A Fishy End

Chapter 6

Rick Harrish was indeed going to the South Seas, and the Harrish household was in an even bigger uproar than Ethan's had been.

"But what can they possible want with you?" Sarah Harrish, the kids' mother, was demanding of her husband as they came in.

"Are you saying I have no skills?" Rick groused as he stormed through the living room and into his bedroom.

Ethan had been inside the Harrish house a few times before and always found it disconcerting. The floor plan was laid out almost identical to their own, the living room at the front of the house, the kitchen and dining room behind it. The bedrooms were down to the right, and those were laid out slightly differently, so that Rick had just stormed into what should have been Ethan's room, not the master bedroom.

"Their Internet is down," he snapped as he came back, rolling a small suitcase behind him.

"And no one else can fix it?"

Rick paused in front of a small desk in the living room. "No," he replied after some time. He seemed genuinely surprised. "That is, well, you see . . . my name has been on the Red Cross list for years, you know that."

"To give blood and whatnot," Sarah replied.

"Yes, and I listed my computer skills as well. Up until now those have not been needed. But this is a very small island, Sarah. The entire population of Adamstown before the tsunami was only fifty-six people. The satellite relay was swept out to sea, along with the one person who ran it. It's not just a case of turning it on and off. Someone must completely set up Internet service again from scratch, satellite dish, servers, the works. I can do this."

"And none of the soldiers can do this?" Sarah asked.

"Our dad set up TiVo," Esther said.

Rick made a noise but didn't comment.

"What's a TiVo?" Amala asked.

"You can record stuff from TV and everything," Esther explained.

Padme rolled her eyes. "It's what normal people use to stream and record stuff," she told her sister. "Dad built a household network of his own," she explained to Ethan. "So mom can stream her Hindi stuff. We can watch in our room." She pushed past her parents and made for her own room.

Ethan followed. He wasn't going to complain one bit. The girls had a bunk bed. They took all the pillows and piled them around the lower bunk, turning it into a couch of sorts. Padme had a laptop on her dresser across the small room.

They barely fit on the bed, but with some wiggling, they did fit. That wouldn't have bothered Ethan either, except that it was awkward to be squished so close to Padme only to have his sister, of all people, on his far side. He wished his parents would let him date, and that he had money, transportation, all that crap. Being young was bad enough; being young and poor was the worst.

The door was open, and they could hear the argument continuing in the other room, Sarah sniping at her husband as he made his preparations. Through the tone of her voice, Ethan could tell Sarah wasn't really mad; she was just worried.

The kids wanted to watch cartoons. Esther purposefully suggested one that Ethan and Ruth both knew their mom wouldn't approve of. Ethan would have kept his mouth shut, but not Ruth. Instead they settled on another cartoon, one that was a gray area as far as their mom was concerned. They'd probably not to get to watch it at home, but Ruth wanted to watch it too and said as much.

Ethan didn't care for cartoons; instead, he daydreamed. In his mind he was some sort of spy, as smart as Rick and as brave as his dad. And it was Padme who worried over him.

After Rick had come in, said a final goodbye, and left, Sarah stuck her head into the kids' room. "I should call your mother," she announced. "With the menfolk gone." She shook her head. "We should have supper together. Got to look out for each other, don't we?"

Supper with the Harrishes was a new and novel idea. Ethan was surprised when Sarah came back moments later and announced that Mom had agreed.

The more the rich aroma of foreign spices pervaded the house, the more nervous Ethan got about the idea of supper. He'd be gracious, no matter what they served, but he was worried the girls would say or do something offensive.

Amala licked her lips and dashed off to check on preparations. She came back with news that exited Manny but was unintelligible to Ethan or his sisters. Esther was converted by Amala's excitement, even going so far as to proclaim that she, too, loved "dal," whatever that was. Ruth gave Ethan an arched expression. "Be interesting," he muttered.

Mom arrived forty-five minutes later. She had a sweater pulled tight around her, despite the warm weather. She had that inscrutable look on her face that either meant she'd been crying or she was angry. About Dad leaving.

She sniffed suspiciously at the many unusual dishes laid out on the table—garbanzo beans in some sort of sauce, some white cubes in a green sauce, rice, and thick flat bread. But she answered Sarah's greetings cordially and thanked her for the invite.

Ethan watched his mom as they all gathered at the table, trying to judge her reaction. As everyone found a seat, with Ethan's mom sitting across from him, Sarah wrapped her knuckles on the table and gestured at Padme. "Grace," she commanded.

Mom relaxed visibly, for a moment. Ethan looked at Padme. Instead of bringing her hands together, she curled her right hand into a queer gesture and held it to her chest. She began to recite. "Aum, beloved Shakti of Siva, fullness everlasting and fully manifest as this food."

Ethan glanced at his mom. Her eyes were bulging dangerously.

"O, Mother of the universe, nourish us with this gift of food so that we may attain knowledge, dispassion, and spiritual perfection."

Ethan tuned out the rest of the prayer while watching his mom. Her eyes bulged once more at the mention of "Mother of the universe" and then narrowed. Her lips pursed, and she seemed on the verge interrupting. Then she settled into a dark silence.

She remained in that state for the rest of the meal. Sarah noticed and asked if she was feeling okay. Mom shrugged off the question, but then said. "You're not Christian?"

"We follow Santana Dharma . . . Hinduism to your people," Sarah replied, a coldness in her voice. "As our people have for centuries. I respect this prophet, Jesus, but—"

"Son of God," Mom interrupted.

"So was Krishna," Sarah shot back. Ethan nearly choked on a bite of bread.

"Jesus—" Mom began.

"Ate with sinners," Sarah finished. "And didn't judge them."

Mom blushed heavily and fell silent. Sarah began to talk to Padme about summer camp, asking Ruth if she was going anywhere.

"Maybe Bible camp," Ruth said, nervous to mention religion again. "If we can afford it."

Religion was not mentioned again and Mom even managed to choke a "thank you" when the meal was done. But it was a cold, awkward meal, and they left soon after.

When they got home, Mom castigated them all for not telling her that the Harrishes were heathens.

"But Mom," Esther protested. "They aren't heathens. They're Hindus."

Mom cuffed her on the head and told her to go pray for forgiveness, for not respecting her mother. Ethan almost spoke up as well, but thought better of it. Instead, he headed to his own room, Ruth right behind him.

"You better all pray hard tonight," Mom shot at their retreating backs. "For hanging out with heathens, not telling me. Pray hard."