chapter*Liss
Sharks is closed The parking lot is empty The only people here this time of day are the Morgan Stanley people They have to cover east coast markets
I open the door. I start to get out. Winnie and Dad are just sitting there. I root around in the glove compartment for my sunglasses. Maybe Dad and Winnie have things to talk about. I take my sunglasses. I put them on. I smile.
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I’m out of the car I’m on my way. I leave the passenger door open. I don’t look back.
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Dad shuts the door. He rolls down the window. He and Winnie are talking. I walk to Sharks, to the courtyard in between. The rock garden is still messed up from yesterday. There’s tape over the Morgan Stanley window. The guy is in there on the phone. Stern look on his face. (He’s a bear.) They have bulls and bears. That one seems more like a bear. I think the bulls are mostly on the east coast. Or in middle America. I don’t know. I step into the rocks.
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The bear doesn’t see me. He’s looking at his screen. I see a duck! I see a duck. I run to the lake. Foggy water. You wouldn’t want to swim in it. There’s Judge Judy’s house. They’re building one next to it. Maybe for a rapper. The ducks are standing on a boat! Lines in the water. Sail half-up. Cabin door open. There’s food trash in the water next to it. Floating. I think that’s part of a burger. It looks like a box from Sushi Row! I didn’t know Jacobi ate sushi. His girlfriend might. It’s chaos of lines, birds everywhere. Birdcrap on the seats. And the boat, shored (or up against a wall). The point of its front sticking through the railing. Across the path. Where you’re supposed to walk. Jacobi must have come ashore here.
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With his girlfriend.
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Air blows across me. Across my face. Cold skies. Forecast: rainy: with a chance of beautiful. 100%. It never rains that long in California. I’ll get to class. When Dad’s done talking. I’ll even let him get cigarettes on the way. Why not? He deserves them. This boat is supposed to be on the other side of the lake.
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Crunching. Creaking. Someone’s walking on the rocks! I peek around. I can’t see. It might be fat Jacobi. No.
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Creepy. Creeping. Over the bench. Through the tunnel of stairs. There’s light on in the bathrooms. Janitors are here. I peek around the corner. The door to Sharks is open. Whose tail do I see? emphMi Idios Mio!
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I know those sneaks! I know that hair! I know that fat. And short. And round. Belly. <Oh emphMama Mia! <Mi Idios Mio! Mi Idios Mer.
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I kick a foot inside the doorframe but mi Idios Mio is there. He wouldn’t close the door upon me. Mi Idios Mio cares.
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Sharks is empty.
Lights off.
Chairs on tables.
Stools upside down on the bar.
Idios Mio switches on the light.
“Que pasa?”
I look up. “Bien.” I look away. “Noremphmal.”
I go into Sharks.
“Qu’e pasa with you?”
“Nada.”
“O{u} est ta pere?”
I’m lingering near the bar. “Il a a la voiture.” I peer over the marble, through the stools.
Mi Idios Mio takes one down for me.
“They were doing Mode augment’ee.’ ”
“Modo aumentado?”
“Oui.”
Mi Idios Mio uses the fountain. He gives me a glass of water.
“Has dormido?”
I shake my head.
“N’avez pas dormir?”
I drink my water.
“Ma petit poire. Ma petit poire. Mondo marcio, eh?”
“What’s that mean?” I put the glass down.
Idios Mio leans across the bar.
I can tell by the look in his eyes he’s not going to tell me.
He cups my hands.
He says: “El desayuno.”
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Mi Idios Mio makes Mexican Benedict. He doesn’t make it very well. He’s not a cook. He’s a bus boy. Mi Idios Mio makes it with avocado like I like it. The avocado is mushy. It’s old. There’s brown spots in it. He puts down all the stools from the bar. He takes down all the chairs. He aligns the backs of the chairs at a certain angle from the tables. That’s part of what makes Sharks Sharks. Every time you go to a chair. Every time you go to the bar. The chair, the bar stool, is at an exact angle from the table. You pull it out. It helps you get into your chair easily. Mi Idios Mio mops. He cleans the bar. My Mexican Benedict is lopsided. It has too many tortillas. He forgot to put the beans. I love it. It’s my favorite Mexican Benedict I’ve ever tasted. I clean my plate.
