Wet Feet…

The cruise ship roared and rumbled like some giant best ready to consume us all. I took one final look at land, and then watched the waves carry us away. As the ship left port the strange realization that nothing would ever be the same hit me like a hurricane tearing a tree from its roots.

In the distance was Rebeca soon to be Rebeca Cross. Her elegant blond hair stood perfectly styled neat and trim fighting the ocean breeze. Her small thin frame looked as if it had been sculpted by Michelangelo himself. Her perfect perky tits stood up-right like two soldiers at attention, while her dairy-aire stood equally errect at her rear almost with a pride like arrogance.

She was any man’s dream. Why she’d ever fall for a guy like me was beyond my comprehension. A 5’5 entrepreneur risk taker, lacking the height and income requirements for most women. I mean I was good in bed, and a passionate man, but it was rare that women even got to a point where they could experience my skills.

Yet here we were just days out from our destination cruise wedding that felt all to perfect. Only it all just felt a little too perfect, almost to a point where something felt dead wrong.

“Hey come over here honey meet my brother… Alejandro he’s the one who will be taking you diving tomorrow.” I followed her tight narrow gate with long slow strides. My jaw dropped slightly taken aback by the mini Fabio replica before me Muscles bulged out from his shirt like jagged rocks from a mountain. His long unkept hair and perfect stubble beard made him look as if he was torn straight out a men’s magazine.

“Ah you must be Kevin Cross, NY transplant and entrepreneur.” He said smiling and revealing his big bold set of ivory white teeth.

“Yes that be me. And you must be Alejandro Rebeca’s big brother and San Diego’s top scuba instructor” I said with a faint nod and even fainter smile.

The man nodded and grabbed my shoulder with the firmness of a father catching his child about to head into danger. “Are you ready for tomorrow? We will have a great dive. I’m not sure if the weather will hold up but if it does we will have some of the best visibility this side of the Caribbean”

I nodded like an amused toddler, and felt a sense of relief as my best friend Marco came into view. He approached his belly bouncing in a red Hawaiian shirt that made him look like a knock off Mexican version of Santa Clause.

“Hey, here they are! The soon to be newly weds, and who’s this? A replacement for the new Thor… I was going to get cast in that one too as the Hulk, but they said I’m too funny and good looking.”

Rebeca’s eyes dropped with sarcastic look of grief and a forced laugh that was almost genuine. “

“Ah Marco well you would fit the Hulks wittiness that’s for sure… this is my brother Alejandro. He will be taking you boys out diving tomorrow.”

Marco nodded with a chuckle. “Sounds good, I’m almost glad Amanda caught COVID with guys like this running around this boat I’d be afraid we’d have a divorce and a wedding taking place on this cruise.”

Eyebrows rose as we all shared an awkward laugh at Marco’s joke followed by a little more banter that ended with Alejandro inviting us to his room later to go over preparations for our dive.

Sun melted away into darkness playing out a tedious montage of meet and greets that would have been unbearable if not for the cocktails. Fortunately for me as darkness draped over the sky most of the passengers retired early to their rooms.

By dinner time even Rebeca was a shadow of her self. Exhausted and lobster red from the sun. she picked at the mediocre meal like a child eating their least favorite vegetable. By dinners end she offered me a soft kiss. “I’m going to call it a night dear. I’m exhausted and need to catch up on rest. Enjoy your time with the boys. Your last adventure as an un-married man.” She teased kissing me before retiring to her room.

It had been Rebeca’s decision to sleep in separate rooms until after the wedding.

“Tradition blah-blah, something about our wedding night being better if we took sometime without having each other.”

That was her mini speech . An idea that I had scoffed at, but eventually gave way to knowing that I would have her for the rest of my life.

After the days ordeal however I actually felt grateful for her choice. The tedium and exhaustion of meeting her family left me just wanting to relax. I would deal with Alejandro for a bit, then enjoy some drinks with my friend like old times.

