"There it is, Charlie… Mighty Mo… the battleship USS Missouri. Isn't she beautiful?"
Looking a little intimidated, Charlie merely nodded while he took in the impressive ship. Steve smiled as he went back and forth between looking at Charlie and the road, delighted at the sight of the child being in awe of the vessel.
As Steve parked his truck, he saw a group of young boys standing together and a couple of others running to join them. Charlie had seen them too and his attention was immediately diverted to his friends. He excitedly stretched his body and neck as best as he could to see what they were doing. He didn't want to be left out. Steve unbuckled his seatbelt and reached to help Charlie who was struggling to get his undone. He had no sooner got it unlatched, when Charlie managed to get the door open and started running to join the others.
"Hey! Hey! Charlie! You forgetting something?" Steve held up the boy's backpack with one hand as he flung his own over his shoulder.
Charlie turned back to see what he had forgotten and reluctantly ran back to get his bag. "Oh, yeah, Uncle Steve, I forgot." He grabbed the bag and was off again to join his teammates.
Steve casually strolled up and put his hand out to shake hands with the coach and one of the dads who stood behind the group of boys while they awaited the arrival of the others. "Coach Maki and… don't tell me… Phillip?"
"Good memory," Phillip complimented.
Another father-son pair approached them. The junior of the two stood a couple inches taller than the other boys and bumped one of his teammates as he ran up, making his target stumble into his brother. The instigator laughed. "Sorry, Corey," he said insincerely. "Sorry, Cam."
"Hey, Tyler," most of the boys mumbled in dutiful greeting, obviously not thrilled with the new addition.
Steve narrowed his eyes in disapproval of the boy's behavior and noticed when Charlie moved a step away from the latest addition. He looked at Tyler's father to see if he would say anything about his son's behavior but wasn't surprised by the lack of a forthcoming scolding. Instead, the man remained quiet and gave a quick glance at each of the other chaperones, one at a time, through the veil of his eyelashes. His shoulders drooped as he held his hands in his pockets and displayed an air of shyness, standing back from the crowd.
"Hi, I'm Maki, the coach. I don't think we've met." Coach Maki held out his hand to greet the newcomer.
"Hey, how's it going?" he obligatorily replied with a limp handshake.
"Are you?…" Maki waited for the man to fill him in since he was used to seeing Tyler's stepfather at games.
"Jim. Tyler's dad," was the laconic reply.
"Well, Jim. It's good to meet you. Glad you could come. Think we'll have fun."
Jim attempted a smile, obviously not as enthusiastic as the others.
To end the awkward silence, Phillip turned back to Steve, "So, where's Williams? Is he not coming?".
Suddenly feeling a little self-conscious, Steve sheepishly downplayed reality, "Uh, no, I kinda volunteered."
"Well, I guess this sort of thing is right up your alley. Right, Commander?"
"Steve… please," he corrected. "Yeah, I guess so. Guess you'd say I'm just about as excited as Charlie."
"Commander?" One of the other dads questioned.
"Yeah, this is Commander McGarrett, Navy SEAL and now runs Five-0. He's here for Charlie Williams," Coach Maki explained.
"Commander, I'm Leif Troutman, Trevor's dad. I think I've seen you at some games." He shook Steve's hand.
"As many as I can. You can call me Steve."
"Sure, Steve, impressive résumé."
Charlie looked up at his Uncle Steve and beamed with pride.
Tyler's dad let his prolonged gaze fall on Steve this time. He was no longer vacillating between his sorry attempt at social etiquette and his perceived bashfulness. Once he got his fill, he let his long, thin black hair fall over one of his eyes.
"Well, I'm just an uncle for this excursion. Charlie and I have been looking forward to this. Haven't we, Charlie?"
"Yes, sir."
As others arrived and the team and its chaperones naturally separated from each other, both groups talked and laughed with anticipation as they waited for the okay to board the ship. In his peripheral vision, Steve noticed that Tyler's dad was standing back from the others and not engaging in the conversations. He furtively slid back, away from the others, to stand beside Jim. Steve widened his stance and crossed his arms as he watched the activity of the group.
"Hey, I'm Steve."
"Hey." Jim flipped his hair from covering one side of his face to the side nearer to Steve.
"So, uh, I've seen you at the games. Yes?"
"Ah, no, I haven't been able to make one yet."
"Oh, sorry, you look… I just thought I had seen you there. … Looks like the boys are excited." He released one arm to point his thumb in the direction of the group.
"Yep, it looks like it."
Another laconic reply. This was like pulling teeth. "So, has Tyler been looking forward to this as much as Charlie?"
"I guess. Look, I don't mean to be rude, but this really isn't my thing. I just wanted to spend some time with my son. I don't really get a chance to with my job, and his mom thought this would be a good time."
