CHAPTER 11 - PESTO AND PESTS

"What are you looking at?" Howard asked as he clapped his stubby hands in front of my eye. "You've been quiet for a few minutes now. What are you thinking about? Are you worried about how much time we have left?"

I was dumbfounded. I could not answer any of his questions without revealing to a stranger that I had been given a second life by The Flying Dutchman. I knew that, with his last question, he was talking about old age.

"I could see the fish starting to go about their day again," I replied, pointing to the sidewalk in the distance. "This must be how they go about every day, clad in dingy, gray corporate wear. And then, at night, as neon fills the darkness, the gray outfits seem to burst into color. But it seems to me that none of them truly cared about each other."

"It's as though the only two things these people care about are money and merrymaking," Howard interrupted, but continuing what I was supposed to say. "Sheldon, I can barely remember, though, that when I was in my prime, money was the only thing that mattered to me. That's why I didn't really bother to have a family and settle down. In fact, I used to work in the restaurant business, but I never made it as big as The Krusty Krab."

"Now that you're talking about restaurants, I'm getting hungry."

"Yeah, me too," he replied. "Let's go get something to eat."

"But where?" I asked.

"Where else but the restaurant through this tunnel?" he said, pointing at a small hole in the wall nearby that I've failed to notice since I got here. "This is pretty much why I chose this place. All we have to do is sneak into the restaurant, swipe some stuff off the pantry, and hope we get away with it!"

"Okay then." I just went with him and hoped that he is not trying to set me up for some kind of a trap. We just met today, so I still can't completely trust him. Come to think about it, I can't really trust anyone completely anymore ever since my own best friend, whose name shall no longer be said ever again even in my thoughts, betrayed me so many years ago.

I could smell the scrumptious aroma of undersea pesto through the crevices as Howard and I walked in the small tunnels. My stomach was growling, ever craving for the nostalgic, savory flavor of undersea garlic, kelp, seanuts, and sea cow cheese. I remembered that my mother used to make me the delicious pasta when I was a kid.

"Are you sure that you know where we're going?" I asked, remembering that Howard has a poor sense of direction.

"Just follow me," he replied. "I still have a sharp sense of smell, so we just have to go and find the source of the delicious smell."

We walked for a good distance and saw so many things happening through the tiny holes- a male fish painting a portrait of a mermaid, a couple making out, fingerlings playing in what seemed like a daycare center, and a female fish doing some paperwork. We eventually found the source of the smell, which was from a kitchen where a stout, red fish was preparing the delicious dish.

We passed through the tiny hole at the very bottom of the wall. There was already a plate of pesto on a nearby countertop, ready perhaps to be sold to a customer. We climbed up the table and munched on the seaweed-drenched noodles. I was on the lookout if the stout, red fish would look our way.

"Hide!" I said softly to Howard as the red fish began to tilt his head.

We ran inside the slightly-open counter cabinet and found jars of herbs, spices, and garnish. We both attempted to open the jar of kelp but the stout fish grabbed the very jar we were holding on to.

"Pests!" the stout fish shouted as he dropped the jar in surprise, and it shattered on the marble floors of the kitchen.

"Let me deal with those two, scaredy-snail, and mop up that mess," a green, deep-voiced, slender female fish who must be the strict head chef, said curtly as she took the mop and attempted to swat us with it.

We ran away as fast as we could from the restaurant when we went out through the front door. She blocked the 'back exit' that we entered through. The fish who just wanted to peacefully eat their breakfast frantically ran to the sides of the restaurant because they were disgusted by us.

"My leg!" a fish shouted in the middle of the sudden riot that broke out. Some of the female fish were screaming in disgust, holding on tightly to their boyfriends or husbands. Other fish looked at us in sick curiosity.

"And stay out!" she shouted, holding the mop up in the air.

"Now you know how it feels like to live my life," I said as soon as we were outside the restaurant. We were both panting for breath.

"Huh?"

"It's... uh... Nothing important," I replied, shrugging off the fact that I've almost opened up to a near-complete stranger about how I actually lived almost all my past.

"It's really tough to be a protozoan," he said. "You always get trampled on and mistaken for a pest."

"Yep," I replied. "That's exactly what I meant. But at least we got to eat something, right?"

"True; that was good pesto."

"My mom used to make me that pasta since I was a kid," I replied. "It's been a very long time since I've eaten those seaweed-drenched noodles. I'm actually quite stuffed right now."

"Okay, so where do we go now? I can't even remember how to go back to the alley," he said. "That lady won't let us in anymore! Besides, as far as I could hardly remember, that's how I found the alley."

"I don't want to go back to that alley anyway, where life for us feels like a dead end," I replied. "I still feel that there is something important for me to do, besides living invisibly in an almost-empty, foul-smelling alley."

"What is it now? Don't you realize that we're stuck here forever? With our small size, limited resources, and poor sense of direction, there's no way we're getting out of this town! Come to think about it, even if we do get out, what's next?"

"I could easily say that anywhere else is better than in this cold, concrete and neon jungle," I replied.

