Osprey
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
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More fish tales
People say they like em and Doug hasn't sent them to other topics so I'll offer one more.
Cajon Holiday
My cousin Earl married a Mexican. That?s unusual around this part of Louisiana. The wedding was here but Earl met her over in Beaumont. He was
over there goin? to school to get a license to drive big boats up and down the river. It pays real good money. I don?t remember how they got
together but the wedding was nice, she seemed real nice, her folks was there, they was all dressed up. They smiled a lot but I saw they wore those
phoney little smiles just like the ones Earl?s mom and his dad Ruben was sportin?. Cajons and Mexicans don?t usually get along all that much and
maybe all the parents was havin? a bad case of the ?What if?s?. The girl?s family came in three big black limousines. The men wore cowboy hats,
snakey boots.
Earl didn?t ask me to be best man because of that situation that had developed long ago about who actually was sellin? the pigs and who actually was
the official owner of the pigs. My cousin always thought I was bein? devious about my answers to the police. Devious in a way that made him a tenant
in a dark room in a big concrete building in Natchitoches for 44 days while I was locked up nearer home for only 12. I went trappin for two months
after he got out but when I seen him at Bugeye?s later, he seemed not to hold no grudge on me.
So when my Mom told me Earl was comin back to see about gettin Ruben into a home, after bein gone for almost ten years, I didn?t know how he would be
with me. Well, he was fine, he was friendly, he seemed to be OK with everything. Over the years Earl had sent home a fair amount of money to Ruben
and his mom, some gifts for us at Christmas, sent some pictures of his big house in Mexico, his boat, the beach where he lives, lots of pictures of
his two kids, girls. I woulda wrote him but nothin?s changed much around here ? me workin? at the big Fry?s warehouse in Pineville was not front page
headline stuff.
He stayed over at Ruben?s but he came by the house nearly every day. Saturday we had some drinks at Bayou Blanc.
He said ?Bobby, you ever been to the ocean??
?No, never have. Poppa took me to see the big river when I was twelve.?
Earl went on ?How?d you like to come down to Mexico with me, do a little fishin???
Well, I didn?t have to do a lot of thinkin? on that one. I said ?Hell, yes.? I had vacation time comin at Fry?s so I told him I could go with him
right away.
He laid it all out. He would get airline tickets for me, we could fly down to Mexico, after fishin? I would fly back the same way. We would fly
from Alexandria to Houston, Texas then on down to where he lives in a place called Mazatlan. When we got back to the house Earl said I?d need my
birth certificate. Momma found it in a tin box she keeps under the bed. Earl made some phone call and two days later we was on our way.
This would be my second time on a plane. When Poppa?s brother, Orman, died we all flew up to the funeral in Little Rock. I was scared plenty on
that first one cause I was only about eight or nine, it was real cold, we was flyin? in a blizzard. When we landed I almost wet myself when the plane
skidded on the ice. The plane at Alexandria was so small at first I thought Earl was just joking with me. There was only eight seats! Twas? no
joke. We got on, strapped down and took off for Texas just like that. No drinks, no peanuts, no nothin?. I still didn?t get to see the ocean cause
I was on the wrong side of the little plane. I did see the Sabine river and lots of lots of scrubby lookin? hills.
Man, that airport at Houston is huge. We took a cart, then a bus, then another cart, then we pulled our bags for a long assed way to where they
loaded up the planes. Now that plane was big and fancy. Drinks, peanuts, pretty girls, food. You could lean way back. I almost fell asleep.
It was hot and windy when we got off the plane and Earl?s wife Olivia, and Gloria, one of the girls, picked us up in a big shiny suburban, took us to
the Hacienda. Like a palace, no, more like a fancy fort it was kept safe and secret by a big high wall and big iron gates. I?ll tell you all about
it later but let me get to the fishin? part.
Somebody knocked on the door to my room real early, said to get up. When we left the house it was still dark. We stopped at a little house and
picked up a Mexican guy. He was the guy who took care of Earl?s boat. I couldn?t quite handle the Spanish on his name but it sounded like Ricky so I
called him Ricky. It was just gettin? daylight when we pushed the carts full of coolers and things down these long wooden planks just above the water
passin lots of boats on the way. Earl?s boat was way bigger than it looked in the picture. Another Mexican guy was already on the boat. Just a
young guy, about my age, he was dartin? about like a wild man, cleanin?, storin, movin? things, gettin? everything ready for the fishin?.
