I tumble out of the car the second it halts, mumbling a thank-you and slamming the door shut. I don’t turn around to see if Hank is watching me. I’m ready to get to the next obstacle of my day.
The pizzeria has an outdoor seating area, and that’s where I’ll find AverageJoeGuy. Luckily, there’s only one table with anyone sitting there.
Except there are two somebodies sitting there.
Hesitantly, I walk up to the table. “Are you . . . ?” I start to ask.
“Jules Likes to Swim?” one man asks.
He’s got a plate with a stack of pizza on it in front of him. He’s an older man, maybe in his fifties, lean and tall with a head full of salt-and-pepper hair. He’s wearing a suit, which gives him the air of someone with importance. It’s funny how influential appearance can be. He has a jovial look about him, though, with a smile on his face.
He reaches his hand to the empty chair across from them. “Please, please. Have a seat. I’m Dr. Hammer. This next to me is your friend, Average Joe.”
The man sitting next to him is much smaller in stature, his build a little frail. But that’s not what strikes me about him. Instead, what strikes me about him is the glaze over his eyes. A little red like he just took a rip off a bong or something. But he smiles at me as well.
“Hi Jules. It is Jules, right?”
I pull out the chair, the legs scraping along the concrete, and gingerly sit on the hard metal seat, crossing my legs.
I need to take a breather, but we’re outside in a public space. I’m not in danger.
“Hi. Nice to meet you.”
“Pizza?” Dr. Hammer lifts the box in between us.
I shake my head. I’m so nervous I couldn’t possibly eat something right now. Joe doesn’t have anything on his plate either.
“Ah, just as well. I’m sure you’re counting your calories. Maintaining your figure. And you probably want to get down to business, don’t you?”
“Yes, please.” I lean in a bit and lower my voice.
“About the fish monsters,” provides Dr. Hammer.
I nod again. “Yes, but do we have to call them that?” Although, even I have referred to Mack that way many times.
“What would you prefer? Fish Freaks? Fish Mutants?” His eyes glimmer at that, and he lets out a hardy laugh as if he’s said something funny.
Joe, sitting next to him, laughs too, but it’s weaker.
I’m starting to think these two have a really weird fucking dynamic. But if he’s legit, I’ve gotta know.
“Forget it. What do you know about them?”
Dr. Hammer chomps into his pizza, his teeth slicing through the greasy, cheesy flesh and bread. He chews loudly. “I know how to fix them.”
“Oh great . . . so you’re a surgeon. You want to do a hack job on them?” I think about Mack’s brochure from his sister. About the kind of doctors who offer special, discreet services. “I’ve heard about your kind of surgeries. I’m not interested in learning more.”
But Dr. Hammer shakes his head, dabbing at the corner of his mouth with a folded napkin. “Surgery? My dear girl. I’m not one of those body mechanics. No, I deal with more sophisticated materials.” He reaches into the side inner pocket of his jacket and pulls out an orange, translucent pill bottle filled with little blue pills, the kind you get at pharmacies. “I deal in chemistry, of course.”
He sets the pills in the middle of the table. “Go ahead. You can take them.”
My gaze lingers on his face, but his expression doesn’t crack. So, hesitantly, I reach for the bottle. Curiosity killed the hermit. I pick up the bottle and shake it around a little, the sound reminding me of maracas. But there’s nothing remarkable about them. They look like regular blue pills. No label or anything.
“How do I know any of this is real?” I open the bottle and take a futile sniff inside. For better or for worse, it smells like nothing.
“That’s why I have Joe here with me. That’s why he’s on the forums.”
“What do you mean?”
Dr. Hammer turns to Joe. “Would you care to explain to the young lady, please?”
Joe’s eyes shift. “Uh, yes. Of course. Dr. Hammer cured me. You see, I used to be a freak. Just like we talked about on the forums.”
I lift a brow. There are more Mack’s out there. Although, I don’t like the way Joe says freak. Mack’s not a freak. He’s special. But also, I know that many people don’t think like I do.
“Like a freak how? What happened to you? If you don’t mind me asking.”
Joe smiles faintly. “My body changed. It was slow at first. Scales taking over my skin. Orange scales. A bright, vibrant orange. Too bright to even hide, which I did try to do at first. Gills cutting through at my neck. Fins bursting through my flesh. But then my family and friends started to notice. Here, take a look.”
He pulls his phone from his back pocket and scrolls through it, landing on a picture and flashing the screen. My eyes go wide at the picture. There he is. Kind of like Mack but different. He’s not as hard cut as Mack; he’s not full of sinewy muscle and pearly scales. Instead, he’s a little chubbier but brighter. He’s right, the orange on the scales is unmissable. But also. Kind of beautiful. Vibrant. Like a jewel.
I nod, and he puts the phone back.
“That wasn’t the biggest issue though. There were other changes too.”
“What do you mean?”
“Shifts in my personality. I didn’t want to do the same things anymore. I didn’t want to be around the same people. I felt like I was being called somewhere else . . .”
