Children of the Tide

by Theo Shapiro

  ****

  Verne stood on the pier with his dive bag in one hand and camera in the other. Other than a few small lights spread out on the dock the night was completely dark and still. Verne started to think he had had a fast one pulled over him by a local. He wouldn’t have been surprised if Captain Gervis, if that was even his name, was at a bar with some other local fishermen laughing at his expense.

  Verne was about to head back to the jeep and hightail it back to the room before there was any chance of something else going wrong when he saw something moving at the end of the dock. It looked like a tiny red light. Not an artificial light, but small and weak, almost like the light from a single firefly.

  Then the red light started to move toward him. Verne squinted his eyes as he realized what the light was. It was the glowing end of a lit cigarette. As the light moved closer Verne was able to distinguish the outline of a person. The figure took awkward, stumbling steps, clearly putting most of their weight on one leg and savoring the other.

  By the time the figure made it into enough light for Verne to make out any distinguishing features he knew it was Captain Gervis. Watching him hobble on his scar legged Verne found himself wondering why the old man didn’t just have it removed when whatever happened happened.

  Verne wasn’t sure if he would start to feel even worse when he was about to board the boat, but to his surprise he was even more excited and happy with his decision. If he were completely honest with himself Verne would say sneaking away from his wife was making this even more exciting.

  “I don’t want to hear any I told you so. Lets just get on your boat and go diving, and this doesn’t leave this dock. No one can ever know about this.”

  “Hold your horses.” Gervis said with a smug smile. “We have a couple things o settle before we go out. First, where’s my money? Second, I am going to gloat and say I told you so. Third, you better keep this a secret. I’m not going to jail because some guy from the main land couldn’t keep a secret and went blabbing to his wife and others.”

  “That’s not going to happen. As for the money, will you take a check?”

  “Do I look like a business to you? This isn’t Bass Pro Shop. I want my money in cash. You know that green paper with the dead guys on it?”

  “Somehow I thought you would say that.” Verne pulled an envelope out of is back pocket and handed it over. “That’s why I stopped at the bank and got some cash. You can count it if you want.”

  “That won’t be necessary, I trust you’re good for it.” Gervis folded the envelope and shoved it onto his pocket. Then pretending to be a butler, he bowed down and waived his arm pointing the way to the end of the dock. “After you sir. Everything is loaded and ready to go.”

  Verne walked past Gervis and started walking down the dark pier. The only sound was the gentle lapping of the ocean current lapping against the pier and the strain of the ropes that tied the boats to the dock. When Verne was nearing the end of the dock he stopped and realized he had no idea which boat was Gervis’. “Which one is yours?”

  “I already have it at the end of the dock. I moved it there earlier. Honestly I thought you would be here before one. To my surprise you showed up at 1:10.” Gervis started laughing.

  Verne ignored him and continued walking. When he saw the boat tied at the end of the dock he nearly dropped his bag and fell down laughing. Trying to catch his breath between laughs he said, “Of course…ha-ha..that’s your…boat. I …shouldn’t have expected anything else. I should take my money back.”

  Gervis flicked his cigarette into the ocean and turned back to Verne with a glare on his face. “That’s enough of that. This is my boat and if it’s not good enough for you, you can go ahead and go back to your hotel and spend the rest of your vacation getting drunk on some fruity drink.”

  “From what I hear these supposed man eating sharks would eat this boat, if it doesn’t sink on its own first.”

  “She’ll get the job done, just like she always does. Now get on or go home. We don’t have enough time to waist while you analyze the boat. Anyway, would you rather illegally go out on a boat with a bunch of lights and an engine that would wake the dead in Davey Jones’ Locker?”

  Shaking his head in disbelief at how wrong things had gone so far on the trip Vern lowered his bag into the rusted boat Driftwood. He hopped in and saw a single tank and a pile of weights placed near the back of the boat. Other than the Captain’s seat behind the wheel there wasn’t anywhere to sit on the boat.

  Gervis climbed into the boat and pointed to a cooler that was shoved next to the tank and told him he could use that for a seat. As Verne went over to the tank and weights he couldn’t help but think about the beautiful dive boat he should have been on with his wife. Instead he was on this rickety boat with a modern day pirate essentially cheating on his wife, finally, a true adventure.

