Chapter 15

The next day at work, Lenny was reading a letter he'd received that morning from Angie. He had been in too much of a rush to read it when he checked the mail, so he chose to read it now that he finally had a free moment. Visiting each other had proven to be difficult because of distance, careers, and families. So the friends kept in touch with each other through letters and phone calls. Sometimes it was hard for Lenny to read their letters because, being fish, their paper was very small, which meant he had to do a lot of squinting. But he managed.

Today's letter read the following:

"Dear Lenny,

How are you? All is well here on the South Side Reef. We loved the Christmas card you sent us. Kendall is so cute! Oscar says he's the "spitting image of his ol' man", and I couldn't agree more. Looks like you and Kylie are doing a great job raising him. We've had our fins full lately with Amanda and Otto, but our twins are awesome! We should arrange a play date for our kids sometime. I had to check with you first because I know your schedule is always packed. Anyway, here's hoping you guys are all doing well! Hope to hear from you soon!

Angie.

P.S, Oscar says hi."

In addition to the letter, Angie had sent a photo of herself, Oscar, and their twins. This was the first time Lenny had seen the kids in a picture since the one taken when they were born. He realized now that he'd never met them, and Oscar and Angie had never met Kendall. Maybe it was high time they introduced their kids to each other and arranged a play date. But before that, Lenny would have to check with Oscar and Angie to make sure they taught their kids that not all sharks were enemies.

This thought was suddenly interrupted by the ringing of the office phone. Dustin answered it, knowing his pal and co-worker had other things on his mind. "Clearwater Reef's Lost & Found Organization, Co-President Dustin speaking."

Lenny could just barely make out a woman's voice on the other line, but what she was saying was unclear. He leaned inward trying to listen in on the conversation. Then the office door flung open and he was distracted once again when he saw that the intruder was Kylie.

"Hey, Baby," she greeted her husband as she reached the desk.

"Hey, what are you doin' here?"

Kylie held up a brown paper bag and said, "I just remembered we had some leftovers from last night and I don't want it, so I figured you might like some lunch."

"Thanks," Lenny said, taking the bag. "Any eggrolls left?"

"Three."

"Awesome! Wait, if you're here, who's watching Kendall?"

"Don't worry, I've got that covered," Kylie assured. "He's spending the afternoon with Kayla."

Lenny sighed in relief. "Good, the normal one."

Kylie laughed. "She volunteered to read to kids at the library today and you know how much Kendall loves to hear stories."

"That was nice of her," said Lenny.

"And a lot more pleasant than what the other girls wanted to do with him," said Kylie. "Katrina offered to take him to…"

Lenny held up a fin to stop her. "I don't even wanna know."

"I didn't think you'd let me finish."

Their conversation came to a halt when Dustin suddenly raised his voice, apparently trying to calm the woman he was speaking to on the phone down. "Alright. Alright, Ma'am. Don't worry. If you really need our help this much, we'll be delighted to help you. It's no trouble at all. Come by tomorrow at three o'clock and we'll see what we can do to help. Yes, I have all your information written down. You're welcome. Goodbye." He hung up the phone and shook his head.

"What's wrong, Dustin?" Lenny asked.

"I'm not too sure we'll be able to help this lady find her kid," Dustin replied.

"Why not?"

"Because technically, her kid isn't a kid anymore," said Dustin. "She lost him a long time ago and she said he'd be at least in his mid twenties by now."

"Hm," Lenny thought. "Not too often we get a call like that."

"She seemed pretty desperate to find him, though," Dustin continued. "So I told her we'd do what we could."

"And that's exactly what we will do," said Lenny. "Preteen or mid twenties, someone out there misses his family. And if his mom's turning to us to find him, we can't let her down."

Kylie smiled proudly at her husband. "Well said, Lenny."

Dustin agreed. "She's coming here to meet with us tomorrow." He looked over the notes he'd taken while speaking to her on the phone. "Looks like she's come a long way to get here. She's been trying to find her son for at least seven years now."

Everything Dustin was saying made Lenny feel nervous inside. The way he was describing this woman, it almost sounded like it was his (Lenny's) mom. After all he was in his mid twenties, he'd been gone for at least seven years, and his old home was a long way from Clearwater Reef. Hopefully, this was all just a coincidence.

"Did she say where she's from?" he asked Dustin.

Dustin checked the notes again. "Yes, the Southside Reef. She didn't bother looking there because she knows for a fact her son wouldn't be there. So for the past few years, she's been looking in every reef surrounding it, calling search teams, and praying for luck. But she's never found him. Then she heard about our organization and how good we are at helping kids find their homes. So she came all the way over here, rented a hotel room, and now she's hoping with all her heart that we can help her."

"I hope you can," said Kylie. "It'd be kind of sad if she came all this way in vain."

Lenny had stopped listening after Dustin said she was from the Southside Reef. "Anything else?" he asked nervously.

"Well, she didn't give me too much information on her son," said Dustin. "She's probably waiting to do that tomorrow. But she said her name was Kathleen and she's got a husband back home."

Lenny almost fell out of his seat. The last statement had made him so nervous that his head started spinning. It wasn't a coincidence. None of it was a coincidence. The woman Dustin had just spoken to on the phone was Lenny's mother. And she had a husband back home? That meant Lino wasn't dead after all. If he found out about Clearwater Reef and that almost all the sharks who lived there were vegetarians, that meant bad news. Kathleen must've gone behind Lino's back and tried to find Lenny and bring him home, unaware of Lino's threat. And she was about to meet with Lenny tomorrow. If Lenny faced her, what then? She'd go back, tell Lino the "great" news, and unknowingly cause the genocide of all of Lenny's loved ones. Lenny panted deeply, which caused Kylie and Dustin to start worrying about him.

"Lenny?" said Dustin.

"Lenny? What's wrong?" Kylie asked urgently.

Lenny didn't answer. He just shut his eyes and held his head, trying to regain his breath.

Kylie swam up to him and tried to snap him out of it. "Lenny? Can you hear me? Are you okay? Lenny?"

He showed sings that he'd heard her loud and clear and looked her straight in the eye. "She's my mom," he admitted for the first time ever.

Kylie looked stunned. "What?"

"Kathleen is my mom."

End of chapter

Author's note: Thank you to my reviewers for warning me about AnthonyAngrywolf. I wondered what the heck was up with him reviewing nothing but when the next chapter would be up.