Anita's Rescue

Anita’s Rescue

A Chaos Novel – Book Two

Ezzy Black

Other Works by Ezzy Black

Rebecca Danced – Chaos Book 1

State of Chaos – Chaos Book 3

The Rhythm of Her Soul (short fiction)

ISBN 978-1-4658-9609-4

Anita’s Rescue

By Ezzy Black

Copyright 2010-2012 Ezzy Black

Smashwords Edition

Last Regrets

Is Copyright© 1982 K.P. Konkle & D.A. Hall

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 - Return

Chapter 2 - Emergence

Chapter 3 – Philanthropy

Chapter 4 - Invitation

Chapter 5 - Decisions

Chapter 6 - Cruise

Chapter 7 - Rescue

Chapter 8 - Semi-Famous

Chapter 9 - Runaway

Chapter 10 - Causes

Chapter 11 - Plans

Chapter 12 - Discovered

Chapter 14 - Tragedy

Chapter 15 - Family

Chapter 16 - Tribute

Chapter 17 - Exposure

Chapter 18 - Anita’s Rescue

About the author

About the Chaos Series

Dedication

For Darren S. Dale. Because he was the first to believe.

Acknowledgments

Warren Stewart, Ken Stagg, and Mike Harlan for their guidance, editing, and suggestions.

Chapter 1 - Return

Atlantic Ocean

March 1985

Under a quarter-moon Kalliste whistled through the calm waters almost inaudibly. Spray-on soundproofing in the engine compartment had, along with other changes, dampened any vibration in the newly refitted yacht. The fiberglass coating on the hull from the waterline down had done the same for water noises against the hull; it was an unplanned but not unpleasant surprise. At 18 knots the faint whine of the turbos on the new Caterpillar six cylinder engines was about all that could be heard in the night.

The yard had done a picture documentary of every phase of the refit. One picture showed her shored up in the huge work building, multiple hull planks (18 were replaced in all) missing and the roof of the salon removed to get to the engines with a lift. She had been literally taken apart and rebuilt, inside and out.

What’cha thinkin about Cap’n Tony? Tina asked, emerging into the cockpit from below and purposely hip-checking her brother.

Just the differences, Tony replied. She sounds different, she feels different, she handles different. All of it’s good, it’s just going to take me some time to get used to.

Yeah, I can hear the difference and she seems to turn quicker when steering. I can’t put my finger on what else it is that makes her just feel more solid somehow.

It’s the new strakes they put on the hull. You don’t feel the waves near as much when they’re coming from the side. She’s pretty big to roll much, but even what she used to do is mostly gone now. You’re right though, she just feels more solid out in the open water because of that. What do you think about the changes inside?

Magnificent. The galley is beautiful. All the new appliances are nice. If anyone needs a trash compactor, people who own boats need one. I know we had it good before, but a washer and dryer? Tina chuckled.

Yeah well you don’t want to use them unless we’re docked and even then not too much unless we can pump out or have a sewage hook-up. I wonder what it would cost to have something set up at home. Probably not something we really want to deal with, no matter.

And this, she waved a hand towards the back of the boat, is nice for the winter time. The entire rear deck of Kalliste was now covered in a custom made, windowed, canvas enclosure that turned the back of the main deck into a huge 30’x15’ enclosed space. It wasn’t something Tony intended to use in good weather, but for running from Hampton to Savannah in March it made piloting Kalliste a much more enjoyable prospect than braving the elements.

So are you satisfied with it all then? Tina asked.

Oh yeah, I gave Frank the check didn’t I? Tony replied. Frank was the supervisor at the shipyard. He had joined them on the trip from the yard in Hampton, Virginia and stayed until they reached Charleston, South Carolina in case any faults were found on the return cruise. The check, in the end, had been for slightly over two hundred thousand dollars. More, Tony mused, than Kalliste’s initial 1957 purchase price.

Is this a private party or can anyone join? Gwen asked as she came up the stairs followed by Dewayne.

The more the merrier. We’re just talking about all the changes to Kalliste. Tony replied.

You guys went all out that’s for sure, Dewayne chimed in. I didn’t think there was much more you could do to her. But damn, she’s even nicer than before.

