Chapter 7
Friday I woke, ate breakfast then sat on the porch doing carving. James sat with me. The air was foggy.
“Is it good to fish in fog?” I asked.
“It will probably go away and be fine,” said James. “It’s best to wait and see.”
They wouldn’t be able to see large sharks coming through the fog. I agreed that it was safer to stay home.
A man approached on the path. It was hard to see who it was until he was close.
“Good morning,” said Edgar. “Were your dreams good?”
I nodded.
“Yes,” said James. “I saw that our family was reunited and living happy.”
“I wish it to be true,” said Edgar.
The two of them talked more about the weather. I kept filing.
“You are making good progress,” said Edgar to me.
“Thanks,” I said. “Here’s the other one.” I got out my completed one.
“Oh,” said Edgar, “that was your second piece?”
“Yes,” I said. “I’m about done with one and onto the second barb.” I was half done with that one.
I noticed the surprised expression he always had. It was more pronounced now.
“It took me years to make mine,” said Edgar. “What about you, James?”
“A while,” he said.
“It seems like someone just making a copy should be able to go fast,” said Edgar, “but a person that had the spirit guide him would be slow.”
I didn’t want to spend years here, or even months. I needed to get back to my real life, but making a spear was part of building respect between us.
“It takes understanding of how the fish behaves, and how the spear works. Then it won’t be a copy, but an expression of what it means to fish,” said Edgar.
I set the work down. I could wait a day or so until I’d been in the water. I nodded to Edgar to show I’d understood his point. Fishing wasn’t their employment, but their life. The spear wasn’t a tool, but a symbol of their identity. They rarely used the carved ones anyhow, but used the metal spears. The carvings were a process of growth and a display of achievement.
Just then, three men came up the path. As they got close, I saw it was Winslow followed by Charles and Elias. The fog was thinning.
“Hello,” said James. Winslow exhaled in an exasperated manner.
“What is up?” asked James.
“The phone booth was defaced,” said Winslow. I’d forgotten they had one since no one ever used it.
“Someone had drawn a picture of Xing in the dust that collected on the window,” Winslow continued.
I thought that was an extremely mild case of vandalism. Pranksters wrote ‘wash me’ on cars all the time.
“It was very unflattering. His face had gills, and fins were drawn on the body.”
“Then it was not far from the truth,” jested Charles. Nobody laughed.
“It is going to get out. Everyone will hear about it,” said Winslow. “When I went to get a rag to wipe it off, I passed some boys. They saw it.”
“Then half the town knows by now,” said Edgar. “Eventually Xing will hear.” Edgar looked like he was in a panic.
“Will he care?” I asked.
“It is disrespectful to make him look bad,” said James. “It is best that we go to him and apologize.”
I didn’t believe that was necessary. It was too insignificant to fuss over.
“Help me understand,” I said. I looked to see no children were listening. “We saw Keoni, but didn’t apologize. In my view that was a bigger infraction.”
“No,” said James. “When we went there we threatened his power, but we did so for just reasons. However, defacing his image is a threat to his being, and completely uncalled for.”
“Xing will likely become totally unhinged if he finds out through his own means,” said Winslow. The other men agreed. The men thought for a couple minutes.
“I had a dream,” said Edgar. “I was battling a sea monster. It was in the water, but it was coming to destroy our town.” This was no time for stories, I thought.
“All I had was a spear,” Edgar continued. “I didn’t know where you all were at—maybe asleep.
“I thrust my spear at it, but it snapped. I was defenseless.
“Then, I thought if it ate me, it might get full and go away, so I bowed to it. It came close, but then returned to the deep sea.”
“The ancestors spoke to you,” the men said as they nodded. They were faced with another conflict and Edgar’s story was a good representation of how they’d deal with it. I wondered if the sea monster had a face like Xing. They thought they needed to voluntarily put their fate in Xing’s hands. There might be consequences.
The fog was lifting off the ground. It hung like a cloud just above us, but below was clear.
“I need to provide for my family,” said Winslow. “I can’t go to Fusang now.”
“Yes, let’s talk again later,” said James. He got his spear, and I followed him down the path.
The phone booth was on the far side of the church. I noticed that a poster of Xing was on the inside of the glass. It would be very easy to trace it and add other details. The glass had been wiped clean by Winslow.
