Paul’s father gave up the wheel and went aft to squirt the hoisting winch with a heavy oil, going inside the engine room when he’d finished to refill the oil can. When he stepped down on the floor, a single drop of water jumped up through a crack. He saw that the bilge was running eight inches high, so he turned on the pump and called up to Paul. “Hey, T-Bub, come down here a minute.”

“What’s up?” he called from the wheelhouse.

“Get in here.”

Paul ran down the steps and stopped to listen to the engine for a moment. Then he saw the bilge. “You got the pump on?”

“I just cut it in, but we pumped out when we left home. You gonna have to get this thing pulled out and recaulked when we get back.” He went over to a rusty hand pump bolted on the port bulkhead and tried it. After a few squeals it began to move freely and sucked up water. “I’ll stay on this awhile till she’s dry.”

Paul went up into the wheelhouse and looked out at Raymond, who was working the catch, throwing trash fish into the wind. After a while, Raymond closed a hatch and came in, looking carefully into Paul’s face. “What’s up, T-Bub?”

“Daddy found a good bit of water in the bilge. I guess the caulking is beginning to give out on this thing.”

“I ain’t surprised one bit,” Etienne said.

“What you mean, caulking?” Raymond shook water from his hair like a spaniel.

“Cotton,” Etienne said. “Rag, oakum, whatever. In case you ain’t noticed, this tub is made of boards, and between each board is caulking.”

“Ain’t no overgrowed Partian has to tell me how a shrimp boat is made,” Raymond snapped. “I want to know why this one’s leaking.”

“Hey, nothing lasts forever.” Etienne gave him a sissy smile.

“I mean, is the weather gonna make it worse?”

“What you think, baby? If I stuff Kleenex up your ass and throw you overboard in a hurricane, how long before you leak, huh?”

Paul looked down into the engine room. “Daddy’s got the water on the run.”

Raymond screwed up his face. “Is that supposed to be funny or what?”

A flicker of lightning lit up on the edge of the world, and the men looked out and said nothing. A puff of spray floated over the bow. The gulls flew ahead, wheeled, and winged north.