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Tragedy In A Lifeboat
Their cabin cruiser had quickly sunk after hitting a submerged object. There was little time to do any thing except send out a distress signal stating their location. Now the three of them were bouncing around in a rubber raft in the Pacific Ocean two thousand miles from the nearest land. They were lucky to have taken the five gallon can of water and small ship to shore transmitter with them; it might be enough for them to survive. Pedro spoke little English but he was an expert crewman that could take an engine apart blindfolded and then assemble it. He grew up in Acapulco and worked around boats since he was a child. His first job was washing down the boats that came in after a day of sports fishing. At seventeen he was the respected captain of one of the most modern sports fishing boats in Acapulco. It was then that he fell in love with Maria. They were married and after seven years had five children. Even if their apartment was small they were comfortable and happy. He now was no longer was with his family but on a rubber raft in the middle of the Pacific with the married couple that had promised him a small fortune if he would accompany them on a year long voyage. It now looked like death would be his fortune and his wife and children would be homeless.
After a day at sea the married couple was getting panicky, they thought that they would not be rescued before their water supply ran out and that they would die of thirst. If only they had listened to their travel agent and took a cruise across the pacific on the Queen, this would not have happened. They were a wealthy couple from Hollywood Hills; they had every thing that money can buy, and now their lives were going to end. They looked at Pedro with contempt as he took a swig of their precious water supply. The water that was going into his mouth could be what they needed to save their lives. His life to them was not as precious as the water he was devouring, and they wished that they had left him on the sinking boat. It infuriated them that he shared the life raft. They had to get rid of him, but Pedro was a strong man and they would never be able to push him overboard. The couple whispered for hours and they came up with an offer that Pedro would not refuse. They spoke to him about his family and his concern for them if he died. They told him that they could wire their brokerage account in Los Angeles and with a secret password could send a check of one million dollars to each one of his family in exchange for Pedro’s life. All Pedro had to do after the wire was dispatched was to put on the life jacket and quietly float away. With little chance of living and out of concern for his family Pedro soon agreed. After the wire was sent from the ship to shore transmitter Pedro slowly started to put on the lifejacket and that was when he pulled out the small revolver he had taken with him. He fired two bullets. The dead couple was then thrown into the sea and Pedro was now alone. A ship was still not in sight even though Pedro kept transmitting distress signals. He then received a message that there had been a mistake in calculating his location and a trawler was now on the way, but it could not possibly arrive before three days. That message was a death sentence because there was barely enough water left to last another day. A hot sun and no water can drive a person insane. Delusions and hallucinations accompany a man dying of thirst. Pedro took out the gun and put it in his dry mouth and blew the top of his head off. All was now quiet on the beautiful Pacific and thirst was gone.
The mailman came early that day and lunch was not yet served. Maria was watching her children playing with the soccer ball, but her mind was on Pedro. She missed him and was patiently waiting for his return. He would not be back for another three months. She opened up the important looking brown envelope and looked at six checks each was for a million dollars. Her and her children’s name appeared on the checks. She thought it was a holy miracle, and ran down to the church to speak to the Father. Together they thanked the Lord and went to the Central Bank in Acapulco where she deposited the checks. After leaving her new address with the church for Pedro when he returned, she and the children were on their way to the best hotel in Mexico City. Pedro did not return but the family went on to build good lives for themselves. They hoped one day after his life at sea Pedro would join them.
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