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Jay confronts Veronica, and things go... poorly. Returning to the boat, he tells Arin, but she is fine with it. Not wanting their time together to end, or to put Arin back in the situation with her mother, he takes the girl out onto the water on his boat. He teaches her how to fish, some of the basics of boating, and shows her a lovely time.\n\n[url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3336160]Part 1[/url] | [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3336168]Part 2[/url] | [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3336169]Part 3[/url] | [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3336171]Part 4[/url] | [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3336174]Part 5[/url] | >[b][u]Part 6[/u][/b]< | [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3336177]Part 7[/url] | [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3336183]Part 8[/url]\n\n- - - - -\n\nA massive thank you to my top tier subscribers:\n[fa]booleangemini352[/fa] | Sedyna | [fa]Kaden22[/fa] | [fa]jafferroshak[/fa] | RoleplayCentral | [fa]Tierr[/fa] | [fa]akinkyyfox[/fa]\n\nIf you would like early access to my stories, polls, monthly commission raffles, weekly previews and updates, behind the scenes talks, and other bonus content, please consider subscribing to my [url=https://subscribestar.adult/xp_author]SubscribeStar[/url]", "description_bbcode_parsed": "The part people have been waiting for. Jay confronts Veronica, and things go... poorly. Returning to the boat, he tells Arin, but she is fine with it. Not wanting their time together to end, or to put Arin back in the situation with her mother, he takes the girl out onto the water on his boat. He teaches her how to fish, some of the basics of boating, and shows her a lovely time.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | >Part 6< | Part 7 | Part 8

- - - - -

A massive thank you to my top tier subscribers:
\n\t\t\t\t\tbooleangemini352 | Sedyna | \n\t\t\t\t\tKaden22 | \n\t\t\t\t\tjafferroshak | RoleplayCentral | \n\t\t\t\t\tTierr | \n\t\t\t\t\takinkyyfox