Rebeca and I shared one final moment of tenderness, then under a pale and rusty moon that sent a strange sensation through my core I made my way to Alejandro’s room. I was surprised to find my friend Marcos shot glass in hand joking with Rebeca’s brother as if the two had known each other a lifetime.

“Welcome to the party. We will talk diving momentarily but for now let’s indulge in some pre-wedding celebration gifts I brought for us. These two bottles will separate the men from the boys. Survive a night of drinking these with me and make it to the dive tomorrow and you surely are a man worthy of my sister’s hand.”

Alejandro’s voice had taken on a devious nature now with an almost sinister allure. He cast a devilish grin towards the table. To the left was a crystal skull with a small larvae at the bottom. To the right of that perched atop a set of ceramic decrepit hsnds sat a mysterious decanter with filled with a strange almost luminescent green liquid.

“Yes my friend feast your eyes upon them. They are beautiful aren’t they? A private stock 1940 Monte Alban Mezcal with Gusano de Maguey. Fancy speak for agave moth larvee, but nonetheless one of those little guys at the bottle signifies luck and preservation. Two things my sister’s new mate will need, but that’s just for starters gentleman. To its right a bottle of the legendary green fable. Torments absinthe. A liquor so strong it’s known to induce hallucination and delirium. A few glasses of this fabled drink will have you facing your inner demons and discovering inner truths. A true purging of the soul before your wedding my friend and behind your friend Marco I even have sugar cubes and a water dripper for a truly authentic experience.”

Alejandro’s face had become wicked and mysterious now, caught somewhere between scowl and smile, I did not know this man’s intentions. Was this part of tradition, bonding, a test, maybe all of the above. As Marco and I shared a nervous stare, it didn’t really matter to me, I was well traveled and experienced. A little booze wouldn’t scare me.

And so it began. Shots of 80 proof Mezcal that felt as if they were burning my very soul. By the time melting sugar cubes danced in vile green liquor I could feel the world start to melt around me into some lucid dream. The world had become a Van Gogh painting. The waves fought my stomach, turning my insides like a capsized ship.

With a hasty good bye and assurance that I’d be fine I staggered to the stern of the boat fighting the wobble of the oceans waves. The orange rusty moon stared down up me like some great ominous eye. My stomach filled with a strange sense of fear and dread. Then it happened, I saw her for the first time.

Merely a shimmering fin breaking through the darkness. At first I mistook her to be a dolphin or whale. Then with a great splash she submerged and erupted from the waters like a magnificent sea goddess.

Her red hair flowing in the blackness like a flame fighting to illuminate the darkness of a windy night. Her two large bosoms each bobulous creatures with a mind of their own. Her eyes each their own green oceans worthy of exploration.

She followed behind the boat for some time then stopped and looked at me with a deep sense of longing in here eyes. I stared out mesmerized and lost, not knowing if she was real or an absinthe induced hallucination. Frozen in awe she blew me a tender kiss, that sent a shudder through my core, as she vanished into the choppy waters once more.

I stumbled to my cabin both confused and captivated. I landed on the mattress with a flop and found sleeps embrace within minutes. Through darkness I saw flashes of her face in my dreams and woke to a loud knocking at my door what felt like only moments later.

“Wakey wakey little bro.” Marcos voice penetrated the door and my skull with an abruptness that felt like a sharp knife stabbing me in the brain. I jumped to my feet and opened the door to see a smiling Marco standing with a deep weed induced grin.

“How do you feel?” He asked in a concerned tone. I glared at him with a stern demeanor. “Like shit.” I responded. He laughed. “Don’t worry bud, lucky for you Alejandro isn’t the only one who came baring gifts. If he brought the poison I brought the cure.” He grinned delightfully exposing yellowish to brown stained teeth as he pulled two bags from his pocket.

One was filled with purplish green sparkling buds and the other wirh large mushroom caps and stems. I smiled a concerned and reluctant smile. “You really think we should be smoking and doing shrooms on a cruise before our dive?” I questioned.

