Mary and Alvin Ch. 03

Wendy leaned forward and kissed him again, then reached down between her legs and with a few quick motions, had his belt unbuckled and his zipper down. She began to stroke his cock with one hand, while swigging from the champagne bottle she still held in the other.

As Alvin pulled her closer, she poured a trickle of champagne over her full breasts. Alvin pressed his face against her and tasted the sweet liquid. She laughed and pushed him back. He looked up at her as she pulled off her bikini top. He reached up and squeezed her breasts in his hands. She ground her crotch against his, then slipped her bikini bottom aside and guided him into her.

None of his experiences with the girls back home had prepared him for Wendy. She rode him skillfully, expertly. Time and again, he thought he was about to reach his climax, but she seemed able to sense it each time. She kept him at the edge of orgasm until she reached her own. When it came, she threw her head back and bucked her hips, squeezing and milking his cock until he let go inside her.

Alvin's head was spinning as Wendy slumped down beside him .

"What the hell did I do with that bottle?" she asked him, when she had caught her breath. Alvin looked around and saw it rolling on the deck.

"It tipped over," he told her.

"Oh well, there is always more."

Wendy kissed him on the cheek and sat up. She found her bikini top and put it back on. Alvin wasn't sure what to say. Should he thank her? While he was wondering, she stood up. She adjusted her bottom, then turned to look down at him.

"Well, Maine," she said, "that was nice. But I better get back before I'm missed." She bent down and gave him one last kiss. "Take care, sweetie."

Alvin watched her as she walked away. When he had imagined a life at sea, he had not hoped that anything like this would happen. This was just his first voyage, what adventures might the future might hold?

The Doris maintained a strong wind at her back all the next day, and they made Key West ahead of schedule. Alvin watched the passengers as they disembarked. He saw Wendy make her way down the gangplank, accompanied by a man who Alvin guessed was in his sixties. She never looked in his direction, and was soon out of sight.

The crew was expected to stay aboard until the next morning, battening down for a long stay. As Alvin began his duties, however, he was approached by the First Mate.

"Faulkner," he called, "You need to check in with the Harbor Master."

"What's it about, chief?"

The First Mate shrugged and walked away. Alvin disembarked and made his way to the harbor office. When he arrived, he found himself waiting in line to speak with the only person on duty, an elderly man in a Hawaiian shirt. By the time he reached the counter, he was starting to worry about what they wanted with him.

"Faulkner, off the Doris," he said, "I was told to report in."

"Let me check," the man said in a thick southern accent, and began rummaging around the desk. "Yeah, got a message." He held up an envelope. "Dated a couple weeks ago," he said as he handed it over.

Alvin thanked him and took the envelope outside. He sat on a bench beneath a palm tree and tore it open. He unfolded the paper inside. His name, and that of his ship, were scrawled across the top of the page in careless handwriting. Underneath, in neater block letters was the message "CALL HOME A.S.A.P. EXTREMELY URGENT" The message had been underlined three times.

He jumped up and ran back into the office. Ignoring the line in front of him, he asked the attendant, "Do you know what this is about?"

The attendant just shook his head.

"Is there a pay phone around here?"

"Just around the corner," he drawled.

Alvin found the phone, mounted on the side of the building. He realized he had no change and had to go back inside to break a dollar bill. Finally, he dialed his home number.

Tim answered the phone. A soon as he said hello, Alvin heard the phone drop and the faint voice of his brother yelling, "Mom, Mom, it's Alvin!" A moment late, his mother picked up the telephone.

"Alvin, where are you? Florida?"

"Yes, Mom, Key West. Just came in this morning and..."

His mother cut him off. "Alvin, listen to me. There was an accident. Honey, your father is dead."

Alvin's mind went numb. His mother continued talking, but he could not process the information. He had to ask her to back up and repeat what she had told him.

"Your Dad was helping Hank Pinkham rig his sailboat a couple of weeks ago. You know the one, can't think of it's name..."

"That's not important, Mom. What happened?"

"It was just a fluke thing, honey. A wire cable snapped and it hit him in the thigh like a whip and opened his artery." Alvin could hear that she was struggling to keep her composure. "They couldn't stop the bleeding."

Alvin tried to reply, but could not find any words.

"Alvin, you still there, honey?"

"I'm here, Mom." Tears were flowing down his cheeks, but he managed to keep his voice calm. He was determined to sound strong for her.

"Please come home. Diana and I are trying to keep things going, but we don't know what we are doing. We didn't even know how to get hold of you sooner." She started to sob. "We couldn't find you for the funeral."

Alvin tried to formulate a plan. "I get paid tomorrow, Mom. I don't know if I can afford a plane ticket. Probably have to take the bus. I don't know how long it will take."

"As long as we know you are coming, honey."

