by Russ Watts
His final stop that morning was further out of the city, a twenty minute drive south. The Martin Luther King Junior Freeway was snarled up by an accident that Don couldn’t quite see, and he hoped it would be clear by the time he had to leave. He took a turn down Market Street, and then Imperial Avenue, before bringing the car to a halt underneath a Norfolk Island pine. There were a few other cars parked up too, and as he got out, he saw the silver Ford Escort three down from his. Don’s mood was already turning sour, and the sight of the car only added to his sagging spirit. He walked up to the gates of the cemetery and let a crying elderly couple go ahead of him. Should he go in, or wait?
Every year he visited, the place looked immaculate. The gravestones were clean, there were fresh flowers dotted about the place, and the grass was cut, always one inch high. He rubbed his bottom lip. She was there; he could see her, bent down at the grave. She wore black, of course, and a hat, always a hat. He was impressed she could still bend at her age. Maybe he should wait a bit longer. She had probably been there for a couple of hours already. A house finch flew overhead, and a black sedan drove slowly past, its engine purring. Don watched the elderly couple reach an unmarked grave. The earth was freshly dug and the woman was sobbing into her husband’s shoulder. He watched the old man take a red kerchief from a pocket and pass it to his wife. Had they just lost a child? The woman kneeled down and placed a bouquet of pink roses on the mound of dirt. She then reached into a pocket and took something else out. It twinkled in the sunlight and Don could only see that it was some sort of jewellery. The woman put it next to the flowers.
A daughter? No parent should lose their child. That’s not fair. It’s bad enough to lose friends, or a sibling. But a child is not fair.
Don watched as the woman stood and the husband put his arm around her. He looked back at the gates and Don caught his eye. The man looked placid and calm, yet, his eyes betrayed his true thoughts. Don felt guilty for watching them grieve.
He’s being strong for his wife, and he’s sad, but he’s angry. There’s anger and hatred in those eyes. Hatred for whoever caused the death of his daughter. I don’t blame you. Not at all. If He had anything to do with it, then I’m with you on that one. I hope you get your justice one day.
Don used the old man’s energy and walked through the gates into the cemetery. He felt anger too, but not for the dead, and not for Him. He felt anger that he had even hesitated. He had a duty to perform, and he was letting her get in the way again.
You don’t have a monopoly on grief, you know. You can’t hog him forever. I have every right to be here, as much as you do, if not more. Deal with it.
Don walked up to the grave. The woman in black heard him approach and stood up. When she turned to face him, Don could see tears streaming down her face. Her weary old face was wrinkly, and her slender frame too thin. A silver cross hung around her neck and nestled into the folds of skin. A tissue fell from her pocket onto the freshly mown grass, as her red, puffy eyes looked him up and down.
“I wondered when you’d show your face,” she said blankly.
“I was giving you some space.” Suddenly, Don felt cold and tucked his hands into his suit pockets. “How have you been?”
The woman snorted. “If you ever stopped by, you’d know. Is it too much to ask? But I don’t expect I’ll see you anytime soon. You’d have to face up to what you did then, instead of running…”
“Do we have to? Here? Now? Can’t we just…can’t we just come and see him in peace? We used to…”
The woman laughed, and her eyes creased together. There was no lightness or joy in the laugh. It was a laugh to sign off the end of the world. “What would your father think of you, Don? God rest his soul. He tried to teach you right and wrong. He tried and look what happened, dead before his time. Oh, I know that it must all be a part of His plan, but I don’t know what He was thinking when He took him away from me and left me with you. Look at you, bold as brass. You think if you put on a smart suit and turn up here once a year, you’ll be forgiven? Well not by me, and certainly not by Him. God is waiting for you, Don.”
