Shipmates

I was just nearing my place. "Do you want to stay or not?"

She nodded. "Yes, please."

As we walked in, she laughed. "Wow, remember when we were kids, and used to sneak in here to steal food for our camping trips?"

"Yeah. I got a few spankings for that."

"Me too." She giggled. "Remember that night we found all those dirty magazines in the kitchen and stole them?"

"Yes, and the day we stole the milker's bike. "God I got in so much trouble over that."

I showed her into the spare room. "You can sleep in here. We can have a sleep in, in the morning. High tide won't be until ten."

It seemed strange having her in my home. All those years I hated her. Suddenly, none of it seemed relevant. As I closed my eyes, my mind filled with the stolen images of her getting dressed on the boat. There was no hiding from the building erection. It had been a long time between drinks for me, as well.

I hadn't been lying when I told her I only dated three girls. I was a reserved bloke. I was never that comfortable around women. I was shy and awkward, verging on introverted. When Jenny Myers left, I was broken hearted. I liked her. She was a bit weird, but I liked her. We lost our virginity together. I couldn't believe she was still a virgin at eighteen. Most of the other girls were far more generous with their charms. Jenny was different. She didn't seem interested in sex, and we dated for months before we finally did it. When we did, it was life changing, for both of us I think. She suddenly took on this new persona, and lost her awkward indifference. She started taking more care with herself. Her beauty developed quickly. Like the archetypical butterfly, she emerged from her gossamer cocoon and spread her wings.

I was glad that we remained friends. Even now that she lived the high life.

My sleep was uncomfortable, thoughts of Kira in a bed in the next room made it impossible for me to even have a sneaky wank to get rid of the damn erection. I woke in the morning to the smell of breakfast cooking. Hmmm toast, eggs, and as I inhaled deeper, oh god, bacon, as well.

I walked out into the kitchen to discover Kira cooking up a storm. Not only that, but she was in a skimpy T-shirt and I'm not sure she was even wearing pants. It looked more like panties.

When she saw me, she grinned widely. "Morning, Tim. How did you sleep?"

"Yeah, great, what about you?"

"Fabulous, it was so nice to not hear Dad snoring his damn head off. God he is so loud. His breathing is so ragged, and his health is really bad. Every night I expect him to kark it. I hear his snoring stop, and I go and stand outside his bedroom door and listen, waiting for it to start again."

"Oh my god, Kira, that's awful. Perhaps he should be in a home?"

"I tried, but he won't go. He said he wants to die at home, but it's hard for me."

"What if something happens while we are out at sea?"

"He has a nurse come around every morning. He has an ulcerated wound on his foot. She changes his dressing and checks up on him."

Shaking my head, I tried to change the subject. "Breakfast looks, and smells, amazing. You didn't have to."

"It's cool, I wanted to say thanks for the bed."

I chuckled. "Bacon, hah, that must have been hard."

"Yeah, you know it was the hardest food to give up when I went veggie. I love it."

"Yeah, I understand that. There's something about the smell. It gets right in there."

I helped as we served up the food. She was just having eggs and toast. She asked a few questions about our next trip, and I started eating my bacon and eggs. I watched with a smile as her mouth opened every time I took a big fork full of bacon.

We went on for about five minutes before she grumbled, "Ah, fuck it." She reached across and pinched a rasher of bacon off my plate. "Oh god, that's amazing." She sighed pleasurably. "Oh shit, I have missed this."

"You know you don't have to cut everything out of your life. You can give yourself a treat every now and then."

She nodded. "I was scared, I mean still am, that if I started. I wouldn't be able to stop."

She may have been right, because no sooner had she finished the rasher than she stole another.

It was about nine-thirty when we got to the wharf. As we climbed down onto the boat, a couple of other fishermen wandered down and we started chatting, shooting the breeze. Kira went down to the shop on the corner for something. While she was gone, Frank, and one of the other fishermen came by and stopped for a chat, "What's she like?"

"Who, Kira?" I asked.

"Yeah, Jackson said she was a bit of a slut. Just wondering, you know. She's gonna be working with us soon."

"Jackson should keep his fucking mouth shut. He's got no right to be saying shit like that," I snarled.

"Wow, settle down dude." Daryn barked.

"No, fuck that. You guys need to fucking grow up."

They wandered of shaking their heads. I don't usually bite like that. I am not a confrontational bloke. I'm pretty easy going. Kira had really stirred me up.