"Okay, sure. Well, I'm sure Tyler will appreciate it." Steve tried to hold his tongue to respect Jim's aversion to being sociable, but his curiosity won out and he pressed on. "So, what kind of work do you do, Jim?" Steve reasoned that since Jim had been the first to mention his job and that it kept him away from spending time with his son, he thought he could follow up on that.
"Hey, guys! Come on. They're hailing us to come aboard!" Coach Maki was making a broad, sweeping gesture with his whole arm to get the men to follow. Most of the boys had already taken off running. Charlie looked back at his uncle for permission.
"Go on, Charlie! It's okay!" Steve yelled out.
"Guess we better get going, too," Jim said as he bent down for his duffle and then left Steve behind without waiting for a reply.
"Guess so," Steve mumbled to himself, feeling the cold shoulder from Jim. He grabbed his bag and jogged to catch up with the others.
~~~~~H50~~~~~
A tour of the ship was the first thing on the itinerary, also called the POD, or Plan of the Day as Steve explained to Charlie. The USS Missouri's night camp administrator, Ed, who was also the team's tour guide, first went over all the guidelines and safety instructions for the duration of the camp.
"It's important to stay with your group in the areas that are set apart for the camp. If it is locked, blocked, roped off, or if it says 'Off Limits', don't go there. This is a large ship with lots of hazards and hidden dangers if you don't respect it." He pointed to a small circular hatch in the floor behind a barrier. "For example, see that? Stay away. That would be an… uncomfortable fall."
The group could tell he was downplaying possible consequences by using the understated word. Charlie's eyes grew wide and he discreetly took Steve's hand. Steve looked down and grinned at his nephew, taking pleasure in the unassuming contact. He then noticed Tyler roll his eyes and smirk at their tour guide's warning. He then elbowed the boy next to him and laughed, "That doesn't include Chubbs, here. He wouldn't be able to fit through the hole anyway." Even though a few of the boys felt obliged to smile at the remark, Tyler was the only one left laughing, but he didn't seem to care.
"Uh, respect also extends to your teammates, Tyler. Got it?" Coach Maki tried to take control. Some of the chaperones nodded in agreement or glanced at each other to gauge the others' reactions. Steve was directly across from Jim in the circle where they stood and could see him shift on his feet but didn't have an input. At this point, Steve was not surprised. He dropped his hold of Charlie's hand and sidestepped one of the boys in front of him and leaned over putting his hand on Tyler's shoulder.
"Hey, buddy. You know what? Some of us want to hear what the guide has to teach us. Why don't you stand over here next to me where you'll have a better view and maybe I can let you in on some of my personal experiences, 'kay?" While still bent over Steve deliberately looked up to get eye contact with Jim, silently asking for permission. Jim nodded.
Trying to ward off further embarrassment, Tyler relented as if he were going to be the one to benefit. "Ah, all right, if it's a better view."
Ed had another surprise for the group that didn't go over too well. "So, another thing, I've already talked with your coach about this and he's agreed. We normally recommend that no phones, devices, or anything with a screen be kept by the campers because it's a distraction to the experience. Coach Maki's going to take them up…"
A chorus of groans and "nuh-uhn"s and "ah man"s could be heard from the group.
"Sorry, guys. It's for the good of the experience and the reason we're here." Coach Maki had a corded cloth cinch sack and held it out for each of the boys. Several of the boys still didn't have a phone at such a young age and they felt unaffected. However, a couple had to pull a tablet out of their packed bags to surrender.
Once he had gotten all of the boys' devices, he moved on to the dads. "Chaperones, too." The reaction from the elder members of the group was pretty much the same as the younger ones. "Come on, it's for the experience… and it's only fair." This got the boys to smile, very pleased that they weren't the only ones that were going to be cut off from the outside world. Many excuses and reasons for exceptions flew at the coach. Ed stepped in to help.
"Look, guys, we do this all the time. We've got all of your emergency contacts and they all have my personal phone number as well as management's. It's only for sixteen hours. If there's an emergency, you'll be contacted immediately. Trust me."
All of the dads finally, but reluctantly, agreed and gave up their devices, too… except for Steve. He stood with his arms crossed over his chest and waited for this little activity to be over before they moved on, totally assuming he was exempt. He was, of course, head of Five-0 and at the beck and call of the governor.
Coach Maki stepped up to him. "Come on Steve, you too. You're here as Uncle Steve, remember? You're not Commander McGarrett, running Five-0 tonight. You're here for the fun and experience, just like the boys. You need to be an example to Charlie and the others. I've got 'cha. I'm sure your team will be fine on their own for sixteen hours. They probably won't even miss you, but if they do, I'll immediately let you know if you're needed."
Steve did want to be a good example and felt himself giving in. "Immediately?"
"Immediately. Really… don't worry."
Steve let the phone dangle above the open bag for several seconds as he thought it through one more time. Then he finally surrendered, letting it drop in with the others.
