So school starts on Monday and not only am I taking a full load but I am also working full time. I know, I'm insane. With that said, I will finish this story, it just might take me a little bit more time, but I'm not sure if I will be able to write anymore for a while. If I can, I will and I do have some good ideas rolling around that will fit nicely into the Lexi Chronicles. Thank you all for the great reviews, they mean so much and I'm so happy that you are enjoying the story.
Seattle was cold. Seattle was rainy. Seattle was lonely. It had been a week since I'd left Dutch Harbor. A week since the men in my life had left to crab fish the Bering Sea. It had been a quiet week. I hadn't heard from my father, my friend or my boyfriend since the day of my return to Washington. I knew that they were busy and I knew that my calling them just proved that I was lonely and I didn't want any of them to worry about me while they were risking their lives. I tried my hardest to put off thoughts of them and their well being but I found myself constantly stopping and thinking about what they were doing and how they were faring.
I was sitting in the kitchen, enjoying a cup of coffee and a couple Pop Tarts when the phone on the far wall started ringing. I jumped up and hurriedly made a grab for the device. "Hello," I said, my voice laced with excitement. However, when I heard the female voice on the other end say my name, the giddiness I had been feeling quickly ebbed away. "Hey Devyn, what's up?"
"I was just wondering if you'd heard from Josh." Her tone sounded thick, like she had been crying.
'Oh great,' I thought to myself. She'd been a staple in my life over the past week. She'd call everyday and ask me the same thing, 'if I'd heard from Josh,' and everyday I'd have to break her heart just a little more by saying no. I sort of understood where Devyn was coming from. I missed Crosby so I could only imagine how much she was missing Josh. I was used to this life, however, and so I dealt with it better than she obviously did. "No Devyn, I haven't heard from him. If it makes you feel better I haven't heard from my family or Crosby either. The start of the season is always busy, hell the entire season is busy, just give it time, I promise, it all gets easier."
I heard her sigh and then sniffle on the other end of the line. "Thanks, I just thought I'd ask. If you hear from him will you make sure to tell him I want to talk to him?"
"Of course I will tell him but you won't have to rely on my message since he'll probably call you before he gets in contact with me. He misses you Devyn, he does, you just need to be patient." I was trying to be outwardly nice to her but inwardly I was getting ready to throttle the chick. I guess I needed to take my own advice and just be patient. However, I was only being a 'friend' to her because Josh asked me to, not because I enjoyed her incessant whining.
"I know but it's so hard. I've never had to deal with a long-distance thing before. I didn't realize it would be this difficult and this painful." Devyn said, the whining in her voice held to a minimum, thankfully.
I felt for the girl, I really did. I knew how hard it could be, how hard it was, to deal with the no phone calls and the long sleepless nights of worrying. I also knew that there really wasn't anything I could do or say that would make her feel better or make it easier on her. "All we can do is take it one day at a time. Also, what helps is getting yourself into a routine. Find something you enjoy doing or if you have a job, throw yourself into it. Just anything that will help take your mind of what they are doing and the fact that they aren't calling. There is a group of us that meets on a regular basis, a few of the wives and girlfriends that deal with what we deal with. It helps, some, but it's nice to make new friends."
She sighed, again, and I could almost hear her shrug her shoulders in defeat. "Yeah, okay, well maybe. I'll have to get back to you. Again, if you hear from him, please let me know. I guess I'll talk to you later. Bye Lexi."
I listened to the dial tone for a few seconds before replacing the handset on the base. I was used to dealing with my own problems, not dealing with someone else's. I shook my head and was about to turn back to my breakfast when the phone shrilled at me again. "Hello," My fingers were crossed that it wasn't Devyn.
"Hey kiddo, how are things?" I smiled as I listened to my dad question me. "Is everything still in working order? You haven't blown up the house or the car yet, right?"
I giggled, "Everything is fine. Everything is just how you left it. I should be asking you how things are with your crew. Did Edgar kill Brandon yet?"
I could sense my dad rolling his eyes, "Oh god, those two are driving me insane. I told Brandon I was staying out of it but that doesn't stop him from coming into my fucking wheelhouse with his laundry list of complaints. And Edgar, I shouldn't even get started on him or I'll have you on the phone for hours. I knew that Edgar wanted to prove some sort of fucking point with Brandon but I'm afraid that he might be taking it a bit too far, as Edgar sometimes does. He assures me though that he'll only push Brandon until he breaks and then he'll back off. I'm inclined not to believe him though as he seems to get some sort of sick pleasure out of the torturing process."
I smiled, it was good to hear my dad's voice even if it was just complaints. "Well, Edgar will be Edgar and we can't change that. Just don't let him push Brandon overboard or anything. I would like to have him back in one piece so I can have my brother around again. Oh, if you happen to talk to Phil will you please tell him to tell his son to call his girlfriend. I can't take the phone calls anymore. It has become an everyday occurrence and the girl is driving me crazy."
