Weaknesses

Chapter 1

It was a calm, beautiful evening. Victor had just finished his shift at Marlin's Whale Wash and was going home for the night. He lived in a sunken tugboat a mile away from the rest of the city, so every night he had to swim for at least an hour to get home. It never bothered him though, he felt it was good exercise.

Even though the swim home was always a lonely one, Victor always had an optimistic smile on his face. For the first time in three long years, everything was going his way. He had not seen his abusive, slow-witted dad for a month thanks to Don Lino and Lenny. He had a great job with the coolest boss, great friends, and beautiful girls throwing themselves at his tailfin.

There was no doubt about it, Victor was living the good life. "Could my life be any more sweet?" he asked himself.

A few minutes later, Victor arrived at his tugboat house. He opened the front door, went inside and made his way to the kitchen still thinking everything was fine. But before he even reached the kitchen door, a gruff and horribly familiar voice coming from the front door spoke.

"Where have you been? Your curfew was twenty minutes ago."

Victor turned around and saw his biological father, Vince, with his fins crossed and his back against the hallway wall. Victor narrowed his eyes and bravely spoke to Vince.

"What are you doing here?"

Vince smiled evilly, "I just wanted to see how my little traitor of a son is doin'."

"Really?" said Victor, "I'm still your son? I thought you would've forgotten you ever even had a son by now."

"Why would I ever wanna forget about you?" Vince asked, "You betrayed me and took sides with Lino and his little boy. Speakin' of which, I thought you might be interested in knowing that I know I didn't kill Lenny."

Victor's eyes widened. "How'd you find out?"

"From you, just now," Vince replied.

"Oh no," Victor covered his mouth with his fin.

"Oh yes. So, Lenny is alive, eh?"

Victor looked down at the floor, feeling guilty about what he had just done.

"This is perfect," said Vince.

Victor looked back up at him, "What are you gonna do, use him as bait so you can try and get back at Lino again?"

Vince shook his head, "I'm not tellin' you, Victor. You'll find out soon enough. And just so ya know, I ain't gonna try. This time I know I'm gonna get back at Lino."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," said Victor, "I'm gonna call the cops right now and tell 'em everything."

Vince slowly approached Victor and stopped just inches away from him. Like the click of a switch, Victor's courage turned to fear.

"Are ya?" Vince asked.

X--X

Several miles away at the sunken ship we all know as Don Lino's home, Lenny was just about to go to bed. But first, he had to say goodnight to his dad. He opened Lino's office door and went inside expecting to see the older shark sitting at his desk doing paper work. But what he saw instead was a sight too unbearable to look at.

Don Lino, at least Lenny thought that's who it was, was lying down on a long chair in the middle of the room with his eyes closed. On his face was some sort of grayish-green colored mud mask. Lenny slowly approached Lino to see if he was awake.

"Hey, Lenny," Lino said without opening his eyes.

"Hey, Pop," Lenny replied trying to sound casual, "Um…Pop, don't look now, but I think dinner exploded on your face."

Lino chuckled and opened an eye, "It's a facial. Your mom ordered it on the internet and she wants me to test it for her."

"Why?"

"So she can see if it works as good as the commercials say it does."

Lenny leaned over to get a better look at the mask. And then, without warning, a horrible smell filled his nostrils. He covered his nose and tried not to breathe.

"Well," said Lenny, "I just hope it works better than it smells. What's in that stuff?"

"Plankton extract and sea salt," said Lino.

"Charming."

"Your mom says it rejuvenates the skin and it won't clog your pores."

"How long has it been on your face?"

"Ten minutes. I just gotta leave it on for another five."

Lenny shook his head, "But doesn't the smell bother you?"

Lino nodded, "Yeah it does, but not as much as some other things."

Then the phone rang.

"Take phones for example," said Lino.

Lenny chuckled, "I'll get that."

"Thanks, kid."

Lino closed his eyes once more and listened as Lenny answered the phone.

"Talk to me," Lenny said.

"Ha, that's my boy," Lino thought to himself. "Answerin' the phone the same way his old man does."

"Victor?" Lenny said sounding serious.

Lino opened his eyes and looked over at the younger shark.

"Okay, don't worry," Lenny said into the phone, "I'll get him for you."

"Is that really Victor?" Lino asked.

"Yeah," Lenny replied, "He needs to talk to you. He says it's an emergency."

"What's wrong?"

"He didn't say, but I'm guessing it's bad."

Lino got up from his long chair and took the phone from Lenny, "Victor? What is it, what's wrong? "

"Lino, thank God it's you," said Victor's voice from the other line, "It's my dad."

"Vince?" Lino asked, "What about him?"

"He broke into my house and punched me in the face," said Victor.

"What? How hard did he hit you?"

"Hard enough to knock me out for thirty minutes," Victor answered.

"Is he still there?"

"No. I just woke up and he was gone. I don't know where he went, but I'm afraid he'll come back and do something worse."

"Don't worry, Victor," Lino said, "I won't let that happen. You can come stay with me, Lenny, and the missus until you get better."

There was a moment's silence.

"You still there, Victor?"

"Yeah, I'm still here. I'm just so grateful you'd do that for me."

"It's no trouble," Lino assured him, "But for now, just stay where you are. I'll send my boys out to get you."

"Thanks, Lino." Victor's voice was shaky. It was apparent that he was about to cry.

"We'll look forward to having you here," said Lino.

"I'll look forward to being there," Victor replied.

"Bye, Victor."

"Bye."

Lino hung up.

"Is he okay, Pop?" Lenny asked.

"No," Lino said sadly, "He's hurt pretty bad. Victor really needs some family time. Looks like he's gonna be staying here with us for a little while."

Lenny smiled, "Really?"

"Is that okay with you, son?"

"Are you kidding? That's awesome," said Lenny, "It'll be just like…having a big brother again."

Lino placed his fin on his son's shoulder, "That's one of the reasons why I'm doing this."

Lenny smiled.

"I better go tell Luca and the rest of the guys to go get him," Lino said heading for his office door.

"Pop?"

Lino stopped before he was out the door, "Yeah?"

"Before you do that, you might wanna take the mask off your face."

Lino had almost forgotten that stuff was on his face, "Yeah, good idea."

End of Chapter