Slobberknocker - Softcover

Johnston, Rick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1467036706 ISBN 13: 9781467036702

Verlag: AuthorHouse, 2011

Inhaltsangabe

PICKENS LEE PLAYS IN A ROCK N ROLL BAND IN SOUTH WEST FLORIDA, LIVING A QUIET BUT PRODUCTIVE LIFE. HIS WHOLE WORLD IS TURNED UPSIDE DOWN WHEN HIS BEST FRIEND AND BAND MATE, JOSE' ARANA, UNKNOWINGLY BECOMES INVOLVED WITH IDENTITY THEFT, A CROOKED REAL ESTATE BROKER, MARIJUANA GROW HOUSES AND MURDER. WHILE FISHING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO, THEY FIND A SMALL, SILVER OBLONG OBJECT THAT LOOKS LIKE A FOOTBALL, FURTHER COMPLICATING THEIR LIVES IN WAYS THEY NEVER DREAMED WERE POSSIBLE. FROM THE ISLANDS OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA TO THE HIGH MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA, THE BAND TRIES TO STAY ONE STEP AHEAD OF THE MOB AND A MYSTERIOUS GOVERNMENT ENTITY; THE FORMER WANTS REVENGE AND THE LATTER WANTS THE FOOTBALL. IT IS A STORY OF FRIENDSHIPS AND LONG HELD BELIEFS THAT ARE CHALLENGED BY EVENTS BEYOND THEIR CONTROL.

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SLOBBERKNOCKER

By RICK JOHNSTON

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2011 RICK JOHNSTON
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4670-3670-2

Chapter One

MAN IS ESSENTIALY ALONE, BORN NAKED AND TERRIFIED; ENTERING LIFE THROUGH VIOLENT CONTRACTIONS, PUSHING HIM FARTHER FROM THE SAFETY OF THE BENEVOLENT WOMB, THRUSTING HIM INTO AN ALIEN WORLD AND FORCING, HE OR SHE, TO ACT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN IT'S SHORT LIFE: BREATHE. ONE DOES NOT CHOOSE FAMILY, IT IS FATE OR LUCK THAT DETERMINES THE NATURE OF THE GROUP, AND BE IT ONE OF NURTURE OR DENIAL. HOPE AND PROVIDENCE HIS ONLY CONSTANT FRIEND AND COMPANION; ALL OTHERS ARE TRANSIENT. FRIENDS ARE AN IMPORTANT AND NECESSARY PART OF LIFE, BUT THEY EVENTUALLY EITHER MOVE ON OR DIE. THE LAUDITORY SEARCH FOR THE ILLUSIONARY QUEST FOR LOVE IS OFTEN EXPOSED FOR THE ELEMENTAL APPERITION THAT IT IS. MAN IS ULTIMATELY DEPENDENT ON HIS OWN DEVICES, AND THE WHIMS OF THE BIG GAME: THE LAS VEGAS OF LIFE.

THIS IS A STORY OF A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO WILL HAVE THEIR LIVES TURNED UPSIDE DOWN. EVERYTHING THAT THEY THOUGHT THEY KNEW WILL NOW SEEM CHILDISH. TO PRAPHRASE COLUMNIST THOMAS SOWEL, "A MAN CARRIES AROUND BELIEFS ALL THROUGH HIS LIFE LIKE A SWARM OF FLIES ON A SUMMER'S DAY." THE FLIES IN THIS STORY HAVE TRANSFORMED INTO BIRDS OF PREY AND ALL THAT THEY WERE TAUGHT IS NOW SUBJECT TO SERIOUS DEBATE.

"EVERY TREE HAS ITS LIZARD AND EVERY LIZARD HAS ITS TREE."

JUNE 3RD ... WEDNESDAY ... 7:30 IN THE MORNING ... ST. JAMES CITY, PINE ISLAND, WEST COAST OF FLORIDA.

WE LEFT MONROE CANAL IN ST. JAMES CITY AROUND SEVEN IN THE MORNING, THE FOG WAS THICK, SO THE GOING WAS SLOW. THE CANAL RAN, BASICALLY, NORTH TO SOUTH. THE WHOLE AREA WAS A MANATEE PROTECTION ZONE. SLOW, WITH NO WAKE: THAT WAS THE LAW. WE WERE IN JOSE'S ARANA'S 22FT. GRADY WHITE FISHERMAN, A GOOD FISHING PLATFORM FOR THIS PART OF THE GULF OF MEXICO. WE WERE HEADING SOUTH TO THE OPEN PARTS OF SAN CARLOS BAY, JUST EAST OF SANIBEL ISLAND. THERE WAS SOME HARD BOTTOM OVER TEN FEET OF WATER WHERE WE HOPED TO CATCH BAIT. MY NAME IS PICKENS LEE AND JOSE' AND I ARE PROFESSIONAL MUSICIANS WHO PLAY IN A ROCK AND ROLL BAND IN LEE COUNTY FLORIDA. THIS IS OUR STORY. THE EVENTS CAME ON US UNEXPECTLY AND WE WERE NEVER THE SAME AFTERWARDS. WE WERE, I THOUGHT, CHANGED, SOMEHOW ENOBLED, WITH AN APPRECIATION OF LIFE AND ALL ITS QUIRKY POSSIBILITIES.

