Chapter 4

That night, Lenny got home from work at seven as he always did. He went into the living room to find his mom sitting on the sofa reading a book.

"Hey, mom," he greeted her.

Kathleen looked up from her book. "Hi Lenny, how was work today?"

"It was good."

"Did anything new happen?"

"Actually yes, something new did happen." Lenny told her all about the unusually large get-well present Angie had made for Victor. When he was done, they were both laughing so hard Kathleen almost dropped her book.

"She was going to give him a picture of herself?" she asked trying to hold back her laughs.

"It was insane, you had to be there," said Lenny. "I gotta tell Victor about it. Where is he?"

"Oh I'm sorry to disappoint you Sweetie, but Victor's asleep."

Lenny felt puzzled. "He's in bed already? It's only seven."

"He's been in bed all day. I gave him some sleeping pills after he got here this morning."

"What for?" Lenny asked.

"He was tired and he was still in shock about what happened to him last night. I wanted to make sure he'd sleep well."

"When's he gonna wake up?"

"Not until tomorrow morning. The pills I gave him are really powerful."

"Well what time do you think he'll wake up?" Lenny asked hoping he could make time to socialize with Victor before work.

Kathleen thought for a moment. "It's hard to say, but most likely eight o'clock."

Lenny smiled. "That's two hours before my shift starts. He and I could catch up for about an hour before I leave for work."

"That sounds good. Just don't make him too excited, Lenny," Kathleen said. "He might be a little drowsy from the sleeping pills."

"Don't worry, Mom. I'll be careful with him."

"Good."

Kathleen returned to her book and Lenny left the room to find Lino so he could tell him about Angie's gift.

X-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

Victor woke up the next morning not feeling much better than yesterday. The sleeping pills Kathleen gave him had left his entire body feeling sore and stiff. His left eye was still in pain but his aching body was a rather pleasant distraction from it. Victor yawned widely and slowly opened his right eye. At first everything he saw was blurry. He blinked a few times and the beautiful guest bedroom he had fallen asleep in yesterday came into sight. The alarm clock on his bedside dresser said it was seven o'clock. He'd been asleep for almost twenty-two hours but he felt horrible. He sat up and stretched his fins to make them fell less stiff and then he heard a gentle knock on his door.

Victor cleared his throat. "Who is it?" he asked weakly.

"It's Lino," replied the person knocking.

"Come in."

The door opened to reveal Don Lino, who also looked like he had just woken up. "Good morning, Victor," he said as he carefully approached his guest. "Did you sleep well?"

Victor was still weary but he had enough strength to smile and reply. "Yes, Sir. Thanks for asking."

"How do you feel?" Lino asked.

Victor yawned again, "I'm sorry to say not much better. I feel sore all over."

Lino suddenly looked unhappy. "Did Kathleen give you any sleeping pills?" he asked.

"Yeah she did."

Lino sighed. "I've told her more than a thousand times not to give people those things. They do their job right, but they have weird side effects."

"It's okay, Lino," said Victor. "I'm glad she made me take them. Truth be told, if I hadn't taken them I wouldn't have gotten a wink of sleep last night."

"Really? Was your eye bothering you that much?"

"It wasn't just my eye. I had a lot of stuff on my mind."

"Like what?"

Victor was silent for a few seconds. "Too much. I don't even know where to begin."

Lino smiled. "Well how about you and me grab some coffee and you can tell me what's on your mind."

"Great idea," said Victor. "For some reason I'm craving caffeine right now."

"That's just another side effect."

The two sharks went to Starfishbucks, bought themselves some coffee and sat down at a table. Victor was still a little drowsy, but after a few sips of his coffee he felt good as new.

"Feel better?" Lino asked.

"Much better," said Victor.

"Good. So what'd you wanna tell me, Victor?"

"Well first of all," Victor began, "I wanted to thank you for what you did. Not just for letting me stay with you but for helping me stand up to my dad and for scaring him away."

"You're welcome."

"You don't know how much that meant to me," Victor continued. "Ever since that day, my life has been better than ever. I've made new friends, I got an awesome job at Marlin's Whale Wash, and pretty soon I might even have a real girlfriend. I finally remember what it's like to have fun. I haven't been so happy since…" Victor didn't look happy anymore.

