Net of Blood

by Selmoore Codfish

Chapter 10

  I woke up early Monday. The sun wasn’t even up yet, but the sky was brightening. I sat on the porch with James. Then Edgar came by.

  “The wind is changing,” he said. “I want to get out before the weather turns bad.”

  James looked at the sky. It was hazy with low clouds.

  “It’ll be okay for a while,” he said. “Lydia just told me she needs help turning over some earth in the garden.”

  “Neal,” said Edgar, “do you want to join me?”

  “Yes,” I said. I couldn’t turn down the chance to prove that I could fish. Edgar was the person that I most needed to convince.

  “What spear should I use?” I asked James.

  “Ben’s,” he said. It was the one that had been Nicholas’ regular spear. I retrieved it and followed Edgar.

  “James might not get out before the rain. You can feed his family today since he’s stuck in the garden,” said Edgar. I thought that Edgar’s expectations were too high. I hadn’t caught any fish yet on the spear.

  “Can we take the boat with the rope?” I asked. “It helps me dive.” He nodded.

  We pushed out the boat. Then, Edgar rowed while I tied the rock back on to the cord. I didn’t tie it at the end that time, but half way up. That would save effort pulling it out of the water.

  I recalled that this had been the boat that had gone over the rocks at the Point. I looked to see if there was any damage, but didn’t notice any.

  We arrived at the place Edgar wanted to dive. I hoped it was bright enough outside that the depths wouldn’t be dark. A shark might be able to sneak up on me if I couldn’t see it.

  “Do you want to have the first turn?” he asked. His face showed concern.

  “No,” I said. “I’ve only seen Ward dive up close. If you go first, I can check your style.”

  He smiled. Then he got his spear, put on his goggles and dove in. I let the foam subside before I edged into the water. Edgar was progressing towards the reef.

  I saw quite a few fish, and I looked for sharks. I thought that I couldn’t see as far in the water as I had in midday.

  At the bottom, Edgar started walking across the brain coral. It moved him along quickly.

  He looked up to see if I was watching. I thought he was showing off. Edgar probably had callouses on his feet. I wouldn’t try his stunts myself.

  I went up to get a breath of air. As I went out, from the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a dark shadow. I took only one breath then stuck my face down again.

  Edgar was headed right towards it. He swam off the coral into the deep. There were many shadows now. They weren’t sharks, but groupers.

  Edgar casually approached them. He wasn’t rushing, but slowly working towards them so they didn’t scare. He wasn’t in a position to jab yet, and soon I needed another breath. This time I took a few deep breaths before going face down.

  The fish wasn’t far now. Edgar poised for the throw, then jabbed it. It wiggled once then stopped. He’d got it just behind the eye.

  Then he began to swim up with it. I breathed and waited for Edgar. He popped up several feet away.

  When he got to the boat, I helped him lift it in. It was a big fish and would feed lots of people, so I felt less pressure to have to feed James’ family. However, I still had the need to prove myself.

  Edgar was happy. He’d done very well catching the grouper.

  “Great job,” I said. He smiled.

  “I have my confidence,” he said. Showing off his skills for me might have put him in a different mind.

  I mentally prepared myself for my turn. Even if I got one small fish, it would be evidence enough to show skill.

  I hoped that I didn’t have to get in the boat to jump in. I reached for the rock, but then I decided it’d be harder to lift it over the side than to just crawl in.

  Edgar stayed in the water. He’d stayed under the water a very long time and wasn’t even winded when he came out. I needed to work on increasing my time in the water.

  I took several deep breaths, and then jumped in with the rock and spear. It pulled me down. When I got deep, I let go of the rock, but held the rope.

  I remained motionless for a while so all of the splashing would settle. Then some jackfish came near. I wasn’t quite close enough to spear it from there, so I coasted slowly from my anchor.

  I was swimming with the fish, and it was beautiful to be on the reef. I felt close to nature. I could forget to breathe, and be like them if the pressure hadn’t been building on my head.

