Chapter 18 Luka

Luka took the long way back to the cabin, stopped off and bought a chocolate ice cream cone from the crew ice cream shop and in another store, a surfing magazine. As soon as he entered the captain’s cabin, his phone rang. He picked it up without looking at the number and answered it.

“Hey, how are you?” Maleko asked.

“I heard you’re out.” Luka poured himself a glass of scotch.

“Your old man pulled some shit on you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“What’s the name of the captain of the ship you’re on?”

“Why do you need to know that?”

“Is his name Captain Westly John Clarke?”

“Who told you his name?”

“You’re so stupid and innocent sometimes.”

“Fuck you.” Luka was about to end the call. What had he ever seen in this man? Well, other than everything he did turned him on, but not today. He didn’t like it when he tried to fuck him over with his games.

“Do you know who he is, my love?” Maleko asked.

“No. Should I?”

“That’s right. You never went to court, did you?”

“No.” Luka wondered how he knew the captain’s name and what did it have to do with court?

“Captain Westly John Clarke is the owner of the home I burned down.”

“I thought you said you didn’t burn it down.” That can’t be right. It can’t have been the captain’s home.Please don’t let it have been his home.

“I did for a damn good reason. He is the owner. Ask him where he lives.”

“You’re not making any sense. He lives somewhere in Florida when he’s not on his ship.”

“That’s right. He lived in the home I burned down. I guess he lives on the ship then. No home now.”

“Why did you burn his home?” Luka didn’t believe the conversation he was having. He responded to Maleko, but none of it made sense. His father wouldn’t set him up with the man whose home Maleko entered, robbed, then burned.

“I know him. That’s why.”

“How do you know him?” Luka was sickened by Maleko’s words and reasoning. Why would he burn Captain Clarke’s home?

“He kicked me out of the Marines. I wanted to make him suffer for what he did to me.”

“You never said you were in the Marines. What are you talking about?”

“Dishonorably discharged because of Captain Jackass Clarke. I never told you. I did not know you’d be on his ship.”

“So you robbed and burned his home?”

“That’s right. He kicked me out because I was gay.”

“And you wanted me to go with you? You knew all along what you were going to do. I’m in this mess for a fucking year because of you.”

“I’m going to fix the mess. I see your first stop is Sint Maarten. I’m going to meet you there so the captain doesn’t murder you or throw you overboard. And you better believe he will. He’s a mean son of a bitch.”

“No, you’re not. I’m not allowed off the ship.” Maleko must be on drugs. He was talking like a crazy man.

“I’ll text you. Find a way off that ship. We’ll find a place to hide you and we can be together again. I want to make love to you on the sand all day and night like we used to.”

Luka closed his eyes for a minute and imagined Maleko’s long hair all over his body while he made love to him on the sand. Then he opened them and shook his head. No, he didn’t want Maleko back in his life. “I’ve got to go.”

“Wait.”

“Wait for what?”

“I love you. Let’s get married on the island.”

“Don’t bother coming for me.” Luka ended the call and blocked Maleko.

He picked up his glass, drank all the scotch, then poured another one.

Luka’s heart tangled in a web of betrayal, confusion, and a desperate need for the truth. The revelation that the captain owned the house Maleko had targeted was like a gut punch, a cruel twist of fate that left him reeling. Luka went through a few of the captain’s drawers, searching for any papers showing his address.

He felt a cold sweat break out as he clutched a stack of insurance papers, the inked address a stark reminder of his darkest night. The air was thick with tension, each breath a struggle as he considered the man who had become his judge and jury. Why hadn’t he put it together? He had known the captain lived in Florida from the article he’d read. When he first met him, the captain was mean, and as they became close, he softened a bit. What was real? Was it all a show to soften him up and catch him off guard? What did he plan to do with him? Throw him overboard? Make him suffer for his crime?

Luka’s mind raced with questions, his thoughts a whirlwind of doubt and fear. Why had his father entangled him in this web of lies? Why had the captain withheld this vital piece of information? The unspoken words between them were as sharp as knives.

At that moment, Luka was a prisoner of his past, shackled by the secrets that bound him to both Maleko and the captain. The path forward was filled with uncertainty, but one thing was clear: he could no longer run from the truth. It was time to confront the shadows of his past and hope for some honesty from the captain.

“Luka!” The walls of the room seemed to close in on him, the weight of the captain’s gaze heavy upon his shoulders.

Luka was completely unaware of his presence, so absorbed in his thoughts he hadn’t heard him enter. He stood there, paralyzed, the weight of the papers he held immobilizing him.

“Why are you going through my papers?” Captain Clarke moved, so they stood face to face and grabbed the papers from his hands.

“I had to.”

“You had to go through my papers? Explain yourself now! I don’t understand why you would invade my privacy. I never gave you permission to go through my private things.”

“Now, I understand why you wanted me on your fucking ship.” Luka no longer felt safe on the ship. What if Maleko is right about Captain Clarke?

“What are you talking about?” He grabbed Luka’s shoulders, losing his patience.

“It was your home that went up in flames. You took me on this ship to punish me for burning your house down. Why would my father make a deal with you?”

“You didn’t burn my house. You sat in the car, or so you said, and I believed you.”

“Why didn’t you mention this to me or my father?”

“Your father sought me out, not the other way around.”

“Why would he send me to you, of all people? A man who would hate me.”

“I don’t hate you.”

“I should have been given this information before I agreed.”

“Your father told me not to tell you. I promised him I wouldn’t. I didn’t want it to affect our relationship.”

“How the hell can this not affect our relationship? You think I destroyed your home?”

“No, I don’t think that. It doesn’t have to affect anything. Give us a chance.”

“This isn’t the first time you’ve left me in the dark. We can’t have a relationship without truth.”

“We must have a decent one for you to complete your year on board. I want it to be an educational time for you.”

“Decent. There’s nothing decent about you. Maleko was right about you. You want to destroy me, don’t you?”

“Maleko? Did you talk to Maleko?”

“He called and told me who you were.”

“Oh, did he? Did he also tell you he deliberately set my house on fire?”

“What does it matter now?”

“It matters. Your boyfriend set my house on fire and destroyed everything in the world that was precious to me. Did he tell you why he did it?”

“He said you threw him out of the Marines for being gay. How could you? You’re gay.”

“That’s not why I threw him out. He lied to you.”

“Why did you then?”

“He used drugs and sold them to other service members.”

“Drugs. What drugs?”

“You weren’t supposed to have any contact with Maleko.”

“He called me.”

“Hang up next time.”

“What’s it to you? You won’t be fucking me anymore.”

Luka picked up his glass of scotch, turned, stomped to his side of the cabin, and slammed the door. He put his drink beside his berth, then threw himself on it. What was my father thinking?

He called his mother, but her phone was offline, something she did while she was in surgery. He needed to discuss his father and this insane deal he had made with the captain. Did she know who the captain was? Had she agreed to this too? How dare they put him in such jeopardy? No wonder he was so fucking mean when we first met.He had it all planned to make me pay for what Maleko did. Then why would he try to get close? How can I make any sense of a man who has a revenge agenda with me as the target?