Leashing the Tempest
Page 3
Kar Yee gave him a cat-eating-canary slow grin. “Long time, no see, future boyfriend.”
Jupe made a choking noise somewhere between a giggle and a gag. I think she was the only person in the world who could trip up his cocky swagger.
“Have some taffy,” she said, holding out the box. “I already ate all the peppermint ones.”
Lon took the candy before Jupe could pounce on it. “No sugar.”
Kar Yee brushed off her hands and shrugged.
“You ready to be my guinea pig?” Jupe asked her.
“Bring it on. I was Cady’s guinea pig in college. You wouldn’t believe—” Kar Yee looked askance at the captain and clammed up. “Never mind.”
“Don’t mind me,” the captain said. “You coming into your ability?”
Jupe’s mouth twisted. “Just a little voice thing.”
I expected the captain to ask about it, but he was only interested in talking about himself. “I remember when I came into mine,” he said. “I’m a cloudbuster.”
“A what buster?”
“I can clear up storms.”
“Whoa, really?”
“Really. Even if you see storms in the distance, you don’t have to worry. I can keep storms away for about a mile around us. Sure, I like to avoid ’em when I can, so I can focus on piloting the boat. But you’re guar-an-teed sunny skies when you’re sailing with me. So whatever you have planned this afternoon, you go right ahead and enjoy yourself. Whatever happens on Captain Christie’s boat, stays on Captain Christie’s boat . . . No drugs, though. I can’t afford to go back to prison.”
“Prison?” Jupe said, green eyes wide with intrigue.
“Back?” I said.
Lon groaned, then exhaled heavily through his nostrils. “Look, we’re all here now. Where’s your marine biologist?”
“Sorry, he got sick. Just me today.”
Lon squeezed his eyes shut. I think he was counting under his breath. Sometimes I could see his lips move when he did that, usually when he was close to losing his shit over something Jupe had done. “I want to take photos of whales or dolphins. That’s what I paid extra for. Not the TV or the Wi-Fi—I couldn’t care less about those.”
“Probably for the best. My router’s on the fritz. Anyway, I know the perfect reef for dolphin spotting. You don’t want to dive, right?”
“Yes!” Jupe said at the same time Lon said, “No.”
He shot Jupe a firm look and clarified. “No diving today.”
“Good. Leave it to me. I can have you at a perfect spot in about an hour.” The captain turned to Jupe. “Would you like to help me at the helm, little man? Maybe you and your Oriental beauty, here?”
Kar Yee and Jupe wore twin faces of contempt.
“Suit yourselves,” the captain said cheerily as ominous thunder rumbled in the distance. “Let’s ge
t under way.”
La Sirena’s boardwalk grew smaller as we motored away from the pier. Sandwiched between rocky driftwood-strewn beaches and craggy cliffs, I could make out the quaint buildings that made up the town center, which locals called the Village. Next to it stood the castle-like wall that housed Brentano Gardens, the old-fashioned amusement park where Lon and I first witnessed Jupe’s demonic ability, which began manifesting a month ago—a couple of years earlier than the typical time frame for Earthbound kids coming into their preternatural gifts.
The memory of what happened that night was one of the factors that led Lon to suggest the boat trip as a good opportunity for Jupe to experiment with the ability: unlike the amusement part, this was a controlled environment with a limited number of people. “Better to defuse a bomb out in the ocean than in the middle of a town,” he’d joked.
The bomb in question was busy trying to impress Kar Yee with his talent for identifying every building in the receding skyline. And after the town disappeared from our line of sight completely, we sat on the deck at the back of the boat, watching the storm darkening the sky behind us, and broke into the cooler.
“Hey Dad,” Jupe said. “If we buy a boat, will it be this big?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Well, maybe you should compromise and get a smaller one with a hot tub, because then, when it’s cool like this, we can get in the hot tub and relax.”
“No hot tubs.”
“Just think about it,” Jupe said smoothly, as if he wasce= conducting a business deal.
Lon ignored him and turned to Kar Yee. “You don’t get seasick, do you?”
She shook her head. “I rode a ferry in Victoria Harbor every day until I was a teenager and left Hong Kong. My parents own a boat.”
“A junk?” Jupe asked.
“A speedboat. You sound like that racist captain, describing me like I was a rug or takeout food.”
Jupe’s face tightened with indignity. “I’m not racist. I’m biracial.”
“Maybe you are just ignorant about Asians.”
“No way! My best friend, Jack, is Japanese—”
“Mmm-hmm,” she said, cocking a brow as a breeze ruffled the collar of her designer jacket. “The old ‘I have Asian friends’ excuse.”
“What? No! I—”
She winked at him. “Only teasing, ‘little man.’ My dad’s a lawyer, not a fisherman. Lawyers in Hong Kong don’t own junks.”
