It Has to be Fate Pt. 05

Tom guided the boat so that the baits ran along the side of the floating line of orange weeds. Suddenly a line snapped out of one of the outrigger clips and screamed off the reel. Melissa grabbed the rod and sat in the fighting chair. The fish jumped clear of the water. It was a dolphin. While she fought the fish, Mica reeled in two of the other lines to clear the area behind the boat.

Mica reeled the other line in close to the boat but left the bait in the water. Melissa reeled the first dolphin in near the boat and they could see a school of more dolphin with it. One of the other fish saw Mica's bait and charged at it. Mica's rod bent and the reel screamed as the fish took out line. Tom took a long aluminum tube with a large hook on the end then reached out and gaffed Melissa's fish. He pulled it aboard the boat and dropped it in the large fish box across the stern of the boat. He slammed down the lid and they could hear the wild thrashing of the dying fish.

Mica said, "Honey, grab a fly outfit, yeah! That one. Now work out a little line and make a roll cast and drop that streamer fly out there in the school of dolphin. Great cast girl! Hey! You got one." Mica quickly got his fish in the boat and grabbed the other fly rod.

He flipped his fly out, a dolphin slashed at it and he was hooked up too. He yelled with glee as the strong fish greyhounded across the surface of the clear deep blue water. Mellissa groaned as she fought her fish on the long slender fly rod. She finally worked the fish in close and Tom gaffed it.

Mica worked his fish in and Tom gaffed it too. The school of dolphin were gone. When all the fish were in the fish box and all the rods and baits were sorted out they headed on down the weed line. Melissa steered the boat while Mica and Tom got the lines back out.

Mica went to the wheel where Melissa was steering the boat. He put his arm around her shoulder and kissed the lips she turned up to him, "That was great fun! Did you like it?"

"Oh! Yes, Honey, that was by far my biggest fish on the fly rod and my biggest fish ever. Boy, can they ever fight and jump." Mica was thrilled by the excited grin on her beautiful face. He was going to kiss her again when Tom yelled, "Birds working up ahead!" Tom took the wheel and Melissa and Mica got ready.

Tom called out, "Hey! It looks like a sailfish balling the bait up ahead, get ready!" Melissa got in a fighting chair and Mica slipped the fighting harness over her shoulders and around her waist. They saw the ball of baitfish as they trolled past them. Nothing happened. Melissa looked up at Mica and smiled ruefully. Tom screamed, "Fish in the baits, look out!" The water erupted around an outrigger bait. They saw the sword of the sail thrash around as he hit the bait with it. The line clicked out of the clip on the end of the outrigger and the bait floated back. Mica grabbed the rod from its holder and handed it to his wife. The fish turned and swallowed the bait. Tom screamed "Hit it, set the hook hard! Hit him again, again! You got him, hang on girl!" Mica ran and got the other lines in.

The line sang from the reel as the fish ran. Then it leapt high and flipped back and forth as it fell back with a huge splash. The fish made another run in the other direction and Tom turned the boat to keep the stern toward the fish. It jumped again tail walked along the surface before flopping down again.

The fish sounded, heading deep. Melissa held the rod helplessly as the big fish took out line. Mica moved behind her and turned the chair so the fish was always in front of her. He put his hands on her shoulders and gently kneaded them. He whispered, "Pump him up, then crank the line in as you lower the rod tip, 'at's a girl, pump and grind, pump and grind. You have him coming in now, girl." Mica got a clean hand towel and dipped it in the melted ice in the drink cooler. He rubbed it across her forehead then draped it around her shoulders.

"Thank you Sweetie, that feels so good."

"He is coming up now Hun, crank like hell. There he is, bow your rod to him when he jumps. Good work, he is tiring now, keep the pressure on him." Mica saw Tom move to the stern of the boat, pulling on heavy gloves. When Melissa had the fish close enough he grabbed the leader wire and pulled the sail in to the boat hand over hand. Then he grabbed the bill of the fish and pulled him half way aboard.

"Do you want to kill him and have him mounted or shall I release him to fight another day?"

Melissa instantly said, "Release him." Tom had the hook out and eased the fish back into the water. He held the bill and eased the fish back and forward through the water. This forced water through the gills of the fish, reviving it. Then he let go of the bill and the fish slowly swam away.

