The Fisherman & The Mermaid - S01 E13

Story 1 week ago

The Fisherman & The Mermaid - S01 E13

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 13

Papa's men delivered her furniture, clothes, and computer on Monday. We put the furniture in the garage until we could figure out what to do with it, the clothes in the closet in the spare room, and the computer on my desk. Marta explained that she did much of her work at home. We sat in the kitchen with some graph paper as we discussed how to make the house bigger. I thought about extending the rear to enlarge the kitchen and bathroom, adding a door directly from our bedroom and almost doubling the bedroom.

Behind the garage on the other side I could add another room where Marta could work. We went back and forth several times before agreeing on a scheme. I thought I could do almost all the work myself during my upcoming summer vacation.

Marta and I were invited to dinner the following Sunday. We shared the plans with Papa and Jimmy. They had some suggestions which we were glad to incorporate. I asked Papa what he knew about getting a permit. He said he would take care of it so a week later his attorney dropped by with the document, reminding me that it had to be posted and that I had to follow the building code. He also gave me the name of one of Papa's friends who could dig out the crawl space and build the foundation. I needed this in spite of the cost, it would save me weeks of back-breaking labor.

They finished the work in less than a week. I began framing the following day. I'm not the fastest worker, but do put in long days. It took me two days to frame and install the subfloor and three more to build the walls-exterior and interior. The roof beams were harder. First I had to figure out what angles to cut the lumber. I'm an amateur so I do things by trial and error until I get it right. I use lighter and cheaper lumber. Once I had it angled correctly I used that piece as a template for the real beams; this step took me three days. I used exterior plywood for the roof and walls-I hate that particle board a lot of builders use. That took another week. By July fourth I had the structure enclosed and the roof in place.

Of course, I didn't work every day. It rained several days and there was fishing. In mid-June | switched from blackfish to fluke, what is known as summer flounder in the south. Unlike blacks which can be fished on any tide, fluke will only feed during the last two hours of the incoming tide and the first two of the outgoing. This means we went out at all different times. Marta and I especially enjoyed evening fishing. The temperature was somewhat cooler, Marta didn't have to worry about sunburn, and there were many fewer boats on the water then. That's important because like to drift for these fish, it also meant that we could get playful-licking and sucking each other and even fucking on those occasions when we were out after dark. We loved going fishing.

I had to explain the differences between the two fish to Marta who always had assumed that fishing was fishing. It took her a while, but within a week or so she had it down pretty well. One of the things about fishing-the fish has no idea who's on the other end of the line. A rank amateur can out fish a pro on any given day. I caught plenty of fish during our first three trips, but most of them were throw-backs-fish shorter than the legal limit. Marta, on the other hand, caught fewer but bigger fish, her largest topping the scale at four pounds.

Later in the summer the fluke fishery dried up so we changed again to porgy, or scup. These are smaller in the Sound-a pounder being big-but extremely plentiful. They're good eating, but bony as they're really too small to fillet. On the positive side they are easily caught and a lot of fun. We also tried trolling and churnming for bluefish, a fish I never eat. They're much too strong tasting and oily for my taste. It was during one of these trolling sessions that Marta asked if we could visit her parents. Of course, I agreed. Marta had spoken to her parents several times and every conversation ended in tears. I was about to find out why. I knew her parents were old fashioned in the extreme so I was nervous- how would they feel about our living arrangements?

We took the train into Brooklyn on a Saturday. Their apartment was only a few blocks from the station. Brooklyn has a bad reputation, mostly unearned, as a dangerous place, but wasn't worried. Tony had been appointed as Marta's bodyguard-a position he took most seriously since the Marco fiasco. Tony was armed and he was a Karate black belt. Moreover, he looked tough, even though Marta and I found him to be a genuinely nice guy.

Marta knocked on the door, it was answered by her father. I didn't know what he was expecting, but it wasn't his daughter and two men. He invited us in-reluctantly, I thought-and Marta introduced us, "Tata (daddy), Matka (mother) this is Peter-l owe my life to him and this is Tony, my bodyguard." They made some unpleasant faces and the visit went downhill from there. Tony excused himself, taking station outside the door.

When Marta and her mother went to make some refreshments I

took the opportunity to speak with her father, but before I could

say a word he told me what he thought, "I do not approve of how you two are living. It is sinful."

"I understand how you feel, sir and that's one of the things I wanted to speak with you about. I'm planning on changing those arrangements.. and soon.

"So, you are just like all the others-take your pleasure and run."