With high tide upon us we nudged out from the wharf and headed out over the bar. A pleasant morning accompanied us as we steamed across the bay. Four hours later, we were setting the gear away. For once, rather than anchoring, I steamed us out to a little deep hole. This spot was one of my favourite ones. It wasn't a well known spot. I dug out a couple of rods and we dangled our lines and enjoyed the afternoon sun.

Kira got a strike almost immediately, and she just about jumped with joy as we landed a nice sized Gurnard. I chucked it in ice and she laughed. "You know that's the first time I have been fishing since the last time we went out together. God, how old were we, twelve?"

"Yeah, something like that. As I remember, you beat me that day, as well."

"Yeah, that's right. I forgot you sucked at fishing. How do you make a living at it?"

"Just lucky, I guess," I replied with a smile.

"I think I'm just better than you." She sniggered.

"That may be true. Do you want to have a little bet?"

"Yeah, okay, what's the bet?"

"Loser cooks dinner?"

"You're on, dude, I'm kicking your arse. What say winner gets to chose what we eat as well?"

"I was thinking we would eat what we caught. I don't have quota for Gurnard. I can't land it. So we either eat it, or throw it overboard."

She sighed. "Okay, I never thought about that. I'm not supposed to eat fish, but this might be a special occasion."

By the time we were ready to go and pick up the gear, Kira had landed a snapper. I had nothing. Looked like I was cooking.

It was another great day, though: two hundred cases landed on board. Kira was getting the hang of the controls, and guided the boat nicely as I again untangled the fish from the net.

It was a fun day. Kira and I shared some banter, and things went great.

Seeing as how we started late and we only set the gear once. It was still early when I steamed us up under the shelter of the spit lighthouse. We cleaned down the decks and prepared for the next day.

It was warm, a late November afternoon. As we swung on the pick, Kira asked, "Is it okay to swim out here? I'm pretty sweaty."

She leaned over the side, and the glistening clear water did look inviting. "Yeah, it's safe. There's no weird currents or reefs. Go for it."

"Choice." Right in front of me she stripped down to her panties and bra and dived over the side. I watched with a big smile as she surfaced with a scream. "Fuck, it's bloody cold."

It didn't stop her from diving back under and swimming around. Just then I saw a small pod of dolphins come up by the bow. One, in particular, nosed in close. I decided to throw out a scare for Kira. As she surfaced from another dive. I screamed out. "Shark!" My hand pointing to the fin gliding through the water towards her.

She freaked out and started splashing wildly, swimming towards the boat. I could see how scared she was, and nothing I yelled at her was making any difference. She was no longer listening. She was panicked and scared.

The only thing I could think of was to strip off and jump in as well. I landed with a huge splash right beside her. She was flailing around crazily. "Save yourself, Tim."

I had to grab her, with my hands clasping firmly on her shoulders, I screamed. "Kira, relax, there's no danger."

She instantly stopped flailing around and giggled. "I know that, dummy. I may not be a fisherman, but I know the difference between a shark and a dolphin."

She jumped on top of me and pushed my head underwater. I dived a little deeper to get out of her grasp and I saw the dolphins circling around beneath us. They rolled around staring up at us. Kira dived down beside me and we watched as the dolphins played.

Back on the surface, she had the wickedest grin on her face. "Bitch." I yelled.

"Hah, you're a fine one to talk. You tried to trick me."

I helped her back onto the boat and we dried off. She changed quickly and I started dinner. Nothing fancy, just the Gurnard and a salad.

We had a couple of beers with our food, and she said again. "God, I can't get over this. You are a lucky bugger. To think all those times you asked me to go out with your Grandad and I turned my nose up at it."

Chuckling softly, I said, "Yeah, you missed out all right. He liked you, too."

"Yes, he was a kind man, all right. You must miss him terribly," she said in a hushed soft tone.

"Yes, although, being out here on the ocean, I feel like he is with me every day. I feel his guiding hand on my shoulder."

She smiled and a wistful look came over her face. "What are your plans? Are you going to do this forever?"

With a casual shrug, I said, "I don't know. The truth is, I left school with no plans. I didn't know what the hell I was going to do. Dad suggested I work on the farm. In fact, that's what he wanted. Grandad's death, threw me this life line. I love my parents, but I needed to get out from under their protective wing."

"Yes, I get that, as well. I had to get out of town. I was sick of all the finger pointing."

"I don't want to sound nasty, but you sort of brought that on yourself."

