HOPE FOR CHANGE... But Settle for a Bailout (38 page)

Larry’s phone buzzed. “GINA.” He picked it
up. “Hi,” he said. “No. Just in the boat. Alone? No.” Larry held
his phone away from his ear for a moment, looked at the screen and
returned to the call. “Ed’s on the other line. Just a second….”

“No, baby, Ed’s not here,” said
December.

“What, Ed?” said Larry, as December gave a
strong squeeze.

“Ed’s calling Larry,” said December, not
letting up her grip.

“Yeh, I’m in the boat,” said Larry. “No, you
can’t come up.”

“Go, Larry!” said December. “He’s telling
him, baby.”

“No! You can’t... fuck!” said Larry, pulling
away from December, who released her grip. Larry slid on his
shorts, as the sounds of heavy footsteps came from the deck,
followed by knocking on the cabin door.

“Fuck!” yelled December, grabbing her bikini
top and putting Lori on speaker, as Larry went toward the knocking,
only to hear more knocking from the other side of the cabin.

“Go away, Ed!” Larry yelled through the
locked sliding door on the left side of the cabin.

“Damn,” said December, tying her bikini top
and then reaching for her tank top.

“What’s happening?” came Lori’s voice.

“It’s Ed outside the cabin,” yelled
December, as she picked up the phone. “And that girl, who helps the
grandma....”

“Gina,” said Lori, the sound of anger
rising.

Gina slid open the door on the right side of
the cabin. “Isn’t this a nice, little vacation getaway?” she
said.

Ed climbed across the front-facing windows,
quickly reaching the door Gina had slid open and finding Gina
standing with her hands on her hips and with Larry and December
barely dressed.

“I see,” said Ed. “Maybe this is why
Lawrence just wasted my evening running me through pointless
questions.”

“Don’t you touch my girl, Ed!” yelled Lori,
through the speaker.

“Jealousy doesn’t wear well, even on a hero,
swim chick,” said Ed. “but it looks like your best friend already
beat us to the punch.”

“This is disgusting,” said Gina.

“What the hell’s going on there?” yelled
Lori.

Larry, holding his stomach, said
nothing.

“Ed, you have a lot of balls coming up here
like you own da place,” said December, before she turned to Gina.
“And you....”

“No,” said Larry. “No, please….”

“I don’t know what you think I’m thinking,”
said Gina, squaring her shoulders, “but it’s not what you think I’m
thinking.”

“Somebody tell me what’s going on!” yelled
Lori.

Larry fell to his knees and began
vomiting.

“Oh my God!” yelled Gina, looking about and
moving quickly to grab a stack of towels.

“Oh, dude,” said Ed, backing away, but not
before Larry looked up towards him, spraying his flip-flops, feet
and ankles. “Aww, gross, man!”

“Nevermind,” said Lori. “I know what’s
happening.”

”Oh, hunny,” said December, as Larry
continued puking.

Gina leaned in close to Larry, handing him a
towel. He reached up and as he took the towel, Gina released it
into his hand, whispering, “You’ll be okay.” She strategically
tossed two of the towels onto the floor just in front of Larry
before returning to the stack, grabbing several more towels and
crossing the cabin to a sink area, where she ran water onto one of
the towels. She returned to the spot next to Larry and offered him
the wet towel.

.

I made my way to the only lit compartment on
the enormous yacht now berthed in front of the van der Bix mansion,
to find Larry slouched in a swivel chair, next to a large couch in
the rear of the main cabin. Ed sat near the forward-facing windows.
The air hung heavy with the smell of vomit. Gina and December sat
on the couch, the women on either side of Larry.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” I said,
avoiding a pile of wet towels in the middle of the floor, “but Lori
told me to find out.” This could have been high school. This could
have been Saturday night, sneaking beers at the suite. This could
have been another disastrous drive with Larry, the only person I
had ever known who could get carsick as he drove. “I can sort of
figure it out, but why doesn’t someone tell me.”

“I just care about Larry,” said Gina.

“You talk like you own him,” snapped
December.

“You didn’t even look down when I was at the
sidewalk,” said Ed.

“Oh, God,” said Larry.

“Excuse me, but has anyone ever heard of a
private life
?” said December. “Until everyone barged in,
Larry and me were minding our own business.”

“He was minding your business pretty well,”
said Ed.

“Please,” said Larry, as he began
coughing.