Back at the house, Ben was coming out.
“Your father said I was supposed to fish with you today,” I said.
“Fine,” he said with apathy. I followed him and he didn’t tell me not to do so. We approached five boys on the path. They were talking, but stopped when they saw me. They all stared. They looked to be between ages of eight and twelve.
“It’s okay,” said Ben. “He’s more like us than an adult.” I wasn’t sure how to interpret that.
They still didn’t talk, but glanced in my direction. I stepped back a little. Then they spoke to each other. If I strained, I could hear most of what they said.
“I’m named after Great Grandfather John,” said one boy. They could have spoken in their other language if they were serious about being private.
“He was the best fisherman ever,” said John. “He once caught a fish using only bare hands.”
“I don’t believe that makes him the best,” said one boy.
“Why not, Samuel?” asked John.
“Catching a shark is a tougher challenge,” said Samuel, “even if using a spear. If you miss the kill shot, it will thrash. Using bare hands to wrestle it is a bigger challenge than just catching fish by hands. It is a killer.”
Another boy agreed with Samuel.
“Atu is said to have caught the grandfather of Maganta,” said Samuel. “He must be the best fisherman.”
“I think Atu is best,” said Ben.
“No, it is Old John,” said a different boy.
‘We must resolve this with a race,” said Samuel. “We have me, Ben, and Amos for Atu. Then we have John, Nathaniel, and Oliver for Old John.” Samuel pointed to each one as he said their names.
“Okay,” said John. “Both ancestors will be pleased that we have an even team supporting each side.”
“Where shall we race?” asked Amos.
“To the end of the path,” said John.
“No,” said Samuel. “It is not clear where the path ends exactly.”
“Okay,” said John. “Touch the church and come back to this line.” He scratched a mark in the dirt.
“Good,” said Samuel. The boys lined up.
“Go!” yelled John. They sprinted away. Ben got the slowest start. They ran out of my view then came back. The boys were slower coming back because it was uphill. Amos crossed the line first. Ben was last.
“Atu is the best,” said Samuel. He panted as he spoke.
“Yes, he’s best,” agreed John. “We should have another race for the best at catching by hand so Old John can win too.”
None of the other boys were interested in more running. They stood panting for a minute.
&
nbsp; “No,” said Nathaniel. “Let’s have a throwing contest.” The boys started to walk. It wouldn’t be fun for me to follow them around the whole time.
“Ben,” I said, “come get me when you are ready to fish.”
He nodded. Then I turned and walked to the church. I wanted to check it for potential as a school.
The door had no lock, and I went in. The benches were easy to arrange if needed. Nothing else looked promising.
I thought that useful materials might be in the closet, so I opened it. It had a stack of dishes, a broom and a robe hung there. There was no chalk board, and no books, paper, or even mini individual boards. If they got serious about having a real school, they’d have to start from scratch.
However, I could make do with a day or two of play school. It wouldn’t be a full day, but only an hour. We’d sing and play. I went back to James’ house and found I had nothing to do. The whole family except Makelesi was gone. She was napping in a hammock.
I couldn’t do carving because I wasn’t feeling the spirit of it according to Edgar. I did pick up the fragments and fiddled with them.
I watched the people on the water. A few men were spearfishing. I’d see them come to the surface with a small fish on their spears.
Also, I noticed a couple young men or teens were far into the deep water. I couldn’t tell what they were doing, but one went into the water repeatedly.
There was other activity around the village. A different group of women seemed to be preparing to fish with nets. Another woman dug in her garden. A few girls sat at a nearby house playing a string game like cat’s cradle.
After a long time, the young men started heading back into the inlet. One of them might have been Nicholas.
As their boat passed the place where the waves crested, I remained fixated on the water. The waves varied in size, but each behaved about the same as the others. They all came up from the water at the same point, then crested and broke consistently. Directly in line with the inlet, there was a gap where the waves came through to the cove. The waves were littler there as the energy spread out.
As I concentrated on the flow of water, my vision narrowed so I was seeing only that. I was oblivious to other things going on. I didn’t consciously think of anything, just watched one wave after the next. It was as if my brain partly shut down, but I remained awake.
After a while, I startled myself to become fully aware again. I felt that I should find something to do and quit wasting my day.
