Mañana - A Better Day

"Emily! You're late for work! Again! This is unacceptable!" Sloan said loudly.

"You're right! It is!" Emily said, raising the knife to point at him, "Let's go see your father!"

"Are you crazy?!" Sloan yelled as she stepped towards him.

"Is that a good thing to be asking the hysterical woman with the knife? Come along you perverted sick pig before I decide to kill you." Emily said joyfully, pulling him onto the elevator.

"O...okay! Just don't hurt me! I...I'm sorry! For everything! Really, I am!" Sloan groveled as she held him by the back of his arm with her knife pointing at him.

"Lying son of a bitch." Emil said flatly as they road the elevator all the way to floor thirty.

They got off and walked down the hall towards the CEO's office. Sloan opened the door, ushered on by Emily behind him with her knife.

"What is the meaning of this interruption?" The CEO asked as they entered.

"Ummm...dad! She's got a knife! It's almost stabbing me in the back!" Sloan stuttered, his hands clasped on top of his head.

"What? Okay! Okay! What do you want? Don't hurt my boy, what do you want?" The CEO asked hurriedly.

"You to know what having such a perverted son running around this company does to it's employees. His sickening nature has helped push me over the edge. Don't worry. I don't blame you. That's my mother. She's the one who caused all of this." Emily said, shockingly calm.

"Okay! So what do you want then?" The CEO said quickly.

"I'm just here to tell you I resign sir. You can clean my desk out and whatever else it is you do when you fire someone." Emily said politely.

"Umm...okay..." The CEO said, swallowing nervously.

"You have a nice day sir, I'm going to live on my uncle's beach front property now." Emily said, letting go of Sloan, "You punish this thing for being so disgusting."

Emily turned and left, walking back to the elevator and clicking the button. She waited calmly until it opened. There were a few people on it and she got on quietly, knife in her hand. The other people quickly got off as she packed the knife away in her suitcase again.

Through either a miracle or The CEO's fear, Emily walked out the front door without security coming after her. She hailed a cab, loaded her suitcase and got in.

"Airport please. I've got a flight at one pm." Emily said, fishing her wallet out of her backpack.

"Alright then ma'am." The cabbie said, starting down the street slowly.

*******

Emily got to the airport around eleven and stopped for lunch in the cafeteria. After a rather average burger and fries, she found her gate and boarded her plane an hour before take-off. As she stuffed her backpack into the luggage rack, she sat down in her seat.

As she smiled and sat back, she realized everything she just did. Arson. Assault. Threatening with a deadly weapon. It's a good thing that she was possibly leaving the country. Hopefully this island was outside the US.

*******

CHAPTER 2 - INCOMMUNICADO

About half way through the flight, Emily looked up and noticed a man in a baseball cap walking by her. It took her a moment to realize that it was the man who had delivered the will and had made that strange comment.

"Hey! It's you!" Emily said, turning around in her seat to look at the man.

He was already through the door to the next section of the plane. Emily sighed and sat back down properly.

"Someone you know?" The woman sitting next to her asked.

"Nah...just someone who...well it really doesn't matter. He might just be taking the same flight." Emily shrugged.

"Okay then." The woman said.

Emily leaned back and closed her eyes. Flying didn't really bother her. It was just an immense bore.

*******

The plane had landed and they had already disembarked. Emily was sitting in front of the bag carousels on a bench, waiting for her bag to show up.

"Flight number 327 from New York at carousel six." An announcement called.

Carousel six turned on and started to spin. Emily got to her feet and joined the crowd that's was growing around number six. It took another ten minutes for her bag to come around and she hefted it off the carousel.

"Awful lot of luggage you have there." A man said behind Emily.

"Well I'm moving." Emily said, "Kinda gave up my life back home. Couldn't...it's you! I knew I saw you on the plane!"

She had turned around to see the man in the baseball cap. He smiled and stepped up next to her. The man pulled the cap off his head and shook out his long white-blond hair behind him. He folded the hat and shoved it in one of the lower pockets of his shorts.

"Well I'm also your flight to Isle De Margarita." The man said.

"Really? And how did you know I would be flying today?" Emily asked.

"I followed you. Not that difficult really." The man said.

"Okay, that's not creepy at all. So why do I need a flight to Isle De Margarita from you?" Emily asked.

