Untitled Novel - Chapter Six

“Hi Marcus.”

“My real name is not Joe, its Peter and I am only a part time hot dog vendor.”

“You’re Navette’s father?”

“Yes, I am and I know your wondering why the secret. It goes back a few years. I was a young and resentful of my family’s desires for me to follow in their traditions. My father wanted me to be a stone cutter just as he was and I wanted to get out into the air and be around people. Those who know me as a hot dog vendor do not know me as a diamond dealer and those who know me as a diamond dealer do not know me as a hot dog vendor. I relieve a friend on the hot dog stand for a couple of hours while he tends to his wife who in the rehab home over on 51st. It lets me get out into the open air and meet people. My friends in the diamond club would not understand, so it is better to be Joe and keep it a secret. We kept it a secret from everyone. It would not be good if some people were to find that their diamond broker was selling hot dogs on the side. It’s has been nice to have you as a friend before being a boyfriend of Navette. I hope that wont change.”

“You sell hot dogs?” Bill asked Peter as they turned and walked together back toward the beech. It seems Bill didn’t know about this arrangement either.

“Dad what happened that caused you to get stranded on Dream Island?”

“I anchored the Marquise and brought the Melee (the name given to the dinghy and also the name given to small faceted diamonds used in jewelry for accent) over just as I have done many times before. I found my serene place, as usual, and lost all sense of time. When I went back to the beach the Marquise was no where to be seen and the Melee was nearly deflated. I don’t know how that happened. I must have failed to anchor the Marquise properly. When high tide came she must have found current and the rest is history. I hope that the Marquise showed up somewhere and is alright. I assume that is how you found me?”

“It is. The Coast Guard found it and it’s just fine. Mom and Betty are back at the dock waiting to hear. We better make our way over to the SEMPER FI and radio to them that you are ok.” The SEMPER FI was the name of Bill’s boat.

“I’ll take Peter and the Melee over and will come back for you two.”

It seems the dinghy was not large enough to take all over at the same time and the Melee. Bill would have risked it if it had been a life and death situation. But there was no need to overload the boat now. It gave Navette and Marcus a little time to talk about what Marcus had just learned. Navette didn’t know how Marcus would respond. The moment the dinghy shoved off Marcus looked to Navette with slight disgust.

“Why am I always the last to know these things? You would think I am a blabber mouth or something. Do you think that I would go find some diamond dealer and break the news that they are dealing with a hot dog vendor. It looks like if you loved me, you would trust me.”

“I do trust you. And Dad trusts you. That is why we are telling you now. We thought that you, of all people would be pleased that Joe, the hot dog vendor, would be my father. We thought it would be a pleasant surprise to discover that a friend and advisor would turn out to be my father.”

Marcus, catching a glimpse of his surroundings, seemed to dissolve his harshness and helped him get over this irrational thinking and revealed that it was kind of neat to spend a weekend with this friend whom he had known as Joe. “I guess it is pretty neat.”

Bill had made it to the SEMPER FI and stayed until Peter made it safely on board. They wrenched the Melee on board and Bill pushed away and turned back to get Navette and Marcus.

“We can talk about this later but don’t mention Dad being the hot dog vendor to Mom. She just would not take that news lightly.”

“I noticed that Bill didn’t know either.”

“You see, you are not the only one to discover hidden secrets. I’m sure Dad told him not to tell Betty or Mom.”

“Your mom doesn’t know?”

“She would not approve and Dad thought it best not to tell her.”

Bill was almost to the beach where Navette and Marcus stood. They grabbed each others hands and ran out through the water to meet him. Navette climbed into the dinghy and Marcus helped by pushing off.

“You looked as if you had done that before.”

“What’s that?”

“Pushing off the boat.”

“Well my brother and I used to do a little fishing on Lake Michigan.”

“Oh, a brother huh?” Marcus had revealed another bit of information about his family to Navette. In doing this he had also realized that he had secrets also.

Navette boarded the SEMPER FI first, then Marcus. Navette dropped the lift line to bill and he attached it to the dinghy and Marcus began cranking, raising the little boat out of the water and then swinging it onto the platform where it would remain until the next time it was needed.

“I radioed Betty and Bright and they were not amused over my negligence but glad to hear that I was ok.”

