Too Many Fishes
- MANO
- Apr 10
- 4 min read
The day started out with such promise. A clear sky, a gentle breeze, the sand warming up slowly. I was on my way to Olina's house for lunch when I saw him stomping his way towards me. Esava only had two walks: the slow shuffling walk of a grumpy fisherman, and the slow stomping walk of an angry fisherman. This was the latter, so I stopped and waited for him. My name is Mano, and some days I would happily trade away my Kupuna Teeth for a warm meal and peaceful quiet. Today would not be one of those days.
The only reason Esava ever sought me out was to complain. I started keeping track of him years ago and now kept a running tally in my hut. He was up over six hundred now, but I couldn't remember the exact number. It had been over a month since his last complaint, a long time for Esava. Six hundred complaints, and not once did he have something good to share. No happy news, no words of friendship or kindness, nothing to be thankful for. It hurt my brain to think of a life so dark and bitter. I put some extra energy into my smile and welcomed him as he arrived.
"Esava my good friend, how are you this fine day?" I asked.
"You need to keep your white vulagi away from me!" he snarled.
Vulagi was an island slur for stranger, and not a kind one. Esava was obviously referring to the four men shipwrecked on our island over half a year ago. They were hardly strangers anymore, at least to most of us. Also, one of the men was black, so that further narrowed my choices. I had been teaching one of them and spending time with them each day, so I knew who he was talking about. Still, I decided to turn Esava in a circle for a bit.
"Cuthbert? Everyone loves Cuthbert, all he does is fix things." I said sounding skeptical.
"No no no, the other, other one!" Esava said, waving his arms around like it meant something.
"Gerard?" I asked confused.
"Yes, that one! Keep him away from me! I'm tired of his meddling," he yelled, getting to the heart of it.
"Why don't you tell me what he did first, and we can start from there," I asked, thinking of warm soup getting cold.
"He won't leave nothing alone!" Esava said, "He talked his way onto my boat last week to help me fish. I didn't need help, but he badgered me with words until I gave up. Figured he could row us out and pull up the heavy traps. The whole time he's rowing he keeps asking me this and that, all kinds of stuff. Made my head hurt from all the noise. Anyway, he pulls up my old traps and we got a fish or two in each, like always. He starts turning them over, telling me how to improve them. I tell him I've been fishing since his daddy was suckling, and I know my trade. I can't drop him off fast enough. So today I go out and pull up my three traps only to find they've been replaced with newfangled traps. Bout the same size, but lighter by half, and jammed with fish to boot! What the heck am I supposed to do with all those extra fish?" Esava hollered.
Some men are born idiots. Others have to work their whole lives to become idiots. A rare few have such a knack for it, they outdistance the competition and stand alone at the peak of Mt. Idiot. Esava was that man. I was tired of his griping and decided to throw him off the mountain.
"I asked him to make the traps," I said.
"You?" Esava gasped.
"Yes, me."
"Why?"
"Because Jale died three weeks ago, and Kamisee no longer has a partner to fish for her. She is starving but too proud to ask for help. She only lives four huts away from you and you haven't noticed. The Purple Tiki suggested I cut your tongue out. If you ate less, you would have more to share with Kamisee. I decided to give you the traps as one last chance for you to do something nice," I said with some anger.
Esava's mouth was open for a long time, then he slowly closed it. He appeared to have difficulty swallowing and then wiped his forehead.
"I didn't, I mean I don't..." Esava said.
"I may still cut your tongue out, if Kamisee gets any thinner," I whispered.
It was the first time I had ever seen Esava run. I don't know where he was going, but he appeared to be running late. I looked towards Olina's hut in the distance and sighed; now I needed to make another stop before lunch. I turned around and headed off to find Gerard. We needed to have a conversation about not helping people who didn't want to be helped.
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