“Jesus Christ, give it a rest!” Don was aware he had raised his voice, and remembered the elderly couple at their child’s grave. He went closer to the woman in black, so he could speak in a more reverent tone, more appropriate to the setting. “When are you going to accept it? What happened, happened, and it was not my fault. I seem to remember forgiveness and respect playing a big part in our Sunday school classes. You should know - you dragged me there every week. Yet, you seem to have forgotten that part. Why is it all wickedness and sin? Why is it you can’t…”
The woman drew her jacket together as more tears fell. She brushed past Don without looking at him. “Save it. Until you face up to your responsibilities, you’re as dead to me as he is. One day, you’ll wind up in Heaven or Hell, there’s no escaping that. Which one you’ll end up in is up to you. All I can do is pray for your redemption, and hope you find the way.”
Don stared at the grave. He didn’t want it to go that way. He wanted this to be a chance to move on, for reuniting, not pushing her further away. He tried to pretend he wasn’t affected, but he was. It wasn’t fair. All he wanted to do was pay his respects, and she had ruined it. Again.
“Goodbye, Mom,” he said.
The woman in black didn’t answer and kept walking.
CHAPTER 5
OCTOBER WEDNESDAY 16TH 15:04
“When you said you had a surprise for me, this isn’t exactly what I was hoping for.”
Hamish grinned at Amanda as the truck pulled out of the maintenance gates, finally leaving them alone. He pulled her close and hugged her. “God, I’ve missed you.”
Amanda laughed, pushing him away. “I missed you too, but you stink. You should know that. You stink, like really bad.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t have time for a shower. We came straight here.” Hamish took her hand and they began walking back to the holding pens. “So what do you think? Is it a breed of shark? A whale? I haven’t seen Dad so excited about anything in a long time. He thinks he’s going to get rich and famous.”
“He could be right about that one. Zola is bouncing off the walls. I don’t even know where to start, Hamish. I’m going to have to do a lot of tests, but right now, I have no idea. It’s not a shark or a whale. I can tell you that for free.”
Amanda heard a cheer come from over a fenced wall and knew it was for Pete and Poppy. Jay was taking the afternoon show for her, so she could meet Hamish and their new guest. She reached for the door, entered the code for the keypad, and together they entered a bare corridor. It was cold and their footsteps echoed as they walked.
“So how much do you think Zola will pay for it? You’ve told me she’s a hard-ass, but we’re not going to sell it cheaply. Dad will be back soon to talk money, so I figured I’d get a head start, try and butter her up.” Hamish squeezed Amanda’s hand. “You realise this could set us up. I mean, if this is worth what we think, we are looking at a potential lottery win here. We could do so much with that money. Buy a house, invest in the business. I could upgrade the trawler and Dad wouldn’t have to worry about his retirement anymore.”
“Retirement?” Amanda looked worried. “Since when was Curtis retiring? He’s not…ill, is he?”
“Heck no, he’s fitter than me. He’ll live to be one hundred. No, I have more news.”
They stopped outside the door to the holding pen. Splashing sounds came from behind the closed door and Hamish looked at Amanda in the dull light of the corridor. Even with the rank smell of fish around, the damp air and the monster only a few feet away, she still looked beautiful. “Dad’s retiring and giving me the trawler. He wants me to run the business.”
Amanda’s eyes widened and she embraced Hamish. “I’m so pleased. I’m proud of you! No wonder he’s excited. Hamish, things are looking up. This find, this animal, is amazing, absolutely amazing. Now, the business too? Heck, if I can get you into a shower, I
might even contemplate kissing you.”
Hamish kissed her and she kissed him back. It wasn’t the most romantic of places to kiss, but he didn’t care. It had been too long since he had tasted Amanda’s sweet lips. “Maybe later, you can join me for that shower?”
“You can count on it,” said Amanda, as she opened the door and held it open for Hamish.
The room was colder than the corridor, and Hamish felt himself shiver as he walked up the narrow gangway over the pool. With one hand in Amanda’s, he carefully placed the other on the handrail as he walked. The cavernous room was filled with the splashing sounds of the creature that swam below them. It moved from side to side, barely able to run in the confines of the pool, even though it was fifty feet long and as far wide.
