Breaking Point

By Wayne Rohrer

On this tropical vacation to relax and get away from the stress of everyday life, the lives of five very different people become intermingled in ways none of them could anticipate. It becomes the adventure of a lifetime as they sail toward their destiny. Along the way they find the bonds of friendship come with a high price, they also find fun, romance, intrigue, disaster, and danger in their journey to the inevitable breaking point that will forever change their lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wayne Rohrer
• Release date: May 7, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476089614

Wayne Rohrer

Coming from a small town in the Midwest, the author used the Navy as a stepping stone to college in California where he got a degree from the California State University, Chico. During his first two years of college, he majored in Journalism where he learned the fine art of journalistic writing. He had a dream of traveling the world photographing and writing about current breaking events. Although the dream lives on, the photography and the writing have become more of a hobby than a career. That window of opportunity is gone, but the joy of writing remains strong. As is usually the case, life got in the way and he ended up getting a degree in a field totally unrelated to writing or photography. The bulk of his career was spent working in the California Department of Mental Health where he worked in various capacities ranging from a psychiatric nurse to the Hospital Administrator of one of the State hospitals. That is where his creative writing skills were really put to the test.Looking back over the course of his career, the single most important element that stands above all others is his desire to tell stories. Being an avid reader, he read work related journals and scholarly books on treating the psychiatric patient, but he also read the entire works of authors such as Dean Koontz and John Grisham. He marveled at their ability to weave an engaging story. It was only through the encouragement of friends that he set out to write a book of his own.The author has recently moved to Fort Myers, Florida, where he lives a quiet life.All books can be found published on Smashwords.com. If you, the reader, have comments regarding the books by this author, he can be reached at the following email address: [e-mail]. Please put the book title in the subject line to ensure your comments receive the proper attention and response. Any comments you have would be helpful and appreciated.

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Breaking Point

by Wayne Rohrer

Copyright 2012 Wayne Rohrer

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1 – Maggie McGuire

Chapter 2 – Jessica Aguirre

Chapter 3 – Sean McQueen

Chapter 4 – Living A Dream

Chapter 5 – Gary Stillman

Chapter 6 – The Knight In Shining Armor

Chapter 7 – Settling In

Chapter 8 – Costa Maya

Chapter 9 – The Talisman

Chapter 10 – Belize City

Chapter 11 – Brad Romano

Chapter 12 – Getting To Know You

Chapter 13 – The Demonic Seas

Chapter 14 – George Town, Cayman Islands

Chapter 15 – To Good Times

Chapter 16 – The Warning

Chapter 17 – A Night At The Reef Grill

Chapter 18 - Followed

Chapter 19 – The Reunion

Chapter 20 – Dinner In Kingston

Chapter 21 – A Day At The Beach

Chapter 22 – A Day To Remember

Chapter 23 – Jessica’s Indecision

Chapter 24 – Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Chapter 25 – Chaos

Chapter 26 – Night And Day

Chapter 27 – Zipping Through The Rainforest

Chapter 28 – Cockburn Town

Chapter 29 – At Sea

Chapter 30 – Sean And Brad

Chapter 31 – Nassau

Chapter 32 – A Night On The Town

Chapter 33 - Decisions

Chapter 34 – Moving On

Chapter 35 – Key West And Beyond

Chapter 36 - Visitors

Chapter 37 – Old Friends

Chapter 38 – And Then There Were Two

Chapter 39 – Raising The Stakes

Chapter 40 – Maggie’s Demons

Chapter 41 – Out Of Body Experience

Chapter 42 – Clean Up

Epilogue

About The Author

Other Books By This Author

Preface

The world we live in is made up of just over seven billion people with an annual growth rate of approximately 1.1 percent. We are an eclectic group of people consisting of many origins, races, philosophies, lifestyles, and patterns of behavior. But I’m sure I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know.

There are good people, bad people, caring people, and people just trying to survive to see another sunrise. There are sad people, perky people, fun people, and some people you just can’t keep down no matter how hard you try. There are junkies of all kinds, and I talk not only of street drugs but prescriptions drugs as well, prescribed by the well-meaning physicians we love to trust. We all have our crutches and our crosses to bear but some make a life out of trying to pull us into the vortex of their own living hell.

We all have one thing in common though, we all have our limits; how much we are willing to take and still maintain our self-esteem, our self-respect; how much we can take before we reach that overload point of no return; that point where we feel our back is against the wall and we just aren’t willing to take anymore.

