She of the Sea

20 of 53 - A Second Chance

The next morning, Cassie shuffled across the street from her apartment to the boat still feeling the sting of shame. Her crew had trusted her to do one simple thing. If she would've driven the boat into the beach at full throttle, she would've killed them all.

Ofelia had berated her, rightfully so. Cassie had no excuse and could say nothing in her defense other than she must have fallen asleep at the wheel. Mick had ignored her the rest of the trip back to the dock, but she could tell by his red-faced scowl he held back his rage. Even amiable Corky had harsh words with her and suggested she was too young to handle the job responsibly.

At the time, she sat there in tears and took all their abuse. Except, she realized it wasn't abuse. It was well-deserved righteous indignation.

She had expected to be fired on the spot. If she were in Ofelia's position, she would've fired her. How would it feel, returning to her aunt's condo in disgrace after only one day? It would've been humiliating.

Luckily, Ofelia didn't fire her. Her boss told her to go home and spend the rest of the day thinking about what she had almost done and to return the next morning with a clearer head.

That she was being given a second chance made Cassie feel worse. She wasn't deserving.

Cassie climbed aboard Ofelia's boat, said good morning to her boss, and went quiet. She stowed her gear in the little locker and removed her dive mask and foot fins. When Corky and Mick boarded, Ofelia asked them all to huddle up.

"I want to take a moment to talk about what happened yesterday," she said.

The bottom dropped out of Cassie's stomach. This was where she would be told she was being replaced. She would be fired after all. She hung her head and focused on the boat deck.

Ofelia said, "After my temper cooled and I had a chance to reflect on the incident, I came to the realization what happened was my fault. It's all on me."

"But I'm the one who almost got us all killed," Cassie muttered. Why was the woman willing to take the blame for something she did?

"I didn't consider your age and level of maturity. I admire your ability in the water and thought I could fast-track you." She took a breath. "I apologize for pushing you too hard." Glancing at Corky and Mick, she said, "I apologize to you as well for my lack of judgment. As captain of this boat, I should've known better."

Corky took a seat beside Cassie and spoke softly. "All three of us like you, kiddo. We want to see you succeed. You're smart and skilled which caused us to forget that you're still an adolescent. We consider you one of us, a fellow crew member, and we will treat you as an equal, and yet, you're not equal to us. Not yet. Does that make sense?"

It hurt her pride when Corky called her an adolescent, but she couldn't get upset. She knew she was still just a kid, a very fortunate kid for having such a forgiving crew. Cassie swallowed the lump in her throat. She didn't want to embarrass herself further by crying. Crying would just bring hiccups, and she hated when that happened because she couldn't control them.

She glanced at her crew desperate to put it all behind. "Let's get to work."

As Ofelia piloted her boat from the harbor, she tooted the horn when passing by their sister crew. The guys in the second boat waved and fell in behind. Cassie wondered when she would get to meet them. She figured they already heard about her first day screw up. Oh, god, what must they think?

After leaving the harbor and hitting the chop in the Gulf, they passed Anclote Key to starboard. Cassie averted her gaze. She didn't want to look there and wanted to suppress thoughts of the spooky incident.