“Everybody stop!” I yelled. “This is Larry’s
boat. Let the man breathe.”

The silence that followed made the rumbling
of engines all the louder, followed by a chorus of “What the…?”

Everyone in the cabin looked up, as hands in
the night slid one of the cabin doors open. Two burly men entered,
as the boat began to move on the water.

“Sitko! What the hell are you doing!” yelled
December.

“Why look,” said the bigger of the two men,
“it’s the man with the soda cans.” Sitko Bladich stepped up to
Larry and delivered a kick to the face, sending Larry bouncing back
on the couch before he collapsed forward, onto the floor. Gina and
December shrieked.

“I love that,” Sitko said to his
comrade.

“You fuckin’ bastard,” yelled Ed, standing,
as the man with Sitko drew a long-bladed knife.

“C’mon, surfer boy,” said the man with the
knife, crouching. “Be a hero.”

December and Gina scooted their way to
Larry, Gina holding his bloodied face in her arms. December stood
over him, protectively. “Dey’re gonna send you back, Sitko, and
never let you out!”

Sitko Bladich laughed. “We’ll see baby.”

The movement of the boat picked up.

“You all do like this guy here,” said the
man with the knife, pointing to me. “Hands up, like him, all wimpy
and stuff. C’mon! All of you.”

Sitko pointed to the couch. “All of you,
onto the couch. Mr. Soda Cans and Surfer Boy, you too!” Sitko
yelled as he instructed the man with the knife to watch the group.
He stepped out of the cabin. Several moments later, a third,
equally giant, man entered, also carrying a knife.

The engines of the yacht began to whir in a
high-pitched sound, and it felt as though the boat was speeding
along, but not yet in unprotected water.

“So what will you be an accomplice to?” I
asked one of the knifemen. “Kidnapping? Murder? Are you willing to
take a strike just because….”

“Shad’dup,” said the first knife-wielder,
kicking me in the lower leg.

Sitko stepped back in. “We’re going for a
little ride, everybody, so I can see my girl.”

“I am
not
your girl, Sitko!”

“Shut up, bitch!” yelled Sitko, stepping to
December and striking her with the back of his hand. “Mr. Magnum’s
lonely and you’re gonna make him happy.”

“Don’t hit the lady, scumbag,” said Ed.

Sitko motioned for the second knifeman and
the two closed in on Ed. Sitko moved behind Ed’s back and held his
arms, as the knifeman put the blade against Ed’s throat.

“No blood, man,” said Ed. “No blood.”

The knifeman made a short, quick motion,
slicing open a small slit, from which a steady trickle of blood
oozed out. The knifeman let blood pool on the blade, which he
raised in front of Ed’s eyes.

“Do it now, Surfer Boy,” whispered Sitko.
“Make it easy for us.”

Ed stopped struggling against Sitko’s hold.
The knifeman stepped back to join his counterpart, and Sitko shoved
Ed forward, sending him to his knees, blood splattering all around
him.

I watched Ed on his hands and knees for a
moment. He appeared to have something in his hand, which he cupped
close to his shorts.

Sitko crossed to December, grabbing her
tank-top collar and yanking violently downward, ripping the shirt
into pieces, letting it fall open as December grabbed the pieces
she could save. “That’s what I’m talking about,” said Sitko, the
sound of raw lust in his voice. “You’re gonna make Mr. Magnum very
happy tonight.”

Sitko stepped to Gina and Larry, putting his
crooked index finger under Larry’s chin, slowly lifting Larry’s
face. “You shouldn’t rub money in someone’s face,” said Sitko,
before spitting directly into Larry’s eyes. “That just makes people
mad.”

“Dis’ll be your third strike, Sitko,” yelled
December. “Dey’ll never let you out.”

The whirring of the engines increased. From
the flickering of lights outside the windows, it was clear we were
still within eyesight of land. We could have been off Palos Verdes
or San Pedro. It still felt like we were within the protected
waters of the harbor.

Sitko stepped to Gina and moved his hand to
her cheek. She recoiled, as he touched her. “Then all of us are
gonna have a good time tonight.” The engine cut out.

The two knifemen looked at one another and
then to Sitko, who did not appear concerned. Sitko leaned in to
Gina. “Stand up. Let’s see what you got, girlie.”

Gina sat frozen.