"I'm the only one who really does flights in and out of there. I mean, sure some other people will for a price, but I'll do it for free. It's where your boat and land is." The man said.

"You looked at the will." Emily said flatly, "Why would you fly me for free?"

"Well I'm flying your plane, so naturally it should be free." The man grinned.

"My plane? How...why are you flying my plane?" Emily asked hurriedly.

"Because I've been flying it for years." The man said.

He was about to say something else when Emily's phone rang. Emily sighed and looked at it. It was, as she expected, her mother. She had turned it back on out of habit when she got off the plane. Taking a breath, she picked up the phone.

"Oh my god honey! You're alright! Thank god. I've been so worried about you! I went to your apartment and found it burning to the ground! The firemen didn't know if there was anyone in your apartment and so I rushed down to your work! They said you threatened people with a knife and then quit your job! Honey! Are you crazy?! What are you doing? You've ruined your life!" Her mother screamed loudly.

"Mother! I'm in Key West and I'm going to live on a beach! Leave me alone!" Emily yelled.

"Let me see the phone." The man held out his hand.

"I'm not giving you my phone!" Emily hissed over her mother's screams.

The man snatched out and grabbed the phone out of her hand.

"Hey sis, it's Leo. How're you doing?" The man said and Emily's jaw dropped.

"What the hell? You're my uncle Leo?! What the crap?" Emily said.

"Yea, yea. No sis, I'm not dead. Oh good, I was worried you wouldn't be happy about my death. Yea, I know forging a will is against the law. It wasn't real. Come on. Oh lay off your daughter. From what I've heard, you've dominated her life for years. Let her live how she wants. Oh shut up sis. Bye bye!" Leo said, hanging up, "Here we go."

He pulled the battery out of the flip phone and then he snapped it in half and tossed it in a nearby trash.

"What the hell? You just broke my phone in half!" Emily yelled, walking after Leo as he headed for the exit.

"That was a connection to your previous life. You don't want it. Plus I know your mother. She would just keep calling you." Leo chuckled, "Come on. My plane is down by the docks."

"Why all this death crap? Why didn't you just come ask me to live with you?" Emily asked in annoyance.

"I wasn't sure you would come if I just asked. So I offered free stuff." Leo chuckled, "Oh and I wanted to mess with Jan."

"So I don't get a beach house or a boat?" Emily sighed, "Knew it was too good to be true."

"Oh no, you still get my boat and my beach house. You just have to live with me there whenever I come back." Leo said, "My job is flying around the Caribbean to deliver things and people to different islands. I run a cheap water skipper service."

"Okay. So what's this island like?" Emily asked, hurrying after Leo as he walked out the door.

"Paradise. Me and My friend Jim own the island. Well he owns it. I just helped found it when he bought it." Leo explained as he waved to a taxi outside.

"Umm...would this island happen to be out of the country?" Emily asked quietly.

"Well it was originally owned by the government of Cuba as a banana and pineapple plantation, but we've long since declared ourselves as our own country. So, yea, it's outside the country. Why? Hoping to try some dope or something?" Leo asked with a nudge as they climbed in the taxi, "The main docks please."

"Gotcha." The cabbie nodded.

"No..." Emily lowered her voice to a whisper, "I might've...burned my apartment to the ground and...threatened my boss with a rather large knife. Well I kinda threatened a lot of people. That job was driving me nuts."

"Didn't go kill anyone did you?" Leo asked.

"Well...I mean...I burned down my apartment. Someone might've died." Emily toyed with the edge of her shirt nervously.

"Oh but you didn't mean to so what's the issue? As long as you're not a crazed murderer, we at Isle De Margarita will accept you." Leo chuckled as he put an arm around her shoulder, "And I'm glad you're not killing yourself with stress anymore."

"So how did you find out how bad it's been for me? Have you just been stalking me?" Emily asked as she looked up at him.

"Nah, nothing that creepy. I talk to my sister occasionally and I hear about you from her every time. When she says 'Succeeding' I hear working your ass off. When she says 'Working Hard' I hear stressed to arson and assault." Leo chuckled, nudging Emily jokingly.

"So you hear it from mom. That makes sense since she was the one who's shoved me into this whole mess." Emily sighed, "You know what I wanted to be? Marine Biologist. I wanted to swim in the ocean and study the sea life there."

