A Merman’s Place

Chapter 2

A knock at my door pulled me back into reality, and Marvin came in a second later. I put the conch shell carefully back into its box.

“Hey man, Kirk called to tell us that he needs us at the market. He knows it’s supposed to be our weekend off, but apparently Henry and Kyle are sick and couldn’t make it to their shift. So, he needs us to take the boat out with Greg and Dave. Better get ready,” he said while he walked out. I sighed. It’ll be another outing to the water today.

When I finished getting ready, Marvin and I got in our car. Driving took no more than five minutes to get to our destination; the fishing town was really small that most were in walking distance.

We parked in front of a small fish market with the sign saying “Kirk Fish Company” attached to the wall. The building was old and a bit run down. It sure needed a new coat of paint with all the grime seen clearly against the white color of the building. In some places you could see some cracks and spots of paint peeling from the wall. It doesn’t make for a very appealing place to work at. Marvin and I could have moved on to look for better jobs than work at a fish market catching fish, but we’ve been working with Kirk for years and the other workers has become like family.

Getting out of the car, we headed to the back where the fish were being organized and stored. As expected, the whole place smelled of fish and salt water. We greeted those working there and headed to Kirk’s office. I knocked on his door when we arrive and heard the clear command to enter. Opening the door, I saw that Kirk was dealing with some paperwork, most likely some orders that needs delivering. He was a muscular man with graying hair and beard. You could tell he was middle aged from not only that, but with the wrinkles and spots on his face. Even though he may be getting older, he sure has the energy of a young man as he likes to point out.

He looked up as soon as we entered the office. “Oh, glad you boys were able to come. I’m sorry again for interrupting your weekend off, but I’m in a tough spot. Henry and Kyle are at home sick, so Greg and Dave need someone to help them pull in the catch. I have a big order that needs to be delivered and can’t have any delays,” he said.

“No worries, Kirk,” said Marvin, “It’s no biggie. Though I expect we will be getting paid for picking up their slack, riiiight?”

“Come on, Marvin, you know the answer to that. It’s not the first time you two had to cover for someone,” Kirk chuckled, “Besides, I wouldn’t be unfair to my favorite workers and sons.”

“Better not let the others hear you say that,” I warned.

“I don’t have a death wish. Anyway Greg and Dave are out at the boat waiting for you. Better get a move on.”

We nodded and headed out to the docks where all the company fishing boats are. Beside one of the boats stood Greg and Dave. Greg was a man nearing his thirties with a tall and skinny frame. While he might be built like a toothpick, he was surprisingly strong. Of course, being a Merman, that is expected. Above average strength is a common trait among Merpeople. Dave is also one of them, though he at least has the muscles. He has told us once before that he likes to do weight lifting a few days a week. With him being the tallest of the workers at 6’ 3” and the body of an athlete, he could take you down in a fight even if he didn’t have his abnormal strength. And if you called him an old man because of his near grey hair, that’ll be the last thing you’ll ever do.

“Greg! Dave! We heard that you’ve been ditched, so here we are saving your asses,” said Marvin.

Greg laughed. “Oh, so the boss sent the juniors to save the day. What was he thinking?”

“Hey now, Kirk mentioned that the two of you were on your knees crying that you were desperate for help,” teased Marvin.

As the two were going left and right, Dave came right between them. “Alright, alright that’s enough you two. There’s no time for playing around, it’s time for work,” he said as he dragged both of them by the arm like children into the boat. I climbed right in and headed to start the engine. I lead the boat out to sea to our usual fishing route where Greg and Dave are the ones to jump into the water to haul in the fish. The way it works with our fisherman, and plenty others, are that the merpeople would jump in the ocean to net the fish while we, the humans, reel them into the boat. They are connected to the ocean and this is a way for them to stretch out their fins, so win-win.

When we arrived at the first stop in our route, both mermen started shedding their clothes. Nobody had to worry about seeing them completely n***d. Apparently, merpeople has this thing where they can make their scales appear on their body and cover up their modesty. When bare, the scales they had were a shimmery silver-blue color that shined more in the sun. Both immediately jumped into the water with the large net. While we waited, I anchored the boat and went to join Marvin on the deck.  

He glanced at me. “So, you took out that shell again. Anything you want to get off your chest?” he asked.

I stood silent for a moment. He knew that whenever I got the shell from its box, it’s when I’m thinking back to my birth mother. In that moment when I received it is when a gate inside me opened. In that moment, I was feeling just like any orphaned child wanting to know where they came from and the question of why they were given up. My mother said in her note that she wanted to keep me but couldn’t. It makes me question why that is. What was preventing her? Of course, Marvin would know my situation more than anyone as he was an orphaned child that was given up, too.

“Just thinking about her again. You know that,” I said.

“Yeah, but it’s better to say out loud. You wouldn’t want to feel all that baggage weighing you down,” he advised.

“Hmm. Do you still question to yourself why your parents gave you up?” I asked.