Yeah, we’ve decided we’re pretty happy with her. I imagine granddaddy would approve. You guys about ready to get back home?

Yep, Gwen said. I think I’d enjoy this whole cruising thing a lot more if it was warmer out. No offense but it’s kind of boring being inside all the time.

Yeah, said Tony. I don’t think I’m going to use this cover much in the summer. We should make the marina in about a half hour to top off. We should be home by ten o’clock or so.

Tina giggled. Yeah, and I bet I know someone who is already sitting on the dock at the house waiting on you. I don’t think you and Rebecca have been apart for more than 10 hours at a time in six months.

Tony let the slight exaggeration pass, mainly because it was only slight. Well I won’t say it won’t be good to see her after eight days. Tony had flown up on Wednesday the 6th after school to spend several days going over the various changes and repairs. Tina, Dewayne, and Gwen had come up Saturday afternoon to help sail the yacht home starting early Monday morning. It was now the evening of the 14th and they had just passed Hilton Head heading towards the Savannah River inlet.

I guess I should check and make sure there’s someone at the marina, they should be expecting us. With that Tony picked up the VHF radio microphone and spoke into it.

Tybee North this is Kalliste.

After a short pause the radio came to life. Well welcome home Kalliste! We was told you were coming back today after closing time; that you Tony?

Hey Bubba! They make you stay late tonight just to wait on our little girl here?

Haha, yeah Tony and there ain’t nothing little about that girl of yours.

Well you won’t hardly recognize her. We sent her up north for a few months to get prettied up a bit. We’re about 20 minutes out, see you then.

10-4 Kalliste, I’ll be waiting on you.

*****

Woo-wee! You weren’t kidding were you? Bubba said as Tony stepped from the gangway to the dock. Bubba was probably not his real name, but if he had another no one knew it.

What? It was just a little wash and wax is all, Tony joked.

Yeah, and paint, and varnish, and a whole lot of other things as well. You didn’t used to have a radar up top there either.

OK, well maybe a few modifications were made along the way. Get the pump started and I’ll show you what’s new. I’ll need a couple hundred gallons.

Tony gave Bubba the nickel tour of the new engine room, galley, and cockpit changes as well as the various other minor and not so minor changes. So, he said as they were waiting on the fueling to finish, I’m looking for a tender now that the davit is installed. I need something between twelve and fourteen feet with a small outboard. And it has to look right. I know they used to make some pretty small runabouts out of mahogany years ago.

Yeah, I know what you’re talking about. Chris-Craft used to sell them as kits. I’ll put the word out and see what we can find for you.

Thanks for waiting up on us Bubba. I really didn’t want to stop in Beaufort for the night being so close to home.

Bubba laughed. Just let us know when you need something like that. The way that big girl sucks diesel Art and Marie are more than happy to pay me to wait up on you!

*****

The addition of new forward facing lighting (installed for just this purpose) and a trainable spotlight made negotiating the smaller channels back to the house a breeze while it had been a fairly dicey situation at night in the past. Soon Kalliste was snuggling up to the dock in her familiar place.

There were a surprising number of people on the dock waiting for them. Rebecca and her parents were there, as were the Smiths. Jerry was already busy helping Tina and Dewayne secure the lines along with his brother Matt. A young light-skinned black girl and a woman who appeared to be her mother were there also. It occurred to Tony that it must be Gwen’s little sister and mother, neither of whom he’d ever met.

The gangway had no sooner hit the dock than Rebecca was up it and in Tony’s lap a half second later. After a tight hug and a brief but passionate kiss she seemed to have settled down a little. Well I should go away more often. That was some welcome home. Did you miss me?

Yes! Terribly! Do you realize that since we met we’ve never gone for even two full days without seeing each other?

Tony chuckled. Well, according to Tina it’s more like 10 hours but I think you’re a little closer to the truth. I missed you too.

Tony! If you’re done playing kissy-face in there we need to come back a little. I think we have a bit of a forward current and I can’t get the line tight, Tina yelled.

OK, just a second, he replied. Then to Rebecca, crank the gangway up just a couple of inches for me please so it doesn’t drag the dock.

