River bound seacret swep.., p.22
River Bound Seacret Swept, page 22
Well, Suzy was an adept at outsmarting red-ants, thorny leaves and stinging dust.
Feeling accomplished, she dusted her picks, shared some with her dogs, chomped some down and resumed her journey.
“Chile, wheh you going half-neked?” Grandma squawked from somewhere beneath the rear gazebo.
Ok, to be fair, it was probably Ravana imitating Grandma.
“Swimming, Grandma,” Suzy called out. “I love you.” If Grandma never gained self-actualization, it would be Suzy’s fault for being some kind of irritable road block.
Suzy blew a wisp of hair out of her eyes as she turned the corner and ran smack into Grandpa’s back.
“Oh.” She gasped as another shock immobilized her.
The Devil was standing a few feet away from Grandpa! He had changed into a pair of worn-out jeans and a cool short-sleeved, green shirt, completely unbuttoned.
Suzy gulped.
Her face heated at the memory of their morning tryst. And judging by the flare of his nose, he remembered too.
She relaxed when his cell rang.
Now was her chance.
“Grandpa, I didn’t mean to wreck your concrete block.”
Humor danced in Grandpa’s eyes. “I expected it.” He chuckled at her perplexed face. “You’ve been wrecking my blocks ever since you stepped off the boat.”
“Aww.” Suzy smiled. “I love you too much.”
She brushed a graying lock of hair from his face. “See you later—Grandpa…” And then curiosity got the better of her.
“What is he doing here?” She whispered but Grandpa was distracted by Catahar and his brother.
Suzy jumped in shock as the Rake’s heady breath fanned her ear. “I am here to fix your generator. And by the looks of it, I’ll be here for a while.” He turned back to his phone.
“Did your hair have a fight with a prickly hedge?” Raju’s deep voice guffawed suddenly beside her. “If the generator is not fixed, you will need a flambeau to comb it tonight.”
Suzy choked on her suppressed giggles. Her hair was probably entwined with thorns and twigs and Velcro-like seeds of the Watchman bush. “I know.”
“I begin to sing of our river siren of the messy tresses—” Raju was unable to stem his flow of amusement.
Playfully, she jabbed him in the rib. “Bla, bla…”
“Bla, bla, yourself,” Raju swung Suzy off her feet but quickly set her down as both dogs advanced, growling.
“Shuddup Flotsam and Jetsam!”
“Raj!” Suzy scolded. “Don’t be so mean-spirited.”
“Yes, that’s her, she’s here,” Adrian said to his phone.
Suzy made the mistake of glancing at him and lost her breath. He was watching her the whole time.
“…fix Mahesh’s generator… yes, tomorrow evening.”
She was about to beat a hasty exit when he halted her.
“Mom and Dad need you, Missy.” He pocketed his phone.
“They are here?” Pure delight washed over Suzy. “They’re no longer mad with me even though I should be the mad one?”
The last time Suzy had seen them was at Kave’s funeral.
They were a bit cold.
Obviously, they still believed Grandma’s version of the story even though His Creepiness told them the truth.
“You should be more concerned whether I’m mad with you,” was Adrian’s answer.
“Hmf,” Suzy huffed. “You’ll be sorry you said that—”
“What’s up your sleeve, Nauti girl?” Adrian’s gaze challenged her to reveal her plot.
“Um…nothing.”
“Damn.” He sighed in disappointment, and then, “Mom hopes you will sleep over.”
“Omigod!” Suzy squealed. “Grandpa!” She interrupted Grandpa who was deep in conversation with Catahar and Breadfruit. “May I sleep over, please, please?” She clasped her palms tightly in a prayer-like fashion. “I’ve lots of clothes over there.”
“Sure,” Grandpa replied. “Be sure to tell your grandma.” He resumed his discourse.
Suzy’s enthusiasm wavered. “Oh, alright.”
She had no intention of asking Grandma. Ever since Grandma found out Carl slept in the Jaldevs ‘guestroom, she banned Suzy from sleeping over.
She was exactly like, “their workmen sleep in that house! No! No sleepover! Be back before dusk.”