"I'm coming Mom. I love you. Tell Di and Tim I love them, too."

They said goodbye, and Alvin hung up the phone. He wandered along the boardwalk for a while. The idea that his father was gone was hard enough to process, but that he had been killed in a freak accident doing something he''d done a thousand times made it even harder. He stopped at an angle of the walk, and leaned on the railing, looking out at the calm water. He thought about the last time he had seen his father. They had stood together looking out at a different part of this same great sea. What had Jack said about one key moment in time? Alvin thought of the things he had seen and done on his voyage south. The excitement of the strange ports, the thrill of being underway on the high seas, his experience with Wendy the night before. But there was no question about making the decision his father had said would come. He would go home, he would take charge of the family business, he would spend his life in the town in which he was born. He was a man, and he knew what a man would do.

Alvin got the Moneta underway before the sun rose, and guided her out to open water. The winds were strong at his back and he was confident he could make the crossing to Cape Cod ahead of schedule. He would put up there for the night, and reach Newport the next afternoon. When winds were so favorable, he imagined that there was a reason for it, some fate that was rushing him to his destination. That was not necessarily a good thing, of course, he remembered the Doris making very good time coming into Key West. On the other hand, it had taken him almost a week of riding busses to get back to Londonderry.

Diana had picked him up on the outskirts of town at the gas station that doubled as the bus depot. They embraced, wordlessly, in the parking lot when Alvin descended from the bus. The driver had to prod Alvin to take his seabag from the luggage compartment so he could pull out and head for the next stop.

Diana got behind the wheel of her car while Alvin tossed his bag in the back seat. He got inside and spoke to his sister for the first time.

"Di, I'm so sorry I wasn't here."

"I know you are," she replied, "but it wouldn't have mattered if you were, so don't beat yourself up."

"No, I mean, for you and Mom, not that, you know, I could have done anything about, you know..."

"I know, Alvin. But you're here now, it will be all right."

"How have thing been going?"

Diana shrugged. "I don't know what I'm doing. I'm trying to close things down now that summer is over, but I have no idea about some of this stuff. Like, wrapping boats. Where do you even get that sheeting stuff? And now, the summer help is all gone, It's just me and Mom and Tim. And they have less clues than I do."

"I'm sure you've done the best you can. We'll get it all straightened out."

Diana squeezed his hand and pulled out of the parking lot. As they drove into town, Alvin felt comforted by the familiar scenery. He had not wanted to come back, but home was still home. They drove to the wharf and got out. Their Mother was sitting at one of the picnic tables behind the diner.

Hannah Faulkner stood up when her son and daughter approached. She wrapped her arms around Alvin and hugged him tight.

"Welcome home, honey," she said, "we have missed you so much."

"I missed you too,Mom. I'm sorry I wasn't here."

She patted his cheek and they all sat down at the table. Hannah explained the situation. The summer folks had, for the most part, taken their boats out of the water. The part time crew that worked the wharf during the vacation season had done a great job, and the Harbor Master had pitched in when expertise was needed. But school was in session , and the summer kids were gone. Audrey Perkins, who had run the diner for more than ten years, had that operation well in hand. She would close up after Columbus Day as usual. But securing the wharf for winter, and making the preparations that would be needed to have it ready to open again in the spring, were beyond the experience or knowledge of the Faulkner women. Only Alvin could handle that part of the operation.

"Alvin, I want to tell you something," Hannah said, "I know that working on the wharf, taking on the family business, wasn't what you wanted to do. Maybe in a year or two, we will be on our feet, and you can go ahead with your plans. But you need to know how much it means to me that you are here now."

She rose, leaned across the table, and kissed her son's cheek.

The next day, the two of them stood side by side at Jack Faulkner' grave.

"You know," Hannah said, "he was thrilled that you signed on with that crew to Key West."

"Really, I didn't think either of you were happy about ti."

"Well, I wasn't, because.." There were tears in her eyes.

Alvin took her hand. "Because what, Mom?"

"Because it took me years to get him to stop pulling stunts like that."

Alvin knelt and picked up a handful of dirt from his father's grave.He crumbled it in his hand and let it fall back to the ground.

"He was proud of you, son. And he'd be proud of you now."

The Moneta put in at Provincetown for the night, and Alvin went ashore for supper. He called Jennifer and left her a message, letting her know he expected to make Newport late the next afternoon. After he ate, he took a walk around the harbor. He always took the opportunity to see how things were being done on other wharfs and landings, open to new ideas that he could apply at home. From the first day he'd taken over running the business, he was determined to do the best he could. He felt the weight of his responsibility to the whole family.

