Africa (Complete)

Chapter Fourteen

Kam reached the boat, approaching from the rear. He took a moment to catch his breath and collect his thoughts. His original mission to sneak aboard the Litig8 and take out the nasty pirates was no longer in play. He wasn't sure what to do now.

Kam looked back in the direction in which he had come. The boat Bill was on was nowhere in sight. He looked up at the night sky, but could no longer see the stars due to heavy cloud coverage that had blown in. He was committed at this point.

Floating in the dark abyss, Kam placed both hands on the back of the boat and pulled himself up like a seal. He slid forward onto his belly. A part of him wanted to just remain there all night and fall asleep, but he knew he couldn't. Bill and Nancy were counting on him.

The loud music masked any noise he might make. Soaking wet, Kam entered a hyper state of awareness as if he were in the finals of an athletic competition. He blocked out any external and internal distractions. With his eyes and ears fully tuned into his environment, he could hear two distinct voices talking and laughing although the music was too loud to make out what they were saying.

He spun the belt around so that the knife was in reach. He wasn't sure what he would need it for, but wanted it close by just in case. He unclipped the latch on the sheath and removed the blade. Gripping it tightly, he took a step forward, then another. The closer he got to the room where the sound was emanating, the faster his heart raced.

With each step, the sound of the thumping base grew louder. It was not a song he recognized. Despite being so dialed into the moment, he didn't realize the voices and the laughter had stopped. That was concerning. With growing reservations, he took another step into the main living area. He saw the stereo, but there was no one there. Gripping the knife tightly, he turned around to go back the way he came. As he turned, he caught a glimpse of a large man right before his lunchbox-sized fist slammed into Kam's face.

Kam fell to the ground and was nearly knocked unconscious. The room was spinning, and his vision became blurry. His bell had been rung. Scrambling to regain his wits, he didn't even know what planet he was on. He soon realized he was no longer holding the knife. He frantically searched for it. To add to the chaos and confusion, the man and his wife began shouting at him. It appear to be Spanish.

"Oye, hijo de puta, ¿qué demonios estás haciendo en mi bote?" ¿De donde vienes?"

The man towered over Kam, who was still on the ground. As Kam stood up, the man struck him again. There was no time for talking, Kam had found himself in a fist fight. He grabbed the guy by the shirt and ran him backwards, slamming him into the far wall. The man pushed back and together they crashed into a table. The whole time, the man's wife kept screaming in Spanish. Kam wasn't a fighter and quickly realized he was in a situation he didn't want to be in. Kam created some space and threw a looping left hook that landed flush. The man stumbled back. This was Kam's moment to continue to fight, or to choose another path.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay, it's over," he said, holding up his hands passively. "I'm not here to hurt you. Comprendes? Do you speak English?"

The man started yelling at him in Spanish. Saliste de la nada y te metiste en mi bote, ¿dónde duermo con mi esposa y nuestra hija? ¿Qué estabas planeando hacer, eh? Cortar nuestras gargantas con ese cuchillo y tirarnos por la borda. ¿Te parecemos comida de pescado? ¿Qué tal si te abro la garganta y te arrojo?

("You come out of nowhere and sneak onto my boat, where I sleep with my wife and our daughter? What were you planning on doing, huh? Slit our throats with that knife and throw us overboard? Do we look like fish food to you? How about I slit your throat motherf*!#ker and toss you over?")

"Hey, man, I don't understand what you're saying," Kam said. Fumbling with his words, he managed to piece together a coherent sentence using the little Spanish he knew. "Uh... paz... uh... Mi nombre es Kam... um... necesito ayuda." 

("Peace. My name is Kam. I need help.")

"Where do you come from?" the man asked with a thick Spanish accent.

"America. I come from America. Where do you come from?"

"Mexico."

Kam looked over at the man's frightened wife. "Uh... un placer... conocerte, señora." 

(It's nice to meet you, ma'am.")

"Where do you come from?" the man asked again, seemingly unsatisfied with Kam's first response.

"Uh... right. Okay. I was on a boat. These bad men came and took our boat. They kidnapped... do you understand? They take my friend's wife. They took her... and our boat. We saw your boat... actually we heard your music. Si. We need your help. Will you help us?"

"How many are with you?" the man asked.

"One friend."

Kam started counting on his fingers then pointed to himself. "Oh, si. Dos," Kam said, holding up two fingers. "Me, and one friend... Bill. My friend's name is Bill."

"Él está mintiendo. nos iba a matar." (He's lying. He was going to kill us," the man's wife said. "Pregúntale sobre el cuchillo." ("Ask him about the knife.")

"No te preocupes dejame manejar esto." ("Don't worry, let me handle this.")

"Go outside. Show me your friend."

"Ah, si," Kam said. "Okay, I will show you."

The man instructed his wife to remain behind while he and Kam went out on the back deck.

"We came from over there," Kam said pointing into a wall of darkness."

"Where?" the Mexican man said.

"Over there."  When Kam turned around to see if the man understood him, he was again blindsided with another punch to the face. Kam crumpled to the floor like a body without a skeleton. His head split open and blood began gushing out. The man scooped Kam up, and then without a moment of hesitancy, he tossed him overboard.