"I am not going to get involved in whatever that is but if I remember I can tell Phil." My dad got quiet and for a minute I thought I'd lost the connection, then I heard him breath. "Lexi, don't get too attached to Brandon just yet, okay. There aren't any guarantees that he'll make it back to Seattle."
"What do you mean? Of course he's coming back to Seattle." I was a bit confused.
"I just don't want you to get your hopes up and then have him bail on you again. He may not make it through the entire season and he just may take off to god knows where. I just want you to prepare yourself if that happens. I don't want to see him hurt you again." The concern in my dad's voice made my eyes water slightly.
"I want so badly to have faith in him though. I want him to want to be a part of the family again." I tried to hide the emotion that saturated my voice. "I just want everything to be normal again, at least as normal as it can be for us."
"I know you do Lex and it will all be that way, someday. Besides, you've got me and Edgar and Norman, what else do you need in life?" My dad said.
I laughed, loudly. "You're right, I need nothing else except maybe a straight jacket and a few crazy pills. You three would drive me into the looney bin and you know it, and I'm pretty sure that Edgar would enjoy doing it just so he could say that he drove his niece crazy, literally."
My dad guffawed and the sound of it made me smile. "He would get a kick out of that wouldn't he? I'll have to tell him you said that. Oh, Junior told me to tell you hello and that he misses you and that when he gets back he'll teach you to skateboard like he promised or something like that. I don't exactly remember what he said and I don't really care." I heard muffled voices and scuffling in the background. "Edgar apparently wants to talk to you," More noise and then the sound of the phone changing hands. "You just had to talk your father into letting your brother on the boat, didn't you?"
"Well hello to you too. How are you doing Edgar? Have you tortured any deckhands lately?" I said sarcastically.
He scoffed at me, "Don't be a smartass. You're way too much like me when you say things like that. I have to say, having your brother on board has been highly amusing for me, oh except for the small fact that he talks back to me and I want to rip his lips from his face. I don't remember him being so blatantly disrespectful before he joined the Navy. I thought the Navy was supposed to teach you how to treat your superiors with respect and dignity? Maybe he missed the day where they taught him that. Who the fuck knows, I just know that if he doesn't get his act together, I'm going to throw him off the boat."
I smiled at my uncle's misery but tried to keep the giddiness from leaking to my voice. "Just remember that you took it upon yourself to make him miserable, or as you put it, make his life a living hell. You didn't honestly think that he'd just take it did you? He knows that you're the boss but he's going to have a hard time looking at you in that way and not as his uncle who has a grudge to settle. You could always go easier on him, give him a little bit of wiggle room and maybe stop breathing down his neck so much."
"Or I could just kick him off the boat. I mean really, it wouldn't be hard for me to fire him and hell, we could find a better replacement, anyone would be better. I could scare another greenhorn. I can't scare Brandon and that bugs me." Edgar sounded angry and frustrated but there was a hint of amusement to his voice.
I shook my head, even though he couldn't hear that. "It may not be as easy as you thought it would be to break him. He may be stronger than you think."
"Ha, he's still Brandon. That boy has always had buttons, I just need to figure out what his current ones are and push them until he can't stand it anymore. I will find a way to break him and he will cry like the little girl he is." An evil overtone took over Edgar's words.
"Whatever," I did not want to be party to whatever nasty things Edgar had in store for Brandon. My cellphone, which was sitting on the counter near my purse, started to vibrate violently. "Edgar, I have to go but I miss you tons and tons and tell dad I love him and miss him too. I will talk to you later and we can continue talking about your wicked and sadistic attempts to destroy Brandon's will to live."
He snorted, "Sounds like a plan. Take care of yourself Lex, okay? Bye Kid."
I quickly made a grab for the other ringing machine and managed to answer it in the nick of time. "Hello," I said breathlessly.
"What took you so long to answer and why was your other phone busy?" Josh said impatiently. "It's not like I have all the time in the world."
"It is not my fault everyone seems to want to talk to me today. You are the third person to call in the last half hour, so get off my back. Have you called your girlfriend yet?" I asked before I forgot.
"No, I called you. Is it bad that I don't really want to talk to her?" Josh asked.
I took a deep breath and sighed. "Please don't put me in the middle Josh. I don't want to play mediator with the two of you. Why don't you want to talk to her?" I couldn't help but ask, my curiosity getting the better of me.
"I've never had to deal with having a whiny girlfriend before. I don't know how to handle it. You just dealt with my leaving, you didn't try to talk me out of it, you didn't tell me over and over again how much you wanted me to come home and how you weren't sure you'd be able to make it through the duration of the time alone. I've called her once Lexi and I got an earful. I can't deal with that every day, it will drive me absolutely nuts." All of his words seemed to come out as one and I it took me a second to decipher.
"She hasn't had to deal with having a long-distance relationship or a boyfriend who has such a scary job. Give her some time, she'll come around, at least I hope." I said hoping my words would ease his anxiety.
He was quiet, then, "I guess. I don't know, she doesn't really seem like the type of girl that will ever be able to handle my lifestyle or my job. Not like you always handled it."