If you would like early access to my stories, polls, monthly commission raffles, weekly previews and updates, behind the scenes talks, and other bonus content, please consider subscribing to my SubscribeStar", "writing": "[center][b]The Good Neighbor[/b][/center]\n[center][u]Part 6[/u][/center]\n[center]By XP Author[/center]\n\nMorning came all too quickly. Jay opened his eyes to find he was laying in the bed alone, though the cabin still smelled of Arin. He slowly pushed himself up, feeling a slight kink in his neck. He groaned a little as he stretched. He pushed himself out of bed, looking around. The girl's clothing was no longer on the floor, only his shirt remaining. He picked it up and put it on, then moved to the fore cabin. The girl was sitting at the table, just staring at her hands. \"Good morning.\"\n\nShe jumped slightly when she heard him, then turned and smiled. \"Hey. You... looked like you needed the sleep, so I didn't wake you.\"\n\nHe smiled a little. \"I hope you weren't sitting around too long.\"\n\nShe just shrugged. \"I... no. Not too long.\" She gave him a smile as he pat her head gently walking past her. He moved over to the counter to start some coffee for himself. Though he saw a mug sitting in the sink, the remains of cocoa still on the inside. \"Oh... I... sorry, I didn't drink that last night. It was cold by the time I got out here, so I dumped it... I wasn't sure how to wash stuff here, so I just left it there... Hope that's okay.\"\n\nHe smiled. \"Yeah, that's alright.\" He finished getting everything into the coffee maker and got himself a fresh mug, then started washing the ones from the previous night, his own mug from the tea still sitting on the counter. \"So... you must be pretty hungry by now.\"\n\nShe nodded. \"A... little... I guess.\" She looked away again. He figured she was also pretty worried.\n\nHe sighed slightly. \"Tell you what. I'll give you some cash, and you can go get yourself some breakfast somewhere. There's a bunch of places nearby that serve it, so you have your pick. You can even get it to go and just bring it back here. You remember the door code?\"\n\nShe nodded. \"4-1-1-8-9.\"\n\n\"Right.\" He took a breath and held it for a moment. \"And while you do that... I'll go and talk to your mother... provided she hasn't called the cops on me yet.\"\n\nThe girl whimpered slightly. \"W-what are you going to say?\"\n\nHe rubbed the back of his neck. \"I'm not sure yet. I'll... try to figure that out by the time I get there.\"\n\nShe nodded, looking down at her hands. \"She's just going to want me to go back...\"\n\n\"Yeah. I know.\" He moved over and put his hand on her shoulder. \"But I'm not letting her hurt you ever again. Even if I have to run away with you to do it.\" She smiled at him. After he had his coffee, he gave her a small wad of cash. She was surprised by just how much, and even more surprised when he said she could keep whatever she didn't spend on food. Then he got into his truck, and went back to the house. The whole time, he was wracking his brain trying to think of just what to say. By the time he was pulling into the driveway, he hadn't figured that out yet.\n\nHe walked up to Veronica's door, took a deep breath, and knocked. Then knocked again when he got no response for several seconds. \"ARIN! GET THE DOOR!\" He heard the woman screaming inside, her words holding that same listless slur from when she had been at his door only a few days prior. \"ARIN!\" He heard movement inside. A minute later, the door was yanked open. \"WHAT DO YOU... oh, it's [i]you.[/i]\" The woman was dressed in just her purple houserobe again. Thankfully, her lips were devoid of a cigarette this time. \"So she ran off to your cock, did she?\"\n\nHe frowned at the woman. \"No, she ran off to my safety. Can I come inside? We have a lot to talk about.\"\n\nVeronica just threw her hand in the air. \"Fine. C'mon in and talk.\" She turned around and headed back inside. He followed, shutting the door behind himself. The house was... a mess. Small piles of empty bottles sat against one wall, most from hard liquor. The living room, if you could call it that, was home to an old TV that he was surprised still worked by how filthy it was. There was only one chair in front of it, an even more beat up recliner that looked like it was from the 70's, with a gaudy pattern just barely visible. The place smelled heavily of cigarette smoke and alcohol.\n\nHe followed the woman to the kitchen, watching as she pulled open a bottle of vodka and didn't even bother pouring it, just taking several gulps straight from the bottle before slamming it back down on the counter. \"Alright. So wha'the fuck do you wanna talk about, fluffy?\"\n\nHe crossed his arms. \"Arin, of course. I've learned what you've been forcing her to do.\"\n\nThe woman scoffed. \"You, you mean put that slut to some use? So what? It's the only thing she's good for.\"\n\nHe frowned at how flippant she was about it. \"You know that's a lie.\"\n\nShe scoffed again. \"Yeah, she can't even do that right! Been pissing off the guys lately with her dead eyes. And can't even get herself knocked up proper! No matter how many of 'em leave their load in there.\" She shook her head. \"Fucking useless cunt can't even do that right.\"\n\nHe scowled even more. \"You've been having them rape her since she was 6! She probably can't have kids now because of that!\" He was guessing, but had heard something about that a long time ago. Though he wasn't sure how true it was, he would still use that as a point. \"You're lucky she hasn't been hurt even worse than that!\"\n\n\"LUCKY!\" She picked up the bottle, and looked like she was about to throw it, but instead just took another swig and slammed it down on the counter again. \"Nothin' about that girl is LUCKY! She's been just a burden since the momen' she was born! Fucking leeching everything, ruin'n my looks, eat'n all my food, shitting everywhere! She's lucky I even let her leave the house!\" She blinked several times. \"Where the hell is she?\"\n\nHe managed to keep his cool, but his temper was definitely flaring up under the surface. \"Away from you and safe for now. And she's going to stay that way until I can get a promise that you're not going to force her to be a prostitute for you anymore.\"\n\nIt was Veronica's turn to scowl at him. \"Away from me? She's [i]my[/i] fucking daughter! I'll tell her when she can leave! She owes me her fucking life for bringing her into this world!\"\n\n\"She's her own person, not your slave.\"\n\nShe slammed her hand on the counter. \"She owes me! She'll do wha'ever th'fuck I want her to do! She'd better, or I'll fucking make her regret it!\"\n\nHis scowl got darker. \"About that. She told me you threatened her life.\"\n\nThe woman teetered back unsteadily, trying to look intimidating and failing. \"Yeah? Sho what? I brought her into this world, I c'n take her out of it!\"\n\n\"You'd really do it? Kill your own daughter?\"\n\n\"Yeah, why not?\" She scoffed. \"Pro'bly pay better as a corpse than she every did alive, too! An' she wouldn't fucking eat all my fucking food!\" She put her hand to her head. \"Ugh... and you've gone and giv'n me a headach. I need my fucking pills...\" She waved her hand at him as she walked past him. \"You said yer peace. Now get the fuck outta my house and bring my daughter back sho I can give 'er what she deserves.\"\n\nHe didn't leave. Instead he followed her as she walked to her bedroom. The place was set up like some kind of porn studio, cameras pointed at the messy bed and lights here and there. Sitting beside the bed was several open bottles of some kind of pills. And even more bottles of various alcohol. He also saw a small pile of what he could only guess were props used during the recording. Handcuffs, rope, a crop, a gag, and several sex toys. He just knew all of them had been used on Arin at some point. It made his blood boil even more just thinking about the girl being tied up and smacked by someone, all while this disgusting woman watched and recorded it.\n\nThat was the last straw. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a spool of heavy fishing wire, the kind used to reel in large fish like marlins. It had quite the tensile strength, so he wasn't worried about it snapping as he suddenly wrapped it around the woman's neck from behind. She immediately started struggling, her arms flailing about. He dragged her back a little, easily taking her off of her feet with how inebriated she was. He grit his teeth, his tail thrashing behind him as he pulled tighter. \"You're not laying a finger on that girl every again, you fucking bitch!\"\n\nVeronica continued to struggle, failing entirely to reach back and grab him, her legs kicking as he dragged her back by the wire around her neck. The thing bit into her, completely cutting off her air. She made a kind of choked sound, but that was all she could do. She kicked and flailed for some time, so much her robe fell open and he got the unfortunate view of her naked body, saggy tits flopping all over. She also pissed herself at some point, urine running down her pudgy legs and drooling onto the floor.\n\nShe gave one final struggle, then her arms went limp. She still twitched for a while, and he kept the wire around her neck until those stopped. When she was finally still, he pulled the wire away. Her body crumpled to the floor in a heap. Her mouth was open, tongue partially sticking out of her mouth and looking swollen. Her eyes stared at nothing, wide and bloodshot. He let out a breath, staring at the woman he just murdered. \"Fuck...\" He hadn't planned on going this far. At least that is what he told himself. But he had grabbed the fishing wire from the back of his truck for a reason, he just didn't want to admit it.\n\nNow he had to figure out just what to do with her body. He ran his hand over his head. \"Shit...\" He couldn't just leave her here like this, but what else was he going to do? He doubted he could drag her out to the truck and get her to the water to dump her. Even then, she would probably just wash up soon enough. It's not like he was going to be able to stomach cutting her into pieces or anything like that. Just the thought of it made him feel a little sick. Then his eyes fell onto the rope. He looked up, seeing a ceiling fan just above where he dumped her. \"Maybe?