Chapter Seventeen
Seventeen
Angie never thought she would be thrilled to be pulling on thick, frayed rope.
It dug into her palms. She hated this part of the job, the fiery pain when her hand slid and the loose fibers lacerated her palms. Today, it signified that she was back at work after another two days of suffering and lying in bed and that she was feeling well enough to return to her usual routine.
Most of all, she hoped to see Kaden after her shift ended, who she was supposed to have met two days ago.
Even the usual, jovial, easygoing mood of the docks had taken a dark turn. These days, tension and anger and fear hung like an oppressive fog over the docks, and it wasn’t lost on Angie.
“Good to see you back, Angie!” Eva remarked once they’d pulled the empty fishing boat ashore. “What happened to you, anyway? You never call out. Thought you kicked the bucket.”
“Eva, don’t joke!” A young female worker cried from beside them. “It’s not funny. Abigail’s gone. She was—” The woman choked on her words. “She was my friend.”
Angie winced and slid her gaze to Eva.
Eva’s face fell. “I’m so sorry. Just, you know, trying to lighten the mood a bit.
Poor joke.” The other woman’s face puckered, as if she were holding back tears, and said nothing.
Eva looked back to Angie. “But seriously, are you okay? Boss said a lifeboat saved you. You’re lucky the mer didn’t go after them too. ”
She nodded. “Had an awful cold. Felt like shit.”
Angie dusted off her hands and thumbed off the small streak of blood on her palm’s center, lips twisting into a grimace.
Damn it, she should have grabbed her work gloves from her locker before coming to help tie the fishing boat to the posts.
She was on administrative duties today, and when she got the call from Nick to help Eva and the younger female worker, she didn’t want to run across the docks to the locker room and keep them waiting and hanging onto the boat’s rope until she arrived.
“Welcome back.” Eva fist-bumped the first couple of fishermen, and Angie stepped off the gangway to make room.
Nick’s loud, obnoxious voice drifted in her direction, and she rolled her eyes so far back that she strained the bottoms. Eva craned her neck in his direction.
“Oh, there’s Nick. Let me go tell him the boat is in. ”
She strode to join him, and they walked together. He passed by without acknowledging her, but it was Eva who gave Angie goosebumps.
An invisible fist curled around her innards and squeezed, and she blinked away tears pricking the back of her eyelids. Eva had straightened her usually curly hair in a way that looked like Māma’s, and she had a similar willowy build. Angie hadn’t noticed when she was in front of and beside her.
Memories came of the past, and Angie turned away. Her feet became dead weights.
When her shift ended, she walked to the spot in the harbor which also served as a scuba diving entry point, shallow waters quickly feeding into the deep sea. Stefan usually took groups out from here, Angie had been on a few back in the day. It was also the last place Māma was seen alive.
Angie sat on the creaky wooden boards, hugging her knees to her chest and resting her chin on the tops of her hands, bracing for the onslaught of sorrow that would inevitably hit as memories of Māma came flooding back. Contemplating why she wanted to dive when she was so ill.
Invisible rocks weighed heavy on Angie’s body, her breathing shaky, and tears pooled in her eyes. Sniffling, they flowed freely, salty on her lips.
Memories came, of the stories Māma told of her eventual arrival to Alaska from Taipei when she was thirteen.
In her family, it had taken her the longest to assimilate and learn the English language.
She met Bàba during her freshman year at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, and he was twenty years old and on shore leave.
When he retired ten years ago, they moved to Creston with Angie and Mia, and as she was finally growing comfortable with life in the States, she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. It didn’t respond to treatment.
In Angie’s mind, she heard Māma’s voice ringing gentle and melodious, yet harsh and strained when she was angry. At least, before the disease affected her brain and speech, and then her voice was subdued, feeble.
It wasn’t fair. Māma was a good woman, taken much too soon.
A calm voice jolted her out of her reverie, and she swiped at her eyes, wiping away her tears.
“Are you okay?” Kaden swam to her, gaze soft and face holding an expression of care.
“Uh, yeah. I’m fine.” Angie cleared her throat, thick with longing. She threw a quick glance behind her to ensure they were alone. The coast was clear.
“People who are fine don’t sit by their lonesome and cry.” He tilted his head to one side and arched an eyebrow.
“I guess you have me there.” Angie pursed her lips, her cheeks tight as dry streaks of tears clung to them.
She supposed she could confide in him. He had saved her life, after all.
“I was remembering my māma—uh, my mom. She was here last, before she passed away in a diving accident and was swept out to sea. I wanted to come here. Think about her.”
“A diving accident? I’m sorry.” Kaden inched closer to her. “Were you close?”
“We are. I mean, we were. We used to do everything together, including diving.” A wistful smile broke over her face when she thought of happier times.
“But now she’s gone. Being home reminds me of her.
It was easier when I was away at school.
” Angie sniffled. Kaden was still watching, his undivided attention clear.
“My dad had the Coast Guard and divers and boaters all over searching, but nobody found her.”
He didn’t meet her gaze. “What was your mother’s name?”
“Song Ning. I mean Ning Song.”
Kaden appeared East Asian, but she wasn’t sure if he knew Chinese naming customs.
Five heartbeats passed. “I know why she wasn’t found.”
Angie blinked away the spots that had appeared in her vision. “I don’t understand.”