Then, I heard Lydia in the kitchen. She must have snuck past me or come in the back door. I thought back to when I’d watched the waves. I thought that a person may have passed in front of me while I was in the trance.
I got up and offered to help Lydia with lunch. She gave me something to do. A minute later a male voice called from the front. It sounded like Nicholas. Lydia went to the door and came back with a cupful of shells. She started preparing it.
At lunch, we all sat together, except the boys who weren’t back yet. Lydia put the food bowls on the floor.
“It’s oysters,” said Lydia.
“Yuck,” said Anna, making a sour face.
“Yum,” said James, smiling, and teasing Anna.
“I remember a long time ago when James was looking for oysters,” said Lydia. She winked at him. “He fed the village for a week until he found what he was looking for.” James put his arm around Lydia.
“Finally I found her,” he said. I guessed they were talking about pearl hunting.
The boys came in and ate the fish James had caught. They finished quickly.
“It is a good time to fish,” said Ben.
“Okay,” I said. He grabbed a bamboo pole with a string on it. We went out of the house.
“Is anyone else coming?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he said. We went past the church. I thought of the phone booth.
“I hope there are fish left,” I said. “I guess Adaro came to the village last night. I imagine he was here for the fish.”
Ben stopped in his tracks. I assumed he’d heard about the drawing. Then he started walking again.
We went to where the spring fed into the inlet. Minnows swam in the water there.
“We need bait,” he said. He gave me a cup. He went into the water so the minnows were between him and the beach. Then he made a large wave with his hands. Some minnows splashed onto the sand.
“Grab them,” he said. I got two. The rest flopped back to the water. I tried to chase those, but they swam.
“No,” Ben said. “We’ll do it again.” The second time, I got one and he got three.
“That’s good,” he said. “Come along.”
We pushed out one of the small canoes, and then got in it. He gave me an oar to row. I steered the boat into the inlet.
“How far out shall we go?” I said, when we weren’t far yet.
“Farther than this,” he said. “Let’s go into the sea.”
“Do you normally go out there?” Yesterday, the women wanted me to go deeper, too. I was scared for a second, but then I remembered that I was with a ten-year-old boy, so I should be able to handle the waves if he could.
“No, but the fishing is better there. The waves are tall for the boat, but they aren’t big today. The wind is coming from the other way.”
I rowed for a while. Then I asked him what else he’d played that morning. He tried to explain Sham battling, but I didn’t get the point of it.
“You’ve never fished?” asked Ben.
“I’ve gone fishing before, more when I was young,” I said. “I rarely caught anything.” He looked at me as if he was trying to understand, but couldn’t.
We reached the point where the low waves crested. Some water came over the bow of the canoe into the boat. Ben held the cup of minnows so they wouldn’t swim away. He wasn’t concerned yet about the water coming into the boat.
Then I rowed us to the point where the waves just began. He looked into the water.
“…but you know how to pull in the fish right,” Ben said after a long pause. He didn’t have a rod and reel like at home, so I didn’t know how to do it.
“Maybe you can demonstrate as a refresher,” I said.
He put a minnow on the hook and dropped it in. A rock tied to the string weighted it down.
The line was in the water literally for only seconds when there was a tug. He yanked the pole to set the hook, and then he worked his hands up the pole and drew in the string hand over hand. The pole was just a bamboo rod with a string tied to the end. He brought up a small jack fish, unhooked it and put it in the bottom of the boat.
“Okay,” he said handing me the pole and bait.
I remembered how to put a minnow on a hook. I got it on and let it into the water.
“The bait is too small to attract a really big fish,” Ben said, “but if you get a large one, we can both pull together.”
I nodded. I hoped fighting a big fish wouldn’t tip us.
A fish took the bait. I sunk the hook then cautiously followed the steps for bringing it in.
“Faster,” said Ben. I sped up a little. “If a shark comes by and sees a fish in distress, he may go for it.” After that I pulled it in as quickly as I could.
It was a small rough fish. I unhooked it and threw it in the boat.
“What are you doing?” asked Ben.
“Keeping the rough fish.”
“No, do you want to do gardening? Throw it back,” he said. I reached for it, but it flopped to his end. He took care of it.
I thought that by net fishing with Lydia, I was learning about the Kupe way of life, but instead I was just learning her reality. To understand them all, I needed to see how each person worked.