\" It was worth a shot.\n\nHe grabbed the rope and started to loop one end. He was pretty good with knots, thanks to his years of experience on the water, so he tied the end into a sturdy slipknot. Though not too good, since he didn't want it obvious he did it. He dragged a chair in from the kitchen, setting it just below the fan and stood on it so he could loop the end around the thing and tie it secure. He gave it several hard tugs to make sure it would hold. It... probably would. Now was the hard part. He reached down and slid his arms under the woman, grunting as he lifted her up. He got back onto the chair as he lifted her, just barely managing to get her head into the loop before his arms gave out. She sank immediately, the loop snapping tight around her neck, her feet bumping the edge of the chair.\n\nWhen he got down, he kicked the chair over, as if she had done it. To his untrained eye, it looked like she had just killed herself. She was even dangling just over the pool of her piss soaked into the carpet. He just hoped he didn't leave too much other evidence around. He checked to make sure the line he used hadn't snapped, but it was all still there. He'd cut several feet off and toss it away later. For now, he stuffed it back into his pocket and made his way to the front of the house. Though he stopped before he opened the door. He instead locked it, and went back inside.\n\nThe place was laid out just like his, so he went to the other room. In his side, it was his home office. Here, as he suspected, it was Arin's room. There was almost nothing in it. Just a bare bed with a single flat pillow. No decorations, no dresser of any kind, just a barren room. It looked like a prison cell. He went to the closet, finding a small set of plastic buckets with clothes in them. He grabbed as much as he could carry of everything, making sure to get a few full sets. Then he went to the kitchen. The window was unlocked, and he noticed it had no screen in it when Veronica had been ranting earlier. So he climbed out through that as carefully as he could, closing it again behind him. Looking around, he was sure no one saw him... he sure hoped no one did.\n\nHe moved around the house and to his front door as quickly and seemingly naturally as he could with his arms full of clothing. Once inside, he ran to his bedroom to change his own clothes. He'd dump the old ones somewhere else. He stuffed all of Arin's clothes into a duffel bag, along with several changes of his own clothing. He also grabbed some things from the bathroom. There was the chance that he would be fleeing very soon, so he made sure to get as much as he might need. All of it went into the duffel, the thing so stuffed he struggled to get it closed.\n\nWith all that taken care of, he went back outside again, locking the door behind him and fully expecting he would never see the inside of the house again. He again tried to act as natural as he could getting into the truck, setting the duffel on the seat beside him. He pulled out, and drove away from the scene of the murder he just committed. He still felt very sick. How was he going to explain this to Arin...?\n\n[center]* * *[/center]\n\nHe didn't see Arin's bike inside the boat house when walked in. She must still be having her breakfast. At least he hoped that's all she was doing. If she got the idea to go home... He shook his head. She wanted to stay the hell away from that place as much as he wanted to keep her away. He brought the duffel down below deck and started emptying the contents onto the bed. He hung up the shirts and pants in the closet, folding what couldn't be hung up and set them on the low shelf in there. He was just finishing up when he heard the door buzz outside. He froze for a moment, listening.\n\n\"Mr Mc... Jay?\" He let out a relieved sigh when he heard Arin's voice.\n\n\"I'm just down here!\" He smiled when the girl stepped into the cabin. \"Hey. I got some of your clothes for you.\" He motioned to the open closet. \"Just in here.\"\n\nThe girl just nodded slowly. \"So... what did she say?\"\n\nHe tensed up, closing his eyes. \"She... won't be a problem. So, you don't need to worry about-\"\n\n\"Did.. you kill her?\" He froze. How the hell was this girl so good at reading him? His shoulders slumped... all of his slumped, even his tail drooping down. He heard her grunt. \"Good.\"\n\nHe turned to look at her more fully now. \"Good!?\"\n\nArin nodded, hopping up onto the bed. \"Yeah... she was... she deserved it, right?\"\n\nHe sighed, pushing the duffel to the side and sitting down beside her. \"I guess. But...\" He shook his head. \"She was still your mother.\"\n\nShe shook her head slowly. \"I never loved her. She never loved me, either.\" She looked up at him. \"Are... you okay, though? You've never done that kind of thing before, right? Take a life?\"\n\nHe shook his head. \"No. Nothing bigger than a tuna, at least.\" He let out a sigh, looking at his hands. He was surprised they weren't shaking. \"I... never want to do that again...\" He let out a breath. \"I made it look like she hanged herself... And she was pretty stoned on her pills and drinking the whole time, so... maybe they'll believe she did that after you ran away?\"\n\nThe girl nodded. \"Maybe...\" They both just sat in silence for a long time, not sure what to say. He resisted the urge to give her a hug, not sure she's want to be touched by someone like him anymore, even gently. \"You... saw the bedroom...?\"\n\nHe nodded slowly. \"Yeah. It's where I left her.\"\n\nShe grunted. \"Only good thing that's ever happened in there.\" She let out a long sigh. \"I hate that place.\"\n\nHe nodded again. \"I can understand why. I saw your room, too. It was so... empty.\"\n\n\"Mom didn't like me having... things...\" She kicked her feet a little. \"The kids at school make fun of me because I don't even have a phone.\"\n\nHe frowned again. \"Well... I'd say I'd get you one, but... I don't know how all this is going to go from here.\" She looked up at him with a confused look. \"Even if they believe the suicide thing... she was your only family right?\" Arin nodded. \"Well, they might try and take you and put you in a foster home.\"\n\n\"Oh...\" She looked away again. \"Even if I want to stay here with you?\"\n\nHe shook his head. \"I don't know. But I'll... try and get you to stay with me... I've got a stable job, so that should help from what I know.\"\n\nShe nodded slowly again. \"Okay...\" They got quiet again, and he just looked down at the ground. Eventually, she leaned over a little, her shoulder resting against his side. \"Thank you...\"\n\n\"For... what? Doing... what I just did?\"\n\nShe shook her head. \"No... well, yes, but... for...\" She sighed, not sure how to say it. \"Just thank you for everything. If... if they take me away, I just wanted to say that. That you've been... the best person ever.\"\n\nHe smiled, putting his arm around her shoulders and holding her gently. \"You're welcome. You've been pretty nice to have around, too. I'll keep being the best I can while I can be.\"\n\n[center]* * *[/center]\n\nThe rest of the morning was thankfully uneventful. A little bit later, he was showing her the rest of the boat she hadn't seen. Mostly the wheelhouse. \"So this is what controls the speed. And you just steer it like you would a car. Though it turns a lot slower than a car would, so you need to be careful about that.\"\n\nThe girl nodded, standing right up next to him, despite that there was enough room for the both of them. \"Well, I've never driven a car...\"\n\nHe chuckled. \"True. But you've ridden in one.\"\n\nShe nodded slowly. \"Hey... is it possible to actually... go out on the water today?\"\n\nHe looked down at her. \"I... yeah, I guess it is.\"\n\nShe smiled. \"Can we? I-I mean... I might not be able to get this chance again...\"\n\nThat hit him. It was true. And he had promised to take her out at some point. \"Then yeah, let's do it.\" He pat her head gently. \"Let me just go grab something from the truck and get the doors open. Then I'll take you out for a while.\" She nodded happily, giving him a big grin. He ran out to the truck to get all of the fishing gear he still hadn't moved from almost a week ago, finally loading it up onto the boat. He might as well teach her how to fish while he was out there, after all. Once everything was on the boat, he moved to the controls. \"You ready?\" She gave him a big thumbs up, and he hit the lever. The place was suddenly filled with the sound of the machine over her moving. The front wall started to lift up like a garage door, letting sunlight start to fill the large room around them.\n\nOnce the door was open, he untied the mooring and chucked it up onto the deck. Last thing was to pull the ramp up, laying it across the floor. He joined her in the wheel house. \"Alright, all set. Engines on!\" He turned the key, and the whole craft made a shudder as the engines kicked to life. A soft hum vibrated the ship a little from the aft. \"Hey, you should stand up at the prow to watch. Just don't lean too far over, okay?\"\n\n\"Okay!\" She excitedly darted out of the wheelhouse and around to the fore, looking around in anticipation. He chuckled, and started the thing forward slowly. She gasped as they cleared the edge of the dock and she got a real look at the vast expanse of water stretching out in front. \"Whoa~!\" He chuckled to himself, remembering the first time he came out with his father. He was younger than her, but his excitement was just the same. He got the ship up to middle speed and just headed away from land, not really having any kind of set destination. Arin didn't seem to mind, happily looking around as they went further and further out to sea.\n\nShe ran back to the wheelhouse at some point. \"It's so much blue! I've never seen this much blue!\" She giddily hopped from one foot to another, then stumbled a little as the boat swayed a little. \"Whoa...\"\n\n\"Careful. You don't have your sea legs yet. You'll get used to the ground moving constantly pretty quick.\" He slowly turned to head northeast a little more. \"If you start feeling seasick, just head below deck. You'll feel it less inside.