Chapter 7 - Captain Jack
clownfish - 0 | clownfish - 6 | clownfish - 8
“Captain?” Cao Mu replied. He turned and helped Shen Dong out of the water then turned to look at the person again. “Don’t remember you.”
“No way!” The captain angrily shouted. “I truly admire you, you know? Every time, it’s like this! You’re a true marvel. They say eating fresh seafood’s good for the brain, and yet, you’re like this!”
Cao Mu cocked an eye at him then replied, “Doesn’t seem to have done you much good either, huh.”
“Yo! Fishy Cao, you’ve learned how to scold people!” The captain was furious. “I’m the captain! You better remember me quick!”
“Who’s a captain?” Cao Mu asked evenly.
“Me!”
Shen Dong was butt naked and he crouched down on the ground. If he had known there would be another person here even if you’d threaten him with death, he wouldn’t have swam here naked like this.
But this guy’s attention was clearly elsewhere as he unhappily implored Cao Mu to remember him. Shen Dong looked this ship captain up and down. He looked fairly young, about twenty something. This plus his appearance reminded Shen Dong of his initial impression of Cao Mu: this guy’s a nutcase.
“Look again,” said the captain as he took off his eyepatch, moved it to his right eye, then put it on again. “Last time I saw you it was like this.”
Shen Dong stared at him. This guy wasn’t blind! He wasn’t missing an eye!
“Really?” Cao Mu looked earnestly at him, clearly trying hard to remember.
“Yes!” The captain nodded his head, and blinked his left eye a few times.
Cao Mu looked at him again then finally shouted, “Captain Jack!”
“Cor-rect! You finally remember!” The captain happily shouted and bounced over to pat Cao Mu on the shoulder.
Shen Dong nearly fell back into the water. How does all this follow?!
“This a new friend of yours?” The captain pointed at the crouching silent Shen Dong.
“Oh,” Cao Mu nodded his head and went over to pull Shen Dong by the elbow to get him to stand up. “Shen Dong, this guy’s my good friend, the captain.”
Good friend huh? You couldn’t even remember him earlier. Shen Dong didn’t move and have the captain a nod.
Though they were wet through, the captain was indeed wearing clothes so he should be a normal person. To Shen Dong, getting butt naked in front of a fish was fine, but if it were a normal person, he just couldn’t handle that.
“You the same as him?” The captain saw that Shen Dong was unwilling to move so squatted down and looked at him face-to-face.
“Oh?”
“You know…” The captain pointed at Cao Mu then pointed at his own head. “Fishy Cao’s a little… up here. Are you too?”
Shen Dong choked and didn’t say anything.
Though the captain called Cao Mu ‘Fishy Cao’ he didn’t seem to know that Cao Mu was in fact really a fish and just thought he was a little funny up there.
Shen Dong was unsure how to respond to a person flat out asking him if he was crazy, so instead he turned to look at Cao Mu and asked, “D-do you have clothes?”
“Yep!” Cao Mu crouched and Shen Dong saw that in the corner of the cave was a large metal chest. It looked old, ancient even and inside were countless sealed bags with who knows what inside.
Cao Mu looked among the bags then pulled one out and from it gave Shen Dong a set of clothes to wear.
Shen Dong took them and quickly put them on as he wondered over Cao Mu’s home having these sealable bags.
“During hightide this place floods a bit, so you gotta use bags,” explained the captain. “I helped him find all these bags,” he added. He sounded rather pleased with himself.
“Oh.” Shen Dong breathed a sigh of relief as he finished putting on the clothes. Now he had the peace of mind to take a proper look at Cao Mu’s home.
All up, the area in the cave was about ten square metres. At it’s tallest point, it looked about 1.8 metres. Where Shen Dong stood, it was lower and his head could just brush against the ceiling. For Cao Mu, he needed to keep his head down and waist bent. As for the captain, he was the only one who could stand up straight though if he took just two steps he’d also be bending over.
In the centre of the cave was water and surrounding it were lots of small puddles where the floor was uneven and there were many holes and crevices in all the walls. If a typhoon came, being in here would be more or less the same as being outside. This was Cao Mu’s… home?
“My name’s Hong Jie. You can call me captain. Of course you can call me Jack too.” The captain said as he very formally offered Shen Dong a hand to shake. “You’re called Shen Dong?”