"So that's why you're so eager to come with me." Leo chuckled, "Well you will have to have a job on the island if you want to eat and put gas in your boat or scooter."

"Scooter?" Emily asked.

"Well sure you could walk everywhere on the island, but that's not as much fun as the little scooter I have there." Leo said, "Also it is a bit of a walk from the main marina and the bar on the northern shore to my little house on the southern shore. Probably a good two miles."

"How big is this island?" Emily asked curiously as the taxi turned down into the Key West Marina.

"It's about sixty square miles or something like that. It's got a nice big harbor about a mile across cut from one side of the island as if Mother Nature herself just scooped it out with a spoon." Leo said, "Can you get this? I don't have my money on me."

"Oh thanks." Emily groaned and she paid the cabbie.

She hefted her suitcase out if the cab and pulled it along behind her as they walked. Leo started to whistle as they headed down to the long docks of the Key West Marina.

"So where's this boat of mine?" Emily asked.

"Anchored off the north shore of Isle De Margarita." Leo said simply before he continued his whistling.

"You have nice private docks there or something?" Emily continued to ask him questions.

"Nope." Leo hummed.

"Don't you worry about the boat then? What if someone breaks into it or it gets carried away in a storm?" Emily said quickly.

"Oh I can see this is going to be more convoluted than I had hoped. Look, the boat is anchored in a sheltered bay and there's nobody on the island who would want to steal an old sailor's hammock and fishing pole." Leo said in annoyance, "Honey, you've got to learn to lighten up. Give life a chance to just carry you where it will without worry."

"Sorry. I'm just thinking sensibly." Emily mumbled.

"You're thinking like a great big busy body. Loosen up! Let the world pass you by and just live how you will!" Leo groaned, "Alright. There's my plane. The Island Hopper."

"What kind of a plane is that! It's so big to be just bobbing in the water like that!" Emily exclaimed, seeing the plain he was talking about.

It was a large bellied white plane with a wide wing span and two hefty propeller engines. The pilot's seat seemed to be set up so high with how the plane sat in the water. The wings each had a large bouy jutting down from them and into the water to keep the plane from tilting too far in rough water. The plane was a clean white with a bright orange pinstripe leading from the nose of the plane back to the tail. The dock they were on went under the wing of the plane, giving them an easy access to the rear door.

"It's an old military Albatross. They used these in the navy because they could carry a lot of cargo and still land in the water. I use it for cargo delivery to make money and bring supplies to the island." Leo explained as they headed down the dock towards it.

Leo looked down at the suitcase she was pulling and sighed. He would have to rid her of that soon if she was going to survive. She didn't need all these amenities that connected her to a life of stress and torture. He thought for a moment and considered throwing it off into the bay. But that wouldn't do. It wouldn't give her enough of a message.

"Come on, get in." Leo said, pushing the back door open.

"Trusting guy, aren't you? Just leave a plane unlocked." Emily chuckled as she stepped carefully off the dock and into the plane.

She tugged her suitcase through the door with her and set it against the wall in the back of the plane. She slipped her backpack off her back and set it with the suitcase.

"Who's going to manage to steal an Albatross? Really? There's like twenty people in this entire state that could fly one of these. I mean getting these things to start is a trick in itself." Leo said, closing the rear door tightly with a twist of the large handle.

"I thought most of these planes just started with a click of a button." Emily said.

"Well, with the proper fuel mixture and the right fuel rate, sure. But getting them off the water itself is another challenge. You see when somethings in the water, it doesn't want to leave that easily. Ever try to pull an inner tube out of the water? Imagine that on a plane size scale." Leo said, "Too much height on the flaps and it just sticks to the water and not enough height will just leave you skipping along."

"Okay, okay. Fine. They're not that easy. Let's go." Emily said, walking up to the pilot seats.

"Other seat honey. I sit on the right." Leo said when she moved to sit down.

"Alright. So you just flew up here to get me?" Emily asked, looking into the back of the nearly empty plane.

The plane only had a small box, a cooler and her luggage. She raised an eyebrow and looked back at him.

"Pretty much. It's not a bad flight all in all." Leo said loudly over the increasing noise of the engines.

"Is it going to be this loud the whole time?" Emily had to yell for him to hear.

"Just wait a moment!" Leo yelled as he pulled back slowly, "Here we go!"

They slowly took off from the water, leaving the docks behind them quickly. Emily gasped as the sight of the water falling below them. There was something so different about being on such a smaller plane and taking off from the water.

