“We could’ve just gone to the grocery store,” Dominic pointed out as they hovered outside the marina gates. The marina was situated just off of main street on the leeward side of the island. Pleasure craft of all shapes and sizes were moored along the docks inside.

It was just after sundown two days after their conversation in the kitchen. Dominic had contacted one of his friends and managed to get someone to take them squid fishing.

“Yeah, but if we’re going to do this then we need to do it right. Fresh product, right out of the water. It’ll be perfect.” A smile had plastered itself on Miguel’s face. He was excited.

“You do realize that means we’re going to have to do this multiple times? We could just go to the store and buy some squid to practice with and then go fishing right before the competition.” Dominic didn’t seem as excited by the whole fishing thing.

Miguel exhaled forcefully and tried to calm himself. He hadn’t been fishing in years and those were arguably some of the best memories of his childhood. Those memories, however, were ones that he and Dominic shared. Tío Isaac had taken them fishing on his boat countless times. They’d fished for tuna, sailfish, lion fish, and squid.

Deep-fried, beer-battered squid had been one of Tío’s favorite things to eat. He’d forced them both to try it at an early age and gotten them hooked. Miguel remembered fighting with Dominic over who’d get the last piece once. By the time they’d finished fighting and decided to split it, Tío had already eaten it. Then he gave them a long lesson on why fighting wasn’t the answer, and they needed to be able to come to a solution quickly and peacefully or opportunities would pass them by.

“You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?” asked Miguel, risking a glance at Dominic’s face.

“Of course I am,” muttered Dominic, looking away. His expression was a mixture of anger and pain. The wound was clearly still raw for him, even after all these years.

A pang of guilt lanced through Miguel. He wanted to apologize again. Despite all the fighting, all the pain they’d put each other through over the years, part of him wanted to make peace. Even if it meant admitting that he had been in the wrong. He wanted Dominic to forgive him.

“Dom—“

“Oye, Dominic!” A voice interrupted Miguel. A tall, chiseled man that looked like he’d stepped out of a telenovela was bicycling towards them.

“Liam! Amigo mío, it’s wonderful to see you. Thanks for agreeing to help us out.” Dominic’s expression was immediately replaced with a broad smile as he greeted his friend.

“It was no trouble at all. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get free any sooner,” Liam apologized as he dismounted his bike and leaned it up against a nearby tree.

“Still running errands for Julio then?” asked Dominic. “If you needed extra work, you could’ve always come to Guillermo’s. He gave me the night off just for this, so he’s not the slave driver Julio seems to be.”

Liam chuckled slightly, but Miguel thought he saw nervousness in the newcomer’s eyes.

“Ah well, I don’t mind it,” said Liam after a moment. “Anyway, I haven’t made your acquaintance. You’re absolutely cautivador.” He took Miguel’s hand and raised it to his lips in a fluid motion that would’ve been comical if Liam hadn’t oozed romance from every pore.

“I’m Miguel,” he said as he pulled his hand out of Liam’s grip. Sure, the romantic gesture was amusing, but it wasn’t about make him weak in the knees. He’d dealt with enough casanovas to not be swayed by their charms.

Dominic chuckled. “Alright, that’s enough of that. Are we going to do this or not?”

Liam looked crestfallen by the immediate rejection, but recovered quickly. “Of course. Right this way.” He opened the gate to the marina and lead them out onto the docks.

Liam’s boat, the Papa Aguado, was a tour boat by design. It was already loaded up with fishing supplies and various other things they might need for their venture tonight. As Miguel climbed aboard, he couldn’t help the flutter of excitement in his stomach. He loved being out on the open water.

Only a few minutes later, they’d left the marina behind and were headed out into the darkness. The light spray of the salt water tickled Miguel’s cheeks and the wind ruffled his hair as he sat in the back of the boat.

They were headed out towards the edge of the coral reef that bordered the south-east of the island.

It was a popular tourist location during the day, but at night it served another purpose.

Several dozen boats were already there by the time they arrived. Floodlights dotted the horizon, all directed down at the water’s surface immediately next to the boat.

Liam took them to a spot a little away from the rest of the boats. A few minutes later, they’d gotten their own floodlight set up and had begun casting their lines into the water.

For the next several hours, the three of them continuously dipped their fishing lines into the water. The squid were extremely plentiful there that time of night. They danced beneath the surface of the water, competing for food, and fighting for the chance to be hooked on someone’s line.

Catalejo squid had become extremely popular in certain high end restaurants over the past several years. In reality, they weren’t much different from squid found in other parts of the world, but clever marketing strategies employed by the previous president had managed to raise demand dramatically. His son had thus far managed to maintain the positive image and increased demand had lead to increased prices.

They reeled in about a dozen or so before deciding to call it quits for the night. They didn’t need a ton for testing purposes. As time got closer to the competition they’d need a lot more to be able to feed not only the judges but also the rest of festival goers that had come for a taste.

