The Ride
... Horse” as we called it. Actually I think it was way more motor than the poor ol’ boat could handle, but of coarse Al didn’t think so. Even if the rating tag in the boat stated it was. It was then that I made my first mistake. I asked Al if he had ever opened her up wide open before, the “70 Horse” that is. There was a short pause then he looked at me with that shit eating looking grin on his face and said “Nope, but I think we’re going to find out today!” I asked him “ We going to take her out on the lake before we go fishing down the river then, or what”? He replied, “You might say something like that” in a strange tone. I looked over at him and said, “What the hell is that supposed to mean”? He turned his head and looked towards the west like an explorer saying “Ya, but not on Winnie, up onto Cass”. I was stunned, baffled, I couldn’t comprehend what he had just said. I quickly became very worried. After all this was Al we’re talking about. The man who stood right at the edge of Old Faithful leaning over and staring directly into it. Never mind the ropes or caution signs to stay back. None of that sort of stuff ever meant anything to Al. I think he just liked to scare people and act tough. Anyway; Cass Lake, what the hell is he talking about anyway? You can’t even get up to Cass because the dam separates the lake from the river. “Oh shit, not the dam” “Oh shit, not the dam” I repeated quietly to myself. “Shut up you god damn sissy” he said as he heard me. Then he stared at me and said “We’re gonna jump that goddamn dam with the boat, it’s got a 70 horse on it for Christ sakes”! “NOW?” I said. “When we get there” he mumbled as he started to head up the river slowly. “Now get your pole out and let’s try to land a big one” he said calmly as though the previous conversation never took place. A couple of hours had past as we slowly made our way up the long winding river. We fished and watched the eagles fly around. Every once in a while Al would gut a smaller fish we had caught and leave it on the river for the eagles to swoop down and grab up. We talked about the good times and drank our beer. But the whole time I had it in the back of my mind that the dam was getting closer. I contemplated on whether he was actually serious or not. Although, previous experiences taught me not to doubt him. I wondered how he thought he could do it. Can he even swim? Not that I think that’s going to matter much if he actually tries to do this? It was starting to eat at me more and more the further we went, but I tried not to let it show. If he had seen that I was scared, or something, he would just antagonize me all the more. I couldn’t stop thinking of all of the other crazy stunts he had pulled before. Stupid, dangerous impractical jokes and all of his daring maneuvers were popping up in my head non-stop. Do I see a pattern of behavior developing here? Well I guess I’m still alive, that’s got to count for something I thought to myself. And just then, in mid thought, Al yelled, “There she is”! I snapped my head towards the west and yep, there it was; the dam. It was tall and violent looking as the water flooded over the top of the lake, down into the rapids of the river. The water rushed outward and downward massively with no end to it, ruthless and relentlessly. “Holy shit” I said in awe. “There’s no god dam way you’re going to get this up that” I said, pointing at the dam. Al looked at me with frustration and scowled “Ahhhhh bullshit” as he slowly reeled his line in. Now I got REALLY nervous. I quickly reeled my line in and put my pole away. As I reached for my lifejacket Al Chuckled and said “You god damn sissy” with that same shit eating grin on his face. We slowly got closer and closer to the dam. He just stood in his cockpit and surveyed the area like some lone pirate on uncharted territory. Up a little closer and into the rapids we went and then back down towards the river again. Slowly, cautiously he strolled back and forth with a magnitude of confidence and calmness about him. It was like he was in a trance or something. He looked a lot like Clint Eastwood staring down the enemy in a western movie. His eyes got beady, he snarled slightly with a piece of straw sticking out of his mouth as he gritted his teeth. Then, all of the sudden, he slammed the throttle wide open and the big 70 horse roared to life! The front end of the boat came way up as we launched forward. I was thrown into the back of the boat and damn near right out the back. I grabbed for anything solid and hung on for dear life. I couldn’t see anything but blue sky as I looked up. The boat began to slam into the oncoming rapids, jerking it side to side and all over. Wa...