirty boxers. He must have been freezing, or maybe he just had a little tiny baby dick because once everybody saw it, they all started cracking up and pointing.
"Hey! His wiener is smaller than mine." Jordy said.
"That's not a wiener, it's a cocktail shrimp," Lisa said.
"I think it looks more like a pussy," Enzo said, goading the guy on.
"It looks like it got pinched off by a crab," Chris yelled.
I finished stripping off his jacket, shirt and t-shirt, ignoring everybody's comments, and then handed them all to Lisa. Then I told the guy to stay where he was until we were out of sight. I also told him that we'd be watching him and that if he didn't follow our directions, we were going to come back and push him back in the water.
"Guys, let's go!"
We ran back to the car and jumped in. Lisa started up the engine and off we went. As we drove past the green sedan, we could see that the naked goon had climbed up the ramp and was just starting to look around at the four flat tires. Boy, was he going to be pissed! He sure looked funny being naked in public like that. We left the marina and stopped a couple of miles away to dump his clothes out the window on the side of the road. We all got a really good laugh out of that.
Because we were so excited and our adrenaline was still pumping like crazy, all of us were talking at the same time. Finally, Lisa had to tell us to shut the hell up because she was having a hard time concentrating on the road. Plus, it was pretty uncomfortable to be sitting in the car in wet clothes. So we settled down pretty quickly. Jordy and Chris were jabbering away quietly up in the front seat next to Lisa, while Enzo and Kenji (and Sloan) were in the middle. At one point I heard Kenji whisper to Enzo that he thought he was so brave for taking care of that goon all by himself. That got him a quick peck on the lips.
Jake and I were all the way in the back, arms around each other and squeezing each other tight. We really didn't need to say much to each other because holding each other pretty much said it all. It was so great to have him back in my arms again. Every so often we would look at each other and grin like dorks. Two dorks in love!
Special thanks to my editors Jason T. and Hans for help with this chapter.
And a special shout out to Mark Farner and GFR for making a tiny kid into a rock freak.