"What in the heck is this?" Teddy's mouth gaped.
"She." Uncle Stu grunted around a mouth full of food as he pushed more than the last bite of a guayaba pastelito into his gob, leering at the boys when some of the cream cheese filling squished out one side of his mouth.
"Are you kidding me?" Teddy almost yelled.
"She. Boats are referred to in the feminine. Her name is Olivia." Uncle Stu reached into a brown paper bag to extract one more pastelito before handing the bag to Caleb.
"SHE looks like a piece of crap to me." Teddy glared.
The boys stared at the derelict fishing trawler, eyes-wide. Caleb couldn't stifle a chuckle, as the rusty, barnacle encrusted hulk attempted to float before them. She listed to starboard badly and bobbed like a cork, promising poor handling in the fairest of weather. The proud vessel was wistfully named: Olivia.
"I told you to get us a seaworthy dive boat, not a hunk of junk. You paid $75,000 for this?" Teddy didn't really have a temper, but Uncle Stu could enrage the Dalai Lama with minimal effort.
"At least it looks like she might have some decent electronics if we can unravel some of that spaghetti," Teddy glared up and down the mast at the various arrays, "and if she can stay afloat."
"No. I paid $80,000. The guy was in a hurry to sell and I pressed him hard on the price. He started at $200k, but I was relentless." Bones was eyeing a roadside empanada stand as he was speaking.
It had all started out so well, as it always did. Joshua had spotted Uncle Stu as they arrived at the docks. It wasn't hard to do—six foot five candlestick white beanpole, with a misplaced sprig of dishwater colored curly hair almost as tight as an afro. Teddy often joked that Uncle Stu reminded him of the Muppet character Beeker.
The boys crashed into him with big hugs and Uncle Stu reciprocated with his trademark double bear hug.
"Joshua! You are as solid as a rock!" Stu was a great uncle, and even better dad. That's what had made the separation so tragic. "Caleb—are you taller than your dad?" A few mock-UFC moves on the two boys and the reunion ritual was complete.
"Let's go see our ship, Guys!" Teddy couldn't contain his excitement.
"No. I need something to eat. Follow me, boys." Uncle Stu was already walking away, putting both arms around Joshua and Caleb's shoulders.
"We've been in the car for almost eight hours counting chickens and goats. I'm eager to get supplied and get moving." Teddy opened his arms wide pleading, but he was gesturing at their backs.
"Me too. You are going to love the empanadas." Bones shouted over his shoulder as he disappeared into a dirty little alley of the dirty little coastal town in the province of Pinar del Rio, Cuba.
Jimmy's Chicken Shack was a paladar, or private Cuban restaurant, in only the most meager of senses. It didn't really have a dining room. The owner of a local house had cut down some poles from the nearby forest and driven them into the ground in a rough circle on the beach across the street from the back of his house. Somebody, maybe the owner, had hung a few sheets from the poles on the side that typically got the afternoon gusts. The sheets were filthy but they kept out some of the blowing sand.
The menu wasn't written down anywhere, but it didn't need to be. The owner, a young Cuban who called himself Jimmy, would repeat it over and over to anyone that came up to his back window. It consisted of only two items: pollo—greasy deep-fried chicken and empanadas, also deep-fried. Both boiled in the same grease and served scorching hot from the fryer.
"Watch for the grease. It will scorch you." Uncle Stu already had a drumstick in each hand. "It squirts out from the sides."
"You gonna play those things or eat them?" Joshua joked as he snatched one out of his uncle's hand.
Impatient to get moving, Teddy wasn't paying too much attention to the antics. He wolfed down a few pieces of the chicken, which he hated to admit was pretty good. He washed down a couple of amazing empanadas with a few cervezas and began to relax. Provisioning Olivia and getting her seaworthy would take all day tomorrow. They should rest up today and go to bed early.
A woman yelling across the street drew his attention. Even Bones sat up straighter in his chair while playing thumb wars with Caleb. Her tone was angry and scared at the same time. She was gesticulating wildly at a fat little man wearing something that appeared to be a bus driver's uniform, all except for the gun at his waist.
Teddy stood abruptly knocking his chair over as the fat little man slapped the woman hard. Teddy was two steps into traffic when strong arms grabbed him from behind. Teddy was blind with rage and he began to struggle as Jimmy whispered forcefully into his ear: "No, Senor, Policia. Policia."
Bones understood Spanish about as well as any Midwesterner, which was not at all, but he could tell Jimmy was trying to keep them out of some local trouble. He jumped up and pinned Teddy's arms. "Stop, Teddy. Stop. Think about it. This is some local trouble we should not get mixed up in."
"I'm not going to get mixed up in it. I am just going to slap that guy as hard as he slapped her." Teddy's muscles were bulging in anticipation and the vein was throbbing on his left temple.
"Does he really need to be slapped? Look at him! He is not having any luck with the ladies. He is wearing a terrible uniform…" Bones and Jimmy together were struggling to keep Teddy in check. He may have been a desk jockey for twenty years, but that hadn't kept Teddy out of the gym. He was the kind of guy who would give an Ironman a shot on a dare without any training. And he would finish at the top. He could be hard to hold onto, if he wanted to be.
Thankfully, an elderly gentleman had come out of the house and was taking the woman back inside crying. The old man wisely kept his head down and didn't look the policeman in the eye. Just then, the portly fellow glanced over their way and stopped suddenly, eyes wide. He stared for a few minutes directly at Teddy and Stu before smiling politely and walking quickly away. With the tubby policeman's departure, Teddy started to calm down.
"Who was that guy?" Stu asked Jimmy as they sat down again.
"Policia. Policia." Jimmy said. "Muy malo. Very bad."
"Why'd he hit the lady? Que paso con la mujer?" Teddy asked.
"La Hija desaparacido." Jimmy motioned with his hands a little girl about waist high.
"What did he say?" Bones was still a little excited.
"He said her little girl disappeared." Teddy was unsettled as he said it.