Suzy whispered to Raju in a low voice. “Let’s swim over.” She swiveled, ready to take off. “Race you there, Raj.”
“Game on. But I can’t stay too long.” Raju sprang into action. “I’ve to go with Ma to the airport for—”
“No!” Adrian barked. “Raju, I need you here.”
“Oh, bummer.” Raju’s face fell.
Suzy whirled like a lever on a fulcrum and almost fell over the dogs. She glared at Adrian. “It’s not safe for me to swim there all by myself. You said so yourself.”
“I did and it’s true.” Adrian subjected her to a long, hard stare, hands on his hips. “I suggest you ride.”
“I’ve been riding Pegasus all day, he’s tired…and I haven’t had my swim yet…”
“Take my horse!”
“Are you mad? Orion’s too wild for me. Um…he has a mind not in synch with mine…honest,” she lied, blatantly.
“That’s because you don’t whisper poetry to him,” said Raju with a wide grin.
“How about the Sea-Doo?”
“It’s broken.”
Adrian made a frustrated sound. “Well, then, paddle!”
“In a canoe?” She looked at him with the expression reserved for a frog. “Do I look like Pocahontas to you?”
That got his full attention.
She felt stark naked as he took in the plunging neckline of her chiffon cropped top, her reed-slender, bared-to-the-world mid-riff and her flowing, double-slit maxi skirt.
A prickly silence followed and then, “Suzy, why are you arguing with me?”
“I’d say you’re zero Pocahontas and all Siren.” Raju stepped neatly between her and Adrian.
Suzy peered around Raju. “I intend to swim all the way!”
Adrian tilted his eyes heavenwards as if exasperated beyond measure. “The answer is no! Raju stays here with me.”
She stepped out from behind Raju. “The tide has turned!”
His arrogant eyebrow lifted. “So?”
Her determination faltered. “I—but—I’m not good at paddling and steering against the strong current. And what if…” She shuddered. “…a slimy manatee capsizes me? What then?”
“Go put some clothes on and walk!”
What a blatant bossy bastard!
Her resolution to stay mad at him strengthened. “Bloody heartless brute,” she grumbled beneath her breath, her sympathy for the cackling Raju vanishing like mist. Whose side was he on?
“You’re still here?”
“You’re not the boss of me!” She huffed. “I’ll go when I’m good and ready.”
“Oh, yeah?” He began walking towards her.
She backed away nervously. “Oh yeah,” she yelled crossly hoping the dogs would stop him in his tracks but the pair of perfect traitors never twitched a muscle.
She swallowed in dismay. Adrian was suddenly standing in her breathing space. And just like that, she froze.
She was unable to pry her eyes away from his washboard abs. A whiff of his male scent had her senses swimming in delight. She felt powerless to resist his overpowering magnetism.
Any moment now his mouth would be on hers.
She glanced wildly at Raju but instead of his usual scowl, he was laughing and making funny faces at the dogs.
Could he not feel the sexual vibes? Could he not tell this was not a fight but some kind of mating ritual or foreplay?
Honestly, something was seriously wrong with Raju.
“That’s fine by me.” Adrian’s lips twitched in amusement. “I intend to kiss your smart mouth all over again and this time I’ll not stop until I’m good and ready.”
Her bosoms heaved, her nipples hardened. And down there, she was a wet, pulsing mass of sensation—
“But…Grandpa and Raj are here,” she whispered.
“You think their presence will stop me?” he whispered back.
She stared at him, mute. It wasn’t a threat. It was the truth. Their presence could not stop her either.
“Bad buoy,” she whispered.
“Nauti girl,” he whispered back.
It was too much, too overpowering, too unbearable. She backed away from him. “I—I’ve to go see your parents.”
“You’re good and ready so soon?”
“None of your business…” She took another step backward.
He gave her an amused smile, hands on his hips.
She spun around and bolted for the wharf, her loyal companions abandoning Raju to follow her.
She secured her hair in a low side-bun and bounded down the stairs to the end of the pier.
