9

Treading Water

Atticus and Sunny hadn’t stayed for the entire show at the Flood Lounge. However, they did make plans with Anita for the next day before Atticus escorted Sunny home. Atticus found his own bed just past midnight.
He’s lying in bed as Lenny announces the final album of the night before going to sleep himself. It’s an old hip-hop album that Lenny has played several times, but one that Atticus enjoys despite the depressing undertones.
The music cuts out as Dimitri rudely interrupts, “It’s a blueeeee world, without youuuuu. I hope you enjoyed the show without me, asshole.”
“I can basically see you rolling your eyes, Di, and with how often you do so I fear you’ll never see straight again. I was enjoying the music, by the way, if you wouldn’t mind letting it play again.”
“Fuck you, Atti, you owe me one”
“You are your own individual, nothing was stopping you from going on your own and meeting us there. I just wanted to bring Sunny and wasn’t about to explain your existence to him.”
“I–” She pauses as the realization hits her, “Oh you’re right, I’ll give you that. But regardless, I’m hurt you didn’t want to go with me.”
“I’m sure you’ll be okay. Help me find a decent gig and maybe we’ll talk about going to another party more your speed.”
There’s silence for a moment as she thinks about the proposition before responding, “I’d say that’s fair enough. But you know my help doesn’t actually come for free, right?”
“I’m helping you get to the top too, remember? You’re the one who set the rules for this partnership, don’t get stingy now.”
“Whatever, I’ll do some digging and get back to you.” She leaves and the music replaces her voice.
Atticus falls asleep with the radio playing.
*****
Atticus is sitting on the dock, leaning against a building just outside of the market. The sun is out, a rare occurrence, warming Atticus as he drifts in and out of sleep. The roach of a joint, still hot, rests on the wood next to him until it is promptly snuffed out by a narrow boot. He startles fully awake as a set of piercing eyes level with his own.
Dimitri is crouching low next to him, “What the fuck are you doing out here and why do you look like you went through a tumble dry cycle?”
“A what cycle?”
“Don’t worry about it. What are you doing?”
“I’m waiting for Sunny, so if you don’t mind, kindly piss off.” Atticus goes to close his eyes again.
“No, none of that.” Dimitri flicks his face a few times, “that doesn’t explain anything.”
“Aren’t you like, omniscient or something?”
“No, that’s ridiculous. I’ve told you I don’t hold that kind of power.”
“Whatever, I got into a fight. Won a fight, I might add.” He shifts to stand up, “Help me up at least, my ribs are killing me.”
Dimitri squints at him for a moment and then stands, offering a hand to pull him up. “You’re pretty messed up, aren’t you? I’m making you explain later, but I do actually have places to be.”
“Then why are you pestering me?” He’s holding his side awkwardly, wincing when he shifts his standing position.
“Because I happened to be in the area and you look like shit, that’s why. Anyway, I’ll be off then, you bastard.” She turns to leave, headed inland.
“Naw, I was a wanted kid, if either of us is a bastard child it’s you.”
Dimitri stops and turns her head enough to side-eye him, “Just remember that gods manifest from the devotion of the likes of you. I started as a martyr, it could be a shame if the same happened to you.”
“What the fuck does that mean? Don’t hang out with a comedian if you can’t take a damn joke.”
Dimitri doesn’t answer and snaps her head forward as she proceeds to march away. Atticus watches her departure, mouth open and incredulous. Once she’s turned a corner, he moves back to leaning on the wall, staying standing this time to avoid the pain of getting up and down. It doesn’t take long after Dimitri has left that Sunny finally shows up. Atticus’ face screws into a guilty smile, however, when he sees that both Sienna and George have joined Sunny at the market.
“Atticus Frank!” Sienna quickens her pace, leaving behind the two boys to march up to Atticus. “Look at you! What are we going to do with you!”
Atticus opens his mouth to defend himself and raises his hands in submission when she pulls him into an unexpected hug. He yelps a bit from the embrace “Ouch, Mom, please, not too tight.”