“Bill, if you would sail me over to where the Marquise is tied I will ensure the Coast Guard that I am not missing and we can bring her back home.”

Navette and Marcus made their way to the bow and caught some sun while Bill and Peter took care of the sailing. Navette heard Bill ask her dad about this hot dog thing and how, in the world, had he been able to keep it from Bright?

Navette and Marcus were enjoying the ride. Marcus was stretch out and Navette was sitting close as possible in a yoga position. “Our arrival was a little different than I had expected.

“I get the idea that things are never normal around here.”

“That is what makes these trips fun but it is also what makes me want to go back to Manhattan. I get a little bit of family, fun and sun and that’s enough to last for a while. I hope you have a good time.”

Marcus had made his mind up to have a good time and enjoy the things that Navette had planned.

“It already has been a blast and I’m sure it will get even better.”

However, Navette seemed to pick up a little sarcasm in his statement. They were approaching the dock near the Coast Guard station and there was The Marquise. Bill pulled along side the dock and Peter jumped out. “It looks in good shape Bill.”

Peter went on in the Coast Guard station and reported that he was ok and told them the story. It seemed that he was gone a long time but he finally walked out of the door and down to where the SEMPER FI was docked.

“Sorry I was gone so long. There was some paper work to fill out. Marcus, the marina restaurant serves a pretty good hot dog. Care to join me? I am getting pretty hungry. Come on Bill, I treat you as well.”

Marcus was getting hungry, but he didn’t know if those California hot dogs would be as good as Joe’s Manhattan dogs. When they entered the café the aroma of pizza overwhelmingly made an impression and all except Bill ordered pizza. Bill ordered the jumbo steak burger rare with extra cheese. Bill is a retired marine and he likes the taste of raw meat.

They took a seat at the window that overlooked the harbor and they could see the Marquise and the SEMPER FI tied at the dock next to the Coast Guard station.

“I have not known you to ever do that before Dad.”

“Do what?”

“Let the Marquise go off sailing by herself.”

“Your mom and I had a little disagreement yesterday and I guess I just wasn’t thinking straight.”

“What was the disagreement about?”

“Well, let us not talk about that now. Let’s talk about Marcus and how he is feeling after his incident. Bill, this guy took a bullet for the cause. He is a hero in Midtown Manhattan. Marcus did you ever see that girl you rescued again?”

“Yes, I did. As a matter of fact, she had something to do with diamonds and jewelry. She was a secretary for a firm there, let’s see, I believe it was called South Bees or So Bees or something like that.”

“Could it have been Sotheby’s?”

“Yes, that was it. Anyway, she thanked me and said if I ever needed any jewelry or art, to look her up. I asked where she worked and she said that, you know, what you said.”

“Well, Marcus, when you need any jewelry, you now know where to find it. But, it won’t be from Joe, the hot dog vendor, if you know what I mean.”

The pizza came and they were all very hungry. They began getting a slice from the large pizza they had ordered.

Marcus just then began to realize that Navette was eating pizza that she had told him many times that was not good for him. “What’s this? You're eating pizza? I didn’t think you would touch this stuff.”

“Just occasionally when Dad and I come here to this spot. We have made it a ritual.”

They finished there pizza and Peter picked up the check. “Navette, why don’t you and Marcus take the Marquise to her berth and Bill and I will go back on the SEMPER FI. Take your time; I’ll see you two back at the house.”

Marcus was feeling a little more at ease about sailing and had seen how Navette could handle herself around the boat. He was looking forward to the rest of the day.

As Navette and Marcus made their way back to the boat, Marcus still had some questions, in fact, several questions. “Do you think Joe actually made the mistake of not anchoring the boat? Or, maybe he did it on purpose to spend more time alone. Isn’t it unlikely that he would fail to secure the sailboat and deflate the dingy also?”

“His name is not Joe. You must remember not to call him that when around mom. So, practice now. And, yes, I do think it was an accident.”

Marcus and Navette had made it back to the Marquise. Navette told Marcus to climb aboard and when he did she untied the lines and boarded, pushing the boat away. She quickly started the engine and maneuvered cautiously into the open waters.

“How long have you been doing this?”

“Dad taught me to sail actually before he taught Emerald.”

“Who is Emerald?”