  Even though there weren’t any lights on the tiny boat Verne had set his dive gear up so many times it was as natural as waking up in the middle of the night and walking to the bathroom without turning any lights on. He first attached his BCD to the tank and made sure the tank wouldn’t slip. Once that was secure he pulled out the integrated weight pockets and put the weights in. Finally he attached his Octopus to the top of the tank and to his BCD. Verne tuned on his computer and the green screen lit up looking like flare cutting through the night. Verne turned the tanks valve to let the air flow into his octopus and read how much air was in the tank. There was 2,995 psi, pretty much a full tank. Once Verne had checked and double-checked his equipment he laid it down so the tank wouldn’t bounce around while they made there way to the dive site.

  As Verne finished setting up his dive equipment, Gervis untied the boat from the dock and pushed off. Gervis turned to Verne. “Well we’re off. There’s no turning back now.”

  “I didn’t plan on it.”

  “You know, I have to admit you’re surprising me. I knew you would come and want to go on this dive, but I thought you would show a bit more guilt for sneaking away from your wife.”

  Verne just shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to admit that he was just as surprised. It’s not like I’m cheating. Shelly didn’t want to go diving anyway with these sharks. If anything I’m keeping her safe by going without her.

  Gervis started the engine and they were off. They rode in silence for the first 10 minutes. Verne was sitting on the cooler starring out at the night and ocean. Everything was pitch black and still. The ocean was so peaceful one would never guess that there were two man eating sharks somewhere around here. Verne imagined this is what it was like to explore space.

  Gervis sat behind the wheel, smoking a cigarette. He navigated the waters in the dark with a sense of supreme confidence. Verne stood up and walked over to Gervis. “Where are we going and how do you know the sharks will be there?”

  Gervis was silent for a moment and Verne thought he might not have heard him, but then he turned and looked at Verne. He starred at Verne as if he was looking at him for the first time. “To answer your first question, a few days ago a fishing boat sank not too far off the shore. I’m sure you already know this but wrecks are a very popular place for sharks and fish to make their home. To answer your second question I have worked with sharks just about my whole life and the sharks around here always seem to hang around wrecks. For a bonus answer I know the shark that’s been killing people.”

  “What do you mean you know the shark. As in you’ve seen it?”

  “Oh I’ve seen him all right and he’s seen me. It’s the same shark that nearly took my leg a few years ago.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because as bad a scar as the shark left on me, I left one on him. I used to be a captain of a real nice fishing boat and I was a very wealthy man. I moved to Hawaii to take part in some commercial fishing and I was good. I hired a crew of four other men and we had a nice operation going.”

  “Fishing with a crew that size doesn’t bring in good money unless y
ou were doing something illegal.” Verne said this as a joke, but when Gervis didn’t show a hint of a smile he realized that he had hit the nail on the head. “You were doing something illegal. What were you up too?”

  “Well everyone on the island knows so there’s no point in hiding it, I was hunting sharks to take their fins and sell on the Black Market.”

  “You were killing sharks?” Verne asked, disgusted.

  “I don’t want to hear your crap. I got enough of it already and I’ve paid the price.”

  “It’s people like you that’s making sharks go extinct. If I’d have known what you did I never would have gone out with you.”

  “Get over yourself. We all need to make a living and this was a very good way, or at least it was.”

  “So what happened?”

  I had been finning sharks for three years and thought I had everything down. I knew the areas to best find the sharks and tracked them down with some sonar equipment. When we found a shark we used hooks, chum, and nets to lure the sharks to the boat. Once they were close to the boat we would gaff them and pull them on board. At that point three guys would restrain the shark while I and another man would cut off the fins. Once we had them cut off we tossed the shark overboard. Well one day we came across a massive signal on our sonar. We stalked the signal for more that three hours. We chummed the water and through out some lines, but we couldn’t get it. I was afraid we were going to have to let this monster go when all of a sudden it came near the surface. I grabbed one of the nets and waited. In the clear water I could see the beast and I tossed the net on him. The net wrapped him up and we started to pull him on board.”