Marco’s gave a slow nod. “Alejandro brought the poison but I brought the remedies. A couple of puffs you’ll be feeling good as new and these caps will have our dive feeling 5d. Let’s fucking go!” He said with a youthful enthusiasm that had me succumbing to peer pressure.

45 minutes later I found myself dressed and glossy eyed. Alejandro and Rebeca stood waiting at the ships bow. She gave me a hug while glaring at me with a suspicious look in her eye.

“Are you high? You better not be high. Do you know we can be fined and kicked off the ship if they find out you were-“

I kissed her lips softy, more so to stop her nagging than anything. “It’s fine babe. Everything’s fine.” I whisper to her reassuringly. She offers a half hearted smile and pulls away.

“Fine whatever you say. I’ll see you later. Enjoy your dive.” Her last words before she pulls away waving goodbye to Marco and Alejandro as she makes her way back to her room.

My head is in another dimension staring at the clouds above as the ship anchors and Alejandro rambles on. The clouds are a dirty shade of gray. There’s an occasional rumble and I know it’s going to rain. It doesn’t matter we are all experienced and even hungover, high, and still drunk we are going to dive.

The water is my salvation from the heat. I’m burning up before we submerge, but the cold choppy ocean water offers some relief. Bubbles look like small infinite worlds, and even as we submerge deeper and rain and lighting impair visibility it’s still a sight to behold.

Somewhere along the way I lose sight of my two companions. I’m to caught up in the moment to care, at least until I feel myself caught on something and look at my air and depth gauge. I’m laughing but I’m running out of air and I know nitrogen narcosis is setting in. Will I die here?

It isn’t until moment later that I feel something working my leg free from the seaweed below. I think it Alejandro but then I see her. My mysterious sea goddess. She swims around me like a graceful angel, removes my mask and kisses me passionately filling me with sweet air that is reminiscent of fruit flavored anesthesia or helium. I’m lost, enchanted, and tingling all over. She whispers in my ear. It’s not in English but I understand her. “ I love you. Comeback I will find you, I will care for you.”

It’s the last thing I remember before being brought up on the cruise ship by Alejandro and Marco. The night is spent recanting my tale of nitrogen narcosis and how they had lost me, and I had got stuck somewhere before I mysteriously turned up at the stern of the ship.

Rebeca cuts the night short telling us to rest up before the wedding tomorrow. It all feels like a strange dream. Even when I’m alone with Marco I don’t think of telling him about my encounter. Instead I ask about marriage.

“Do you ever regret marrying Amanda?” I ask curiously. Marco chuckles. “Well sometimes she toots in her sleep smelly peos ya know, she snores, and can nag me to death, but at the end of the day I have guaranteed pussy and a warm meal. We ain’t getting any younger. Hard to find a decent gal now adays and Amanda’s one thing but Rebeca’s a catch even if she’s a bit of a tight ass. What you getting cold feet my boy, it’s normal.” I chuckle Marco always makes me laugh. “No more like wet feet, but I guess you’re right, it’s normal. I mean its a big commitment.” I say through my nervous laugh.

We agree to get some rest, but I already know what I must do. My heart takes control and restrains my brain. I wait for the ship to grow silent and abandoned, then I make my move. I detach a life boat and toss it into the cold murky waters, then dive overboard.

As the cruise ship sails a way a tear comes to my eye. I know its the end of a dream, a family, a love. There would be no talking my way back from this. What was I going to say I was drunk and fell over board with a life raft. Well actually something like that might work at the beginning, but deep down Rebeca would know and there would be no going back to how things were before.

No i had rolled my dice and now here I was banking on some fairy tale mermaid sea goddess. She’d come, of course she’come. She’d whisk me away from this mundane world and show me the primal raw love I had been longing for all my life. She’d care for me and bring about my happily ever after. So until then I wait, knowing, hoping, that soon she will come.