“Oh, Emerald is my brother that I told you about. He never liked water. In fact he doesn’t like holidays because everyone takes off from work and keeps him from working. He uses this time to organize. He won’t be coming out. He stays in New York.”

“How did he get the name of Emerald?”

“That is obvious. Remember, our family is in the precious stone business. Didn’t you notice that you are on the Marquise and the dingy was called Melee?”

“I had no idea where that came from.”

“You see, they all have something to do with diamonds. Marquise and emerald are shapes of cut diamonds and melee is small diamonds that are used to accent jewelry. My name is in reference to a shape of a stone: similar to the marquise. I think Dad is showing his mischievous nature by naming everything this way. Even our dog is named Princess, yet another diamond shape.”

“Joe must really like what he does.”

“You must stop calling him Joe!”

“Sorry, it is hard to change after I have known him as Joe for so long.”

“I do think dad likes his job, but sometimes I wonder. I know he enjoys his life. He enjoys being Joe the hot dog vendor when he is the hot dog vendor and he enjoys the diamond business when he is doing that. But, he has learned to balance all that with being a father and friend.”

Navette put Marcus on the wheel and she released the sail working the halyard until the sail was in place. She then took over the wheel and told Marcus to crank it tight. Navette positioned the boat for the wind and their speed picked up. They were now sailing. Navette set a course she was familiar with and held her steady.

“I certainly am impressed in the way you handle the boat. I love being your first mate.”

They were headed in now. They had already dropped the sails and the sun was getting close to the horizon. They were both quite and enjoying the sunset. Navette was gently steering the Marquise into the harbor when all of a sudden a boat came from nowhere and nearly hit them.

“Wow, what was that all about?”

“It is just one of those speed freaks. They can’t enjoy themselves unless they drive like a daredevil.”

Marcus stood up and Navette yelled out to sit down. About that time the wake of the speed boat gave their sailboat a huge rock and Marcus lost his balance and fell at the boat’s gunwale.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, I think so.”

Navette brought the Marquise into the slip and quickly threw a rope around a dock cleat and cut the engine.

“Now here is the part that I don’t like.”

“What’s that?”

“We have to clean and secure the boat.”

They worked for about an hour, hosing, scrubbing and putting away things. Bill and Peter had left the Melee beside the slip and they had to wrench it back on board. When they left, they were pretty tired. The temperature was dropping causing Navette to drive much slower going home than she did when she thought her dad was in trouble.

It was dark when they pulled into the drive. When they entered the kitchen Peter was frantically putting seasoning onto what looked to be some type fish. Bright was setting on a bar stool with a glass of wine and looking at a magazine.

“I have decided to prepare a light meal tonight and one that Navette will appreciate. I thought we would have swordfish with only salt and pepper seasoning, sweet snap peas and garlic mashed potatoes. We will top that off with a light salad with red wine vinaigrette and pita bread. Desert is one of New York’s finest cheesecakes.”

“Dad, I thought you said light.”

“Well, I was going to grill four, twenty ounce steaks.”

Marcus was yet to officially meet Navette’s mom. She really hasn’t acknowledged him even being there. It made Marcus feel a little uncomfortable. He remembered reading in one of the books that Sammy gave him that one should step up and make the introduction with a deep desire to meet those whom you haven’t met. He decided to give it a try.

“Hi, Mrs. Tolkowski. I haven’t officially met you, you know, with all the excitement when we first arrived. I’m Marcus Holmes.” Marcus extended his hand as to shake hands with Mrs. Tolkowski. She returned the gesture, only a little more gregariously, as though she was more that interested in meeting Marcus. In fact, her actions reminded Marcus of someone, but it wasn’t quite clear who.

“Well, hello Marcus Holmes, it is good to finally meet you. Just call me Bright.”

Now he knew of whom she reminded him. But, Marcus thought there couldn’t be any connection. Could they? Bright was an unusual name and he knew that Peter could not have named her, but it would fit.

Marcus configured a slightly exaggerated smile as to really get into this introduction thing. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Bright.”

Navette realized that she had not officially introduced them. “Oh, I am sorry. It is my fault. I apologize for not introducing you two.”

“Yes it is, but we will forgive you. Now, what is it that you do Marcus and what is this about you getting shot?”