  I delayed trying to spear them so I could float among them more. Then I saw a shark down the reef. It was time to get my prize.

  I thrust at a smaller jack and caught it in its middle. It wobbled on the end of the spear. I pulled in the spear so I could secure it. I put one hand on its tail.

  Then I tried to swim up with both of my hands occupied. I needed to get out before the shark was drawn closer, but I’d stayed in the water a minute or so longer then I should have.

  I felt like my eyes were fuzzy. I don’t know what happened after that.

  Then the next thing that I knew, I was on the surface and Edgar had my arm. I was coughing.

  “Are you all right now?” he asked. I coughed more.

  Then when I felt I had the strength, I reached for the boat. He pushed me in that direction then came along with the spear and fish that I’d caught.

  “It is a nice one,” he said. He was being kind because it was a common fish.

  “Thanks for helping me,” I said as my voice cracked. “I’ve probably embarrassed myself in front of your ancestors.”

  “I think they approve,” said Edgar. “They are coming in their sky boat to greet you.” He pointed.

  I was confused about what I saw. I blinked a few times. It looked like a catamaran with a few sails. Were his dead fathers really sailing towards us?

  I looked again, and took off my goggles. Now it appeared to be more of a mirage in the sky. It hovered above Lou Gaa Cay a few miles away. The sun was behind the isle, and the haze had lifted to just above the water. It must be a rare occurrence.

  “That is where they live,” said Edgar. “They return to the island from their fishing in the sky when they are exceptionally pleased with us.”

  However, it clearly was a reflection of the island. The palm trees were the sails. He surely knew.

  I enjoyed the scenery for a moment then climbed into the boat.

  “There might be a shark down there,” I said.

  “He went away,” Edgar said. I nodded.

  Then he got in the boat and pulled up my rock.

  “It is enough fish,” he said. He rowed us back towards shore.

  “I’m sorry that I’ve been trouble,” I said.

  “I am sorry about the things I’ve said about you,” he said.

  I was pleased because I’d undone the damage to the psyche of the village. I wasn’t their bad luck omen anymore. They accepted me as an adult man of the Kupe, so I could speak for them to Xing.

  At the beach, I stood up then realized that swimming had drained me. I almost sat right back down again. Edgar took care of the cleanup. I walked back to James’ house and sat there.

  I couldn’t see the mirage any longer. The haze was gone, and the sun was up higher.

  Since Edgar must have seen the sky boat was a mirage, he must know that his other stories about his ancestors were figurative. They didn’t really sail the clouds. It was just a tale that helped the transmission of their culture to the next generation.

  That made me go back to thinking about the Savior’s resurrection. I found myself defensive at the idea that Gei Duk’s ascension could have been figurative too. Did I now want it to be true? Why wouldn’t I want it to be true? It would be great if we could rely on an afterlife with God.

  There were other things that I hoped for too, such as the creation of a just world tha
t would adhere to God’s grand plan for it. However, it didn’t seem practical to have a perfect Utopia on earth. The most we could hope for was a world where a large number of people diligently worked for justice.

  How did the role of the churches play into this? Could they ever be the body of the resurrected Savior? Often it seemed that they were only good will organizations. I hoped that the stories about Gei Duk’s resurrection were real and not just made up to provide figurative guidance about how we all should be “good people.”

  However, the fanciful language that Gei Duk’s disciples used was hard to overlook. Did they see Gei Duk “in others” or did they really see him? I had thought that they must be blind if they couldn’t recognize Gei Duk even after he approached them in a locked room. Either it was Gei Duk, or not.

  Yet, there were two other possibilities. First, the translation could have lost the true tone and meaning of the event. Feelings were among the hardest words to translate. Maybe his followers saw him in the room, but ignored him because they couldn’t believe it. Second, it limits the power of God to say what he can’t do. A super being that could create the Universe with the snap of the finger could easily change Gei Duk’s appearance from second to second. Maybe he really did appear as someone else, then was shape-shifted into his more familiar form in order make a point about seeing Gei Duk in everyone.

