Sam isn't my brother but he might as well be. We have been together since we were kids. From playing football to hunting. We did everything together. Sam's dad was my father's best foremen and they were lifelong friends. Sam's father had a perfect record on the job and made sure things ran smoothly on site well my father was in managed the office and making business deals.
Sam's father Devin started having problems on the job after getting viciously beaten by cops during a race riot in a nearby city. Devin wasn't in even involved in the riots! He was just there to vist family and they attacked just because he was black! This enraged my father and he used his political connections to have the officers involved fired form their post and paid for Devin's medical bills. The problem was that Devin became punchy like boxers did and his once sharp memory started to fail him. Worse than this, he started having panic attacks which reminded me of the me of the men who were coming back form the war against the vietcong.
With his brain his brain in shambles and falling into despair, Devin took to the bottle to ease his troubles. On the job he started making making small mistakes, luckly for him Sam and I started working on the site as well cleaning up his mistakes. Still my dad was worried for him and was going to give him a month to get his act together or he would force him into retirement and give him a pension, which for a man who was only 53 would make him set for life. 2 weeks before Devin was supposed to retire we were on the docks when a barge came in to hot. When the barge guys came threw there line a sickening snap and the dock shook. Devin let a shriek as the line snapped and hitting his legs with such force it shattered the bones. He then was knocked off the icy dock into the partially frozen Hudson river 20 feet below.
"Fuck, we have a man down get the safety ring!" one of the other longshoremen said
"Shit, what the fuck was he thinking, he why didn't he get further away from cleet"
The captain of the oil barge said and that was true, even green horns like Sam and I knew to back off when barges were coming in to fast. Especially in winter time when they had to go faster when pushing through icebergs that would be the size of Volkswagen Beatles floating down the river.
"Hurry up he's starting to go under"
After the 2nd attempt of throwing the life ring failed Sam took action into his own hands and stripped down to his long underwear and slid down one of the pier pylon with a life ring that was attached to a rope that Mike and I was holding.
"Is he insane does he want to die to, he's going to freeze to death before he gets to him! He's probably already dead just let him wash up down stream" one of the barge captain said.
"Shut the fuck up it the boys old man, the poor lass has to do something, shut up Yuri" said mike to the captain.
"Damn those Russians have no respect" Mike said.
Well an argument between Mike and the Russians was happening Sam was trying his to reach his now unresponsive father who was holding onto a piece of ice. Sam's body even though he was only in the water for 30 seconds was already beginning to stiffen up due to hypothermia from the bone chilling water. A few seconds later he had reached his dad quickly and threw his hands under Devin's arms and rapped them around his father's chest to make sure his head was above water.
"Pa, Pa wake up! I said wake up dammit! Why won't you wake up!"
I could here the desperate cries of Sam to get his unconscious father to awake but to no avail well I pulled the pair in. Well pulling them up it was apparent that Sam's dad was not in good shape he was pale and blood could be seen dripping down the mans boots. His legs were flopping in air well I pulled them up with the help of 3 other men. By this point the rest of the available men from the terminal came rushing on the offloading dock with medical equipment. Even though it was almost a half mile from the main building the guys rushed over in less then two minutes after hearing Mike over the radio saying the boss fell in the water and was badly hurt. By the time they reached the end of the dock, they found a scene of mike holding back and trying to calm a crying Sam. Well I was preforming CPR trying to save a man I considered a uncle and my best friend's dad. When the other guys took over CPR and took away Devin off on a backboard to an ambulance which was arriving to hospital the shock of all that happened finally hit from what had happened over the last ten minutes I to started to bawl my eyes out.
Sam let out an anguished moan well seeing his father getting put in the Ambulance. Hearing the gut wrenching sound come from my friend made my stomach fall into a bit. The snow covered landscape made it quit so quit all I could hear was my boot crunching in the snow well as Sam's gentle sobbing as mike walked us back to the control center in the main building to warm us up before we headed to the hospital. Sam's eyes were bloodshot red from straining himself so much trying to save his dad and his pale face and purple trembling lips was something I could never forget. Mike knowing that this was too much for two 16 year olds tried his best to reassure us well he got something warm for us to drink.
After this we headed to the hospital.