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Show RIVER I went back to the couch and lay there in my army blanket. My brain was overwhelmed, while every molecule in my body seemed to vibrate with intense energy and glow with pleasure at being alive. Everything seemed to make sense: I was literally born again. I meditated till the cook brought me dry pants and the soggy boots that had nearly scuttled me. Captain Gale gave me a white shirt and showed me the guest cabin. I took a shower and then laid on the bed a while. My head was still spinning, my mind kept going back to that awful moment when I turned around and saw that line of barges rushing down the river. I restless and got up to look over the boat. Olinda Chotin was a new rig, the flagship of the Chotin family line. Her lower deck was mostly taken up by an engine room that filled the belly of the boat. Above the engine room you had to cross between the galley and the TV room on a catwalk. The hot, throbbing cavern was jammed with machinery that could generate five thousand horsepower and resounded with thundering noise. The mess room was just aft of the engines and was dominated by a long table where the officers and crew ate in two shifts at the changing of the six-hour watch. Forward of the engines, the TV room was a sort of hallway that opened onto a couple of the deckhand's cabins. The two upper decks contained quarters for the rest of the crew. The cabins were fitted out exactly like motel rooms. The pilof s house stood at the pinnacle of the entire assembly. The large glass box of the pilof s house had a sweeping view of the river. It was fitted out with brass and leather and wood and was fitted with engine controls, searchlight levers, a chart table, two large swivel chairs, a green radar screen, and a set of gears that took the place of a wheel. I sat down in one of the chairs and surveyed the vast expanse of barges plowing south. The bows were -213- |
