To The End
Chapter 12
I awoke again early the following morning, my head on Gerard's shoulder, his arms around me, feeling, for the first time in ages, warm and safe. From the sounds of snores filling the cabin, I could tell that I was the first one awake.
As gently as I could, I disentangled myself from Gerard, and crawled out of bed, grabbing my bathing suit and board shorts, and heading into the bathroom to change. When I was finished, I quickly folded my clothes, returned them to the overhead compartment, and extracted my book. I headed into the stewardess' cabin, to find some food, and that's when I first noticed something wrong.
It was nothing I could put my finger on, I couldn't say that anything was really out of place, it was just a feeling. It felt violated, as if someone strange had been moving around. I brushed the feeling off, grabbed a couple of granola bars, and a bottle of water, and headed, book under my arm, to the open door of the cabin.I sat on the edge, my legs feeling the cargo net ladder below me, and after taking a couple of bites of the granola bar, began to read. Soon, I heard a soft noise behind me, and looked up to see Charlotte coming out of her compartment.
"Morning," she whispered, with a cheerful smile, as she passed behind me into the bathroom. A few minutes later, I heard her leave the bathroom, and head into the stewardess' station, as I had. Momentarily, she perched in the open door beside me, and began to eat.
"You know," she said after a few minutes, "we're starting to run fairly low on food. It's odd, too, cause I looked over everything, and we had a ton more granola bars in there last night." I looked up at her now, alarmed.
"I thought something was odd in there," I whispered.
"I think we've been raided," she said, returning to her breakfast. I felt an odd shiver of fear. We sat in silence for several more seconds, eating, and staring at the still glowing bonfire. Suddenly, she perked up. "Hey Angel, you ever climb a tree when you were a kid?"
"Of course. All the time," I replied.
"Cool," she said. "Wait here," she added. She got to her feet, and a moment later appeared, carrying two knives. She sent me a huge smile. "Come on!" We climbed down the ladder, she grabbed my hand, and led me to the tree line, eventually finding a banana tree. "Perfect," she said, and at that moment, Charlotte stabbed the banana tree with the knife right at head height. Using it as a hand grip, she pulled herself up, tightly wrapping her legs around the tree trunk, pulling out the knife, and stabbing the tree higher up, repeating the process. I quickly found a coconut tree, and copied her movements.
By the time everyone else appeared on the mat in front of the cabin, I was seated on a limb, high up in the air, Charlotte seated in the banana tree near me. It was probably around noon, as the sun was high in the sky.
"Hey Angel!" she shouted, and I carefully turned to face her. Her shout had also alerted everyone else as to our whereabouts, and Gerard and Frank were in the lead as they ran to the bottom of the tree.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Gerard shouted.
"Charlotte, are you fucking insane?" yelled Frank.
"Angel! Come down, you idiot!" Zara cried. We ignored them.
"I think the trick is to get them into the water!" Charlotte yelled, pulling down a handful of banana, and chucking it at the water. It missed, and splattered over the sand. "Oh well, second try!" I smiled, this would be fun. Using my knife, I cut off a coconut, wrapping one arm around the tree trunk, and with my other, throwing the coconut at the water.
"Direct hit!" Charlotte called. "Nice one!"
"Thanks!" I replied. I continued to work all through the afternoon, chucking as many coconuts into the water as I could, then moving up the tree with my knife, and starting again. Soon, the surface of the pool was littered with banana and coconut. "I think we have enough for now!" I called over to Charlotte.
"You're right," she called back, before turning her attention to the guys on the ground. "Hey! We're coming down! Someone wanna start fishing those out of the water?" I watched as Bob and Ray jumped into the water, and began fishing out the fruit. They looked tiny, like little ants.
Charlotte and I then began our descent. The sun was just beginning to set, and it was slow work, but much easier than it had been climbing up. Stab the knife, loosen grip with thighs, slide down about a foot, tighten grip, stab the knife lower.
Gerard was pacing at the bottom of the coconut tree, staring up at me nervously. As soon as I was around five feet from the ground, I jumped, and landed on my feet in the sand. A moment later, Charlotte thudded down beside me.