Sure, she replied and went out to the winch. When Tony heard the winch crank a few times he eased the starboard transmission into reverse.

Right there, perfect! Tina shouted.

It was then only a matter of a few minutes to get the utilities hooked up, the engines shut down, and the teens off the boat. Tony, hand in hand with Rebecca, greeted her parents. How was your trip? Marj asked.

It was OK. A little colder than I like it to be out on the water, but it warmed up the farther south we got. That new cover helps with the weather, but cruising down the Atlantic coast when you have to stay inside all the time is a bit boring, Tony replied.

How’d the refit go? Mr. Harris asked.

Amazing, some of it takes some getting used to, but she’s faster, rides better, and was only burning seven and a half gallons an hour coming home. Everything we were hoping for. And just look at her. I mean she was a beautiful boat before but she’s pretty incredible now.

Well this is the first time I’ve seen her, but she is a magnificent boat.

Tony can you come here a second? he heard his mother ask.

Excuse me, he said to the Harris family and moved over to his mom, who was standing with Gwen’s mother.

Tony someone has something to ask you, Carol Smith said, indicating the young girl. Tony guessed she was eleven or twelve years old.

Tony turned to the girl and stuck out his hand. Hi, I’m Tony. What’s your name?

The girl took Tony’s hand tentatively and said, I’m Penelope.

You must be that pretty sister Gwen’s been talking about. You know her friend Dewayne right?

Yeah, she said with a puzzled look on her face.

You know he told me he was just waiting on you to grow up a bit then he was going to snatch you up and run off with you and leave that big sister of yours at home!

Tony! exclaimed Gwen with a laugh. Then she leaned over and whispered in his ear. She worships the ground he walks on. He’s her big brother and father all wrapped into one.

OK, maybe that’s not exactly what he said. He did say you were very pretty and he was right too. Now what did you want to ask me?

Penelope was giggling now. "I wanted to see your ship."

Rebecca! What have you been teaching this girl?

Rebecca giggled behind Tony.

Tony sighed and grabbed Penelope’s hand. Come on I’d be happy to show you around Kali. Maybe I can talk you into being my new girlfriend. The one I have now doesn’t seem to be working out so good. He turned back to the rest. Y’all head on up to the house, we’ll be right up.

What’s Kali? Penelope asked.

"Not what, who? It’s the name of my boat. Her name is really Kalliste but we call her Kali for short." Tony walked her to the back of the yacht to point out the name.

*****

He’s sucked in another one, Rebecca said.

What do you mean? Gwen’s mother asked.

All the girls get a crush on Tony sooner or later. He’ll have her eating out of his hand in five minutes.

And some girls, Gwen said putting her arm around Rebecca’s shoulders, never get over their crush on Tony do they?

Rebecca giggled. No, I guess not.

Oh! I didn’t realize who you were, Gwen’s mother commented. When you introduced yourself I didn’t make the connection. You’re Tony’s girlfriend and sing with the band. Gwen and Dewayne just can’t stop talking about how well you sing. ‘Like an angel’ they tell me. Weren’t you in a wheelchair for a while?

When I met all these guys I was still in the chair, yes. I’m mostly better now. I’m not running in a marathon anytime soon, but I’m a lot better.

Come on. Let’s head up to the house. I know Jerry could use some help. At first I wondered what he was doing here, but I’m guessing he and Matt are loading up our stuff for tomorrow aren’t they? Gwen said.

Yeah, I was helping them earlier but there’s still plenty to do. Matt has a couple of friends along so it shouldn’t take too long.

Come on, let’s go up and give them a hand.

*****

An hour later the bulky equipment had been packed away in a moving truck rented for the purpose and some twenty adults and teens were gathered in the basement of the Smith home. All of the band members, and at least one of their parents, were present along with Matt and his friends, who had agreed to work for the band over the next few days. It promised to be quite a weekend.

Tony and Rebecca were standing near the back wall holding hands when he spoke up. OK, started Tony. "Thank you all for coming out so late. We have a huge weekend ahead of us and I just want to make sure everyone, including me, knows what’s going on. As everyone knows this weekend is St. Patrick’s Day. We’ve committed ourselves rather fully to the weekend. When we get up in the morning it’s going to be pretty much non-stop until late Sunday evening.

