Chapter 2

It had been about an hour now and the Wash, with the exception of Lino who was still trapped in the equipment, was empty. Lino was bored, uncomfortable, and was actually beginning to think he was going to be trapped there forever. He was hungry, his fins had fallen asleep from the pressure of the sponges, and from time to time he himself had almost fallen asleep from sheer boredom. Perhaps this was the price he had to pay for throwing Lenny out of their home before asking to be released. He could've at least said something to convince Oscar to release him and then thrown Lenny out. In retrospect, that seemed like a much better idea than speaking to Lenny the way he did in front of so many witnesses and then demanding to be released. That had resulted in just about everybody losing what was left of their respect for him and abandoning him. This must've been how it was going to end.

He was about to fall asleep for either the fourth or fifth time (he'd lost count), when…

"Boss? Boss, there you are!"

He knew that voice anywhere. He opened his eyes and saw Luca dashing toward him. "Luca! Thank God! How'd you know where I was?"

"We saw everything on the news," Luca explained.

"We?"

"Yeah," said Luca. "Everyone saw what happened on TV. That was pretty harsh what you said to the poor kid."

Right now, Lenny was the last thing Lino wanted to discuss. "Can we discuss that later? In case ya haven't noticed, I'm in a bit of a jam here."

"Really? What kind?" Luca asked.

"… Excuse me?"

"What kinda jam are ya talkin' about? Grape? Strawberry? Oh no, please tell me it's not boysenberry. 'Cause if it is, I'm afraid I can't help. I've gotta unpleasant experience with boysenberry and I promised myself I'd never get involved with…"

Lino was beginning to snarl. He should've known better than to use a metaphor on Luca of all people. "Just gemme outta here!" he barked.

"Oh, sure Boss. Right away. But afterwards, you'd better lemme have some of that jam."

Before Lino could explain that there technically was no jam, Luca swam to the Washes controls, found the button that he believed would set his boss free, and pressed it. Bizarre as it may sound, he'd actually pressed the right button.

Once Lino was free, he thanked his right-hand-man and stretched his fins to get the feeling back into them. "What a relief," he said. "I think I need a nap."

"A nap?" Luca said as his boss groggily made his way towards the entrance. "Wait, what about my jam?"

"COME ON, LUCA!"

It was twilight when the two of them arrived back at the liner. Luca went to the kitchen to see if there was any jam, and Lino headed for his bedroom to take a nap. He was rather surprised to open the door and see Kathleen was there.

"Hi, Honey," he said casually.

Kathleen may have been the only shark or fish in the sea who would never take any crap from her husband. "Don't you 'Hi Honey' me," she said. "Where in the world have you been?"

"Well, first of all," Lino started. "I'm sure you've heard from the guys that Lenny's alive, well the sad thing is…"

"That was a rhetorical question," Kathleen interrupted. "I know exactly where you've been. And don't waste my time by telling me Lenny was killed at some point between now and your little sit-down. I also know that he's still alive now, or for your sake he'd better be."

"How'd you find out?" Lino asked.

"It's this new invention called the news," said Kathleen. "Now enough stalling. Who do you think you are, Lino? What makes you think you have the right to throw our teenage son out of this house without hearing what I have to say about it?"

"I had to kick him out," said Lino. "He's a disgrace to sharks everywhere. Don't you understand that?"

"No, as a matter of fact I don't understand," Kathleen snapped. "How is he a disgrace? He's got two fins, all five senses, a tail, and two things that you seem to lack completely; a brain and emotions."

"Katie, the boy eats kelp of all things."

"I don't care if he eats corn chips with seanut butter," Kathleen said angrily. "He's our son! And more importantly he's the only one we have left. And you are willing to kick him out just because he doesn't have the same apatite that you have?"

"He has to kill and eat like a real shark or he'll never be able to take over the family business."

"Oh, you and your precious 'business'."

Now Lino truly was angry. "I was not gonna leave an entire reef to a shark who eats kelp and embraces fish."

"So that gives you the right to throw him out?" said Kathleen. "Honestly sometimes I think your business means more to you than your own family."

"Look," Lino explained. "He wasn't willing to learn himself and he doesn't have Frankie to teach him anymore. Therefore, I had to use the iron fist on him."

Kathleen rolled her eyes. She'd had more than enough of her husband constantly using fear to get his way. "Ugh!"

"What?"

"You can't always use the iron fist to control people, Lino."

"Well what else is there, Katie?"

"There's patience, understanding, and encouragement," said Kathleen. "But if you're too high and mighty to even consider using any of those, maybe you don't deserve to be a parent at all."

"Oh," said Lino. "Is that what you think?"

"If you think that eating habits is what makes a family, then yes that's what I think."

"Ya know what?" Lino asked.

"What?"

"Maybe you're right," Lino admitted. "Maybe I don't have what it takes to be a parent, but what's done is done."

"We'll just see about that," said Kathleen. "Until our son is safe in his room where he belongs, our relationship is gonna be one heck of a blood bath."

Lino raised an eyebrow. "And what's that supposed to mean, pray tell?"

Kathleen swam up to their bed, picked up Lino's pillow, and returned to her original spot. "That means, Your Mighty and Powerful Don-ship, if he can't sleep peacefully in the comfort of his own bed, neither can you." Then she chucked the pillow directly at Lino's chest, causing him to let out a grunt.

"So that's how it's gonna be, huh?" Lino asked.

"Yes, that's how it's gonna be," Kathleen replied. "Until further notice, this room is off limits to your pompous, hotheaded tailfin."

"So where am I supposed to sleep then?"

Kathleen pretended to think. "Well, that's actually none of my business, but when last seen there was a vacancy on the couch in the living room."

Upon hearing this, Lino actually looked nervous. "Tell me you're not serious."

"Don't be such a baby. You've slept on the couch before."

"Yeah, for one measly night," Lino pointed out. "Even you don't know how long it'll be before this issue is solved."

Kathleen poked Lino in the chest and literally started pushing him out of the room. "That being said, you'd better hope to God that this issue is solved soon. Now scram. I don't wanna see you again for the rest of the night."

"But what about dinner?"

Kathleen gave him a disgusted look. "Dinner? Oh no, no, no. For the time being, my occupation is not housewife. My occupation is to keep the all-brawn and no-brain crybaby at bay until our son returns and we are a happy family once again. Goodnight."

Before Lino could protest, Kathleen gave him one last poke in the chest and slammed the bedroom door right in his face.

A few hours later, Lino was trying to make himself comfortable sleeping on the couch. He hated it so much. Kathleen knew it was too small and cramped for him; then again it made sense that she punishing him by making him sleep on it. Since she refused to make dinner for him and he wasn't exactly a top chef, he was forced to go to "bed" hungry. It took him almost two hours to fall asleep because of cramped sleeping space and lack of food in his stomach. This was without question the worst day of his life, and he had the feeling the next few days… weeks… months… possibly even years were just going to keep getting worse.

End of chapter