I got the rod ready. Again it was in the water less than a minute before I got another fish. It was the same sort of rough fish as before.
“It’s the same fish,” I said
.
“Try again,” Ben said.
“No, I mean it is the same exact fish. He’s filling up his stomach on our minnows, one at a time for his lunch. If I throw him in, he’ll just eat the next one, too.”
“I doubt it,” said Ben.
“I’m going to throw him further so he won’t see the bait.” I did that.
On our last three minnows, I brought in good fish. It all happened quickly. There must be lots of fish under us. There was plenty to eat even if none of the fish were their favorite types.
After that, I rowed us back into the inlet. The hardest part of the adventure was the rowing. That took the most time, too.
“Before we left, mom said we had enough fish right now. Take them around and see if others want them,” Ben said, pointing to a few houses.
He went ahead of me. He took a long look towards the phone booth as he passed it.
I gathered the fish and stopped at a few places until I’d found gracious recipients.
When I returned, James was home. When I walked up, he looked as if he was waiting for me.
“Ben told me he was the one that made the drawings on the phone booth,” James said. I looked for Ben but didn’t see him. I wondered if my mentioning it caused him to give himself up.
“We need to talk to the other men,” said James. We went to most of the houses. A few of the men were out, but most joined us. When we were all together, James explained what his son had told him. Winslow and Edgar repeated what they’d said in the morning.
Thinking about it again, I wondered if I had encouraged him to do it. I’d told him and Ward about how boys behaved at home.
“I may have caused this,” I said. “I told them that people at my home would fight against someone like President Xing. I’m sorry.”
“Thank you for telling us,” said James.
“We need to go apologize,” said Edgar.
“We can’t let this hang over us,” said James.
“Yes,” said others. They’d changed the subject away from my admission. They didn’t dwell on it.
“We have to do it today,” said another man.
“We should send as many people as possible so Xing sees the seriousness of our apology,” said James.
“He likes it when more bow to him,” said Winslow.
About eight men volunteered. Also, I said I’d go. James said he’d bring Ben too.
“Do we need a gift?” asked Edgar.
“Yes,” someone said.
“Kalasiah caught a sea cucumber by accident earlier. She didn’t know what to do with it,” said Henry.
“Xing loves it,” said Winslow. “They all do, but it’s disgusting.”
They agreed to meet on the path up the hill. Then, they went their separate ways. I followed James to his house.
Ben was inside. James told him he had to go and didn’t make a big deal of it. Next, we waited for the others.
“It is best to apologize quickly,” said James to Ben and me. “President Xing sometimes behaves oddly, but usually he follows the traditions of his people related to apologies. It is more important to clear things up than to figure out exactly who is to blame. The smooth functioning of the community is what matters.”
We waited a while for Henry to come with the gift, and then we started walking. I stayed near the back of the group.
I felt that I had let the Kupe people down by telling their boys to behave in a way that was unacceptable. At the time, I hadn’t seen that my comments were a big deal, but I know now what it meant to them. Since I was becoming close to them, I felt an obligation to follow their ways. I was more deeply involved in the things that were important to them. I was beginning to provide food for the village, involved in their decision making, and headed with them to salvage their reputation.
Ben and I should be the ones to see the President. I didn’t understand why all of the other men felt that they had to go along. Ben had done the defacing, and I had given him ideas. What had the other men done? I supposed that James had a reason to apologize. Ben was his son and if he’d become a delinquent. Maybe Xing would think it was partly James’ fault.
My deepening connection with the Kupe was helping me get closer to my goal. I didn’t know how to fix their problems with Xing yet, but I had learned more about the rules in their society. Some traditions had impeded my progress, such as my initial lack of authority to speak for their interests. However, I’d seen other traits that could aid me, such as their sense of responsibility to each other.
James had said that the President was unlike the rest of the Sheng. That could spoil my plans. If I came up with a plan that worked for the Kupe, it may not work for the Sheng and the President. Xing was promoting commercial fishing despite potential harm to the Kupe.
I walked quickly to catch up with James, but he was in a conversation. Instead, I talked to Winslow.
“Tell me more about how Xing is going to handle this.” I said.
“He’s into physical punishment,” Winslow said. “They discipline their children by hitting them.”