“I said, get up!” yelled Sitko, his hand
open and cocked back to slap her, but Larry, alongside Gina,
reached up and grabbed Sitko’s wrist. The more Sitko tried to move
his arm, the more it appeared that Larry would win a battle of
strength. “Stupid,” said Sitko. “Cut him, boys.”

There was silence, and then bright light
shined into the cabin.

Sitko turned and saw his knifemen raising
their arms, their weapons falling from their hands. “What the
fuck?” said Sitko.

At the instant that Sitko turned his head,
December and Gina each leapt up, Gina sending her knee crashing
between Sitko’s legs and December hurling herself upwards, knocking
the mountain backwards, just as Larry released his grip. Ed jumped
on top of the fallen giant, flipping Sitko onto his face and
grabbing an arm, pushing it high into Sitko’s back and doing the
same with the other.

Three state Fish and Game wardens, each
holding a rifle aimed towards the knifemen, entered the cabin, as
other park rangers and game wardens rushed in behind them, moving
quickly to handcuff Sitko Bladich and the two knifemen.

Ralphie followed the wardens into the cabin.
“He’s the owner,” said Ralphie, pointing to Larry. “And these
people are with him,” pointing to me, Ed, Gina and December.

The game wardens moved the trio of
kidnappers out of the cabin, each with a rifle aimed at their head.
Larry took off his shirt, and offered it to December, who timidly
accepted it and let the pieces of her tank top fall to the ground.
Gina sat Larry on the couch and looked closely at where he had been
kicked. She shucked her own blouse and wearing only a brassier
above the waist, used her top to soak away the blood from Larry’s
face.

“You don’t look well,” I said to Ed, as he
watched Larry and Gina. I guided Ed to a chair near the window.
Once he was seated, I stepped out of the cabin. Circling overhead
were helicopters from local news stations, from the Coast Guard,
from State Fish & Game, from the LAPD, and each shining a
spotlight onto the yacht. In the pilothouse stood two armed
wardens. Sitko and the other kidnappers were taken to the side of
the yacht and shackled to one another and then to the railing,
while wardens stood guard, never lowering their rifles.

A rope ladder was unfurled from one of the
helicopters, and three men in olive green uniforms climbed onto the
yacht. They moved towards the cabin.

“Mr. van der Bix?” said one, as I reentered
the cabin. “Larry van der Bix?”

Larry looked up.

“There’s no way you’d remember me,” he said,
reaching into his pocket and pulling out a folded photograph, which
he handed to Larry. “I’m just so glad we got here in time.”

Larry looked at the photo and then handed it
back to the warden, who set it on the countertop. I picked it up,
and there was the Governor of California with Larry, and all around
him were uniformed game wardens and park rangers, standing in front
of a blue backdrop and a podium bearing the seal of the Governor of
the State of California.

“
You’re
glad,” said Larry.

.

“No, baby,” said December, into the phone.
“Everything’s fine. Why?”

The helicopters overhead continued shining
their spotlights, as the yacht was brought in to LAFD Firehouse #5,
next to the battleship USS Iowa. The spotlights filled the cabin,
like a lightning storm, coming and going, illuminating all and
wiping out all shadows, and then, just as suddenly, leaving the
cabin in near total darkness.

“On the TV? Dere? In Colorado?” said
December. “Man, the news don’t fool around.”

Larry lay his head, wrapped in a towel, on
Gina’s chest, as she gently stroked his hair.

Ed looked up from swivel chair he sat in
near the front windows, waving at times to the helicopters.

December sat on the other side of Larry,
telling Lori the order of events, missing no detail, adding
commentary and cooing towards Larry wherever he was part of the
story. She smiled sweetly towards Gina, who seemed not to notice,
as she tended to Larry.

The state game warden who had given Larry
the photo stepped back in to the cabin. Ralphie followed him in.
“Mr. van der Bix, we’ve transferred the attackers to local police
custody and your employee has given us what we need to proceed with
arrests. But we will need to hold your vessel as part of the
investiga.....”

“Keep it,” said Larry, not moving from
Gina’s embrace. “I don’t ever want to see it again.”

“That’s very generous, Mr. van der Bix, but
I’m not empowered....”

“Tell the Governor,” said Larry, as four Los
Angeles city paramedics entered the cabin, carrying large plastic
cases, which they swiftly set down next to Larry, pulling them open
to reveal gauze, bandages and medical supplies. “Maybe the Parks
need a boat.”