“Same to you. You know the answer to that. But, yes I do. Though, I try to move forward from that. It’s not like I’ll ever know after all these years. I just hope that whatever the reason it was because it was best for me. Could be the same for you.”

“Maybe. I just have this gut feeling that there’s more to it and it drives me mad sometimes.”

“Well, you got to learn to let it go. Can’t move on if you keep looking back. And you even tried to look for her and ended up with nothing,” he said.

It was true. I told Martha that I wanted to know about her, even look for her, but she told me that it was a closed adoption and any information I can get can’t be accessed. And of course, hiring a private investigator is out of the question with how expensive it is. I have her name and could easily find her online, but there were so many women named Annie Augustine that it’ll be like looking into a needle in a haystack. I don’t even know what she looks like to narrow down the list. She could be a brunette or blonde. Short or tall. Pale or dark. And then there’s the part whether or not she’s a mermaid or human. She did indicate that our family has merpeople blood with the shell she gave me as a reminder of our roots. But it doesn’t answer my question as she could be like me, born human. And I don’t like to think about the worst, but she could be dead for all I know, and then it’ll be a complete dead end.

“Besides, like Kirk told us when we were young, it’s important to see the now. We may have lost our old family, but we have a new one now. We were lucky to even get adopted at fourteen when most people want younger kids. And with older kids, most end up bitter because of their misfortune. Remember how I was when we met?” he asked.

“Yeah. You were a real a*s back then,” I laughed.

“I admit I was and I did apologies for that. I was really insecure, full of self-hate, and I felt better making others as miserable as me,” he said.

“I remember you even came close to smashing my shell just so I could stop thinking about any hope of knowing my parents,” I said.

He flinched, “It would have made me a d**k if I went through with it. Good thing you punched me in the eye and got it back. Gave me a good shiner for kid.”

I chuckled, “And ever since then we became the best of friends.”

“Never underestimate the power of a fight between men. It can bring them together.”

We continued waiting in the boat while reminiscing about the past. Soon we heard a splash and saw that Greg and Dave have returned to the surface with the catch. I went to hook up the nets to a line that is attached to a wheel that helps us lift it up onto the boat. When I hooked them up, I went to the wheel to turn it on. Switching it on, the wheel came to life with a rumbling noise and began spinning. The line slowly shortened as it was being spun in the wheel and soon the nets came out from the water onto the deck.

“Well got a great haul here. Good job gentlemen,” complemented Marvin. He got to work on loading the fish into the wooden crates.

Greg and Dave dove back into the water as at this point they could follow us to our next spot where we could gather more sea critters to sell. I went back to the helm to start driving the boat to its next destination.

“Whelp, that was another job well done,” said Marvin when got back home. He headed straight to the kitchen and got himself a beer.  I sat my tired body down on our couch for some rest. It wasn’t long that Marvin came over to sit next to me with an extra beer. He passed it to me and went to open his can. I hooked my finger under the opener of the can and lifted it. The can popped open with the satisfying sound of a chick-awe. I tipped the can against my mouth as I took a gulp.

“You know, dude? I’ve been thinking about our work. Have you ever thought about doing anything else besides working at Kirk’s company? ‘Cause while I do like working there, it’s something that we’ve been doing for years, and it was easy to get hired in the first place,” said Marvin.

“Not really. I guess with growing up with little made me feel as if I have to hold onto what I have. This job can be seen as an example of that. I wouldn’t want to abandon it for something else just in case it wouldn’t work out,” I said.

“No, I get it. But if you fantasize about doing something new, what would you rather do?” he asked.

Immediately, my head went to the water. It’s the only place that I want to be. It’s also why I didn’t think about another career. The water calls out to me and I don’t resist.

“All I can think about is being in the ocean,” I answered.

“Ah, so, water based jobs. That would narrow it down. You could probably be a lifeguard. Or better yet, maybe tryout for the Olympics in the swimming category. I mean, you’re an awesome swimmer and can hold your breath for a long time.”

I gave an uncertain look. “I don’t think it’ll be easy getting in. You forget, I’m a human with mermaid traits. It’ll be an unfair advantage and disadvantage competing in either merpeople or human Olympics.”

“Right, it was an idea anyway,” he said and then got quiet. Snapping his fingers, he said, “You know what would be totally awesome? Becoming a treasure diver.”

I lifted an eyebrow at this. “Are we going back to that one and only lucky find from ages ago, Marv?” I asked in an exasperated tone.

“Kind of. I mean, it’s part of it, but doesn’t it sound like an exciting job? Come on, you go diving all the time so you got the experience, and you don’t need an air tank when you can hold your breath for like 15 minutes from what you tell me. Would you consider it?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I’m fine where I’m, Marv, I don’t think I need to consider moving to something else.”

He sighed. “Okay, fine. I’ll leave it alone…..for now. I believe you deserve something better than being an ordinary fisherman,” he said.

I believed him. He’s really stubborn when he’s got an idea in his head and often wouldn’t let it go until he got his way. And I have a feeling this will be no different.