That’s the point where there is no turning back. That’s the defining point for all of us, the true test of our mettle. That’s the breaking point, the point where we take a stand and defend who we are as a person. That’s the line in the sand, if you will. To some, the breaking point may be no more than the alarm clock signaling another day at the office, to others it may be the phone ringing in the dead of night, and yet to others it may be a life threatening event where their action may determine whether they live or die. We each have a breaking point. What’s yours?

****

Chapter 1 – Maggie McGuire

Maggie McGuire was bored. She always doodled when she was bored and now the page was nearly full of her doodles. It was like a stream of consciousness. Whatever she was thinking somehow visually made it onto the page in front of her. It was a kaleidoscope of images. Idly she wondered what a psychiatrist would have to say about her doodles. She looked up at the clock on the wall and inwardly groaned. Could she endure another thirty-five minutes of this? Somehow she seriously doubted it.

Professor Benson was a good enough teacher, even if he did have a tendency to drone on and on. The monotone voice by itself was enough to put her to sleep but the subject matter was pure torture. It was way beyond what anyone should have to endure. I mean The Psychology of the Liberal Mind? And right after lunch too. What was she thinking? She would not even be in this class if it weren’t required for her major.

After this semester, she still had one more year till graduation, so she had to focus. She had to get through this somehow. But the semester had just started and already she hated it. The more she thought about it, the more she resented the waste of her time. She could think of a lot of other things she would rather be doing with her time. When she got right down to it, it wasn’t just this class, it was all her classes. She didn’t know how she would be able to make it through another year. School just wasn’t where she wanted to be right now.

She looked up at the clock again and couldn’t believe only two minutes had passed since the last time she looked. She felt tightness in her chest and was having a hard time breathing. For one thing the room was far too hot and there didn’t seem to be any ventilation. It seemed to be closing in on her. She had to get out of here. At the moment she was just taking up space anyway. She hadn’t heard anything Professor Benson had said. She might as well not even be here. Why not just leave?

She closed her notebook and quietly collected her things. She looked around for the quickest and fastest way to make her exit. As she stood up, her purse caught on the desk, and as she struggled to free it, the desk turned over creating a disruption even Professor Benson couldn’t ignore. As the desk crashed to the floor, Professor Benson stopped talking and turned in her direction. Also, the thirty-some other students in the class all turned to look at her. The silence that followed seemed endless. Embarrassed now, she stumbled over students who couldn’t get their legs and feet out of the way fast enough as she fled. She was thankful Professor Benson hadn’t called after her.

She was going to hear about this she knew. Professor Benson went to her church and she knew he would mention it the next time he saw her. He would inquire about her health, asking if something had been wrong, if she had been sick. She also suspected he would mention it to her parents. All in the spirit of inquiring about her health, you understand.

Gene Benson had always been especially attentive and friendly to her. She suspected he was flirting with her, so she was very cautious not to give him any signs that could be interpreted as interest on her part. He was nice enough looking, handsome even, but aside from the age difference, he just wasn’t her type. He had even gone to great lengths to make friends with her parents. That made her even more suspicious of his intent. The few times her parents had invited him over for dinner, he had always managed to get her alone for a few minutes of private conversation. Although they were not inappropriate, it still made her feel somewhat uncomfortable to be alone with him.

She knew her parents were not going to be happy she skipped out of class. Colleges aren’t cheap, and since her parents were footing the bill, this would have to be explained. Maggie was a good church going girl. She couldn’t lie to her parents but what could she tell them? She would have to think of something, and quick. The truth of the matter was she just couldn’t go on like this. She hated school, and today she just couldn’t focus. It was not just today though, her level of frustration had been growing for some time, and she realized the thin threat that had kept her walking that straight and narrow road had just snapped.

She desperately needed a break, to get away for a while, then she could come back with a fresh attitude and a fresh perspective, to pick up where she left off, but thinking about telling her parents made her break out in a sweat. Her parents were not that well off financially, and had made big sacrifices to finance her schooling. If she dropped out this semester, there would be no refund and that money would be lost. As thankful as she was to them for their help, she just couldn’t do this anymore, not now anyway.

Her parents, Harry and Linda had both come from humble beginnings. Harry was a farm boy from a large family and all he knew was hard work. Linda was a city girl and knew nothing of farm life. They met at a weekly evangelical radio broadcast aimed at the youth of America. Linda was the announcer, or the MC for the show, and Harry sat in the audience every Saturday night wondering who that beautiful brunette was.

Harry arranged for an introduction through a friend of a friend of a friend. He called in a few favors if you will. Their first date was to the local ice cream parlor, a widely popular meeting place, following the show. They married soon after and set up housekeeping with their daughter Maggie. They were both determined to give her what neither of them was able to achieve for themselves, a college education and a better life for herself.

