Crude

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Mickey felt the flush rise in her neck, but ignoring it, she poured a couple of ounces of rum into Lena’s cup. “I haven’t seen you around. Is this your first deployment?”

“Second actually,”Lena pushed back in the chair and recrossed her ankles. “I was on the Hibernia.”

“The Hibernia? Last year? It caught fire...”

“It was an explosion actually. They think a gas cylinder leaked in the welding workshop but no one knows for sure.”

“And someone died.”

“Four men lost their lives. It was a mess.”

“But you were okay.”

Lena closed her eyes, reliving the moment. “I was in the lab, testing samples, when I heard the explosion. Christ, everyone on the rig heard the explosion. I ran down the gantry and saw the smoke pouring out of the welding shop. The steel door had been blown off its hinges. I looked inside– man, to this day I wish I hadn’t. Blood and body parts were scattered all over the floor and even clinging to the walls. I still get nightmares.”

Mickey tried to imagine then quickly changed the subject. “Sorry, but I didn’t get a chance to read up on your background. You’re wearing a ring; married?”

Lena lifted her left hand. “Yeah, but I really should stop wearing it. I figured the ring would stave off the unwanted advances of the men. Wrong! I guess jumping a married women is perceived as a bit of an accomplishment; a trophy of sorts.”

“More like a notch in a gun handle. Is your husband in the petrochemical industry?”

“Naw, Roger is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Phoenix.”

“A university professor? And you’re a scientist?”

“Oh please, nothing near as highfalutin. I majored in chemistry,”Lena said.

“Even so, you’re awfully smart.”

“I’m awfully educated– there’s a difference.”

“Yeah, but at school, I majored in boys.”

Lena laughed. “Don’t apologize. It’s a trap women easily fall into. I didn’t survive middle school with my hymen intact either.”

“Well that’s understandable. Forgive me for saying, but you’re a nice looking woman. You must have spent your life dodging guys. Mind if I ask a personal question?”

Lena took a hit of rum. “Oh here it comes– the silly part. Sure. Go ahead...”

“Well despite the rough edges, there’s some cute guys working out on the oil rigs. And here we are, closeted with them for months at a time. You must have been tempted. I mean urges would be natural, wouldn’t they?”

“My, that is personal.”

Mickey was aware of the heat rising. “Sorry...”

“You’re asking if I cheated on my husband, right? And you’re asking because you want confirmation: If I do it, then it might be okay. For you to cheat as well.”

Mickey suddenly felt exposed. “No. I didn’t mean...”

“Yeah, happened once,”Lena confessed without any show of guilt, “just to prove Roger was right all along.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have asked...”

“Naw. It’s okay, really. My husband Roger has never been able to accept the fact that with me working and living on a rig with a bunch of guys, it wouldn’t lead to someone taking advantage of me. I told him he was insecure and being immature. But it turned out Roger was right, except for one thing. I was the one who instigated the indiscretion. I lured a man into my compartment once.”

“You lured a man? Into having s*x with you?”

“Yeah. It was Jocko.”

Mickey went watery-weak inside. “Jocko? How...”

Lena smiled to herself. “A complete and utter fluke, actually. I spotted him stepping outta the shower one morning. It was on the Hibernia. I was passing by the little boy’s room and someone had left the door open. I was kinda startled, looked up and there was Jocko. He was scrubbing his head with a towel and didn’t see me watching from the hallway. Christ, he had a semi-hard as big around as my wrist. I mean, I love my husband, but Roger’s p***s looks like a dead bird.”

“Yeah,”Mickey sounded glum, “I’ve met a few dead birds.”

“Nothing happened right away,”Lena continued, “but I couldn’t dodge the image of the guy, standing naked and soaking wet. A few days went by and I just got more and more curious about him. So I finally did something about it. A reverse strategy, of sorts.”

“Reverse strategy?”

“Yeah. I placed a small package outside my compartment door and striped down to my underwear. When I heard Jocko coming along the passageway, I opened my door and stooped down like I was getting a delivery from sss. The bra was low cut and I made sure he got a healthy eyeful before I straightened. And when I did, he was just standing, staring at me. He didn’t say anything or even smile, just stared at me standing in my Jockeys. I stared back. It was like being frozen in a time warp.”

“And Jocko didn’t make a move on you?”

“Oh-h, he did alright, but it took a moment. I stepped back and with our eyes still locked, I fingered the elastic on my underpants. He followed me into the compartment, closed the door and pushed me across the bed. Things got pretty crazy after that. It was like being penned in with a wild animal. Jocko stretched me in ways I wouldn’t have thought possible. Both mentally and physically.”

“Sounds romantic.”

“Anything but. I got trashed, plain and simple. But I had asked for it and Jocko was more than happy to comply. It was such a frenzy, he never did get my bra off.”

“And it just happened the one time?”

“Yeah. Just once. But once was enough. Like I said, I love my husband but after a few years of oh-hum lovemaking, I found myself craving raw, unapologetic s*x. I just wanted to get screwed. And Jocko didn’t have any qualms about pushing me down and prying my legs open.”

“Oh Jesus...”

Lena drained the last of her rum. “Look, I better get back up to the wheelhouse and make sure the dork doesn’t do anything stupid. Do me a favor, would you? See if this barge as a gas sniffer in the emergency stores locker. And a respirator.”

Mickey tried to get over the sensation of having been kicked in the stomach, twice, and watched Lena step up into the wheelhouse. Serve me right, she thought to herself, for trying to keep score. I got better things to do with my life. f**k Jocko.

Lena stepped up to the console and peered ahead. The sun had popped up over the roll of the distant waves and the upper tiers of the drilling platform were now visible above the horizon. “We within radio range yet?”Lena wanted to know. “The Custodian will have some answers for us.”

Jocko checked the radar scope again. “I make the rig to be six miles out. Let’s give the VHF a try.”

Lena nodded.

“Pentoxx H239...”Jocko spoke into the radio’s mike, “this is crew-boat Abraxas... do you copy? Over.”Only the sound of radio static emanated from the speaker. “Pentoxx H239... Do you read me?”Jocko tried again, and again there was only the crackle of interference to answer his call.

Jocko searched out Lena’s eyes. “Could be we’re still too far out or maybe his radio is outta commission.”

Lena answered, her tone sullen: “Yeah. Or maybe he’s dead.”