Will
Will
1917
Have you ever seen the sunrise in Maine? Well, if not, beautiful is far too simple of a word. On this particular morning it was even more special—more magical. Ya see, the Atlantic was calm, it looked like a mirror. I couldn’t tell you where the sky in the water met that morning, it was if God himself came down and painted a picture of the sky in the ocean. If so, maybe God can turn fire up a little bit this morning, its freezing. Will tried to burrow his head as far down as it would go in his pea coat. The pea coat that didn’t belong to him, he stole it about a week ago. He was in Fred’s diner eating breakfast—two eggs, over easy and bowl full of oatmeal. Oatmeal that could have stuck on the wall if thrown. Nonetheless it was warm and filled his stomach, with something other than cheap watered down whiskey. The bell above the door sounded, then scraggly looking Man walked in. He removed his pea coat and hung it haphazardly on the coat rack. He definitely just came off a fishing boat as his overalls were stained with what looked like fish guts. I wasn’t paying attention to him or his overalls, I was looking at that pea coat. Searsport was damn cold in November and I didn’t have a nice warm pea coat.
The Fisherman sat down in the booth in front of Will. Will was in luck, the fisherman’s back was to him, he had no view of Will or the front door. The waitress laid the check down and topped off Will’s coffee. Will took a sip and sat the cup down next to a folded up newspaper. The Bangor Daily Newspaper was turned to the classifieds. One ad in particular caught Will’s eye, freight handler needed at Bangor Rail Yard. This the type of work suited Will, warehouse work is something he’s always been good at. It paid decent, $4.85 a day to start. It wasn’t the field of work or the pay that drew Will in, it was the location—Downtown Bangor, a decent size little city with more opportunity than Searsport. Over the last four years Will has worked almost every job available in Searsport. Most of them as a deck hand on fishing boats. Four years ago Will was one of the best deck hands in Searsport. He earned handsome wages and was well on his way to making Captain. The funny thing about life is, it can change on a dime. Will’s Father came home drunk one night and killed Will’s Mother, he then turned the gun on himself. Will hung in there the best he could for a while. Unfortunately, Will seemed to cope with things the same with his Father did—drinking his sorrows away one bottle of whiskey at a time.
Will started drinking so heavily he would be found knocked out cold when needed on deck. Other times he wouldn’t show up at all. Eventually the closest he came to fishing was sleeping off a hangover in someones boat, unbeknownst to them, of course. He’d work an odd job here and there but to most of the town he was now just a drunk. Fred’s was the only place in town he was still allowed to eat in. He either skipped out on the check or was completely belligerent in every other restaurant in town—not that he was ever guilty of that in Fred’s, but Fred took pity on Will. Fred went to school with Will’s parents and remained friends with them for years. After the tragedy, Fred did his best to watch out for Will when he could. They had a loose agreement—if Will helped out at the diner now and then, most of his meals would be taken care of. Fred rented rooms upstairs above the diner, on cold nights he would let Will stay up there if they were available. That was until one day Will decided to sleep past checkout. Fred pecked at the door a few times.
“Come on Will, get up, it’s past ten!” The pecks turned into knocks which then turned into pounding fist. “Come on Will, you have to get up!” Fred went downstairs and grabbed the room key, he then opened the door. The vastly fowl smell of vomit almost made Fred puke when it hit his nostrils. Fred reached into his shirt pocket for his handkerchief and covered his nose with it. Will laid on his stomach with his head hanging off the side of the bed. Red and yellow vomit, half dried made a waterfall down the side of the bed into a large pile on the floor. Will must have tried to make it to the bathroom at some point because the vomit nicely decorated the floor there also. That was the last night Will ever stayed above the diner.
Will studied the ad carefully, a new start would be nice. He caught the eye of Fred, even after the vomit incident Fred still cared a lot about him. Fred walked around from behind the bar and sat down across from Will.
“Whatcha reading Willyboy?” Will tilted the newspaper so Fred could see.
“Well, I’m not much for reading upside down but it looks like your lookin’ to move on.”
“Fred, there isn’t anything here for me anymore. I had a good thing going for awhile but now its all gone.”
Fred leaned back in the booth and sighed. “Willyboy, what are you 19 or 20 by now?”
“I just turned twenty”
“Okay, look, you’ve been dealt some bad cards. No one can dispute that.”
“I sense a ‘but’ coming?”
“Well, Will I’m gonna be a straight shooter with you. You developed quite a reputation, everyone around here knows it. Every opportunity you’ve been given over the past couple years, well ya know, you kinda screwed it up. That doesn’t mean you have to let it become your legacy.”
“Yea I know Fred, I’ve really messed things up.”
“So, whatcha’ thinking? You gonna’ take this job up in Bangor?”
“I think I am, what do I have to lose, I need a fresh start. You said it yourself, I have a reputation now and no matter what I do I won’t be able to change it.”
“I don’t know if I exactly believe that, you’ll have your work cut out for ya. It takes a lot to change peoples mind, but it can happen. You’re only twenty after all”
Will listened and took another sip of his coffee.
“Fred, I need to leave Searsport. There’s nothing here for me anymore, nothing at all.”
“Ok then, a Man has to do what a Man has to do. Would you do me to favors though?”
“Yeah, what is it?”
“I saw you looking at that coat” Fred said as he pointed to the pea coat hanging on the coat rack.” Will turned his head towards it, though he didn’t have to, he knew which one Fred was talking about. “Yeah what about it?”
“If you really want a fresh start, maybe you should start by not stealing a strangers’ coat.” Fred reached into his right pocket and pulled out his leather billfold, he removed a twenty dollar bill and laid it on the table in front of Will. “Take this.” Will hesitated. “I said take it boy, go start your new life, start it and never look back”
Will nodded and and put the money in his pocket and got up and turned to walk away.
“Hey boy, I said two favors” Will turned and looked at Fred. “Yeah, whats the other one?”
“Drop me a line some time.”
Will smiled and nodded. A sad smile—the only life he’s ever known is now over. Will walked out of Fred’s diner for what looked like the last time in his life. The air this morning smelled of chimney smoke, Will loved this smell and took a deep breath. Fred made his way for the Searsport train station. He passed shops and vendors he had visited many times during his life. Somewhere deep inside he knew that would be the last time he ever laid eyes on them. Fred arrived at the ticket window at the train station. “How can help you sir?”
“I need a ticket to Bangor”
“When were you looking to come back?” This caught Will of guard just a bit.
“Oh, its a one way ticket.”
The Man smirked a little. “That’s what they all say, but they all end up coming back. If you buy the round trip ticket now it will save you some money.”
“Mr, I appreciate you tryin’ to look out for me, but I’m never comin’ back here again”
“Okay, .85 cents and you’ll have your ticket.”
Will paid the man, he stamped the ticket and gave it to Will.
“Train leaves in five minutes, better hurry along now.” Will nodded at this and proceeded towards the train. Many of the other passengers carried luggage with them, Will brought just himself, the clothes on his back and twenty seven dollars and fifteen cents in his pocket. He was just fine with that, he didn’t want to take anything with him, all of it was bad and he wanted nothing more but to forget Searsport forever.
knew it was the right fit.