She scowled. "Maybe I did, but I didn't break any laws. I didn't kill anyone, didn't steal anything and hurt nobody. Okay, I was promiscuous, but hell, guy's are proclaimed heroes, and us girls get burned at the stake."

"Not in my eyes. I don't differentiate. Treat everyone the same."

"Yeah, we're all sluts, apparently," she hissed venomously.

"I'm sorry for saying that, Kira. I Should have kept my mouth shut."

"You're entitled to your opinion."

"Yeah, but. I'm not entitled to hurt people. Especially friends."

The beers were going down far too easily. If we carried on, I would never get up in the morning. "I'm going to bed. Stay up if you want, Kira. I need my sleep."

She nodded. I was in bed when she came down about half an hour later. She was definitely a different person. I don't know if she assumed I was asleep, or if she just didn't care. She stripped down to nothing before putting on a clean T-shirt and climbing into her sleeping bag.

God damn, what a body, and she was so pretty. Fuck, it wasn't fair. I had those visions to serenade me off to sleep again.

The next couple of days were good days. Our relationship settled into one of comical banter and friendly conversation. We edged our way into difficult topics: politics, Greenpeace, hopes, dreams and then the inevitable relationships.

She talked about some of her longer term boyfriends. The reason she rushed home was as much to do with her disintegrating relationship with her then partner, as it did with helping out her dad.

Apparently, it was a very acrimonious break up. Her partner cheated on her, and she caught him. I thought that was a bit hard to understand with her, how shall we say, colourful history. It surprised me how it affected her though; her tears showed how deeply that cut was.

She saw the, maybe not disbelief, but hesitance and doubt in me. "Tim, I admit I was promiscuous, but I never cheated on anybody in my life. I hold promises made very dear. A promise is an oath and needs to be treated so."

"But you..." I was about to say slept with the whole town when she cut me off. "I never made any promises to those boys, Tim."

I nodded. "Yeah, okay."

With a disconcerting sneer, she snapped, "You don't believe me?"

"No, I believe you. I guess I just don't understand. If only half the stories I heard are true, you slept with a lot of guys. If you sleep with that many guys, surely you can't have feelings for them?"

"That was a long time ago, Tim. In the last two years, I have had two partners, and I had deep connections with both of them. In fact, I loved Jerry a lot. I thought we were it."

"I'm sorry it didn't work out for you, Kira. I didn't mean to sound judgemental."

"I've had to put up with a lot of that since coming back to town. Still, I don't care. Fuck them."

To change the subject, I asked, "How much do you need to convert your fertiliser plant to a purely organic process?"

Her demeanour changed immediately. This was something she believed in. "About twenty grand. I need new vats and a mixing, mulching plant. I have quotes. I reckon I could do it for twenty grand. Thirty would be better, but yeah, twenty would get me moving."

"How much is fisheries paying you for this?"

"Eight hundred bucks a week."

"Wow, you could make more than that working as a deck hand. Cheap bastards, they are."

"Yeah, I thought about that, but I was worried about whether I could actually do it. Plus, I think Fisheries are onto it. I know that some of the fishermen cheat. I don't mean you, but I have heard stories."

By the end of the month, we were on good terms. She managed to get the control over her seasickness. Taking the tablets as prescribed helped. I think her gaining some trust in me and the boat helped. At the end, I was going to be sad to see her go.

We celebrated her last day with a few drinks at the pub. I got in a couple of jugs and we found a table away in the corner. I heard a few snide comments. Especially when a couple of guys we both knew well came in.

One of them appeared at our table. "Hey, Bro. What's happening?"

"Not much, Greg, just a couple of drinks."

"Mate, I hope you're using condoms, fuck knows what you'll catch from her."

She was sitting right there, and heard everything the prick said. I heard her sharp intake of breath.

I stood up quickly. "Do you want to talk to me outside, arsehole?"

"Hey, Bro, just giving you a warning. Get her to give you a gobby, she's fucking good at them. I can give you my personal guarantee." He said giving her a nasty lecherous sneer.

My first punch hit him low in the stomach and he dropped to his knees, sucking in air.

His mate came rushing over but I had friends there as well, and they grabbed him. "Come on, dickhead. Outside," I barked angrily.

The growing fracas, drew a crowd. A couple of guys ushered them both away. Kira tugged at my arm, and said, "Let's go. I'm sorry Tim."

"No, fuck that." I sneered. "We're not going anywhere. Those arseholes aren't chasing us out."

