Read Online Tuna Tango by Steven Becker - Free Book Online

the other to work the jack.
    Slowly, he pushed on the handle, listening to the building creaking as the weight was shifted. After an inch, the resistance became stronger. He would need a longer jack handle to create more leverage, but didn’t want to take the time to get out of the water and find one, so he pushed down on the handle with all his power. 
     
    ***
     
    “He’s gonna fire us,” Kyle said as he pulled into the lot. 
    “The dude’s desperate. When was the last time you had a boss that talked that nice to you?” Dick replied as he took the last hit on the pipe. He held his breath before letting the smoke out. “Besides, we tell him a story about the car breaking down or some shit, and he’ll buy it.”
    “If you didn’t have to stay out ‘till 3 partying, we could have been here on time.”
    “What are you, my mother? You were right there with me.”
    They pulled next to Will’s truck and got out.
    “It’s hotter than seven hells,” Kyle said as they went for the open door. Noise came from under the building as they entered, and he called out for Will. 
    Suddenly a loud pop sounded and the building vibrated. 
    “What the hell was that?”
    “I heard a splash. Come on.”
    They ran outside to the seawall and looked under the building. The platform was still there, with one end of a broken beam laying on it. Will was nowhere in sight. 
    “He must be in the water,” Kyle said as he jumped in. Dick followed, and they swam to the platform. 
    Dick took a deep breath and dove, surfacing a second later. “Can’t see anything.” He spotted Will’s mask on the platform, put it on, and dove again. With a hand on the broken beam, he pushed himself to the bottom and started to look around. The silt was thick from the beam falling, and he could barely see his hand in front of his face. 
    Then something grabbed at his arm. Out of air, he had to fight off Will’s grip and surface. “He’s down there,” he yelled to Kyle and looked around. “Give me that rope.”
    With one end of the dock line in hand, he dove again. Will’s hand grabbed him again, though the grip wasn’t as strong as it had been seconds before. Dick worked frantically, fighting the pain in his chest as his breath started to run out. He found the beam and looped an end of the rope around it, then quickly surfaced. 
    “Pull!” He broke the surface and yelled at Kyle, then took another breath and submerged, not waiting to see if he understood.
    Will felt lifeless when he reached him. He planted his feet on the bottom, grabbed him by his shirt, and pulled as hard as he could. When he was almost standing, he felt the weight come easily. Kyle must have pulled the beam off. Now free, he pushed Will to the surface, toward Kyle’s waiting hand. 
     Will spat and coughed as they pulled him onto the platform. His eyes opened slowly. 
    “Give him some room,” Dick said.
    Will sat up slowly and looked around.
    “He’s not right. Let’s get him up top,” Kyle said.
    They released the line holding the platform and pushed it toward the sunlight. Once at the seawall, Will tried to get off, but fell back.
    “Easy, dude. We’ll help you,” Dick said. It took both of them to stabilize the floating foam enough to move Will onto the seawall. All three leaned back and collapsed. 
     
    ***
     
    They sat on the sidewalk eating lunch. Will was shaken, but feeling better. At least it hadn’t hit his head—then he’d really be in bad shape. He knew he was lucky the boys had walked in when they did or he could have been killed by the post kicking out and the beam breaking.
    “I want to have a look under there and see what happened.”
    “You sure that’s a good idea?” Dick asked.
    “We didn’t know there was a danger factor built into this job when we signed up. Maybe we should be getting more money,” Kyle added.
    “Just be happy you still have a job. I was ready to fire you until you saved me there,” Will replied. He was