Elusive Read online

  I told him about my life. Most of the horrible details. He had tears in his eyes. “There is a lot of ugly in the world. For you to have seen so much of it so young is tragic, but try not to give up on people. Sometimes they can really surprise you, fill a hole you didn’t even know existed.” He looked at his watch. “I have an appointment.” Then he looked over at me. “Would you like to come?”

  I had work, but this was the first time in two months that he offered and I was so damn curious where he went every day. “Sure.”

  We walked up the pier and out of the marina. He didn’t talk, seemingly lost in thought as we walked down the street. We reached a small church that had a cemetery behind it. He moved to a stone that had not been weathered by time, the bright green sprouts of newer grass were like a blanket over the slight mound. He opened his brown bag and pulled out a small bouquet of buttercups, replacing the bouquet he had placed yesterday. I thought his wife was alive, but she had died right around the same time he started showing up daily at the marina.

  Maureen Travers

  August 13, 1920

  March 28, 2004

  Loving wife and friend

  “Sixty-six years we were together. Sixty-six years of waking up to her face, of seeing her across the table from me, of holding her hand. People don’t appreciate the beauty of something as simple as holding someone’s hand…the link, even though they’re right there with you, the need to reach out, to touch, to be connected. And when you’re together with someone as long as I was with Maureen, you feel the changes in that hand. The supple skin of youth, the callouses of everyday living to the frailty of age. I was holding her hand when the good Lord took her home.” His inhale sounded painful. “I miss holding her hand.” He turned to me. “You’ve seen ugly, but there is beauty and if you ever find someone who makes your stomach twist and your palms sweat, someone who makes everything else just fade from existence, take her hand, son. I promise you, you won’t be sorry that you did.”

  He turned back to her stone. “I’m just going to sit here for a while.”

  I left him in the gloomy graveyard with the only brightness coming from the buttercups that reminded him of the dress his wife had worn on the day he met her.

  The following day, I waited for him but he didn’t come. Nor did he come the next day or the next. A week later, my boss called me into his office.

  “Old man Travers died and for some reason he left you his sailboat. He’s covered the slip fee too, for as long as you keep it.”

  I never in my life cried, but I came as close as I ever had hearing he was gone. I hardly knew him and yet it felt like I had lost a dear friend. He was the first person to show me the idea of love. He showed me that life didn’t have to be just about surviving it and that people didn’t always want something from you and could actually leave you with more than you had without them. Even if that something was just the memory of an old man leaving buttercups on the grave of his beloved wife.

  My boss found me a few days after I learned about Mr. Travers. It was weird. He was gone, I felt his absence and yet life went on. “You up for some extra cash?”

  “Always.”

  “Sailboat at the end of the pier. Owner is looking for someone to help load supplies. Be at the dock at eight tomorrow morning. Emerson is the name.”

  At eight the following morning, I was on the dock. A man dressed in very fine threads strolled toward me. I knew it was Emerson by the way he moved, like he owned the place.

  “You must be Kace.”

  “Yes.”

  “We’re heading out for a long sea voyage so I have supplies being delivered for the next week. I need someone to be here to receive them and load them. Do you have a cell?”

  “No.”

  “I’ll get you one. My man will show you where the supplies go.”

  “Sounds good.”

  He pushed his hands into his pockets. “Don’t you want to know how much I’m paying?”

  “Any amount is helpful, so whatever you think is fair.”

  He studied me for a minute before he said, “A thousand for the week. Will that do?”

  A thousand dollars. Holy shit. Was he for real? “That is very generous.”

  He waved that off. “I’m Emerson.”

  A man approached; a big dude in a suit. “This is Gary. He’ll show you the supply rooms. Gary, we need to get Kace a cell and give the vendors the number. And pay him upfront. He looks good for it.” Emerson winked at me. “Welcome to the team.” Then he disappeared onto the yacht.

  Holy shit, a thousand dollars. Snake and I would be eating well tonight.

  I didn’t know where Emerson was going, but he ordered a lot of supplies. For the next week, I was loading all manner of things onto his yacht. I was just finishing stocking canned goods when Emerson found me.

  “Have you ever read a navigational chart?”

  “No.”

  “Have you ever sailed?”

  “Yeah, I just recently learned.”

  “If you sail, you need to know how to read charts. If you’ve got some time now, I’d be happy to show you…one sailor to another.”

  His offer surprised me. The more suspicious part of me wondered if he had an ulterior motive, but I didn’t get the sick fuck vibe from him.

  “Before you turn me down, I love sailing, but most of my friends don’t get it. It will be nice discussing it with someone who does.”

  Mr. Travers had said I needed to learn to read charts. That sailing was only part of it. I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. “Yeah, okay.”

  I had finished stocking the supplies for his trip, but I still visited his yacht every day because Emerson wanted to continue teaching me about charts and navigation. He really did love sailing; his enthusiasm was hard to hide. We were working on charting out his trip. He thought I would learn more from an actual work in progress. We had been at it for a few hours. I was waiting for Snake who was on his way so we could grab some dinner.

