Nightspell || Michael Clifford

Chapter 21

'I think the reason why this makes me want to throw up is because they look absolutely horrifying.' I said, looking at the fish in front of me.
Michael hadn't lied when he said he'd teach me everything I needed to know.
After we had done our rounds and refilled our waterbottles we had made our way back to the tip of the island to find 2 fishes lying on the sand.
Luckily for me, they were already dead.
He had made me go get them as he took it upon himself to push a few rocks off of the stack.
Now we were sitting behind the cabin, both fish on their own small cuttingboards.
The cutting boards were literally just slices of wood. The growth rings still perfectly visible.
Michael handed me a knife and smiled. He was enjoying this way too much.
'Okay, now I'll take you through this step by step. I'll show you what to do and you repeat it afterwards.' Michael said.
I nodded and looked at him, trying to find the off switch on my brain. But the disgusting smell of dead fish kept pulling me away from reaching that switch.
'So we're going to do this in the safest way possible. If you do it right you won't even see any blood.' Michael looked up at me, grinning widely.
I shook my head and laughed 'You're disgusting. I'm never going to do this right and you know it too.'
Michael shrugged and focused on the fish again.
'The first thing you do is make a cut right behind the head. Just a small one, you don't need to cut through all the bones or anything.' He started as he grabbed his knife and made the cut.
I looked at the fish in front me and sighed, holding the knife in my hand tightly.
'It helps if you put your hand over it's head. That way you won't see it's eyes and it'll be easier.' Michael said.
I looked at him shortly before deciding to use his little trick and cover the head with my hand.
'So then I cut here?' I asked, pointing to what I thought would be the right spot.
Michael leaned over so he could take a better look and nodded. 'That would be perfect.' He said.
I nodded and took a deep breath before sliding the knife through the fish the same way I had seen Michael do before.
'Good, now you cut along the back of the fish.' He continued, placing his knife where he had ended the previous cut and making a straight line down until he reached the tail.
I looked at the way he was holding the fish and did the exact same thing.
'Very good.' Michael nodded, looking impressed with my work. '2 more steps and then we're done with this side.' He said.
I nodded, starting to calm down a little.
'Now yout take that cut you made along the back,' Michael started explaining as he grabbed the fish and opened the cut a little. 'And you continue cutting as close to the bone as possible. Until you've cut the entire filet off. That's what it's called. We're filleting the fish.'
I watched as he carefully but expertly cut his way down until he had two separate pieces.
'Now it's your turn.' Michael smiled.
Looking at my fish, I grabbed the piece that I had already cut and carefully made the cut bigger.
I followed the bones, afraid I would accidentally cut into some organs, until I reached the bottom and cut the filet off of the fish.
'That was the trickiest part.' Michael said, nodding proudly. 'If you had messed that up there would've been blood everywhere.'
I grinned 'I'm glad you didn't tell me that while I was cutting because the pressure would've been so high I definitely would've messed up.'
Michael laughed 'I hate to break it to you but you're going to mess up at some point. This is what we call beginners luck.'
'Probably.' I nodded.
'So now all that's left to do is remove the skin. And to be honest, I always fuck this up. You have to cut a perfect, straight line along the edge and that's it. But I can't cut straight lines so I always mess up.' Michael said as he grabbed the tail part and cut along the edge of the skin.
When he was done, I did the same thing, accidentally missing a few pieces of skin at the top and bottom. And probably leaving too much of the filet on the skin in the middle.
'And now what?' I asked, when I had both pieces separated.
'Now you just cut it into small pieces and throw it in the pan.' Michael replied as he stood up.
'You do the other half of the fish on your own and cook it while I check to see what vegetables we're eating today. I'll finish mine when I get back.'
'What?' I asked, as he stood up. 'But what if I mess up?'
Michael turned around to face me and shrugged. 'If you mess up we try again tomorrow.'
I smiled and nodded as he walked away.
Leaving me alone with two half cut fishes.
Now that I had done the first half, I didn't feel as bad while doing the other one.
I didn't enjoy it at all, but it wasn't as bad as the first one.
I repeated the simple steps in my head and as I was cutting the filet away from the bones, cubbed it, and threw it in the pan. Michael came back with some potatoes and broccoli a few minutes later.
'Help me remember that we need to pluck the limes next week. I haven't used a single one so if we pluck as many as possible, we can hand them over to Jeremy and he'll take them back to Australia.' Michael said.
I nodded absentmindedly, too focused on my fish cooking in the pan.
'It's not that bad anymore now, is it?' He smiled.
I shook my head and smiled. 'It's still not great, but it's not as bad anymore.'
'Do you want to cut my other half?' Michael asked, looking at the fish.
I shook my head. 'No thanks. I've touched enough fish for the day.'
Michael smiled and nodded 'I thought so. You cut these while I finish the fish.' He said as he handed me the broccoli and the potatoes. 

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A/N:
Fun fact: I had to Google "how to clean a fish" and then watch a guy filet a fish multiple times to write this chapter.