She separates quickly, “Oh sorry, Atti. Sunny warned me but I didn’t know what to expect, are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
He chuckles, “No, not more than I’m already hurting.” His face hardens as he continues, “But listen, before you get mad at my uh, recent escapades…”
Sienna cuts him off, “Atticus, you know very well I’m not happy with you lying to me, but I am not about to beat my kid after defending his brother. I’ll save the beating for when you’re healed. Of course, I wish there were a more peaceful way you could have de-escalated the situation, but I’m aware of how those monsters work.”
Atticus visibly relaxes, “I really am sorry, though, I just didn’t want you to worry.”
“We both know it’s more than that, and I can accept that you’re an adult living your own life, but that’s a discussion for another day. Can I get you anything at the market?”
“No, that’s alright, I have everything I need.”
At this point, Sunny and George approach, having been holding back to allow them to speak without interruption. George is suppressing a laugh and finally speaks, “Oh I haven’t seen you this beat up in years, this is great, I’m so glad I came to see this.”
Sunny elbows his younger brother hard but speaks as well, “Honestly I think this was your worst fight yet, you look worse today than you did last night.”
Sienna’s eyes widen as she looks at the other two boys, “What do you mean, worst fight yet? You boys always told me the skirmishes stopped once you were teens!”
All three of the boys burst out laughing as Sienna stands by in shock, Atticus’ laugh turning into a cough as he grimaces in pain. George is the one to get it together enough to explain, “Mom, you couldn’t have actually believed their stories about Atti being more clumsy than Sunny, right?”
She sighs heavily, “No, I always knew, I just didn’t want to believe it. Besides, Atti was constantly spinning crazy tales, I never quite knew what exactly to believe. But Sunny, you were lying to me too?”
“Ouch.” Atticus lets out the expression when she calls him out, getting a raised eyebrow from her in response.
Sunny speaks up, “Oh come on, you know you would have never let me out of the house again if you knew how much I was getting bullied. Atti was always… almost always just defending me.”
She’s about to respond when Atticus finally declares, “Maybe let’s not get into it all. I’m fine, Sunny is fine, George is still a little dick, let’s move on.”
Sienna and Sunny mutter together, “Who do you think he got it from?”
Everyone pauses at the statement and the tension melts away when they all laugh. They chat about the previous night’s show for a few minutes before Sienna reminds George that they still need to buy groceries and the two of them say their farewells and head into the market.
Sunny and Atticus start to head in the opposite direction, walking downstream with the canal until they hear voices calling their names from behind. Both turning their heads, they scan the docks for the familiar voices of Eli and Anita until they finally fall on a small sailboat rapidly approaching on the water. The couple are adeptly maneuvering the boat up to the dockside next to Sunny and Atticus.
“Woah!” Sunny exclaims at the sight of them with their own boat. “I’ve only seen Century City residents with boats this nice, it must’ve taken ages to save up for!”
Eli and Anita look at each other and then back at Sunny and are about to say something when Atticus claps Sunny on the back and says, “No money needed when those dumbasses leave these boats moored unattended all the time.” He chuckles and then addresses the two in the boat, “Am I right or are you two secretly gang lackeys?”
They both smirk and Eli answers, “Oh you best believe I won’t spend a hair on my head if I don’t have to. They had a nicer replacement not one week later, probably wanted an excuse to upgrade.” He looks at Sunny, whose lips are tight in concern, “Just remember, Sunny Boy, your daily struggle to survive is their weekend hobby. No guilt felt in making our lives easier, right? Right.” He and Anita both nod in unison.
“Now what are you guys waiting for? Get in here.” Anita moves a couple of packs around to clear space for them and stands to offer a hand while Eli stays seated to keep the boat steady.
Handing his crutches to Anita, Sunny gets in first. He sits on the dock and uses Anita’s help to slide into the boat. Atticus isn’t far behind, looking just as clumsy as he avoids any movement that might shift his cracked ribs too much. He still winces as he steps down into the rocking boat and finds a seat next to Sunny. The boat is just big enough for the four of them, Anita is in front of Eli, who’s at the stern holding onto a tiller to steer the boat. Atticus and Sunny are seated nearest the bow. Once they’re all settled, situating themselves around the ropes and mast, Anita adjusts the sail and they begin to glide through the water, heading northwest in the direction of the open ocean.
