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The young man’s shoulders began to shake. His eyes streamed, but he didn’t even bother trying to stem the tears or to wipe his dripping nose.
“Was it over the girl?” the officer asked in a gentler voice. “Mr. Walker here says she was a looker. A party girl, best he could tell. She belong to one of you?”
“Like a girlfriend, you mean? No, sir. She’s just a casual friend.”
“You and your buddy fight over her favors?”
“No, sir. Not… not exactly. What I mean is, she wasn’t the reason it started.”
“Then what was?”
The boy sniffed but remained mute.
“Just as well tell me now,” the officer said, “because when we find whatever we’re going to find out there, we’ll keep hounding you until we get the truth of it.”
“We were drunk.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And… and…” The kid raised his head, looked over at Hatch, then back at the officer, and said earnestly, “He’s my best friend.”
“All right. So what happened?”
He licked mucus off his upper lip. “He got mad. Mad as hell. I’ve never seen him like that.”
“Like what?”
“Crazy. Violent. Like he snapped or something.”
“Snapped.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What’d you do to piss him off, cause him to snap?”
“Nothing! One minute he’s down below with her. I gave them some privacy, you know?”
“For sex? They were having sex?”
“Yeah. I mean, really going at it, having fun. Next minute, he’s back up on deck, coming at me.”
“For no reason? Just like that?”
The kid’s head wobbled up and down. “It was supposed to be a party. A celebration. I don’t understand how it went to hell so quick. I swear to God I don’t.” He lowered his battered face into his hands and began to sob again.
The officer looked over at Hatch as though for consultation. Hatch stared back at him, wanting to ask what he was looking at him for. He wasn’t a counselor. He wasn’t a parent. He for damn sure wasn’t an officer in the Coast Guard or a cop. This was no longer his problem.
When he failed to volunteer anything, the officer asked if he had anything to add to the boy’s story.
“No.”
“Did you see or hear them fighting?”
“The only thing I saw them doing was enjoying themselves.”
The officer turned back to the young man. “Best friends don’t fight for no reason. Not even when they’ve had too much to drink. They might swap some harsh words, maybe throw a punch or two. But once it blows over, it’s over, right?”
“I guess,” he replied sullenly.
