13.
F ISH
“Just once?”
“I don’t know Chai. What’s it going to feel like?”
“Just a really hard poke and then it will glide right in.”
“Are you sure?”
“Come on, Abbie-Cat. Trust me.”
“I do trust you, but I’m not sure about this.”
“What’s there to be afraid of?”
“I don’t want to get stuff on me.”
“We’ll try not to.”
“You say that, but when you’re in the moment, you’ll probably forget.”
“We’re gonna go at your own pace, babe.”
Cat sighed and said, “If I do it this one time, will you never ask me again?”
“I promise.”
“Just so you know, I’ve always thought this was a little gross and weird, but I understand that lots of men love it.”
“Lots of women love it too!”
“I bet the ratio of women to men is much smaller than reported. The women probably only do it because they’re pressured into it or feel like they don’t have a choice.”
“Maybe in some cases, but not this one. I know that deep down you’re an adventurer, and after you do it once, you’re gonna love it.”
“Fine! I’ll do it, but just this once.”
“That’s my girl.”
“Tell me again how to do it?”
“Wrap your hand around it with the head poking out by your thumb.”
“And then what?”
“When it goes in, it’s gonna meet some resistance, but that’s perfectly normal. Just power through, and it’ll slide right in.”
“I’m ready.”
“Okay, go for it!”
Cat took a deep breath and then plunged her hand into the bait cooler. She grimaced as she brought up one of the small spot fish I’d purchased at the marina when we were finished shopping this afternoon and held it just like I’d instructed her before she sunk her hook in the perfect place and pushed it through. Once she had it on the hook, she immediately dropped it back into the well before she released her breath in a loud rush.
“You did it!”
“Now what?” Cat asked as she looked down at the spot fish she’d hooked, swimming frantically around with its brethren.
“Now you just need to cast it and then . . .”
“Do I have to touch it again?”
“No.”
“Good! I’m washing my hands before we do anything else!”
I laughed as Cat took off across the deck for the galley and laughed even harder when she flipped me off with both hands just before she walked under the bimini. I was still chuckling when she came out drying her hands, and I couldn’t get it together no matter how hard I tried because the look on her face was priceless.
“Okay, I’m ready for the next step.”
“You act like I’m torturing you, Abbie-Cat.”
She gave me a pointed look before she said, “It’s been a while since I dated, but I’m pretty sure that most men don’t expect a woman to catch her own dinner. Generally, when a man cooks for the woman he’s trying to woo, he buys the ingredients at the store, which we were at not long ago.”
“I bought some ingredients, but fresh fish is always better.”
“I guess we’ll see,” Cat said primly as she picked up the rod I’d chosen for her. “Now, when do we get to the part where I can sit in peace and read my Kindle?”
“Is that what you think fishing entails?”
“I told you I’ve been fishing before!”
“During your very short stint as a Girl Scout.”
“Yes. It was very short.”
“Because they made you go camping.”
“We were at a park within sight of at least three hotels!” Cat yelled, because she’d already explained this to me twice, once with an audience of elderly women who laughed just as hard as I did. “You’re gonna have to learn something about me, Chai.”
“I’m learning new things about you every day, babe, but what lesson should I get from this?”
“I have certain standards when it comes to some things.”
“Such as?”
“I don’t buy generic toilet paper. Ever.”
“That’s reasonable.”
“I prefer to stay in a hotel rather than a motel.”
“Learned that on our trip,” I mumbled.
“And a new one I learned right along with you today is that I prefer that my food come from the seafood counter or the freezer section.”
I burst out laughing before I insisted, “It tastes so much better when it’s fresh!”
“Since the dawn of time, men and women have had their own roles. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Not particularly, especially since . . .”
I let my voice trail off when Cat pointed at me and interrupted, “You are the hunter. I, as your woman, am the one that keeps the home fires burning while you’re out doing said hunting. It’s my time to shine when I create a delicious meal with the spoils of your hard work.”
“So, you’re not gonna go hunting with us when we visit Lurk?”
“I will enjoy a nice peaceful afternoon with my book and a glass of wine while you and your friends go hunting.”
“That’s not how hunting generally works. We’re usually in the deer stand by three o’clock in the morning.”
“Let me add to the list of things I’m particular about and say that since I graduated from college, I haven’t seen three a.m. other than when one of my kids woke up for a feeding.”
“You’re cute when you’re all worked up.”
“ That is what I’m going to have engraved on your headstone,” Cat said huffily before she motioned toward the water and asked, “Do I just drop the fish over the side and let it swim to our dinner, or is there a better method?”
“You are so city, Abbie-Cat.” I cackled as I pulled her into my arms. “God, I love you.”
Cat tensed before she asked, “Even though I’m picky about some things?”
“Even though you’re terrified of spiders and . . .”
“They’re not natural, Chai!” Cat interrupted.