The band has two shows tomorrow at the Hilton; seven to nine, and then again from ten to one. That ten to one show will probably run late. It will probably be more like three AM, so we’ll break that down into two sets. On Saturday we’re sharing the stage with another band, they never told me who it was but it’s supposed to be a country band. They will be using as much of our gear as possible, at least our amps, PA, stacks, monitors, sound board, all that stuff. They will play one to three in the afternoon and seven to nine. We have four to six and ten until whenever again.

"Parents I hope you have coordinated this! At least one of you must be there at all times when we are on stage. It’s in the contract. We have one room at the Hilton for whoever that is. So who is it Friday night?"

We’re staying tomorrow night and Dan West will be there Saturday night. Marj replied.

Alright! Thank you. I was kind of wondering if ya’ll drew lots or had to beg for volunteers for that. Tony chuckled.

Oh we had to draw lots. Are you kidding me? A room at the River Street Hilton on St. Patrick’s Day weekend is worth gold. Who’s paying for that anyway? Are we responsible for it?

No, not at all, it’s on the house. Actually they would normally provide enough rooms for the whole band, but they knew we were local so they didn’t want to give us anything. We twisted their arms to get that and the dock instead so enjoy it; you should get the full VIP treatment.

For the rest of us we have Kalliste. We’ll leave from here at eleven in the morning. We have permission to dock right at the Hilton for the entire weekend. There will be people there from time to time. I think seven to ten on Saturday we’ll have National Pacific right Dad?

Right, but it’s very informal. No suits or ties or official business, only ten people or so.

"Be very nice to those people. Not only does my dad have to work for them they bought 50 wheelchairs and contributed fifty thousand dollars. Then they beat up the Southern Sugar Company and got them to do the same for us. We owe them a lot.

And that brings us to Sunday. Those of us in the parade need to be at the start point at 10 AM. Those of you manning the stage have a couple of hours more. I’m assuming that’s all lined up, because other than pushing a chair in the parade and giving out the awards, I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to be doing.

It’s taken care of Tony, I have it all written down, Rebecca answered and kissed his cheek. We’ll be fine.

OK, I guess I should stop stressing out. I think above all, have fun. Everyone has worked hard for this weekend. It’s going to be a lot of work but it’s going to be a heck of a lot of fun too!

Chapter 2 - Emergence

By five o’clock on Friday afternoon the teens were set. The stage was 50’x30’ and included the Hilton’s concert grand at stage right. The band was set up in their usual configuration with Dewayne at the right front, Tony center with the ubiquitous fourth microphone and Kyle at stage left. Tina’s keyboards were between and to the rear of Dewayne and Tony. Rebecca’s position mirrored Tina’s and both girls’ equipment was on a platform raised 8 from the stage floor. Jerry was, of course, back center with his drums on an 18 platform. A large black banner was stretched across the back of the stage emblazoned with what had become their logo; large letters seemingly slapped on at crazy angles to each other, each letter in a different color, spelling Chaos.

The back of the outdoor stage was right up against the river. No more than 30 feet to the right Kalliste lay gleaming in the water, made fast to the Hilton’s dock. Inside the teens were resting and going over their set lists for the shows that night.

The rise of the rock group Chaos had been meteoric, at least on a local scale. News of their first performance at the Riverside dance had spread rapidly by word of mouth. They had done four more before the Christmas break and three private parties during it. By mid-January they were playing nightclubs and had arrived on the local music scene. Some clubs balked at first but no one could come up with a reason they couldn’t do it. They couldn’t serve or drink alcohol, but there didn’t seem to be an ordinance against the teens playing music where others did.

The largest holiday of the year in Savannah is St. Patrick’s Day and the largest and most prestigious stage to play that weekend is the Hilton. Given the group’s other commitments for the weekend they hadn’t considered playing at all before the offer came in. Indeed the teens were being paid ten times their regular rate for this weekend. The gig was considered the headline act for the entire city, even