  Gervis smiled and glanced at Verne. “Do you want to know the strangest part of the catch?” Verne didn’t say anything. “As the men pulled up the shark I looked over the side to make sure the shark was still secure. He was just about to break the surface when I saw a large eel wrapped around the net chewing at the rope. None of the other men saw this but I swear that eel was trying to free the shark. Sounds crazy doesn’t it?”

  Again Verne just shrugged his shoulders.

  “Anyway, we got the shark on board and everything seemed like it was going to be routine. The men had the shark held down and I grabbed the knife. I was about to start cutting when the shark started thrashing around. This shark was so powerful that it knocked all the men over and managed to free itself from the net. The shark’s tail sent me flying across the boat. Before I could get my wits back that shark was on my leg like a pit bull. He just bit down right on my knee and started thrashing.”

  Verne could picture the shark hanging onto Gervis’ leg and he didn’t feel any pity for the man. As far as he was concerned he got what he deserved. People who killed sharks for their fins were as low as a drug dealer to Verne.

  “The strange thing is getting bit buy a shark is nothing like how it looks in the movies or those Discovery Channel documentaries make it seem. In those shows it looks like the shark just takes a bite and either lets go or takes a limb with one chomp. Not this time. This time the shark only bit half way through my leg and held on. At first the pain was incredible but then my adrenaline kicked in and I couldn’t see a thing. I realized I still had my knife clutched in my hand and I drove it right into the shark. I was aiming for its’ eye but ended up just missing. The shark didn’t even flinch, just bit down even harder. Even though I couldn’t feel pain I could feel its’ teeth sinking deeper into my muscle. I knew that in a matter of seconds I would lose the leg. I shifted my grip on the knife and instead of pulling the knife out of the shark I dragged it down the entire length of the shark. From eye to tail I cut that shark. That damn shark still held onto my leg, but finally some of the men came and managed to pry the shark off me. Once they got the shark off me the pain came rushing back and I lost consciousness. I woke up in the hospital two days later. You know what the first thing I asked was?”

  Verne shook his head.

  “I asked if the shark was dead. My first mate at the time told me they assumed it was. They had flipped the shark overboard, but the wound I gave it must have bled him out he said. There was no way he could have survived, or so they said but he did.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because I’ve heard and talked to some of the witnesses and victims of the shark attacks. Both sharks are supposedly the largest Hammerheads anybody had ever seen. Both are rogue sharks and don’t do a thing like normal Hammerheads do. Everyone told me the same story that described the shark in some ferocious way, but each story had one thing in common. One of the sharks had a scar running down its entire body on the same side as I cut it.”

  “There are several explanations for that. People were terrified and imagined making the shark as fearsome as possible. If one person says they saw the scar it’s very likely that others started to believe they saw it too.”

  “Hmm.” Gervis grunted. “I talked to at least fifteen people who saw the shark with the scar and the story doesn’t change one bit. You can believe what you want but I know that shark is the same shark that nearly took my leg. That was the first time the shark tasted human blood and it must have loved it or drove it crazy. If you go down there and see a shark with a long scar you better pray.”

  The two sat in silence for the rest of the ride. It took a total of thirty minutes to get to the dive location. Gervis cut off the engine and hobbled over to an anchor and tossed it overboard. The splash of the anchor sounded like a canon shot in the quiet night.

  “Ok so here’s your dive briefing.” Gervis said. Verne listened while he zipped up his wetsuit and put on his fins. “We are right over a reef. From what I hear from other divers it’s one of the most beautiful reefs near Lanai. You aren’t here for the pretty fish are you? You want to see sharks and I will bet my good leg that they will be at a wreck that is about 150-200 yards west of the reef. As soon as you reach the bottom use your compass to navigate there. I know the ship and it will be a prime place for sharks to make their home. You’ll see sharks there all right, I just hope you don’t run across those two rogues. Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “I came here to see Hammerheads and that’s what I’m going to see. No offense but I don’t believe your little horror story about the sharks. I can believe that there might be a rogue shark, but the idea of two man eaters in love with the taste of human flesh is a little to sci-fi for me. I don’t have long so if you’re done trying to scare the tourist I’ll be on my way.”

  “No thoughts of your wife?”