"Alright. Here we go." Leo said, digging through a box on the right of his seat, "Here we go. Bob Marley. Good stuff."

He pulled up an ancient looking tape and pushed it into the radio on his left.

"Wait, is that an eight-track tape?" Emily said, looking over at him.

"Oh yea. Had 'em for years. Still play pretty good." Leo said, clicking play.

Music started to play in the small cabin, drowning out the last sounds of the quieting engines. Without anything to echo the sound back at them, the engines were actually pretty quiet.

"Alright. Things look good. We're on the proper heading. I tend not to fly more than a few thousand feet up. This plane isn't pressurized and if something goes wrong, I like being closer to the water." Leo said with a yawn as he stretched his arms, "I mean, we could go up to around fifteen to twenty thousand feet, but what fun is that? You can't see much up that high."

"Do...do things often go wrong?" Emily said nervously.

"Naaah! You're hilarious!" Leo laughed, getting to his feet.

"Wah! Leo! Where're you going?!" Emily shrieked when he walked back into the belly of the plane.

"Oh come on! You can fly can't you? Just grab them controls and hold her straight!" Leo laughed.

"O...okay!" Emily mumbled, grabbing the co-pilot's controls in front of her.

The plane stayed straight and Emily looked around fearfully at all the guages and switches around her. There was a sudden surge of wind through the cabin that blew Emily's clothes and hair around. She looked behind her and saw Leo standing with the door open and her suitcase in front of him. He winked at her and shoved it out the door.

"Waaah! Leo!" Emily cried fearfully, looking at the controls in her hands and then back at him.

He grabbed her backpack and slung it out the door after the suitcase. Both of them hit the water far, far below with huge splashes. Emily kicked her feet against the panel, but didn't dare take her hands off the controls as he closed the back door and walked up towards her with the small box in his hands.

"What the fuck? Seriously?! What the fuck Leo?" Emily yelled, "Sit the hell down and fly your damn plane! What the hell was that for? That was everything I owned! All my luggage! All I have left is my wallet! Damn it! First my phone and now this!"

"Shut up for a minute will you. Can I see your wallet?" Leo asked, sitting down in his seat.

"What for?" Emily asked, fishing it out of her pocket, "Whoa! Wait a second! You're not throwing this out the window too! No! No, no, no!"

He grabbed her hand and wrenched it out of her hand. Opening it up, he dug out the money that was in there and thrust it at her. She took the money and tried to grab the wallet from his hand. He pushed the window open next to him, all the while using his left hand to push her back, and threw it out the window.

"There! Now isn't that better? No connection to your old life! Nothing important lost, but so much gained!" Leo laughed as she sat back in her seat, her face red with anger.

"You mother fucker! What the hell is your fucking problem! If you weren't flying the damn plane I'd kick your ass right now!" Emily screamed at him.

"Oh come on. You're yelling in the middle of one of my favorite songs." Leo said, starting to hum along with the song.

Emily screamed incoherently and jumped up from her seat, walking to the back of the plane and sitting down on the cooler that was back there. She was fuming angry and couldn't think of anything better than throwing Leo out the door of his own plane. She had two problems though, she didn't know how to fly and didn't know how to get to Isle De Margarita.

"Hey, while you're skulking back there, mind getting me a beer out of the cooler? Your suitcase was heavy, I could use a drink." Leo asked, over his shoulder nonchalantly.

"Bite me pilot boy." Emily said sharply, "You crotchety old jackass."

"Come now, you're going to have to get over this anger sometime. Trust me when I say that you'll thank me for this later." Leo sighed, getting up from his seat, "At least stand up so I can get my own beer."

"Are you just going to let us crash!" Emily cried, "I'm not there to grab the controls again!"

"Oh come on! Are you that dense? You think you were actually flying the plane earlier? Naaaah. I had locked the controls. Plane would've stayed steady as long as we don't get a bad headwind or anything." Leo said, digging in the cooler as she got off it, "Beer?"

"Fuck, I could use one." Emily sighed, taking the beer from his hand.

"Come on back to the front and drink with me." Leo said, pulling a fresh lime out of the cooler as well as another beer.

"You're still an ass." Emily grunted, taking her seat again.

She pulled the top off the bottle of beer as Leo sliced the lime into wedges.