  “I’m hungry. Let’s get something to eat,” Emerson said as he dropped his pencil and stretched.

  “My friend is on his way.”

  “We can all go. I’m in the mood for steak. My treat.” He studied me for a minute. “I respect your inclination to turn me down, but this isn’t charity. You’ve been helping me for the last week, the least I can do is feed you.”

  I did think it was charity, but he had a point. After I put in my full day at the marina, I’d spend a few hours with him. I was learning, I felt that was a fair exchange, but a steak dinner...that was hard to turn down.

  “Thank you.”

  The restaurant was swanky, but what held my attention was how well liked Emerson was. People greeted him by name, stopping at the table to say hi. He was a man who seemed to be not just a good person, but a well-liked one too.

  Snake kept glancing over at me as the dishes were placed in front of us. Emerson asked if he could pick our meals because he knew what dishes were the best. Crab cakes...fucking delicious. And the steak, I could live on steak alone. I swear I ate so much I wasn’t sure I would be able to move from the table.

  “So what did you think?”

  “That was amazing.”

  “Yeah, really good. Thanks, man,” Snake said.

  “What do you do, Snake?”

  “I bus tables at a deli.”

  “And are you happy doing that?”

  “No, but it pays the rent.”

  Emerson leaned back in his chair. “I’m not going to lie. It wasn’t just random that I selected you for the extra work, Kace. I’ve been watching you and your work ethic and I would really like to offer you a job.” His focus turned to Snake. “Both of you.”

  The thought of work that didn’t include cleaning puke and fish guts sounded fucking awesome to me. And since he was leaving on a trip, I suspected the job was crewing for him. That definitely interested me. “What kind of job?”

  “How about you give me a week to show you my wo
rld and then we’ll discuss the job.”

  I glanced over at Snake and knew he was thinking what I was. His world included steak. Yeah, we could give his world a go. “Okay.”

  Emerson showed us what we would have to look forward to; new clothes, haircuts, five star restaurants. We mingled in his world. And the women. Sophisticated, beautiful. The first time one had taken me to her bed, I was surprised with how aggressive she was, but she knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to ask for it.

  Emerson had parties almost every night. Lights strung on the masts, the deck filled with bodies. Food and drink. It was incredible.

  At one of the parties, Snake had two women on his arms. It wouldn’t be long before he took them to the room we were given to use. There was a blonde who had been eyeing me all night. Her focus was on my cock, which was making it hard to keep that fucker down. That was one thing about these parties, the women were willing...more than willing. I strolled up to her and she bit her lip. I walked past her and knew she followed. Snake was using the room so I took her below to the storage area where I had stocked the supplies for the trip. As soon as the door closed at my back, she pulled her dress down. Her tits popped free. She shimmied out of it and stood there naked. My eyes moved to the triangle of curls, she was a natural blonde. She sat on the boxes of supplies and spread her legs. She was wet. I had never had a woman come on so strongly, and fuck, my cock ached. To save time, I pulled my cock free and rolled on the condom as I crossed the room to her. I lifted her up, my fingers digging into her thighs, and slammed into her. My mouth latched onto her breast as my cock drove into her hard and fast. She wrapped her legs around my waist and pulled on my hair as she ground her hips into me. It was over in a matter of minutes.

  “Thanks, handsome.”

  She was halfway to the door, pulling her dress back on while my cock still twitched from the orgasm. She blew me a kiss then was gone. I liked a quick fuck as well as the next guy, but she eye fucked me for hours and that was the culmination? I followed her out but detoured to the bathroom to toss out the condom. I passed a room where the door was ajar. A woman was flat on her back on a desk and Emerson was between her thighs. His hand was clamped over her mouth and her legs were wrapped around his waist. It didn’t look like coercion. I recognized the woman. Emerson had introduced us earlier. She worked for him. I thought most places frowned on fraternizing with employees.

  Emerson looked over, spotted me, and smiled as his hips moved faster. Shit. Nothing like being a fucking peeping Tom. I turned to go when he asked, “Do you want a go?”

  I thought I hadn’t heard him correctly.

  “She’s sweet, tight.” He pulled her hard against him, his face twisted in pleasure.

  “Clothes off, Emily. Slowly.”

  I turned to leave because what the fuck?

  “Stay.”

  The way he commanded that halted me for moment. Emily stood and slowly removed her blouse. Her hands moved up her stomach to her tits, she moaned when she squeezed herself.

  “Take your bra off and touch your cunt.” Emerson was stroking himself as Emily obeyed.

  I walked out because whatever the hell was going on in that room, I wasn’t interested. Emerson called to me as I was halfway down the hall. I had a sickening sensation I knew exactly what kind of job he was offering. “I know my world is a different world than the one you grew up in, but you can be part of my world. You like my world, don’t you Kace?”

  “I thought so, I’m not so sure anymore.”

  “Why, because of that?” He gestured behind us to where Emily was probably still finger fucking herself all because her boss told her to.

