18
“Don’t let him turn to the sea,” said Agwe.
“How big do you think he is?” I asked.
“Longer than a man,” he replied.
My heart raced like a freight train. I was sure there was less than fifty feet of line out. I had never felt anticipation like this before.
The shark started to reveal itself. It was without a doubt longer than a man. Its head was massive, and I immediately wondered how it could be cut off. The broad gray fin on its back was almost the length of my arm.
“Don’t let him turn!” shouted Agwe. “Everything now! No stopping!”
We made one last glorious sprint to the beach. I didn’t know how much help I was, and I tripped several times, but it felt so damn alive.
“Good!” shouted Agwe. “Forest, Joey grab his tail!”
The shark splashed violently in water less than a foot deep.
“What?” asked Forest.
“His tail! Pull him backwards out of the water,” replied Agwe.
The two of us hesitantly neared the massive shark. To my surprise, I went in for the tail first and wrapped my arms around it like I was putting it in a headlock. Forest grabbed on with both his hands. He pulled, and I pushed as hard as I could. With my back to the shark's teeth I felt vulnerable as hell, imagining it would flip its head around and rip off my ass.
The shark was now on dry land with only his teeth touching the water. I quickly took five steps back and collapsed in the sand on my ass, which was still intact.
“Yes!” shouted Agwe.
Agwe held the wooden paddle over his head and yelled, “Thank you!” to the sky.
“Fine job, Forest and Joey. We will eat well.”
It felt good to just sit and stare at the monster in front of us. That shark made us feel like we could do anything. It was at least seven or eight feet long, thick as a barrel. I felt like it was staring at me, wishing it had legs so it could walk over and tear off mine.
“What do we do now?” I asked.
Agwe walked to a large stick protruding out of the sand. He pulled it out, revealing a needle like point on the other end.
“Who?” he asked offering the butt of the spear to either of us. Forest stood up and took the spear out of his hands. Agwe leaned over and pointed to a small area on top of the shark’s head.
“Right here. Very hard.”
Forest lifted the spear and struck it in the exact spot where Agwe pointed.
The shark’s tail flipped hard twice. Its whole body seemed to vibrate for a second, and that was it.
“Good,” said Agwe.
“Go up and rest for an hour. Get some water and mangos. Then come back with the saw next to the chicken coop. Saw off his head here on this line. Then make a cut from here down the belly. Pull out the insides and throw them in the water. The tide will carry them over the reef to the delight of its inhabitants. Then we drag the rest up the trail. We skin it, slice it into steaks, and salt it. Good job. Very good job, men.”
We staggered up the trail to Agwe’s house. The lantern was dimly lit now, and there were a few burning coals on the fire pit. Forest picked up a few pieces of wood from the pile and threw them onto the fire. I pushed open the old door and entered the small house to grab a coconut. Agwe kept fresh ones in a metal box on the makeshift kitchen counter with a wet towel over them. I opened the box and pulled one out. The cool, sweet milk felt awesome on my dry throat.
I wondered if Becca was asleep, so I walked around the corner to take a quick look. There were only two bedrooms in the house, each no more than ten feet wide by ten feet long, maybe a little less. They had nothing in them but a bed and a few scattered things on the floor. Surprisingly, the beds were made of goose feathers that made it feel like sleeping on a cloud. The fine mattresses seemed really out of place in Agwe’s house, and I planned to ask him how he got them. There was nothing like lying down on those after a day in the ocean. That combined with the constant breeze that blew quietly through the house at night, made us sleep like babies when we could stop thinking.
I thought I heard something unusual, so I barely cracked Becca’s door to look in and make sure she was okay. I heard soft crying. “No,” she whispered. She wasn’t speaking to me.
I pushed the door open and slowly walked closer. She was asleep. There was a tear running down the right side of her face.
“Becca,” I whispered. She continued crying.
“Becca,” I gently shook her shoulder. Her eyes shot open. She instantly sat up in bed and took a deep breath.
“Joey,” she said.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. Bad dream.”
“About what?”
“Memories,” she said. “Did you go fishing?”
My face lit up with a bright smile. “Yeah, we caught this huge shark!”
“Oh shit!” her face beamed and she put her hand over her mouth.
“It was so crazy! We have to go saw off its head in a little while.”
“What?”
“Yeah.”
“What are you doing now?” she asked.
“Going to hang out with Forest by the fire. Rest a little.”
“Want to hang out with me?” she asked.
“Hell yes.”
“I want to see the shark,” she said.
“Then come on.”
We left the house and walked past the fire pit. Forest was lying down on palm leaves next to the fire.
“You got one!” said Becca.
“All for you, baby sister,” replied Forest with his arm over his eyes.
“What?” she asked.
“He’s tired. I’m gonna go show her the shark,” I said.
“Sounds good,” said Forest.
