Fangtooth

by Shaun Jeffrey

  When Jack had his food, he took it outside and sat at one of the two tables. Shazam looked up longingly. “Sorry, girl, but this is all mine.” The dog whined softly, and Jack relented, broke some of the bread off, and tossed it to her.

  A few white clouds gathered on the horizon. Jack stared at them as he ate. A boat came into view. He watched it make its way towards the harbour; saw Zander step on deck and moor the boat up.

  Jack heard a car door open, and turned to see a short squat man exiting from a black BMW. The man lit a cigarette, hunched his shoulders and walked towards the harbour. Zander stood on the deck of his boat and nodded in acknowledgment as the man approached.

  Zander looked around quickly, then threw down a white package, which the man deftly caught. Without saying a word, the man reached into his pocket, withdrew a small packet of his own, and tossed it up to Zander. Then the man turned and started walking away.

  Now that he was walking back to the car, Jack had his first proper look at the man. Short and squat, he had a round face, short hair and deep-set eyes overshadowed by thick brows. He smoked his cigarette from the corner of his mouth, lips curled around it to exhale. For a brief instant, the man’s gaze met Jack’s and they stared at one another. Jack looked away first. He didn’t know why, but the man scared him.

  When he looked back at the boat, he saw Zander clambering down onto the quay with a battered duffel bag thrown over his shoulder. The sudden sound of the BMW’s engine disturbed the relative silence. Jack kept his eyes averted as it drove by, but he thought he could feel the driver’s eyes burrowing into him. He looked back up in time to see Zander disappearing inside a small wooden outbuilding on the edge of the harbour.

  He had seen enough in the city to know there was something fishy going on that probably didn’t actually involve fish.

  Jack wolfed the remainder of his food, untied Shazam and then hurried across the road to the harbour. The building Zander had entered was a faded red painted structure that bore testament to the harsh weather with its buckling walls. Shazam sniffed around the bottom of the door, her ears cocked. Thinking she might alert Zander to their presence, Jack pulled her away. Around the side of the building, he tiptoed towards a small window. Caked with years of dirt, the glass was an impenetrable screen. Using the tips of his fingers, Jack carefully scraped away a small viewing area, and then he cupped his hands around his eyes and peered inside.

  He could just make out a figure crouched on the ground prizing up a floorboard.

  “Hey, what do you think you’re doin’?”

  Startled, Jack spun around to see Rocky standing not twenty feet away. His pulse went up.

  Great. This was all he needed.

  “If it isn’t my girl you’re sniffing around, it’s other people’s business,” Rocky said.

  Shazam stood with her hackles raised. “I’m just getting acquainted with the area.”

  “Acquainted. Mr. Lardy Da Big Shot from the city is getting acquainted. What say I acquaint you with my fists?”

  “Try that and my dog will take a chunk out of your leg.”

  “You think I’m scared of a dog.”

  Shazam growled softly.

  Rocky coughed and took a step back. “You’d better not let that mutt anywhere near me, otherwise—”

  “Otherwise what?” Jack asked, enjoying seeing Rocky backpedal.

  “Otherwise I’ll make both of you pay.”

  “Whatever. Come on Shazam, let’s go.”

  “Shazam. What a fucking stupid name,” Rocky said as he guffawed into his hand.

  “That from someone called Rocky. You’re priceless, you know that.” He knew he was treading dangerously, but he couldn’t back down. Not now. He had to make a stand from the start, otherwise Rocky and his sort would think they could do what they wanted with him. Although he practiced Judo, it meant ‘the gentle way’, as the translation of the name implied, and was more self-defence than kick-ass.

  Heart pumping fast, Jack walked towards Rocky. For a moment, it didn’t look as though he was going to move, but then Shazam took the lead and he begrudgingly stepped aside.

  Back out on the main road, Jack breathed a sigh of relief. Without looking back, he walked along the side of the harbour, intending to head home.

