Family Coat

by Rachel V. Olivier

Part 1 appears
in this issue.

conclusion

The waiter continued: “I figured with the night you had, you might like to meet some friends of mine, and possibly yours. They have a way of helping people forget their troubles for a bit.”

Tam stood mutely, alternating his gaze between Aidan and the swimmers. The sound of the ocean waves lulled him as he settled on the swimmers coming in towards the beach.

“Looks like they’re coming in after all. Come on, let me introduce you.” Aidan started off toward the crowd now coming ashore as Tam followed.

Tam found himself swiftly surrounded by cool, wet flesh that seemed to beat with an underlying heat of its own. They didn’t just walk across the beach, they gamboled, wove, danced, frolicked, bounded, capered, frisked, skipped and ran — unlike most people Tam knew, who, he suspected, would probably be a bit self conscious when walking naked across the sand by the light of the moon.

Once the group met Aidan and Tam on the sand, they didn’t cease moving, continuing their play as they surrounded the two young men. Tam felt dizzy as he watched them weaving around him, listening to Aidan introduce him.

“This is Tam. He’s had a bit of rough night. Tam, let me introduce you to the herd.”

Tam stared at the crowd of people as they came by offering their hands, a pat on the back, a hug, a sensuous rub of hand over his thigh, or a tender touch on his cheek. Lilted names went in one ear and out the other. One hand seemed to linger a little longer than the rest, attached to a pair of playful lips, impish eyes, and long, sandy brown hair.

“Name’s Jenna.”

“Jenna... I... I’m Tam.”

“I know!” And she laughed and danced off to greet someone else.

After a while, Tam noticed how the group moved in a serpentine figure eight, cheerfully weaving among each other like delighted old friends and lovers; stroking each other, pinching, rubbing, tickling, eliciting little cries of delight, gasps of pleasure, and coos of joy, sometimes sounding remarkably like seal yelps.

With a jolt, Tan realized he had become the nexus of the figure eight. Feeling trapped, breath coming short, he desperately wanted to leave. He grabbed at his tie to loosen it, only to find it gone. Looking down he saw he was nude, and looking up, watched as the last person who had greeted him laid his underwear to rest on the pile of clothes on the sand.

“Look here, Aidan...” Flushing with embarrassment he saw that Aidan, too, was now unclothed and taking part in the dance. Tam wondered what he’d gotten involved in and frantically began to put his clothes back on. “I... I’m not so sure I’m comfortable with this.”

“It’s okay. We have your skin.” Aidan reached out to stop him and lifted up the coat he had been carrying. Tam saw now that it wasn’t just a leather coat; it was a sealskin, dark fur showing brown and russet where before it had appeared black. Now he noticed that similar skins dotted the beach around him, glistening brown, black, tan hides now being picked up one by one by the dancers.

“Put it on. Your mother made it for you.”

Tam felt his stomach flip and his eyes sting as he reached for the skin. It felt smooth, warm to his touch. Aidan placed it in his arms.

“She would have been here to give it to you herself, but she hasn’t come ashore since she left your father.”

Tam looked up at Aidan, too stunned to speak. Then noticed the rest of the herd gathered around and waiting.

“Go ahead, put your coat on. Come out and meet your people.”

* * *

Cold water turned warm with exertion, swimming, soft hides swam past each other, under and over, stroking, caressing, and enjoying one another. Tam reveled in the new feelings of oneness with the herd; everywhere at once, yet all together. My mother. My coat. My... people? It felt good, and right, and yet almost too good.

A familiar feeling of somehow being letdown or failing soured his stomach. He took a breath, coughed up water and remembered where he was. Maybe it won’t be so bad, after all. I’m down here, now. Not up there.

Then time lost all meaning for Tam. Sunlight bounced off golden sands, followed by exploring caves in icy glaciers as high as skyscrapers. Nameless creatures preying the pits of the sea eyed the herd from deep below. Jetsam and flotsam, drifts of danger and poison floated past. Flippers gliding through water, sunshine reflecting off backs, liquid black and brown eyes, kiss of whiskers brushing by him. Racing through foreign waters for his very life to visit the magic grotto. Slippery smooth, and cool ocean depths. And always, comfort, love, belonging, and safety. The herd.

And sometime during the timeless night, his mother.

I didn’t want to leave, Tam. A cold nose nudged him. I had no choice. Pictures came through Tam’s mind then, memories not his. His mother and father fighting; his father giving his mother an ultimatum. His father knew. Had known all this time.

I’ve missed you, Tam nudged back, as they continued to swim with the herd, over and under, around and about, exploring the ocean together.

I am here for you. You are one of us. You don’t ever need to feel alone ever again.

Tam felt his mother caress him as she glided around him, waving a final goodbye before swimming back to her home grotto.