\"\n\nShe nodded, but just ran aft to keep gazing out at the water, and at the slowly shrinking coast. \"All the buildings look so small from here!\" He chuckled. The city wasn't known for having huge towers like somewhere like Alta Ferro, but it still had a fairly distinct skyline, especially from the coast. He kept going for around another half hour, getting farther and farther out. Though not too far. He didn't want to head out into deep ocean, but he went far enough that they were unlikely to end up getting near other ships. He mostly wanted to make sure he stayed out of the shipping lanes. One of those big ships passing by could capsize his little yacht with their wake. Eventually, he cut the engine and just let the ship drift. The water was pretty calm, and the weather was clear for several days. There were barely any clouds above, so he didn't anticipate anything that would make them have to head back in a hurry.\n\nWalking back to join the girl, he put his hands on his hips. \"Alright. Having fun so far?\"\n\nShe nodded excitedly. \"Yeah! This is just so awesome!\"\n\nHe couldn't help but laugh. \"Well, while we're out here, you want me to teach you how to fish?\"\n\nShe gasped. \"YEAH!\" He laughed again. The first thing he did was get her into a puffy life vest. She complained, but eventually relented when he got her to admit she didn't know how to swim. Something else he would have to teach her if he got the chance. Next was showing her how to string a rod. He cut a long length of the wire he had in his pocket and tossed it over board, not explaining why. He let her use his old rod, eager to test the new one. After showing her how to bait the hook, he showed how to cast. Her first attempt was... not very good, but he just had her reel it in and try again. She got the hang of it after a few more attempts.\n\nHe set his rod in one of the holsters on the rail. \"Wait here a second.\" He went down below deck for a moment, then came back up with two sets of folding lounge chairs. He set them both up just behind her. \"There. You can have a seat on that.\" She nodded, scooting the chair forward and plopping herself down onto it. He smiled and sat back on the other. \"Now we just... wait for a bite. And enjoy the salty air.\"\n\nShe took a deep breath and let it out. \"It smells... different.\"\n\n\"That's because it's cleaner than in the city.\" He looked out at the water. \"Hey, let me know if you get thirsty. I didn't grab any sodas, but I've got bottle water in the fridge.\" She nodded, but was staring intently at the end of her rod, as if she could will a fish to bite.\n\nThat didn't work. It was some time before one of the hooks got anything, and it was his. \"Oop, looks like I got something.\" He sat up and grabbed his rod, catching the reel before whatever was on the line pulled too far. He started to reel it in slowly, telling her about how this part worked, letting the fish tire itself out. In the distance, the water was very agitated at the end of the line from the fish under the water. He pulled back a little, feeling the rod flex in his grip a little. It had a pretty good give, and didn't feel like it was bending too much, or would snap. The line also held well, though he had... already tested how tough it was in a different way.\n\nEventually he reeled his catch in, puling it up out of the water. He grabbed a small net from nearby and set the fish down into it, letting it struggle in that. \"There we go. Not exactly a marlin, but it's not bad.\"\n\nShe looked at the blackish fish flopping around in the net. \"What kind of fish is that?\"\n\nHe set his rod down and reached in to remove the hook from its mouth. \"This is a black grouper. But it's pretty small. Must be a juvenile.\" He showed how to remove the hook, being careful not to hurt the thing more. \"There we go. Well, since it's a juvenile, I'll throw it back.\" He hung the net over the edge and turned it over, shaking it a little. The fish fell out into the water, quickly disappearing below the surface. \"There you go, little guy. Go grow up big.\"\n\nShe giggled a little. \"Don't get eaten by a shark!\" She looked at him. \"There's sharks out here, right?\"\n\nHe nodded. \"Yeah, but they don't usually go near boats. And even if they did, the movies make them out to be way more dangerous than they are.\" He went about setting new bait onto his hook. \"You're more likely to get hit by a car or be in a plane crash than be attacked by a shark. And even less likely that the attack will be fatal. They usually nibble once, but if you struggle too much, they usually just go off for something easier.\"\n\nShe nodded to all of what he said. \"Have you ever seen a shark out here?\"\n\nHe nodded. \"Oh yeah, couple of times. When I was younger and out here with my dad, he went to throw a fish back, and shark came up and snapped the thing up right as it hit the water. They're more likely to be opportunistic like that than attack.\"\n\nShe giggled. \"What about dolphins? Ever seen any of them?\"\n\n\"A few, yeah.\" He held up a hand. \"Before you ask, no, I've never seen any whales out here.\" She just giggled again, since that was going to be her next question.\n\nIt was another few minutes before one of the hooks caught something. This time, it was Arin's. She squeaked, gripping the rod tight. \"W-what do I do!?\"\n\nHe set his own rod down, moving over to help her grip her own. \"Give it a tug, nice and hard.\" She did, and could feel the thing catch. \"Good. Now you've got it. Grab the reel before it gets too far out.\" She nodded, taking hold of the reel. She started to turn it, but it was really stiff. \"You really gotta work it. But don't pull too hard. Let it tire itself out like I said.\" She nodded again, slowly turning the reel. \"That's it. It's turning, move with it, or it'll put too much tension on the line and snap it.\" He walked her through everything as she slowly pulled the fish closer and closer. It was putting up quite a struggle against her, but she kept her grip on the rod.\n\nHe pat her shoulder and moved over to the edge, getting the net ready. \"Almost there...\" She reeled more, the fish starting to really tire out now, so it was getting a little easier. There was a splash as it was pulled out of the water. She squeaked, nearly falling backwards when the tension was suddenly gone. He reached out and got the fish into the net, pulling it up to show. \"Hey, look at that! You got a red snapper!\" He held out the net, showing the fish inside struggling away. \"Pretty good size, too. Looks like about 20 inches. That's a keeper.\"\n\nShe looked at the fish in the net. It was pretty big, at least to her. \"Whoa...\" A big grin spread on her lips. \"I caught something!\"\n\nHe nodded, smiling back at her. \"Yeah you did.\" He moved over and lifted a small hatch. Cold air immediately billowed out, and he dumping the fish into the cold storage. \"There. Don't worry, it'll go to sleep in the cold, so it won't suffer.\" He set the net down again. \"Good job! That can be dinner tonight.\" He held his hand out, and she gave him a high five.\n\nThey spent the rest of the afternoon like this. Most of what they caught were thrown back. Arin managed to catch another snapper, but it was smaller. Jay did catch a pair of Mackerel that got added to the box. Arin also managed to pull up an even bigger fish, big enough that he had to help with it again. It was a Crevalle Jack, a large fish with a rounded, bulbous head and tiny eyes. He agreed with her assessment that it was very goofy looking. Despite it being a pretty good size, it also got tossed back into the water.\n\nOnce the sun started to set, he dropped the anchor to keep them from drifting too much, and went below deck to start prepping the fish for cooking. Naturally, he had all of the stuff needed for that on hand, and he was quite experienced at it, so it did not take long to scale and fillet it. From there, it was quick work to put it in a pan with some oil and fry it up. He even had seasoning for it, though all it really needed was a little salt. When it was almost done, he called out. \"Arin! Dinner's just about done! C'mon down!\"\n\n\"Coming!\" He heard her feet thumping against the deck and then coming down the stairs. \"Wow, that smells really good!\"\n\nHe nodded, grabbing a few plates from the cabinet above his head. \"It's a pretty easy fish to cook. So are the mackerel, but I wanted to do the one you caught.\" He slid the cuts onto the two plates, setting hers down on the table in front of her, along with a fork and knife. \"Here you go. Sorry I don't have any sides to go with it.\" He also made some tea, setting a mug down for her.\n\n\"That's okay.\" She popped a bit of the fish into her mouth, then let out a moan. \"Oh... this is good!\"\n\n\"Yeah. It hits different when it's that fresh. And when you caught it yourself.\" He chuckled, having to lean against the counter to have his since there was only the one chair. He really needed to get another chair for in here... provided she was able to stay with him.\n\n\"Yeah! This was so much fun!\" She giggled and just started going on about how exciting it was when something caught the hook, and struggling to pull it in. He just let her ramble to her heart's content, happy to see her happy. He was glad he could give her this after everything she had gone through. If this was to be their last time together, then he was happy to make it count. After they were done eating, he just set the plates in the sink. They talked for a little more over the tea, letting her wind down a little.\n\nShe did ask. \"So... when should we go back?\"\n\nHe shrugged. \"Well, I should probably take us back tonight. I know you've got school tomorrow.\"\n\nShe frowned. \"Oh... yeah, I forgot about that...\"\n\nHe smiled a little. \"Or... you could miss a day... and we go back in the morning.\" She brightened up a little, but he held up a finger. \"Don't think I'll let you make a habit of that, though. This is just a special occasion. Got it?\"\n\nShe nodded happily, getting up and giving him a big hug. \"Got it!\"\n\n[center]* * *[/center]", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "
The Good Neighbor

