Limbo Page #4

I suppose.

So you could, if you wanted to.

Yeah, if I wanted to.

We could figure out some kind

of percentage deal.

We don't know if we wanna keep it.

With the season almost over,

and the license so expensive...

You're not tight with Harmon, are you?

Not especially, no.

If you could just go down to the marina,

look it over.

Tell us if you need anything

to make it operational.

I haven't been commercial fishing

for 25 years.

Has it changed that much?

Well, more technology, but I just...

You're bailing us out.

It's a matter of credibility.

If we let people walk all over us...

I'll have to think about it.

Think about it. Go down,

look at the ship... the boat...

...figure out who you'd like

to have for your crew.

You think people'd do that,

knowing that it's Harmon's boat?

You can always get somebody.

If there are any calls for me,

anybody comes by asking if I'm here...

...just say I'm not registered, okay?

I'm trying to surprise somebody.

I don't want word to get around.

You get points for originality.

You're the first guy that's ever asked

me to watch fish thrash around and die.

- Well, it's...

- No, I'm not complaining.

I think it's cool.

I've seen it on TV,

but in person like this, it's...

They're so beat-up looking.

Well, they stop eating

when they head in.

My daughter did that for a while.

Almost had to put an IV in her.

Jesus, it's relentless, isn't it?

They don't stop.

Well, some of them do.

They just wear out and give up.

I'd make it.

Yeah, no sweat.

I do this much at the gym every day.

I'm gonna be gone

for a couple of days.

It's sort of a job, you know, a favour.

When I get back, it'd be

great to see you again.

That's all?

Your boat, Mr. Gastineau,

is a very unusual property.

Look, I don't wanna sell it.

I just want a mortgage.

But in view of your past

financial difficulties...

That was San Diego.

A poor credit rating

is a poor credit rating.

It's going to follow you

wherever you go.

It's just out there waiting.

Waiting for the chance to f*** you over.

- You personally?

- Whoever.

One second, you're skimming along

the surface, not a care in the world...

...then one thing goes wrong.

Yeah, like Rudy Bannister.

Rudy Bannister?

He's up in the fjord longlining when

the front of the glacier breaks off.

It makes this wave four or five stories

high by the time it hits his boat.

It's gone.

And Sonny McCarthy.

Gets caught in the riptides, trying

to short cut through Rimski Channel.

They hit the rocks.

Two guys stay onboard, two guys jump.

Sonny and the other guy

stayed onboard, bought it.

- Luck.

- Luck, nothing.

The ocean wanted them.

Hell, I'm glad I'm not

going out there no more.

It could be quick, like that

deadhead that Tommy Grogan hit.

It punched through his bow

and sunk him in five minutes.

Or it can sneak up on you

when you're not even looking.

Like Joe Gastineau.

F***. Ever a guy had the world

by the balls, it's Joey.

The basketball player?

He was headed for a full scholarship,

some university in California.

Senior year, he blows out his knee.

Kiss that goodbye.

Had a jump shot that'd make you weep.

So he gets on one of Torgeson's

crab boats up north...

...back when that was

a f***ing gold mine.

Makes enough to put a down payment

on this little gillnetter...

...the Arctic Dawn.

Gets some friends, Lester Pope,

who used to work with his father...

...and this kid, Oley.

Jack Johannson's brother.

He'd never been out fishing.

He's like a high-school buddy.

Played hoop with Joe.

They were gonna go out with Joe

and make a big score.

I was crewing on the Cape Fox then.

We hooked into this run.

We were barely moving.

It was flat calm, no tide.

We were picking fish as fast

as we could to keep the net wet.

By nightfall, we were all plugged,

waiting in line at the tender.

About six boats ahead of us,

maybe eight behind, Joey's on the end.

It was party time.

Everybody that wasn't unloading drops

anchor, and they start boat-hopping.

So about 1, 2 in the morning,

Joe gets back on his outfit.

Him and the Johannson kid,

they go below to sleep it off.

And Lester racks out on deck.

It would be morning before

the tender could get to them anyway.

Maybe the boat was out of the water too

long. You get cracks, things dry up.

Or they were so plugged, the water line

rose up to where it'd never been before.

Whatever.

Without a sound, the boat fills like

a sponge and sinks in 30 seconds.

Damn.

So Joey wakes up, it's pitch-black.

He's underwater, right?

He's upside-down,

completely disoriented.

Swims out through the galley, yells loud

enough to wake me up on the Cape Fox.

We fished him out okay,

but the other two, not a trace.

Lost.

Yeah, he lost his friends...

...he lost the catch, there's no

insurance on the boat. That's gone.

And Joe...

Joe's not the same guy.

This old house is falling down...

...around my ears

I'm drowning in a river...

...of my tears

When all my will is gone...

...you hold me sway

I need you at the dimming...

...of the day

You pull me like the moon...

...pulls on the tide

You knowjust where I keep...

...my better side

What days have come to keep us...

...far apart

A broken promise...

...or a broken heart

Now all the bonny birds...

...have wheeled away

I need you at the dimming...

...of the day

Come the night you're only...

...what I want

Come the night you could be...

...my confidant

I see you on the street...

...in company

Why don't you come...

...and ease your mind with me

I'm living for the night...

...we steal away

I need you at the dimming...

...of the day

I need you at the dimming...

...of the day

I already got you one.

How'd you guess?

I've been keeping my eye on you.

I like your singing.

Thanks.

You really class up this joint.

I've played worse.

Jack Johannson.

I've been warned.

A lot of formerly married women

took flying lessons from you.

A lot of formerly married

women are suing me for alimony.

I'm thinking of getting out

of the bush pilot game.

Find something more lucrative.

Let's see... Fast-food service?

Camp counsellor?

You live around here?

No. One-year tour of the frozen north.

Out on your own?

No, I'm hooked up with a guy.

Musician?

He's a fisherman.

Oh, my God!

He shot a fish.

Shot it?

A halibut. It was like

a gangland execution.

We could use some halibut.

When's Joe getting in?

Joe, are you home?

But he still works here?

On and off. He's out

on a fishing boat now.

Fishing? Joe?

Can I tell you about our specials?

What are you buying when you get

on a roller coaster?

Not risk, because only fringe consumers

want that, but the illusion of risk.

Being hurled to the edge of danger, but

knowing that you never have to cross it.

Mr. Disney's innovation was...

...to put these rides and attractions

into a story context.

You imagine yourself a character

in his cartoon...

...as you floated through

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