#14points

“Hey there, goofball,”

The boys looked up to see Clementine making her way over to them. She playfully ruffled A.J.’s hair, ignoring his attempts to wriggle out from under her grasp. “Hey, Willy. What are you boys up to?”

“Secret stuff,” A.J. declared, leaning over to cover his paper. Then his eyes lit up in excitement. “Oh, Clem, can we go down to fishing shack today?”

“That depends. What do you want to go there for?”

“I’m gonna break off the mirror on the old truck that’s by there and give it to Louis as a present. That way next time he gets something stuck in his teeth he can find it right away and won’t get so embarrassed,”

Clementine chuckled at the memory. “That’s a good idea, but why does it have to be today? You and I will have fishing duty together later this week,”

“It’s ‘cause today is Father’s Day!” Willy exclaimed.

A.J. glared daggers at Willy for revealing his true motives.

Clementine look surprised before her face softened into a tender smile. She looked down at A.J., a hand on his shoulder. “If you want, we can go right now. I just need to ask Aasim to cover my watch shift for me before we go,”

“OK!” A.J.’s anger immediately dissipated with the promise of an outing.

Clementine headed out to find Aasim.

The boys colored in silence for a few minutes before A.J. looked over at Willy’s drawing in curiosity. “So who are you making a card for?”

“I don’t know,” Willy shrugged. “I’m just gonna make it super awesome then figure out who to give it to later,” He’d already drawn a bunch of explosions on the inside of the card. Now he was drawing a detailed picture of his possum Garbage on the front. He still wasn’t sure who to give it to. He didn’t want to lay it on Mitch’s grave. That would just make him sad like it always did. Louis was already getting A.J.’s card so he didn’t want to copy. Omar was shorter than him now; it’d be weird to give him the card. That only left Aasim.

Willy thought more about Aasim as he continued to color in his card, adding cool gears and more explosions on the back. He knew Aasim had looked out for him ever since Mitch died all those years ago. When he was smaller, Willy thought he annoyed Aasim since the older boy always seemed to want to be alone writing in that journal of his. Over the years though, they’d seemed to come to an understanding of each other. Aasim would play games with Willy and listen to all his crazy ideas about new inventions to improve Ericson and Willy would help Aasim out where he could and sometimes even listen when he went on and on about historical stuff.

Aasim wasn’t really Willy’s father, but he was probably the closest thing he’d ever had. He made sure that Willy stayed safe when they were out hunting, taught Willy to read and write better even though Willy had the attention span of a fly, and always seemed proud when Willy accomplished something. Hesitantly, Willy scratched out a message on the card: “To Aasim, Happy Fater’s Day”. Realizing he’d forgot the h, Willy jammed it in super small right beside the t. He hoped Aasim wouldn’t be weirded out by getting this card. Even if it didn’t work out the way Willy wanted, he still wanted to try giving it to him.

---

Evening fell and Louis and Prisha returned from their hunting trip. A.J. immediately ran over to Louis with his card, the broken mirror from the truck tucked underneath his arm. Willy watched as A.J. said something to Louis, holding forth the card excitedly. Louis looked at it for a moment before the full impact of what was being given to him hit him. An exuberant smile crossed his face as he lifted A.J. up into his arms, spinning him around excitedly before placing him down for a hug. He then took the mirror A.J. offered him, laughing sheepishly as A.J. likely retold the story of the time he got that piece of rabbit stuck in his teeth.

Willy hoped things would go as well with Aasim. He wandered over to where Aasim now sat on the steps of the admin building, reading a book. Willy cleared his throat to signal his presence. “Hey, Aasim. What are you reading?”

Aasim looked up from the book. “It’s a series of speeches by George Washington. You want to hear a bit?”

Willy nodded.

Aasim looked for a good place to start. “Our conflict is not likely to cease so soon as every good man would wish. The measure of iniquity is not yet filled; and unless we can return a little more to first principles, and act a little more upon patriotic ground, I do not know when it will.”

Willy wasn’t sure what to make of any of that.

Aasim could tell that he was lost. “Washington lived during the founding of America as its own country. He fought in a lot of wars for Americans to get their freedom. Here he was saying that if Americans didn’t unite and figure out the reasons why they were fighting for freedom, he didn’t know when or how they could win. Of course now America’s not really a country anymore, just a series of scattered territories. Makes you wonder if all that bloodshed was worth it. Still, I figured it would be nice to read something by one of the Founding Fathers today.

There was that word. “It’s Father’s Day!” Willy exclaimed.

“You’re right. Did A.J. tell you? He seemed awfully excited when he heard me mention it to Omar,”

“I-I made something for you,” Willy thrust the card forward along with the rock from his personal collection he’d decided to throw in as a last second gift. “I know you’re not my real dad or anything, but I thought you’d like to get something for Father’s Day too,”

Aasim seemed touched by the gift. He turned the card over in his hands, looking at all the details. “You did a great job with it. The explosions look pretty realistic and Garbage is spot on,”

“I always know how to draw Garbage,” Willy smiled proudly, his gap teeth showing. He pointed to the rock in Aasim’s other hand. “I thought you’d think the rock is cool too. I found it in the river a while back. It looks like it has scars all over it,”

“They’re quartz,” Aasim said, holding up the rock so they both could see it better. The grey rock was covered with bright crystal stripes. “You know, the way quartz forms is pretty cool. It actually comes from magma deep underground,” He looked at Willy’s uncomprehending face. “Volcanoes,”

“Woah, that’s awesome!” Willy’s mouth gaped open, his eyes large. A couple months ago Prisha and Aasim had made paper volcanoes for everybody to see and had them erupt fake lava and everything. It had been one of the best days of Willy’s life.