Part 6

By XP Author


Morning came all too quickly. Jay opened his eyes to find he was laying in the bed alone, though the cabin still smelled of Arin. He slowly pushed himself up, feeling a slight kink in his neck. He groaned a little as he stretched. He pushed himself out of bed, looking around. The girl's clothing was no longer on the floor, only his shirt remaining. He picked it up and put it on, then moved to the fore cabin. The girl was sitting at the table, just staring at her hands. "Good morning."

She jumped slightly when she heard him, then turned and smiled. "Hey. You... looked like you needed the sleep, so I didn't wake you."

He smiled a little. "I hope you weren't sitting around too long."

She just shrugged. "I... no. Not too long." She gave him a smile as he pat her head gently walking past her. He moved over to the counter to start some coffee for himself. Though he saw a mug sitting in the sink, the remains of cocoa still on the inside. "Oh... I... sorry, I didn't drink that last night. It was cold by the time I got out here, so I dumped it... I wasn't sure how to wash stuff here, so I just left it there... Hope that's okay."

He smiled. "Yeah, that's alright." He finished getting everything into the coffee maker and got himself a fresh mug, then started washing the ones from the previous night, his own mug from the tea still sitting on the counter. "So... you must be pretty hungry by now."

She nodded. "A... little... I guess." She looked away again. He figured she was also pretty worried.

He sighed slightly. "Tell you what. I'll give you some cash, and you can go get yourself some breakfast somewhere. There's a bunch of places nearby that serve it, so you have your pick. You can even get it to go and just bring it back here. You remember the door code?"

She nodded. "4-1-1-8-9."

"Right." He took a breath and held it for a moment. "And while you do that... I'll go and talk to your mother... provided she hasn't called the cops on me yet."

The girl whimpered slightly. "W-what are you going to say?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not sure yet. I'll... try to figure that out by the time I get there."

She nodded, looking down at her hands. "She's just going to want me to go back..."

"Yeah. I know." He moved over and put his hand on her shoulder. "But I'm not letting her hurt you ever again. Even if I have to run away with you to do it." She smiled at him. After he had his coffee, he gave her a small wad of cash. She was surprised by just how much, and even more surprised when he said she could keep whatever she didn't spend on food. Then he got into his truck, and went back to the house. The whole time, he was wracking his brain trying to think of just what to say. By the time he was pulling into the driveway, he hadn't figured that out yet.

He walked up to Veronica's door, took a deep breath, and knocked. Then knocked again when he got no response for several seconds. "ARIN! GET THE DOOR!" He heard the woman screaming inside, her words holding that same listless slur from when she had been at his door only a few days prior. "ARIN!" He heard movement inside. A minute later, the door was yanked open. "WHAT DO YOU... oh, it's you." The woman was dressed in just her purple houserobe again. Thankfully, her lips were devoid of a cigarette this time. "So she ran off to your cock, did she?"

He frowned at the woman. "No, she ran off to my safety. Can I come inside? We have a lot to talk about."

Veronica just threw her hand in the air. "Fine. C'mon in and talk." She turned around and headed back inside. He followed, shutting the door behind himself. The house was... a mess. Small piles of empty bottles sat against one wall, most from hard liquor. The living room, if you could call it that, was home to an old TV that he was surprised still worked by how filthy it was. There was only one chair in front of it, an even more beat up recliner that looked like it was from the 70's, with a gaudy pattern just barely visible. The place smelled heavily of cigarette smoke and alcohol.

He followed the woman to the kitchen, watching as she pulled open a bottle of vodka and didn't even bother pouring it, just taking several gulps straight from the bottle before slamming it back down on the counter. "Alright. So wha'the fuck do you wanna talk about, fluffy?"

He crossed his arms. "Arin, of course. I've learned what you've been forcing her to do."

The woman scoffed. "You, you mean put that slut to some use? So what? It's the only thing she's good for."

He frowned at how flippant she was about it. "You know that's a lie."

She scoffed again. "Yeah, she can't even do that right! Been pissing off the guys lately with her dead eyes. And can't even get herself knocked up proper! No matter how many of 'em leave their load in there." She shook her head. "Fucking useless cunt can't even do that right."

He scowled even more. "You've been having them rape her since she was 6! She probably can't have kids now because of that!" He was guessing, but had heard something about that a long time ago. Though he wasn't sure how true it was, he would still use that as a point. "You're lucky she hasn't been hurt even worse than that!"