It takes half an hour of navigating the canals and avoiding the rubble of destroyed buildings to get out of the habitable city limits of Seatac. The beaches have been gone for decades, replaced by an uneven coastline as the currents wrap around the remnants of the 21st century. The tide is high, making it easier to sail out into somewhat open water, but the water is choppy and on several occasions, all four passengers have to help in making sure the small boat doesn’t crash into any debris.
Eli drops anchor as they make it to calmer waters and points to a latch in the floor of the boat next to Atticus, “Do me a favor and pull out the fishing rods and tackle box in there, will ya?”
Atticus does as he’s asked, carefully leaning over to open the latch and pass two fishing rods and a box of hooks and bait to Anita and Sunny. “Damn, you scored with this boat, I’m assuming this was all in here?”
“You know it. We kept an eye on the previous owners for a couple of weeks before deciding this was the one. A family of three, the only child was a snot of a teen, spoiled as all hell. I think the dad is one of Jackson’s goons and the mom is a sex worker or something. Nothing against that, we all make our own ways, but everything against the dad and his son who we watched beat the shit out of some lowlife for breathing too close to them. Luckily they only ever take trips to the southern end of the coast, so we just stay up here.”
Anita notices slight discomfort on Sunny’s face and speaks up, “This was last year, and we’ve found ways to change to boat enough to be hardly recognizable, don’t worry about anything happening. Have you been all the way out here before?”
“I, uh, no, we haven’t.” Sunny’s face is pale as he realizes he’s been spoken to directly and forces himself to respond.
“Oh shit,” Anita rotates and pulls a bag out from under her bench, digging through it until she finds an orange bottle and digs out a capsule, handing it to Sunny along with a bottle of water. “Take this, it’s nothing scary, I promise, just herbs I’ve ground up. Ginger, chamomile, licorice root; it’ll help with the motion sickness. It won’t make the nausea go away, but should alleviate it a bit.” She hands one to Atticus as well, “You should take it just in case, even if you don’t feel that bad right now.”
They each take a capsule and share the water, Sunny barely muttering a ‘thanks’ and keeping his eyes fixed on the horizon. Atticus speaks for them both, “Appreciate it. It’s a little ironic that he’s the sick one though, this guy loves the ocean. We used to walk as far out on the docks and rooftops growing up to come see the sunset. I guess we haven’t done so since I moved out several years ago though.”
“You get kicked out?” Eli doesn’t hesitate to make the assumption.
“What? No.” Atticus is almost taken aback, “I left on my own, figured I’d support myself instead of being another mouth to feed at the Mattern house, I could tell it was becoming more difficult for Sienna, especially after James was-” He pauses and looks at Sunny, “-after our dad passed away. Sunny’s parents were far too generous, I felt guilty.” He forces a chuckle to keep it lighthearted.
Sunny finally finds his voice again, “He almost got kicked out at 17 when Mom found the drugs, but she would never. No, in fact, we all beg him to come back on a regular basis.”
Eli begins setting bait to a fishing line, passing it down to Atticus once it’s ready. “Just cast it out and set it in that ring on the ledge next to you, you’ll know when you get a bite.” Atticus follows his directions before Eli continues talking, “Drugs, huh? I could’ve guessed that about you. Seems you avoided the worst of it at least. My older brother got killed because of that shit, glad you got out of it. How’d you end up with Sunny’s family? You two clearly aren’t actually related.”
“Eli!” Anita interrupts, “Why are you so nosy? You don’t have to answer if it’s a tender subject.” She addresses Atticus with the last comment.
“No worries, Sunny and I met not long after my parents passed. I found him getting picked on by some bullies and we won our first fight that day. Several weeks of hanging out later, his dad figured out what was going on and invited me to live with them. I was ten, I’d been scrounging around the streets for food. I guess I never grew out of my habits of being a bottom feeder even after living with a family again, though.”