  “What do you care? You got your money and she’ll never know. Even if she found out she’d understand.” Verne finished strapping his BCD to his back and stood up. With Gervis’s help he waddled to the edge of the boat. Gervis handed him his camera and helped him step onto the side of the boat.

  “Wait. What happened next?” Verne asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “When you woke up from the hospital? Did you give up finning sharks?”

  “I thought you didn’t believe any of my story?”

  “I might not, but I still want to hear the ending.”

  “Well sorry to disappoint you, but there’s not much of an ending to hear. Once I was treated and some surgery on my leg was completed in came the authorities. Apparently when my crew called for help the Coast Guard came and it didn’t take a brain surgeon to realize what we were up too. They had us dead to rights. I went to jail for a year and had my fishing license and boat taken away. I am on a permanent suspension from having a fishing boat. I’m lucky to even be allowed to have this boat. I’ve tried to make a living as a deck hand, but my leg kept me from getting hired. Instead I make my living as a common fisherman barely making it by. I suppose there is other jobs I could do, but I’m meant to be on the water so I take what I can get. Even if what I get includes some crazy tourist who wants to go for a dive.”

  “What if you’re caught taking me out here?”

  “I lose my Captain’s license and boat and
go to jail for five years. I can’t help it, when the ocean calls you have to answer it. I think you understand that. After all, we are all children of the tide.”

  Verne was shocked to hear Gervis say the very same thing he said. He was about to ask where Gervis had heard that from when Gervis told him to get ready and before Verne could say another word pushed him off the side of the boat and into the ocean.

  Verne’s BCD was inflated to neutral buoyancy so he didn’t go shooting down to the bottom; instead he hung in the water a few feet below the surface. Verne turned on the LED flashlight that was strapped to his left hand and ambidextrously turned on his camera in his right.

  Slowly, adjusting to the pressure of the ocean, Verne sunk to the bottom. On the way down he used his light to search his surroundings. Gervis was right about one thing, the reef below him was one of the most beautiful he had ever seen. It was full of night life; hundreds of fish swimming this way and that. Yellow tang, angelfish, lobsters, parrot fish, clown fish, and hundreds of other tiny and large fish swimming around. None of them reacted to Verne’s presence and he felt like he was part of their world.

  Verne had to force himself from touring the reef and looked at his compass. He used it to point West and started swimming. On the way there he saw a large, free swimming Moray Eel. The eel seemed curious and showed no fear or aggression toward him. It just went on its way like it had nowhere to go, but just wanted to go. As many dives as Verne had been on it was rare to see a Moray free swimming, and not hidden in a crevice in the reef. Verne took a quick picture and continued on.

  Verne realized any pictures he took he would have to keep hidden from Shelly. That’s ok, what’s one more thing to hide from her? The foreign thought nearly made him gasp. He had to remain calm and keep breathing steadily. He had to conserve his air and make this single dive as long as possible. Still, where did that thought come from? He didn’t hide things from Shelly. Or at least so I thought as I dive in the ocean in the middle of the night while Shelly is asleep in bed.

  Verne continued to look at all the ocean creatures to distract himself from any guilty thoughts. His beam swept around the reef and occasionally he took a picture or two, but Verne’s main objective still lie ahead of him. Verne checked his compass to make sure he was still on course when he saw a sight that brought back his guilty feeling. Off to the left of him, hovering over a reef, were two jellyfish. The jellyfish were pulsing and swimming together. It’s impossible to read any emotion from a jellyfish, but he knew these two were a couple. There was no separation between their bodies and their tentacles were entwined with each other. The two jellyfish reminded him of Shelly. Often the two of them dove just like the jellyfish swam together. When they dove Verne would hold Shelly’s hand as they explored the strange, silent world side by side.

  Verne cursed himself for getting distracted again and checked his dive computer. He had been underwater for 12 minutes and he still had plenty of air. When he looked back up another beautiful sight glided right at him. It was a massive sea turtle. The turtle moved very slow and seemed to be looking at him just as much as he was looking at it. The turtle was headed right for Verne and showed no sign of altering its’ direction. Verne stopped swimming and hovered in place waiting to see if the turtle would swim right into him. The turtle stopped and hovered less than a foot from Verne’s face. He wanted to take a picture, but he was afraid of ruining this incredible moment. The two just stared at each other, the moment seeming to last hours. Finally the sea turtle slowly moved to the left and gracefully swam past Verne. Verne turned and watched the turtle go.

