“Lanie, you have every right to be mad at me. The way I left… it wasn’t right. It was selfish. And it won’t happen again.”
The words sounded stupid as I said them. She hadn’t given me so much as a hint that she even wanted me to stay this time. A long silence fell between us, and I heard only the sound of crickets taunting me.
“Kano?” she said in a voice so soft I could barely hear it.
I took one step closer. “Yes?”
She turned around slowly to face me, her arms still folded. It was hard to see her face in the dark.
“I’m not staying,” she said carefully.
My heart began to race and I knew in that moment that I had made the mistake of a lifetime by leaving. The words trembled as they left my mouth, “Lanie, can I ask?”
She smiled, briefly, before straightening her expression and nodding “yes.”
“Why?” was all I said.
She looked at her feet, the night breeze gently blowing her hair in and out of her eyes, making it hard to look at her.
“Kano, I accept a job. Rene and the others don’t have use for me now. Nako take good care of them… bring them what they need.”
I was hurt, but how could I ask her to stay now? I had already screwed things up by one act of selfishness and I wasn’t ready to do it again.
“What kind of job?” I asked, fighting back waves of emotion. I was happy for her, but the pain in my voice was difficult to hide.
“Is an organization,” she said softly. “Doctors Without Borders. There is much travel.”
I nodded, “I see. But it will make you happy?”
She nodded “yes” and the wind lifted the hair from her eyes. That’s when I saw tears. She smiled but didn’t try to hide them.
“When are you leaving?” I asked, the hurt in my voice now even more obvious.
“One week more.”
Her voice trembled as she spoke. I wanted so badly to give her a hug and never let her go. She took a step closer to me with eyes glistening.
“I’m happy for you, Lanie. I am.”
The tears spilled out onto her cheeks and she wiped her face with her sleeve.
“You saved my life,” I said without thinking.
She waved her hand at me dismissively.
“When you came to visit me after Manny died… I don’t even know what you said to me, but the sound of your voice… no woman has ever spoken to me that way before. Not even close.”
Her eyes went down to my chest and then she spoke in a tone I’d heard only once before. “Ted, you save forty lives in your house. You always trying to save people… wherever you are, you always try to save people. I don’t know why you don’t see this about yourself. But doesn’t matter, kano. I see it.”
She took a breath and said, “You are the most decent and heroic man I ever knew.”
I couldn’t believe she was saying such kind things to me after I’d deserted her so many months earlier. She should’ve been cursing me for what I did.
“And you,” I started. “Do you know how I see you?”
She looked at me with shy, wondering eyes.
“I love you.”
The moment the words left my mouth, Lanie took a step away from me. I didn’t know if she was hurt or just surprised, but the words seemed to jolt her backward. Her face was unreadable and once more I heard only the sound of island crickets.
Then I saw a small grin forming on her lips and she said, “Ah… so what you mean to say is… mahal kita.”
My mind immediately flashed back to our first embarrassing encounter in the tent. I extended my hand, just like before.
“Mahal kita. I’m Ted.”
Lanie moved closer to me, her body almost touching mine. She wore a mischievous grin.
“I love you too, kano.”
I lowered myself and she gave me the sweetest hug I’ve ever felt. I saw Rene and the others watching us from inside the house. I gave him a “thumbs up” signal, and he threw me a wink. The villagers looked so happy for us.
Lanie broke our hug and took a step back.
“Kano, I can’t stay on the island. My work… it’s not here. I will travel to dark places…”
“I know,” I replied.
“So where this leave us?”
Her eyes searched mine, wanting answers. I simply smiled and said, “Home is wherever you are. You are my home.”
“Kano,” she started, short of breath. “I can’t ask that of you. Is too much. I can’t ask.”
“We’ll be in those dark places together. You and me. Wherever life brings us, we’ll be side by side.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking.”
“Rene is ordained, right?”
She stopped suddenly, and gave me a curious look.
“Why you ask that, kano?”
“We’re leaving in a week. Is that enough time to plan a wedding?”
After a few seconds of silence, Lanie smiled and nodded, “We know how to party on Island of Ted.”
• • •
Lanie and I said our vows on the wooden dock, with Nako as my best man. Since Lanie’s father was no longer alive, Rene decided to give her away. It was an emotional moment and I had to loan Nako a hankie to dry his eyes. For a boat captain who braves the rough seas for a living, he’s a bit of a softy. All of the villagers applauded from the beach as I finally brushed the hair from Lanie’s face and kissed her peachy lips. It was like celebrating with old friends. Or better yet, with new family.
Epilogue
The plane landed at Abraham Gonzalez International Airport in Ciudad Juarez at nine o’clock in the morning on a sweltering day. No longer fearing C-grade travel, I hit the ground running with my taxi driver as we embarked on a three-hour drive to an insignificant little nameless town in the Mexican desert.
