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 Sun and Sea 25 A James Gang Story by Mike C

   Feedback : mikec (at) nspace.net

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   "Wait 'til they find out the whole Island has only the one main road and
can be done in an hour on foot!" Hazel laughed, waving to the two clouds of
blue smoke as the girls roared off on their mopeds.

   "Do you want to go back or can we go somewhere and talk?"

   "I want to talk, but first I have to take you to see someone...  a man."
Hazel said.

   "Okay."

   "You're very trusting when your new girlfriend talks about another man
and you say 'Okay!' "

   "You don't look like the type of girl who wants more than one
boyfriend." I smiled.

   "Yeah..." She took my arm, "We can walk, it's close by." We went along
the waterfront where wooden trestle docks stretched out into the clear
water with ten or so wooden fishing boats tethered to them.  Men and women
were working on them and they smiled and waved.  We waved back as about us,
seagulls squawked and jostled for scraps.

   I took a deep breath, "Everything is so fresh and clean!  I really like
this place!"

   "I'm glad you do, means a lot to me." She said quietly and squeezed my
arm.  "It's not much, but it is home."

   "It's a lot - especially the wonderful things that cannot be found
anywhere else." I looked at her, "And the people..."

   "You're such a sweet talker!" She smiled and put her arm around me. 
"Ahh, here we are."

   We stopped in front of a small building marked 'Government Clinic' and
she led us inside.

   "He's inside." The nurse inside obviously knew Hazel and smiled at us.

   "I work here every Wednesday, but it's more than just clinical work." We
arrived at the office of a Dr.  Andrew York.  Hazel knocked, then entered.
The smiling man inside was my height, in his sixties, tanned and with a
wispy thatch of white hair.

   "Dr.  York, I'd like you to meet my friend James." Hazel introduced us.

   "Hazel, what a pleasant surprise!  I wasn't expecting you until
tomorrow! James." He shook hands with me.

   "Dr.  York, I want to tell you in person that I can't come in tomorrow,
and that I've decided to go back to school."

   "That's excellent Hazel!  Not that I won't miss you working here!"

   "I'll still be here until school starts, and...  I just wanted you to
meet the person who convinced me to go back." She pushed me forward.

   "Hazel's being too kind," I smiled, "She came to that decision all by
herself."

   "I also came by to see if you can write a letter to the Dean on my
behalf."

   "Of course!  Margaret is an old colleague, and should be no problem! 
Now, have you thought about the test?"

   "I thought I'll give it a try - there is one scheduled for the end of
the month, in Freeport."

   "Well, then I would suggest you start working on it!"

   "Sir, can I start on Monday?" Hazel asked, "James will be leaving on
Saturday, and..."

   He looked at me, "Young man, this young lady is embarking on a long,
sometimes difficult journey, and I don't want her distracted...  I
certainly do not want to hear about the two of you celebrating 'til all
hours of the morning!"

   "No, you won't and we won't!"

   "James is also going to University, in Daytona, but has leased a place
at the Bentel's." Hazel said, then to me, "And Dr.  York has been helping
me - just on the off chance I get the nerve and can make up my mind to
go..."

   "Hazel needs to concentrate to pass her M-CAT, make sure you're a help,
not a hindrance!" He stood, "I'll have the letter ready when you come in on
Monday." We were dismissed.

   "Dr York, I have one last thing," She looked at me, "James, can you wait
for me outside please?"

   She was out in a few minutes, "I'll tell you later," She smiled.

   "M-CAT, huh?" I looked at her as she continued our slow walk along the
waterfront.  "Med School?  You ARE full of mysteries!"

   "No!" She laughed, "I'm NOT that crazy, yet.  I'm just going into the
Pre-Med Science program, but Dr York felt that if I go in with the M-CAT
and with my credits from the Nursing diploma, then his letter may convince
them to let me fast track the undergraduate degree.  Which means I can
start Medicine in 2 years instead of three."

   "Was that what you've always wanted?"

   "I wanted to do something with my life, I've discovered that I LIKE
helping people, and Dr York thinks I have the aptitude for a career in
medicine.  So maybe with a lot of hard work..."

   "You can do it." I hugged her, "Always believe that.  "

   "I'm starting to..." She laughed, "Lord knows why, but I've never felt
this certain!"

