潘清

Dad handed me the bucket and the net with a long， wooden handle. He gave Paulie two dead fish wrapped in newspaper. They were tied up with string like a present. I held my nose， but Paulie held those fish like they were his best baseball cards.

"Since we all want crabs for supper， catch a whole bunch1）. But just in case you don't， we have leftover broccoli2） casserole3），" Dad said with a wink.

The salty air from Chesapeake Bay filled our noses. This was the best place in the world to catch blue crabs4）. They like grassy， shadowy water， so Paulie and I headed for our old wooden dock. It was hot， and I sat down and swung5） my legs over the edge， into the cool water. Paulie struggled to tie the string to one of the slippery fish. Then he slid the extra fish into the bucket and set it in the dark water under the dock for later.

"Here." Paulie handed me the baited string. "Dangle6） this down in the water to call the crabs."

Crabs love smelly， old fish， so our first crab didn't take long to come. Its big claw clamped7） the bait， and I raised the string real slow so Paulie could net it. But my legs swishing8） in the water startled that crab， and it let go and floated back to the bottom like a leaf off a tree. Paulie brought up the net and stood there with the handle on the dock.

"Kathy， I can't believe you're going to be in third grade and can't sit still for one minute，" he said.

"And I can't believe you're going to be in sixth grade and haven't caught any crabs yet."

I went back to dangling the fish.

"Well， get ready，" he urged. "Here comes another one."

The sun was hot on our backs. My clothes were already sticking to me， and sweat dripped down our faces. A fly buzzed around my head. I remembered what Paulie had said and sat perfectly still as the new crab clamped onto the fish. But as Paulie scooted9） forward on his belly to lower the net， he knocked a pebble off the dock and scared that crab away， too.

"Damn！ I lost him."

"Crabs are scaredy-cats10），" I said， pulling up the line to check the bait. "This smells disgusting. How can they eat this？"

"I don't know. How can Mom and Dad eat broccoli casserole？ I really hate that stuff，" Paulie moaned.

"Me， too，" I said.

We thought about the big pot waiting and Dad dropping the crabs into the spicy11）， boiling water. They would turn a beautiful bright red after a few moments， and we'd have a crab feast， cracking the shells and pulling out the sweet， white meat. We had to keep trying. I smacked12） a mosquito off Paulie's arm and dangled the bait some more. We squinted13） past the sun's reflection on the water.

"Sit still now. Here comes another one，" said Paulie.

He inched14） the net into the water.

"Got him！" Paulie hauled15） up the net with the crab inside， but that crab was all claws and those mad pincers16） were waving all over the place！

"Look out！" I screamed， but the crab's big claw already had hold of Paulie's finger.

"Ow！ Ow！ Get him off！ Get him off！"

Paulie hopped around， shaking his hand up and down， swinging that crab all over the place.

I yelled， "Let go！" but the crab didn't seem to understand English. Finally， Paulie swung his arm in a giant arc， and the crab landed back in the water. Paulie's finger was all red and puffy17）. I could tell he was trying not to cry.

"What should we do now？" I asked.

We both thought about broccoli casserole.

"Keep trying，" said Paulie， putting his sore finger into the cold water.

But the harder we tried， the darker it got. When the sun began to set， we couldn't see into the water anymore. We heard Mom yell from the house， "Bring all you've got and come on in now."

Paulie let go of the string and wiped his hands clean on his shorts as the smelly bait sank to the bottom.

"Guess what's for supper，" I sighed.

"Broccoli， here we come，" Paulie groaned.

"Remember to get the bucket with the spare18） bait，" I reminded him， slumping19） along with the net dragging behind me.

Suddenly， Paulie grabbed my arm. "Listen，" he whispered.

Noises came from the bucket Paulie was carrying. We leaned in close， but it was too dark to see.

"What's all that scratching？" I asked. We ran through the sand to the light of the porch.

"Well， would you look at that？" exclaimed Paulie with a high-five20）. There， in the bucket， was a mountain of beautiful blue crabs fighting over our extra fish.

"Let's go！" I yelled.

We raced to give Dad the crabs.

"Whoa！" he said. "You caught a lot！"

"Great！" Mom said. "Well， I don't think that the leftover casserole will keep for another day ..." She started scraping21） the broccoli into the garbage disposal22）.

I looked at Paulie. "Yes！" we mouthed23） silently to each other with huge grins.