“Snakes.”
“Also not natural! They don’t have legs but they can move fast !”
“Gators.”
“They will fucking eat you!” Cat yelled.
“And you won’t pee in a gas station bathroom.”
“I would rather pee on the side of the road in front of a line of traffic than walk into a filthy gas station bathroom.”
“Even with all of those quirks, I love you anyway. Probably even more.”
“You were serious?”
I let her go just enough to look into her face before I said, “I didn’t exactly plan to say that just yet because I’ve been trying to work my way through the shock of it, but yes, I do love you.”
“That makes my heart happy, but I feel like I should remind you that it’s not just me and you in this equation. You’re a single guy, living a carefree life . . .” When I snorted, she glared at me and then continued, “I’m not carefree, Chai. I’ve got two little girls who . . .”
I couldn’t help but laugh, and I could tell she was taken aback, so I hurried to explain, “As if I haven’t loved them since the first time they snuggled up to me and made me feel like the strongest man in the world.”
“Obviously, they’re very lovable, but there’s a lot more than snuggles that goes into parenting.”
“Magda isn’t even twenty yet. I can remember what life was like when she was a baby until she was about four years old.”
“I forgot about that,” Cat said with a frown. “I want to love you, Chai. I really do. But to be honest, I’m scared to death to know that I probably already do.”
“Why is that scary?”
“Look at my history. I’m obviously not a great judge of character and therefore don’t make the best relationship decisions.”
“Marriage is a lot like making pancakes, Abbie-Cat. The first one is usually a little fucked-up, but the second one is much better.”
Cat barked out a surprised laugh and pushed at my chest before she said, “I’m trying to be serious, Chai.”
“Honey, I’ve spent more time with you over the last seven weeks than I have with all the other women in my life combined. I know more about you than you think . . . probably more than you’d like for me to.”
“Like what?”
“You had a shitty role model when it came to men. You grew up without your father after he cut out, then you met him and it turns out he’s a pussified little bitch who is controlled by his hag of a wife.” Cat started cackling, but I wasn’t finished. “He ditched you again, and you met a man who was distant and secretive - a whole lot like your father had been your entire life. He turned into a douchetastic son of a bitch, but you were strong enough to make him pay for his sins. The way I see it, you didn’t learn your lesson the first time, but you ditched that mistake by helping stuff him into a prison cell. Now you’re moving forward with all the knowledge of lessons learned from what went wrong the first time.”
“You have quite a way with words, Mr. Teitelbaum.”
“I’m your second pancake, Abbie-Cat.”
“God, I love you, Chai.”
“It’s about damn time you admitted it,” I muttered before I kissed her soundly. “Now, humor me and help me catch our dinner. I won’t even ask you to help me clean the fish before I cook them.”
“How dirty can they really be, Chai? They live in water.”
I ignored that conversation because if we were lucky enough to catch enough for our dinner she was going to learn exactly what cleaning a fish entailed. Instead, I said, “Just so you know, babe, the girls are going to grow up on this boat with me teaching them all the things you don’t know - including how to clean fish.”
“And when you bring them back to me, I’ll teach them how to use what they catch to make a wonderful meal.”
◆◆◆
“I guess I better find another skill to teach the girls because you made a better meal than I ever could.”
I smiled when Cat took another bite of her fish, which she had been horrified to watch me clean and then very interested in how I cooked. A quick pan sear with a cream sauce worked perfectly with the cobia Cat had caught. Even though I’d never forget the look of amazement on her face when she first tasted the dish, it paled in comparison to watching her joy when she hooked her first catch.
Considering how reluctant she was to participate in the sport, she changed her tune as soon as she got the first nibble on her hook. She enjoyed the fight to get the fish to the boat and easily followed my instructions on the best way to reel it in. As soon as I pulled it up in the net, she jumped for joy and insisted that I bait her hook so she could cast her line again.
Even though I loved to fish, I knew that I would never tire of watching her enjoy it too. I had even filmed her excitement, and when I sent the video to Magda, she sent me a message that said she was coming on the next fishing trip just so she could watch the show in person.
“How did you learn to cook?” Cat asked.
“Necessity.”
“True. I guess you can’t run by a drive-thru for chicken nuggets when you’re out on the water, so it makes sense you’d learn how to prepare your catch after a day of fishing.”
“I didn’t start fishing because I enjoyed it. I started fishing to feed my sisters because our mother sold her food stamps for drugs and left us alone for days at a time, sometimes even weeks, without anything to eat.”
“I can’t even imagine that.”
“I’m glad you had a good mom and didn’t have to.”
“No. I mean, yes, you’re right, I can’t imagine what it was like to experience that as a child, but I’m looking at it from the mother’s standpoint. I can’t imagine leaving my children to fend for themselves for any length of time - but weeks? Hell no.”