   "Maybe that was just the old you - always questioning, and doubting..."

   "Yeah, the List doing its thing."

   "And you're handling it OK?"

   "Most of the time...  When I get doubts, I just say 'nipples' and see if
it's the same reaction..." Hazel grinned.  "Or I try to imagine how YOU
would explain it." She sighed and leaned on me, "You're good at explaining
things."

   "Haze, I know Colin asked, but is there anything I can do to help?"

   "What I need most right now is moral support...  Be my friend..." She
shrugged, "Otherwise, I've got a year's tuition put away, and I can stay at
home and pick up some work with my brothers.  And I can come back and work
in the Summer."

   "Haze..." I started.

   "Thank you James," She smiled, "I want to prove I can do it...  Let me
do this myself, okay?"

   "Deal, as long as you know who to talk to first."

   "I will, James, I promise."

   The road ended in a jumble of rocks that came out of the sea.  The
cleared space in front was taken up by street vendors, who had their wares
of fruits, dried foodstuff, snacks, clothing, souvenirs and trinkets spread
out on the ground.

   "And here is our famous Bendune Market." Hazel said, "Bendune...  'Bend
down,' get it?" She laughed.

   As she exchanged greetings with the sellers, we wandered through it.  I
tried on impossibly loud and obscene T-shirts for her, and she modeled
colorful, wispy wraps for me.  We shared a plate of starchy plantain
bananas, fresh cut and deep fried like french fries, and surprisingly
similar in taste.

   We passed by a stand with dozens of different types of dried fish, up a
pathway, turned around a building and ended up back at Grayson's Take-Away.
I bought ice-creams for us, something called sour-sop for her and coconut
for me.

   "What did you mean, before?  You said something like 'Likkle 'Mo.' "

   "It's patois for 'Little Moment', meaning like, 'See you soon.' " She
looked at me and smiled, "And 'boyfriend' means boyfriend...  with ice
cream on his nose," She leaned up to kiss it off.  "And now it's three
kisses for me and three for you!"

   I held her close, "Do we need to keep score?"

   "No, baby," She blinked and stroked my hair, "Never.  Never again."

   Not too surprisingly, Sherri was waiting by the golf cart when we got
back.  The back was packed with boxes of junk and broken pieces of bikes.

   "Amanda made a deal with Pon-Pon.  She'll take all this junk off his
hands and he'll let us use his bikes anytime."

   "Free?" Hazel wondered, "That doesn't sound like Pon-Pon!"

   "Amanda convinced him that the Honourable Queen's Servant Sir Archibald
Charles, Esquire, would look negatively upon the disarray of detritus when
he accompanies her on an impromptu inspection of the premises."

   "So she is helping him out by taking all this all off his hands?"

   "You know our sweetie - the very font of human kindness."

   "Instead of maligning me, can you come and help a little?" Amanda came
out wheeling a badly mangled bike frame.  "There's a perfectly good 110cc
under there, just pretend you don't see it!" She whispered to us.

   "We don't need to pretend!  We honestly don't see anything worth keeping
there!"

   We took the last boxes containing coils, gears and unidentifiable bits
from inside Pon-Pon's building, which was obviously also his home.  It was
a tremendous improvement, Amanda taking his trash - in case of an
emergency, Pon-Pon now had an unobstructed passageway from his bed to the
outside.

   "Step 'round the piles of rags - they're his clothing." Amanda warned.
"And I'd burn them before Friday if I were you." She warned the man,
"Hizzoner and I may have a few minutes free before lunch.  Catch you then!
Too-da-loo!" She finger-waved goodbye.

   "Just truck the stuff to Zack's place, we'll be waiting!" She told us as
she and Sherri mounted their bikes.

   Hazel and I puzzled over the best way to transport the six boxes and
miscellaneous metal contraptions.  In the end we had to borrow some string
to keep them from toppling over the back of the cart.

   After letting me get behind the drivers seat, Hazel said, "What will
Amanda do with this junk?"

   "Nobody knows, she can't sit still, so needs to tinker with things." I
shrugged, "She once built a plane with an old car engine, so we've learned
to just stand back and watch."

   "She's is some sort of genius isn't she?"

   "Most likely, but, after all the time you spent with her, can you put a
label to her?"

