"Ease back on the throttle and start using the bow thrusters to guide her to the dock…" Norman stood just behind Brian's left shoulder as the teen-year-old boy attempted to maneuver the 125-foot Northwestern to the dock. Determined concentration glinted in his dark hazel eyes and his lanky body was rigid with anxiety as he peered out the starboard window to check his progress. Only when the boat was safely moored did Brian Hansen allow himself to relax. He grinned as his uncle proudly clapped him on his shoulder. seven
"Good, now finish shutting her down and lock up. Your mom'll be here any minute with your brother and sister." Norman grinned as Brian tugged his sleeve down over the grease-stained cast encasing the teen's hand and wrist, extending halfway up the forearm.
"Is Dad going to be with them?"
"No. He's still on the road with Sig, doing their fundraiser thing." Silence fell again as Norman watched while Brian went through the motions of powering down the Hansen family fishing boat. Locking up the wheelhouse, Brian led the way down the staircase leading into the galley. Nick disappeared out the hatch with his bags as Jake passed the teen his bags; joining his uncle on deck, Jake left Brian to shoulder the backpack before stepping outside himself with duffle in hand. While Norman took the keys from his nephew and secured the hatch behind him, the sounds of good-natured arguing reached their ears. Brian's sixteen-year-old twin brother and sister dropped the subject as their elder brother crossed the deck and tossed his duffle to the tallest of the pair.
Grinning, Christopher caught the bag and slung it over his shoulder. He followed Brian's disappointed look to their approaching mother. Sighing, he let his smile fall.
"Dad really wanted to be here. He would have been shocked to see you docking the boat!" A ghost of a smile tweaked Brian's lips as he laughed dryly. Sharing a knowing look with Norman, his smile broadened as he wrapped an arm around Christopher and Kelly's shoulders.
"If Dad would've been shocked to see me docking, then just think how he'd react if he heard I ran the boat home too."
"Edgar's the least of your problems…remember, the boat is Sig's baby as much as she is Ed's." Norman laughed as Brian grimaced and nodded; the seventeen year old shifted uneasily under Ashton Hansen's scowl.
"Mom, nothing happened! I swear! Everything was fine while I was running the boat."
"Nothing, Brian Joseph? Everything was fine? Then why is there a cast on your arm?" Rolling his eyes skyward, Brian sighed and chose his words carefully before answering his mother's question.
"I wasn't in the captain's chair then…I was just working the deck!" Wincing as Ashton's glare darkened, Brian tried again. "Remember how I called you after that storm a month back? Well, the weather got shitty–er, I mean crappy, and I was helping to secure the deck. I lost my footing and whacked the shi–crap out of my wrist on the wheelhouse ladder…" Ashton's glare darkened and Brian found himself trailing off under the look. Kelly nudged her elder brother's ribs with a grin. Rattling off a list of endless questions, her smile brightened as Brian wrapped his arm across her shoulders with a lopsided grin.
"It was an accident, Half-Pint. Freak accidents happen, you know that." Ashton's brows furrowed as Norman brought up the accident from nearly eighteen years earlier. Watching her three children move ahead of them, Brian proudly describing his summer tendering salmon with Norman, Jake, and Nick, Ashton's expression softened. Reaching the parking lot, the five Hansens waved to Jake and Nick as they drove off.
"I was afraid he was hurt worse than he was." I was afraid I was going to loose him. Uneasy with the direction of the conversation, Norman nodded towards Kelly.
"I notice Kelly's talking more. How long's that been going on?"
"Since the beginning of the summer. The high school offered a summer music program, and Kelly really took to the piano. She's made a few new friends and it seems to be helping her a lot, but she still has her moments." Silence fell as they piled into Ashton's Fish and Game truck. On the drive home, the sounds of three young voices laughing and catching up on the summer's events cooled Ashton's frustration further.
Thirty minutes later, the white extended-cab truck came to a stop on the driveway of the two-story house. While the three teenagers piled out of the back and grabbed Brian's bags, Ashton waited as Norman loaded his own gear into his car.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner? You know you're more than welcome." Seeing his nephews and niece reappear into the front yard with a football, Norman shook his head with a smile. He gave Ashton a hug before getting into his car; rolling down the window he watched the teens throwing Christopher's football a moment.