"Well! That was fun!" she said. We looked at each other, then collapsed in a heap on the sand, giggling like little girls for a long time. Gerard sighed in exasperation, only causing us to laugh harder.
When we finally contained ourselves, he offered me his hand, and helped me to my feet, then pulling me into a tight hug.
"What were you thinking? You could have been killed!" he whispered gently. Over his shoulder, I saw Charlotte getting to her feet, smirking at me, with a 'What's up with that?' expression on her face, before turning and walking away.
"I was thinking I was hungry," I replied softly. Gerard started to laugh.
"Alright, Monkey Girl. Let's go eat," he said. Bob and Ray now had one of the cargo nets each, filled with fruit. They lugged their packages towards the yellow mat, Gerard grabbed my hand, and we followed. I sank down next to Charlotte on the yellow rubber, Gerard sitting on my other side. Soon, Bob and Ray had poured the fruit into the center of our little circle. "K, guys, dinner tonight is courtesy of Angel and Charlotte, the Monkey Girls," Gerard said, grabbing a coconut, and beginning to hack it open with a knife.
"Hey, Koko, pass me a banana," Charlotte said, nudging me in the ribs. I stared at her for a moment.
"Wait. Did you just call me Koko?" I asked.
"Sure did!" she replied. I nodded, and leaned into the center, pulling off a few bananas, and offering two to Charlotte.
"Here you go, Bubbles!" I said. Frank burst out laughing, the rest of us joining in, and then he stopped suddenly.
"Hey! Did you just call me Michael Jackson?" he asked, sounding affronted. Charlotte and I exchanged glances, mine clearly stating 'What's up with THAT?' and we all laughed even harder. I raised my eyebrows, and nudged Charlotte in the ribs. Ray suddenly jumped up, and climbed the ladder, returning a moment later, with his guitar and Frank's.
"I feel like some music!" he cried. "You in, Frankie?"
"You all have fun," I replied, yawning. "I'm exhausted."
"No, Angel! Stay!" Zara cried, before turning to the rest of the group. "You should totally hear Angel sing, she's like, amazing!"
"I didn't know you could sing," Gerard said. "You get more perfect everyday." I blushed like crazy, and shook my head.
"No, I'm really not that good," I replied, shaking my head.
"Not good!" Zara cried, sounding offended. "You rock! When we had our band, they were gonna sign us, she was so good."
"You had a band?" Frank asked, now sounding interested, as he and Ray sat tuning their guitars.
"Yeah," Zara continued. "We were getting pretty good too, but med school kinda got in the way. Ann Marie played drums, Laura was our bassist, I played guitar, and Angel played rhythm and did the lead vocals. We kicked ass, honestly! We were the only all girl punk band in Boston. We even opened for the Dropkick Murphys once at the Avalon."
"What were you called?" Ray asked. "Would I have heard of you?"
"Probably not," I said. "We weren't THAT good."
"Yes we were, traitor!" Zara said, laughing. "Well, when we started we were called Unicorn Giggles-"
"And don't ask why," I interrupted, raising an eyebrow, and stifling a yawn.
"But by the end, we were called Malpractice," she continued. Charlotte, I noticed, was now laying on the rubber mat, sound asleep, and I knew I was soon to follow.
"Play something for us," Mikey asked.
"Can we do it tomorrow?" I begged. "Honestly, I'm exhausted, and Bubbles is already out." Gerard wrapped his arm around my shoulders, hugging me from the side.
"Alright, but only because you got us enough food for a week," he said. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"Nah, you stay and have fun. I'll take Bubbles with me, we'll be fine," I replied. He kissed my cheek, and I smiled at him, before scrambling to my feet. "Charlotte. Let's go to bed, honey," I said, shaking her shoulder.
"Not now, Mom," she grumbled, pushing my hand away. I laughed.
"I'll get her to bed in a while, let her sleep," Frank said, and I nodded.
"Night, guys," I called, as I climbed up the ladder. I quickly brushed my teeth, before heading to my compartment, pulling out my pj's, and quickly changing. I picked up the tiny room a little, before crawling into bed. From outside, I could hear Ray and Frank playing something, low and gentle, and a moment later, I heard Gerard start to sing. Within minutes, I was asleep.