   "No...  no, I can't.  She's...  ah, just special..." She sighed and
hugged my arm.  After a while she said, "You're all very special..."

   "In a good way?"

   "Very good.  To me...  at the very least..." She said, and touched my
arm.  "I feel like a different person when I'm with you."

   "A wonderful and beautiful person." I agreed.

   "And you are wonderful..." She smiled and touched my face, "And quite
beautiful." She pulled my arm across her shoulder and snuggled against me.

   "At the clinic, I asked Dr York to put me on the Pill..." She said
quietly, "What I mean is I want to be ready - if you want to have sex..."
She looked at me, "You do, don't you?"

   "Let me ask you this first.  How do you think I feel about you?"

   "You...  you care for me, maybe love me a little, and don't find me too
ugly..." She giggled, "So, yeah, you want sex with me...  Maybe..."

   "The 'maybe' - was that you or the List?"

   "Yeah..." She sighed, "It's not that easy trying to keep second guessing
myself...  It was so much easier when I KNEW where everything fit...  When
just being 'good' was good enough."

   "And chances are, you'd be quite happy too!"

   "Happy?  Content, maybe, but I would never have found out the other ME!
I'm still confused as hell, but I'm so much more aware, and it's...  it's
like coming alive!" She hugged me, "Yeah, we're gonna have sex, and I'm
gonna love it...  But we have to wait a few weeks, maybe a month, you know
that, right?"

   "I was going to suggest we wait anyhow.  You have your test to prepare
for, and it would be much better if you have that behind you.  That, and
the List..."

   "You think the List is going to be a problem?"

   "You cannot expect to undo so much misinformation in a matter of days."

   "Yeah, it's like brain-washing...  And whenever I try not to think about
it, I can feel the doubts pushing in..."

   "And, I would guess, a bit of guilt along with it!"

   "Yeah!  How'd you guess?"

   "That's how a lot of our so called morals are introduced, and now the
List is being challenged, it's fighting back..."

   "Hmmm, that's a weird concept...  Like my head is being occupied by
different things..."

   "No, it's simple because for many things, there no obviously right or
wrong answers.  Our options are dictated by logic, reason and our
interaction with our surroundings...  And that includes what we've been
told is proper and what is not."

   "Yeah...  I think I'll go back to saying 'nipples!' " She sighed.

   As we drew near the resort we could hear singing from outside Eva's
house.  Donnie and an almost-twin, but with hair in dreadlocks, were
banging on the table top and chairs, singing "I Can See Clearly Now" at the
top of their voices.  Eva, laughing giddily, was busy trying to keep the
two from falling on their faces.

   Despite their advanced state of inebriation, it was clear they knew what
they were doing, singing backup for each other when they weren't mimicking
the instruments.  Sherri and Amanda were sitting on their bikes, grinning,
banging on their bikes and listening raptly.



   "I think I can make it now, the pain is gone

   All of the bad feelings have disappeared.

   Here is the rainbow I've been praying for

   It's gonna be a bright, bright sun-shiny day.



   Look all around, there's nothing but blue skies

   Look straight ahead, nothing but blue skies!"

   Donnie started gesturing at the sky, spun and almost fell on top of the
other man, but they recovered enough to finish with:



   "I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,

   I can see all obstacles in my way

   Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind

   It's gonna be a bright, bright sun-shiny day!"

   Panting and giggling and leaning heavily on her, they allowed Eva to
introduce them, "This is my soon-to-be-ex husband, and his cousin Kevin
'Spice-man' Tosh, professional drunkard and some-time musician!"

   "D-Donnie sez you make crazy music," Kevin squinted at the girls, "Man,
I drink too much, you're like double..." He shook his head of dreads, "Stop
moving, look like two of you!"

   With a quick glance at each other, Sherri and Amanda struck a pose and
said together, "There's only one of me."

   "Man, I can't believe it!  You even sound like two people!" Kevin closed
his eyes, "What is that shit I've been drinking?"

   Donnie was sitting on the ground, pointing at the girls, wheezing in
laughter against Eva's leg.

   Hazel had quickly gone inside their house and now returned with juices
for them.  "Drink!  Now!" Then she handed them each a couple of pills,
"Wash this down too."

   "Mega-vitamins and hangover pill," She told me, "Standard Corker issue."

