No Tourists At the Cup Defenders
By Basil Rosa
()
About this ebook
The third novel in Basil Rosa’s Lotion State Trilogy, No Tourists At The Cup Defenders is a tragedy narrated by commercial fisherman Pee Wee Coyle who details the life of Victor Silva, having promised Vic’s wife, Loren, that when their son James was old enough, he’d share what happened to his father.
Vic was raised in Fall River. His mother speaks very little English. His father, who’s had multiple strokes, can’t speak and lives in an elderly care center. Aged 23, Vic believes he disgraced his family after being discharged from the Navy for selling narcotics. Newport is where he can make amends. He works 7 days a week, earning $50 in cash per day. He rises at 3:30 in his Bristol apartment, which is next door to a drinking club for immigrants and their sons living in Bristol. Here, he unwinds with local men who make him feel welcome. It seems the purpose of his life is to create a sense of home.
Arriving to Bowen’s Wharf on time each day, Vic rides out at 5:30 with a rag-tag crew employed by Aquidneck Fish under Skipper Sonny Lombardi. They’ll empty nets kept in the Atlantic from early spring to late fall. They pull these nets up by hand, store the catch in a heap on Iron Jane’s deck, and return to Bowen’s Wharf to sort and store it. Quitting time often comes at twilight. A young man, “a greenhorn” earns respect from seasoned vets such as Mitch McSherry, part owner of Aquidneck Fish and foreman to Sonny. Mitch sees potential in Vic, who’s learned he’s gotten girlfriend Loren pregnant. Vic turns to younger co-worker Pat Degnan, also a greenhorn, for advice.
Pat provides a sympathetic ear. They’ve both made an enemy in Cliff Larch, who dislikes Vic because, as Mitch’s nephew, he’s jealous of his success. Cliff dislikes Pat because Pat’s been sleeping with Marla, Cliff’s ex-girlfriend. Cliff is also a drug-dealer. Vic warns Pat to stay away from Cliff and Marla. Pat doesn’t listen. Still, their friendship endures. When Pee Wee is in port, the three of them get together. Pee Wee dates Pat’s sister.
Vic struggles to pay rent and bills. He takes no time off and is forever on the brink of exhaustion. Loren remains a soothing presence, her family likes him, but Vic’s worried about how they’ll make ends meet. Then his father dies. Everything about their relationship feels unfinished and this weighs on Vic’s conscience. He brings Loren to his father’s funeral and they stay with his family in Fall River. He must tell his mother he’s going to marry Loren, that they already have designs on a small house Loren’s father has agreed to help them purchase. They love each other and, best of all, Loren is pregnant.
There’s one hitch. Vic fears his mother won’t approve. Loren is a pious Catholic, but she’s not Portuguese. Vic tries to convince his mother this doesn’t matter, that he’s found true love. Though disappointed, his mother agrees to the union, but only if they’ll have marry at her church in Fall River.
The long summer wears Vic down until one August evening, near the point of collapse, he sees Pat and Cliff fighting on the wharf. Most crewmen have gone home. Cliff stands for everything Vic’s trying to rebuke. Pat takes a beating. Vic chooses to defend him. He gets in some punches until Cliff stabs him in the neck, piercing his carotid artery.
Vic dies in the ambulance on the way to the emergency ward. Loren never marries. Pat leaves Newport altogether, though not before he and Loren create a fund to help Loren raise her child alone. For 20 years, Pee Wee stays in touch with them both and contributes to this fund. His final contribution is this telling of Vic’s story.
Basil Rosa
John Flynn (www.basilrosa.com), who also writes as Basil Rosa, has published chapbooks, as well as complete collections of poems, which include Moments Between Cities, and Restless Vanishings. He has also published three collections of short stories: Something Grand, Dreaming Rodin, and Off To The Next Wherever. He’s earned awards from the New England Poetry Club, and the U.S. Peace Corps.
Read more from Basil Rosa
Groovemasters Night At the Met Cafe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMilk Blossom Pushes Free Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEightball at Grady's Palace East Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWitness Marks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGod Wore Denim Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to No Tourists At the Cup Defenders
Related ebooks
Daisy May Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsImperfect Hearts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCommons Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCold Crash Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJack Chanty: A Story of Athabasca Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShattered Bones Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Sailor: A Historical Novel of Cape Cod Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAfter the Flood: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Moment in Time Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Black Cloud Rising Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Golden Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStealing Freedom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLampLight Vol 1 Issue 4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSea Change Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSafe in the Earl's Arms Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Drink The Water Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLost Boys: Book One of the Lost Boys Trilogy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath on the Isle: A cosy maritime mystery set on the Isle of Wight perfect for fans of Janice Hallett Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The River in Winter Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Making it Home: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Afterlife Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMostyn Thomas and the Big Rave Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOver My Dead Body Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fangtooth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Veil of Sea and Secret: Tide and True, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsZoltan and Vivian Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEdge 59: Terror Town Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Hearts Be Damned Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPirates! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Poor Man's House Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Literary Fiction For You
Little Birds: Erotica Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Annihilation: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5East of Eden Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Life of Pi: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Who Have Never Known Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Covenant of Water (Oprah's Book Club) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Demon Copperhead: A Pulitzer Prize Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Handmaid's Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sympathizer: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tender Is the Flesh Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flowers for Algernon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Ugly and Wonderful Things: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lady Tan's Circle of Women: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pride and Prejudice: Bestsellers and famous Books Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Old Man and the Sea: The Hemingway Library Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Catch-22: 50th Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Piranesi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm Thinking of Ending Things: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Farewell to Arms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anna Karenina: Bestsellers and famous Books Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Confederacy of Dunces Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Prophet Song: A Novel (Booker Prize Winner) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leave the World Behind: A Read with Jenna Pick Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Nigerwife: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for No Tourists At the Cup Defenders
0 ratings0 reviews