Dragonfly by Jax Hill 

I went home that night and put some music on. I rang in the new year listening to a bunch of Italian arias. It’s not something you’d expect a fisherman or a fish market guy to do. But I had a soft spot for grand opera ... and it seemed like the only thing that matched my mood. What Torstein had said was just what he said all along ... except for the part about how something might happen to him that would leave the rest of us shattered and terrorized ... but it was easy, with “Ah! Mes Amis” playing, to forget that part, and only to feel the joy of the moment. The joy of letting go of everything that ever claimed to be important and embracing the only thing that really was.

On New Year’s Day, all the downtown businesses were closed, but there were still a few families in Patriots Park for Story Hour, and the usual bums and drunks. Torstein had his bag of sunflower seeds, and Tawny and Mari had a picture book between them. In a way, everything was exactly the same as it had been last year. But in another way, everything was new. It was like a declaration that Torstein had made last night, and all of us felt that now there was no turning back.

Sig came to the park with Tartan. I hadn’t imagined the change in him that I’d noticed last night. The skin on his face hung more haggard than ever, and his eyes were as bloodshot as I’d ever seen them. Torstein embraced him and wished him a happy new year. Tartan sprang up onto Sully’s shoulder and slid down his back like they used to do in the summer, the trick they used to do. With a parting glance at Sig, Tartan ran off with Sully to do their obstacle course around the playground. And Sig sat down with us.

“I don’t know who handed out the invitations to your party,” Sig said. “But you had two of Nikolai’s show girls and one prostitute there last night who say they aren’t going back to work.”

“And you know this, how?” Torstein asked.

“Wire taps,” Sig said. “Nikolai’s already calling his associates at my department, telling them they gotta shut you down before you ruin his investment.”

“What about the women?” Maggie asked. “What about the women who want to get out of that kind of work?”

“Nikolai will have someone convince them they’re mistaken about that,” Sig said. “The point is, Nikolai’s actively trying to get the law after you now.”

“Torstein?” Tawny said softly.

“Yes?”

“It was Mari and me, we invited those girls. You told everyone to go and invite their neighbors, and really, the people at Maggie’s complex are her neighbors. So we thought we’d invite our old friends ...”

Sig snorted a little, a sort of “that explains it” sound. But Torstein said, “That’s perfectly fine, Tawny. That was the whole point.”

Maggie said, “Do you remember who you invited?”

“We invited all the girls in the club where we used to work,” Mari said. “Of course most of them had to work, but because it was such a short party, a few of them were able to come in and hurry right back out.”

“Here’s the thing,” Maggie said. “When you girls moved in with me, it was great for me, and it’s been great for Sully, too. If you think these women really want to get out of stripping and, um, prostitution, that’s why I bought the condo next door. So there would be a safe place for anyone that needed to get away.”

“It’s not safe!” Sig said. “Did you hear what I said? Nikolai’s coming after Torstein with the law if he can, but if that doesn’t work, he’ll come at you another way. And you don’t have a dog he can get to, to warn you.”

Torstein grinned at Maggie. “You’re really something,” he said. To Sig, he said, “Sig, I appreciate your coming here to tell me this.”

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