Chapter Five
The pair climbed on board and made their way to an empty seat in the third car, and last waves goodbye were made through the big picture window in the middle of the two seats which were facing each other. Julsey almost looked apprehensive for a second. “Okay?” Sky asked.... She hesitated, then affirmed “Yussss, Just thinking that besides camp in Hopatcong -nd trips to The Gap n- Hudson Province to see my aunt, this is the first time I'm going away from home, I mean really going away, -nd first time that's my idea to go off anywhere.” She confessed. “So, ur a big girl now, yo. It’ll be aha-ight.” He smiled at her, and took her hand. “No one 'spects to wind up sideby with anyone overnight. Just is what it is. I know you'll miss your mom and dad, Julesy, but I gotta ride this rail and go even further north over next few weeks settin' pens for the salmon. You come with me 'sted of Lawrence when I do that. We can stop home here and visit, alright? Take your time n-see, this 'ill be straight, yo.”
Hearing that lifted her spirits. She was happy and excited but there was also a hint of melancholy at leaving. Both these two were close to their parents, and as independent as they were they wanted that home connection and relationship with their folks. and weren't intending to lose that. It was something which helped define them. The two made their transfer to the much faster train that hit 140 kph on the way to his home province. The new Shoreline rail was high speed, new track with a long bridge over the Raritan and the open water and marshes that led to Red Bank Island. When the train pulled into the station in Red Bank he grabbed the two biggest bags and she the smaller two, and they exited the train. Julsey recognized Sk'lars mother from the skype call, and called out to her. “Ms. Duncan!” Lynn's eyes connected with hers and a huge smile filled her face. She was upon the two like a bird of prey, hugging, squeezing hands, kissing; you would of thought she hadn't seen her son in years the way she was acting, but she was actually very nervous about meeting Julsey and wanted everything to be perfect, and was stressing over that horribly.
Their family had a bigger truck than most people, it had to be big enough to bring their catch to market, and Lynn had let her neighbor take their small personal transport vehicle to hospital for a check-up, so this was it. “Your father comes in 'bout dusk, should be full up; needs 'ya, eh?” Lynn said. “ It's 'bout time for the traps south of Ambrose, I got his back, yo.” That was all Lynn needed to hear. “We got a little while, let's go. Let's hang here a sec then you can see my place and you can settle in.” He suggested. “Cool, that's straight” she said, and after he allowed his mother some access to her he took her to his home on Navesink Island.
His dog, Orion, who had been patiently waiting for his master, took right to her, and rode on her lap the whole way to back to Sky's. Julsey liked getting acquainted with everything, and for the quick tour of his childhood home by his mom. It was a nice first stop. Sk'lar has a very nice vehicle, it was very utility minded. She like the hills mixed with inlets and shoreline. As they rounded the stand of white birch along the driveway she fell in love with his place, pretty much as soon as she laid eyes on it. It was made of old iron bog red stone and had four hundred year old stained glass. They unloaded and went inside, and he saw the note from Lawrence. It said that he had gone to work on salmon pens and would be working 'til dark, so he gave her a tour of the place and showed her his workspace, and explained basics of the projects he was working on. Since sea level rise had ceased and had actually reversed a little over the past few years water provinces had actually been finally starting to redevelop and repopulate the shore areas again, and he had drafted plans for large scale aquatic farming throughout the region. Julsey was interested in some sketches and plans he had for marine plantlife projects she came across, but he was more into fisheries and the zoology aspects of marine life, and most of his focus would remain that way.
“Why ain't cha done anything with this stuff?” she asked seeing that the plans she saw were just conceptual while others were in full gear. “I just don't have the time to study or put any effort into it. I know Atlantic Province south of here is working on large scale salt tolerant cranberry bogs, n- I've been asked to help, yo, but it's not my expertise, and some of it I'm lost in.” Right off the bat she saw where her expertise in plant life was a compliment to his in marine biology and zoology. After Sk'lar finished giving her a tour, she smiled a come hither smile and he responded by putting his arms around the small of her waist. “So, think you like this here, seriously?” he asked. “Yussssss...” she said leaning into him lifting her chin to reach for a kiss. “this is all so beautiful, I feel very comfortable here.”
He picked her up and carried her to his bedroom, which overlooked the Navesink Bay. He had been as celibate as a monk for the last five months, with one exception at a beach party with someone who was simply a friend. He always loved the act of lovemaking, but never knew passion or desire like this, like what he felt for her. Julsey, too, never felt a physical yearning for anyone before like this. Sexual climax with other before had seemed like work, fun work, but work nevertheless. It didn't feel like something that made her feel as complete as what this between them had. They made love twice then jumped in his hot tub and dried off. As they sat drying wrapped in oversized towels they both seemed to know when to enjoy just the simple silence, there wasn't an insecure need to just keep talking to justify being with each other. They didn't need words to communicate, and this was natural between them and was as refined as if they have been together their entire life.