   "Hey, there REALLY is two of you?" Kevin said, as he and Donnie sat in
the dirt, leaning on each other.  "Donnie tell me he found smoot' player;
almost as good as de Spice-mon."

   "That's Sherri, she the mash-up on the Hammond." Donnie said.  "And a
wonderful voice."

   "Can you play anything else?"

   "I do the 49cc too!" Sherri grinned.

   "What's that?  I don't think I've ever heard of it."

   "Wait..." She kick started the Honda and revved it up.  In the banshee
wailing of the motor, we could make out the famous opening bars of...



   "Stir it up!  Little darlin',

   Stir it up, Come on Baby

   C'mon and Stir it up..."

   With Donnie doing the harmony and the bass licks, the Spice-man belted
out the song.  They finished after Sherri did a minute-long solo on her
'49cc' amid a thick cloud of blue exhaust.

   The Bentels, Brenda and some hotel guests, who had been attracted by the
chainsaw din, gave them a rousing round of applause.

   "What the hell was that?" Amanda yelled, "The valves were going! 
Couldn't you hear it?"

   "For the art, baby!" Sherri grinned and kissed her, but she allowed
Amanda to drag her away from the bike.

   "That was...  unique." Kevin laughed, nodding, "And like Donnie said,
totally amazing!" He shook Colin's hand, "Do you want another player at the
next Corker?" He grinned, "I cannot miss out the chance of performing with
Sherri..."

   "You're more than welcome!" Colin smiled, "Saturday night, five
o'clock," He announced to all, "Be here for the Corker of the Season!  And
you are all reminded to be at the classical luncheon recital this Thursday,
up at the Main House with the incomparable Sherri!"

   The crowd dissipated as Sherri accompanied Eva, Donnie and his cousin
into the house, already deep into their discussion of corker music.

   "Someone help me get the bikes to Zack's workshop!  So like her, wrecks
the engine and disappears on me!" Amanda complained.

   "Where did you get the bikes?" Brenda, who had arrived with the Bentels,
asked.  "And don't tell me it has something to do with your makeup!"

   "Erm, no, this is just from the rental place in town..." Amanda said
then quickly added, "But the whole island's got just one road, and it's
like five miles long.  I was thinking of doing something with the
motors..."

   Zack was busy with hotel guests inquiring about fishing packages, but he
spared Amanda a huge grin.  "Nice boat, NICE!  Miz 'Manda did great job!"

   He pointed us to the 25' Carver, where Amanda lifted the engine bay.  As
Amanda had suggested, Zack had redone the fiberglass enclosure around the
engine.  Instead of the pitted and mildewed surface we had seen before, the
entire expanse was a gleaming white, with hair-fine threads of black
through it.

   "Where did Zack get the G87 epoxy?" Brenda glowered at Amanda.  G87 was
the latest of the high-strength resins used at Regan's.  Characterized by
tiny strands of graphite nano-fiber that bonded to each other upon curing,
G87 eliminated the need for intervening layers of fiber material to give
strength to the compound, and so is also a third more compact. 
Pound-for-pound stronger than steel, and with a thermal transfer almost as
good, G87 was also hideously expensive.

   "Er, would you believe we had a few cans lying around on the 'Jester?' "
Amanda grinned.  "That's how I could free up the space for the larger
engine!  And Zack stayed up all night with a heat lamp to make sure the
curing temperature was right too!"

   "Good for him!  But it's coming out of your paycheck, Missy!"

   "But look!" Amanda pointed, "The exhaust stack is now embedded in the
liner, right behind the heat-exchanger and the discharge is only 30-degrees
over ambient without any additional cooling!" Ecological and propeller
performance issues require that exhaust water cannot be more than
40-degrees over ambient.  Part of the heat is transferred to the fuel to
improve combustion, but most had to be used up by boiling water into steam,
which causes major problems with corrosion and safety.

   "So you're using the liner like a big radiator." I said.  "There's still
another 2-inches of hull between that and the water, otherwise..."

   "Yeah..." Brenda thought about it, "If we can improve the contact..."

   "The strakes," I said, "We're using G87 to reinforce the strakes - find
a way to extend that inside..."

   "And, if we can align the mount with the strakes, we're effectively
direct cooling the engine..."

   "Yeah, and spread the exhaust, or a small honeycomb here..."