“Yes.” Shen Dong noted that while the style was formal, this Hong Jie was offering his left hand. Shen Dong hesitated then shook it with his own left.
“Fishy Cao.” Hong Jie clapped Cao Mu on the shoulder. He looked to be rather familiar with him. He pointed at Shen Dong. “Where’d this guy come from?”
“He lives in the light place,” Cao Mu laughed. “You haven’t been there?”
“I haven’t. And it’s called a ‘lighthouse’,” Hong Jie explained to Cao Mu then looked at Shen Dong again. “I only knew Uncle Chu lives there. You live there too? You’re a lighthouse keeper too?”
“Oh.” Shen Dong found a relatively even bit of rock and sat down on it.
“No way. How come I didn’t know that? I’ve never seen you go ashore.” Hong Jie looked shocked. “How long’ve you lived on the island?”
“Seven years.”
Hong Jie said nothing and only stared at Shen Dong for a while, before saying, “You’ve lived there seven years and never gone ashore.”
“Oh.”
“I’m sure!” Hong Jie slapped his own thigh. “I’m sure you’ve got something crazy up here and you just don’t know it.”
“Oh.” Shen Dong breathed in then sighed slowly. He rubbed his temples. This good friend of Cao Mu’s was just like him: a real headache.
“This guy don’t like to talk much huh,” Hong Jie seemed to be rather disappointed with the tone of Shen Dong’s replies and instead leaned over to Cao Mu. He reached into his pocket and fished about. “Fishy Cao, I got you something good.”
“What?” Cao Mu watched excitedly.
“Crayons! Look,” Hong Jie took out a small metal tube and gave it to Cao Mu. “See this metal tube? It’s watertight. Take it and play with it. The sketchbook I brought you last time, you still got it?”
“Got it.” Cao Mu crouched down by the metal chest and pulled out another sealed bag. Inside was a sketchbook.
Shen Dong sat and watched the pair of them fuss over the crayons and book. In that moment, Hong Jie looked just like a regular person but given that he had no reaction to the completely naked, living in a soaking wet cave with no arthritis Cao Mu, he must be rather slow.
The crayons made Cao Mu happy but after scribbling with them for a while, he suddenly put them down and looked at Hong Jie. “I’m tired. You should go.”
“Ah?” Hong Jie stared at him. “You’re always like this. Such a sourpuss.”
“I’m tired-ah,” Cao Mu said with a laugh.
“Alright, I’ll head off then. When I got something good for you I’ll come round again.” Hong Jie stood and with zero hesitation walked straight into the water with all his clothes on. Then he stopped and turned to point at Shen Dong. “He’s not going?”
“He’s not going. It’s fine if just you go.” Cao Mu replied simply.
Shen Dong felt some second hand embarrassment from that reply, but Hong Jie seemed to not feel it at all. Instead, he just huffed a little then looked at Shen Dong. “I’m going then. You play with him… You’re not like him, right? Next time I come, he’s definitely not going to remember who I am. Do you remember my name?”
“The captain,” Shen Dong said, laughing.
“Good. I’m off.” Hong Jie was pleased and he shot Shen Dong a broad smile. “I live up in the village. If you go ashore, ask around and you’ll find where, though, I’m usually not in the village. I like staying on the ocean. I’m a captain, you know? The sea is my home!”
And with that, Hong Jie struck a heroic pose then waved, splashing Shen Dong in the process.
“Okay,” Shen Dong said with a nod after Hong Jie had left. He turned to Cao Mu. “H-he’s just… going, going to s-swim like that?”
“Nah, he’s got a boat, it’s…” Cao Mu pointed around in the cardinal directions again then pointed out in a seemingly random direction. “That way. After he swims out he’ll get on it.”
“Oh.”
“I met him last year, but he doesn’t know I’m a fish. He just thinks I’m crazy,” Cao Mu said with a laugh. “He’s a good guy. All this stuff is stuff he gave me. Come look.”
Shen Dong crouched down by Cao Mu and looked into the messy chest.
Books, pens, an alarm clock, binoculars, ammunition shells, school workbooks, a whistle… There was no small number of small trinkets and though there wasn’t anything of much worth, Shen Dong felt some emotion rise in him.