"LUCKY!" She picked up the bottle, and looked like she was about to throw it, but instead just took another swig and slammed it down on the counter again. "Nothin' about that girl is LUCKY! She's been just a burden since the momen' she was born! Fucking leeching everything, ruin'n my looks, eat'n all my food, shitting everywhere! She's lucky I even let her leave the house!" She blinked several times. "Where the hell is she?"

He managed to keep his cool, but his temper was definitely flaring up under the surface. "Away from you and safe for now. And she's going to stay that way until I can get a promise that you're not going to force her to be a prostitute for you anymore."

It was Veronica's turn to scowl at him. "Away from me? She's my fucking daughter! I'll tell her when she can leave! She owes me her fucking life for bringing her into this world!"

"She's her own person, not your slave."

She slammed her hand on the counter. "She owes me! She'll do wha'ever th'fuck I want her to do! She'd better, or I'll fucking make her regret it!"

His scowl got darker. "About that. She told me you threatened her life."

The woman teetered back unsteadily, trying to look intimidating and failing. "Yeah? Sho what? I brought her into this world, I c'n take her out of it!"

"You'd really do it? Kill your own daughter?"

"Yeah, why not?" She scoffed. "Pro'bly pay better as a corpse than she every did alive, too! An' she wouldn't fucking eat all my fucking food!" She put her hand to her head. "Ugh... and you've gone and giv'n me a headach. I need my fucking pills..." She waved her hand at him as she walked past him. "You said yer peace. Now get the fuck outta my house and bring my daughter back sho I can give 'er what she deserves."

He didn't leave. Instead he followed her as she walked to her bedroom. The place was set up like some kind of porn studio, cameras pointed at the messy bed and lights here and there. Sitting beside the bed was several open bottles of some kind of pills. And even more bottles of various alcohol. He also saw a small pile of what he could only guess were props used during the recording. Handcuffs, rope, a crop, a gag, and several sex toys. He just knew all of them had been used on Arin at some point. It made his blood boil even more just thinking about the girl being tied up and smacked by someone, all while this disgusting woman watched and recorded it.

That was the last straw. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a spool of heavy fishing wire, the kind used to reel in large fish like marlins. It had quite the tensile strength, so he wasn't worried about it snapping as he suddenly wrapped it around the woman's neck from behind. She immediately started struggling, her arms flailing about. He dragged her back a little, easily taking her off of her feet with how inebriated she was. He grit his teeth, his tail thrashing behind him as he pulled tighter. "You're not laying a finger on that girl every again, you fucking bitch!"

Veronica continued to struggle, failing entirely to reach back and grab him, her legs kicking as he dragged her back by the wire around her neck. The thing bit into her, completely cutting off her air. She made a kind of choked sound, but that was all she could do. She kicked and flailed for some time, so much her robe fell open and he got the unfortunate view of her naked body, saggy tits flopping all over. She also pissed herself at some point, urine running down her pudgy legs and drooling onto the floor.

She gave one final struggle, then her arms went limp. She still twitched for a while, and he kept the wire around her neck until those stopped. When she was finally still, he pulled the wire away. Her body crumpled to the floor in a heap. Her mouth was open, tongue partially sticking out of her mouth and looking swollen. Her eyes stared at nothing, wide and bloodshot. He let out a breath, staring at the woman he just murdered. "Fuck..." He hadn't planned on going this far. At least that is what he told himself. But he had grabbed the fishing wire from the back of his truck for a reason, he just didn't want to admit it.

Now he had to figure out just what to do with her body. He ran his hand over his head. "Shit..." He couldn't just leave her here like this, but what else was he going to do? He doubted he could drag her out to the truck and get her to the water to dump her. Even then, she would probably just wash up soon enough. It's not like he was going to be able to stomach cutting her into pieces or anything like that. Just the thought of it made him feel a little sick. Then his eyes fell onto the rope. He looked up, seeing a ceiling fan just above where he dumped her. "Maybe?" It was worth a shot.

He grabbed the rope and started to loop one end. He was pretty good with knots, thanks to his years of experience on the water, so he tied the end into a sturdy slipknot. Though not too good, since he didn't want it obvious he did it. He dragged a chair in from the kitchen, setting it just below the fan and stood on it so he could loop the end around the thing and tie it secure. He gave it several hard tugs to make sure it would hold. It... probably would. Now was the hard part. He reached down and slid his arms under the woman, grunting as he lifted her up. He got back onto the chair as he lifted her, just barely managing to get her head into the loop before his arms gave out. She sank immediately, the loop snapping tight around her neck, her feet bumping the edge of the chair.

When he got down, he kicked the chair over, as if she had done it. To his untrained eye, it looked like she had just killed herself. She was even dangling just over the pool of her piss soaked into the carpet. He just hoped he didn't leave too much other evidence around. He checked to make sure the line he used hadn't snapped, but it was all still there. He'd cut several feet off and toss it away later. For now, he stuffed it back into his pocket and made his way to the front of the house. Though he stopped before he opened the door. He instead locked it, and went back inside.

The place was laid out just like his, so he went to the other room. In his side, it was his home office. Here, as he suspected, it was Arin's room. There was almost nothing in it. Just a bare bed with a single flat pillow. No decorations, no dresser of any kind, just a barren room. It looked like a prison cell. He went to the closet, finding a small set of plastic buckets with clothes in them. He grabbed as much as he could carry of everything, making sure to get a few full sets. Then he went to the kitchen. The window was unlocked, and he noticed it had no screen in it when Veronica had been ranting earlier. So he climbed out through that as carefully as he could, closing it again behind him. Looking around, he was sure no one saw him... he sure hoped no one did.

He moved around the house and to his front door as quickly and seemingly naturally as he could with his arms full of clothing. Once inside, he ran to his bedroom to change his own clothes. He'd dump the old ones somewhere else. He stuffed all of Arin's clothes into a duffel bag, along with several changes of his own clothing. He also grabbed some things from the bathroom. There was the chance that he would be fleeing very soon, so he made sure to get as much as he might need. All of it went into the duffel, the thing so stuffed he struggled to get it closed.

With all that taken care of, he went back outside again, locking the door behind him and fully expecting he would never see the inside of the house again. He again tried to act as natural as he could getting into the truck, setting the duffel on the seat beside him. He pulled out, and drove away from the scene of the murder he just committed. He still felt very sick. How was he going to explain this to Arin...?

*     *     *


He didn't see Arin's bike inside the boat house when walked in. She must still be having her breakfast. At least he hoped that's all she was doing. If she got the idea to go home... He shook his head. She wanted to stay the hell away from that place as much as he wanted to keep her away. He brought the duffel down below deck and started emptying the contents onto the bed. He hung up the shirts and pants in the closet, folding what couldn't be hung up and set them on the low shelf in there. He was just finishing up when he heard the door buzz outside. He froze for a moment, listening.

