She flicks on the windshield wipers, and they squeak because it’s only
just begun to drizzle.
“What else should I expect?”
Kurt rolls down his window and lets the drizzle hit his face. “You
already know how much the shift hurts. It does get easier, not because
it hurts less but because you get used to the pain. Your sense of
smell and hearing should be accelerated. Your libido will increase-”
“Whoa. Hey, not in front of my mom.”
She goes, “How do you think you got here?”
Uncomfortable hot flash. “Please never say that again.”
I lean in to Kurt and whisper. “Bro, where does it go?”
His brows are knit together, and he tilts his head to the side
like he’s never seen my species before. “Oh, you mean your phallus.”
I elbow him.
He shakes his head at me, like he would hit me back if his duty
weren’t to keep me unharmed, or whatever it is he’s supposed to do. He
leans into my ear and whispers quickly, “Not to worry. There’s a
pocket.”
We sit straight up again. Mom’s taking the right into the mall
parking lot. A pocket? Great, just when I thought I had it figured out
the regular way.
We walk through the revolving doors.
Thalia keeps going, either because she doesn’t know she’s supposed
to get out by herself, or because she’s having too much fun spinning.
“You have the attention span of a goldfish,” I tell her, wrapping
my arm around her neck and giving her a noogie. For a moment, I
imagine this is what having a bigger family feels like. A slightly
pretentious older brother, a jumpy little sister, and a mom everyone
stares at when we’re walking around the mall.
“Actually, I’ve seen very well behaved goldfish,” Kurt says.
“Of course you have,” I grumble.
“I think I’ll take Thalia to Glittering World, and you boys can go
do your own thing,” my mom says. They go to the escalator, and I stand
a little longer and watch Thalia try to get on it. She reminds me of
girls on the street playing double Dutch, waiting for just the right
moment.
“You wouldn’t think she’s nearly half a century old,” Kurt sighs.
“I told her to stay, but I knew she wouldn’t.”
“What about your parents?”
“Our parents were killed during a battle with a rebel group of
Hungarian dragons. There aren’t many left, but they’re ferocious, and
they believe the whole of this plane and the others belong to them.”
“Is there like a mermaid heaven or something?”
He doesn’t laugh, which I’m thankful for. “We are of the sea,” he
says, “and to the sea we return. An ancient merman like the king,
would become a great coral reef, no matter what the climate. Someone
like me, like my parents, would turn to surf.”
“Just like that.”
“Precisely.”
A burst of giggles erupts behind Kurt. A cluster of girls is
pointing at us. I put my hand up when the flash of a camera hits my
eye. What is their deal? Kurt glances behind me, and shock registers
on his normally calm features.
When I turn around, every fish in the aquarium window of Exotic
Pet Planet is gathered around my frame with their mouths pressed
against the glass. I walk to the right and they follow.
Between that and the way Kurt’s T-shirt keeps riding up his abs,
we’re drawing too much attention. Kurt clears his throat and picks up
the pace beside me.
“I believe we should get me a change of wardrobe as soon as
possible.”
I pat him on the back and jump onto the escalator. “Don’t worry.
You’ll blend in, in no time.”
•••
“For someone who is just now human and has free range to buy
anything he wants, you sure are a bare-necessities kinda guy.” I know
if my mom gave me her credit card, I’d go nuts.
Kurt looks more comfortable in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved
white T-shirt that actually fit. “I learn to live without much. You
leave fewer things behind that way.”
We stand at the top floor of the mall against the railing and look
down at the crowd. At people with worries like
two-for-the-price-of-one sweaters, not strange cravings like wanting
to jump into the fountain and splash around. But strangely, I’m having
a good time, and the ink doesn’t burn anymore.
Then the stench hits me hard. It smells like rotting fish. Kurt
smells it too, because we both turn around. There’s a woman on one
knee. Her dress is big and gray around her slender frame. Dull and
thinning brown hair frizzes around her head. Everything about her says
homeless. Except for her face. Her skin is smooth like pale porcelain,
and she has sapphire eyes that stare hungrily at me. “I pledge myself
to you,” she says. “I do.”
I’m too stunned. Beside me, I see Kurt reach for something at his
side, then realize nothing is there. He grabs the woman by her arm,
hard.
“Whoa, what are you doing?”
“Stand back, Lord Sea.” Kurt shakes her. “Who sent you?”
The woman’s eyes are cold and laughing. She sniffs at the air.
“Don’t trust them. Look what they did to me.” She’s about to pull down
the neck of her dress when I stop her.
“Kurt, let her go.” And he does, without questioning me.
She gives me one last bow, kisses the back of my hand, and pushes
through the sea of shoppers.
“What am I, the mermaid flag? How come the fish aren’t gathering
around your head and following you where you walk? How come they don’t
pledge their allegiance to you?”
He rolls the sleeves of the white T-shirt up to his elbows. For
the first time since he popped into my shower, his brow creases.
Everything about him says that all he’s missing is a sword and
something to hit. “We need to find Lady-your mother. Now.”
•••
This is the first time we have ever found a parking spot so close
to the boardwalk. I get out of the car first and run up the wooden
incline, past Nathan’s Hot Dogs. It’s not much of a beach day: the sky
is so gray and there’s still police tape on the railings so that
people will stay away from the water.
Ruby’s is open, and we grab seats on the bench outside. The
bartender cleans the countertop while watching the TV above him.
There’s a report of more bodies washing up along the strip, the bodies
all mangled up.
I fill Mom in on what happened at the mall.
“So talk,” I say to Kurt. “Who was that woman?”
“There’s a faction of our people who rebelled against the king
scores of years ago. They resented members of the court, who have the
ability to shift into legs at will. Everyone else has to wait for the
island to coast by a new shore. But it’s the way it’s always been.”
“And you’re one of the court people?” I ask.
“Of course,” he says, with a hint of irritation. “If I may
continue-the last rebellion wasn’t the first one, but this time the
king granted them what they wanted. He stripped them of their tails
and let them swim to shore. Not many could have survived, but the few
who did hate the throne. I believe that’s why they see you as someone
to relate to. You are one of us, but you are also mostly human.”
“Okay, what am I supposed to do for them? I’m only just a guy. A
hot merman kind of guy, yeah, but still.”
Thalia laughs, and I’m glad that at least I can do that to lighten
the mood.
Kurt and my mom share a knowing look. The kind they’ve been giving
each other since he showed up. It makes my stomach turn that they know
something I don’t.
“What aren’t you guys saying?”