“It seems that I don’t know what my job is and yes I got shot, but I’m sure we can find something other than that to talk about. I hear you have your own magazine and with me wanting to be advertising executive, well, that sounds very intriguing. What is the name of your magazine?”

“It’s Jewelry World. It is actually the brain child of Peter, but I fell in love with it and it is a good magazine, if I do say so myself. You said you didn’t know what your job was. Is this some sort of denial or do you dislike your job that much?”

“No, it is just that my company, Sloan Advertising, the same company that Navette works for, has a new job for me and they haven’t told me what it is going to be. I have been assured by my friends that I will like it though.”

“I certainly hope so. Everyone should enjoy what they do in life. I’m certain you will enjoy working for Jewelry World.”

“Oh, I sorry, I said I was working for Sloan Advertising.”

“Well, it seems that I have been misinformed.”

Mrs. Tolkowski looked at Navette as to deliver a sly, but arrogant, demand to Navette to set the record straight.

But, Navette ignored it for the moment: “I think that is enough about business. I want to hear about Dad’s overnight stay on Dream Island.”

“It got a little chilly. I crouched down on the rocks. They held some warmth and blocked off the wind. I did alright. It gave me some time to star gaze and think. I wasn’t worried. I knew that someone would find me the next day. Anyway, your mom and I have settled our little argument. I told her she was right and that is that.”

Actually Navette’s mom and dad argued very little. They never argued around Navette and it did seem a little strange to her that an argument drove her dad to Dream Island. This thought led Navette to ask: “What was your argument about? Was it about me?”

Peter looked at Bright and spoke first. “No honey, it wasn’t about you. We have settled it now and it must be dropped. So, no more questions about the disagreement.”

“Ok, so, have you heard from Emerald?”

Peter looked at Bright again just as he had before: “No, he is probably head over heels trying to get organized in order to get ahead of the next guy. He is so driven, that’s his mom’s genes.”

With that being said, Bright turned around on her stool and began to set the table with plates, dinnerware, and etc. Navette and Marcus both felt they had just discovered the subject matter of the argument. But, both felt it was time to move on and Navette began helping her mother and Marcus ask Peter if there was anything he could do? “Get a bottle of wine from the wine cabinet and there is an opener in the drawer. You will find the glasses in that cabinet.” Peter pointed to the drawer and the cabinet respectfully and Marcus felt comfortable with this assignment.

“Well let’s sit down and enjoy this marvelous dinner.” Peter took a seat on the end of a table opposite Bright. Navette and Marcus set on opposite sides. The view was beautiful. It was dark and the lights of the valley made a beautiful picturesque evening view for what turned out to be a great meal.”

“Joe, it seems you can cook fish as well as you can cook hot dogs.”

Navette and Peter looked at Marcus as though the world was going to explode. Marcus immediately knew what he had done and with an effort to redeem himself he concocted a cover up story. “I am sorry, did I call you Joe. I meant Peter. There is this hot dog vendor that reminds me so much of Peter. I’ve never had one of Peter’s hot dogs.”

“That’s ok Marcus, she knows. That is what the argument was about. Emerald talked to Bright yesterday and told her. However, she didn’t know about my alias. You did give her more ammunition.”

Mrs. Tolkowski gave a look of disgust. “Anyway we have resolved the issue and Peter (said with a raised voice as to accurately name him) is going to quit the hot dog gig. My husband cannot be seen selling hot dogs.”

Marcus was somewhat relieved but still sorry he had made the mistake. He looked over to Peter and moved his lips to say I’m sorry. Peter nodded as to say, that’s ok.

Navette pushed her chair back: “Dad, the dinner was wonderful.”

“Are you not going to have some of that marvelous cheese cake?”

“Dad, I’m stuffed, maybe later.”

“Marcus, how about you?”

“Just a small piece.”

“It’s a New York cheesecake, they are all small pieces.”

“Bright, could you serve the cake?”

“You serve it dear. I would like to talk to Navette for a while. Would you join me in the parlor honey?”

Marcus could tell that there were things going on that he wasn’t sure that even Navette knew about. But, he and Peter felt it time to enjoy a conversation between friends: setting aside the fact that he was Navette’s father. They moved to the study where Peter told Marcus how he became a hot dog vendor.