Tales of the City 08 - Mary Ann in Autumn

those jokesters at the pier. Their raucous barking calmed his fears like no other music, and there were more of them now than he’d seen all year, since winter brought more herring. Hundreds of sea lions were sprawled on the wooden rafts provided for their comfort, while the humans watched from the rail, making noises of their own.
    “Oooh … look at that fat one!”
    “Is that one a girl or a boy, Mommy?”
    “Awesome! He just knocked that other one into the water!”
    “Aren’t they supposed to be at Seal Rock?”
    The last question had come from a round-faced young blond guy in a red hoodie, standing next to Jake. It was just one of those things that people said in a crowd, mostly hoping to feel part of the crowd, expecting an answer from anyone or no one.
    “They used to be out there,” Jake answered, “but they started hauling out here in 1989.”
    The guy turned to him and frowned. “Hauling what out?”
    “That’s what they call it. Hauling out. What they’re doing right now. Getting out of the water so they can … you know, breed and all.”
    “Oh.”
    “Some people think the earthquake drove them into the bay, but there were already a few of them here by then. They were probably just getting away from their predators, since Orcas and Great Whites don’t come in this far. They took over a dock that used to be here, so it got kinda testy for a while.”
    “Why?”
    “Look at ’em. They’re ginormous. And stinky. And dangerous if you get in their way. Some of the old dudes weigh almost a thousand pounds.”
    The blond kept his eyes on the raft, where, in the deepening twilight, the sea lions were stacked on top of each other like enormous sacks of flour.
    “So cool,” he said reverently.
    “Word,” replied Jake.
    T HE NEXT TIME HE SAW the guy, Jake was down the pier in the left-handed store buying a pocket spiral notebook. He wasn’t consistently left-handed, so he didn’t need most of the things they sold, even their super-cool Bahco pruning shears. Writing was pretty much the only thing he couldn’t do right-handed, and since he liked to take notes on the job (like his hero, Capability Brown), he’d always hated those left-handed spirals. The clerk was putting the notebook in a bag when Red Hoodie got in line behind him.
    “Dude,” he said pleasantly, catching Jake’s eye.
    “Oh … hey.”
    “That for you?”
    “Who else?”
    “Awright!” The guy held up his hand for a high five, so Jake followed through in what he took to be a moment of left-handed brotherhood. As a man, he had never before high-fived with a guy. He would have been too embarrassed to initiate it himself, and no one else had ever offered, maybe because Jake was shorter than most guys and it would probably have looked stupid. This guy was short himself, so they could pull it off.
    “What did you get?” Jake asked.
    “Just some scissors.” He held them up with a Boy Scout smile. “I had to cut some poster paper last week and got me some serious blisters.”
    Jake nodded. “You a teacher or something?”
    “Nah … it was just for … a project.” He looked uncomfortable as his eyes darted around the store. Jake wondered if he was seriously into crafts or something and too embarrassed to admit it. “This place is cool,” said the guy.
    Jake nodded. “The first of its kind in the world.”
    “Where are the other ones?”
    “Fuck if I know, dude.”
    He had expected to get a laugh, but the guy just flinched and lost his smile for a moment. “We sure don’t have ’em back home,” he said, recovering. “I can tell you that much.” He handed a $20 bill to the clerk, waited for the change, and thanked her nicely. “Where’s good to eat around here?”
    For a moment Jake didn’t realize that the question was directed to him. “Oh … well … I like Bubba Gump’s, but that’s kinda for special occasions. I usually just get something at the Pier Market and eat it on a bench somewhere. They got good crab sandwiches. The chowder’s pretty good, too.”
    “Could you show me?”
    “Sure,” said Jake. “I’m goin’ there anyway.”
    T HOUGH NEITHER OF THEM HAD suggested it, they ended up eating together.
    They had waited in line together, so it had just made sense to look for a bench together. They found one at the edge of the performance area and sat on either end of it, eating their crab sandwiches while they watched a tall, skinny clown with a monkey puppet.
    “He’s really dope,”