  What happened next took him completely by surprise. He didn’t even have time to react. One moment he was walking along, the next someone pushed him from behind. He instinctively let go of Shazam’s lead and flailed his arms to maintain his balance, but it was no good. Pushed too far, gravity took over. Where a moment ago there had been solid ground beneath his feet, now there was only empty air. With his heart in his throat, Jack fell over the edge of the harbour, and down towards the cold water below.

  He closed his eyes and landed with a loud splash. Although the water yielded, searing pain shot up his back. The water was as cold as it looked and he descended into its depths. He kicked out and his left leg struck something submerged beneath the surface. This pain was more acute, more centralized – it felt like someone had poured acid onto his skin. Bubbles spurted from his mouth as he gagged. When he opened his eyes, the saltwater stung; everything was blurred. Disorientated, he kicked and clawed out, striving to escape the fluid embrace. When he surfaced, he sucked in a deep lungful of air and trod water for a moment to compose himself. Up on the quay, Shazam barked loudly, her head visible as she looked down at him.

  The pain from his leg was becoming unbearable. He lifted it in the water to caress the afflicted area and flinched at the resultant sting. His jeans were ripped where he had cut himself on something. Blood trailed away from his leg like a ribbon, wafted on the ebb and flow. Then he remembered the supposed shark attack, and with it came the thought that sharks were attracted to blood, could sniff it out from miles away. And here he was, sending out a personal invitation.

  Panicked, he looked around the harbour walls for a way out, but he couldn’t see anything, no ladder, no launching ramp, nothing. A line of green plankton and barnacles on the harbour wall indicated where the usual high tide mark was; he was about three foot lower in the water. The bricks looked too slimy to climb. Then he remembered Zander’s boat. He turned and looked at it, the only apparent way he could see to haul himself out of the water. He swam towards the vessel, leaving a murky red trail in his wake. His clothes billowed around him, making progress difficult.

  While swimming, he kept glancing around, terrified of seeing a fin break the surface. His heart beat like a drum in his chest, furthering his panic as he wondered if the sound was amplified in the water, another distress beacon to attract a hungry predator.

  He swept his right hand into the water and something clammy brushed against his fingers. The panic he felt before was magnified a hundredfold.

  Shark!

  Terrified of losing his hand, Jack lifted it out of the water – to find there was something attached to it. In a fit of panic, he flung it away, but it was only a piece of seaweed. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he heard someone laughing.

  Desperate to get out of the water, he continued towards the boat and hauled himself up using the tyres that hung from the sides of the boat. The weight of his soaked clothes made it difficult, but eventually he clambered over the side and lay on the deck, breathing hard.

  The deck smelled slightly of fish. He didn’t know how anyone could stomach working with such a stench all day and he quickly stood up. The thought of all those helpless fish slopping around underfoot made him angry.

  A quick glance at the harbour revealed no sign of Rocky. Shazam stood at the edge of the quay, looking back with her tail wagging and her tongue lolling.

  It must have been Rocky that pushed him, but Jack was surprised he hadn’t hung around to gloat. He berated himself for not hearing him come up behind him. Even Shazam had apparently not heard anything, otherwise she would have alerted him with one of her ear-piercing barks.

  The wet clothes made him feel uncomfortable, and he shook himself to tr
y to shake some of the water off. As he passed the wheelhouse, he glanced inside and caught sight of a small package on a table, similar to the one Zander had thrown down to the man on the dock, but far smaller.

  He stared quickly at the outbuilding Zander had entered. Satisfied no one was around to see, Jack tested the door. It was unlocked. With his pulse pounding in his ears, he opened the door and slipped inside the room. He had never broken in anywhere before, and he felt both guilty and exhilarated. Shazam barked loudly, and he silently urged her to be quiet in case she alerted Zander to his presence.

  All manner of electrical devices filled the wheelhouse. Jack recognised sonar screens and a transmitter, but nothing else. With glass windows all around, he felt vulnerable, and not wanting to waste any time, he picked the small package up and immediately smelt the familiar aroma of cannabis. He opened a corner and pressed his finger into the brown substance beneath the wrapper. It felt soft, which meant it was fresh cannabis resin. He didn’t know how, but Zander was smuggling drugs.

