The Ocean Prince (Completed)

Chapter Two

I went into the kitchen to fetch a can of pineapples.  I opened up the can and ate the yellow, bracelet-looking round-shaped fruits.  Juice drops from the fruit dripped on my fingers and knuckles.  I disgustingly and without worrying about my manners I licked my fingers and knuckles.  When I ate a few, I placed the can in the refrigerator and went into the bathroom to wash my hands with water and soap.  There wasn't running water today.  I had forgotten about today's march.  The employees from the Authority of Water Aqueducts were marching today against the government because they were owed payments or something like that.  There was always something going on over here with the government.  I supposed they'd work it out as usual.  In all honesty, I didn't really care about any of that stuff, what bothered me was that there wasn't running water coming out of the faucet.  

I returned to the kitchen and opened the bottom drawer where dad had gallons of water stored for these kinds of emergencies.  I opened the gallon's top and washed my sticky hands.  I closed the tap and placed the gallon back in its place.  Then I dried my hands with a towel and heard my phone ringing on my bedroom.  I ran to my bed where I had left the bed and picked it up.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Karina, baby is that you?" Asked my boyfriend Camilo.

"Yes?  Are you smoking or something?  Of course, it's me. Were you expecting someone else to answer the phone?" I asked him.  He laughed.

"You're funny," he said brushing aside the question.  I didn't know if he was cheating on me, but I had grown suspicious.  A cousin of mine warned me that he was a pargo, which was known in my country as a player, a womanizer.  One of my eyebrows raised, but I carried on the conversation.  Besides, I wasn't taking Camilo too seriously anyway.

"Why did you call?" I asked him.

"I wanted to hear your voice," he said.  I nodded with disbelief.

"Aha.  Are you sure about that or do you want money?" I asked him.

"Well... now that you mention it..." he began, but I cut him off.

"Camilo, I need a favor from you," I said. 

"I'm listening," he replied.  I laid down on my bed, my head comfortably squishing my comfortable little pillow.

"I need a boat," I said.  He laughed.

"A boat?  What the hell do you need a boat for?  Just take your dad's," he replied.  I wanted to smack him on the head, but since he wasn't present with me, I couldn't.  Maybe it was better for him to be distant from me.

"Stop laughing at me and you know I can't.  If you want money, get me a boat and I'll lend you some," I said.

"Don't worry, I'll get you a boat.  Do you want a jetski or-"

"Just get me a boat.  Preferably a small yacht, if it's possible," I replied.  

"A yacht?  Now we're talking.  I'm going to get you a yacht with Daddy Yankee in it singing Dame mas Gasolina," Camilo said.  I was kind of nervous because I didn't know how he'd get me a yacht.

"You're not going to steal it from someone, are you?" I asked worriedly.  I heard some reggaeton music on the background so I assumed he was about to hang up.

"Steal it?  Of course not Kamila.  I've got a cousin who works at the marina, I'll just talk to him.  It'll be fine," Camilo replied.  Would it?  I wasn't too enthusiastic about his response, but I didn't have much of a choice.  My dad could have just allowed me to go on the trip, but instead, he decided to be stubborn with me and not give me permission to go.  I was going to do it regardless.  I would have preferred his blessing though, but I had learned that life wasn't unfair.  It wasn't the first time I'd do something without his approval.  I was tired of his over-protection.  His over-protection didn't save my mom, so why should I care?

I switched my phone to Itunes and played some music.  Believe it or not, I liked all sorts of music, but my favorite genre was actually rock music.  It was strange because not many Puerto Ricans and much fewer teens liked it, but I did because the music felt rebellious to me.  It spoke to me.  I put on my rock music and just let those guitars rumble in my headphones.

I had a mural in my room, something I did myself with paint and imagination.  The mural was actually about my mother.  A woman on a simple fishing boat stood looking up at the horizon.  Under the water, I painted there were a few fish and a jellyfish. 

I used to look at it a lot when it was freshly painted, but now I only looked at it occasionally.  I grabbed a vampire book and devoured it until I fell asleep.  I woke up around two am.  I took my headphones off and heard my dad's truck parking at the front of the house.  My dad drove an old Ford pickup truck.  He had bought it second hand to some cousin of his, but it worked well.  He liked putting his fishing gear at the back and when the season was over he traveled into what we call "la isla" or the island, but what we mean is the country zones.  He goes up there and works on the coffee plantations and during that season he brings really great coffee from Adjuntas.  

I get to stay with my Abuela, my grandma during that time.  So, anyway, I look out the window to make sure that it's my dad and I hear his truck.  He's parking it, but he hits the fire hydrant on the sidewalk, banging the cap.  

"Aw," I comment as I watch my dad's disastrous driving.  It's quite clear to me that he's drunk.  So I walk out of my room, out of the living room, and out of the house to try to help my dad.  My dad turns the ignition off though and the pickup truck's trunk was blocking the street, while the cap was in front of the fire hydrant.  My dad opened his door and walked out stumbling and almost tripping on the sidewalk.  I ran to my dad and grabbed him by the hip.

"Hey, girl!  I missed you," my dad said.  

"Yeah, dad, me too," I said as I helped him in the house.  His breath smelled of alcohol.  I walked with him to his room.  He tossed himself on the bed and didn't move.  He only grumbled a bit and then began to snore.  I saw his car keys dangling in his pocket pants, so I grabbed it, ran outside to the pickup truck, turned the ignition, and dealt with my dad's parking.  I had to reverse and drive back and forth, move the steering wheel a bit to park it right.  Once I fixed the situation, I turned off the ignition, went back into the house, and closed the door.  Then, I locked it and returned to my bed.  My dad moaned a bit.  He would probably be doing that for a while.  As long as I didn't go into his room, everything would be okay.  If not, he'd be whining at me for hours and I didn't want that, so I walked into my room and locked my door.  

I took my clothes off and put on my pj's.   I turned the lights off and was going to turn off my cell phone when I saw an incoming message. 

"What's this?" I said out loud.  I clicked on the incoming message.  It was from my boyfriend Camilo.

"I got it," was what the text read.  I turned off my cell phone to plug it into my charger.  I went to bed and closed my eyes with joy.  Camilo got the boat for me.