"Thanks, but I need to get going. I told the lady next door I'd be home by seven." Backing out of the driveway and honking the horn, he waved to the three teens and they paused to return the wave. Turning left at the stop sign, he frowned to himself as he thought about the discussion he'd been meaning to have with his brothers when they arrived back in town.
"FUCK NO! Norman, NO. Not. MY. Son." Edgar's palm angrily slammed against the table in physical emphasis of his last three words. Sig, Edgar and Norman were seated around the hardwood table friend and fellow crab fisherman Phil Harris had built for Edgar and Ashton's wedding. Fuming, Edgar struggled to regain control of his temper. He rose from the table and moved to stand in front of the bay window overlooking the back yard where Brian, Christopher and Kelly were racing back and forth across the lawn in an improvised game of football. Without turning back to his brothers, he continued, "I don't want my sons or daughter risking their lives for nothing."
"Wait…did you hear what you just said? Ed, what do you think we're doing?" Sig put in, although still uneasy with Norman's proposal. An uncomfortable silence dragged on before Norman tried again.
"Look. All Brian talked about was going out on the boat for Opies this January. He has it all planned out too. He's only half a semester away from graduating high school, and then he's free to go to college or work." Pausing a moment, Norman continued, "Ed, he wants to crab fish." Edgar turned his head to shoot a dark glare at Norman. His head twisted back to do a double take at his eldest son throwing the football to Kelly. Stepping back toward Norman and Sig, he pointed at Brian as he vented his unease.
"MY son isn't going to be a crab fisherman, Norman! It's too dangerous!"
"It's gotten safer in the last eighteen years, Ed – !"
"FUCK safer, Norman! I don't want my son – either one of them! – to go out on the Bering Sea. And there's no way in HELL Kelly's going out there either!" In his haste to get his point across, Edgar's voice had risen to a roar and carried through the open windows, reaching the teens across the yard. Pausing in mid-throw, Brian's dark red brows furrowed as his father's words sank in. Catching movement from the corner of his eye, Brian barely danced three steps to the right before tumbling to the ground in a heap with Christopher. Laughing as she joined them on the warm grass, Kelly touched Brian's arm and her hands flew as she silently agreed with their father.
"I don't want you to leave either. Besides, he might have a good point. Mom went Opilio fishing with them once. Both her and Dad almost died."
"How do you know this?" Brian whispered. Kelly glanced at the window where Edgar stood framed and gave him a little wave as she snatched the ball from Brian's grasp. Jogging away a few paces, she waited until their father's back was turned before continuing.
"I'll show you after dinner tonight." Throwing the football back to Brian in a perfect spiral, Kelly refused to say any more about the subject.
"It's all right here. Video, personal letters, letters from Mom's work, even the letter she wrote Dad and the crew after nearly crashing into Captain Phil's boat." Kelly stood in a pool of pale moonlight later that night. She and her brothers were in the attic late that night, gathered around two filing boxes. Brian took one box while Christopher took the other and Kelly sat facing them. As her brothers read through the documents, Kelly absently tapped her fingers against her thigh in a soothing melody. Christopher's signed musings brought her from her thoughts.
"Why would they hide this from us? I mean, they told us about pretty much everything else, right? And we've seen the old re-runs of the season when Mom was greenhorn." Brian's eyes narrowed suspiciously at Kelly's self-conscious shrug.
"How long have you known about this stuff?"
"Since that night the stoned homeless man tried breaking in. Remember that, Brian? We were playing hide and seek up here when we were supposed to be sleeping. You were over at Danny's house, Chris. Anyway, I had gotten thirsty so I went to ask Dad for some water. But when I got to the bottom of the stairs, the guy broke the window and grabbed me…"
Christopher moved around to hug Kelly in a single armed embrace as Brian sat there in grimfaced remembrance of the night, continuing for Kelly as she rested her cheek on Christopher's shoulder.
