Page 131 of Pride High

“Yours, I think,” Omar said. His line was still slack. He watched as Silvia began reeling, but it obviously wasn’t hers either. “It’s you, Hugo! Start reeling him in, my man!”

Hugo panicked, cranking the reel in one direction and then the next.

“Away from you,” Omar said, demonstrating with his own rod. “You’ve got it! Now pull up a little.”

“Higher,” Silvia said, gently tugging on the rod to increase the angle. “And now reel some more.”

“I think you caught a big one!” Omar said. “Just keep pulling up and reeling down.”

“What if he gets away?” Hugo said, pumping his arm as fast as it would go.

“You’ve got him hooked,” Silvia said. “Stay calm.”

They kept coaching him until he yanked a gorgeous fish out of the water.

“Look at those whiskers,” Omar said. “It’s a catfish!”

“Wow!” Hugo exclaimed, his arms beginning to shake out of weariness or excitement. “Are we going to keep him?”

“Of course!” Silvia said. “Omar, help him hold on tight.”

As soon as he grabbed the fishing rod, Hugo let go and stepped back to watch. Silvia laid out the fish on the grass and grabbed a fat stick that she’d scrounged up earlier. She took aim, and with a mighty swing, struck the fish just behind the gills. The fins continued to twitch, but the mouth was no longer gasping for air.

Hugo wasn’t pleased. “Why’d you do that?” he complained.

“So he wouldn’t suffer,” Silvia said. “We’re going to eat him.”

“But he’s mine!” Hugo whined, already on the verge of tears. “I was gonna keep him as a pet!”

“He wouldn’t have been happy,” Omar explained. “This isn’t the kind of fish you can keep in an aquarium.”

Hugo crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t wanna eat him.”

“Up to you,” Silvia said. “But this way he won’t go to waste.”

“That’s right,” Omar said, backing her up. “If you do eat him, it’s really cool, because he’ll become part of you.”

Hugo was torn between continuing his temper tantrum and satisfying his own curiosity. “What do you mean?”

Omar handed the fishing rod back to him. “Your entire body is made up of stuff that you’ve eaten before. The plants and the animals. Everything! Your body takes the good stuff and poops out the rest.” Hugo laughed at this of course. At his age, it was hard to go wrong with a poop joke. “So when you go home tonight and eat this fish,” Omar continued, “it’ll become part of you too. Strange, right? That’s how it works though. To stay alive, you have to eat things that used to be alive. There’s no way around it. Even if you go vegetarian.”

“What’s that?” Hugo asked.

“It means you can’t eat hamburgers anymore,” Silvia explained.

“Oh. Can I try a different lure now?”

And just like that, the subject was over in his little mind. The lucky kid. Soon he was digging through the tackle box again. Omar left him and went to join Silvia, who was crouched next to the shore. He watched as she took a knife and cut the fish open so the blood could drain out. She held it in the water until the process was complete.

“You’re the coolest girl I’ve ever met,” Omar said in awe.

“My dad taught me well,” Silvia said with a subtle smile. “And for the record, you’re not so bad yourself.”

“Oh yeah?” Omar asked.

“Yeah. I like how you handled that.”

He glanced at Hugo. “You’ve met my kid sister. It’s not so different, really.”

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