TEN MINUTES LATER WE PASSED THE LAST OF THE NO WAKE SIGNS. JOSE' THROTTLED UP THE TWO HUNDRED HORSES CAPTURED IN THE MAINFRAME OF THE BIG YAMAHA OUTBOARD MOTOR AND POINTED THE BOW SOUTHEAST TOWARDS THE SANIBEL CAUSEWAY. THE FRICTION OF HULL AGAINST SEAWATER PRODUCED A SHHH ... SOUND AND A REMARKABLY COMFORTABLE RIDE. SOON THE WATERFRONT HOUSES ON THE EASTERN SHORE OF SANIBEL CAME INTO SIGHT. WE CLEARED THE SMALLER WESTERN BRIDGE AND HEADED OUT TO OPEN WATER TO A PRESET GPS CO-ORDINATE WHERE WE HOPED TO CATCH A HALF DOZEN BLUE RUNNERS, A SMALL MEMBER OF THE JACK FAMILY. IT IS ONE OF THE FAVORITE FOODS OF OUR TARGETED GAMEFISH OF THE DAY; KING MACKERAL. THE WATER IN THE GULF HAD CLIMBED TO ALMOST 70 DEGREES, SENDING SURGING SCHOOLS OF BAITFISH UP FROM FLORIDA BAY, PAST THE TEN THOUSAND ISLANDS AND UP INTO THE SOUTHEASTERN GULF. FOLLOWING THE BAIT WERE THE PREDATORS, AMONG THEM THE KING MACKEREL, OR KINGFISH TO THE LOCALS.

THAT MORNING, A WEST WIND WAS WORKING AN OFFSHORE BREEZE AND THE BAROMETER READ 29.95 INCHES OF MERCURY. WHILE LAUNCHING THE BOAT, A SLIGHT RESIDULE FOG STILL HUNG OVER PINE ISLAND BLURRING DISTANT SHAPES INTO FANTASTIC IMAGES AND THE SKIES IN THE DISTANT GULF SPROUTED SMALL COLUMNS OF RISING WATER VAPOR IN THE FORM OF GREY ON WHITE CLOUDS. A PAIR OF OSPREYS CIRCLED OVERHEAD. I WALKED BACK BEHIND THE CENTER CONSOLE, WHERE JOSE' WAS SIMULTANEOUSLY STUDING THE G.P.S. AND THE DEPTH FINDER. JOSE' ARANA HAS BEEN MY FRIEND SINCE HIS FAMILY MOVED FROM MIAMI TO CAPE CORAL MANY YEARS AGO. HIS MOTHER AND FATHER ESCAPED CASTRO'S CUBA IN THE MIDDLE SIXTIES WITH SOME OF THEIR MONEY; IN THE FORM OF ART: PAINTINGS BY THE SPANISH ARTIST, JUAN GRIS AND, THE CATALAN MASTER, SALVADOR DALI' AMONG THEM. THEY STARTED INVESTING IN REAL ESTATE, RAISED A FAMILY, AND MOVED TO CAPE CORAL IN THE LATE EIGHTIES. I MET JOSE' IN HIGH SCHOOL MY SENIOR YEAR. WE BOTH PLAYED GUITAR AND LOVED THE ENGLISH BANDS LIKE JETHRO TULL, ZEPPELIN, AND HUMBLE PIE. WE'VE PLAYED TOGETHER IN BANDS EVER SINCE.

JOSE' FOUND WHAT HE WAS LOOKING FOR AND SIGNALED IT WITH A "WE'RE HERE!" I DROPPED THE ANCHOR OVER THE SIDE AND PICKED UP MY PENN ULTRALITE FISHING ROD RIGGED WITH A SABIKI LINE.

A SABIKI RIG IS A SHORT PIECE OF MONOFILAMENT WITH A WEIGHT AT THE END. THE LINE HAS AT LEAST TWO SMALL HOOKS AND SOMETIMES AS MANY AS FIVE TIED EVERY FEW INCHES DOWN ITS LENGTH. SOMETIMES THE LITTLE GOLD HOOKS WERE FESTOONED WITH A BIT OF FEATHER. THEY'RE REAL GOOD AT CATCHING LARGE BAITFISH. I DROPPED THE RIG DOWN TO THE BOTTOM AND THEN PULLED BACK ABOUT A FOOT SO I COULD DANCE IT BY JIGGING THE ROD TIP UP AND DOWN. I DIDN'T HAVE TO WAIT LONG.

