“Chill out. I was just wondering, man.”
“It’s none of your fucking business, dude.”
“She’s a cute one,” he continued, as if he hadn’t heard me. “Like I said, I was going to make a play for her myself, but—”
Suddenly, Nate cocked his head sideways and jumped as if startled. He dropped the fishing rod and picked up the rifle. “Did you see that?”
He stared out at the water, craning his head back and forth. The tide tugged on his fishing line.
“What was it?” I asked.
“Nothing.” He sounded embarrassed.
“Dude, what the hell did you see?”
“It’s nothing! I thought for a second that I saw a woman out there. It—it sounded like she was singing.”
It actually wasn’t that farfetched. There could have been somebody out there. Another castaway, stranded when her vessel overturned or her dry patch got flooded out. I scanned the ocean but saw nothing. Even the dolphins and the seagulls had mysteriously disappeared.
“A singing woman? You sure she wasn’t shouting for help instead?”
“No,” His eyes seemed troubled, his voice barely a whisper. “She was singing, man. I’m sure of it. It was—beautiful. Very soft…”
“Well, she’s not there now.”
He didn’t seem to hear me. “She was naked. She had long blond hair, like Sarah’s, and a huge pair of…” He held his cupped hands out in front of his chest, then stopped.
“A naked, singing blonde with big tits.” I giggled, unable to help myself. “Was it midnight on the water? Did you see the ocean’s daughter?”
He stared at me, uncomprehending.
“ELO, man! Electric Light Orchestra? Didn’t you ever hear that oldie, ’Can’t Get It Out of My Head’? Midnight on the water. I saw the ocean’s daughter?” I sang a few more lines, but he turned back to the ocean.
“Fuck you, Kevin.” He put down the rifle and picked up his fishing rod, reeled in the line, and walked farther along the rooftop.
“Hey,” I called after him. “Now you’re the one that’s talking crazy!”
“I know what I saw,” he said over his shoulder. “So knock your shit off.”
He stalked to the other side and cast the line out again. His shoulders were tense, his jaw clenched.
I stared back out at the water again, but all I saw were the raindrops coming down and the waves rising up to greet them.
I went back inside and looked for Lori, but she was busy doing laundry with Lashawn and Sarah, and I didn’t want to intrude on them. Even now, I still wasn’t sure how to act around her—especially since it appeared that everybody knew about us. I wondered if Sarah and Lashawn were giving her a hard time, the way the guys had given me.
Later in the day, Mike, Juan, and I went down to the lower levels, searching for materials to build another boat. The lower levels always gave me the creeps. If you stood still, you could feel the ocean pressing against the sides of the building. It was eerily quiet. The only good thing about the stillness was that since we were below the surface, the constant sound of the rain was noticeably absent.
We’d found a round, wooden coffee table that looked promising, and Mike and I were lifting it when he suddenly stopped.
“Too heavy?” I asked.
He didn’t reply.
“Mike?”
He sat his end of the table down. “Did you guys hear something?”
Juan shrugged. “Not me. Why, what did you hear?”
“Voices,” Mike whispered. “Or a voice.”
“Down here?” I asked, sitting my end down as well.
“I’m not sure.”
All three of us listened, but heard nothing.
We picked the table back up, struggling to move it. Damn thing was heavy. Mike started humming “Riders On The Storm” by The Doors.
Juan opened his mouth to speak and then froze.
Somebody else was singing, too.
The voice was beautiful. Melodious and faint and definitely female, that much was certain. I couldn’t understand the words, but I felt them. As I listened, my grief for Jimmy disappeared, along with everything else. I forgot about Lori and the rain and our predicament. The voice made me feel good. Alive. It had a calming, hypnotic effect. I wanted to get closer, so I could understand what was being said. Mesmerized, I shuffled forward.
“What the fuck is that?” Juan whispered.
“One of the girls,” Mike guessed, “playing a joke on us? Sarah, maybe?”
I shook my head. “That’s not Sarah. Whatever it is, it’s coming from the other side of that wall.”
“What’s on the other side?” Mike asked.
Juan and I looked at each other.
“The ocean,” I said.
“Bullshit.” Mike shook his head.
“He’s right,” Juan insisted. “Think about it. We’re at least fifteen feet below the surface right now.”
The singing grew louder.
“So then what the fuck is that?”
“Somebody’s in the water!” Mike shouted. “It’s a chick’s voice. There’s a woman out there.”
“A castaway?” Juan asked. “How’s she singing underwater?”
Mike stepped around the table. “I don’t fucking know, man! But you heard her, too.”
“Maybe we’d better go see,” I suggested.
“Good idea,” Juan agreed.
I remembered what Nate thought he’d seen—a naked blond woman, singing in the water. I started to tell Juan, but he was already running for the stairs. Mike and I dashed after him.
The others came out when they heard us thundering up the stairwell and we told them what was going on. They all followed us up to the roof. We ran through the door and into the rain. We startled Salty and he almost dropped his fishing rod.
Nate whirled around, his rifle at the ready. “What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
“Have you seen anything?” Juan asked.
“It’s been raining,” Salty chuckled. “Oh, and some birds flew overhead, looking for Alka-Seltzer. But other than that, no.”
“What’s going on?” Nate asked again.
Juan and Mike ran to the edge of the roof and looked out over the water.
Salty frowned. “What are you lads doing?”
“We were down below,” Juan said, “and we heard a woman. Sounded like she was outside, in the water.” He turned back to the group. “Were any of you down on the lower levels?”
They shook their heads.
“I knew it!” Nate stomped his feet. “I told you I saw something out there, Kevin!”
Juan glanced at me. “What the hell’s he talking about?”
“Earlier today,” Nate told him, “when Kevin was out here, I thought I saw a woman in the water. She was singing. And she was nude.”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Lee scoffed. “First Salty with his mother of all squids and now this?”
Nate’s ears turned red. “Listen asshole, I know what I saw!”
Lee refused to back down. “Be rational, man. Even if there were somebody out there, how long would she last? Do you have any idea how cold that water is or how rough those seas are?”
“You calling me a liar?” Nate stepped towards him, his fists clenched.
“Back off, man,” Lee warned him.
“Or what?”
“Keep it up and you’ll find out.”
Juan stepped between them. “That’s enough, both of you. I don’t know what’s going on, but I want the watch doubled. Taz and Ducky, you guys relieve Salty and Nate. Sarah, I want you and Lashawn out here with them.”
Little Malik stepped forward, clutching Anna’s hand. “It’s the fish lady.”
“What?” Juan asked.
“The fish lady,” the boy repeated. “I see her sometimes at night when I sleep. She sings to me.”
“Me too,” James echoed. “She makes me miss my mommy. She used to sing to me at night, too.”