"Well, actually, sir I was going to ask for your blessing. I plan to ask Marta to marry me. I'd like for your approval, but I'm going to ask her with or without it. I love Marta and she loves me. We want to be together..always"

"I think you are rushing things. A suitable engagement of two to three years is appropriate and, of course, you could not possibly live together during that period."

"I was thinking more about two or three MONTHS at most, and probably less. I accept that you don't like our living together, but we are and we have no intention of changing. As I said, I hope for your approval, because when I ask for her hand I will also ask her to remove her contraceptive implant. I hope you would want to see your grandchild."

"Hmmm. also do not approve of this gangster you have been associating with."

"Mr. Vanek, that "gangster" as you refer to him has been a huge supporter of Marta. He considers her a part of his family. When she was threatened by David Cartwright's friends he had four of his best security men guarding her day and night. Tony works for him, as well. He has never asked to be paid and if I offered he would be highly insulted. He is like a father to me he has been my father since mine passed away almost twenty years ago. He has invited us to dinner this evening so you will have the chance to meet him and make up your own mind."

"I liked David."

"Sure, so did Marta, right up until the moment he tried to kill her and later sent his buddies to finish the job. Last I heard from the FBI he was crying about getting a deal by squealing on the loan sharks he was dealing with. Face it, Mr. Vanek, all Cartwright wanted was to trade Marta's life for a million bucks."

"I suppose what you say is true. Can you support my daughter and a family?"

"I think so, sir. I'm a teacher and you probably know we earn pretty good money on Long Island. I have a Masters Degree and I'm also a Veteran of the U.S. Marines. I earn more than $80,000 a year. I also have considerable savings and investments because I didn't run around like an idiot when I was alone, either in the service or later." That's the way it went sparring back and forth. I couldn't believe he said he liked David after everything he'd done to Marta. He never even thanked me for saving his daughter's life three times. Things got a bit better when Marta returned with her mother, but not much.

Around five Tony knocked on the door informing us that the limo had arrived to take us to dinner. Mr. Vanek scowled, Mrs. Vanek beamed, apparently impressed by Papa's affluence. I took the jump seat, allowing Marta to sit with her parents; Tony sat up front. Even in the limo he was ever vigilant. We drove across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan. The driver took the West Side Drive-it was faster with spectacular views of the Hudson and the Palisades- the vertical cliffs-on the Jersey side. He exited at West 57th Street toward Madison Avenue, tuming right and stopping on East 63rd Street at the Post House Restaurant. We walked in to meet Mama and Papa in the lobby.

Marta handled the introductions and I could have sworn the temperature dropped twenty degrees. Marta's father was being a total ass. Even Marta noticed and was upset. I was revolted by his reaction when she called the Pellegrini's Mama and Papa. We were escorted to a private room where we sat at a round table for six- Tony would eat, but he was still working. The Post House is an expensive steak house, even by Manhattan standards, and Mr. Vanek commented repeatedly about the wastefulness of spending so much for a simple meal. I would have thought he was paying. Papa took Mr. Vanek by the elbow and left the room with him in tow. They returned ten minutes later, sat down smiling, and we all experienced a major thaw. There was actual casual conversation and laughter. I would never ask Papa what he said or did, but it was magic.

Later during the meal Mrs. Vanek asked Marta how she could eat so much. We all laughed crazily until Marta described some of Mama's meals. Even the Vanek's laughed then. The rest of the meal went well, although everyone gasped when they saw the lobster I had ordered-it was a huge three-pounder. I shared some with Marta and I could see her mom approve of how I treated her. Maybe she could thaw her father.

We said good-bye to Mama and Papa and returned to the limo. We

dropped the Vanek's off at their apartment, commenting on how

we both had to be up early to work on the addition. It was almost

ten when the limo dropped us at the house. Marta and I went in; Tony was relieved by two evening guards. Marta led me to the bedroom, but I resisted. "There's something I need to do first. C'mon, I want to show you something." sat her on the couch, knelt on the floor, and reached under a cushion. "I've been thinking about this for quite a while, but wanted to speak with your dad first. Now I've done that so there's nothing stopping me...except my own nervousness. So here goes... Marta, I love you more than anything. I can't conceive of ever being without you. Will you..." I took a deep breath, "marry me?" I whipped out the ring and showed it to her.

I can't say that she saw it, at least not right away. Her face was in her hands. I couldn't believe she was shocked. When she dropped her hands I could see the huge smile on her face. She held her shaking hand out for me, I put the ring, a one-carat solitaire, on her finger. She leaned down to kiss me. Then she stood, pulled me up, and led me to the bedroom a perfect ending to an imperfect day.