“You, let's ride” he said finally getting up and starting to put on his clothes. She also started rising a moment after him but a little bit before he had made the suggested course of action, as if they had with the same thought at the same time. They rode the small electric car to his father's dock. He could see his Al rounding the sand spit which served as a breakwater against the open Atlantic, and began as he had time and time before clearing the dock to sort lobster, spider crab, and fish as they offloaded. He made ready to size and store them in the cooler at the foot of the dock. Jer, Jerry McCann, the owner of a small restaurant on the Island, was waiting as well. He liked to hand pick catch for his menu.
Al pulled in past the stone and rubble breakwater and alongside the dock, both Sk'lar and Jer jumping on board and tying bow and stern lines off, then throwing the heavier lines already on the boat onto dock to have as insurance. The 20 meter boat gently bounced off the fenders as they started with a quickness to offload the recycled plastic crates, and each crate was sorted and resorted until they were full and the fish and crab were iced and stacked in the cold storage room, and lobsters were thrown into the giant live tank. Alexander Duncan was close enough to capacity to make the drive to town tomorrow. He wou;d email his vendors tonight.
Julsey picked up on what the men, who operated like a precise machine, were doing and didn't miss a beat. The crates were color coded and she didn't even have to be told hpw to sort, she just observed and copied. She saw that when they were closed that they were done, and just stacked them where they belonged. The only thing she needed to be told and shown what to do was weigh them, press a button for the bar coder to spit out a label with date and time stamp and weight of crate, and type of catch, and slap it on top of the crate. She had that down in one take. The off load and breakdown lasted about an hour. It was fast work, but fun.
“Ayeee, not bad thera yung miss. Preich the help betcha, looks like you got 'sperience wit dis kinda work. Dun good, waaay....” was all Al said as he shut the cooler door. “Ha-vasts seemin betta all the time. New bait bags seems like they're charmed there, eh? Pots got ten ta twenty pacent more, eh. Coolness Sky, ya dun good.”
Sk'lar had formulated new bait bags designed to attract lobster, and lobster catch was up 25%, crab about 15%, and fish that make their way into the pots about 5%. With fuel efficiency refinements he added to the fuel portion of the hybrid drive liquid fuel costs had dropped by 10% as well. Between lowering overhead, savings on operationa
l costs, marketing smarter and increasing catch, the business was 40% more profitable since he was 15 and started tweaking and making modifications as to how the Duncans did business on the water.
Al had actually heard of Marcus and knew him by reputation, even had one of the pumps he restored, and that pump was in use in the livetank. Years ago, when catch was still poor, Al's great-grandfather was the first on the Atlantic Seaboard to keep lobster, crab, and fish in livewells, especially if they were pregnant, then allow them to spawn before harvesting them. The results of his modifications of operations had come fast, and now there was more and more marine life everywhere as a result. A few native species were gone, extinct or very scarce, replaced by invasive species which had taken over, but most were still around, and thriving, and now uniquely evolved for the region and the ecosystem of the area had found a new balance, new homeostasis, like nature often does.
When the catch had been offloaded and boat secured for the night, they went back to Al and Lynn's for dinner. Although it was a common dish for the family, Lynn made broiled lobster and white clam sauce over whole grain pasta for dinner. She shooed her husband to the bathroom to shower like she always had to. He would sit there and eat so used to the smell of seafood on him like colonge that he was oblivious to how it reeked. After Al had cleaned up they sat down for dinner. The two men attacked lobster like they had been starving, using their hands to crack claw and shell and dipping the meat in a white cream dill butter sauce before lifting their heads like hatchlings being fed by a regurgitating mamma bird. This was raw maleness, them eating like starving vulture chicks. Their table mannerisms were virtually identical when it came to lobster and crab, and as Jules watched in amazement Lynn just put her right hand on her left and said. “It doesn't get any worse than that, don't worry. If it did I'd of knocked 'em both in the head and thrown 'em in the bay long ago by now, eh...” Julsey smiled, feeling the same kind of connection to his parents as Sk'lar had found with hers.
After an evening of getting acquainted, Sky took Jules down to the dock and took her out in his old launch. Both men had a compulsion to restore old boats and keep them around. He brought her to the sand spit three miles to the east, and they built a fire on the beach and spent a romantic night just below the dunes, lost in the endless expanse of the stars of the night sky and each other. They had awoken and were making love as the sun rose, and as he was bringing her to ecstasy yet again they climaxed yet again just as the first ray of sunlight has shown over the horizon. This was not the most beautiful dawn sky she had ever seen, but it would be one of the most memorable of her life.