“My people and I found her floating lifeless at eight hundred feet. She had drowned. We found an identification card with her name and photo on it hanging from her waist. We did not want to engage with the humans, so we took her to be buried in a traditional mer ceremony.”
“Wh-what?” Angie rubbed her eyes. “How could she drown? She never dove unprepared. Especially deep-sea diving!” Her mind scrambled for answers, for possibilities, anything explaining Māma’s intent.
“She must have had her reasons.” Kaden stumbled over his words.
The mer’s intent was unexpectedly touching, but—
“We worried for years! All we wanted was closure. I almost wish you left her there so we could have found and buried her.” Her jaw clenched.
“I am sorry. On behalf of my people, I apologize. We respect the dead too much to leave them there to decompose, or to be nipped at by scavengers until someone finally finds their remains.”
“Your people bury humans often?” The irritation seeped through Angie’s tone.
“Yes. The few we have found dead are honored as if they were mer. We all live together on this planet.” Kaden’s tail flicked behind him, sending droplets of icy water flying into the air and splattering on the top of her head.
“Something your species should keep in mind.” The freeze seeped through Angie’s skull, and she threw him a frosty scowl.
“You had no problems leaving humans dead on the beach the past month.” Angie took back her biting words as soon as she spoke them. She didn’t mean to be so snippy. He was listening and showing genuine concern, and he didn’t intentionally take Māma from her.
Kaden’s eyebrows slanted downward, his expression visibly strained.
“We were not at war when we buried your mother. We don’t show the same respect to our enemies.
Particularly not ones who brutally murder us and leave us strung up as a show of mockery!
Your kind never wants to understand, only to destroy. ”
Angie flinched. “We’re not all like that—” Her defenses spiked. “I tried to make them see, but they wouldn’t listen to me, either. I’m still trying to get through to my dad.”
“I know. Not all of you. But enough of you want to see us dead.” Kaden’s shoulders deflated. “But thank you for trying. I hope you continue to do so, as I am.”
Kaden shifted toward the sunbeams piercing wispy white clouds. His handsome face carried soft, gentle features reflecting care, respect, and loyalty.
She looked away from him lest he caught her gawking.
“Angie, I meant to ask earlier. Have you been feeling well?”
He couldn’t have known she was sick. “Why do you ask?”
“You did not show yesterday. I was on the way back to the same spot today and happened to see you here.” He looked at his own reflection in the calm sea, closing his eyes.
“I know. Sorry.” She covered her face with her hands. “After that whole ordeal where you pulled me out of the water, I got terribly sick. Brain fog, fatigue, sniffles, body aches—I had it all. It’s like my immune system overreacted after having no illnesses to fight off for years.”
“No, don’t apologize. If you weren’t feeling well, you did the right thing resting and letting your body heal.”
“So, you thought I didn’t show up because I was sick? Not because I didn’t want to see you?” One side of her lips curled in a playful smile.
“Well, I would have given it one more day before coming to that conclusion. But at the moment, I thought it might be the case.” A flash of hurt appeared in his eyes.
“You are rather pale in the face. I’m unsure if it is similar for humans, but whenever we recover from injury or illness, we tend to be pale while we heal. ”
“I’m functional enough. My dad and sister took care of me.”
A spark appeared in his eyes. “You seem close to your family, even though your mother is no longer with you. It’s touching to hear.
” A brief pause. “You know, the mer have tight-knit families, as well. When a member of the family passes, no matter how old or young, they are forever honored in our homes, commemorated so they will never be forgotten.”
Their kinds may not be so different after all, and the knowledge brought Angie some small comfort. “In my family, we have a shrine for my mom and my grandparents, and we honor our ancestors every new year.”
He leaned in, eyes sparking with interest. “So, we are similar in that way. You said your mother was the one who took you to the sea for the first time?”
“Oh, yeah. I loved being near the water, even as a kid. So, you can imagine how happy I was that my mom shared her passion with me.” Angie kept her mind trained on happier thoughts.
“It is a beautiful place to be, and there’s much to see and learn.” He flashed her a cheeky smile. “But it is my home.”
“It’s where I truly feel at peace. But enough of that. You already caught me crying, you don’t need to hear more sentimentality from me.” Angie rose to her feet to return home. “I appreciate the chat and your asking after me.”
“I understand, and it was my pleasure. I wanted us to speak of stopping the war, but it didn’t appear as if today was a good time.
But, I should be getting back.” He looked over his shoulder to the rippling sea.
“May I see you again in one tidesweek, at low noontide? The mer are becoming suspicious of my frequent trips to this spot. We can go someplace else if necessary. I haven’t had a chance to speak with my parents, but will do so before we meet again. ”
“A tidesweek?” Angie raised an eyebrow. She took that to mean seven days, but she had to be sure. “Low noontide?”
“Yes, after seven phases of the moon and sun’s passing. And yes, low noontide. Around the same time of day as now.”
Now she understood his meaning. “You tell time from the shifting in tides.”
Kaden nodded, and Angie thought on his proposal. See him again? Which was what she wanted. Or say no and detach herself, and spare them both should they get caught speaking?
Her dilemma.
She put her palms together and cracked her knuckles. He was fascinating, much as it bothered her to admit, and he gave her the closure she so desperately sought about Māma. The more she learned about the mer, the more she could find some angle to appeal to Bàba.
Mind made up, Angie gave him a brief nod.