"Mr Mc... Jay?" He let out a relieved sigh when he heard Arin's voice.

"I'm just down here!" He smiled when the girl stepped into the cabin. "Hey. I got some of your clothes for you." He motioned to the open closet. "Just in here."

The girl just nodded slowly. "So... what did she say?"

He tensed up, closing his eyes. "She... won't be a problem. So, you don't need to worry about-"

"Did.. you kill her?" He froze. How the hell was this girl so good at reading him? His shoulders slumped... all of his slumped, even his tail drooping down. He heard her grunt. "Good."

He turned to look at her more fully now. "Good!?"

Arin nodded, hopping up onto the bed. "Yeah... she was... she deserved it, right?"

He sighed, pushing the duffel to the side and sitting down beside her. "I guess. But..." He shook his head. "She was still your mother."

She shook her head slowly. "I never loved her. She never loved me, either." She looked up at him. "Are... you okay, though? You've never done that kind of thing before, right? Take a life?"

He shook his head. "No. Nothing bigger than a tuna, at least." He let out a sigh, looking at his hands. He was surprised they weren't shaking. "I... never want to do that again..." He let out a breath. "I made it look like she hanged herself... And she was pretty stoned on her pills and drinking the whole time, so... maybe they'll believe she did that after you ran away?"

The girl nodded. "Maybe..." They both just sat in silence for a long time, not sure what to say. He resisted the urge to give her a hug, not sure she's want to be touched by someone like him anymore, even gently. "You... saw the bedroom...?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah. It's where I left her."

She grunted. "Only good thing that's ever happened in there." She let out a long sigh. "I hate that place."

He nodded again. "I can understand why. I saw your room, too. It was so... empty."

"Mom didn't like me having... things..." She kicked her feet a little. "The kids at school make fun of me because I don't even have a phone."

He frowned again. "Well... I'd say I'd get you one, but... I don't know how all this is going to go from here." She looked up at him with a confused look. "Even if they believe the suicide thing... she was your only family right?" Arin nodded. "Well, they might try and take you and put you in a foster home."

"Oh..." She looked away again. "Even if I want to stay here with you?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. But I'll... try and get you to stay with me... I've got a stable job, so that should help from what I know."

She nodded slowly again. "Okay..." They got quiet again, and he just looked down at the ground. Eventually, she leaned over a little, her shoulder resting against his side. "Thank you..."

"For... what? Doing... what I just did?"

She shook her head. "No... well, yes, but... for..." She sighed, not sure how to say it. "Just thank you for everything. If... if they take me away, I just wanted to say that. That you've been... the best person ever."

He smiled, putting his arm around her shoulders and holding her gently. "You're welcome. You've been pretty nice to have around, too. I'll keep being the best I can while I can be."

*     *     *


The rest of the morning was thankfully uneventful. A little bit later, he was showing her the rest of the boat she hadn't seen. Mostly the wheelhouse. "So this is what controls the speed. And you just steer it like you would a car. Though it turns a lot slower than a car would, so you need to be careful about that."

The girl nodded, standing right up next to him, despite that there was enough room for the both of them. "Well, I've never driven a car..."

He chuckled. "True. But you've ridden in one."

She nodded slowly. "Hey... is it possible to actually... go out on the water today?"

He looked down at her. "I... yeah, I guess it is."

She smiled. "Can we? I-I mean... I might not be able to get this chance again..."

That hit him. It was true. And he had promised to take her out at some point. "Then yeah, let's do it." He pat her head gently. "Let me just go grab something from the truck and get the doors open. Then I'll take you out for a while." She nodded happily, giving him a big grin. He ran out to the truck to get all of the fishing gear he still hadn't moved from almost a week ago, finally loading it up onto the boat. He might as well teach her how to fish while he was out there, after all. Once everything was on the boat, he moved to the controls. "You ready?" She gave him a big thumbs up, and he hit the lever. The place was suddenly filled with the sound of the machine over her moving. The front wall started to lift up like a garage door, letting sunlight start to fill the large room around them.

Once the door was open, he untied the mooring and chucked it up onto the deck. Last thing was to pull the ramp up, laying it across the floor. He joined her in the wheel house. "Alright, all set. Engines on!" He turned the key, and the whole craft made a shudder as the engines kicked to life. A soft hum vibrated the ship a little from the aft. "Hey, you should stand up at the prow to watch. Just don't lean too far over, okay?"

"Okay!" She excitedly darted out of the wheelhouse and around to the fore, looking around in anticipation. He chuckled, and started the thing forward slowly. She gasped as they cleared the edge of the dock and she got a real look at the vast expanse of water stretching out in front. "Whoa~!" He chuckled to himself, remembering the first time he came out with his father. He was younger than her, but his excitement was just the same. He got the ship up to middle speed and just headed away from land, not really having any kind of set destination. Arin didn't seem to mind, happily looking around as they went further and further out to sea.

She ran back to the wheelhouse at some point. "It's so much blue! I've never seen this much blue!" She giddily hopped from one foot to another, then stumbled a little as the boat swayed a little. "Whoa..."

"Careful. You don't have your sea legs yet. You'll get used to the ground moving constantly pretty quick." He slowly turned to head northeast a little more. "If you start feeling seasick, just head below deck. You'll feel it less inside."

She nodded, but just ran aft to keep gazing out at the water, and at the slowly shrinking coast. "All the buildings look so small from here!" He chuckled. The city wasn't known for having huge towers like somewhere like Alta Ferro, but it still had a fairly distinct skyline, especially from the coast. He kept going for around another half hour, getting farther and farther out. Though not too far. He didn't want to head out into deep ocean, but he went far enough that they were unlikely to end up getting near other ships. He mostly wanted to make sure he stayed out of the shipping lanes. One of those big ships passing by could capsize his little yacht with their wake. Eventually, he cut the engine and just let the ship drift. The water was pretty calm, and the weather was clear for several days. There were barely any clouds above, so he didn't anticipate anything that would make them have to head back in a hurry.

Walking back to join the girl, he put his hands on his hips. "Alright. Having fun so far?"

She nodded excitedly. "Yeah! This is just so awesome!"

He couldn't help but laugh. "Well, while we're out here, you want me to teach you how to fish?"

She gasped. "YEAH!" He laughed again. The first thing he did was get her into a puffy life vest. She complained, but eventually relented when he got her to admit she didn't know how to swim. Something else he would have to teach her if he got the chance. Next was showing her how to string a rod. He cut a long length of the wire he had in his pocket and tossed it over board, not explaining why. He let her use his old rod, eager to test the new one. After showing her how to bait the hook, he showed how to cast. Her first attempt was... not very good, but he just had her reel it in and try again. She got the hang of it after a few more attempts.

