23
“I would live with you in this castle,” said Becca.
“That would be awesome,” I said as we both admired the castle we created in the sand.
I shifted my focus to Becca. She wasn’t looking at the castle anymore. Her big green eyes were staring holes through me. I looked away like a coward, than back to her eyes, unmoved. I shifted mine to the ocean. She was too much for me, too good for me. It was like I felt inferior, and the feeling was impossible to shake. I reached one of my screw-it moments and stuck my eyes back on hers.
We sat staring at each other in the sand for like five minutes. There was no sound, unless I blocked it out. I was pretty sure it must have been complete silence, maybe an occasional bird in the distance. In between us was the castle we created. I felt at peace until something unexpected happened. I felt a stinging sensation behind my cheeks, as if I were about to cry. My eyes were watering, and my emotions went from calm to oh shit. She would be able to spot the weakness in me now. I took a deep breath and held it, trying to will myself to snap the hell out of it. I knew I couldn’t blink. If I did, tears were sure to fall, and I would look like a little bitch.
I had to blink. It was impossible not to. The tear broke over my left eyelid, and I immediately stood up.
“I have to check on something,” I said, and quickly wiped my face and headed toward the trail.
“Joey!”
She grabbed my shirt and pulled it toward her. I turned around, exposed like a child.
Before she even had time to look at my pathetic face she pressed her lips and tongue against mine. Tears slowly flowed down my cheeks. Then I realized my tears were joined by hers. Something special that day happened between us. It was like some sort of connection was forged by something invisible, and it was as intense as lightning. I didn’t know exactly what or why, but damn, it was powerful.
“I love you,” I said. I had never told someone that before. Always figured even if I did love someone I wouldn’t say it.
“I love you, too,” she said before I could even finish the sentence. What the hell was happening?
Becca had to leave to to go to Mrs. Phoebe’s to cook up something for Saturday. Her fingers slipped through mine, and away she went. Instead of going back up to the house, I made my way around the point to the rocks where I could usually find Forest diving or fishing. I ducked my head under the large palm that grew out toward the ocean. At first I didn’t see him. Then a head surfaced about fifty yards offshore.
“Forest!” I shouted. His flippers kicked a few times, and he was already back under. He must have heard me, because he quickly resurfaced.
“Hang on, I’m coming in,” he said.
There was a rock in a few feet of water that was shaped like a giant nose. Whenever we came in we would go to that rock and sit, and shuffle through our gear before we went back out. I sat and waited for Forest.
He took his mask off and threw it on top of the rock.
“Shit, you didn’t bring anything to eat,” he said while taking of his flippers.
“Nah.”
He pulled himself up on the large rock.
“Let me have your back,” he said.
He leaned his back against mine. It was how we ate lunch after fishing or diving. It made it way more comfortable.
“What are you up to?” he asked.
“Want to go with me to Queens Buff?” I asked.
“Cops,” he said. “Becca said they’ve been crawling all over the last couple days.”
“We can go slow. Keep an eye out.”
“Maybe,” he replied. “Why? What’s in Queens Bluff?”
“I want to get a puppy for Becca.”
Forest looked at me, his eyes squinted almost shut.
“What the hell, Joey? What is it with you and your crazy as hell Becca excursions? Dude if you found money, don’t spend it on a dog.”
“No. I’m going to find a stray and bring it back here.”
He leaned his head back and laughed. “You come up with the craziest shit!”
“It was Agwe’s idea. He said she might like a pet. That it could help her at night. I’m going. Just wanted to see if you wanted to come along.”
He shook his head. “I guess so, but not to get a dog. I wouldn’t mind checking out that marina and taking a quick look at the boats. Becca said there’s a small police station right down the road from it. I’ve wanted to get an idea of the layout of that town anyway.” said Forest.
“Alright.”