She gave my arm a squeeze. "Thank you, Tim." We finished our drinks, a couple of my mates came over and chatted with us both. There were some laughs, as Kira talked about her sea sickness, and it finished on a good note. Dropping her off at her dad's place was actually sad. I never set out to make friends with her, but here we were, friends again.

She gave me a kiss as I helped her carry all her gear inside. "Thanks for everything, Tim. I loved the last month. It was amazing."

"Yeah, ditto. I hope it goes as well on the next boat. Be careful, because there are shitheads like Greg out there."

At home that night, I pulled the door shut and I felt lonely for the first time in a very long time. I hated the idea of spending a month with Kira, and yet, now it was over, I was disappointed. I planned to stay on shore for a few days; the last month had been very productive. Kira was not only good fun, she had been good luck. It turned out to be the best month's fishing I had for nearly twelve months.

I went up to the folks' place for Sunday lunch. Mum was pretty quick to ask. "So, how did it go with Kira?"

Dad gave a slight chuckle. "Stop it, mother. We agreed not to say anything."

Mum gushed. "Don't be silly. I was only asking, although I hear that Greg Chalmers didn't think it was funny."

"Cut it out, Mum." I said. "He was being a dick. He got what he deserved."

Dad nodded. "Knowing Greg, I reckon he earned it, son. I think you did the right thing. Kira is a good lass, and she's doing a great thing caring for old Francis."

I nodded, as I replied softly. "He's not well, Dad. From what Kira said, he isn't going to be around much longer."

Mum cut back in sharply. "Timmy, come on. Kira, how did you get on? You can tell us. It seems you got on better than okay."

Seeing the glimmer of hope in mum's eye's I replied. "She was good fun, and yes, we are friends again. She's changed, and I know I have made fun of her silly missions to save the world, but she is really passionate about it."

"Yes love, I think we all see that." Mum had always been a big Kira fan. After her mother ran off and left them in the shit, Mum encouraged me to invite her up to our house as often as possible. She genuinely liked Kira, and she fiercely defended her when all the rumours started flying. Even when the whole town was on her back, Mum stood by her.

I remember asking her why, and she replied, "That poor girl is hurting, Timmy. All the nasty horrid things said about her mum. I think she was just acting out. She needs love. She is a beautiful soul."

I didn't always see it that way, but after our last month together. I was leaning towards Mum's theory.

Moping around the house wasn't helping, so I decided to go back out. With the catches I had been hauling in, I decided to make the most of it.

I stopped off at the grocery store and brought supplies. I even got some of the veggie patties Kira turned me on to. It was late afternoon when I edged out into the channel.

I was just nosing out over the bar, when my phone went. "Hey, skipper, where are you? I just stopped at your place, and you're out somewhere. What gives?"

"Heading back out to the bay. I decided to make hay while the sun shines."

"Wow, greedy bugger. I think you miss me." Kira laughed.

"What, miss a noisy chatterbox like you? Hell no, I'm enjoying some peace and quiet. On this trip, I can actually hear the engine. I even heard some seagulls. Haven't heard them for a month."

She laughed. "Nah, you missed me. You can admit it. Hey, what are Alex and Peter Munster like? Apparently, I'm going out with them next week."

That bit of news didn't excite me. They were a couple of shady dogs. There had been stories about them and a female crew member. "Be careful around them, Kira. They are dodgy bastards."

"Dodgy, huh, how so big guy?"

"They're just a couple of shady pricks. There were some nasty rumours about a female crew member once before. She wanted to take them to court, but she got beaten up and nothing happened. I don't like them."

The phone went silent for a few moments, before she replied. "Thanks, Tim. I'll be careful."

"Don't drink with them, Kira."

"Okay, thanks, Tim."

My week went well, I had another good catch. Mostly rig, and the prices were good. Being at sea at least kept me busy, but I couldn't get my mind off Kira. Her image and her funny stories kept seeping into my brain, swamping my already addled mind. I did miss her, maybe more out at sea. Not only was she good company, but she had learned the boat really well and she was really a big help.

She rang me a couple of times, always sounding cheerful and happy. I figured maybe I got Alex and Pete wrong. I got a bad vibe from them, but maybe Kira had tamed them. I guess her history tainted my brain. Maybe she liked it, maybe she was having sex with both of them. Fuck, my heart fluttered wildly at that thought. Damn her, she had pervaded every aspect of my life.