That first off season had been hard. Alvin and Diana, and Tim when he was not at school, all worked long hours getting the boatyard ready for winter. There were floats to haul in, and equipment to repair and store. Gradually, they got things ready for winter, and when the cold weather came, they turned their attention to decoding their father's arcane systems of accounting and inventory. Alvin hated that aspect of the business, and when the holidays approached, he was happy to set up and run the annual Christmas tree sale, while Diana mastered the paperwork.

By January, they were beginning to feel confident that they had things well in hand. But still, they had to be prepared for emergencies. Neither of them had thought to turn off the water in the boathouse and during one cold snap a pipe froze and burst. The damage was minor, but Alvin spend several very cold days getting it repaired.

In February, there was an ice storm. By Maine standards it was not severe, but when Alvin cautiously made his way to the wharf, he found every surface covered in a shimmering coat of ice. He could not open the boathouse door until he had chipped the ice away. He checked all around, inside and out. There didn't seem to be any damage. There was nothing to be done. The ice would melt when the temperature climbed over the next day or two. He locked the boathouse door, and started back to his car. He had only gone a few steps when his feet went out from under him. He spun towards his left side as he fell, and instinctively threw out his hand to block his fall. As soon as he felt the surge of pain in his wrist, he knew that has been a mistake.

He sat up, cursing, and clutched his arm. It was already swelling and he could barely move his fingers. He struggled to his feet, slipping back to his knees several times before he could get his footing. Finally, he got up and made it to the car. He sat for a minute, fighting the pain, then drove himself to the county hospital.

The emergency room was busier than he had expected. The storm had caused a number of injuries, a few from minor car accidents, most, like his, from slip and falls. He waited for what seemed like hours before he heard his name called. He looked up and saw a very pretty young nurse standing in the doorway with a clipboard. He was instantly struck by her hair. It was so blonde, and there was so much of it.

"Mr. Faulkner,' she said, looking at her clipboard, "I see you've injured your wrist."

"Yes, Ma'am, fell on the ice."

"Well, there's lot of that going on tonight." She guided him to an examination table. "The doctor will see you in a few minutes."

Alvin watched her as she walked away. She seemed awfully young to be a nurse, he thought, don't they have to go to school for a while?

The doctor examined Alvin's wrist. It was not broken, just severely sprained. It would need to be immobilized for a week or so, he said, and he would prescribe something for the pain. While the doctor wrapped the bandage around his arm, Alvin looked up and saw the blonde nurse again. She was standing at a desk near the door, putting on her coat. She looked up and their eyes met. Alvin held his gaze until she dropped hers. She turned to leave, but as she opened the door, he saw her glance back at him again.

It only took a few minutes for the doctor to bandage the wrist, and Alvin was free to go. It was dark and misty when he stepped out of the hospital's front door. He heard the sound of someone scraping ice. He looked around and saw, across the parking lot, the nurse, working at clearing her windshield. His own car was parked closer, and he went to it and took his own scraper out.

She was standing on the driver's side, obviously struggling against the thick ice. Alvin walked up, and began hacking away, one handed, from the passenger side. She looked up and smiled.

"Thank you," she said, slightly out of breath.

Working together, they cleared the windshield, then they each scraped their way down the side windows. They met again at the back of the car, and side by side, cleared the rear window.

They walked around to the driver's side. She tried to open the door, but it was frozen shut.

"Let me try," Alvin said. The nurse stepped aside as he stepped up, raised his foot and stomped the door just below the handle. The ice broke away with a crackling sound, and she was able to open the door. She got inside and started the engine.

"Thanks again, you're pretty good for a guy with one working arm."

Alvin laughed. "We make a good team. Do you have far to go? Maybe we could get a coffee or something?"

"I better get going. I've got to drive to Rockland."

"Oh, alright. Well, be careful."

She fished in her purse and pulled out an envelope and a pen. She wrote on the envelope and handed it to Alvin. She'd written down her phone number, but not her name.

"Give me a call, okay?" she said.

"I will. But what's your name?"

"Bonnie Pierce."

She closed her door and, after spinning her wheels for a few seconds, pulled away.

Alvin looked at the envelope. The ink had gotten wet and the numbers had run together. No matter, he thought, he could find her at the hospital. He watched her taillights until they disappeared into the distance.

It was raining when Alvin left Provincetown. By the time he rounded into Nantucket Sound, the skies were clearing, but he still felt the morning's gloom. He kept thinking about Mary, but he was thinking of Bonnie as well. Mary was beautiful, and he enjoyed her company, but there had been other pretty girls. There had only been one Bonnie. She had been his lover, his wife, his soulmate. The mother of his children. How could he ever think she could be replaced?

He entered Newport harbor late that afternoon. As he glided towards the landing, he saw Jennifer at the rail waving to him. Her long blonde hair rippled in the wind. She looks so much like her mother, Alvin thought, as tears formed in his eyes.