"I came downstairs as fast as I could when I heard you scream, but Dad told me to hide. I hid around the corner, peeking through the banister railing. The guy was waving around a knife, demanding Mom give him all the money we had in the house. Dad just came out of nowhere with Mom's work gun and shot the stoner." Kelly sniffled into Christopher's shoulder and Brian's face softened into an apologetic expression.
"So that's why you stopped speaking…and kept waking up screaming during every thunderstorm, and all those nightmares…?" Christopher whispered softly in the thick, heavy silence.
"C'mon, man…she was six! Even I was bawling like a baby by the time Dad pulled out Mom's gun." Christopher grimaced apologetically at Brian's softly whispered chastise and murmured a 'sorry'. Shifting as his long legs started to go numb, Brian looked back to the handwritten letter he held; beginning to understand the message, he idly rubbed the back of his neck as he reread the letter. Kelly sniffled and, wiping her tears, pulled out a tattered composition notebook; finding the page with her favorite letter, she held it open on her lap as she scanned it again in the pale moonlight. Resorting to the comforting silence of sign language, Brian redirected their conversation back to the reason for being in the attic.
"Okay, so Dad and Mom almost died a couple times that season. But that's a risk that all fishermen take, right? I bet Poppa Hansen didn't object to Dad going out fishing."
"It was different for Poppa Hansen, I think. I bet he didn't see any other future for Dad, Uncle Sig and Uncle Norman. He probably wanted them to keep the family boat fishing. But with us it's different. Dad wants us to go to college and find jobs other than crab fishing. It's one thing to go salmon tendering for the summer when we're fifteen and seventeen, but something else to become life-long crab fishermen."
The gloom across the attic brightened as the trap door rose and the light was momentarily blocked as Edgar climbed up to join his sons and daughter. A faint smile eased the worry etched on his face.
"Hey, there you are. Your mom thought you might be up here. Now I owe her ten bucks." Settling down next to Kelly, Edgar wiped away her tears as Brian cocked an eyebrow. He laughed and gestured towards the back yard, "I said you'd be hiding in the tree house I built the summer before your tenth birthday."
Smiling as he noticed Ashton's old notebook in open Kelly's lap, Edgar gently pulled it over to his lap and closed it. The spine was bound together with electrical tape and the edges of the paper starting to turn yellow with age. He sat there, fondly staring at the once black and white cover. Opening it again, the notebook easily flipped to a much-read page with fading ink. The four sat in silence while Edgar read the letter he committed to memory many years ago, a faint yet sad smile on his face as he touched the pages gently. Kissing Kelly on the top of her golden hair as she snuggled close to his side, Edgar continued softly.
"I should have guessed you three would be hiding out up here. It's where Mom and I found you and Brian the morning after the break in. I was still wired from the crazy Opilio season and doing all the promotion stuff with Sig." Edgar paused as the memory came back to him, his features twisting into a pained expression.
"I won't ever forget the look on your faces after…after I shot that man. Kel, you wouldn't let me or your Mom near you. You met Brian halfway down the stairs and seeing you holding each other, sobbing…it killed me. I thought, 'Brian's too young to be comforting his sister…I should be doing that.'" Brian grimaced as he saw the tears glinting down his father's cheeks before they were hastily wiped and blinked away. Edgar took a shaky breath, swallowing hard, and cleared his throat. As his father composed himself, Brian interjected.
"I was eight, Dad, a little kid. We were overwhelmed, freaked out. We didn't know what to expect. But for weeks after that Kelly wouldn't leave your side. I remember keeping pretty close to you too." Edgar's eyes shone as he struggled to accept Brian's explanation. His gaze returned to the notebook in his lap, voice cracking when he spoke again.
"I – I promised myself then that none of you would step foot onto the boat for crab fishing. Ever. If I can't even keep my kids safe in their own home, then how can I keep you safe on a pitching, rolling boat? If I loose you or your Mom…"
Kelly slid a hand into Edgar's as another tear escaped his strong façade, and he met her gaze. She saw the pain, mingled with guilt, and she wrapped her arms around his chest.