  “Emily gets paid very well and she likes to fuck.”

  “What’s the job you were offering?”

  “A sort of escort.”

  “So, like Emily. Someone tells me what to do and I obey.”

  “She was having fun and she has a nice penthouse and fancy clothes to show for her efforts. She’s not complaining. Rich women and men showering you with attention. What’s wrong with that?”

  “I’m not interested.”

  That surprised him. He tilted his head. “You didn’t honestly think I was feeding you, clothing you, parading you around my circles because I’m a benevolent person?”

  I did. Foolish me. I thought he was like Mr. Travers, a good man, but Emerson was no better than Drake.

  “I named my boat The Haves because there is a certain order to things. I brought you on board, I even showed you kindness, but don’t confuse charity with belonging. I put the time and money into you because I thought you would be a good investment. You were a nobody, a nothing, until me. You can go back to that or you could work for me and live a good life.”

  Had I not met Seymour Travers, had I not known the story of a man falling in love with a woman wearing a buttercup yellow dress, I would have taken Emerson up on his offer. Had I been lonely and desperate enough I might have sold my pride and integrity, but I knew better. Life could be more, but if I said yes, my life would never amount to anything more than being his hired bitch.

  We reached the deck where Snake picked up on the undercurrent and walked over.

  “I’m good.”

  He was surprised. “You’re turning down the job?”

  “Yes.”

  “It is your choice of course, but I believe you are making a mistake. Enjoy going back to being a nobody.” He turned and walked back to his guests.

  “What the fuck was that?” Snake demanded as we stepped off the yacht and moved down the pier.

  “He’s a pimp, just like Drake, only more refined.”

  “He wanted us to...”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, shit. It was too good to be true.”

  And that was the truth. Mr. Travers was a rarity because most people didn’t give without expecting something back. Everything came at a cost.

  KACE

  2007

  I don’t give a shit what you need to do, just do it. That’s why I’m paying you.”

  “What a dick,” Snake said of the yacht owner dressing down his crew loud enough for anyone passing by to hear. He wasn’t used to the arrogant assholes that docked their boats at the marina. In fairness, they weren’t all assholes, but the proportion of asshole to non-asshole was definitely skewed in favor of the asshole.

  “He’s tame compared to some.”

  “They work for the man, he doesn’t own them.”

  “For some of these yacht owners it’s the same thing.”

  “Prick.”

  “I’m in the mood for corned beef. Maybe we should swing by the deli. I have enough money for one sandwich.”

  “One day I’d like to get my own fucking sandwich.” Snake looked over at me. “A whole sandwich...each.”

  “A luxury.” We lived in Manhattan and even our shit apartment cost serious coin. Particularly since it catered to people like Snake and me, those off the grid. If we wanted an actual roof over our heads, our options were seriously limited and our fucking slumlord didn’t think twice about taking advantage.

  “It shouldn’t be. We work our asses off and yet we have very little to show for it.”

  “We are not on the streets anymore. That’s something, Snake.”

  “Yeah, but you see assholes like that, or Emerson, with more money than manners and it just fucking pisses me off. They were probably born with silver spoons in their mouths. They likely never wanted for anything, never worked a hard day in their lives and that is rewarded while we crawled our way out of hell and work like dogs and we can’t afford to buy our own sandwich.”

  He wasn’t wrong. Situation of birth. There were those who did nothing to help themselves, but there were a lot of us who did everything right and still it didn’t matter. It sucked.

  “Check him out.” The sudden shift in the conversation threw me for a second so I didn’t immediately appreciate what I was seeing. The kid in front of us lifted a wallet with impressive skill.<
br />
  “He’s good.”

  “He is.” Snake looked over at me and grinned. “But I’m better. And that ain’t his money so stealing it is fair game.”

  Snake wasn’t just quick with his hands, he was stealthy. He lifted the wallet the kid had just picked and took the kid’s wallet as well. We had gone only about half a block when the hair at my nape stood on end.

  “We aren’t alone,” I said.

  “Yeah. I guess he didn’t like me lifting his wallet. It’s been like a week since we had a fight. I’m getting punchy.” Snake flashed me a grin. “Pun intended.”

  We moved into an alley and waited. The kid appeared a minute later. He was a wiry dude, tall and all limbs. Then another kid stepped out from behind him. A twin, an identical twin. I liked our odds until the third dude approached, a big fucker. I couldn’t help the grin because now it just got interesting.

  “Winner keeps the wallet,” Snake said.

  “Sounds fair,” one of the twins replied.

  “Who do you want? The twins or the big dude?” Snake asked.

  “Big dude.”

  Snake cracked his neck. “Alright, let’s do this.”

  The big dude was fast despite his size and when he punched me in the mouth I swear I thought I would be spitting out teeth. I nailed him in the gut and I think it hurt my fist more than his stomach. A shot to his face and it didn’t even jerk his head back. I entertained the idea of kicking him in the balls, but that was cheating and he likely had brass balls anyway. It felt so fucking good. I was getting pummeled and still it felt so fucking good.