Blood Ocean Read Online Free

that their life wasn’t as bad as it could be. But if it wasn’t bad, it was close enough to be a first cousin. Kavika hated it. He hated more that he couldn’t do anything about it.
    “If he hadn’t been doing his stunts, this never would have happened,” his mother continued.
    Kavika knew that he shouldn’t argue, but he couldn’t help it. “He wasn’t stunting, mom. He’d been walking on the decks and was attacked.” He dared to look up and saw the impatience in her eyes. He offered her a smile. “If he had been stunting, whoever it was would never have got him.”
    “You don’t know that for sure.” She frowned as she punched a needle through a stiff length of shark skin. She was making a dive suit for the Water Dogs. Once completed, it would allow her family unlimited fishing rights for a time. But completing it was difficult. Everyone wanted shark skin, and it was rare that the distribution made it to her on the lower levels. It seemed to Kavika that she’d been working on the same suit for years.
    “They found the holes in his chest. It was a blood rape,” he said.
    “Ssst.” She cut him off as his ten-year-old sister stirred. “Do you think she needs to hear such things? We know about the holes. Everyone on ship knows about the holes. No need to broadcast the fact.”
    Kavika watched his sister for a time. He remembered back when she was eight and how much energy she’d had. Who knew that a bad load of fish could so change her existence? Now when she walked it was as if she were a doll and her legs weren’t her own. She still had convulsions, although they were becoming more and more infrequent.
    “How is Nani?”
    “She’s getting better. The nurses think she’ll come around. You know that she would love for you to spend more time with her.”
    “I’d love that too,” he said.
    “Then why don’t you?”
    How was he to explain something she didn’t understand? He had to sleep on deck. He had to be part of the group of boys wanting to be full time Pali. How else was he going to have a chance to better their lives?
    As if she could read his mind, she said, “You should try and work with the others up top. The Third Mate is always looking for good maintenance workers. You could learn how to weld and then you’d have a trade.”
    Kavika shook his head savagely. “I can’t do that. I’m a Pali Boy. I can’t be something I’m not.”
    “Your father said the same thing and now look at us.”
    “My father wouldn’t want me to keep hidden in the dark.”
    “Your father would want you to take care of your sister.”
    He felt the blood boil inside him. “I am taking care of my sister.” He stood. His hands were shaking. “I’m trying to move her and you to a better level.”
    His mother paused from her work and stared at him. He watched as her anger slid into something much worse... disappointment. “Your sister can’t tell which level she is on. But she can tell whether you are here or not.”
    The guilt almost overwhelmed him. On one hand he knew that his sister needed special attention, but on the other he had a need to be with the others so he could have a chance of making their lives better. He felt stifled below decks. Even staying here for the few moments it took to talk to his mother felt like punishment.
    He reached over and placed a hand on his sister’s forehead. He held it there for a moment, then stood. “Listen, I got to go. Is there anything you need?”
    She shook her head sharply and resumed sewing. “We’ll make do.”
    The last time he’d been here they’d argued as well. When he’d left, he’d stooped to give her a kiss and she’d turned away, saying, “Only boys kiss their mothers. You want to be a man, act like one.”
    Still, he lingered, wanting to kiss her, wanting to hug her and tell her how much he loved her. But by the stern set of her jaw, this was not something she’d accept. The wanting of it wasn’t enough, but it was all he’d ever