Envy(4)

He had known a few men who had foundered and lived to tell about it, but not many. If you went into the water, drowning was probably the most merciful way to die. Exposure took longer. And to predators you were just another source of food.

The Coast Guard officer cradled the chipped coffee mug between his palms and swirled the contents. “How come you didn’t use the radio to call for help?”

“I did. I mean, I tried. I couldn’t get it to work.”

The officer stared into his swirling coffee. “Coupla other boats heard your SOS. Tried to tell you to stay right where you were. You didn’t.”

“I didn’t hear them. I guess…” Here he glanced across at Hatch. “I guess I didn’t pay much attention when he was showing us how to operate the radio.”

“Costly mistake.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Fair to say you’re not a seasoned sailor?”

“Seasoned? No, sir. But this is the first time I’ve had any trouble.”

“Uh-huh. Tell me about the fight.”

“Fight?”

This drew a frown from the officer. “Don’t bullshit me now, son. Your eye’s all but swollen shut. You’ve got a bloody nose and busted lip. Your knuckles are scraped and bruised. I know what a fistfight looks like, okay? So don’t play games with me.”

The young man’s shoulders began to shake. His eyes streamed, but he didn’t even bother trying to stem the tears or to wipe his dripping nose.

“Was it over the girl?” the officer asked in a gentler voice. “Mr. Walker here says she was a looker. A party girl, best he could tell. She belong to one of you?”

“Like a girlfriend, you mean? No, sir. She’s just a casual friend.”

“You and your buddy fight over her favors?”

“No, sir. Not… not exactly. What I mean is, she wasn’t the reason it started.”

“Then what was?”

The boy sniffed but remained mute.

“Just as well tell me now,” the officer said, “because when we find whatever we’re going to find out there, we’ll keep hounding you until we get the truth of it.”

“We were drunk.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And… and…” The kid raised his head, looked over at Hatch, then back at the officer, and said earnestly, “He’s my best friend.”

“All right. So what happened?”

He licked mucus off his upper lip. “He got mad. Mad as hell. I’ve never seen him like that.”

“Like what?”

“Crazy. Violent. Like he snapped or something.”

“Snapped.”

“Yes, sir.”

“What’d you do to piss him off, cause him to snap?”

“Nothing! One minute he’s down below with her. I gave them some privacy, you know?”

“For sex? They were having sex?”

“Yeah. I mean, really going at it, having fun. Next minute, he’s back up on deck, coming at me.”

“For no reason? Just like that?”

The kid’s head wobbled up and down. “It was supposed to be a party. A celebration. I don’t understand how it went to hell so quick. I swear to God I don’t.” He lowered his battered face into his hands and began to sob again.

The officer looked over at Hatch as though for consultation. Hatch stared back at him, wanting to ask what he was looking at him for. He wasn’t a counselor. He wasn’t a parent. He for damn sure wasn’t an officer in the Coast Guard or a cop. This was no longer his problem.

When he failed to volunteer anything, the officer asked if he had anything to add to the boy’s story.

“No.”

“Did you see or hear them fighting?”

“The only thing I saw them doing was enjoying themselves.”

The officer turned back to the young man. “Best friends don’t fight for no reason. Not even when they’ve had too much to drink. They might swap some harsh words, maybe throw a punch or two. But once it blows over, it’s over, right?”

“I guess,” he replied sullenly.

“So I want you to come clean with me now. Okay? You listening? What brought on the fight?”

The kid struggled to swallow. “He just attacked me.”

“How come?”

“All I did was defend myself. I swear,” he blubbered. “I didn’t want to fight him. It was a party.”

“Why’d he attack you?”

He shook his head.

“Now, that’s not true, is it, son? You know why he attacked you. So tell me. What caused your best friend to get mad enough to start beating up on you?”

Silence stretched out for about twenty seconds, then the kid mumbled a single word.

Hatch wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly, mainly because the first clap of thunder from the predicted storm rattled the small square window in his shack just as the boy spoke, and also because what he thought he heard the boy say was a strange answer to the question.

The officer must have thought so, too. He shook his head with misapprehension and leaned forward to hear better. “Come again? Speak up, son.”

The young man raised his head and took a swipe at his nose with the back of his hand. He cleared his throat. He blinked the officer into focus with his one functioning eye.