“He lost the fight, actually, but the other kids had enough fun beating him up that they felt content to go home.” Sunny is shaking his head in amusement as he thinks back. “I shared half my sandwich with him afterwards, though, and he started calling me Sunny because, and I quote, ‘It was the warmest encounter he’d had in months, but my positivity was almost insufferable to be around too long.’”
Atticus chokes as a breath catches in his throat and Eli and Anita roar with laughter. Eli hollers between breaths, “Wow! So you’ve both always been like this. I hope you guys never change.”
Atticus speaks up, “Alright alright, what about you two? What’re your stories?”
Anita smiles warmly as she sets bait to the second fishing rod and casts out the line, “Well I already explained the basics last night. I still have a healthy family back home as far as I know, but I met Elijah here a couple of years ago, not long after arriving here, at one of his first shows.”
“Damn, really rubbing in the ‘healthy family,’ huh?” Atticus cuts in.
Anita’s eyes go wide in concern, “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-”
Atticus’s lips widen into a grin as Sunny rolls his eyes. Anita relaxes as she realizes it was lighthearted.
Eli chuckles himself as she looks at him in defeat and then takes his turn. “My parents are also both alive, so get fucked, Atti. I live with the band now, not far from the Flood Lounge, but my ‘rents live a little further inland, right outside Century City. My dad got sick after that storm, though, you know how it goes. Luckily Anita has access to a lot more meds than any of us do.” His eyes look dark as he talks about his dad, clearly trying to hide his worry.
At just the right time, Anita’s fishing line goes tight and they all stop their conversation as she grabs the handle and begins fighting to reel in their bite. The seconds last forever as they all anticipate the catch, but everyone sighs in disappointment as Anita pulls up what once may have been identified as a winter coat but is now a deflated tangle of heavy cloth.
“Well that may have been useful somewhere, a hundred years ago,” Atticus expresses.
They toss the junk back into the sea and recast the line. The group continues to talk and fish for several hours, throwing out another half dozen pieces of trash. Finally, Atticus’ line goes taught as they’re beginning to discuss heading back to shore. He fights with it for several seconds before Anita jumps in to help, noticing him wince from exertion. Together, they drag in a tuna fish. Anita directs it into the space at the front end of the boat and pulls out a knife to end its life swiftly.
Atticus and Sunny are wide-eyed, looking at its size, as it’s likely three or four feet long. Atticus points at it and looks at Sunny, “That thing could eat your other leg, bro.”
They all laugh and agree on a successful haul. Eli pulls up the anchor and they all work together to adjust sails and make their way back towards the city. Eli speaks as they sail, “Sunny, our apartment isn’t great for preparing a meal this big, your place any better? I think this is enough fish to feed several families.”
Sunny lights up at the offer, “Yeah! Are you sure? The family would be ecstatic, but if you need to bring it to the rest of the band…”
“Naw, we can just bring them leftovers, let’s share the wealth.”
The sun is getting low in the sky as they make their way back into the city and dock the boat near Sunny’s home. It takes several minutes to get Sunny and Atticus out of the boat as well as the remnants of the large fish. Anita had spent their journey back to the docks gutting and bleeding out the fish, dumping everything inedible back into the water. She hauls the body of the fish in her arms as Sunny and Atticus lead them around the house to the back porch. The chickens are pecking at compost that’s been tossed around their coop and the twins are sitting outside, reading books that could hardly be considered readable anymore from the water damage and missing pages. Marco and Elise look up when they hear the tapping of Sunny’s crutches and their eyes widen in unison when Eli and Anita come around the corner with the fish.
“Hey! Go get Mom and George, let’s cook this thing.” Sunny grins as he gives the instructions and they quickly close their books and run inside, hollering for the rest of the family.
It doesn’t take long for everyone to gather on the porch around a table with the tuna fish placed in the center. Proper introductions are made and cooking procedures are discussed until everyone has a job to do. The twins go inside to cook rice while Eli and Sienna filet the fish meat. Sunny and Atticus sit inside at the dining table, chopping vegetables, while Anita shuffles in and out, preparing the stove and cooking strips of flesh in small portions due to a lack of surface space. George is on chicken duty, making sure they don’t jump into the fray and herding them into the coop until he can close them in for the night.