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Dad comes in. Winnie’s with him. Dad plugs in his tablet. “You get your breakfast?” “Do you want me to make you some?” “Hector. No.” My dad grabs two Ty Nants. Winnie swings backward in her chair and puts her back against the bar. Dad’s tapping away at the keys. “And..fuck!” he says. He slams the tablet on the bar. Winnie wanders toward the bathroom, holding her Ty Nant water. Dad pushes his tablet toward the back of the bar. “Liss. You got your phone? Hector. You want breakfast? I’ll get you a sandwich?” “No thanks senor.” “Hector, make me a marguerita. Please don’t call me senor.” “You want it with Don Julio?” “Please. Make it two.” “You want the Blanco?” Then Dad forgets what he’s saying. He wanders down the bathroom hallway and he and Winnie are kissing. Well not really kissing. They’re touching each other in this light way, above the clothes. Winnie leans against the wall. Then Dad remembers. “Hector. It’s too early for the Blanco.” Hector has the mixer ready. “You want with orange juice?” It’s like an hour before Dad answers. It’s like time has opened up for him and Winnie, they’re off on Mars. Cracked. Broken. Devastated. Destroyed. They’ve brought that smoke back with them. It’ll be days before they’re back to normal. Hector makes their drinks anyway. From where they’re coming from, a marguerita is normal, is air. It’s three or four minutes, literally, before Dad answers. He says: “Of course.”
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Dad and Winnie are hooking up in the bathroom when Pila arrives.
Pila sees two margueritas on the bar, Dad’s tablet, and Hector washing glasses.
“Hector.”
Mi Idios Mio looks around. He’s standing on a ladder.
“What the fuck is this?”
Hector says nothing.
“Hi Liss. Everything good? You good? Everything okay?”
I smile.
Pila goes into the bathroom.
“What the fuck is this? Who’s your friend?”
My dad says something muffled.
“Well,” Pila says, “We open at ten.”
Pila comes back out.
“Do you want me to leave?”
“Liss. No. Sit down. What is this?” Pila sips one of the margueritas. “You guys having a slumber party?”
“We just got here,” I explain.
“Hector. Call Candy. Why are you doing that? That’s Candy’s job. Is she late again?”
“She comes in at noon.”
“Well call her and tell her to get her ass in here and help you. Hector. Put down the glass. That’s Candy’s job. You have her number?”
“I have it,” I say, “But—”
“Hector, use her phone.”
“I emphhave Candy’s number.”
“Go pick her up if you have to. Richard! She needs to get her ass in here is what she needs to do.” Pila bangs on the bathroom wall. “Richard. Come’on. I have to pee.”
“Candy can’t come to work today,” I say.
“Also..Richard: please clean up after yourself in there. I’m not paying..Hector..to wash cum up off the seats. Sorry Liss. This one guy, he goes in there, it looks like he parted the Black Sea of toilet paper. Richard! What did you say?”
Both Hector and Pila are looking at me.
“Candy can’t make her shift today.”
I tilt my head to the side. I can’t look at them.
“Richard!”
“Where is she?” But Pila tells Hector not to ask.
He doesn’t want to involve me.
Pila’s going round the side of the bar.
He sees SHARK!’s cage: empty.
“Richard!!”
Pila bends at the knees.
He looks through murky water.
There’s nothing there.
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Pila’s sitting down. My dad’s punching his screen while Pila interrogates him. Winnie slurps the marguerita out the side of her mouth. “He stole my email.” Winnie says: “I told ya.” “And where’s my shark?” “He deleted everything. He said he would.” “Don’t we have a backup?” “It’s at his house.” “So emphwhere’s my shark?” “The shark is—emphwhy?” Winnie shrugs. “It’s at his emphhouse?” “Yup.” “Your shark—your shark is fine.” “Stephen’s been trying to get him to move it for emphmonths.” “He’s fine?” “That’s not the only thing that’s at his house.” “What else? Your shark is fine.” “Methanex.” “Richard. Where?” “He’s in a swimming pool.” “And where the fuck is Candy?” My dad just tells him straight out: “Candy’s dead.” I text Pila the address. He gets it. “What’s this? Candy’s dead.” “That’s the address of the swimming pool.” “So all the backups are at Jacobi’s house?” Winnie takes over my dad’s marguerita. “Yep.” My dad places his computer neatly on the bar. Zero messages in inbox. “Did you just say that Candy’s dead?” My dad looks at Pila. “She died in a swimming pool.” Hector’s not surprised. He knew this was going to happen. Eventually. Pila uses the bar hose to pour himself a rocks glass of fizzy water. He sticks his nail into a lemon peel, then gives up. He sets it down. “So Candy’s not coming in today.” Hector goes back to washing the glasses.