America 1982-Chapter 36: Business in Progress

"CQ, CQ, CQ! This is the *Ottilia* fishing boat, calling Tony from Missouri." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The stars filled the sky clearly visible above, the silver waning moon reflected on the dark blue ocean, Tommy Hawk steered the fishing boat into the high seas near Gulf of Maine, starting to make contact using the frequency Tony had left earlier.

Melanie was completely without the urge to sleep at the moment, watching tensely beside him at the communication microphone on Tommy Hawk’s control panel, as she considered this deal to have reached its most dangerous moment.

After the fishing boat entered the Gulf of Maine, Tommy Hawk had already called out several times without getting a response, which made Melanie’s nerves even more on edge.

"CQ, CQ, CQ! What the hell is the *Ottilia*, Tommy? Weren’t you supposed to be on Mr. Rocco Waldman’s D.T.F? This is Tony, my coordinates are Gulf of Maine 43.423312, -66.534485, you better turn on the searchlight, don’t plow into me from the butt of this ship." Finally, Tony’s voice, along with the buzzing sound of static, resonated within the radio.

Melanie heaved a sigh of relief at the side, and sat back down.

"Received, Captain Tony, latest instructions, will hit your butt." Tommy Hawk, upon receiving the radio reply from Tony, responded with a chuckle.

"You still haven’t told me what the hell *Ottilia* is?" Tony asked curiously over the radio.

"My mentor, she gave me some gifts that are extremely precious to me personally. To thank her, so I decided to temporarily name Mr. Waldman’s ship after her as a... a..." Tommy started off with a joyful expression, joking around with Tony on the radio. However, he suddenly froze, and when he spoke again, his voice had become as calm as just before a storm:

"You shouldn’t know I’ve been on Mr. Waldman’s D.T.F fishing boat, Tony."

"I guess... I saw that ship at the dock." Tony paused for a bit over there, then continued with a laugh: "Down to Fuck, right? Alright, buddy, save some power for your own boat, see you in a bit."

After finishing, Tony abruptly ended the call, and Tommy Hawk’s face gradually grew an effortful look, his hands grabbed his hair tightly, he stepped back two steps and fiercely kicked the console: "Fuck! Fuck! I should’ve known he would tell Dad! Last time he said he couldn’t reply immediately, had to think about it! As soon as I got back to the apartment, he immediately called! Fuck! That’s not his style! That motherfucker used that time to tell Dad! It must be this... NO..."

Melanie took two steps back, scared by the sudden frenzy of Tommy Hawk: "Tommy, what’s wrong with you? Calm down, OK? If you damage the ship’s rudder, we’ll..."

"Wait, wait, when I went to look for a part-time job at the dock, Dad had gone to meet Mr. Waldman, and at that time I didn’t know about this deal." Tommy tried to calm down from his initial rage about Tony breaking his promise to keep a secret, mumbling to himself, striving to piece everything together: "Mr. Waldman decided on a whim to lend me this D.T.F..."

Although unclear about what was making Tommy Hawk so angry, Melanie still decided to speak up and comfort him: "Tommy, no matter what happens, you have to believe Tony wouldn’t hurt you, he definitely wouldn’t do that."

"Now he’s caused a situation that could become unpredictable." Tommy turned his head, looked at Melanie, and said with a sharp gaze: "And those unpredictable consequences, could very well hurt me."

"Like what?"

"For instance, when applying to a university, I might have to write about having a foolish, alcoholic father, who fancies himself a family man while vacationing in prison! Then those universities would worry that I’ll follow in my father’s footsteps! They’d stamp my application with a big PASS!" Tommy Hawk nearly roared in a low growl.

Upon hearing Tommy’s words, Melanie widened her eyes and sternly retorted, "If he really did engage in the tobacco business, I believe it’s because he loves this family, Tommy Hawk! Maintain the respect that is due to your father!"

"Damn Italian family values, huh?" Seeing Melanie’s expression, Tommy Hawk scoffed with a mocking laugh, then turned to switch on the radio, continuing to drive towards their destination, not sure if he was speaking to Tony on the other side of the radio, to Melanie, or just talking to himself:

"That guy wants to make money, bring his daughter home, for which he could persuade me to drop out of school, take the money I worked hard for, never once thinking about me. And I earn money, not selfishly for tuition; I just want to help him bring Bessie back home. I could have handled this matter myself, but Tony told him... If I could have told him myself, I would have, but I know that guy— for Bessie, he couldn’t resist the temptation of money. He would end up like Hugh Spade, dead from greed."

This time, there was no response from the radio, and Melanie said nothing either.

At 2:27 in the morning, Tommy Hawk finally saw the boat coming to pick up the goods... a fishing boat, even shabbier than his own. Melanie, clutching a harpoon tightly, anxiously watched the approaching vessel. After all, as depicted in the movies, there’s always the risk of someone trying to double-cross during such exchanges.

Four people emerged from that fishing boat, two men and two women, all speaking Italian. Excluding Tony, the only other male was over sixty years old with white hair. The older woman was his wife, while the one throwing the mooring line was his daughter.

"There are no machines here, Aunt Melanie. It’s all manual labor." Tommy Hawk docked his boat next to the other and laid out a gangplank. He then coldly said to Melanie, who was standing with a harpoon on deck, "Let go of that harpoon before they take you for a fool."

This twist of events seemed to have led to his complete disappointment with everyone in the family.

Tony approached Tommy with a sheepish grin, and Tommy fixed his gaze on his brother, "Where are Dad’s people? Tell me while I still consider you my brother."

"Things aren’t like you think, brother. Cool off," Tony said, taking out a cigarette and offering one to Tommy, then draped an arm over Tommy’s shoulders and walked towards the bow of the boat.

At that moment, Melanie also let go of her slightly embarrassing harpoon and greeted the Italians on the other boat. Then the four commenced collaborating on moving the tobacco.

"Dad and I were already planning to get into this business before you mentioned it to me. We had it all planned out, just not as meticulously. He heard about this opportunity while earning money helping to repair speedboats at the shipyard, but we couldn’t find the right kind of speedboat, so we had to use a fishing boat, which is why we went to Mr. Waldman. It was on the day you first went to do a side job for Mr. Waldman, when you met. Dad was so scared; he couldn’t even look you in the eye, fearing that you’d see right through his deception," Tony whispered, with his arm still over Tommy’s shoulder.

Tommy spoke in irritation, "Where’s the capital? A hundred cases minimum order; did Dad mortgage the house too? If anything goes wrong, and the house is taken, then we can forget ever bringing Bessie back..."

"Calm down, brother. The house wasn’t mortgaged. I suggested it, but Dad shot it down. He thought the house should be left for you and Bessie. That way, if he and I really ran into trouble, you wouldn’t be left homeless, and Bessie wouldn’t want to see a future where even the house is taken by the bank," Tony quickly explained, noting his brother’s mounting agitation. "But I don’t know where he got the money, maybe from Ruby, or borrowed it somewhere else?"

Tommy Hawk exhaled, "So, he and Mr. Waldman have been doing this business even before tonight?"