  I thought back to Edgar’s sky boat. Maybe it really was his ancestor’s catamaran and not a mirage. If God had willed it, he could have made their boat look like an island.

  However, I still wasn’t convinced. Likewise, I needed more proof before I could say that the Savior’s followers were witnessing anything more than wishful thinking. The possibilities were now wide open, but I was not convinced of any one answer.

  I sat looking at the sea, not thinking of much. The sky still looked fine as far as I was concerned. It was cloudy, but not dark. Later, the family ate lunch and they praised my ability to catch it. The meal helped to refresh me.

  “I promised to have school today,” I said. Anna looked up from her food. “I think this is a good day.” Anna smiled.

  “How do I announce that school is open?” I asked.

  “Whoever wanted to come would show up when they wanted.”

  “There’s no school or church bell?” I asked. James shook his head.

  After lunch, I sat on the porch a while with James. Charles approached nearby.

  “Hello,” I greeted cheerfully. He nodded but didn’t smile and kept walking. He was always joking. I wondered how long it’d take him to get back to his previous self.

  I thought about what I should have the school kids play and how I’d gather them. Just in case it rained it would be best to get school rolling sooner.

  I searched for ideas and my brain made a few connections between the words: rolling, gathering, and playing. I came up with the idea of a school bus. We could play school bus to get them together. The kids may have not seen many vehicles, but hopefully they’d heard of buses.

  “Anna,” I yelled, “the school bus is here.”

  I stood in front of the house with my hands on an imaginary steering wheel. Anna came to the door.

  “What?” she said.

  “It is the bus for school,” I said. “Hop in.” She skipped down the steps and jumped in the imaginary back seat.

  “Which friends should go to school today?” I asked.

  “Hugh,” she said, and pointed.

  Next, I adapted the “Wheels on the Bus” song to be “Wheels on the School Bus.” We traveled up the path.

  The wheels on the bus went round and round, the wipers went swish, and the children bounced. After we had more passengers I got repeated requests that the children should bounce again. We had a full bus of eight kids when we got to the church.

  Inside, I taught them the alphabet. Also, I told them a couple stories from children’s books that I recalled reading to my own daughter, Melanie. Some of the kids were older than her, but they enjoyed the stories.

  I looked up at the portraits of their ancestors on the wall. I thought that they’d approve of what I was doing.

  Then finally, the bus took them all home. I noticed the sky was overcast now.

  “We want to go to school every day,” said Rose as I dropped her off. I could do it for a few more days. I was running out of reasons to stay, but I’d never solved the real problem that I’d come for.

  After that, I noticed that Ward was bringing more coconuts. We’d exhausted the supply in the unfortunate situation the day before. I decided to help him. He was Nicholas’ friend and I thought I could talk to him. As we worked, though, we didn’t say much.

  By suppertime, the clouds had darkened. It was as if it was going to be night a few hours early. We finished eating, and then I sat on the porch to watch the clouds.

  Then in the dim light, I saw Roger bicycling towards town. I thought that he must have bought a bike to make the trip to Fusang quicker. It would be hard pedaling up the hill, but fast coasting down the other side.

  Roger went too fast at the bottom and fell off at the curve. He landed on the grass, but got up right away. He left his bike and ran up in my direction.

  “Adaro,” he yelled to people as he passed them. I looked to the water for sea monsters. Maybe he’d seen something from on top of the hill. Hopefully, it was a mirage.

  People looked confused. Some men followed him, but most people scurried inside their homes. They closed the shutters on their homes. They were taking him very seriously.

  Roger came straight up to me. He was a little out of breath.

  “Adaro, the President, is coming, and he is mad at you, Neal,” said Roger. He meant the monster was Xing.