We walked around aimlessly, talking about life in general. There was not a moment of awkward silence at all anymore between us. Even though we just met today, both of us could easily and sincerely say that we are best friends.

I stopped when I saw another newspaper stand. I looked at what was on the news.

"Why? What's wrong?" Howard asked when he also stopped.

"It looks like Mr. Krabs isn't getting any better," I replied. Even when I insisted to myself repetitively that I will no longer think of him ever again, when I would see anything that has any bit of relevance to him, my thoughts would immediately shift back to my past friendship with him down to the moment when we fought and left me scarred for life.

"Was he an old friend of yours?" he asked curiously. "I used to look up to him! When I still had that restaurant, I've always done my best to make it as big as the Krusty Krab. He was my inspiration."

"Yes, he was an old friend," I replied.

"Really? Barnacles! I should have known you since a long time ago! Then I could have been filthy rich instead of being stuck in this dump!"

"But not for a long time," I interrupted him with a tone of despair. I immediately covered my mouth, knowing that if I continue, I would open up a huge piece of myself to someone I've just met.

"But why?"

"It's none of your business," I replied curtly.

"You do realize that we're both old already, right?" he said, insisting me to divulge the deepest, most painful details of my bitter life. "It's important to share what you know before you forget them yourself so that others may learn from you. That's why I've been very open to you even though I've only known you today. Of all the sea creatures in the world, you're the only one who's ever been kind to me. You proved to me that I'm not going to suffer alone forever in that bleak alley. I really mean it."

He started to cry again. I then felt a sudden urge to just drape my stubby arm over his shoulders like what a brother would do. It felt so out of character for me to do this, but he was a different case. When I did just that, a liver spot on my left arm faded. Tears began to fill my eye. For the first time in my life, I truly felt sympathy.

"Okay, here goes," I took a deep breath because I knew I might end up leaving small puddles of tears on the concrete sidewalk. "This story might make you feel even sadder and cry even harder. Mr. Krabs and I were pretty much inseparable when we were kids. We stood by each other because we both had a rough childhood. He was impoverished, and I was a nerd. While he finished my battles for me, I finished his science homework for him. We discovered that we could make ends meet by starting a burger shop, which, no one obviously went to, but it did knock down an old fish who was our only customer. That was when things started going downhill for me and the opposite for him. We blamed each other for tainting the recipe. We fought over it, and during the fight, a shelf with jars of spices that I don't even know fell into the batter and produced the Krabby Patties. I was only left with a part of the old recipe, which is a pinch of chum. He became famous through the seven seas while I stayed an outcast. He became a very greedy and selfish crab. I then came up with several schemes to try and win our friendship back, but nothing worked. I went on with plans to, instead, make him regret what he did to me by attempting to steal the Krabby Patty formula, which is what I spent most of my life on."

"Was that what you were talking about a while ago?"

"Which one?"

"When we went out of that restaurant, you told me something along the lines of me now knowing how it feels to live your life."

"Yep," I replied. "It was that one. Now you know how it feels like to be considered as nothing more than a pest. Wait a minute... Your memory isn't so bad."

"Yet," he continued. "Not yet. I have a brain disease that seems to be slowly eating away my memories. Who knows? Soon, I might wake up wondering who you are."

"But before that happens, I need your help with something," I said. "Throughout your life, you have lived alone. You never really cared for anyone, let alone settle down and have a family like what most sea-folk do. All you ever cared about is money, just like my old friend. Now, I will let you on on a big secret."

"What is it?"

"I just realized that with my old age, I myself have never really done anything right, and I decided that I wanted things to change. I succeeded at one point and finally got the formula. I ruled the world for a short time, but I'm sure that no one really remembers that I did. Neptune wiped away the memories of everyone and must have wiped away my memory of the Krabby Patty formula, but not my memory as former dictator of Planktopolis, which, by the way, was what I renamed the world. I got imprisoned for ten years in his underground dungeon and was finally set free, only to be confronted with the bitter fact that everyone's lives got better in ten years. World domination finally lost its appeal. I wanted to start anew and reconcile with Mr. Krabs, only for him to not forgive me, thinking that I was just coming up with another ruse to get my hands on the formula again. I have done just that so many times before when I was foolish as a single cell could really be. I hitched a free ride in a bus later that day, considering that I'm too small to actually get noticed. I got to this unknown town after staying in the bus until the sky darkened."

"Okay, so how can I help you with whatever you are supposed to do?"

"Since you said you are a fan of Mr. Krabs, I will give you a chance to meet him," I replied. "Now, I think that if you are actually with me when I apologize to him in that hospital bed as a witness to my sincerity, he just might accept my apology and I will get to fix the mistakes I've done in my entire life. Things will be back to how they were when we were young, sans his poverty and my rejection in society. We have to do this as fast as we could before his time runs out. The least I can do for him is to allow him to pass on in peace without hate in his thoughts and the knowledge that he was able to inspire someone to push himself."

[Author's Note:

Maximagination - thanks for adding this story to your favorites.

My apologies, but I might not be able to update for a while because I'm going to move to a new apartment soon. Life sure is crazy. Meanwhile, I'll just leave you guys with this long chapter.]