He loads the last bit of gear into the gheenoe (canoe with the back end cut off) which has already been strapped down onto the trailer. His daughter, whom he awakened promptly at 4:15 am is waiting excitedly for her boyfriend to show up so they can begin their bass fishing trip into one of his favorite phosphate pits, The Whiskey Hotel, to be exact! As he is known for naming his fishing spots.
Once all are present and accounted for, he drives to the local 7-11 to fill up the gas tanks and pick up 2 bags of ice, one carton of peanut butter “Nabs”, a six pack of cokes, 12 pack of beer and a large pack of oreos, After slapping the bags of ice on the ground, the first bag is poured over the bottom of the cooler, the drinks are all placed in next and then the second bag of ice is poured on top. Next stop, the Clock Restaurant for a big breakfast. His order: scrambled eggs, bacon, black coffee, toast with any flavor jelly – but absolutely NO grape jelly!
After the hour drive to The Whiskey Hotel, it’s time to back down the trailer, unhook the boat and get all three passengers properly seated into the very small three-person gheenoe. His daughter is given the middle seat to help with the balancing of the boat. He is at the back so as to control his 9.9 HP motor, especially since he is the avid fisherman and knows this spot well.
All was going according to plan until…. WHACK! His daughter calmly tells her boyfriend, “You hooked me!”. He immediately stops yanking at his rod, realizing he has in fact hooked his girlfriend in the back of the head with none other than a treble hook lure! The boyfriend is naturally beside himself of the pain she must be enduring as he tries several times to unhook her! Meanwhile, the fishing continues for her father and he occasionally blurts out different ways to try to get her unhooked.
The boyfriend, after exhausting all attempts, announces that they should get to a doctor to remove the hook. NOW WAIT JUST A MINUTE!
She’s not bleeding is she? No.
Your not in pain are you? No, I’m fine.
See? Besides, we just got here for pete’s sake!
Fishing continues.
Finally, the boyfriend can’t take it any longer, “we need to get that hook out of her head”. A long pause………OK, I GUESS WE’RE GOING BACK! Even though the scalp is some of the toughest skin, and she’s fine!!
The father is quite bent out of shape, and uses every form of body language and throaty grunts to show just how upset he is at this preposterous situation. They make the long ride back to shore and hastily get the boat strapped back up.
It was a quiet ride to his dentist office. Once there, he puts a shot of Novocain in her scalp, then began to tug and pull, tug and pull, until the lure was finally out!
I, the girlfriend, remember this day quite well and look back on it, laughing at the crazy site of fishing and riding in a car with a big lure sticking out of my head! My father’s reaction, quite normal when you are OCD and your routine gets interrupted. My husband, his hooking me was just the visual sign of what he had already done to my heart years before!