Atticus points out George through the window, clearly struggling more than the rest of them, “Those chickens haven’t been locked up in years, have they?”
Sunny turns his body to get a better look before bursting out laughing, “Nope, they may as well live in the house most nights.”
Atticus raises his voice to yell at George as he nearly trips chasing down one of the roosters, “I guess we know who has the bigger cock, don’t we, Georgie!?”
“Fuck you, asshole! You get out here and try!” George takes a moment to catch his breath after yelling and is about to yell again when he’s cut off.
“Language, boys! I am right here!” Sienna turns to point her knife in both of their directions before preparing the final strips of fish meat.
Once everything is prepared and George has given up on the chickens, mismatched chairs are pulled up to the dining table inside, and the food is set out like a feast. The eight of them are bumping elbows as they find their seats at the table. Dishes are passed around for each person to serve themselves and Sienna speaks over the light chatter, “Anita, Eli, I cannot show enough gratitude to you two not only for sharing this food with us, but for taking care of my kids, as well.” She scans over her children, half of them already with their mouths full and sighs, “You’re all monsters, however. You can’t even wait until everyone has been served?”
His mouth full, Atticus responds, “I can put the food back if you want.” He goes to spit the food out, closing his mouth at the last second and nearly choking as he laughs at his own joke.
Most everyone grimaces in disgust, but Sunny, Eli, and Marco laugh along with him. Anita turns back to Sienna to return to the subject at hand, “It’s our pleasure, Miss Sienna. We’d love to do this more often, if you’ll have us? It’s not often we get to pretend to live normal lives.”
Sienna is nodding and wipes a tear from the corner of her eye, but it’s Elise and Marco who enthusiastically respond with their affirmations.
Everyone proceeds to dig in, making small talk between bites of food, but Atticus freezes mid-bite when he hears a familiar voice from outside the open door to the porch.
“Atti! Attiiiiii!” Dimitri draws out his name frantically as she comes around the corner and stops, standing in the doorway. “Atticus, I-”
He stands with a start, his chair grinding on the floor as it’s pushed back, and the room falls silent. “Di- what are you doing here?”
“Sorry, I didn’t want to intrude, but-”
Atticus glances at the friends and family around him, unsure of how to proceed, but Dimitri speaks before he can decide, “I wouldn’t have come if it weren’t important, can we talk real quick? In private?”
Sunny furrows his brows and looks to Atticus and then to Dimitri, “Atti? Who…? If you need a moment, we’ll still be here when you guys are done, just step out for a moment.”
“We don’t need to step out. Everyone, this is Dimitri,” Atticus narrows his eyes at her as he speaks her name to everyone and then meets her at the doorway. He makes sure to keep her in clear sight of everyone at the table and is fully aware of their eyes on both of them. He drops his voice so that just she can hear, “This better be fucking good.”
Her demeanor changes when he says her name and she keeps her eyes on everyone at the table watching her, crossing her arms before responding, “You shouldn’t throw my name around like that.”
“And you shouldn’t fucking show up at my family’s house unannounced like this. I’d say we’re even. Now, what do you want?”
She huffs and looks back at him, “Lenny is dead, and you have been requested at the station, as soon as possible.”
His heart skips a beat and his eyes go wide, but he keeps composure, “No. No, you’re lying. You’ve been pissy ever since I bailed on you yesterday.”
“Oh don’t flatter yourself, funny man, I’m not some cheap jealous girlfriend, you know I’m being honest.”
A shiver runs down his spine and his confidence breaks, his voice level rising for everyone to hear, “Fuck. FUCK! NO!” His hands impulsively go to his head, his palms pressing into his temples.
“Atti?” Sunny is pushing himself up and reaching for his crutches to approach, “What’s wrong? What’s going on?”
He finally turns to face everyone, “I’ve gotta go, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ll be in touch, I promise.” He turns away and pushes past Dimitri, who’s been casually standing, looking more impatient and bored than concerned.
Dimitri pauses before following Atticus out the door, scanning everyone in the room, “Sorry again! Enjoy your meal! I’m sure you’ll be hearing from Atti much sooner than you think!” She smiles at them all with the warmth of an eel.