Joey:

(Letter)

Bessie,

It's such a beautiful sunny day!! We heard it was going to reain, but it's certainly not raining here yet.  I'm in Maryland now.  It's very hot.  I can't believe how hot it is.  Even by the ocean, I don't have much time to write because we've got to get back on the boat soon.  Pacey was hoping to make it down to the next port before it does start raining because he ran into some friend of his Dad's who he really wants to get away from.  I don't know why.  The more I get to know him the more I realize there's so much I don't know about him.  Like how he really feels about his father or why he never talks about it.  Sure, he makes jokes alluding to things... but I know that's his defense mechanism for covering up how he really feels.  I wan tot know him better.  I want to understand him.  Most of all I want us to share his pain together.... so he's not in it alone.  Do you know what I mean?

You haven't emailed me much.  Maybe you're still mad at me.  Or just too busy to get on the computer.  I hope things are going okay.  Please let me know how you and Bodie and Alexander are.  I can't wait to see you and tell you abotu all the wonderful, crazy things I've seen here.  I'm taking lots of pictures!

I gottta go now...e-mail me soon, okay?

Lots of love,
Joey

I only have a second! I have to mail this letter to Bessie before Pacey physically drags me away from this port.  And I wanted to stop in the thrift store and pick up a few more things to wear, since I haven't exactly been buying out the ports and the few things I have brought don't exactly fall into the fashionable category... at least not for this decade.  But Pacey's in a pretty big hurry to get out of here so we can make the next port before it starts raining.  I don't know what he's worried about.  There's not a cloud in the sky.

Okay.  Now there's more than a cloud in the sky.  Pacey says he knows what he's doing but my confidence is getting a little shaky with every rock of this boat.  I'm in the cabin staying dry but this doesn't look good.  I'm trying to figure out this Palm Pilot gadget that he got for his birthday last year and of course, never bothered to use.  I'm trying to find the maritime weather forecast but I don't know what any of this stuff means.  Winds Speeds?  120 mph?  That can't be good.  Maybe I'm reading this thing wrong.  Then again, water is starting to seep in here...shoot.  I don't want to end up playing out a scene from Titanic.  Okay.  That was a tree branch that just flew in here.  Yikes.  This is getting a little too "Perfect Storm" for me... I gotta go help Pacey...

Pacey:

Damn.  Of all the people to run into in the middle of nowhere, Maryland --- the last person I thought I'd have to deal with was Will Krudski's dad.  The guy's even more of a jerk than my Dad, if you can believe that.  He's down here on a fishing trip with some other goons.  I half expected my dad to be among them but fortunately dad had got his hands full prosecuting teenagers in possession of fireworks.  He extended an invitation for Joey and me to join him for dinner but I told him we were on a tight schedule.  Probably not my best plan but I didn't exactly have extensive preparation time, here.  That guy just pisses me off.

Will is lucky he got accepted to that boarding school.  Maybe he'll kick ass there and get the hell away from that creep.  Joey doesn't understand why we have to leave... I wish I didn't have to ever disappoint her!  I know I told her it was Will's dad she would have wanted to to stay and say hello.  And even if I argued she would have countered that he's lucky to have a father at all - at least one who isn't a permanent ward of the state.  But how do I explain to her that sometimes, it's better to grow up without your father than it is to grow up with one like that?

I told Joey to go down to the cabin so she wouldn't hear me if perchance I started screaming "Mayday, Mayday" into channnel 16 on the radio.  Because I don't know how the hell I'm going to get us back to shore with the wind and the rain sending us careening in the opposite direction.  I think.  I don't even know which end is up anymore.  I'm gonna deny ever having said this but I wish my dad was here right now!  He would know what to do here!  No matter what I do I can't seem to control the direction of this thing and I'm writing what I hope won't be my last diary entry while I figure out my next move here.

I'm thinking about the shape this boat was in when I rescued it after Hurricane Chris and it wasn't a pretty picture.  I think I'm gonna need Joey's help.  We're going to have to bring this thing in together.  We can do this.  This is one situation where I'm determined not to fail.  I've spent my entire life screwing up.  It's not gonna happen this time.  I"m gonna take care of this.  I'm gonna make sure nothing happens to her.  I'm going to take care of her... of us.... and of True Love.