Jupe made a choking noise somewhere between a giggle and a gag. I think she was the only person in the world who could trip up his cocky swagger.
“Have some taffy,” she said, holding out the box. “I already ate all the peppermint ones.”
Lon took the candy before Jupe could pounce on it. “No sugar.”
Kar Yee brushed off her hands and shrugged.
“You ready to be my guinea pig?” Jupe asked her.
“Bring it on. I was Cady’s guinea pig in college. You wouldn’t believe—” Kar Yee looked askance at the captain and clammed up. “Never mind.”
“Don’t mind me,” the captain said. “You coming into your ability?”
Jupe’s mouth twisted. “Just a little voice thing.”
I expected the captain to ask about it, but he was only interested in talking about himself. “I remember when I came into mine,” he said. “I’m a cloudbuster.”
“A what buster?”
“I can clear up storms.”
“Whoa, really?”
“Really. Even if you see storms in the distance, you don’t have to worry. I can keep storms away for about a mile around us. Sure, I like to avoid ’em when I can, so I can focus on piloting the boat. But you’re guar-an-teed sunny skies when you’re sailing with me. So whatever you have planned this afternoon, you go right ahead and enjoy yourself. Whatever happens on Captain Christie’s boat, stays on Captain Christie’s boat . . . No drugs, though. I can’t afford to go back to prison.”
“Prison?” Jupe said, green eyes wide with intrigue.
“Back?” I said.
Lon groaned, then exhaled heavily through his nostrils. “Look, we’re all here now. Where’s your marine biologist?”
“Sorry, he got sick. Just me today.”
Lon squeezed his eyes shut. I think he was counting under his breath. Sometimes I could see his lips move when he did that, usually when he was close to losing his shit over something Jupe had done. “I want to take photos of whales or dolphins. That’s what I paid extra for. Not the TV or the Wi-Fi—I couldn’t care less about those.”
“Probably for the best. My router’s on the fritz. Anyway, I know the perfect reef for dolphin spotting. You don’t want to dive, right?”
“Yes!” Jupe said at the same time Lon said, “No.”
He shot Jupe a firm look and clarified. “No diving today.”
“Good. Leave it to me. I can have you at a perfect spot in about an hour.” The captain turned to Jupe. “Would you like to help me at the helm, little man? Maybe you and your Oriental beauty, here?”
Kar Yee and Jupe wore twin faces of contempt.
“Suit yourselves,” the captain said cheerily as ominous thunder rumbled in the distance. “Let’s ge
t under way.”
La Sirena’s boardwalk grew smaller as we motored away from the pier. Sandwiched between rocky driftwood-strewn beaches and craggy cliffs, I could make out the quaint buildings that made up the town center, which locals called the Village. Next to it stood the castle-like wall that housed Brentano Gardens, the old-fashioned amusement park where Lon and I first witnessed Jupe’s demonic ability, which began manifesting a month ago—a couple of years earlier than the typical time frame for Earthbound kids coming into their preternatural gifts.
The memory of what happened that night was one of the factors that led Lon to suggest the boat trip as a good opportunity for Jupe to experiment with the ability: unlike the amusement part, this was a controlled environment with a limited number of people. “Better to defuse a bomb out in the ocean than in the middle of a town,” he’d joked.
The bomb in question was busy trying to impress Kar Yee with his talent for identifying every building in the receding skyline. And after the town disappeared from our line of sight completely, we sat on the deck at the back of the boat, watching the storm darkening the sky behind us, and broke into the cooler.
“Hey Dad,” Jupe said. “If we buy a boat, will it be this big?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Well, maybe you should compromise and get a smaller one with a hot tub, because then, when it’s cool like this, we can get in the hot tub and relax.”
“No hot tubs.”
“Just think about it,” Jupe said smoothly, as if he wasce= conducting a business deal.
Lon ignored him and turned to Kar Yee. “You don’t get seasick, do you?”
She shook her head. “I rode a ferry in Victoria Harbor every day until I was a teenager and left Hong Kong. My parents own a boat.”
“A junk?” Jupe asked.
“A speedboat. You sound like that racist captain, describing me like I was a rug or takeout food.”
Jupe’s face tightened with indignity. “I’m not racist. I’m biracial.”
“Maybe you are just ignorant about Asians.”
“No way! My best friend, Jack, is Japanese—”
“Mmm-hmm,” she said, cocking a brow as a breeze ruffled the collar of her designer jacket. “The old ‘I have Asian friends’ excuse.”
“What? No! I—”
She winked at him. “Only teasing, ‘little man.’ My dad’s a lawyer, not a fisherman. Lawyers in Hong Kong don’t own junks.”