A dark line streaked through the water, slicing through the herd, scattering the selkies, grazing one a few feet away. Tam froze and watched a stripe of blood float up through the water as the other seals gathered around the injured one to escort it away. Fear spiked his adrenaline and he fled.

Tam maneuvered through the reef, heart pounding in his mouth as he felt the graze of another harpoon, the old memory of generations of fleeing seals washing over him, fluid as the water over his limbs. Sunlight filtered down to where he dove. He hoped to lose the hunters as he swam through rock outcroppings.

Dark fluid floated down from above. Blood? His own or someone else’s? Had the others been caught? Clumsily, he tried to get deeper. How deep could he go, and how long could he stay below the surface before he had to come back up?

Anxiously, Tam looked around, eyes adjusting to the dim watery depths. Where was everyone? All he’d done was put on a coat. The coat his mother had made for him.

What am I doing here? Fleeing for my life? Tam remembered the feel of the tablecloth; the glass as it touched his lips, the taste of the martini, and of Marta’s lips on his. He tried to compare it to the perilous beauty around him, and his senses failed him. What now?

A brush on his back made him whirl around to come face to face with one of the herd. He couldn’t remember her name. She motioned over to an opening in the outcropping. Jenna... that had been her name. Tam braced himself before springing across the open water into the dark safety of the rocks.

Once past the opening, Tam followed his friend through the tunnel. He panicked when he noticed the entrance narrowing as they swam deeper. Claustrophobia clawed at his throat as they continued. Finally, they began moving up again, the tunnel widening.

Tam noticed strange reflections coming down through the water, and was caught off guard as they finally broke the surface. They were in a subterranean cave filled with gems sparkling with a light all their own.

“Relax, Tam. We’re safe here.”

Tam startled at the sudden sound of a human voice echoing in the cavern and turned around to see Jenna, now in her human form, leverage up onto a ledge that ran around the inside of the cave. Jenna’s hazel eyes twinkled with delight at Tam’s reaction to the natural beauty of the cavern.

Tam’s heart slowed down to a regular rate, then sped up again as he noticed a drop of water clinging to one of Jenna’s nipples, hanging there, enticing. Catching his glance, Jenna smiled, and nodded him over to where she sat. His heart rate surging again, he moved over to the ledge, wondering at the change in his life the last few hours had wrought.

* * *

The world shook. Earthquake? Something hit Tam’s face. A sound, like a bullhorn, bellowed into his ears.

“Hey, buddy! You okay? Wake up! Put some clothes on before I arrest ya for indecent exposure! You can’t stay here. You have to move along.”

Tam looked up at the beach cop groggily and nodded, sitting up. Then wished he hadn’t as he slammed his eyes shut against the morning sun and put his hands to his head. The sunlight wouldn’t let him be, though.

Opening his eyes again, he peered around and saw the deserted beach. The cop had tossed his clothes at him, covering his lap. But, Tam felt his face go red, and clutched the clothes to him as he hurriedly stuck arms into sleeves and legs into pants now filled with sand.

Sun glinted off the badge on the cop’s chest, sending coruscating beams across Tam’s now overly sensitive vision. Shutting his eyes tight against it, Tam nodded again. Slowly.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine,” he croaked as he pushed himself up out of the sand, feeling worked muscles protest at the movement. Looking down, he checked for everything as the cop continued to eyeball him. That’s when he saw his coat.

No. The bottom of Tam’s stomach dropped out. It was his skin.

So, it was real.

Tam carefully folded the sealskin over his arm. Caressing it, he remembered tumbling through deep ocean waters, following lights to the bottom, swimming through sunken ships, peeking over rocks to see ruined castles on high cliffs.

Mother.

“I’m not sure that’s legal... that skin.”

Tam jerked out of his reverie and looked up at the cop, grasping the skin at the implied threat.

“It’s mine.”

The cop took a step back at the growl in Tam’s voice. “Well, whatever, just take it and leave, bub.”

Despite the feel of the cop’s eyes on his back, warmth spread through Tam as he trudged along the shore back to the restaurant parking lot where, he hoped, his car was still parked. The beginning of a tune floated through his mind and out past his lips. A smile tilted his lips as he remembered Jenna, remembering vaguely some promise she had made to come see him again, “soon.”

Fumbling for his keys in his jacket pocket, he felt the black box at the sandy bottom, and stilled his whistling. Tam dug it out, feeling a pang of pain upon seeing it. He faltered suddenly in his new light-heartedness.

Moving to throw the box into the sea, on impulse he opened it to look at his little ring of daydreams one more time. The department-store gold band was gone. Sitting in the satin a platinum mermaid wrapped her tail in a circle, diamond eyes glittering in the sun as she held one perfect, luminescent pearl.

To Challenge 441...