As gently as I could, I disentangled myself from Gerard, and crawled out of bed, grabbing my bathing suit and board shorts, and heading into the bathroom to change. When I was finished, I quickly folded my clothes, returned them to the overhead compartment, and extracted my book. I headed into the stewardess' cabin, to find some food, and that's when I first noticed something wrong.
It was nothing I could put my finger on, I couldn't say that anything was really out of place, it was just a feeling. It felt violated, as if someone strange had been moving around. I brushed the feeling off, grabbed a couple of granola bars, and a bottle of water, and headed, book under my arm, to the open door of the cabin.I sat on the edge, my legs feeling the cargo net ladder below me, and after taking a couple of bites of the granola bar, began to read. Soon, I heard a soft noise behind me, and looked up to see Charlotte coming out of her compartment.
"Morning," she whispered, with a cheerful smile, as she passed behind me into the bathroom. A few minutes later, I heard her leave the bathroom, and head into the stewardess' station, as I had. Momentarily, she perched in the open door beside me, and began to eat.
"You know," she said after a few minutes, "we're starting to run fairly low on food. It's odd, too, cause I looked over everything, and we had a ton more granola bars in there last night." I looked up at her now, alarmed.
"I thought something was odd in there," I whispered.
"I think we've been raided," she said, returning to her breakfast. I felt an odd shiver of fear. We sat in silence for several more seconds, eating, and staring at the still glowing bonfire. Suddenly, she perked up. "Hey Angel, you ever climb a tree when you were a kid?"
"Of course. All the time," I replied.
"Cool," she said. "Wait here," she added. She got to her feet, and a moment later appeared, carrying two knives. She sent me a huge smile. "Come on!" We climbed down the ladder, she grabbed my hand, and led me to the tree line, eventually finding a banana tree. "Perfect," she said, and at that moment, Charlotte stabbed the banana tree with the knife right at head height. Using it as a hand grip, she pulled herself up, tightly wrapping her legs around the tree trunk, pulling out the knife, and stabbing the tree higher up, repeating the process. I quickly found a coconut tree, and copied her movements.
By the time everyone else appeared on the mat in front of the cabin, I was seated on a limb, high up in the air, Charlotte seated in the banana tree near me. It was probably around noon, as the sun was high in the sky.
"Hey Angel!" she shouted, and I carefully turned to face her. Her shout had also alerted everyone else as to our whereabouts, and Gerard and Frank were in the lead as they ran to the bottom of the tree.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Gerard shouted.
"Charlotte, are you fucking insane?" yelled Frank.
"Angel! Come down, you idiot!" Zara cried. We ignored them.
"I think the trick is to get them into the water!" Charlotte yelled, pulling down a handful of banana, and chucking it at the water. It missed, and splattered over the sand. "Oh well, second try!" I smiled, this would be fun. Using my knife, I cut off a coconut, wrapping one arm around the tree trunk, and with my other, throwing the coconut at the water.
"Direct hit!" Charlotte called. "Nice one!"
"Thanks!" I replied. I continued to work all through the afternoon, chucking as many coconuts into the water as I could, then moving up the tree with my knife, and starting again. Soon, the surface of the pool was littered with banana and coconut. "I think we have enough for now!" I called over to Charlotte.
"You're right," she called back, before turning her attention to the guys on the ground. "Hey! We're coming down! Someone wanna start fishing those out of the water?" I watched as Bob and Ray jumped into the water, and began fishing out the fruit. They looked tiny, like little ants.
Charlotte and I then began our descent. The sun was just beginning to set, and it was slow work, but much easier than it had been climbing up. Stab the knife, loosen grip with thighs, slide down about a foot, tighten grip, stab the knife lower.
Gerard was pacing at the bottom of the coconut tree, staring up at me nervously. As soon as I was around five feet from the ground, I jumped, and landed on my feet in the sand. A moment later, Charlotte thudded down beside me.
"Well! That was fun!" she said. We looked at each other, then collapsed in a heap on the sand, giggling like little girls for a long time. Gerard sighed in exasperation, only causing us to laugh harder.
