Page 32 of Storm and Sea

“Thank you,” Atreus said, sharing a knowing grin with Giovanni as he helped Thomasso shoulder the pack.

Without some exchange, Thomasso would have refused the food. So Atreus asked for help even though he could handle the work on the docks perfectly on his own. At least this way, the Tradi children would be well-fed while Leo recovered.

As soon as the door swung closed, he turned to his boss.

“I’ll share my wages with Leo when he comes. I didn’t mean to hire someone for work without asking first.”

Giovanni shook his head. “Do not worry, ragazzo. You did the right thing.”

Giovanni patted him on the shoulder, and Atreus felt like he would float to the ceiling. But that elation came crashing down when Nyel opened his dumb fish mouth. “Um. What’s a hospital?”

“Nyel,” Atreus spoke loudly. “Why don’t you sit in the back and wait for me to finish? Huh?” He offered in a way that didn’t allow for argument.

He shoved Nyel to the back and out of view before roughly sitting him down on a stool in the corner. “Don’t ask questions in front of anyone but me. Got it?”

Nyel nodded, looking sheepish. “I was just curious.”

“Well, you sound like an idiot,” Atreus said but regretted it when he saw the hurt look on Nyel’s face. He exhaled heavily. “A hospital is a place where sick people go to get better. There are trained people there called doctors who can cure sickness and fix broken bones and stuff. I don’t know a lot about it.”

Nyel’s eyes grew wide. “That’s amazing. Cure sickness? Like a healer?”

“Uh, sure.”

“Wow.” Nyel said in awe, “It’s like magic.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s called science.”

“What’s science?”

Atreus rubbed his face with a groan. “I don’t have time to answer all these questions. Sit here,” he said, looking around and grabbing a stained book at random. It was an old fish encyclopedia. “Look at this. It has pictures.”

He was about to walk away when Nyel took a sniff at the book like he might eat it.

“Like this.” Atreus showed in exasperation, opening the book and showing him how to flip the pages. “Don’t tear it.”

“Oh wow!” Nyel gasped, flipping the pages with delicate fingers. “Oh wow!” he exclaimed again when he reached a page with an illustration. “It looks so real!”

Atreus couldn’t help but smile at his wonderment. His wide eyes, gaped mouth, and flushed cheeks were… cute. He remembered the first time Marina showed him a book and was positive he hadn’t been this excited. Nyel studied the pages as if he’d discovered a new world. Atreus left the sireno on the stool, confident he’d be occupied for at least a couple hours.

Returning to their work, Giovanni said nothing for a while. They quietly wrapped cuts of fish while the record player sang in the background.

“Your friend is interesting.”

Atreus stiffened but tried to shake it off. “He doesn’t get out much.”

“Hmm,” was all Giovanni said, and Atreus wished he’d say more. But the old man was an expert on keeping his thoughts and feelings to himself.

“He, uh, is pretty sheltered.” Atreus offered again.

“Reminds me a lot of you when you first arrived here.”

Atreus tried to swallow past the tightness in his throat. He laughed nervously. “Similar upbringing, I guess.”

They were close to finishing when Nyel’s timid voice sounded. “Um… excuse me?”

Atreus whipped around, ready to tell him to go back to his corner when Giovanni spoke.

“What is it, ragazzo?”