Mica helped Mel out of the harness and congratulated her. Tom grinned and said she had done real well. He asked Mica if he had noticed how he had held his hands when he grabbed the bill of the fish. Mica said he hadn't noticed. Tom got the gaff pole out and said here grab this. Mica grabbed it from each side and held it as Tom thrust forward then pulled back hard. Mica's arms extended as Tom pulled, then Tom suddenly pushed hard ahead and the end of the pole hit Mica in the chest.

"See, Mr. Mica if that was the point of the bill it would have gone into you somewhere. Now grab it with the knuckles of both hands upwards, thumbs toward each other. Now if I yank or push, the point is always away from you."

"Yeah Tom! No matter what happens when I have him that way my hands force the point away from me."

"Right Sir, you have the idea now, lot's of people have been speared by billfish, some through the chest and even through the eye. Not much fun either way."

They had promised Mary that they would be home for lunch so they decided to head home. Tom said he would show Mica how to skin and filet the dolphin while Melissa drove the boat.

Tom showed Mica how to cut just through the skin across the fish on a slight angle just behind the gills, then down the back next to the back fins, and the same with the belly. Then he peeled a flap of skin loose at the point where the cross cut and the back cuts met. When he had enough skin to get hold of he yanked the skin back towards the tail and the whole shin peeled off. He flipped the fish over and repeated it on the other side.

Then he took the knife and starting at the tail, sliced down next to the backbone until he hit the backbone or the ribs. He did the same for the lower part of the fish working around the ribs. He cut across deepening his first skinning cut then cut across the fish across just ahead of the tail, he repeated this on the other side and ended up with a skinless boneless filet from each side. He flipped the meatless carcass over the stern. In less than five minutes he had three of the fish done. Mica took almost the same amount of time to filet the last fish. Mica asked Tommy if he cleaned all fish that way.

"No Sir, just the dolphin are done that way, most other fish I cut the filet off first, then lay the filet flat, skin side down an starting at a corner I slice the filet from the skin. The dolphin is about the only one that skin will peel off like that. "

They arrived back at Ceylon and had a nice lunch. Mica insisted that Tom and Mary eat with them so he could learn a few more things from Tom. He wanted to know if Tom knew of anyone taking a sailfish on the fly. Tom said he had heard of several people doing it. He said the last he heard people were trolling with hookless baits and then when the sail hit they would cast to the fish with a streamer fly with a grey green back and with a white belly.

They also trolled a hookless lure called a 'teaser' to draw sailfish in close enough for a cast. Tom said he understood that the boat had to be dead in the water when the cast was made to be a legal catch. Otherwise they could be just trolling with a fly. Mica agreed that the boat should not be imparting action to the lure if you were fishing in a casting category of fishing.

Mica was feeling a little tired and said he was going to take a nap. Mary wanted to change his bandages and check the wounds to see if the stitches were ready to come out. Mica sat in a chair while Mary took the bandages off. She said everything looked great. She said she thought the stitches were ready to be removed. She had a special pair of scissors with a little hook on the end of one blade. She slipped the hook under the stitch and closed the scissors cutting the stitch. Then she pulled it out with tweezers. She clipped and tweezed until all the stitches were gone.

Melissa watched the whole thing carefully and she was very pleased because the scars were hardly visible and Mary said they would soon disappear. Mary asked Melissa if she could help her with how Melissa wanted the records of expenditures entered in the household ledgers. Melissa told Mica to go ahead with his nap and she would join him in a few minutes. Mica stripped and slid into bed, he closed his eyes and was soon asleep.

Suddenly he was awakened by Mary. "Mr. Mica come quick, that black man is back and he has your wife in the den with the door shut." Mica jumped out of bed and grabbed his short pants and pulled them on. He ran out of the bedroom and down the hall. He tried the door to the den. It seemed to be locked.

Mica stepped back and launched a side kick that landed just above the door knob. The door frame shattered and the door flew open. Mica was right behind it. The tall black had Melissa in his arms and one of his hands was inside her shorts caressing her ass as he kissed her. Her arms were around his neck.