“Bubbe was our lifesaver. When she found out what was going on, she stepped in and took care of us as much as our mother would allow, but mostly it was just mom shaking Bubbe down for money. If Bubbe didn’t give her what she wanted, then she’d refuse to let her see us.”
“What a bitch.”
“Yeah. Sometimes we were her meal ticket, but most of the time we were just a pain in her ass that she tried to ignore. When she got a new man, she’d pretend that she was a good mom for a while, but they didn’t give a shit either way, so she’d revert back to her old ways.”
“She brought home men a lot?”
“Rachel’s dad was the first one. He wasn’t great, but he wasn’t too horrible either. He took off and our mom met Kevin, Ruthie and Hannah’s dad. He worked the rigs offshore, so he was gone for long stretches, but when he was home, things were good. Even after our mother ran him off, he still showed up as often as possible and didn’t just take care of the girls, but me and Rachel too. He made sure we had clothes and shoes that fit, and when I got older, he slipped me cash to hide so I had money for necessities when our mom took off again.”
“Why didn’t he call the authorities and report her?”
“He did, but he was an ex-con, so they didn’t take him seriously. Mom convinced them that he had a grudge, and since he worked out of town all the time, she made them believe he was just an absentee father who showed up now and then to cause trouble.”
“What a bitch.”
“Kevin’s a great guy. I really like him.”
“He still comes around?”
“Yeah. He’s still got a great relationship with the girls, and not just his own. Rachel considered him a father when she was little and still loves him now. He even took in Dinah when it was all said and done and has been a father figure to her too.”
“What happened to Dinah’s biological father?”
“It was some guy named Ricky or Richard. I can’t really remember. He was gone before she was born. A few years later, our mom met Bryan, and he was the worst.”
“What happened to him?”
“He disappeared about a week before she did.”
“Disappeared?” When I shrugged, Cat's eyes got wide before she reiterated, “They both disappeared?”
“They did.”
“And then your sisters were safe again?”
“Very safe. With our mother permanently out of the picture, Bubbe was the next of kin, and with Kevin’s help, she got custody of the girls. He did everything he could for them while I was gone.”
“They disappeared, and you went to prison.”
“I did.”
“Did Bubbe ever . . . How do I ask this without sounding insensitive . . .”
“Bubbe understood that her daughter was a piece of shit and the girls needed help. When the cops arrested me, Bubbe’s support never wavered even though she knew in her heart what had happened. I asked her one time if she held it against me, and she said, ‘I lost faith in your mother well before she disappeared. The safety of you and your sisters was more important than the misguided life she chose to live.’ I guess that sums up her feelings, and she’s never brought it up again.”
“Did she have any other children?”
“A son that died in infancy. Bubbe thinks that part of the reason our mother turned out the way she did was because she gave her too much leeway when she was a child, so she turned into an entitled brat.”
“That might have something to do with it, but when a person becomes an adult, behavior like that is more of a choice, especially when they have children counting on them.”
“I understand you’re trying to get to know me, and with that being said, I think I should mention that I really hate talking about my mother and have made it my mission in life to never associate with anyone who acts like she did.”
“I guess that means I’m golden then.”
“You couldn’t act like my mother if you tried.”
“I hope not.”
“Tell me something about you that I don’t know.”
“Hmm. What you don’t know about me you can probably figure out.”
“That’s vague.”
“I’m not really an outdoorsy kind of gal.”
“You don’t say.”
Cat pushed her plate away and took a sip of her wine before she said, “I’d like to have two more children.”
I thought about that for a few seconds and decided I liked the idea. Surprised, I said, “Two sounds good.”
“Really? At your age, I would have thought . . .”
“At my age? How old do you think I am?”
“I know how old you are, I’m just saying that I wasn’t sure having children . . . more children . . . would be appealing to you.”
“I really never considered having more children before I met you, but then I met yours and remembered how much I loved it when Magda was a baby and how fun she was when she was as a toddler. Now I get to enjoy watching Macaroni and Lottie-Bug grow up, and I think it would be fun to have a couple more from start to finish.”
“Fun, huh? You say that because you won’t have to be the one miserably pregnant in the swamp-ass heat of Florida.”
“If men had to give birth, the world’s population would have stopped ages ago.”
“Hallelujah.”
“Speaking of children, you know what I’m most excited about?”
“What’s that?” Cat asked.
“Making them.”
When I pulled Cat onto my lap, she laughed and said, “Let’s practice for a few months and make sure what we’re feeling is the real deal, and then we can consider going at it for a purpose.”
“This is the real deal, Abbie-Cat. Me. You. The girls. We’re making a family together and adding to the craziness of the family we’ll be surrounded with.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“Let’s just practice until you’re ready, and when you are, I’ll be right there by your side for every minute of the pregnancy and birth and every day for the rest of our lives.”
“I really do love you, Chai.”