“W-what’s this?” Shen Dong’s attention was drawn to a sealed bag squashed near the bottom of the box.
In the bag was an old homework book and a bit of paper that looked to have been torn out of a book.
“That’s…” Cao Mu hesitated, thought a moment, then opened the bag and took out its contents. “This is something I wrote together with my older sister.”
“S-sister?” Shen Dong’s impression of this clownfish suddenly shifted. Not only did he have a grandfather, he also had an older sister?
A bonefide mermaid?
“Oh.” Cao Mu held the book and said nothing more. His gaze seemed to look through the book to some unknown place.
Shen Dong saw his expression. Like the time Cao Mu had been exhausted, this expression was one he had never seen on his face before.
Shen Dong took the book from Cao Mu’s hands and looked at its cover.
On the front was written Guanhua Town Centre Primary School Year Three Class Four, Cao Mu.
Shen Dong paused then pointed at the name. “Y-you’ve b-been to… school?”
“Ah?” Cao Mu came back to the present and looked at the book then rubbed his nose selfconsciously. “Nah, this was someone else’s book. My sister found it when she went out to play around. Back then I didn’t have a name, so I use this one.”
“…Oh.” Shen Dong didn’t know what to say. A name could just appear like that?
My sister’s called Xiaojia, Yu Xiaojia. My grandpa thought it up for her.” Cao Mu laughed though his eyes had a hint of darkness in them. “I haven’t seen her for years. She left with someone to the city.”
“What?” Shen Dong was shocked. He stared at Cao Mu. “Y-your sis-sister, s-she’s… also a fish?”
“Yeah. What else would she be? A coral?” Cao Mu laughed.
Shen Dong sat on the floor and stared at the book in his hands. Not only did Cao Mu have a grandfather, and an older sister, this older sister was also a fish. All this would shock anyone but now that he was here, Shen Dong found that he could accept it.
That’s not what shocked him. What shocked him was, this female fish, no, this mermaid, could go to the city with a person no less?
“Apart from your grandfather and sister, do you have any other family?” Shen Dong looked at Cao Mu.
“I…” Cao Mu looked curiously at Shen Dong. He stretched out a hand and poked Shen Dong’s chin. “How come you’re not stuttering again?”
“Ah”? Shen Dong pushed his hand away then paused. It did seem like he wasn’t stuttering just then.
“Why do you sometimes stutter then sometimes don’t stutter?” Cao Mu’s attention could change real quick. “You don’t like stuttering right? When is it that you don’t stutter?”
Shen Dong grit his teeth. The word ‘stutter’ circled around in his head and he could feel the angry pressure building in his head. As usual, he raised a hand to hit Cao Mu.
But at that moment, an image flashed before his eyes: Cao Mu’s injury and his pained face.
Finally, Shen Dong poked Cao Mu’s nose. “S-sh-shut up!”
“Okay. What were we talking about just now?” Cao Mu leaned back against the cave wall and looked at him.
“Forgot.” Shen Dong suddenly didn’t want to keep talking.
“Hahaha!” Cao Mu burst out laughing. “You also forget things, but I remember! Just then, you asked me, other than my grandpa and my sister, do I have any other family members, right?”
“Oh.”
“Nope. Just grandpa and my sister.” Cao Mu clapped his hands together then looked at the bag in them. His voice softened. “But now, I don’t have any. It’s just me.”
“I… Let’s see,” Shen Dong pointed at the bag and the bit of scrap paper in it. He could see that there were words written on it.
“Oh,” Cao Mu carefully took out the scrap bit of paper and handed it to him. “Careful not to get it wet. I can’t remember if it gets blurry.”
On the paper was written a few words in fountain pen. Already the lines were getting a little blurry. Shen Dong’s brow furrowed as he read it.
It was the name of a city in the North some thousands of miles from here. It wasn’t all that far from his old home but it wasn’t a complete address, no street name, just the name of a city.
“T-this is…”
“That’s what my sister left for me before she went. That’s where she was going.” Cao Mu took the bit of paper back and put it into the bag again. “She left years ago. She said she was just going to go for a while then come back, but she hasn’t been back since. I wanted to find her, but grandpa said ‘no’.”
“W-who did your s-s-sister go with?” Shen Dong thought this whole thing crazy. What kind of a person would take her? Did they know what she really was?