We made our way back down the trail. The wind blew gently from the south. It was cool out, but just cool enough to cross my arms or put my hands in my pockets. It was quiet enough that I could hear Becca’s footsteps close behind me. We took a sharp left at the tall grass that waved in the breeze near the base of the trail. There it was like a giant grey submarine, exposed on the beach. I still couldn’t believe we managed to pull it in with a handline, on a rowboat at night. I had never even caught a bream before that. My only two fish so far were the shark and that gray wolf on the Andros.
“Whoa!” said Becca.
“I know, right?”
“How did you get that into the boat?”
“We didn’t, but it was pure hell. He drug us all over the place. Agwe paddled out and spooked the shark to shore. Then we jumped out and fought it onto the beach.”
Becca reached out and stroked its back and top fin.
“It’s not smooth,” she said.
“I know. Looks smooth, but it isn’t.”
Being alone with Becca, on a beach, at night, captured my senses. I couldn’t think about anything else. This was the moment of truth. I had to know if the kisses were just to keep me alive or more than that. I had to buck up and do this shit. I had just helped catch a huge shark, old school, and I was feeling pretty damn good about myself. My mind raced at what to do next. Should I just initiate a kiss right here, right now? But what if I did and she rejected me and it totally screwed everything up.
Becca and I stood as we both continued looking at the shark. I didn’t know what to do next and the situation was turning awkward. How long could we stare at this shark without saying anything? Forget it. I had been through so much. I could do this. It was time to take some cold, hard, I’m gonna-do-whatever-I-want type, of initiative.
I took a few steps back and sat down in the sand with my legs extended and feet crossed. She looked at me and I at her. I patted the sand next to me with my right hand a few times.
“Excuse me,” she said.
Ah shit.
I laughed it off, “I’m just playing,” I said with a touch of nervousness in my voice. I was never psyching myself up like that again, at least when it came to her.
Becca smirked and sat down next to
me. It felt so good. She could have just walked off, and I would have probably got into that boat and rowed away.
“You guys did really good.”
“It wasn’t a problem.”
Becca laughed and pointed to the big shark with blood running down the left side of its face and across several four inch long teeth. “That wasn’t a problem?”
“Oh. Yeah, I’m not sure why I said that. It was a pretty damn big problem.”
“Hey,” said Becca. “Can you do something for me?”
“Of course.”
“Just always be yourself,” she said.
“I’ll try. But you’re not just some dude. It makes it kind of hard.”
She smiled and looked up at the night sky.
“Well, can you believe we’re here right now?” she asked.
“Oh, hell no. I’m shocked.”
“What a week,” she said.
“Yeah. I think it just goes to show you. Sometimes you just have to be crazy. You never know how things may end up. Like, what if Forest didn’t shout ‘fire’ in the dorm or swing the paddle at the dude on the dock. What if I didn’t keep running or ride with that cop. What if you didn’t kick that creepy guy in his shin. What if we had all been too afraid to cross the ocean without any water on a shitty boat. We’d be missing this. That’s for sure.”
“What about us?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Never mind,” she said.
Oh hell I should have said something better than that. Now was my opportunity, and it would be slipping fast. I had to say something, no matter how lame.
“I would do anything for you,” I said.
Becca looked at me briefly then back at the sky.
“Anything,” I said again.
That wasn’t too bad. I could have said much, much worse. There was nothing but the sound of the ocean and breeze for a few long seconds.
“What do you want from me?” she asked.
What did I want from her? I thought it best to just answer.
“To be my girlfriend.” I couldn’t believe I just came out and said that. Now that was lame. I may as well have had a donkey mask on my head, damn it. I couldn’t take that one back. Well, why stop now?
“Would you?” I asked. My chest was pounding, and I wasn’t thinking very clearly at all. I wasn’t sure about how you say those kind of things, but I was positive that I wasn’t going about it the right way. I looked at her, but she wasn’t looking at me. Her awesome green eyes stayed fixed on the dark water. She tilted her head slightly toward me so that she could just barely see me out of the corner of her eye. She nodded her head and smiled gently, signifying a brief yes.
My jaw freaking dropped, and I instinctively extended my hand. She took it and strung her fingers through mine. Son of a bitch! I loved how crazy she was.
That moment kicked serious ass. It felt almost like electrical impulses all over my fingers. Of course I was imagining it, but it felt real. Within seconds, she took every ounce of initiative and leaned over in front of me. Her lips and tongue quickly met mine.
I had experienced a lot at a young age. Most of it all sucked. I wasn’t saying that because I was some whining bitch. It was just the truth. Not this, though. If there was a heaven on earth moment, this was mine. Becca’s lips made my whole body feel alive. We kissed for an awesome hour, but it felt like five minutes. I would occasionally open my eyes to the sight of shark blood, dark water, and a starry night. Oh, hell yes. Over and over.
The Less Fortunates Page 18