Pops used to talk of his fondness for these people but until I met Rene and his clan, I never understood that kind of brotherhood. He came here to build a much-needed orphanage and, as he put it in one letter, “Practice true doctrine by taking it out of the lecture halls and into the streets.”
When Pops got here, he witnessed a murder on the very first night. Gang violence had been a common occurrence and the police had been bought out years earlier. So it was seriously no-man’s land. Thankfully, I didn’t know about any of this until after my father had passed or I would’ve been traumatized by an overactive imagination every time my head hit the pillow.
I had no idea if I was walking into a trap. I hired my interpreter at the airport, so who knows what the guy would do to a hapless American for the right price. I chose to ride in the front seat of the taxi since that allowed me the luxury of jumping out of the car if things got sticky. I had heard of mafia types back in Chicago rigging the back doors of taxis to trap victims for a hit. The paranoia was strong, as was the looming fear in my gut, but I had to see the place where Pops had died. It would, I hoped, bring some closure and I could finally be at peace.
The taxi pulled over to a sidewalk near a well-groomed garden.
“Strange,” I thought. A garden? Here?
He looked over to me and said, “It’s your stop. I will check into hotel next town over. You have my cell phone when ready.”
Wow, I had made it. Alive.
I hopped out of the taxi with nothing but my backpack and cell phone, and strolled the sidewalk into town. A green garden lined the street on both sides, as did well-groomed shrubbery. The place looked nothing like I’d expected. The merchants at their roadside stands all greeted me with warm smiles and waves. Was I in the Twilight Zone?
I asked a few of the vendors if they knew anyone who spoke English and they all pointed farther down the road. One of them gave me some roasted plantain and refused to take any money from me. Continuing on, I saw an older Mexican man and woman standing near the shrubs in the town square. Both of them froze when they saw me. Perhaps these were the English speakers to whom I had been directed.
The elderly
man took off his hat as I approached. He looked at me with great curiosity.
“Cómo estás? Habla inglés?”
The old man and woman began talking to one another in Spanish. The man’s attention then turned to me and he said, “You remind us of someone.”
“My father,” I said. “He came here many years ago to build a place for orphans.”
At that point the woman raised her shaking hand and pointed to a large, ornate building on top of the hill. I shielded my eyes from the sun and then I saw it. The sign outside the building read, “Casa para Ninos.”
Home for children.
I began to beam, the smile stretching across my face. The elderly couple understood that I had come here to learn about my father. They took me into their home and, using well-groomed English, were able to articulate all that had happened since my father arrived. They showed me a monument in front of the orphanage, where I saw my dad’s face sketched on a marble stone. An inscription read: “Su vida fue intercambiada por los nuestros,” which meant “His life was exchanged for ours.”
I paid my taxi driver the following day, but didn’t require his services. The old man and his nephew, not taking no for an answer, decided to drive me all the way back to the airport so they could share even more stories with me. I had seen the ugliness of life, the tragedy and heartache. But I had also, over the past year, seen reason for hope.
Lanie stayed in Manila with a friend, since I had insisted on making the trip alone. I kissed her minty lips and touched her nose before promising to return in once piece. Although I’d let go of most of my fears over the past eighteen months, she was still precious cargo. Precious and stubborn. The girl has a way of running headlong into danger, as her job often demanded, but she now had me to block the path of danger – at least when I could. I had abandoned my career in movies, opting instead for the life of a writer. Lanie proved to be a great muse. She had strange dreams all the time, which she insisted on telling me about in great detail. Whenever I was at a sticking point in the story, I’d ask her if she’d had any interesting dreams lately. That always got things flowing again.
I chose the life of a writer because it allowed me and Lanie to travel with her organization. It was always an eye opening experience when we left our luxurious community home on the Island of Ted and hit the most impoverished corners of the country. But it was fulfilling work, with never a dull moment. After traveling together with Lanie for months on end, we’d return to the Island to be with family for a while.
The girls would always make a big feast and we’d sit around, eating and telling stories. In those moments, I often remembered Manny. He was the first one I had met on the Island and it hurt to know that he wasn’t there to see me and Dr. Lanie exchange vows. It was Manny who had introduced me to the Filipino custom of courting, without which I may have entirely blown my chances with Lanie. I missed him a lot. He was someone whose face I longed to see and I had full confidence that we’d be racing again one day. And he’ll probably still beat me.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jason Cunningham is a screenwriter and novelist who resides in Nashville, TN with his wife, Melanie. The Island of Ted is Jason’s first novel.
Author’s Website:
www.jasonthewriter.com
P H A N T O M
A Division of Tville Books
Table of Contents
Part One
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
Part Two
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Part Three
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Epilogue
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The Island of Ted Page 17