When we finally contained ourselves, he offered me his hand, and helped me to my feet, then pulling me into a tight hug.
"What were you thinking? You could have been killed!" he whispered gently. Over his shoulder, I saw Charlotte getting to her feet, smirking at me, with a 'What's up with that?' expression on her face, before turning and walking away.
"I was thinking I was hungry," I replied softly. Gerard started to laugh.
"Alright, Monkey Girl. Let's go eat," he said. Bob and Ray now had one of the cargo nets each, filled with fruit. They lugged their packages towards the yellow mat, Gerard grabbed my hand, and we followed. I sank down next to Charlotte on the yellow rubber, Gerard sitting on my other side. Soon, Bob and Ray had poured the fruit into the center of our little circle. "K, guys, dinner tonight is courtesy of Angel and Charlotte, the Monkey Girls," Gerard said, grabbing a coconut, and beginning to hack it open with a knife.
"Hey, Koko, pass me a banana," Charlotte said, nudging me in the ribs. I stared at her for a moment.
"Wait. Did you just call me Koko?" I asked.
"Sure did!" she replied. I nodded, and leaned into the center, pulling off a few bananas, and offering two to Charlotte.
"Here you go, Bubbles!" I said. Frank burst out laughing, the rest of us joining in, and then he stopped suddenly.
"Hey! Did you just call me Michael Jackson?" he asked, sounding affronted. Charlotte and I exchanged glances, mine clearly stating 'What's up with THAT?' and we all laughed even harder. I raised my eyebrows, and nudged Charlotte in the ribs. Ray suddenly jumped up, and climbed the ladder, returning a moment later, with his guitar and Frank's.
"I feel like some music!" he cried. "You in, Frankie?"
"You all have fun," I replied, yawning. "I'm exhausted."
"No, Angel! Stay!" Zara cried, before turning to the rest of the group. "You should totally hear Angel sing, she's like, amazing!"
"I didn't know you could sing," Gerard said. "You get more perfect everyday." I blushed like crazy, and shook my head.
"No, I'm really not that good," I replied, shaking my head.
"Not good!" Zara cried, sounding offended. "You rock! When we had our band, they were gonna sign us, she was so good."
"You had a band?" Frank asked, now sounding interested, as he and Ray sat tuning their guitars.
"Yeah," Zara continued. "We were getting pretty good too, but med school kinda got in the way. Ann Marie played drums, Laura was our bassist, I played guitar, and Angel played rhythm and did the lead vocals. We kicked ass, honestly! We were the only all girl punk band in Boston. We even opened for the Dropkick Murphys once at the Avalon."
"What were you called?" Ray asked. "Would I have heard of you?"
"Probably not," I said. "We weren't THAT good."
"Yes we were, traitor!" Zara said, laughing. "Well, when we started we were called Unicorn Giggles-"
"And don't ask why," I interrupted, raising an eyebrow, and stifling a yawn.
"But by the end, we were called Malpractice," she continued. Charlotte, I noticed, was now laying on the rubber mat, sound asleep, and I knew I was soon to follow.
"Play something for us," Mikey asked.
"Can we do it tomorrow?" I begged. "Honestly, I'm exhausted, and Bubbles is already out." Gerard wrapped his arm around my shoulders, hugging me from the side.
"Alright, but only because you got us enough food for a week," he said. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"Nah, you stay and have fun. I'll take Bubbles with me, we'll be fine," I replied. He kissed my cheek, and I smiled at him, before scrambling to my feet. "Charlotte. Let's go to bed, honey," I said, shaking her shoulder.
"Not now, Mom," she grumbled, pushing my hand away. I laughed.
"I'll get her to bed in a while, let her sleep," Frank said, and I nodded.
"Night, guys," I called, as I climbed up the ladder. I quickly brushed my teeth, before heading to my compartment, pulling out my pj's, and quickly changing. I picked up the tiny room a little, before crawling into bed. From outside, I could hear Ray and Frank playing something, low and gentle, and a moment later, I heard Gerard start to sing. Within minutes, I was asleep.
10/13/13