Page 136 of Tito

My father slapped his hand against Cash’s shoulder. “He doesn’t know who he’s up against, does he?”

Wincing in agony, Cash managed to offer a crooked smile. “He sure doesn’t.”

“Ted!” Tito hollered. “I’ve got one!”

My father spun to face him. The tip of Tito’s pole swayed to the left and then to the right. In the distance, out a hundred and fifty feet or so, a massive silver-blue fish cleared the top of the water. Its long nose came to a point, like a spear.

“That’s a Marlin,” my father shouted. “Tip up. Keep it up. It’s a game of give and take, Son. Don’t let that one get away. You’ve got a trophy, for sure. That’s a hundred and fifty pounds if it’s an ounce.”

The fish submerged, nearly pulling Tito the edge of the boat in the process. A few seconds later, it shot through the water’s surface again. The taught fishing line hooked in its mouth glistened in the sunlight.

“Ted!” Goose shouted. “I need some fucking help, here!”

The six of us shifted our attention to the other side of the boat. Reeling his line the entire while, Goose ran the length of the deck, toward the front of the boat. “This son-of-a-bitch about took my arm off.”

My father rushed to his side, counseled him, and then faced us. The smile on his face was one I rarely saw. Reserved for Christmas mornings, my college graduation, and the night he retired, it was his most natural expression of pleasure.

With the creases on the sides of his eyes slightly more pronounced and a slight dimple on each cheek, he made eye contact with me.

I mouthed to the words I love you.

His smile morphed to a toothy grin at the same time Baker hooked something.

“Ted!” Baker wailed. “Ted!”

Still facing me, my father mouthed the phrase in return. Then, he winked. He pressed his hands against his hips. “Alright, fellas,” he shouted. “I’m going to say this one time and one time only, listen up. Stop screaming Ted. If you need me, the name’s Tank!”

My heart rose into my throat.

“Tank” was the name reserved for my father’s closest friends and the few people at work he truly trusted. Requesting the men address him by that name etched their presence in his life in stone. They may have considered him part of their family, but without a doubt, each of them was now a part of his.

Witnessing his complete acceptance of them was a sight to behold. Filled with joy at what my life had become, I closed my eyes and listened to the waves lap against the hull of the boat.

A simple search for a hat started a sequence of events that changed my life for the better. Although there were no assurances, I felt that Tito and I could spend our lives together, quite happily.

I’d never met anyone who I could be my natural self around and feel completely comfortable. With Tito, I couldn’t imagine being any other way.

My father’s acceptance of him and his friends was the icing on our relationship’s cake.

Each of the men caught their fish—and many more—on the day that would become the first of many. As fate would have it, Cash’s was the largest, weighing in at 193 pounds. Tito’s Marlin was second, at 174 pounds, but he claimed he had Cash beat because his had a cool spear for a nose, and Cash’s didn’t.

Two miles off the shoreline, my father cut the engines. Exhausted from a twelve-hour day of educating the men on how to properly fish the deep sea, he lifted the bill of his cap with his thumb and let out a long sigh.

“Quite a day,” he said, taking off his sunglasses. “Just as well end it here while we watch the sunset.”

Everyone seemed to agree.

While the men wandering about the deck sharing stories of their days’ catch, the women sat on a large bench in the center of the boat talking about their perfect tans.

My father turned the radio on some soft music.

As it had many times in the past few months, my life, once again, felt like it simply couldn’t get any better.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my father and Baker pouring glasses full of champagne. I turned in that direction. “What are you doing?”

“We’re going to celebrate the maiden voyage,” he replied, wearing a prideful smile. “Quite a success, if you ask me.”

I couldn’t agree more. I smiled in return. After a loving stare, I turned to face the horizon. Tito was standing between me and the edge of the boat.