"Good choice," Maki affirmed. "You'll be glad you did."
"We'll see."
The camp administrator and tour guide, Ed, took back over, explaining the yellow bullseye signs that acted as locational references and pointing out bathrooms. He then took them to the berthing area where they'd be sleeping so they could dump their bags before moving on with the tour. At arriving at the stacked beds, Tyler took off, picking a prime spot on the lowest level, and claimed it as his own. Seeing Tyler's selection, Charlie maneuvered Steve to the farthest place from Tyler that had not yet been chosen. He also took the bottom bunk and Steve took the one above him. The bed above that was left open.
"Are you sure you don't want one of the upper beds?" Steve volunteered.
"I'm sure," Charlie answered and then hesitated before making an observation. "These beds are very close together."
"These ships had a lot of sailors on them when they were active. They had to fit them in somehow," Steve explained.
"Oh. Well, they're just really small."
"At the end of a long day, when you're really tired, you'd sleep in a gun turret if you needed to. These mattresses are thin but are actually pretty comfortable. You'll see. Come on let's get back with the others."
"Okay," Charlie said as he timorously looked back at the bunk he had left his bag on.
Ed waited for the group to finish and then they moved down the passageway where they ultimately ended up at the true starting point for the tour, the mess deck, where they'd be eating later when the tour was over. Throughout the tour, Ed found himself having to stop ever so often to allow Steve, Charlie, and another camper or two who had become enthralled with Steve's personal knowledge and stories, to catch up with the others. Ed would not-so-patiently rest both hands on his hips and either contort his face, roll his eyes, or check his watch in the futile hope of keeping on schedule. Sincerely feeling genuine contrition in the moment, Steve would try to make up for the lagging with a few "sorry"s and "my fault"s, only to find himself balancing on the balls of his feet while crouched down to point out another amazing piece of information to Charlie and any others that were interested.
After the guide half-seriously and half-sarcastically offered him the honor of directing the tour, Steve reluctantly conceded to his authority and let him run the tour at his preplanned pace, all the while thinking he could probably do a more thorough job, extra time notwithstanding. For some reason, he kept hearing "putz" in his head that sounded very much like a familiar voice, Danny's voice.
The group got to eat a filling, kid-friendly and adult-tolerated meal of breaded chicken tenders, potato wedges, and some sort of pasta with marinara, a recipe that would not be on the restaurant's menu, Steve thought to himself. Then it was time for the anticipated activities. Several hours passed of knot tying lessons and team building activities, that Steve would call games, all aptly named of course, like Shark Rescue, Man the Lifeboats, and All Aboard. This led to a bunch of tired campers, kids and adults alike, so there wasn't much complaining when the call was made to hit the racks. Once settled into their bunks, some even choosing to buckle the strap to prevent an imagined fall, the talking and giggling gradually diminished, one by one, until everything was dark and quiet.
~~~~~H50~~~~~
He wasn't sure why his eyes just opened. He hadn't been having a dream, good or bad, hadn't heard any noises, hadn't felt a movement that would cause him to wake, but he was awake now and unsettlingly alert in that he didn't feel sleepy, but his mind was still a little fuzzy. He lay there for a moment to fully remember where he was and once that quickly came back to him, he recounted the events from the evening. A quick glance at his watch told him it was early morning. Everything was dark except for the dim safety lights glowing near the floor. Steve raised up on his elbow and used the minimal light to look around. Everyone was asleep. He heard snoring coming from more than one source near him, but he couldn't tell from where or whom.
Grabbing the edge of his bed, he peeped under his berth to check on Charlie. He saw the crumpled mess of the blanket that Charlie would be snuggled under and Steve smiled and pulled himself back up. Then a gnawing inside him caused him to inspect the lower bunk again. He was right. The bed was empty. He immediately jumped to the ground and pulled Charlie's blanket back to make sure he wasn't seeing things… no Charlie.
"Charlie?" He whispered as he looked around in his general vicinity. He, for the most part, was only greeted with a chorus of varying volumes of snoring. Trevor, however, who was in the bunk across from him, had heard Steve's whisper.
"Are you looking for Charlie?"
Steve spun to see the boy not bothering to budge. He was almost entirely cocooned in the comfort of his blankets; only his closed eyes and nose were showing.
"Yeah, Trevor. Do you know where he is?" he quietly asked, careful not to awaken the others.
"He had to take a whiz," Trevor drowsily spoke aloud, not caring if he awoke anyone else.
"'kay. Thanks." The safety lights that glowed near the floor gave Steve enough light to see where he was going, but he was wishing he had his phone in case he needed some additional light. Rules are rules. He would have to make due with what he had. As he silently crept between the other beds in his bare feet, he passed another empty bunk… Tyler's.
~to be continued~
\,,,/
