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The way Mercia looked at me made me feel smaller than a dog's flea.
"Mr. Hale and Mr. MaGee wouldn't tell me anything. They told me to ask you." He shook his head. "Poor Meranda could barely even speak when she came back to the table. She cried for five whole minutes before clearly saying one word."
I felt so low. "I'm so sorry."
"Start from the beginning. Try to remember everything you can." King Mercia said and stared at me.
"First of all, Mermista wouldn't let me tell her anything. If you want to tell her then you can. If she doesn't want to listen then I'll talk to her when she says I can."
Mercia nodded at me and I continued. "I was coming back from the bathroom when I heard them talking. Mr. Hale was speaking to Mr. MaGee about the couples at the social. The way he said Swirl made me sick to my stomach."
King Mercia held up a hand. "He said what?" He paused with his eyes opening wider in shock. "You swear these words are true?"
"I swear on every carton of ice cream in SeaWorthy. You know how much Mermista loves her ice cream."
"Yes, her very first love before you came along." He laughed.
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"Mr. Hale used Swirl in such a negative way. I asked him to apologize. He never did. I just couldn't let it go so I grabbed an umbrella and challenged the doorman to a duel. I said if I won then he would have to apologize over the intercom to all the interracial couples. And he said I'd have to leave and Mermista too if I lost." I looked away in shame. "Now my love is mad at me. I was only trying to do the right thing."
King Mercia was quiet for a long minute. "I understand from your point of view. I've known these people all of my life. It's hard for me to even picture them being vulgar. I believe you, Sebastian. I know how much you love my daughter."
He turned around and stalked to the door. He opened it with force and it slammed shut behind him. It pleased me greatly that those men were going to get yelled at by the king.
All of King Mercia's family and their friends were downstairs. They heard everything between Mr. Hale, Mr. MaGee and the king. It got really ugly with curse words and temper's spiking.
The owners of the country club Mr. and Mrs. Oxenburg had words with everyone as well.
In the end of it all, Mr. Hale was fired on the spot. Mr. MaGee was suspended from work for two months without pay.
I was on Mikey's ship waiting for any kind of news. The rain had stopped for now. I was just sitting on a wooden stoop looking at the water.
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I heard voices and stood up. Oh no . . . my stomach filled with dread. Had my actions gotten them kicked out of the social? This was all my fault.
Amara ran up the ramp and hugged me. "You're stupid, but amazing."
I wasn't sure how to reply to that.
"Thank you." Marika said, putting a hand of hers on my arm. "We'll make sure Mermista knows the truth."
King Mercia smiled at me. "Mr. Hale got fired by his employers."
"You're not mad at me?" I said loudly.
"Just a little bit." Meranda said, " . . . but it took guts to stand up for who and what you believe in."
"Did you really use an umbrella to duel?" Paulie asked, laughing. "Never would've thought to do that."
I laughed to myself. "It was all I had at the time."
Figg patted my shoulder. "We all do stupid things for people we love."
Moe presented me with all the umbrella's we'd taken into the country club. "You might need these." He chuckled.
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I rolled my dark eyes. "Yeah, thanks a lot, Moe." I said and took them over to an empty fishing barrel and tossed them into it.
Paulie me pulled aside. "Everyone else knows already. I have some big news." He paused and smiled happily to himself. "SeaHawk, Marista and I are engaged."
I felt my heart jump in my chest. It shouldn't have been such a shock, yet it was. Another friend was slowly being taken away. No one was gone yet, but it was just a matter of time before I lost my friends, my crew and everything.
My mouth said, "Congratulations," while my feeling of sadness deepened.
We all talked and joked for about an hour before going our seperate ways.
Paulie went back to Salineas with King Mercia, Marista and her girls.
Everyone else went back to SeaWorthy.
Amara took off her shoes and ran down to Mermista's room. She tried to open the door but it was locked.
"UGH . . . what do you want?" came from inside the bedroom.
"I need to talk to you!" Amara yelled out as her sisters joined her. "We all do."
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Mermista unlocked her door, opened it and went back to her bed. Her cousins joined her on the bed.
"We know why Sebastian did what he did. Let one of us tell you." Meranda said to her.
King Mercia came into the room. "It should be me." He was holding a tub of strawberry ice cream for comfort.
Everyone looked at him.
Mermista felt so tired from crying, maybe ice cream would help - a little. "Thanks, daddy." She said as he handed it and a spoon to her.
"We'll be in the kitchen." Marika said as she and the others left.
"About Sebastian . . . he was only trying to right a wrong." He started.
Mermista smiled down at her ice cream. "A little brain freeze isn't a bad thing." She laughed and hugged the tub to her chest.
"Mermista." He said, a little annoyed with her.
"Fine. I'll listen to you." She said, taking a bite of her ice cream.
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Her father then spoke again. "Sebastian was coming back from the restroom when he heard Mr. MaGee and Mr. Hale talking. As your boyfriend told me, Mr. Hale used the term Swirl in a very negative way."
Mermista sat up. She could feel her anger growing in her chest. "Wait! Mr. Hale said that? Really?" She paused and shook her head a little. "I . . . I'm just shocked."
Mercia sighed, "I'm surprised as well. Mr. Hale even spun his own tall tale after I spoke to Sebastian. He said that your boyfriend had stomped on his foot and called him stupid."
"And you didn't believe that."
Mercia shook his head. "No. I know Sebastian would never lie to me. One thing he isn't is a liar when it comes to you."
"Right. He'd never break your trust." Mermista said and ate more ice cream.
"So he couldn't get Mr. Hale to apologize so he dueled him with umbrella's. If he'd won then Mr. Hale would've had to apologize to all of the interracial couples over the intercom. Sadly he lost and you two got kicked out of the social. The good news is Mr. Hale got fired today."
"He was trying to stand up for us and everyone else." Mermista said feeling a little bad that she'd yelled and thrown her shoe at him.
"You should go talk to him soon." Mercia said, stood up and kissed the top of her head.
