Page 46 of Goldilocks
Sam needed some serious self-reflection if Eric was too afraid to even try to strike up a conversation. But as he considered the question, he drew an odd blank. He talked birds with his dad. Mermen with Connor and Laurence. Fought with Mary about responsibilities. Catches with the other fishermen. A bit of everything with Goldilocks. Why was it such a struggle to find any common ground with Eric? Subconsciously, Sam had been avoiding him. Avoiding really considering him and what he meant. “It depends who I’m talking to, I guess,” Sam said, voicing the honest answer after consideration. “What do you like to do in your spare time? When you’re not working?”
“I’ve gone paint-balling with Ivan a good few times. And he’s a sucker for country music, so we spend a bit of time travelling to music festivals around Ireland. He’s even dragged me to dancing classes with him before.” Eric winced. “Which arefine. Not my favourite. But he loves it, so it’s worth getting over myself for a few hours.”
Sam would probably hate the dancing as much as Eric seemed to. He had always been physically capable, courtesy of working on the boat from a young age, but the kind of exposure that being on a dance floor brought didn’t appeal. He’d rather sit back and watch. Listen and observe. He’d probably only give in to a request from Mary to keep her happy. And Eric would do it for Ivan.
“Sounds fun.”
Eric cast a wary look at Sam, reading something in his tone that Sam hadn’t meant to convey. “He didn’t mean to upset you the other night.”
“I know.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. I do.” Ivan was fishing because Eric had issues about their dad. But whatever the issues, violence and neglect had never been part of it. For a moment, Sam was annoyed with Eric. He should have made that clear to Ivan, but then he thought about Eric’s reaction to the boat the other day. That had been fear, plain and simple. Oddly, within the flash of annoyance was a moment of understanding. Sam realised he could forgive the accusation. Ivan was sharp enough to see that Eric’s fear was genuine. “I’m used to people being dicks to our dad, so I’m sensitive about it.” He seemed to be sensitive about everything Eric wanted to talk about. A body weaving through the tables caught Sam’s attention; Laurence’s white cook uniform shone brightly as he approached them.
Sam hadn’t even said anything to Laurence about using him as a shield; Laurence was quite happy to invite himself over in every single break of service to sit and chat with them. And unlike Sam, who struggled to think of what to talk about with Eric, Laurence didn’t seem to have any issues striking up conversations. He talked about tattoos: What was his first one? What did it feel like? Who did it? He asked about Ivan’s business. Other co-workers. And Eric talked back so easily. He wasn’t all smiles – Sam had observed enough to realise that wasn’t a sign of unhappiness, but part of his personality. But he relaxed and played ball with Laurence and even grinned at times.
“You still getting that tattoo?” Sam asked as he came and sat with them again. Laurence even had a drink left on their table.
Laurence’s nose scrunched up. “Connor bribed me not to,” he admitted.
It was Sam’s turn to grin. “Let me guess. A trip?”
Laurence leaned over, butting his head against Sam’s shoulder as he loosed an exaggerated groan. “A trip,” he agreed with a grumble. “And language lessons.”
“He found you a teacher?” Adonis definitely wouldn’t have the patience for that. Sam wondered if Goldilocks would give him lessons if he asked? Vi mentioned that he was the one who taught her English, though Sam struggled to picture his hissing, growling merman giving lessons on pronunciation.
“He’s going to teach me.”
Sam’s glass went still halfway to his mouth. “Hewill?”
“He can…” Laurence straightened up and peeked up at Sam. “He can speak it. Did you not know that? He just can. Didn’t have to learn. I think it’s a thing they can just do, you know? Because the rest picked up English in days, and I’m not saying they’re not smart, but they’re definitely notthatsmart.”
That would make some sense. In a weird, nonsensical way. Goldilocks could understand English, though Sam didn’t think that there had been enough time for him to have learned it no problem. It was hard to imagine schools set up in the ocean to teach them the language.
Sam tried to recall if Connor mentioned being good at languages, but nothing came to mind. But as his thoughts drifted to Connor, he recalled Vi and Yven looking at the drawing of Connor. The immediate, pointed interest. The ‘this is him?’
“Connor’s never been to the settlement, right?” Sam checked with Laurence.
Laurence shook his head. “He refuses. Says it’s just people, so he doesn’t care about it. All he wants to do is hang out on the ocean all the time.”
Sam grinned at Laurence’s peeved tone. “That’s kind of Connor’s thing.” Months ago Connor had gone through The Tear to ‘explore’. Sam knew that meant he was either reading in the nest Adonis had built for him, or sailing along the coast, staying well away from land and instead checking out reefs and new aquatic life. Sam suspected the reason Connor’s trips never lasted more than a few weeks at a time was the bundle of excited energy sitting next to him.
“I know, but…” Laurence threw up his arms dramatically. “Nobody else wants to explore! I don’t get it.”
Sam did. “Because it’s scary.”
“It’scool.”
“Where is this?” Eric asked.
Sam looked at Eric in surprise, and Laurence mirrored him. Sam had kind of forgotten he was sitting there. Laurence cast a questioning look at Sam, and that look surprised Sam further. Sam understood Laurence’s silent question of ‘Are you going to tell him?’
As if Samcould. As if it wasn’t some big secret that…Sam frowned. Actually. Whose secret was it? His mind said the secret belonged to Connor, and Connor could tell people if he liked and the rest of them should keep it to themselves. But that didn’t make much sense. It was a tear in the sky. It was, at the very least, a mile long. Even with mist and clouds obscuring it, someone, at some point, was going to see it and snap a picture. And even if it wasn’t believed at first, people would come to check it out. If not for the roiling seas that prevented anything but mermen from safely passing through, Sam was certain the secret would be out in the wide world already.
“It’s a place out on the water,” Sam said, realising that both Eric and Laurence were waiting for him to speak. “Not sure it’s your thing.”
“You said ‘settlement’,” Eric pointed out.