  Although it was tough to break, he managed to tear a chunk off before wrapping the package back up.

  With the cannabis safely in his pocket, Jack scurried out of the wheelhouse, ran across the boat, and scrambled up onto the quay. Shazam bounded across to meet him and licked his hand.

  Satisfied no one had seen, Jack turned, intending to find somewhere quiet to roll a joint, only to find Lillian Brown standing before him. Before he could react, the old woman grabbed his arm and squeezed until he squealed.

  Chapter 16

  “You little bastard,” Lillian Brown snarled as she squeezed Jack’s arm. A wild look sparkled in her eyes. Shazam barked loudly.

  “Let go of me, you crazy bitch,” Jack screamed.

  Lillian squeezed tighter. Jack wanted to punch her, but he couldn’t hit a woman, not even one as mad as this bitch. He grabbed her hand to try to prise her fingers apart, but her grip was too strong.

  The two grey streaks in Lillian’s hair accentuated her piercing grey eyes. Her lips curled back, and when she spoke, spittle flew out and struck Jack’s cheek.

  “It’s all your fault,” she said. “You and your kind come down here and bring all the bad luck with you.

  “Just let me go you stupid cow,” Jack said, trying to remain calm. “You’re coming with me,” Lillian said as she started to drag him towards the road.

  Jack tried to resist, but despite Lillian’s thin stature, she seemed to possess the strength of the damned.

  Shazam ran around the pair of them, barking wildly, seeming unsure what to do.

  “What’s all the commotion?” Zander asked as he appeared from the outbuilding.

  “You’ll see. You’ll see,” Lillian screeched. “Come with me, you’ll see.”

  “Tell this crazy cow to let me go,” Jack said.

  “You look wet kid. Been swimming with your clothes on?” Zander replied, ignoring Jack’s plea.

  Jack tried to brace his feet on the pavement, but it was no good. Pain radiated from his injured leg.

  Rather than intervene, Zander followed.

  Lillian pushed Jack into the Sheet and Anchor bar. Jack counted at least fifteen people inside the room.

  “Here he is,” Lillian screeched.

  Everyone turned to look. Graham stopped cleaning glasses on the bar and leaned forward. “What’s all this about?”

  Lillian pushed Jack into the middle of the room. “Ever since this lad and his father arrived, there’s been nothing but bad luck.”

  A man with ginger hair stood up from his seat at the bar and raised his hands. Jack recognised him as the man from the shop, Duncan someone or other.

  “Come on now, Lillian. Let the lad go.”

  “She’s right,” Zander said as he walked into the bar. “I’ve never had it so bad. It’s as though the fish have all disappeared.”

  “Yes, what about the Silver Queen?” Lillian snapped.

  “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Jack said, his cheeks starting to burn.

  “The Silver Queen was a boat that disappeared just before you arrived. Went missing with all hands,” Lillian said.

  “That’s nothing to do with me.”

  “Of course it’s to do with you. You’ve brought bad luck to the village. I told everyone it would happen. Didn’t I tell you? When you start letting outsiders buy up the houses, it creates bad karma.”

  “Leave the boy alone,” someone said.

  “No, let her speak,” a man with short hair and leather hardened skin said.

  “She’s got a point,” piped up a middle-aged woman with her black hair tied back in a ponytail. A few of the other patrons nodded in agreement.

  “And then there was that attack,” Lillian said. More patrons nodded.

  “And there was that woman, pulled from the sea like she’d seen a ghost,” someone said.

  Graham held his hand up. “There’ll be a logical explanation.”

  “We don’t need an explanation. We know what’s happened. We need to get rid of the newcomers,” Lillian said.

  Jack trembled. He couldn’t believe they were talking this way. The animosity directed towards him filled the air. He fought back tears. Didn’t want to show any sign of weakness.

  “So what, you want to chase them out of town, is that what you’re saying?” Graham asked.

  “Something like that,” Lillian replied.

  “Hey now hold on,” Jack said, finally finding his voice. “We didn’t come here looking for trouble.” Rather than appear timid, he held his head up and maintained eye contact with Lillian. Judo had taught him that predators choose victims who appear unaware, timid or lost, and this was no time to be any of those.

