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Authors: Daniel Braum
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of candles reflected off of the beige and white ceramic tiled walls.
“When you didn’t listen and went under like that I felt like it was New Years nineteen eighty all over again.”
“Things turned out okay then, I remember.”
“Today could have been a lot worse,” I said.
Except for the welts from the fire coral that saved me, things were fine.
“You made it down, right?” I said. “The fish are home?”
“Almost all of them,” she said, and pointed to a small cluster between the candles and a conch on the floor. “I knew it from the second dive. But I saw a shell I just had to have.”
It was no use to tell her she could have gotten us killed. I couldn’t handle a dose of her circular logic right now.
“A souvenir?” I asked. She knew as well as I the reef was a protected zone.
“Today was intense,” she said. “A milestone. It merited it.”
“The shell belongs to the sea,” I spat, trying to remember something Jack had said to me once while in a haze. “At one time the calcium was part of the earth. So that shell belongs to the sea—to the world. How’s that for a cosmic thought?”
“Calm down,” she said, unphased by my tirade. “I was reading up today.” She pointed at the fish on the floor. “They’re called gobies. I’m pretty sure they’re from the Red Sea, but could be India or the South Pacific. We’re going to have to travel the world together finding out.”
Her foot found my leg somewhere beneath the foam.
“I could think of worse ways to spend my time,” I said, but I didn’t want to touch her. I was thinking of treading water while being carried out to the sea.
“Good. Tomorrow I’ll get the tickets to Israel,” she said, obviously missing what I meant.
“Israel?”
“The Red Sea’s in Israel. I hear Eliat has the best reefs. Good hash and backgammon, too.”
“Isn’t it dangerous?”
She sat up, creating a wave that spilled over the side, dousing the nearest candles.
“Here we go again. Joe the monkey wrench. We’re almost there. Don’t ruin this.”
The smell of smoke filled my nose. With the candles out, her face was in shadow. The big lionfish floated between us. I smacked it but only hit the wall.
“I’m not ruining anything. You always have your head in the clouds and ignore what’s on the ground.”
She stood up and stormed out of the tub, the water pouring off her extinguishing the remaining candles with a sizzle.
I dried off, turned the wastebasket upside down, gathered the two conch shells, and drummed.
I started with the cool fade out from Mystic Tryst . The part that was cut too soon on the record. The little gobies scattered, and reformed their school on the ceiling. Soon I had recaptured the rhythm from my dream, the beat of the circling fish dividing and reforming their circling schools. It was so locked in I shouted, and shouted again in time. I chanted and pounded on the pail and shells till my hands were raw.
Then I slid into the tub and sat in the tepid water counting fish.
When I couldn’t stand it any longer, I quietly crept back into the room. Kendra was passed out, draped over the bed peacefully.
I laid down on the couch. It was long into the morning before I slept.
****
I woke up and Kendra was gone. Just like when we split the first time, gone in the night without so much as a note.
Just as I sat up, the door clicked. Kendra walked in holding a big covered tray.
“Done with my workout, sleepyhead,” she said without looking at me. “I saved us a spot at the pool and I’m going to have a shower. I brought you breakfast.”
She placed the tray on the table, put an envelope on the bed, and disappeared into the bathroom.
When I heard the water running, I went over to the bed and checked the envelope. Plane tickets. To Israel.
I pulled my suitcase from the closet and threw my stuff in it. I stomped around and decided to just
“When you didn’t listen and went under like that I felt like it was New Years nineteen eighty all over again.”
“Things turned out okay then, I remember.”
“Today could have been a lot worse,” I said.
Except for the welts from the fire coral that saved me, things were fine.
“You made it down, right?” I said. “The fish are home?”
“Almost all of them,” she said, and pointed to a small cluster between the candles and a conch on the floor. “I knew it from the second dive. But I saw a shell I just had to have.”
It was no use to tell her she could have gotten us killed. I couldn’t handle a dose of her circular logic right now.
“A souvenir?” I asked. She knew as well as I the reef was a protected zone.
“Today was intense,” she said. “A milestone. It merited it.”
“The shell belongs to the sea,” I spat, trying to remember something Jack had said to me once while in a haze. “At one time the calcium was part of the earth. So that shell belongs to the sea—to the world. How’s that for a cosmic thought?”
“Calm down,” she said, unphased by my tirade. “I was reading up today.” She pointed at the fish on the floor. “They’re called gobies. I’m pretty sure they’re from the Red Sea, but could be India or the South Pacific. We’re going to have to travel the world together finding out.”
Her foot found my leg somewhere beneath the foam.
“I could think of worse ways to spend my time,” I said, but I didn’t want to touch her. I was thinking of treading water while being carried out to the sea.
“Good. Tomorrow I’ll get the tickets to Israel,” she said, obviously missing what I meant.
“Israel?”
“The Red Sea’s in Israel. I hear Eliat has the best reefs. Good hash and backgammon, too.”
“Isn’t it dangerous?”
She sat up, creating a wave that spilled over the side, dousing the nearest candles.
“Here we go again. Joe the monkey wrench. We’re almost there. Don’t ruin this.”
The smell of smoke filled my nose. With the candles out, her face was in shadow. The big lionfish floated between us. I smacked it but only hit the wall.
“I’m not ruining anything. You always have your head in the clouds and ignore what’s on the ground.”
She stood up and stormed out of the tub, the water pouring off her extinguishing the remaining candles with a sizzle.
I dried off, turned the wastebasket upside down, gathered the two conch shells, and drummed.
I started with the cool fade out from Mystic Tryst . The part that was cut too soon on the record. The little gobies scattered, and reformed their school on the ceiling. Soon I had recaptured the rhythm from my dream, the beat of the circling fish dividing and reforming their circling schools. It was so locked in I shouted, and shouted again in time. I chanted and pounded on the pail and shells till my hands were raw.
Then I slid into the tub and sat in the tepid water counting fish.
When I couldn’t stand it any longer, I quietly crept back into the room. Kendra was passed out, draped over the bed peacefully.
I laid down on the couch. It was long into the morning before I slept.
****
I woke up and Kendra was gone. Just like when we split the first time, gone in the night without so much as a note.
Just as I sat up, the door clicked. Kendra walked in holding a big covered tray.
“Done with my workout, sleepyhead,” she said without looking at me. “I saved us a spot at the pool and I’m going to have a shower. I brought you breakfast.”
She placed the tray on the table, put an envelope on the bed, and disappeared into the bathroom.
When I heard the water running, I went over to the bed and checked the envelope. Plane tickets. To Israel.
I pulled my suitcase from the closet and threw my stuff in it. I stomped around and decided to just
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