  The men looked at me. I wondered what I’d done, but I was more concerned for our safety.

  “I was in Fusang, in a shop, looking at a bike,” Roger said, “then Xing came out of his office yelling your name. He was looking for the police. I followed him for a minute.” Roger stopped to breathe more.

  “He yelled to the crowd, ‘So Harris thinks he can interfere with state business by convincing them to close the cannery’.” I hadn’t done anything like that.

  “Did he find the police?” I asked.

  “I saw that they were in their patrol boat. They were just pulling into the cove as I left town.”

  “I need to leave so you aren’t endangered,” I said. I had no options. I had no way off the island, and I wouldn’t give myself up to Xing’s wrath. I could run up the mountain and live off the land for a while.

  “You need to be with your families,” I told the men. They scattered, except for James.

  “This won’t be a nice prison like Keoni’s hotel,” I said. “I can’t stay with you.”

  “Do you want a spear?” James asked.

  I could use it to defend myself or later to fish. However, a spear was no match for guns. If they got that close, I would have to give up.

  Then, I noticed something on the hill. It was a vehicle making a cloud of dust as it came. It must be the police. It was too late to run. I could never make it up the side of the hill in the short time that I had.

  However, I still should hide. I’d just been in the church and thought of taking refuge there. A few men still scurried around town. I waved at James and ran there.

  After I was inside, I peeked through a window. It was dark in the church, so they wouldn’t see me. The vehicle was definitely the police truck.

  What had I done? My first thought was that maybe the ocean biologist, Julia, had called someone. However, I believed that I hadn’t ever told her the name of the island. Also, non-profit advocates had very little power over canneries. My second thought was that somehow my editorial in the church magazine had sparked something. They weren’t supposed to have published it already, but did so online.

  The truck pulled into town. It looked like there were three figur
es in the vehicle. I ducked away from the window.

  I heard the truck pull up to the center of town. I needed a better place to hide. I thought of the closet. There was lots of room in it. I stepped in that direction, but it stopped and listened when I heard Xing yell. His voice showed that he was in a rage.

  “Harris,” yelled Xing. “Your continued defiance has humiliated me. You’ve turned the Kupe against me. You are leading a revolt, and I’m going to kill you.” I stepped closer to the closet.

  Suddenly, I heard a gunshot. Hopefully it was into the air. I impulsively ducked.

  “Can you hear me?” yelled Xing. “Come out before I get nasty.” The president had a weapon. He had already said he would kill me, why would I come out? I would have brought the spear if I’d known that he was coming after my life. If I’d gotten a lucky shot, he might wiggle on the end of it and not be able to gun me down. I felt my hands shaking.

  I got into the closet. I put the hanging robe in front of me. Please, I prayed, if the Holy Cloth had ever protected me, now was the time.

  I heard more yelling, but it was muffled. I crossed my fingers that Xing didn’t know that I had been living with James. I didn’t want to put them at risk. However, I would certainly be shot if I went outside now.

  When it was quiet for a minute, I thought about my long term plan. If I could stay hidden, how would I ever get off the island or get in contact with my family? Some man had said that the catamaran used to take them to distant islands. I was sure that they’d agree to help me as long as they still remembered how to travel that far.

  Someone came up the church steps, and then the door burst open. One set of footsteps entered. I saw a flashlight through the crack in the closet door. He wasn’t headed my way yet.

  “Where are you?” yelled Xing. Xing crossed from the other side of the church to the side I was on.

  What would I do when he looked in here? Would I rely on the magic of the robe I was behind? Would I jump on Xing?

  His light was shining up. It was more towards the walls than down under the benches. He came very close.

  “There you are,” he said. I took a deep breath and held it as when I dove into the water.

  He couldn’t have seen me, but maybe he’d heard me. If I looked only from the corner of my eyes, maybe the sea monster wouldn’t notice me.