Aasim smiled at his enthusiasm. “You’re a good student, Willy. It just takes a bit of work to figure out what you want to know,” He looked back down at the card in his hand. “Thank you for this. It… means a lot,” He paused for a moment before awkwardly pulling Willy into a hug. “Man, I can’t believe you’re already as tall as me. Any day now you’re gonna have me beat,” He was silent for a moment before pulling away to look Willy in the eyes. “I’m proud of you, Willy. You’ve really stepped up over the years to help protect the school and keep everyone safe,”

Willy shrugged. “Just doing my job. You’re the one who does the hard stuff: all the planning to make sure we’ll make it through each winter. You’ve always had my back. I just don’t want to let you down,”

Aasim placed a hand on Willy’s shoulder. “You never have,”

Willy grinned again. It felt good to know Aasim was proud of him. “I guess with the baby coming we’ll all be working a lot harder, huh?”

Aasim’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Baby? What baby?”

“You and Ruby’s. She had me help her sneak back into the old nursery a couple days ago to see if we could use any of the old cribs. Didn’t you know?”

“I…” Before Aasim could answer, Omar’s voice rang through the front yard.

“Dinner’s ready! Get it before it’s cold!”

“C’mon, Aasim! It’s dinner!” the accidental reveal had already disappeared from Willy’s mind as he ran toward the picnic tables.

“Well, alright then,” Brody plopped down beside him, pulling an apple out of her pocket. A dagger was in her other hand. Carefully she began to peel the apple. The curling peel fell in pieces under the waves beneath their feet from time to time as she worked.

Marlon smirked at her as she took her first bite. “Really? All you’re having for lunch is an apple?”

Brody shrugged. “We’re running low on supplies. And my stomach can’t handle another stew right now. Omar’s been making them really rich lately,”

“Still, no meat to supplement it? Not even a roll?”

“They’re full of weevils,” Brody responding, her nose wrinkling in disgust.

“Ok, that’s fair,”

They sat in silence for a few moments, legs dangling off the edge as the waves crashed against the gently rocking ship. Brody wasn’t saying anything, but Marlon could tell that she wanted to.

“You’ve got a question?”

“It’s just… you’ve seemed awful quiet these last couple days. It isn’t like you,”

“Just had a lot on my mind,”

“Was it something that happened when you and Soph went swimming?”

Marlon looked over at Brody, studying her eyes. What did she suspect? “It’s not my place to say,”

“Oh, OK,” Brody returned to kicking her legs, looking out at the endless expanse of sea. “Y’know, for what it’s worth I think the two of you are cute together,”

“What?!” Marlon’s shocked expression was mirrored by Brody’s.

“Damn it, did I misread things? I’m sorry!” Brody looked down in shame. “I just thought with how close the two of you have been lately that maybe there was something more there. That’s how it started with Mitch and I. Though I guess it was a lot more teasing and bantering on our end. The affection came later. You and Sophie seem to get along so easily. I’m glad she has someone she feels she can trust,”

Marlon shrugged. “I don’t know how much help I’m being. Sophie’s been through so much… being lost at sea for all those years just to wake up and find out what Minnie’s become, what she did to her own friends? I don’t think having a friend is going to fix it all,”

“Well, it certainly can’t hurt,” Brody glanced over at Marlon uncertainly. “And feel free to disregard what I say next if it’s not true, but if there are feelings there with Sophie, I’d just give it time. Not every romance has to be expeditious,”

“Expeditious?” Marlon’s brow quirked in confusion. “Where did that come from?”

“Did I not use it right?” Brody blushed in embarrassment. “Prisha said it the other day when she was talking about some sort of strategy with Clem. I figured I understood what it meant so I thought I’d give it a whirl,”

“I mean, I think you used it right. It was just a bit unexpected,”

“What I’m trying to say is every couple’s different. For Louis and Clem it only took a few months before they knew they wanted to be together while it took me years to figure out why Mitch was so special to me. All I’m saying is you don’t have to get everything sorted out all at once,”

“All this assumes Sophie even likes me,” Marlon responded, his boot dully thumping against the side of the ship.

Brody’s eyes widened at his tacit acknowledgement of his own feelings, but she quickly contained herself. “No matter what I know you mean a hell of a lot to Sophie. Don’t sell yourself short on how important that friendship is,”

Suddenly the door that connected the lower and upper decks burst open. Mitch strode out, his arms cradling something wooden. His eyes brightened when he saw his girlfriend. “Holy shit Brody, you gotta see this!” He ran over, holding out the item excitedly. “You know how Willy and I have been working on alternate peg legs for Clem? Check it out!” Suddenly he unsheathed the peg leg, showing a hidden blade within. “Knife leg! If anyone every tries to disarm Clem, she can just whip out this baby and do some serious damage!”

Brody smiled at Mitch’s excitement. “That’s great! Are you going to be able to convince Clem to wear it though?”

“Willy’s trying to convince her now. We were thinking maybe if we had support from someone besides the two of us she might be willing to give it a try,” Mitch looked at his girlfriend, his eyes silently pleading.

“You want me to convince Clem to try out the knife leg?”

Mitch nodding silently, clutching his creation.

Brody let out a good-natured sigh. “Well, it’s worth a shot. I’ll see you later, Marlon,”

“See you,” Marlon watched as Brody walked away with Mitch, her expression warm as he chattered excitedly about the new leg. He couldn’t deny that he was jealous of what they had. He knew Brody meant well with her encouragement that things between him and Sophie might develop into something more, but he didn’t want to get his hopes up. It would be selfish of him to do so. Sophie was trying to navigate a brand-new life right now, struggling to reclaim the freedom that had been torn away from her when she and Minnie were captured. She didn’t have the time or energy to worry about things like his silly crush right now. That would only get in the way of the long road to healing that she had begun.