Should she swim or paddle? She removed her swim cover-ups, threw them beneath the bow of a large boat and stepped into the mudflats. The squishy drift-mud oozing between her toes offset the intense cloying heat a little.
She stared out at the calm water and shuddered. Would the curious water critters prefer doggie legs to soft human ones? Not that she had ever seen any human-nipping undine but they creep in and out of her imagination, regularly.
Suzy wasn’t a coward. This sun-swept river was swamped with all kinds of creatures and she could never be sure if a pirai or two existed just to take a nip out of her.
This river also doubled as a theatre, featuring river porpoises putting on quite a show, twirling and surging as they venture up or down the river.
Suzy never wanted to be caught swimming during those regular scheduled shows. There was always that one Quirk of Nature who could override old programming and step out of line to investigate other quirks of nature.
And yet, no major quirks had harmed her so far, just an angry marabunta and an even angrier bullet ant whose stings kept her in agony for hours.
How rude for stinging her for no reason! And dumb too, her feet and arms were no threat to their existence!
The sight of RiverBound floating with an air of eternal patience on the horizon was what incited Suzy to defy Adrian and to also prove to herself she was no Chicken Licken.
It was time she made literal and figurative waves!
Thankfully, it was low-tide which meant she could walk on the mud-flats, alternate it with swimming around scallop-shaped patches of thorny bundaree hedges and meander through itchy mukka-mukka stalks and Busy-Busy reeds of the bristly fronds.
If her trek could be mapped, it would look like a sine-wave pattern. But the best part was seeing all kinds of treasure on the mud-flats, old things that brought back memories of her childhood days, toys, beads, bottle caps, combs and even the cover of Lily’s book, Sabre the horse from the sea.
It took her a while but she arrived in one piece, all breathless and excited.
The dogs, who had taken off to chase after every false sighting of sakiwinki monkeys, soon joined her.
The Jaldev’s cottage beckoned but it would have to wait until she gave RiverBound a thorough inspection.
They climbed the stairs to the pier leading out to the mooring channel. Carefully, they stepped around a couple of Jet-Ski parked in the middle of the narrow pier and aimed for the sleek boat swaying between a pair of u-shaped pier.
RiverBound’s exterior was pearly-white with a midnight-blue hull and tinted windows and doors. It was over 90 feet of pure fun, a hybrid of the swan archetype, surely. Its purposeful, class-leading design was created to boggle the minds of people who were used to wooden things.
Suzy was one of those people.
Poor Grandpa also, to never be able to afford a mega cruiser and having to resort to canoes, ballahoos, launches and lots of other ugly duckling boats, all mildewed, weather-beaten and paint-flaking in comparison to this man-made swan which could fly off the water at 30 nautical miles per hour.
Raju had wanted to know all kinds of uninteresting things like the fuel and water capacity. Suzy felt the giggles coming through her nose. He really was as cute as he was irksome. His first question was, “what’s the cruise speed on this baby?”
Suzy never heard the laconic reply but Raju looked gobsmacked; a Columbus who discovered the rate of warp speed.
“Ok, Team, together as one, let’s climb aboard.”
The dogs woofed and wagged their tails.
“Shhh,” she shushed them not wanting the senior Jaldevs to see her sneaking into their son’s boat. “We’re entering enemy camp. So let’s be vewwy, vewwy Elmer Fudd kind of quiet and walk as if we’re hunting wabbits.”
They barked their approval a tad too loud for her tattered nerves. “Let’s not make any more sounds, ok?”
Suzy leaped off the pier and unto the aft-deck, the dogs copying her reckless repertoire to perfection.
“Welcome aboard, my Aquaholics!” She smiled at their eager faces and allowed them to precede her up the stairs to the aft cockpit. It was all timber-floored and decked out with a creamy three-sectional sun lounger, tables, chairs and a side bar.
Suzy wrinkled her nose in delight. The scent of this boat reminded her of the dolls Papa got her on her first Christmas at Susannah’s Rust.
“Ok, guys, let’s do the flybridge first.”
Ignoring further distractions, they continued on to the wide glass-doors. Suzy pushed a button and presto, it slid opened to allow them access into the vessel.