  “You must think I’m weak,” he said furiously. “Well, you are wrong.” I didn’t think those things.

  “I defy you,” he continued. “I will be feared and respected.” I did fear him. I felt myself become nauseated.

  “Grandfather Sheng Li Peng you cannot trouble me anymore,” he said. Was the Sheng portrait still by the closet?

  “I will destroy you. I’ll burn you,” he said. The flashlight waved wildly as Xing ranted in rage.

  “You will not be here to stare down at me anymore with your superiority. I will rid this place of your likeness and then your ghost will be banished.”

  Suddenly, his gun fired. It was very loud.

  “Ah!” yelled Xing. Was he coming for me and shooting into the closet? I swung my head back at the inevitability of what was to come.

  There was a small thud on the floor in the church. Then, a louder thud came.

  “Ah!” yelled Xing. It was how he cried.

  Xing yelled something in Chinese. The footsteps of two police officers came into the building. They had a flashlight too.

  “He’s shot himself in the leg,” said one. “Get a bandage.” Xing kept crying.

  I was very close, but I wasn’t going to reveal myself to help. What could I do? I was slightly relieved that Xing wasn’t searching for me and the police were preoccupied.

  The other man left then came back with something.

  “He’s bleeding fast. We need to take him.”

  “He hit an artery,” said the others. “He’ll die before we get him to Fusang.”

  I thought of the robe I was behind. Would it stop the bleeding? They already had a cloth. I held back. In his last breath Xing might tell them to shoot me.

  “Mr. President?” yelled one man. Xing wasn’t crying anymore.

  “He only has a minute or so left.” They yelled for him again. Then they knelt over him quietly.

  I tried to breathe slowly so that they wouldn’t hear me.

  “Is he dead?” one asked. I heard some motion.

  “Yes,” said the other.

  They were both silent again. They didn’t sound like they were distraught over his death.

  Now that the President was gone, would they continue searching for me? Did they still follow his insane orders when he could no longer demand it?

  Additionally, I still had no idea why they were looking for me. Maybe with Xing dead the reasons for my search had evaporated.

  “We need to take him back to Fusang.”

  “He will bleed on the seats. Can we put him in the back?” asked the other.

  “No, we have to pretend we are bringing him back for help. He must be in the front.”

  I began to calm down because I could tell it was almost over. However, I stayed quiet.

  They shuffled around, and eventually were ready to carry him out. A minute later, they drove off. They left a flashlight shining on the floor.

  I reached forward to swing open the door. The light shined on a pool of blood. It was dripping through cracks to the ground below.

  Xing would stain the floor boards as he had stained the church and the lives of the Kupe. The Sheng ancestor would look down to what his heir had made.

  The blood stain would be Xing’s bequest. It would be a reminder of him.

  The President was a part of the extended family of the island. Their blood was a part of him, and likewise he was in them, but that didn’t mean that he should always be on the floor as a reminder. It was better to recall better times between the Kupe and Sheng.

  I went out to look for cleaning supplies. I shined the flashlight into the closet. It only had a broom. My heart was still beating quickly, but I felt less afraid.

  I went outside. It was dark even though it wasn’t very late. I heard some thunder.

  James, Elias, and Henry came when they saw me.

  “Are you okay?” they asked. They pointed at blood on the flashlight.

  “I am fine. That is from Xing,” I said. James hugged me.

  I explained to them what happened then I asked for rags to mop up the blood. James went to get something.

  Henry went to tell the people the news, and Elias followed.

  “What will happen now that Xing is dead?” I asked James.

  “I don’t know,” he replied.

  My troubles weren’t over even with Xing dead. Just because the President was gone didn’t mean that the country would turn on a dime. They might continue the exact same policies, if as Xing had said, he had been President because the people wanted it.

  I cleaned up the floor. James helped. At his house, it took a long time for me to fall asleep. I’d been too excited, and the storm was noisy. Eventually, it only rained, and that sound was soothing.

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