Mica took the big man's arm and jerked out twisting the man towards him. He slapped the tall black across the face knocking him across the room and against the wall. Mica followed the man and stood squarely in front of him. His face was twisted in his fury, but his voice was deceptively calm. "Are you capable of defending yourself?"

The man sneered and shot out a quick right hand at Mica's head. Mica slipped the blow and feinted a left at the man's face. The black raised his arms to block the blow then screamed a blood curdling scream. Mica smiled, his right hand held the pectoral muscle of the man's left shoulder in a grip of steel. He eased his grip. He said, "I can rip this muscle right off of your body, do you believe me?" he tightened his grip and jerked.

The man screamed again and again. Mica released him. The left arm hung useless at the man's side. Mica snarled, "I can shove my hand between your ribs and jerk your beating heart right out of your chest! Do you believe me?"

Mica watched for a second and slapped the man against the wall again, then caught him by the throat just below the jaw. The man's eyes bulged as Mica tightened his grip. "Did you hear me?"

"Augh! Yes, unh, yes I believe you. I heard you. Please let me go. Please, I didn't do anything."

Mica released him again and smiled. "You didn't do anything? I didn't do anything to you, yet! You said you are a good fighter, very fast I believe you said. Can you move your left arm? No! OK to make it fair I'll hold my left arm behind me. Take your best shot."

"No, please let me go, I'll never come back I promi--" he threw a hard right hand at Mica's head again and again Mica was not there. Mica's open right hand caught him by the throat again, lower on the neck this time. Mica applied pressure and the big man felt himself loosing conciousness. He heard Mica say, "Because my wife abhors violence, I have decided to punish you later, good night." Everything went black for the Mahogany skinned man. Mica swung around and looked at Melissa cowering beside the desk.

"Are you alright?" he asked calmly. She nodded. He said, "Do you know where all the medications they gave me at the hospital in Puerto Rico are?"

She nodded.

"This man will be hurting when he wakes up, please get the medicines for me, now."

She hurried off and was back quickly. He looked at the bottles and read the directions. He turned and saw Mary and Tom watching. Tom held a shot gun. He smiled at Tom, "Give me a hand please Tom, help me sit this bastard up. I want to search him. Mary, please get me a glass of water." Mica opened one of the vials and shook out two pills, he looked at them in his hand and shook out two more. Mica pushed the man's head back and pulled his mouth open. He dropped the pills in the mouth and pushed them way down with his finger. He poured in some of the water and watched the reflex swallow. The pills were gone.

Mica went through the man's pockets. He put everything on the desk. He had a billfold, a penknife, a set of Motel keys and car keys, a handkerchief, some small change. A small bottle or vial almost full of an amber colored liquid. He had about one hundred and fifty dollars in bills. He found several identifications in different names. He found a couple of Social Security Cards in names matching the IDs. There was no driver's license.

Mica picked up the phone and dialed a number. "McDermott here, did you get the information I requested? -- Good. Were there any others? Good." He wrote on a pad as he listened. "Thank you, I owe you one." Mica hung up the phone. He turned and looked at Melissa. She looked at him and a tear ran down her cheek. He watched her for a minute then said, "Madam, do you wish to be Mrs." He looked at the IDs on the desk. "Rajasinha, or Mrs. McDermott?"

"OH! Mica I just want to be your wife, I don't want anything else. Ever!"

Mica looked at her for a moment, "I am leaving here tonight and flying back to North Carolina. You can stay here if you want. You can have any money in the bank here. You can stay or go where ever you like." He watched the tears roll down her cheeks. He turned his back.

"Go pack your things if you plan on going with me." Mica turned to Mary and Tom, "You guys have been great, I am sorry you had to witness this mess. I don't know when or if I will return. I have no plans to sell this place under any circumstances. I will contact you as soon as I know what is going to happen." Mica sat in the desk chair and opened the center drawer. He picked up several rubber bands and dropped them in his pocket. He looked back at Mary. "I will not be leaving for several hours after dark. I will be taking our guest to his quarters before I leave."

"Tom I need to ask a favor of you, you do not have to do it if you do not want to. I want all of you to understand one thing, no matter what happens, if the police question you, you are to answer any questions honestly and truthfully. Do you all understand?" They all nodded.