Oh good, now he was comparing me to his current girl, this couldn't be good. "Josh, I was used to people I cared about leaving by the time you and I even started dating. Just because I handled it well on the outside, didn't mean that it didn't bother me and that it didn't hurt to have you gone. I just knew from experience what to say to you and what to let you believe. The last thing I wanted was for you to worry and to get hurt."
"See, that's exactly it. You got it. She doesn't get it and I'm not sure that she ever will." Josh said, exasperated. "I want it to be drama free, no complications, just easy. But I'm asking for too much, right?"
I let out a light giggle, "We all want relationships like that Josh but you know as well as I do that they aren't that easy. If you really want to be with the girl, then you will just have to be patient with her. You're going to have to play the role of comforter and the role of crab fisher all in one. Just don't burst a blood vessel doing both. You are so patient and so good with so many just put her on that list. It can only work if you want it too."
I heard him groan, "You need to stop making sense and tell me what I want to hear. But you're right, I'll keep trying."
"That's my boy. I really need to finish my breakfast and you really need to call Devyn. Try to keep things light, no need to be deep with you so far away. Tell her you miss her and that you're thinking about her. It will make her feel better and it will make things easier." I reached across the table and picked up my half-empty cup of coffee, wrinkling my nose at its cold contents. "I miss you buddy, and be safe and careful. I will talk to you later." I snapped my cell shut and dumped the liquid down the drain.
The Bering Sea rocked the boat brutally. Brandon struggled to maintain his footing and balance as the boat pitched back and forth. He was standing at his bait station, filling bag after bag of smelly, chopped up herring. It wasn't a glamorous job by any means, but nothing on this boat was glamorous. He had to admit that crab fishing in Alaska was a lot harder than anything the Navy had thrown at him in his five years. He had a bit more respect for the men that did this as their way of life and he had more respect for his father and his uncles. They'd been doing this for as long as he could remember and he never knew just how hard or dangerous it truly was.
His mind was drifting in and out of reality as his body struggled to keep up with the demands that were being thrown his way. He was numb from head to toe but what he could feel hurt. It hurt like he'd never hurt before. He was wet. He was cold. He was hungry. He was tired. He just wanted to curl up in his bunk and sleep, sleep for days. There was no rest for the weary, however, and the only sense of peace and sanity that Brandon would muster was escaping into his head, into his daydreams. He was in the middle of a particularly nice one when Edgar's angry voice broke through and dissipated the fantasy. Brandon turned to look at his uncle, "What did you just say?"
"If you'd get your fucking head out of the clouds and back onto the boat where it belonged I wouldn't have to repeat myself with you all the time. I said, get over here with that bait now, we're waiting of you." Edgar snapped his fingers and pointed to the waiting pot.
Brandon grabbed for the bait and went about his lowly duty of climbing into and out of the steel cage. The constant in and out movement was causing Brandon's arms to ache and his shoulders to give out under the weight of his body. No matter how fast he moved, he was constantly being told to move faster. If he walked to the bait station, he was told to run. If he ran to the empty pot, he was told to run faster. It never failed. No matter what he did he was doing it wrong. Edgar was always there, right in his ear telling him what it was that he was doing wrong. It's like he got some sick pleasure out of the torture. Brandon glanced over at Jake and Edgar laughing at some secret joke between them. Edgar smiled and Jake grinned and then Edgar put his arm around the younger man. Brandon had, at one time, that same kind of relationship with his uncle, but leaving had caused so much tension and a void that he wasn't sure could ever be crossed. Yet, Brandon yearned for the older man's praise and acceptance. However, his stubborn Hansen-ness seemed to get in the way. He was defiant with Edgar. He talked back to Edgar. He did everything in his power to piss off the deck boss at, what seemed to be, no cost. Brandon knew that if he wanted to get back into the good graces of his father and his uncle he'd have to straighten up and start doing what he was told. Just as he was thinking he needed to change his ways, a crab leg came flying out of nowhere to smack him in the back of the head. Brandon whirled around, not quite sure if this was done in a joking manner or if it was meant to hurt. Seeing the smug look on Edgar's face told him it was the latter and all thoughts of changing escaped his mind. His hands started to ball themselves into fists and his nostrils flared as he locked onto the menacing glance of his uncle. "I don't think that there was any call for that. I've been doing my job and doing everything you have told me to. Maybe it's time for you to back off and just let me adjust some." Brandon's heart was beating fast and the anger he was feeling was starting to bubble towards the surface.
Edgar, who had thrown the crab leg to get a rise out of the younger man, just stared back. "I'm pretty sure I'm still the boss around here and you'll do what I tell you to do and you'll do it just as I tell you to do it. Also, I'll let you know when you're doing your job up to my standards and right now you are way off the mark. We have no room for cockiness on this boat and we have no room for little boys who run off when things get tough. Get back to your bait station and start getting a jump on it for the next string. We have many more pots to run through and we are a long way from this being over."
Brandon bit back his words. He knew that now was not the time, no matter how perturbed he was. He'd wait until a more opportune time came along and then he'd show the 'boss' just who he was messing with.