“This was the best we could do at short notice,” said Zola noticing Hamish approach. “I wish you’d rung ahead.”
“Sorry, we were a bit busy,” answered Hamish. “We kind of had our hands full.”
“So I see.” Zola looked down at the creature beneath her. “It’s breath-taking. Where do you even find something like this?”
Hamish looked at Amanda, and then back to Zola. “Well, Mrs Bertoni, you are not going to find anything else out there like this. We were out in the Pacific and headed for where we’d got a big catch of Herring last week. We’re not really sure what happened, but there was some debris in the water, and a life raft, but no sign of life. We thought maybe another trawler or a private yacht had gone down, so we were poking around, but like I said, there was no one around, and just as we were about to leave, this thing appeared.
“It was just floating on the water, so we hooked it in and pulled it up onto deck. It was a bit of a struggle I can tell you. It took all three of us to reel it in and it barely fit. Roy had to get hold of its tail and curve it right from the stern to the bow. He wasn’t too happy about having to touch it either.”
“I can well imagine,” said Amanda.
Hamish stole a glance at Amanda and fought the urge to laugh, remembering how Roy had been loath to get near the animal, least of all, touch it.
“But how did you get it on board? I mean, it’s thrashing around now, and there is no way you could handle it with just the three of you,” said Zola.
“When we hauled it aboard, we thought it was dead. It wasn’t moving at all, and with all the debris in the water, we assumed something had happened to kill it. We lugged it onto the deck and we just supposed we were bringing back a dead animal. Dad thought you would like it as a specimen, something a bit different to showcase. He knew it was different.”
“It’s that all right,” said Zola. “Look at those teeth. Magnificent. So how on earth did you get it back? I mean, even if it was ‘dead’ when you found it, what brought it back to life?”
“We got lucky really. Dad was worried that if another storm came up while we were coming back, that it might fall off the boat and we’d lose it for good. So we tethered it down real tight. He and Roy lashed it to the deck so there was no way we could lose it. Bloody good job too, or I wouldn’t be stood here now. It seemed to wake up this morning. Came as quite a shock.”
“Who woke it?” asked Amanda.
“That would be Roy,” said Hamish, once again stifling a laugh. “He was poking around with it, sticking the boathooks into it, when all of a sudden, it just jerked to life. Roy practically had a heart attack. He fell over and I helped him up. He was fine, but his pride has taken a bashing in the last twenty four hours.”
“Hamish, you should’ve been more careful, what if you hadn’t come back to me?” Amanda looked down at the creature beneath her in the tank. It was more docile now, just treading water near the top of the water.
“Anyway, then it quietened down again, thankfully, and we had no trouble out of it. I don’t know if it was sleeping, but it didn’t move an inch. It was only when we got it to the pool here that it seemed to wake up again,” said Hamish. “So, you interested in taking this off my hands?” he asked Zola.
“Well, with Amanda working here I was hoping you might consider donating it, in the interests of scientific research, of course.” Zola put on her best plastic smile.
Hamish grunted. “Mrs Bertoni, I love Amanda, but not that much.”
Amanda gave him a playful punch on the arm as the smile fell from Zola’s face.
“I tell you what, Mrs Bertoni, you come up with a figure. Then add a zero. I’m sure we can work something out. I would hate to have to take this magnificent creature back or find a zoo for it. I mean it’s up to you, but Animal World up in Vallejo would be fascinated to see what we got here.”
Zola put her hand over Hamish’s. “Hamish, darling, don’t worry, there’s no need to be so hasty. I will sort this out with you and your father. There’s no need to speak to anyone else. Why don’t you come back to my office now, and we can see what we can do. You must be starving after your trip, why don’t I order us some afternoon tea and we can hammer out a deal. What do you say?”