"Since what?" Lino asked.

Victor closed his good eye and finally answered. "Since my mom died."

Being reminded of Veronica made Lino's heart sink like a rock. Other than Kathleen, she was the most incredible female shark he'd ever met; beautiful, smart, talented, and a heart made of gold. And to Victor, she was much more than his mom, she was his best friend and his confidant. For almost a whole minute, the two sharks sat at their table in silence. At last, Lino spoke.

"Victor?"

Victor opened his eye and looked at the older shark.

"You never did tell me why Vince killed her."

"It's not really a day I like to remember," Victor mumbled.

"If you don't wanna talk about it, I understand."

"No, no. It's okay," said Victor.

"You sure?" Lino asked.

Victor nodded and began exploring his memory. "I was a few months older than sixteen," he explained to Lino. "It was late at night and I was coming home from a movie. When I went into our tugboat house, I heard my folks yelling at each other. I didn't mind at first because they'd been arguing everyday for years. But when I heard a punch and my mom scream I knew it was gonna be bad. I went to the living room and saw my mom on the floor and my dad standing over her. I asked them what was going on even though I was afraid to. My mom told me to go to bed and that everything was gonna be alright. Of course I knew she was lying and I didn't wanna leave her, but the evil look in my dad's eyes told me I should do what she said. I left them alone but instead of going to my room I hid in the hallway to see what would happen next. Once they were sure I'd left, my dad told my mom to say her prayers and then…" Victor's voice sounded suddenly shaky. "He attacked her."

Lino stared at Victor looking like he was about to cry. "What'd you do?" he asked.

"The only thing I could do. I came out of hiding, my dad saw me and told me never to speak of that to anyone unless I wanted to end up like her. So for the next three years I tried to stay on his good side by doing whatever he told me to and by keeping my mom's death a secret."

"Let me get something straight," said Lino, who looked disappointed as well as confused. "You're telling me that you continued to live with your dad for three years even though you knew he was a dangerous murderer?"

Victor nodded.

"I don't get it. You always knew he killed your mom, why didn't you run away or call someone when you had the chance?"

Victor shrugged sadly. "It's not like I had a choice. He was the only family I had. I couldn't just betray him like that."

"Victor, your mom was like a sister to me. I know she wouldn't have wanted you to be miserable and Vince was the source of all your misery. Just look what he did to your eye."

Victor thought for a few minutes and finally realized that Lino telling the truth. "You're right, Lino. Mom wouldn't be happy if she knew my dad was making my life a nightmare."

"No, she wouldn't," Lino agreed. "But that nightmare's about to end. I'll have my boys search everywhere for Vince. Once we find him, he'll be sorry he ever messed with you."

"Thanks, Lino." Victor felt grateful for what Lino was doing for him, but there was one other thing that was on his mind. Thinking about Vince made him remember that he, Vince, had tricked Victor into telling him Lenny was alive. "How am I gonna tell Lino?" he thought to himself. "Will he understand it was an accident? Should I even tell him? No I won't. He just said he'll have his boys search everywhere. They'll find my dad before he can put whatever his stupid plan is into action. I won't even have to worry." But Victor wasn't sure if this was the truth. He kept getting the desire to tell Lino what he'd done but his brain wouldn't let him. So for the rest of the time they were at Starfishbucks, he was silent.

Back at Lino's liner, Lenny had just woken up and was swimming anxiously to Victor's guestroom. When he got there, the door was wide open but Victor was gone. Lenny wondered where he could've gone so early in the morning.

At that moment, Kathleen appeared. "Good morning, Lenny," she greeted her son.

"Hey Mom, do you know where Victor is?" Lenny asked.

"Oh, I forgot you wanted to talk to him before work," Kathleen said sadly. "He and your father went out to get some coffee."

Lenny looked hurt. "Without me?"

"Aw, don't be sad, Sweetie. They probably didn't think you wanted to go with them because you were still in bed."

"I guess," Lenny said with a hint of doubt in his voice.

"Are you alright?" Kathleen asked.

Lenny nodded. "I'm gonna…go get ready for work." He turned around and went back to his room to fetch his utility belt.

End of Chapter

Author's Note: Sorry about that long wait. It took me a long time to think about what's gonna happen next. I promise the next chapter won't take as long.