"GOTCHA", WE BOTH SAID IN UNISON. JOSE' PULLED UP TWO AND I CAUGHT ONE. "PICK, START THE MOTOR ON THE LIVE WELL"; AS SOON AS I OPENED THE HATCH TO THE WELL, TWO FISH SAILED BY MY HEAD AND DROPPED AT MY FEET, FLOPPING FURIOUSLY. JOSE' LAUGHED. I PUT ALL THREE BLUE RUNNERS IN THE LIVE WELL AND RESUMED FISHING. JOSE' WAS STILL LAUGHING.

'YOU ALMOST HIT ME IN THE HEAD YOU DUMBSHIT." I SAID. "ALMOST IS ONLY GOOD IN HORSE SHOES", HE REPLIED, WHILE REELING IN ANOTHER DOUBLE HOOKUP.

"YEA, HAND GRENADES TOO"!

IN TEN MINUTES WE HAD A DOZEN SMALL BLUE RUNNERS AND TWO OR THREE PINFISH IN THE WELL. WE WERE MORE THAN READY TO GO CATCH KINGS.

A WORD ABOUT HE KINGFISH, THE ALL TACKLE RECORD IS 93 POUNDS, WITH THE NATURE OF A RAPACIOUS PREDATOR. WHEN A KING HITS A BAIT OR LURE IT'S TRAVELING IN THE 30 MILE AN HOUR ZONE. ARMED WITH ROWS OF HALF INCH, SURGICALLY SHARP TEETH, THEY CAN CUT A FISH IN TWO. ON ONE TRIP, OFF THE COAST OF ST. PETERSBURG BEACH, I HAD A KINGFISH BEND A TROLLING ROD ALMOST TO THE GUNWALE OF THE BOAT, ONLY TO REEL IN THE HEAD AND DIVING LIP OF A BIG RAPALA LURE. SOMETIMES YOU SEE ONE JUMPING TEN OR FIFTEEN FEET OUT OF THE WATER. WHEN A BIG ONE HITS YOUR BAIT, IT WILL STRIP OFF OVER A HUNDRED YARDS OF LINE FROM YOUR REEL AT SPEEDS EXCEEDING THIRTY MILES AN HOUR. YOUR REEL WOULD LITTERALY, SMOKE, THROWING SEMI-IONIZED SALTWATER AND GREASE OVER YOUR HANDS AND INTO THE AIR. I'VE SEEN GEAR EXPLODE FROM SEIZED UP BEARINGS, SENDING LITTLE BITS OF KENETIC ENERGY, LIKE SHRAPNEL, ALL OVER THE PLACE. THAT'S WHY FISHERMAN CALL THE BIG KINGS, SMOKERS.

OUR PLAN WAS TO HEAD OFFSHORE ABOUT TEN MILES AND TROLL THE COAST OF SANIBEL, PAST CAPTIVA, TO REDFISH PASS, THEN GO TO SOME GPS NUMBERS THAT MARKED A PAIR OF MAN MADE REEFS WHERE WE INTENDED TO ANCHOR AND SET UP A CHUM LINE. THE SUN WAS UP AND HAD BURNED OFF THE REMAINING BIT OF FOG. THE LITTLE WHITE ON GREY CLOUDS OUT OVER THE WESTERN HORIZON HAD TURNED TO BLACK ON GREY AND WERE FOAMING SKYWARD. THE OSPREYS WERE GONE AND WERE REPLACED BY SEVERAL FRIGATE BIRDS SOARING A THOUSAND FEET OVER THE GULF LOOKING FOR LARGE SCHOOLS OF BIG FISH. I WAS EXCITED BECAUSE THIS WAS THE FIRST TRIP OUT THIS SEASON AND THE DAY OFFERED A BIT OF ADVENTURE THAT WE NEEDED. WE HAD JUST COMPLETED A TWO WEEK, FOURTEEN DAY GIG ON ESTERO BEACH. IT WAS FUN, BUT IT GOT TO BE A GRIND WITH THE TWO A DAY SHOWS BUT THE MONEY WAS GOOD. A WEEK'S VACATION WAS BETTER, AND WE WERE OFF FISHING. "HOLD ON WE'RE HEADING OUT" JOSE' SAID OVER THE NOISE OF THE REVVING YAMAHA ENGINE. I TIGHTENED THE DRAW STRING ON MY FAVORITE STRAW HAT AND WE WERE OFF.

THREE TO FOUR...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: AuthorHouse
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2011
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1467036706
• ISBN 13: 9781467036702
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 232
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: KreGa Onlinehandel GmbH; 4950000000000; info@krega-onlinehandel.de; ; Birkenweg 31; Brakel; 33034; Deutschland