“Honey, you mind if I disappear for a bit?” Hamish knew he had Zola right where he wanted her. Whatever figure she suggested, he was going to make sure he got double. His father had worked hard his whole life, and he deserved a big payday.
Amanda nodded and looked at the clock on the wall. “Go ahead. I’m just going to start having a look at our new friend and then I’ve got the dolphin show at four. I’ll see you later. I finish at six. Meet you then?”
“Oh, and Amanda, can you get me a report by six?” asked Zola. “I want to know what this thing is. Jay can take your shows for the rest of the day.”
Hamish kissed Amanda and then followed Zola out of the room, leaving Amanda alone.
“Now then,” said Amanda, “just what are you exactly.” She climbed down to the water’s edge and peered in at the monster. It was impressive, truly like nothing else she had ever seen. Its basic physical structure was reminiscent of an alligator, but the head was shaped differently, and overall, it just wasn’t the same. She noticed the creature was quiet now. Its tail was languid and even its eyes looked like they were closing. If it were going to sleep, it would make her job easier. She had two hours to come up with what this thing was. “Right, you and I have work to do.”
OCTOBER WEDNESDAY 16TH 18:17
Don slipped into the boardroom quietly, hoping he wouldn’t be noticed. He arrived at the park late, well after the start of his shift, and so hoped to avoid Zola for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, he hadn’t factored in the arrival of a giant sea monster, and so, when he had finally arrived at the park several hours late, Zola had been on the war path looking for him.
After she had done balling him out in the privacy of her office, she softened. Apparently, Amanda had tried to cover for him, and had let it out that today was a special anniversary. He was a bit annoyed that Amanda had let slip, but he knew he couldn’t blame her. He was the one who had decided to go to the Old Station after the cemetery, instead of work. He had been the only one drinking instead of working, and he had been the only one who had decided it was better to get drunk than to turn on his phone. If he had, he would’ve come across the ten voicemails and texts a lot sooner than he had. He also would’ve arrived at work in a far more sober, fresher mood than he was in right now.
Once Zola brought him up to date, Don quickly organised the monster’s removal from the temporary holding pen, and had it transferred to a larger tank. He reasoned that if they didn’t know what they were dealing with, they needed to take precautions. The tank where the Orcas were kept for monitoring when they showed signs of ill health was the largest they had, other than Shakti Stadium itself. The last hour had been a bit of a blur, and he hadn’t found time to catch up with Amanda yet. He was intrigued to know what was going on, and after finally organising night shifts to watch the new arrival, he surreptitiously sneaked into the meeting late.
“Right on time, Don, as expected,” said Zola. She was stood at the front of the room with Amanda. In front of her w
ere three rows of chairs. Only half of them were being used, filled by essential members of the park staff for this urgent meeting: Marketing, Advertising, Accounts, and Security.
Don saw Amanda wink at him and knew he might be in the doghouse with Zola, but Amanda hadn’t a cruel bone in her body.
“Amanda was about to tell us what she has found out. I’m sure we’re all waiting with baited breath, so I’ll let her get on with it. I don’t need to remind all of you here that this is completely confidential. What is said tonight stays in this room.” Zola sat down in the front row. On her left was Jay, Amanda’s co-worker, and to Zola’s right, Don saw a young man. He didn’t recognise him, but had an idea it could be Hamish.
“Well, I haven’t had long to examine it, so I am not fully prepared. What was delivered to us this afternoon is nothing short of a miracle. If you thought Jay’s four p.m. dolphin show was impressive, then hold onto your seats, ‘cause you haven’t seen anything yet.”
Amanda held up six large prints she had made up of some photographs she had taken. The first one was a close up of the creature’s head. “See here, the ridge-line of the jaw goes all the way back. Its mouth is larger than an alligator’s. It also has more teeth. Your average ‘gator has twenty-four teeth. Our guest has, by my count, about sixty. It also has four elongated incisors, two on each side, so we can safely assume it is a carnivore.”