Maggie was an only child, so they had pinned all their hopes and dreams on her. Sometimes late at night before sleep overtook them, Harry and Linda laid awake mapping out her future. It didn’t even occur to them they may be pushing Maggie too hard, or in a direction she didn’t want to go. It was, after all, for Maggie’s own good. On those few occasions when Maggie tried to stand up for herself and tell them what she wanted, they had not taken her seriously. She was too young, what did she know about these things. So Maggie had meekly gone along with their master plan for her life, while quietly hoping and praying someday she would be able to have a life of her own.

At five foot seven inches, Maggie was a pretty girl in a plain sort of way. She was not allowed to wear makeup because people who did were looked at as cheap floozies, her parents told her. Makeup was man’s creation, not God’s. Beauty came from inside a person, from the soul; it was not created by makeup. Her rather frizzy reddish blond hair was always combed straight down to her shoulders. She worked at it endlessly to make it behave, to straighten it, or curl it, or just make it look groomed. She thought her hair always looked like it had gone through a wind storm. When she tried to wear it up or impose her own style on it, her parents told her it wasn’t considered appropriate for a girl her age. She cut it short once, but only once. Maggie rather liked it, but neither of her parents did, so she was never allowed to cut it short again.

As she grew older, and her body started to develop, her mother bought her bras that were way too small, trying to hide the development of her ample breasts. Maggie was delighted she was finally becoming a woman, but the bras she was forced to wear were binding and uncomfortable, plus all the tops she was allowed to wear had high neck lines. Guys had started to notice her for the first time and started asking her out on dates, but she was never allowed to accept. On one memorable occasion she had wanted to go to a dance and lied to her parents, telling them she was going to a friend’s house to study. Her date had picked her up at the friend’s house and taken her to the dance. Mr. Benson just happened to be there as a chaperon. Her parents were waiting up for her when she got home. That was her last date. From then on, she had been under their watchful eye and had been unable to get away with anything. As a result she had grown up both sheltered and naive.

Now, as she was fleeing to her car, she was thinking about how she was going to break the news to her parents, she rounded a corner of the psychology building and ran head on into Jessica. Both girls landed on the ground surrounded by their books, notebooks, and the contents of their purses. To Maggie, this was the last straw. What else could go wrong? She started to cry.

****

Chapter 2 – Jessica Aguirre

Jessica Aguirre was late for class. Again. In fact, she was almost always late, so this was no exception. She was late more than she was on time to any of her classes. Professor Benson had pretty much given up on welcoming her to his classes. He hoped his public sarcasm of her tardiness would make a difference, but so far it hadn’t. Jessica could care less.

Jessica was a self-made girl. She had left home at the age of fifteen rather than submit to the tyrannical rules of her stepfather. Her mother was pathetically weak so she couldn’t count on her mother to protect her. She had preferred life on the streets where she could do as she pleased. Life was not always easy, but she found that men would pay for the company of a pretty young girl. She took some hard knocks but she grew up fast. She was a quick study.

She learned the ways of living on the streets. She started buying clothes that attracted the attention of men, and started wearing lots of makeup. She even dyed her chestnut hair jet black. She knew what men liked, and she was starting to bring in some good money. Even though she was now making enough money to live on, she knew this was just temporary. At least she hoped it was. When she thought about it at all, she really didn’t want to be a middle aged woman still working the streets, and God knows she had seen plenty of those.

She had saved as much money as she could in the last few years, and had even managed to finish high school. She had occasionally contacted her mother, but only when she knew her stepfather wouldn’t be there. On those occasions her mother always pleaded with her to come back home. That had quickly become very tiresome, so she talked to her mother less and less. Her mother had consistently pushed the idea of college, and had even offered to pay the tuition. The one condition though was she had to move back home. Now here she was attending college only because she had promised her mother she would work toward getting a degree, for all the good that would do her. She didn’t even know what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. What should she major in? She had never seen herself going to college, so she had never considered how it could help her. Her mother had told her college was a good place to meet eligible bachelors on their way to the top. She had made a good argument that educated men wanted educated women. They would sleep with bimbos but would never consider marrying one. If she wanted to make her mark in this world, she needed an education, and not one gotten on the streets.

