Machete

As in:

Ventine’s rescue of Ben from waters off the northern Florida Keys was a miracle in its own terms. But even miracles have to get up the next morning and what awaited them was a small impasse of confusion. They knew so little about each other. This one man from New England headed south with a woman whose attractions he couldn’t quite resist. This other man from Haiti, headed north, desperate to change everything about how he lived.
Upon introduction, neither was getting what he wanted, and survival was a real issue. When Ben recovered enough strength to ask questions, in English, all Ventine could do was respond with a confused smile and what seemed like random snips of American catch phrases and names.

“Where did you come from?” Ben asked.

“How do you spell relief?” Ventine replied, widening his eyes.

It thus took Ben a while to realize that he wasn’t dealing, necessarily, with a sun-baked crazy man, but only someone who didn’t understand anything he was saying. Through gestures they eventually agreed to take the boat out to go fishing. They used hand lines that Ventine had fashioned and after a small shark made off with Ben’s bait, Ventine skillfully brought up a decent sized grouper. Ventine quickly butchered the fish with his machete and kindly offered the second eye ball to his American guest, as casually as if he were holding out a Reese’s peanut butter cup.

“Oui?” Ventine asked.