We hugged the shoulder on the way to town, looking, always looking. The woods and ocean were of no concern to us, but town freaked us out. We were outsiders and were sure to get stares, or so we thought. We looked a little too rough and salty to be tourists. We walked past the first row of small houses where Mrs. Phoebe lived and neared the first intersecting road. Another two or three hundred yards and we would be in Queens Bluff. A small, dusty hatchback drove past in the distance. We stopped.
“I’m having second thoughts,” said Forest.
“Yeah. What do you think?”
“It doesn’t make any sense for a dog,” replied Forest.
“I know. You don’t have to come.”
Forest looked back down the road we had travelled. “The trail we passed back there. It has to go to a beach. Let’s walk into town from the beach instead, find that marina. Go slow.”
I agreed and gave him a nod.
We backtracked a quarter of a mile or so to a trail through the bush. It wasn’t big enough for a car, but wide enough for a four wheeler. The trail was well worn with sharp palmettos lining the sides. I heard movement to my left and saw the tail of an iguana disappear under some palm branches. Within ten minutes we caught a glimpse of blue. We were relieved to discover that the trail led to the beach. When we cleared the brush we saw a ton of footprints and a thatched roof held up by six to eight foot tall pieces of driftwood. There were cut open coconuts and a few beer cans lying around. It looked like it was a place locals came to hang out.
We walked to the water's edge and looked down the beach. No people. We didn’t expect any. About a mile in the distance there was a jetty that reached out into the ocean and formed a wall. It looked like there were a few boats there. The beach was gorgeous and such a contrast from the gravel road and pine trees. We walked slowly in the sand that had a thin sheet of water over it. Our feet splashed lightly, and we made sure we didn’t walk too slow as to look suspicious.
The marina was only a few hundred yards away and coming into focus. There were five sailboats, there recognizable from the tall masts on the horizon. Forest stopped and pointed to a large rock outcropping ahead of us. “Let’s climb it and take a look,” he said.
It was only ten or fifteen feet above the beach but gave us a good vantage point of the marina.
“Look at the boat on the end,” I pointed.
“Just like Andros, but smaller,” said Forest.
“Yeah. I think it’s the same make and everything.”
We continued on. Every so often we would walk past a house, but that didn’t concern us too much. Until we heard the sound of a siren. It only lasted two seconds, but it caught our attention. It was loud and close, very close. We both stopped. A small wave hit my feet, and I watched a group of silver minnows swim away. The sound was coming from an old building near the marina.
Forest took a few steps and looked.
“We should go back,” I said.
He shook his head. “Let’s see what it is.”
We walked silently in the dry sand. Car doors were opening and closing. There was foot traffic, like the sound of walking on a wooden porch. Chatter from radios that we couldn’t make out. We inched closer to a large building that overlooked the beach. The palms and overgrowth were so thick we couldn’t make out much. It seemed like a large building compared to what we had seen so far on the island. Two stories tall, with a shabby roof. It was turquoise in color with faded patches of white. There were cloudy windows that look
ed like they hadn’t been cleaned in a year.
The siren sounded again, and a car door shut. I felt like we needed to go.
“Let’s get closer,” said Forest. I took a deep breath to try and slow down the loud pumping in my chest. Forest stopped and pointed to a palmetto up against the back of the building that was wrapped in vines.
“Let’s go there,” he whispered.
“What for?” I asked.
“It’s cops. Let’s see if we can listen in on ‘em.”
I knew it wasn’t a good idea, but I nodded. We made our way to the palmetto and knelt behind it. One of the leaves stabbed me through my shirt, and I felt a drop of blood flow down over my belly. I didn’t care. I just wanted to go. It felt like something was about to jump out and scare the shit out of us. The more I thought about it, the more stupid it seemed. How fast could we run away in sand? Swim away? If they saw us, we were caught. That would be it. We heard voices. It seemed like we could only make out every tenth word. Drinks, Order, Officer, Call Johanas, Thanks, 3:30. It was definitely some sort of local police headquarters. For over an hour we sat there quietly.