“Can you at least smile?” asked Miguel as they rode back to the marina. “You can’t tell me you didn’t enjoy yourself at least a little bit.”

Dominic sat across from him looking out at the water as it flashed by. “We got what we came for. That’s all that matters.”

Miguel sighed. He probably shouldn’t press the issue, but Dominic needed to get out of his own head for a minute. He needed to allow himself the chance to be happy. Didn’t he?

“Honestly, Dominic, this was his favorite pastime. Don’t you think he’d want you to enjoy it?” Miguel asked, leaning forward to look at him.

“For someone that agreed not to bring up the past, you sure do bring it up a lot.” Dominic met his gaze with glare.

“Because it’s obviously bothering you. If you just bottle it all up you’re going to explode. You don’t have to punish yourself by feeling sad every time you see something that reminds you of him.” Miguel knew he was treading in dangerous waters right now.

“I don’t feel sad every time I see something that reminds me of him,” countered Dominic. “I feel sad every time I see something that reminds me of what you did to him. Why can’t you just leave it alone Miguel? We’re trying to win a competition here, not mend fences. Just back off.” He rose from his seat and went to join Liam at the wheel of the boat.

Miguel sighed. At least that exchange hadn’t come to blows or a yelling match. Maybe Dominic was starting to lighten up a little after all.

When they finally returned to the marina, Dominic and Miguel unloaded their prizes gleefully. Bidding Liam farewell, they returned to Dominic’s apartment to begin the hardest part of their work, cleaning their catch.

“We didn’t think this through very well,” complained Dominic as he worked over the sink in his kitchen. “Somehow, catching fresh squid is your idea but because of your stupid arms I’m stuck cleaning them all.”

“I’m sorry, I really am,” said Miguel, sincerely as he tried to help clean up the mess that had spread across the counter. “We were too young to clean them ourselves before. Tío always did it for us. I didn’t realize how much of a pain it was.”

Dominic groaned as he tossed aside one of the freshly cleaned squid. “How many are left?”

Miguel glanced in the bucket that they’d used to drag their catch home. “A lot.”

“Your casts are coming off before the competition. Next time we do this, you’re cleaning them all yourself.” Dominic pointed a knife at him for emphasis.

“We’re going to have at least twice this many for the final cook off. There’s no way I can clean them all myself,” Miguel complained with a pout.

“I was thinking probably more like three times as much. I don’t know, we haven’t actually decided how we’re going to serve them yet. Peter thinks this’ll be the biggest New Year’s festival ever, which means even more people and more servings.” Dominic shook his head slowly and turned back to his work.

“I was originally thinking we serve them whole squid on a skewer, kind of like how the Japanese do it,” said Miguel with a frown. “But that would increase the number we need dramatically. There’s no way we can fish, clean, prep, and cook that many squid without help.”

“I’d rather not grow our team any more than it already is,” said Dominic. “We’re going to have to do something else.”

“So squid rings then?” suggested Miguel. “We could serve them like fries, in a basket.”

“Finger food? Isn’t one of the requirements that the meat is cooked with the barbecue sauce. The sauce has to be more than a condiment.” Dominic looked back at him.

“Well yeah, we can do that. Ribs are technically finger food, no one complains about the sauce on their fingers then.”

“I think we’ll need to test out some ideas before we get anything set in stone. For now, let’s focus on the sauce,” Dominic said. “We’ve got to preserve the flavors of the squid, but also evoke the taste of authentic barbecue. We’re already taking a lot of risks by using such a non-traditional meat as our base.”

The discussion continued while Dominic worked. They both had strong opinions as to what ingredients would work to enhance the flavor the most. Despite the discussion growing somewhat heated at one point, they ended up failing to make any real progress on their plan of attack.

By the time the cleaning process was finished, it was nearly morning. The first fingers of daylight were beginning to peek through the window of the apartment.

“So, tonight we can start by cooking one up and figuring out what exactly we’re working with here,” suggested Miguel as he finished mopping up the kitchen floor.

“Agreed,” Dominic said as he placed the last of the squid in the refrigerator. “I think it would be better if we grilled them though. Overall, I think that’s going to give us a better idea of the flavor for the competition.”

“Well, since you don’t have a grill here, what did you have in mind?” asked Miguel as he put away the mop.

“We could go to my parents’ house. They’ve been wanting me to come by for a while, and there’s an open invitation for me to use their kitchen and grill.” Dominic yawned and stretched before leaning against the freshly cleaned counter.

“We could do that,” said Miguel, somewhat cautiously. “I’m just not sure your dad would be very happy to see me around.” Frederico had always been extremely sour around Miguel, even when he was a child. His recent reaction to the partnership hadn’t been entirely unexpected.

“It’s not like your parents would be any happier to see me,” said Dominic. “My dad is gruff, but he won’t kick us out or anything. He wants me to win too badly for that.”

“I hope you’re right.”