Before, RiverBound, Aqua Susannah ruled the Demerara River. And then calamity struck in the form of a horrible mooring accident.
Suzy was devastated.
To cheer her up, Papa Nivad secretly sold Adrian’s newly acquired RiverBound to Suzy for a whole Canadian Dollar.
She beamed now. “We’ve all rights to trespass, yes?”
The dogs, a pair of double-crossers who forgot Adrian gifted them to Suzy, not only woofed their jovial agreement, they gave a couple of classic dog shakes and splattered water all over the immaculate in-laid rug.
Good God! “Let’s proceed.”
They followed her through the elegant living and dining area of pale tones and natural light pouring in from the picture windows and mermaid-etched glass doors.
This highly roomy area had the perfect view of the inviting fold-out balcony on the starboard but they must not dally.
In single file, they climbed the stairs to the Pilot house, another steering option but much more snug.
They vaulted up yet another stair leading to the uppermost helm, the flybridge.
It was a boat of many twists and turns, just like the man.
Suzy felt like an Alice in Wonder Boat. Everything about this vessel was a spider spell to lure willing victims.
Mary Howitt might agree. She was the one who started the idea with her poetry. Suzy recited aloud for the dogs.
“Will you walk into my parlour, said a Spider to a Fly;
'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy.
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I have many pretty things to shew when you get there.
Oh, no, no! said the little Fly; to ask me is in vain:
For who goes up that winding stair shall ne'er come down again.”
“Ha, we’ll shew him, right guys?” She smiled as they woofed their cute heads off.
The flybridge was Suzy’s favorite place to be. It was vast and highly accommodating with L-shaped loungers facing a TV, a wet bar and a spa-pool.
Regally, she climbed into the captain’s seat feeling as if she had at long last ascended her rightful throne on top of the water world amidst luxury and power.
“Hear ye, hear ye, my knights-in-furry armor!” She smiled down at her doggy audience and mimicked Papa Niv’s words as if it was a royal decree. “He’s the Captain of this super-yacht but you, my royal majesty are the Queen of it.”
For effect, she tried on the captain’s hat emblazoned “Captain Obvious” and struck a pose. “See what I mean?”
The dogs wagged their tails. She leaned over to pat them both. “You guys are such fashion consultants. You just earned yourselves more yummy treats, how about that?”
They barked and licked their lips at the memory of the delicious peanut-butter sandwich they had for lunch.
“Okay, our time’s done here.” She slid off the chair. There was some lethal snooping to be done below. She intended to unearth evidence Adrian was not as responsible as he acted.
“He’s a highly wanted man in the USA.” Raju had spoken to Suzy in hushed tones that morning.
“That’s not true!” Suzy had sputtered defensively.
“You forgot?” Raju’s scowl was murderous. “Your hero made it on the news last year!”
True, it was big on the news. The Ocean Siren and Sea Queen were impounded at Port of Georgetown pending investigation.
It was no secret, farmers were growing fields of cannabis instead of bananas and plantains and Suzy had seen Adrian with bloodshot eyes that time he stayed up all night to study…marine textbooks for some all kinds of exams.
She had assumed he didn’t sleep a wink because it was part of his world domination plot to take the naval world to new lengths before someone else beat him to it. Either that or he was highly annoyed he had to prove his capabilities and knowledge on paper when it was widely known his genius was already established.
The boats he engineered and structured from concept to completion proved it, at least to Suzy.
If it wasn’t true, she was reserving a swift one for Raju. Either that or leave him to the mercy of Adrian’s ‘I-take-no-prisoner’ stance.
But Raju was not the only one to insinuate this idea. In defense of her addicted boyfriend, Lexy told Suzy her high-and-mighty brother could be on drugs too for all they know.
Gosh, such sellouts!
The dogs behind her, she began her descent with one aim on her top-spy mind, Adrian’s master berth.
It was the best room and located on the main deck at the end of the corridor. If there were any secrets on this boat it would be in there.
They paused in the doorway.
She inhaled deeply. The entire room smelled as fresh as a misty meadow despite the doggy scent wafting in with her.
