A houseboat. Finegan Fine

Finegan and Joey have just finished breakfast and are cleaning up. They

have their backs to the hillside. Finegan tips the coals in the

portable grill overboard and they fall sizzling into the water. Joey is

bent over the other side of the houseboat, rinsing the plates and cups.

They are too busy with their tasks to notice the seamstress coming down

the hill, holding a folded woolen blanket, until her wooden shoes clop

on the gangplank.

Finegan looks up, stands, and comes to accept the blanket. The

seamstress smiles warmly and pushes the blanket into his arms, holding

her rounded fingers up over her eyes, saying “for the binoculars”. She

holds his face between her two hands and gives him a big kiss on the

mouth. She turns with a wave to Joey, and walks back up the hill.

Finegan is looking after her with a lingering, dewy-eyed gaze. Joey is

looking at Finegan with his mouth slightly open and blinking,

astonished, having never seen this side of Finegan before.

54

No Call Home

The houseboat is approaching a bend in a broad flooded river. The land

has an occasional clump of trees in a ravine, but is primarily pasture

land. Toward the top of one hill, on a slope of land, is a massive

garden, being tended. Those tending the garden are a mixture of various

races and cultures – Hispanic, Vietnamese, and Russian. Hoes are being

wielded aggressively, weeds pulled and laid down on the ground as

mulch, produce being picked and placed into baskets, and a wheelbarrow

full of compost being pushed down a row.

Finegan has pedaled the houseboat to an open spot on the shoreline,

anchored, and is walking across the gangplank with Joey at his heels.

One of the Hispanic workers nearby nods and welcomes them.

Hola.

A Russian, dressed in faded jeans and a garish shirt approaches. He

acts as the group’s interpreter as he speaks English better than some.

Hello to visitors. We here grow food and live

harmony one with other.

Some of the gardeners pause in their work to watch the exchange, while

others continue with their work.

Finegan Fine here, trader.

The Russian asks,

What you trade?

To which Finegan replies,

What you need?

______________________________

Finegan has been taken to the Russian’s sleeping quarters. This is a

shack made from pieces of broken housing – part of a roof overhead,

wallboard on one side, a tarp hanging to form another wall, and a

blanket on top of a straw bale for a bed. They are both seated on the

crude bed, Finegan inspecting radio components. The Russian complains,

I trapped here. Can no fly home. Can no call

home. I worry.

He points to the distance, where he worked as a contractor.

We work for cheap, send money home, but now I

regret.

Finegan, trying to help, asks,

Do you have a tower? Short wave is the only

thing working, and you need to be close to a

tower.

55

______________________________

Finegan and the Russia are walking along the edge of a broken blacktop

road. They pass a car parked next to a rupture in the road, where there

was no way to proceed. The road has heaved six feet into the air. The

doors of the car are hanging open, and the glove box is also hanging

open. In the distance are several buildings, some partially collapsed,

with almost all the windows broken. Pigeons have taken up residence

inside the rooms beyond the broken windows. The parking lots are

overgrown with weeds where the blacktop is cracked. The ground has

heaved and bent the chain-link fence in places, with an occasional

deserted car here and there. The place is deserted. The Russian is

gesturing in the direction of the complex they are approaching, then

puts his hand on his chest.

I chemist. On contract.

Finegan points to one of the buildings, seeing what appears to be a

tower there.

Let’s try that building.

______________________________

Finegan and the Russian are climbing stairs inside one of the

buildings. The concrete stairs are broken in places but the rebar is

holding. However, the men test the strength of the stairs now and then

before gingerly putting weight on a step, and hold onto the handrail

frequently. They arrive at the top of the last flight of stairs and

open the door to the roof. A flock of pigeons takes flight, startled.

The men walk over to the tower. The Russian has his radio in hand, and

Finegan has brought his short wave radio, which he knows to be

operational. There are tie lines from places on the tower to places on

the roof, which held during the high winds as the winds simply flowed

around the wires and thin tower.