  Once Verne continued on his course it only took another minute to see the outline of the wreck, just as Gervis described it. It was a fishing boat. The boat had settled onto the ocean floor perfectly, with its hull resting on the sandy bottom. The rusted bottom gave away the old age of the ship, but the fact that there didn’t appear to be any sea creatures, barnacles, or any sea life around the boat revealed how recently the boat had sunk. In a matter of days the wreck would become a thriving place for sea life of all kinds. Verne was sure it would become a popular dive site, but he was one of the first to explore it. It’s a shame no one will ever know I was here. It’s like discovering a new land, but moving on without claiming the glory of discovery. At least I’ll always know.

  Verne looked in all directions and didn’t see a sign of any shark. He thought he would be disappointed, but so far it had been an incredible dive and he still had a whole wreck all to himself to explore. He used his light to read the name on the fishing boat, Amber. He assumed the Captain had named the boat after a loved one. Verne had always told himself if he got a boat he would name it Shelly. Sadly, on a teacher’s wage he didn’t think he would ever be able to afford one.

  After circling the outside of the wreck Verne decided to go inside. He lowered himself near the open deck and swam into the cabin. He took several pictures of the inside; of the steering wheel, the fishing tools attached to the walls, old books and papers still intact, and then he saw some stairs that went below deck. Verne knew it was dangerous to go into an unexplored wreck, especially alone, but the excitement was unbearable.

  Verne used his light to look down the stairs, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Verne realized he was looking for something but he had no idea what. Verne checked his dive computer again. He had been down for fifty minutes and had used more air than he realized. If he was going to make it back to Driftwood he would have to leave in no more than ten minutes.

  Verne decided he would go down for a quick minute then turn around and leave. Verne reached the bottom of the stairs and moved some of the fishing gear that had scattered around the boat. As he moved deeper into the wreck Verne felt like something was in the boat with him. He spun around and shined his light up the stairs and saw movement. For a brief moment his light lit up three little fish, but they swam away before he could get a good look at them. From a quick glance it looked to be a Squirrel fish, Yellow Tang, and a Puffer fish. A strange combination of fish to see together, but he didn’t have to dwell on it.

  Verne was about to head back up the stairs to go when something caught his eye. It was a latch that Verne assumed led to the engine room. For some reason it was calling to him. It would take less than a minute to explore and then I’ll hightail it back to the boat. Verne set his camera down and used both hands to open the latch. The latch had already started to rust and it took all his strength to open it. Once it was open he pulled himself inside. As he thought it was a typical engine room.

  Verne saw a bit of light coming from a hole in the side of the boat. Verne swam over to the whole and looked out. All he saw was the open ocean and was about to move away when he saw two large shapes moving toward the ocean. The way they glided through the ocean was unmistakable, the pure confidence and air of superiority. They were sharks and as they moved close he could see they were Hammerheads. Not only that, but they were massive. Finally, he was seeing the ever elusive Hammerhead. All the money and sneaking away from Shelly was worth it. He watched them get closer like they were a pendulum hypnotizing him.

  They swam right at the wreck and he stopped breathing when they turned to the side and the one closest to the ship had a massive scar that ran down the length of its body. Gervis was telling the truth.

  All of a sudden a loud beeping from his dive computer woke Verne from his trance and made him jerk away from the hole. He felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and turned to see a rusted over jagged pipe behind him. The room started to spin and Verne saw a red mist appear around his head. Verne tried to stop the spinning but it only got worse and everything started to blur. Before he lost consciousness the last thought Verne had was, this is where I belong. Deep beneath the surface, a fellow child of the tide.

  About the Author

  Theo Shapiro lives in Towson, MD and is currently an English teacher in Columbia, MD. He is studying to complete his MFA in Creative Writing and holds a Master’s Degree in S
pecial Education. He lives with his wife, Krista, and they have a cat that causes more trouble than a bad case of writer’s block. Theo has also written the book Charm City Triathlete. For any comments or reviews you can reach Theo at tshapi1@yahoo.com.