爸爸把水桶和一個長木柄漁網(wǎng)遞給我。他給了保利兩條用報紙包著的死魚，像禮物一樣拿帶子綁在外面。我捂住鼻子，保利卻捧著那兩條魚，仿佛它們是他最喜歡的棒球卡片一樣。

“既然我們大家晚餐都想吃螃蟹，你們就去抓一大堆來吧。不過以防萬一你們沒抓著，咱們還可以吃剩下的西藍花砂鍋。”爸爸眨了眨眼說。

切薩皮克灣咸咸的海風灌滿了我們的鼻子，這里是世界上最適宜抓藍蟹的地方。藍蟹喜歡長滿水草的陰暗水域，所以保利和我朝我們家那個老舊的木碼頭走了過去。那天很熱，我在碼頭邊上坐了下來，兩條腿伸進涼爽的水里晃來晃去。保利努力把其中一條滑溜溜的魚拴在漁線上，然后把另外一條放進水桶里，把桶放在了碼頭下陰暗處的水中準備過會兒再用。

“喏?！北＠严岛谜T餌的漁線遞給我，“把這個垂到水中，好吸引螃蟹。”

螃蟹喜歡臭烘烘的死魚，所以我們的第一只螃蟹沒過一會兒就來了。它的大鉗子緊緊地夾著誘餌，我特別慢地提起漁線，好讓保利能把它網(wǎng)住?？晌业碾p腿在水里嘩啦晃動讓螃蟹受了驚，于是它松開誘餌，像一片樹葉從樹上飄落一般地漂回了水底。保利提起了漁網(wǎng)，握著網(wǎng)柄站在碼頭上。

“凱茜，我不敢相信你馬上就要上三年級了還不能老老實實地坐上一分鐘?！彼f。

“我也不敢相信你就要上六年級了，到現(xiàn)在還沒抓到過一只螃蟹?！?/p>

我回去繼續(xù)把魚垂在水中。

“好吧，準備好，”他催促道，“又來了一只?！?/p>

我們的后背被太陽曬得火辣辣的。我的衣服已經(jīng)粘在身上了，汗水從我們的臉上滴落下來。一只蒼蠅圍著我的腦袋嗡嗡叫著。當新來的螃蟹鉗住魚，我想起了保利剛才說的話，便一動不動地坐著。可當保利趴下來猛地向前放低漁網(wǎng)時，他把碼頭上的一顆鵝卵石碰到了水里，又把螃蟹給嚇跑了。

“可惡！讓它跑了。”

“螃蟹都是膽小鬼！”我一邊說一邊把漁線拉起來檢查誘餌?！奥勚珢盒牧?，它們怎么會吃這玩意兒？”

“不知道。爸爸媽媽怎么會吃西藍花砂鍋呢？我真的很討厭那東西?！北＠г沟馈?/p>

“我也是。”我說。

我們想象著一口大鍋靜待一旁，爸爸把螃蟹丟進加了很多調(diào)料的沸水中。過一會兒它們就會變成漂亮的亮紅色，我們就能敲開蟹殼取出又甜又白的蟹肉，享用一頓螃蟹大餐了。我們得繼續(xù)努力。我拍掉了保利胳膊上的一只蚊子，又晃了晃誘餌。我們越過水面上太陽的倒影，瞇著眼睛觀察著水面的情況。

“現(xiàn)在坐好別動。又來了一只。”保利說。

他緩緩地把漁網(wǎng)伸進水中。

“抓到啦！”保利用力拉起裝著那只螃蟹的漁網(wǎng)，但這螃蟹張牙舞爪，那對瘋狂的鉗子正在到處揮舞！

“當心！”我尖叫道，但是螃蟹的大鉗子已經(jīng)夾住了保利的手指。

“哎喲！哎喲！把它弄掉！把它弄掉！”

保利跳來跳去，上下晃動著他的手，把那只螃蟹到處甩來甩去。

我大喊：“松手！”但那只螃蟹似乎聽不懂英語。終于，保利的手臂甩出了一個巨大的弧度，螃蟹落回了水中。保利的手指特別紅腫，我能看出他正努力忍著不要哭出來。

“現(xiàn)在我們該怎么辦？”我問。

我們都想到了西藍花砂鍋。

“繼續(xù)努力?！北＠呎f邊把自己那只疼痛的手指放進冰涼的水里。

但我們越是努力，天色就越暗。太陽開始下山時，我們再也看不清水下的情況了。我們聽見媽媽從屋子那邊大喊著：“現(xiàn)在帶著你們抓到的所有東西回家吧。”

隨著臭烘烘的誘餌沉至水底，保利松開漁線，把兩只手在自己的短褲上蹭干凈了。

“猜猜晚餐吃什么?！蔽覈@了口氣。

“西藍花，我們來了?！北＠β晣@氣道。

“記得拿上那個裝著沒用上的誘餌的水桶?！蔽姨嵝阉?，拖著漁網(wǎng)垂頭喪氣地走著。

突然，保利抓住我的胳膊?！奥??！彼÷曊f。

聲音是從保利提著的水桶里傳來的。我們探身靠近去看，可天色太暗了，什么都看不清。

“這抓撓聲是怎么回事？”我問。我們穿過沙灘，朝門廊上的光亮跑了過去。

“哎呀，你看到了嗎？”保利大聲喊道，伸出手來要跟我擊掌。就在那個水桶里有一大堆漂亮的藍蟹，正在為我們那條沒用上的魚爭搶打斗。

“走吧！”我大叫。

我們沖過去把螃蟹給了爸爸。

“哇哦！”他說，“你們抓到了好多螃蟹！”

“太棒了！”媽媽說，“好吧，我覺得剩下的砂鍋不能再放一天了……”她開始把西藍花砂鍋刮進垃圾碾碎器里。

我看著保利。我們咧嘴大笑，用口型向彼此默默示意：“耶！”。