He set his rod in one of the holsters on the rail. "Wait here a second." He went down below deck for a moment, then came back up with two sets of folding lounge chairs. He set them both up just behind her. "There. You can have a seat on that." She nodded, scooting the chair forward and plopping herself down onto it. He smiled and sat back on the other. "Now we just... wait for a bite. And enjoy the salty air."

She took a deep breath and let it out. "It smells... different."

"That's because it's cleaner than in the city." He looked out at the water. "Hey, let me know if you get thirsty. I didn't grab any sodas, but I've got bottle water in the fridge." She nodded, but was staring intently at the end of her rod, as if she could will a fish to bite.

That didn't work. It was some time before one of the hooks got anything, and it was his. "Oop, looks like I got something." He sat up and grabbed his rod, catching the reel before whatever was on the line pulled too far. He started to reel it in slowly, telling her about how this part worked, letting the fish tire itself out. In the distance, the water was very agitated at the end of the line from the fish under the water. He pulled back a little, feeling the rod flex in his grip a little. It had a pretty good give, and didn't feel like it was bending too much, or would snap. The line also held well, though he had... already tested how tough it was in a different way.

Eventually he reeled his catch in, puling it up out of the water. He grabbed a small net from nearby and set the fish down into it, letting it struggle in that. "There we go. Not exactly a marlin, but it's not bad."

She looked at the blackish fish flopping around in the net. "What kind of fish is that?"

He set his rod down and reached in to remove the hook from its mouth. "This is a black grouper. But it's pretty small. Must be a juvenile." He showed how to remove the hook, being careful not to hurt the thing more. "There we go. Well, since it's a juvenile, I'll throw it back." He hung the net over the edge and turned it over, shaking it a little. The fish fell out into the water, quickly disappearing below the surface. "There you go, little guy. Go grow up big."

She giggled a little. "Don't get eaten by a shark!" She looked at him. "There's sharks out here, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah, but they don't usually go near boats. And even if they did, the movies make them out to be way more dangerous than they are." He went about setting new bait onto his hook. "You're more likely to get hit by a car or be in a plane crash than be attacked by a shark. And even less likely that the attack will be fatal. They usually nibble once, but if you struggle too much, they usually just go off for something easier."

She nodded to all of what he said. "Have you ever seen a shark out here?"

He nodded. "Oh yeah, couple of times. When I was younger and out here with my dad, he went to throw a fish back, and shark came up and snapped the thing up right as it hit the water. They're more likely to be opportunistic like that than attack."

She giggled. "What about dolphins? Ever seen any of them?"

"A few, yeah." He held up a hand. "Before you ask, no, I've never seen any whales out here." She just giggled again, since that was going to be her next question.

It was another few minutes before one of the hooks caught something. This time, it was Arin's. She squeaked, gripping the rod tight. "W-what do I do!?"

He set his own rod down, moving over to help her grip her own. "Give it a tug, nice and hard." She did, and could feel the thing catch. "Good. Now you've got it. Grab the reel before it gets too far out." She nodded, taking hold of the reel. She started to turn it, but it was really stiff. "You really gotta work it. But don't pull too hard. Let it tire itself out like I said." She nodded again, slowly turning the reel. "That's it. It's turning, move with it, or it'll put too much tension on the line and snap it." He walked her through everything as she slowly pulled the fish closer and closer. It was putting up quite a struggle against her, but she kept her grip on the rod.

He pat her shoulder and moved over to the edge, getting the net ready. "Almost there..." She reeled more, the fish starting to really tire out now, so it was getting a little easier. There was a splash as it was pulled out of the water. She squeaked, nearly falling backwards when the tension was suddenly gone. He reached out and got the fish into the net, pulling it up to show. "Hey, look at that! You got a red snapper!" He held out the net, showing the fish inside struggling away. "Pretty good size, too. Looks like about 20 inches. That's a keeper."

She looked at the fish in the net. It was pretty big, at least to her. "Whoa..." A big grin spread on her lips. "I caught something!"

He nodded, smiling back at her. "Yeah you did." He moved over and lifted a small hatch. Cold air immediately billowed out, and he dumping the fish into the cold storage. "There. Don't worry, it'll go to sleep in the cold, so it won't suffer." He set the net down again. "Good job! That can be dinner tonight." He held his hand out, and she gave him a high five.

They spent the rest of the afternoon like this. Most of what they caught were thrown back. Arin managed to catch another snapper, but it was smaller. Jay did catch a pair of Mackerel that got added to the box. Arin also managed to pull up an even bigger fish, big enough that he had to help with it again. It was a Crevalle Jack, a large fish with a rounded, bulbous head and tiny eyes. He agreed with her assessment that it was very goofy looking. Despite it being a pretty good size, it also got tossed back into the water.

Once the sun started to set, he dropped the anchor to keep them from drifting too much, and went below deck to start prepping the fish for cooking. Naturally, he had all of the stuff needed for that on hand, and he was quite experienced at it, so it did not take long to scale and fillet it. From there, it was quick work to put it in a pan with some oil and fry it up. He even had seasoning for it, though all it really needed was a little salt. When it was almost done, he called out. "Arin! Dinner's just about done! C'mon down!"

"Coming!" He heard her feet thumping against the deck and then coming down the stairs. "Wow, that smells really good!"

He nodded, grabbing a few plates from the cabinet above his head. "It's a pretty easy fish to cook. So are the mackerel, but I wanted to do the one you caught." He slid the cuts onto the two plates, setting hers down on the table in front of her, along with a fork and knife. "Here you go. Sorry I don't have any sides to go with it." He also made some tea, setting a mug down for her.

"That's okay." She popped a bit of the fish into her mouth, then let out a moan. "Oh... this is good!"

"Yeah. It hits different when it's that fresh. And when you caught it yourself." He chuckled, having to lean against the counter to have his since there was only the one chair. He really needed to get another chair for in here... provided she was able to stay with him.

"Yeah! This was so much fun!" She giggled and just started going on about how exciting it was when something caught the hook, and struggling to pull it in. He just let her ramble to her heart's content, happy to see her happy. He was glad he could give her this after everything she had gone through. If this was to be their last time together, then he was happy to make it count. After they were done eating, he just set the plates in the sink. They talked for a little more over the tea, letting her wind down a little.

She did ask. "So... when should we go back?"

He shrugged. "Well, I should probably take us back tonight. I know you've got school tomorrow."

She frowned. "Oh... yeah, I forgot about that..."

He smiled a little. "Or... you could miss a day... and we go back in the morning." She brightened up a little, but he held up a finger. "Don't think I'll let you make a habit of that, though. This is just a special occasion. Got it?"

She nodded happily, getting up and giving him a big hug. "Got it!"

*     *     *
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