“Does that mean he’d punish us?” I asked. I was concerned. I had been fearful of sneaking to see Keoni, but I should have been more worried about sketches in the dust. Soon, I might be locked in a cage or thrown to sharks.
“I don’t think so,” said Winslow. “It is the father’s role to handle all discipline within the family. It is the President’s job to punish the fathers when they disobey.”
“Like Keoni?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said.
“Where do I fall into this?” I asked.
“You are in James’ house,” he said. I was reassured. I was just a boy like Ben, so James was responsible. Also, he wouldn’t get into trouble for something so little. However, I had to be more cautious in the future. I wouldn’t be able to take risks if James had to answer for it.
Even though Winslow had reassured me, I still couldn’t clear my head of thinking about consequences. Then, as we passed the palm grove at the bottom of the hill, another thought bothered me. I worried that Xing had found out about our visit to Keoni, but waited for us to come to him before he reacted.
As we went through town, I felt like an outsider. When I arrived on the plane a few days ago, I didn’t feel at home, but I had gotten adjusted to this place and their way of life. Now, walking with the Kupe men, I felt stares at the back of our heads. The Sheng didn’t look at us as we approached them. That would be too bold. Instead, they waited until we’d passed them. Even the modern hotel, where I’d lived a few days, seemed foreign. That reminded me that I couldn’t let my connection to my other reality at home slip away. I had another life elsewhere.
We arrived at the Presidential office. I thought we should have called the first floor from the phone booth. However, where else would Xing be? If he’d left the island, surely Roger would have heard and told people.
“We are here to apologize to President Xing,” James told Xing’s assistant Min.
“Please wait,” he replied. He didn’t contact the President, but went back to work as we stood.
I was intimidated from being ignored. I imagined the others were too. Yet, if they expected this then maybe it wasn’t a big deal to them.
After several minutes, Min arose. He disappeared into an office. Then, he came back with the President. Xing noticed that I was with them, but looked away.
The Kupe bowed. I did too.
“Mr. President, your honor, thank you for hearing us,” said James. Xing nodded.
“Mr. President,” said Henry, “we have brought you some sea cucumber.” He held the plate up.
Xing smiled, and Min retrieved the gift.
“Thank you,” said Min. He brought it to the President and took one slice and bit it. Then he curled up his nose and put the food back.
“There is no salt, no flavor,” said Xing. He waved Min to set down the platter.
> “Why do you bring gifts?” asked the President.
“My son made an unfavorable drawing of you,” said James. “We apologize. We do not mean to show you disrespect, honorable President. We removed it and came here to show the depth of our sorrow.”
“How did he get those ideas?” asked Xing. He looked to the boy, to me, and back to James.
“We have not guided him as we should,” said James. “We are embarrassed and shy about our error. I have told the boy of his error. We will not lapse again.” Xing nodded.
“Everyone agrees that it is important for me to maintain dignity?” asked Xing rhetorically. “I have grand plans for Truro Shoal. It will be a paradise. I am the President and this is my decision.”
As he spoke, he stood in the center of the room and gestured as if gathering energy.
“Everyone approves?” asked Xing. He paused.
“Yes,” said the men. They bowed again.
Then Xing glanced at me again. I thought he wanted to be sure that I’d understood the men deferred to him. I nodded that I’d heard it.
“Then you may go,” said the President.
We bowed again and he walked out. Xing thought the men would support whatever he said to have harmony. It was partly true. They didn’t challenge him, even though some like Winslow didn’t support him when he spoke freely.
“Ben,” said James, “you are one of the men now. You’ve been with us to represent the village.” Ben smiled.
As we walked through town, I decided that there would be little change unless I pushed. I needed to think of my options. I needed to step outside of my role as a Kupe trainee. The hotel represented my independence from them. Also, I really needed to reconnect with my family and work.
“James,” I said. “I have some other responsibilities. Is it all right if I stay at the hotel, then return to New Truro tomorrow?”
“Fine,” he said. “Ben said you were lucky with him. You are ready to have Ward show you basic spearfishing.”
I thought I was lucky because I got rid of the rough fish that kept taking my bait.
I nodded. Then I turned towards the hotel. I waved to a couple men as they passed.
“Welcome,” said Jing-Sheng as I went in.
