Why?
Zachary Ward found himself standing in front of the door, resisting the pressures of just walking past. He opened the wooden door, letting it creak as it swung open before him. John asked if he could help him pick one out. Ward stood silently in his anguish and could not answer in complete words. Ward wondered what happened to destroy his life.
Zachary was working with the tongs this particular day. It was early and cool, with a slight breeze to the northwest. This was the end of the oyster season, and soon he would lay out his pots. Maybe he could snag some lobsters too. That would be a treat for the family perhaps. The fish could be seen jumping, trying to escape the larger fish. The sunrise made the sky purple and then red before all was clear. Some birds flocked and flew away as Ward started the engine of his small boat. He navigated his vessel to where he left off the day before. He started tonging the sea bed for shells that may be oysters. For many hours he worked under the rising sun, beads of sweat forming and dripping from his forehead from the glistening heat. He often wondered why he had such a tough life. He was born the son of a merchant, and had only managed to finish the eighth grade. His dad had been killed in a boating accident when he was a child, and Zachary assumed the patriarch position in the family. He started working on a crabbing boat to pay the bills. But now he wanted change, something to look forward to. He wanted a job that would challenge his mind. However, nothing looked to be on the horizon.
He felt shells on the bottom. He brought up the tongs and oysters fell all over the bottom of the boat. Some had to be thrown back because they were too small, though the legal size was a gray area. He kept about ten oysters and threw the rest back. This was the painstaking process he had to perform in order to survive in the waterman trade. Others had as little luck as he experienced. Normally he would pull up to the dock at the end of the day and chat with the other watermen. Weather, catches, sports, any gossip that may involve people they knew. But today was different. Today was his daughter?s birthday.
Zachary left the city docks early today, hoping to get a special present for his little girl at home. He dumped his oysters on the ground and gathered them into different size categories. Then he put them on the ice stand to stay cool until people bought them. Some watermen sold their catches to big companies who then shipped them across the country and up and down the coast, but Ward liked to sell his oysters to the local people, his neighbors. Now he could run off to see the man about the special present.
Zachary met the man in a back alley, shaded from the scorching heat of a prematurely warm sun. Do you have it, asked Ward. Of course I do, I wouldn?t forget something this important, said Coles. I?ve been looking for a buyer for some time now. The only use I?ve had for it was for scaring the mids out frenching. Well then, Ward replied, I guess I?m as happy to take it off your hands as you are to be getting rid of it. One man?s trash is another man?s treasure. So what are you gonna do with a Fire cloak anyways, Coles inquired, genuinely curious as to Ward?s intentions. It is a gift for my little girl, she?s five today. Well, I hope she likes it, I have to get going now. Me too. With that, Coles and Ward went their separate ways, the switch having taken place.
Zachary often wondered as well as to why he wanted his girl to have a Fire cloak. He had always wanted a cloak like that, mostly to dress up in flames and scare his friends. He could no longer play with his friends in the same way as when they were kids. He remembered being told sometime that the best gifts are things that you would want to have, so he figured this Fire cloak was perfect. A gift from the heart was sure to please his daughter. And what a surprise it would be, too. He had not spoken a word of the cloak to his wife, friends, or family. He couldn?t wait to see the look on her face, brightened this day, out of so many others, for the occasion of her birthday. He just wished he could offer her more, something better. But he faced one day at a time.
He put the cloak in his bag, and jumped onto his bicycle for an afternoon ride home. He was entranced with the things he saw, as most rides home were made in the dark. He felt like life was ready to afford him a second chance. With his thoughts bright and his heart light, Zachary peddled through the Annapolis streets. He hoped to beat his wife home and really surprise everyone. Patricia had been forced to go shopping to get the ingredients for a cake tonight. Even she did not know Zachary had managed to escape early today.
He raced towards home, with only happiness on his mind. Suddenly, his bicycle swerved off the road as his front tire blew out. He was thrown to the ground, face in the grass of a person?s front yard. He remained still for a minute, testing his joints and assessing his pain. Then there were four mids standing over him. One said, We?ll help you mister, as long as you don?t tell no one about us frenching. Ward was grateful for the help they offered, which included repairing the tire and band-aids. They were thankful he chose not to bust them. Within the hour, Zachary was once again homeward bound.
As he rode home, he witnessed people disposing of leaves the way he had that morning. The smoke that filled the air around the brush fires was enough to make the eyes water. By the time he arrived in his housing block, his eyes were red and his nose was runny, from the smoke and exertion. He stared quizzically over his house where a trail of steady smoke could be seen rising to the sky. He had burned the leaves this morning and the fire should have been out. Perhaps Patricia was cooking on the grill, which could easily account for the smoke around back. He dismounted from the now scratched bicycle and leaned it against the side of the house. He went inside, hoping to hide the cloak before his daughter caught him. Patricia, he called out, thinking perhaps she was baking the cake. He wandered into the kitchen, then the living room. He ended up in his bedroom, placing the cloak on a high shelf so as to hide it from sight. He felt a wave of anxiety rush over him, though he could not put a reason to it. He was curious why he hadn?t been greeted at the door, but that was because he was home early and no one was expecting him. He looked out the window and saw Patricia walking down the street, coming closer to her loving family. He casually sauntered outside wanting to surprise her and see the look on her face. Suddenly, she saw him as well and her face broke out in a grin from ear to ear. They met on the street and hugged closely for a moment. You?re home early, exclaimed Patricia. I wanted to spend the evening with my family, Zachary replied. I guess we are having barbeque tonight, she asked. What makes you say that, I figured you had already started the grill out back, he said slowly. They walked back to the house quickly, and went to the back of the house. Patricia fainted and Zachary barely caught her before losing his previous meals of the day. He ran inside and snatched a bucket, and ran to fill it up in the well. He came back and splashed the water over the fire, dousing the remaining flames, though they had done their damage. He had wondered where his daughter had been, but he had assumed she was with Patricia shopping.
When the firemen came, they found a man holding the body in his arms, cradling it, talking to it. They came up and the team leader said, It appears your daughter was playing outside in some leaves, and the leaves were ignited by an earlier brush fire. Her dress caught fire, as nearly as we can tell. She was killed within minutes of her dress catching fire. It looks like it happened about an hour ago, give or take a ten minutes. Thank you, Ward acknowledged.
The policeman offered him a ride downtown, so he accepted. Now he found himself looking at medium boxes of wood at John?s funeral home. He stood over a bleached oak casket and said, That one?s nice. Yes it is, said John. I?ll have it send in the morning. Thank you, Zachary whispered. He wondered if he did some evil to deserve this punishment. He could think of nothing but the many reasons why it was his fault. He did burn the leaves in the morning. He had never told his girl not to play in leaves. He should have been home earlier to prevent it from happening.
He sat in the April sun as the day came to an end. The beautiful color array of the sunset seemed to mock him. He cried that night, and for many more to follow. Nothing he could do could bring her back.
By Dan Finnegan