That had struck a chord with Jessica. She did want to leave her mark on the world, but not as a hooker. She knew she could do better than that. She didn’t know how yet, but she knew she was capable of it. Even though Jessica left home at an early age, it in no way meant she wasn’t a very bright girl. She had always managed to rank in the top one percent of her classes, and her teachers generally thought this was a girl with a bright future. Jessica surprised everyone when she dropped out of school at such a young age. It was either that or fall prey to her lecherous stepfather who couldn’t keep his hands off her.

God knows working the streets was not an easy way to make a living so why not humor her mother for the time being. At least her mother was paying all her college expenses and Jessica could supplement her income whenever she needed extra money. Yeah, she had thought, she could do this at least until something better came along. When she moved back home, she had a private come-to-Jesus talk with her stepfather. She told him if he ever touched her again, or even laid a hand on her mother, he better never shut his eyes or she would carve him up like a Thanksgiving Turkey. She pulled an eight inch switch blade out of her purse and casually opened and closed it during the conversation just to underscore the point. Her stepfather kept a respectful distance after that. Her mother, not knowing of the conversation Jessica had with her stepfather, commented on several occasions what a different man he was since Jessica had moved back home. She told Jessica things would be different now and they would become a happy family again. She was so pleased to have Jessica back.

On the streets, Jessica had gotten used to buying her own clothes, and now living at home, her mother was not giving her the money to buy new outfits every week. Jessica, not wanting to dip to deep into her savings, knew it would be cheaper to make some of her own clothes, so she bought a few patterns and some fabric, and borrowed her mother’s sewing machine. It didn’t take long for her to discover she could improve on the patterns, so she started sketching out some designs of her own. Before long she was making most of her own clothes. She found it was not only cheaper, she liked the fashions better than any of the patterns that were readily available.

And now here she was on her bruised back side with an outfit she had just finished making. The short tight black skirt was hiked up way too far. So far you could see all the way to the kitchen sink as her grandmother used to say. The white top with ruffles down the front looked ruined too, and on top of that she had a big hole in her stockings, and her hand was starting to hurt where she skinned it trying to break her fall.

This was the first time she had worn this new outfit and she was going to make the idiot responsible pay. Oh yes, she thought, she would make them pay dearly. These were new stockings too and her high heeled shoes would never be the same. Her whole outfit was ruined.

Maggie, at this point was on her knees collecting her things. She had her head down so her hair was covering her face. She was trying to apologize but she was crying so hard her words were unintelligible.

Jessica sat watching her for a minute then took a tissue from her purse and handed it to Maggie.

Hey. You ruined a brand new outfit I just finished making, and you ruined a perfectly good pair of stockings too. It looks like the heel on my right shoe is about to fall off, and my hand is skinned, but we’re both still alive. Huh? That counts for something doesn’t it? Are you okay?

Maggie turned to look at her and for the first time recognized her as that floozy in Professor Benson’s class who was always late. That’s probably where she had been going in such a hurry.

Still sobbing and brushing the hair from her eyes and back from her face, Maggie took the tissue. Nodding she said, Yeah, I’m okay. Look, I’m really sorry. I’ll pay for any damage. I should have been watching where I was going.

Aren’t you in Professor Benson’s class too? I remember you. So why aren’t you in class now and where were you going so fast anyway? Jessica asked.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to get out of there.

Well I can’t go to class now looking like this, so let’s go get something to eat and catch our breath.

I really shouldn’t. I need to... Maggie started.

You need to what? You need to go because you have somewhere else you have to be in the middle of Professor Benson’s class? Jessica asked smiling.

Maggie smiled in resignation.

Come on, I’ll drive. Besides I have another pair of shoes in the car. Jessica said. I might as well take these shoes off, what’s another few holes in these stockings? They’re ruined anyway.

****

Sitting in a booth at the City Zoo, an off-campus dive only the bravest students ventured into, Maggie was out of her element. The place was a real dump. The smell of stale beer and old grease was in the air and it looked like it had never been cleaned. She wondered how anyone could eat here and live to tell about it. While checking the place out, she took stock of Jessica too and wondered if this was a good idea. Maggie thought Jessica was a very pretty girl under all that makeup, but the way she was painted, it made her look like a hooker which was about as far apart from Maggie as one could get. A complete 180 to be exact. This was someone she would probably never even consider talking to, let alone being friends with. They had nothing in common.

Jessica had an amused look on her face as she watched Maggie. The poor girl looked terrified. She must live a pretty sheltered life. And what must she think of me? Jessica thought.

Just then the waitress arrived. Her jet black dyed hair looked like it housed any number of parasitic critters. Who knew what was living in there? It certainly hadn’t been combed recently, and her makeup bill must be horrendous Maggie thought. She had black eye shadow, huge black eyelashes, black eye liner, and in fact her whole face had a blackish cast to it. She even had black lipstick. To complete the look, she wore a skin tight black pullover top and an equally tight short, short, black skirt. As Maggie’s gaze continued down, she now saw black stockings and black hooker shoes.