It was nearing suppertime. First, I wanted to shower and change clothes. Bathing in the salt water sea wasn’t the same as a shower with soap.
After supper, I went back to my room. I checked email first since family would still be asleep.
My brain was very slow as I tried to work. It had grown accustomed to watching clouds and waves. Not much had happened at the office, but still there were lots of emails to deal with.
One was a reply from the church magazine. I had sent an editorial about President Xing for their issue coming in out a few weeks. However, the editor was so excited by it that he’d posted online right away.
That wasn’t my plan. I wanted to be safely away before that happened. I told myself that Xing didn’t read it, so it wouldn’t matter.
I looked at the time. It would be 7:00am at home, and Angela would probably be awake. Yet, if it was a normal Friday morning, she might sleep in a little because she worked only afternoons on Fridays. I decided to try to Skype her. She picked up.
“Hello,” she said.
“Hi, it’s Neal.” I was happy to talk to her. I told her about learning to fish. She said that they missed me. I said that I’d probably be there only a few more days. Then we said goodbye.
Once I’d learned to spearfish, my obligation to them was over. Unless I found a way to help them, I’d have no reason to stay.
As I thought about spearfishing, I hesitated about whether I’d master it quickly. I could swim, but the Kupe were on a higher level of skill.
When Ben and I fished, it seemed that there must be many fish. If true, then all I had to do was jab a spear and I’d hit something.
That reminded me of the Kupe’s complaint about lack of the best fish. I wondered if Xing’s promotion of commercial fishing offshore could have anything to do with it.
I didn’t have the expertise to decide it. I wondered if I could call someone back home that would know.
I spent a while looking a webpage for the University. I wasted a long time reading because my brain was slowed down. Finally, I found the contact info for a professor there that might be able to help.
It was late in Truro Shoal, so it’d be an okay time to call there. I tried, but no one answered. Next, I Skyped a call to a government oceanography lab on the East coast. The secretary had no idea what I was talking about so I got frustrated. The past several days I’d been going to bed early, so I was getting tired.
Then, I found the number for an advocacy organization. A woman named Julia answered and was willing to talk. I told her my problem.
“Do they fish on the reefs?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “They stay close to shore in small boats. It is where the waves are highest.”
“That is from the reefs.”
“Oh,” I said.
“Most reefs are under threat,” she said. “Acidification of sea water from pollution is killing reefs. Also, people overfish them.”
“I don’t think that’s a problem,” I said. “I went fishing and had great luck. Plus their population sounds like it’s been stable for generations.”
“Oh,” said Julia. “The problem might be more complicated. Do you know what the real name of the ‘Manna’ fish is?”
“No.”
“It might be eel. They love eel in the islands,” she said. “Regardless, there are ways that commercial and charter fishing can impact a reef.
“Reefs are not isolated ecosystems, but they interact with the oceans. For example, reef fish have a bipartite life history. The parent fish spawn on the reef, but the eggs wash into the pelagic zone of the ocean.”
“What is that?” I asked.
“It is the deeper parts. Then, the young fish grown there until they are ready to resettle onto the reef.
“The system is very susceptible to disruption. Any change in the sea or on the reef could affect them. Both areas have very high competition for food. Most species on the planet are one meal away from starvation. Humans are the exception.”
“I think it must have been the same for us too recently,” I said.
“Why?” she asked.
“Oh,” I said. “It is something unrelated that I’ve been thinking about recently. Food used to have been a life or death concern for people until a couple hundred years ago.”
“I bet you’re right,” she said. “Here are some examples how the reef could be impacted. The commercial trawlers might be collecting a species in the zone that eat the reef fish larva. Without that controlling their population, the reef fish might be burning out the resources in the sea, and then starving.
“Another possibility is that the trawlers might be hunting sharks. When the top predator is removed, all sorts of effects occur.”
“I hear that there are lots of sharks,” I said, “and I saw a huge one myself.”
“Was it a great white?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Still,” she said, “there are lots of types of sharks around most areas. If the charters are pulling in sharks that feed on grouper, then that population is not held back any more and it takes over.”
“Do you know why a great white would suddenly hunt in a new place for food?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said.
“Why?”
“…because it’s hungry.”
“Oh,” I said. After that, I thanked her and hung up.
It was late and I got in bed. I fell asleep quickly, but dreamed of sharks.
* * * *