Pretty soon we was racin? along while Earl and the young guy, his name was Nando, got busy with the fishin sticks and the string cranks. Earl showed
me the fancy plastic things that they hide the big hooks in. They was every color you could think of. Earl and the Mexican tied em on the strings,
fixed the sticks so they stuck straight up, let the strings out behind the big boat. After almost a hour draggin? those things around I was beginnin?
to think we was never gonna stop to fish. I was guessin? that when we did stop, the hook things would sink to the bottom where the big fish was. I
don?t know siccum about any fishin? except for catfish so I held my tongue but I just knew if you drag those hooks around long enough you are gonna
snag up on a log or a cypress knee.
Well, I was right. We did snag up. The stick bent over almost double and the crank made a helluva racket. Nando jerked hard on the stick to see if
he could unsnag it but it was stuck good. Earl took the stick, cranked and cranked for what seemed like forever and we was all excited to see what
got snagged, if we could unsnag it, save the hook thing. It was a fish! They had snagged a fish. The biggest fish I ever saw was thrashin? around
on the end of that string. When they got it up next to the boat, Nando, the young Mexican guy unsnagged the thing, got the hook thing back. Boy were
they glad to get that thing back. They was all laughin?, smilin? slappin? hands, swillin? down the beer like it was free. I don?t know what one a
those hook things cost but it must be a wallet buster.
If it was left up to me I woulda left the hook things in the boat, safe and sound til I got to a good fishin? place but no, they let the strings out
again and took to draggin? the hook things around some more. Well, they snagged up again. This time Earl put a belt on me, the kind the kids wear in
the parades, the kids with the big flags. He strapped me in a chair and had me crank the string in. It was another fish! We had snagged up on
another big fish. This one was skinnier, a little smaller but with all the thrashin? around I was gettin? wore out crankin?. Nando got the thing
unsnagged, just like the first one, saved the hook thing and the wild assed celebratin? started all over again.
Well, that was pretty much it. We dragged some more, had some sandwiches, drank lots of beer but we never stopped to fish. Maybe they couldn?t find
the right spot, maybe they was just not in the mood. I don?t know. I do know that those big fish they snagged must be no better eatin? than a gar
cause if they was good you could eat on em? for a month, just one fish.
On the way back to the big house earl asked me ?Well, how did you like that, catching your first sailfish??
After all he done for me I didn?t have the heart to tell him the truth so I just smiled, laughed to humor him. I said ?Loved it Earl, loved every
minute of it.?
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Sallysouth
Super Nomad
Posts: 1835
Registered: 10-9-2003
Location: Capo Beach
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Mood: missing Baja...
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Wow! What a great read Osprey! Great way to start my day off, with a good laugh and a big smile!! Keep em comin'!!!!! Thanks! Sally
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Baja Bernie
`Normal` Nomad Correspondent
Posts: 2962
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: Sunset Beach
Member Is Offline
Mood: Just dancing through life
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Osprey
I'll still be laughing when I go to bed tonight. Thanks!
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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Don Alley
Super Nomad
Posts: 1997
Registered: 12-4-2003
Location: Loreto
Member Is Offline
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Good one!
Keep 'em coming, or stick them all in a book.
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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Great story Osprey. Keep them coming.
As I read this one I thought more about how you must have written it than the story itself. It's so different from what I write. I write about my baja
experiences as they occur and if they're well written then I consider it to be creative writing.
But here you're writing it as a southerner. It's not simply a matter of talking like one. You have to have him see the world like a southerner.
| Quote: | Originally posted by Osprey
We took a cart, then a bus, then another cart, then we pulled our bags for a long assed way to where they loaded up the planes. Now that plane was big
and fancy. Drinks, peanuts, pretty girls, food. You could lean way back. I almost fell asleep.
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It must be hard to put yourself into someone's body in order to create a realistic character. Takes a lot of observation, I guess. I know I couldn't
do it that well. As a reader you just take a lot things for granted about writing. But it ain't that simple. With your gift (it's probably more like
work) I bet you could have a great career as a screenwriter.
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