Later, after dark Mica carried the black man out and put him in the passenger seat of his car. He drove off and returned about an hour later in Melissa's car with Tom.

Later when they arrived at the airport Mica inspected the plane. Then he dismissed Tom to return to Ceylon. He turned to Melissa, "Please sit in back, I will not require your assistance on this flight. I'm going to pull the privacy curtain and you can sleep or read without disturbing me. I will advise you when to go 'on' or 'off' of oxygen, I plan to cruise at 18,000 feet tonight. It will be nonstop to Cherry Point. Climb aboard, please."

"Mica, please let me explain." He held up his hand.

"Madam, I am emotionally disturbed at the moment. I am deathly afraid of what our situation has deteriorated to now. I am even more afraid that one of us may, in the heat of the moment, say something we would regret saying later. I assure you that when I feel I am under control we will talk all this out. Climb aboard."

Mica told her when to put on her mask, he didn't tell her anything when they descended to land. She got up and peeked through the curtain and saw the altitude was 4,000 feet. Shortly they were on the ground and parking in the VMF-312 spaces. Mica shut the engines off and opened the curtain. He opened the door and stood on the wing until she stepped out, he went down the steps ahead of her and waited for her he took her arm and steadied her as she walked down the steps.

Mica's car was in the squadron parking area. He brought the car around and loaded the bags and they drove home. Mica brought the bags in the house and put them in their bedroom. When he returned Melissa silently handed him a cup of coffee. She sat at the kitchen table and watched him. He looked at her for several minutes. Then he sighed, "Melissa, before I say anything else I think you need to know that I still love you with all my heart. My problem is with how you feel about me." Melissa started to speak, he held up his hand. "Woah! Let me finish. It will simplify things if I say what is bothering me first, then you can give me your side of the story. OK?" His wife nodded and looked down at her hands folded in front of her.

"Melissa I do not know exactly what happened yesterday afternoon. I do know that Mary awakened me and told me the black man was back and that you and he were locked in the den. I went to the den and the door was locked. I opened it and found you kissing him while he had his hand down in your panties. I broke your little love scene up and tried to show him the error of his ways. I do not believe he will bother you again, even if you want him to. He is probably going to be deported back to Ceylon. He is here on an expired student's visa.

"He was supposed to be a student at UCLA but hasn't been there in years. He is a con artist who makes a living selling women a chance to be the queen of Ceylon. I suspect he uses that aphrodisiac he has to sexually assault women into believing he loves them. When he gets his hands on some money he disappears. I don't know how powerful that love potion really is. I no longer know how you really feel about me. You need to think about that, because right now I have serious doubts about you!

Melissa looked up at him, "May I say something now?"

"Yes Madam, say your piece."

She stared at him, "Mica, did you kill him? Oh! I am not worried about him, I am afraid for you. I don't want you in jail."

"No, he was alive when I left him; I honestly believe he is in the custody of federal agents now. They may have him in a hospital, but he should recover. That is all you need to know."

"Mica, I love only you, you ARE my LIFE. I remember you going in for a nap. Someone knocked on the front door and I opened it, it was the man from the day before. He spritzed something in my face and that is the last I remember until you broke the door down. I have never seen you like that before. I almost didn't recognize you. I knew something was wrong but I had no idea. I was afraid you were going to kill him. It was strange because as much as I hate physical violence I was proud of you and of the way you casually whipped him. I know you could have killed him any time you wanted to. Now that I think of it, you had a right to hurt both of us, I guess."

Mica looked straight at her. "You know I could never lay a finger on you."

"I know I hurt you terribly, I deserved to be hurt too so you will think it is even or fair. I would never hurt you, but I did." She started softly crying. "I am afraid I have killed the most precious thing in the world to me, your sweet love. If I lose it, I will want to die but that would kill your baby too! I just can't do that." She sobbed, "I just don't know why. How could I do that to the man I love above everything? WHY? Why did I let him touch me?" She silently sobbed her heart out.

Mica wanted to hold her and comfort her but he couldn't bring himself to touch her. He sat and watched her then said, "Melissa, my mind is all fucked up right now. Please don't think I hate you, I don't hate you, I just cannot help but feel that if I had not broken down the door you would have happily fucked him."