Page 26 of Storm and Sea

“Yes, it was cold here as well. Many harsh nights.”

Atreus dared peek at the old man, his salt and pepper beard more salt than pepper these days. Despite Atreus’s teasing, Giovanni was as muscled as the day they met, just a little more lined now. Giovanni’s clothes were simple and clean and would be covered in fishy splotches by the end of the day. Yet one part of the old fisherman’s attire always remained the same. A black shark’s tooth rested high on his chest, strung with a thin piece of worn leather.

The tooth’s black color resulted from fossilization, a concept Atreus still didn’t entirely understand. These teeth were common enough, but Giovanni’s was a special specimen. The tooth was large without a single imperfection on either of its serrated sides. But more than its appearance, Atreus admired what it symbolized.

A black shark’s tooth was bestowed on a young man once he reached a certain milestone in his life. It was a right of passage, the evolution into manhood, and it had to be earned. Simply growing up wasn’t enough to earn the title. In Baia Vita, without the necklace, you were still considered a boy regardless of age. The symbol of status dangled from the neck of every man on the island. These necklaces were heirlooms, treasured far more than common coin. In most cases, fathers were the ones to bestow the title on their sons. Necklaces passed from father to son, some dangling from family necks for generations.

Exactly like the one Atreus now admired. Giovanni’s father gave him that necklace after he navigated a wild storm, keeping the boat aloft and saving the lives of the crew. It was brave and noble, all attributes of a man worthy of a shark’s tooth.

Atreus could never hope to achieve something so incredible.

“I was surprised to see you so early in the season. Doesn’t your family need your help on the mainland?” Giovanni asked, snapping Atreus’s attention back to the present.

Atreus’s stomach twisted, but it didn’t show on his face. This was his first lie. One he’d told for years, starting when he began working for the fisherman. It was how he explained his absence during the winter months and why he didn’t live in town. A tall tale he wove as carefully as a gill net. No knots. No loops. No reason for anyone to suspect a thing.

Atreus was a factory worker on the mainland, helping his family during the harsher months of the year. But the summers were his, and he chose to spend them on the island. The island where he worked hard, earned his way, and never allowed himself to be a burden. Ever.

That was the story.

“No. They had plenty of help, so I left early. I couldn’t wait to get back here,” he said truthfully, which earned him a smile and a hefty pat on the shoulder.

“Well, this old fisherman is glad to see you. It’s been too quiet with only me and Horace.”

“It won’t be quiet for long. The island always livens up in the spring.”

“Only if this blasted rain goes away. The barge won’t come in this weather.” Giovanni grumbled as his hands continued to wrap and price cuts of meat.

The only way to get to Baia Vita was by merchant barge. Baia Vita, in and of itself, was a massive island off the coast of mainland Italy. Passenger boats refused the voyage to the island since there weren’t enough tickets sold to make a profit. This left travelers with two options: make the trip themselves or catch a ride with the merchants. The barge visited the island monthly to deliver supplies and the occasional passenger. Besides its visits, Baia Vita was cut off from the rest of the world.

And the residents of the island liked it that way.

But the World War crippled the small island haven, and in desperation, many turned to more affordable resources from the mainland. The island lost some of its integrity. Bits and pieces of timeless tradition, uncorrupted by mainland ideas, were chipped away as more and more families reached for help in the wrong places or left.

Every time Atreus returned in the spring, more of what made Baia Vita special was gone.

“Even if the rain continues tomorrow, we have to open,” Giovanni said as the downpour showed no sign of abating.

“Understood.” Atreus agreed, though his throat went dry as it always did when the store was open on rainy days.

He’d have to make some excuse to do indoor tasks, and he didn’t like shirking the harsher jobs on the docks. The island used to have half a dozen fisheries and outdoor stalls selling a wide variety of what the sea had to offer. The island’s main source of income was fishing, after all. But after the war, only Giovanni remained. And so it rested on the shoulders of this tiny pescheria to keep mouths fed. It was the sole reason many families had food on the table at all.

They couldn’t keep the doors closed for too long.

The Sleepy Whale stood as the last reminder of Baia Vita’s glory days. Giovanni worked alongside the remaining fishermen in town to keep him well-stocked. This meant he rarely took his own boat to the seas unless there was a shortage, in which case, he’d fire up that clunky engine and fish the bay alongside the others.

Atreus recognized the simplicity of it all, the peacefulness of this life. He loved it. More importantly, he saw the love in the eyes of those who called Baia Vita home. But he also sensed the mourning as they clung to the old ways, helpless to the shifting times and the ever-increasing influence of the outside world. Atreus hoped that one day, the island could stand on its own and be as independent as it had been in the good old days.

What he would have given to see it.

“This will likely delay Marina’s arrival,” Giovanni said. “She will be happy to see you already here. That is if you finally decide to stay with us.”

Atreus anticipated this. The offer came at the beginning of every season and it never failed to make his chest warm inside.

“I have a place to stay, Signore Marcello. As always, I’m grateful for the offer.”

Giovanni let out a disgruntled huff. “One of these days, ragazzo, I will convince you to live here for the season. I do not like seeing you travel so far each day.”

“You can keep trying.”