When Maggie looked up, she saw both Jessica and the waitress watching her.

Whadda havin’ honey? The waitress asked scratching her head with the end of her pen.

Maggie sat there with her mouth open. What could she possibly order in here?

Jessica came to her rescue. Just a couple of cokes for now, we may order something to eat later.

Well that was embarrassing, Maggie said when the waitress left.

I figured you needed something like this to shock you out of your self-pity. Geez girl. Get over it. Life goes on.

That may be easy for you to say but you don’t know my parents, Maggie said. They’ll kill me. They’re paying my tuition, so they think that gives them the right to run my life. I can’t face school right now, but they’ll never let me just sit home doing nothing. I’ve got to get away. That’s all there is to it. I’ve got to get away for a while. They’ll just keep hounding me, making my life miserable. The sad part of it is though, I don’t have anywhere to go, so I’m stuck.

It can’t be that bad, Jessica said. I would gladly trade places with you anytime. Just say the word. My stepfather is a real jerk who only tolerates me because he wants to get his hands on me, and my mother is a loser. She’s too weak to stand up to him or even stand up for herself. The only reason I’m living with them now is that was the condition my mother put on paying my tuition.

So why do you stay with them?

I promised my mother, but you know what, I’m through with that. It sounds like we both have that in common. We both need to get away. So what are we going to do about it?

I’m stuck, Maggie said. I have a little money stashed away but not enough to move out on my own. Besides, I don’t have a job. That doesn’t give me many options.

Jessica was quiet for a few minutes which gave Maggie time to look at a group of students who had just come in. They were loud and boisterous and luckily took a larger booth in the far corner.

Jessica seemed to snap out of wherever she had been. Look I have a few ideas, but I need to think about it for a while. Besides, class is over and I need to get going. Give me your number and let’s talk again.

They exchanged numbers and Jessica paid the bill. At her car in the parking lot, Maggie again apologized for running into Jessica and ruining her outfit. Jessica just waved it off and smiled as she drove away. Driving home Maggie thought about Jessica and how different they were, and about how unlikely it was they would ever talk again. Oh well, she thought. It had been different but kinda fun.

****

Chapter 3 – Sean McQueen

Sean was daydreaming again about the boat he wanted. In fact, most days that’s all he could think about. Sailing was in his blood. His earliest, and best, memories were with his family onboard their yacht. He had grown up on the open water, so it was no wonder he wanted a boat of his own, and now he was finally realizing his dream.

Most people thought Sean McQueen was a rich, spoiled, self-centered, egotistical playboy. He thought they could just possibly be right, but what did it matter? He was an heir to his father’s empire and it didn’t matter what other people thought of him. He could buy and sell anyone he wanted.

David McQueen, his father, had come from humble beginnings and had built his empire single handed, piece by piece. He slowly diversified to hedge against hard times by purchasing companies struggling in these uncertain financial times. He had capitalized on the misfortunes of others. He hadn’t lost any sleep over it. It was a dog eat dog world out there and if he didn’t take advantages when they were presented to him, someone else would. He was just glad he was in a strong enough financial position to hold off a hostile take-over of his own company.

David had three kids of his own, and was on his third wife. Delores, or Dee, as she was called, was a trophy wife and was several years younger than David. He was happy she had no desire to be responsible for parenting or raising any more kids. Some women just didn’t have the mothering gene, and Dee was one of them. She was at that point in her life when she just wanted to be taken care of by someone who had the means to give her the things she desired. Dee had one son from a previous marriage and was happy when he decided to live with his father. Dee had to admit she had been relieved. It wasn’t as though she didn’t love her son, she did, but he was at an age when he could make his own decisions which meant she was free to make her own decisions as well. David’s kids seemed to accept her, or at least there had been no open hostility which he had feared. John, Sean, and Polly were all on good terms with their respective mothers, but were old enough to understand some things just didn’t stand the test of time. Marriage was not David’s long suit. Secretly they all wondered how long this one would last. John, at twenty-seven, was the oldest, Sean, twenty-five, was the middle child, with Polly the youngest, just past her twentieth birthday.

Celine was David’s first wife and the mother of both John and Sean. David met her during an extended Italian vacation following college. He saw her as an Italian beauty, and she saw him as her ticket to America and the good life if had to offer. She had come from an average Italian family and saw the marriage as