"But you saved us, you saved us Daddy. You did the best you could to protect us. That's all we ask for…your best." Hugging Kelly close, Edgar rested his cheek against the top of her head and squeezed his eyes closed against the tears that overwhelmed him. His body shook as ten years of pent up self-depreciation released itself. An awkward moment passed before his tears dried and he loosened his grip around Kelly's shoulders. Drying his eyes, he attempted a weak smile, to which Christopher shrugged a narrow shoulder with an equally weak smile.
A shy grimace creased Brian's features as he hesitantly attempted humor.
"I guess now's a bad time to ask you to take me fishing with you?" Christopher bit back a laugh as Kelly glared at her elder brother, flashing him the sign for 'asshole'.
Stunned, it took Edgar a couple seconds to realize Brian was joking. Shaking his head, he sighed with a slightly more genuine smile.
"What? Why? That's what I don't get. Of all things you could do with your life, why crab fish? I know you've read the letters, heard the stories, and saw the footage," Edgar held up the notebook, finger marking the page with Ashton's letter, and gestured to the boxes in front of them with raised brows. "But you still want to fish the Bering Sea? You're crazier than me, Sig and Norman combined!"
Laughter filled the attic and the awkward tension eased; Edgar sighed again and returned the notebook to the box. Once again meeting their eyes, he sobered.
"Seriously, though. It's just not safe out there. It's not that I don't trust you guys; it's just…nasty shit happens out there. I almost lost your mom out there…I don't want to risk loosing any of you either." Glancing down at his watch, his fatigue finally caught up with him. It showed on his face as he looked back up to his three teenage kids.
"It's way past time we got to bed. School starts on Tuesday, and Brian still has to get his school crap between now and then." As Brian started to protest, Edgar pointed a finger at his eldest son with a firm look. Try as he might, he couldn't keep a laugh from his voice nor a smile from the corners of his lips.
"Dude, you only have two days to get your school shit together. And no, you cannot go to Wal-Mart tonight. It's past midnight and way past time you three were in bed. Brian, I don't care if it's open 24 hours; that would be called cheating. Besides, I'm not letting you drive the car without a driver's license. I'll take you first thing in the morning." Rising, he followed Kelly and Christopher down into the hallway. Brian followed behind him and shut the door. The twins disappeared into their rooms while Edgar halted Brian with a hand on his shoulder.
"I meant what I said about not wanting you to go crabbing. It's one thing being away from home and being unable to chew your ass out for getting into a fight. But on the Bering Sea, it's some nasty shit out there. Even in the summer; you found that out the hard way." Nodding towards the master bedroom, Edgar narrowed his eyes as he continued.
"Maybe when you're married and have kids of your own you'll understand what I'm getting at, but…hell, I don't know. To watch your own son risk his life for money seems pretty insane. I just don't understand it. I have no idea how my dad did it." Brian followed Edgar's gaze down the hallway, an uncertain frown on his face. Turning back to his father, Brian sighed.
"Will you at least think about it?" Scrubbing a hand over his face, Edgar nodded silently. At Brian's insistent look, he spread his hands and raised his shoulders in a defensive shrug.
"Yes, fine! I'll think about it! I promise. Now go to bed, damn it." Brian grinned, trying to keep the triumph from shining in his eyes as he quietly walked down the hall to the room he shared with Christopher. Flipping out the hallway light, Edgar shook his head in the darkness as he made his way into the master bedroom and lay down beside Ashton. She murmured incoherently in her sleep, but remained asleep. He gently kissed the top of her head and lay there in the darkness; worry gnawing his tired mind until sleep finally overcame him.
A/N: This sequal was a long time coming and I toyed with at least two variations of this story. I may end up blending the two variations in a later chapter. Ya never know! Anyways, as with all my fan fics, I do not own nor claim to own any actual people, places, entities, and/or things not my own. Ashton, Edgar's kids and Norman's neighbor are all my own creation, all others in this chapter are used with creative licsence. Conversations in italics are actually held in American Sign Language. Reviews and constructive criticms are greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!
Copyright Alissa Franko 2010