   "Better yet, set up a lattice of G87, axially on the hull, and laterally
under the engine, with the heat spreader sandwiched inside, that should
give us the dissipation, plus 30% or more structural stiffness..."

   "Right, which means we can have a larger engine bay; and a lighter
hull..." Brenda said, "Damn, that was a good idea!"

   "Ahhh, it was MY idea, I believe." Amanda grinned, "So, instead of
making me pay, how 'bout a bonus?"

   "Yeah, right, we'll double your salary!"

   "But I don't get paid!"

   "In which case, we'll triple it!" Brenda smiled.

   "Damn, I should have just let you dock it - I wouldn't feel so robbed!"

   "Honey, what DO you need a paycheck for?"

   "So...  er, so I could buy a car, for Sherri..." Amanda said, "She's
without a car, and can't you tell how deprived it makes her feel?" Amanda
blinked her bright blues at us, "Er, I was thinking something compact, like
an Audi S4...  Or maybe the R8?"

   "And where would this mythical car be when she goes to University in
Ohio?"

   "Uhm, I will look after it." Amanda offered.  "And it'll be waiting
right there when she visits!"

   "OK," Brenda smiled, "Convert the idea into the structural layout for
the 20' Bowrider and I'll consider it!" A pause, "Of course I'll have to
make sure that that's what Sherri REALLY wants.  Maybe she's interested in
a Hammond B3 instead!"

   "No, no, it's the car she wants.  I'll get her the Hammond too if she
wants that!"

   "Such generosity!" Laughed Brenda, "That'll cost you another drawing...
Choose your own design for this one - but I want to see something within a
month, then we'll talk!"

   "Oh yeah, alright!  Yes!" Amanda glowed.

   "So you don't want diving lessons this afternoon?" Hazel asked.

   "Ah, yeah, that too..." Amanda mulled it over, "Let me get some numbers
into the laptop and I can work on it on the boat." She scampered off.

   "She needs something to do...  all the time." I offered.  "Let's move
the bike stuff on the table for her, she'll probably want to work on that
too."

   "So, she will actually design a boat, or boats with what you just talked
about?" Hazel wondered.

   "Essentially.  Mandie can get a bit tunnel-visioned sometimes, but once
she gets going..." Brenda sighed, "You should see what she's done for us -
four or five designs so advanced that we simply don't have the material or
technology to make!  But we'll be ready as soon as the science catches up
to her!  And this is actually a simple case - I predict she'll be done
within a week or so!"

   "Then why did Amanda seem so uninterested in the Carver?" Hazel asked.

   "Oh she is!  But part of her already knows how it'll work out," Brenda
smiled, "She doesn't have the problem of self-doubt slowing her down!"

   We unloaded the bike parts off the golf cart then used it to move our
gear down to 'Jester', where we found Amanda, already into her problem. 
Before we finished the loading, Sherri joined us.

   "The boys were in pretty rough shape, but we got the program more or
less decided." She said, "And they said they'll move the B3 up to the Main
House tomorrow.  Where are we going?" She indicated the tanks.

   "We haven't decided." Hazel answered, "We could go back to the other
site we missed this morning, which is a wreck of a ship from the civil war.
It sank after hitting a reef - probably the same one we saw at Tarpon
Flats. Another option is to visit 'The Giant's Forest', a kelp and coral
formation, about 45 feet down..."

   "Any chance we can go grab a few more lobsters?" I asked.

   "There's a spot...  I was going to take you tomorrow morning and look
for conch there..."

   "And there're lobsters there?"

   "Yes, and fishing too..."

   "WHAT are we waiting for?" Amanda looked up from her laptop.  "Let's get
moving!  Ummm, and can we overnight there?"

   "Yes, there is a sheltered cove, plus the weather forecast looks good.
We'll need the Portable Recharger."

   "And more food," I insisted.

   "True, you need your greens," Sherri added, unkindly.

   "You know Hazel, this will put you totally at our mercy?" Amanda
grinned.

   "Yes - good friends with much to teach me about sharing and loving." She
said quietly.

   = = = = =

   (C) Copyright 2001-2009.  MikeC. All Rights Reserved. All Reproduction
for fee or profit forbidden.

   Copies of this and other stories can be downloaded from:
<http://www.asstr.org/files/Authors/MikeC/JAMES/Sun&Sea/>
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