  “Then what did you come here for?” Lillian spat back.

  “To make a fresh start.” All eyes turned towards the door, where Jack’s father stood. “Now can someone tell me what the hell’s going on?”

  Lillian released her grip.

  Relieved to see his dad, Jack hurried across and stood next to him. Lillian shook her head in disgust. “You outsiders are all the same. All you do is bring misfortune.”

  Bruce grimaced. “What are you talking about? Surely you people aren’t going to listen to this madwoman.”

  Graham puffed out his chest. “You can’t come here and tell us not to listen to one of our own.” The crowd made grunts of agreement.

  “Everybody needs to just calm down,” Duncan said as he stood up and placed himself between the two factions. “This is no way to treat newcomers. It’s bad enough we’ve lost business to the new resort down the coast without trying to run people out of town.”

  “Yes, they were newcomers too,” Lillian said, grinning maniacally as she sprung on Duncan’s argument. “They put most of you out of business. Came from the city with their big plans, and now look what it’s done to us.”

  “You can’t blame everything on outsiders,” Duncan said. “Where would we have been for all those years if people hadn’t come here on holiday?”

  Lillian cackled. “Yes, they built us up all right, just so they could knock us down.”

  “Can someone tell me what this is about? I’m sure we can straighten it out.” Bruce said.

  Jack shook his head. “They’re trying to blame us for the lack of fish and for the recent incidents.”

  “That’s crazy.”

  “Look, look, he’s calling us crazy,” Lillian shouted.

  Bruce shook his head. “That’s not what I said. You’re trying to twist my words around.”

  “Will everyone just calm down,” Duncan said. His permanently red cheeks looked overly flushed.

  “How can we calm down, Duncan?” a large man wearing a hat and sporting a well-worn suit shouted. “As if it’s not bad enough these people have left us with nothing, now we can’t even make a living. Do you know how much money I earned last year? Less than twelve thousand pounds. It’s not right. A man should be able to support his family.”

/>   “Aye, John’s right,” Zander said. “We don’t need outsiders coming here disrupting our way of life.”

  “What way of life?” Bruce said. “By the looks of it, you need all the outsiders you can get to bring money back into the village.”

  “We’ll manage,” Zander replied.

  Bruce grabbed Jack’s arm. “Come on, we’re going.”

  Not wanting to argue, Jack followed his dad out of the bar. Shazam was sitting outside. Her tail started wagging when she saw Jack and Bruce.

  “Some good you were,” Jack said, scratching the dog’s head.

  As they walked away, Jack glanced back, worried they might be followed. When he didn’t see anyone, he relaxed a little.

  “So much for a peaceful life in the country,” Bruce said.

  Jack could see his dad clenching his jaw. “I told you it was a mistake moving here. Remember Tenerife?”

  Bruce didn’t reply, but Jack could see by his expression that he was inclined to agree.

  When his dad did eventually speak, he said, “So how come you’re all wet? And where did you get those cuts? Did that madwoman do it?”

  “I tripped and fell in the sea.”

  Bruce visibly blanched. He stopped walking and grabbed Jack by both arms. Jack grimaced.

  “Take it easy,” Jack said.

  “You’ve been in the sea? Promise me you won’t go in again.”

  “Hey, chill. It’s no big deal.

  “Jack, promise me.” He squeezed tighter.

  “Jesus, don’t blow a fuse. Okay, I promise.”

  Bruce let out a breath then released Jack. “I’m sorry, but there’s something going on out there.” He pointed to the sea, lips pursed.

  “I know. The shark, remember.”

  “Yes … the shark.” He had a faraway, wistful look about him before he turned and started walking again.

  Jack fell in step beside him. He gazed out to sea as he walked. Wished he was anywhere rather than here, even back in Tenerife.

  Chapter 17

  The night swept in across the sea. Jack sat in the living room, looking out the window. He had changed out of the wet clothes when he arrived home, quickly transferring the cannabis to his new jeans in case his dad found it.