“A man. My sister said he’s a good person.” Cao Mu put the book back into the bag as well then pinched it closed.
“Good person?” Shen Dong didn’t know how to interpret that phrase. To him, people couldn’t be divided so easily into ‘good people’ and ‘bad people’. Besides, not even the divide between male and female could be defined so easily.
“Oh, you’re a good person.” Cao Mu said with a nod.
“Y-you’re too…too…”
“Me Tutu?”
“Let, let m-me finish!” Shen Dong couldn’t hold himself back and he whacked a hand on Cao Mu’s shoulder.
“Ah!” Cao Mu moaned and rubbed his shoulder. “Finish talking, then. You don’t just stutter, you’re also out of breath. Who can tell when you’re done talking…”
“Not talking to you.” Shen Dong leaned against the cave wall and said nothing.
“Go on, I was wrong,” Cao Mu inched closer to him while still rubbing his shoulder. “I won’t interrupt you anymore. I’ll only talk once you’re done talking for five seconds, no, ten seconds, okay?”
“Ai…” Shen Dong shut his eyes and rubbed his eyebrows. Were it anyone else he would have stopped caring about them a long time ago, but somehow Cao Mu’s tone made it hard from him to stay angry. He sighed then slowly began to talk, “I… said… you’re… too… trusting…”
“Trusting?” Cao Mu’s brow furrowed as he turned the word over in his head.
Shen Dong was about to give him an explanation on what the word meant when Cao Mu spoke. “Are you saying you’re not a good person? You’re a very bad person?”
Shen Dong really had no response to this question. He turned away and looked at the pool of water at the centre of the cave.
At hightide, he guessed at least have the cave would be submerged with water. During those times, did Cao Mu turn into a fish instead?
“Shen Dong,” Cao Mu joined him in staring at the water for a while then used an elbow to poke him. “Are you asleep?”
You think I’m a fish too that sleeps with my eyes open?!
“No.” Shen Dong continued to stare at the water.
“Can you help me with something?” Cao Mu’s voice had a note of carefulness in it.
“Oh?” Shen Dong glanced at him.
“Just then, you saw where my sister went,” Cao Mu saw Shen Dong look at him and smiled. “Do you remember it?”
Shen Dong knew what he wanted. He nodded. “I’ll h-help you re-remember.”
“Thank you,” Cao Mu was exuberant, like something amazed had just been accomplished. He grinned while looking at the water. “Do you know where it is?”
“I know.”
“Have you been?” Cao Mu immediately asked with interest. He turned and crouched in front of Shen Dong.
Cao Mu had his face so close to Shen Dong’s that Shen Dong could see the lights in his eyes and he immediately knew what Cao Mu was gunning for.
“No,” Shen Dong immeiadtley said. He poked Cao Mu. “You… d-don’t, get so close…”
“No what?”
“I can’t help you find your sister, and I can’t go with you to find her.”
Cao Mu stared at him. The glow in his eyes faded away, then he lowered his gaze and said in a small voice, “Oh, I know.”
Shen Dong had no plans on leaving the island for the rest of his life. He got lonely sometimes and bored, but just the thought of being in a group of people, all that sound, eyes full of glowing lights and tall buildings, in that moment, his skin went numb. He didn’t want to go back.
He didn’t know what exactly he was afraid of, but he knew he didn’t want to go back. Not ever.
Furthermore, there was another thing he didn’t want to say out loud but thought was a possibility. He didn’t know why Yu Xiaojia would leave with someone and not come back, nor did he know who this other person was or if they knew her true nature. What he did know was if a being who could be a human and a fish were to go out into the world, there was no way they would have a good ending.
“Cao Mu.” Shen Dong could see how Cao Mu was trying to stay calm in the face of his disappointment. Shen Dong thought back on his straightforward refusal and regretted how tactless it was. It had clearly been too long since he’d talked to people and he was forgetting how it was done.
“Oh?” Cao Mu quickly raised his head to look at him.
Shen Dong regretted saying his name. Cao Mu’s eyes were again filled with hope.
Shen Dong couldn’t remember the last time someone had had hopes in him. Had it even happened before?
Cao Mu’s eyes made Shen Dong soften and say someone that made him want to go jump in the ocean. “Give me some time.”