“Let’s just get out of here,” I whispered. Forest shook his head. He was starting to piss me off. Another hour drifted by, and we heard laughter and talk about soccer. Then another vehicle pulled up. I could have sworn I heard the words “counts,” and “murder,” but thought it was my mind playing tricks on me.
“When are you leaving?” This man’s voice was loud and, carried.
The wind was picking up and knocking the palmetto branches together, making it harder to hear. We were able to make out words from someone talking to the loud man. We heard two cars, shack, end of island, warrant, DNA, almost here, transfer, Nassau, morning.
My heart sank. It was easy to piece together. What the hell would we do? What could we even do? It sounded like we were out of time or at least almost out of it. Forest tapped my shoulder and motioned for us to leave. We slowly made our way back to the beach and walked back south without speaking and staying close to the bush. Once we cleared a few hundred yards between us and the building, we took off running.
I tried to think while I ran, but it was hard. My mind was all over the place. It was like we were shit out of options now, and I couldn’t think of a way out of it. We were less than a mile from Agwe’s, and Forest came to a stop. I bent down and spit, with my hands on my knees and breathing as hard as I ever had.
“You caught all that?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“How much time do you think we have?” I asked.
Forest looked back from where we came. “Not long. An hour if we’re lucky.”
“They said morning,” I replied.
“No, they said transfer to Nassau in the morning. They’re waiting for a second car to show up and coming for us.”
“Shit.”
“We have to take a boat,” said Forest.
“Won’t be as easy.”
“Where can we go?” asked Forest.
“I don’t know, man.”
“Past the Bahamas. Further east? Is there anything?” he asked.
We were both still trying to catch our breath.
“Shit. Africa. Europe. I can’t think of anything within reach.”
“Well, we can’t stay here or go back to the U.S.” said Forest.
I shook my head. “South I guess. South America. Some place down there.”
“Let’s tell Agwe,” said Forest. “Pack what we can.”
“Becca won’t be happy,” I muttered.
“Becca isn’t going,” said Forest.
“What?” I faced Forest, our eyes locked.
“And she can’t find out we’re going either.”
I felt my face turning red, and I gnashed my teeth together. Forest looked dead serious, but I didn’t care. It didn’t make any sense to leave Becca.
“No way in hell, man,” I said. “She needs to know, and she’ll want to go with us.”
“No, Joey. She’s not, and you’re not gonna say a damn thing. Understand?”
“Fuck you Forest! Bring your shit on, man! Come on!” I stared him down, flexed my arms, and squeezed my fists together so hard my palms hurt.
The thought of leaving Becca was torture. I couldn’t go there. Whatever crazy reason he had for doing so didn’t matter.
We faced off, standing four or five feet from each other. He didn’t move, and neither did I. A few seconds ticked by, and I spoke first. “I love her. I won't leave her. Won't hurt her. That’s it.”
He looked serious, but his body was way more relaxed than mine.
He finally spoke up. “She’s my blood, Joey. When I was a kid, I shot a man in the face for that girl.”
“Then why the hell do you want to leave her?” I asked.
“Do you really love her?” asked Forest.
“Yes.”
“Then this is what we have to do. We said we’d run or fight. I don’t want to kill anybody else man. We run. But this time is different. Getting here was like winning the lottery. We shouldn’t have made it. You and I both know that, and we both know our luck probably runs out on a longer trip. Agwe will look after her, I know he will. She can have a good life here. She deserves that. When it gets hard for us, think of Becca. Think of her tanning on the beach. Baking with that lady down the street. If we really love her, then this is what we have to do.”
I sat down and took a handful of sand and rubbed it over my head. I felt the grains scratching my temple and forehead.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
Everything he said was right, and I knew it.
“We have to tell her goodbye,” I said.
“We can’t. She’ll fight to make us stay or for her to go with us. Becca can’t know.”
I bit the inside of my lips so hard that I broke the skin and swallowed blood. My eyes and throat started to sting. I forced myself to stand and fought with my mind to try and go blank.
The Less Fortunates Page 23
