“That’s how I remember her name,” Kevin said. “Angela, as in Los Angeles. No, she didn’t get a penny. In fact, I think she got twelve to eighteen months.”
“She faked it?” Andrew sounded surprised.
“She sure did, but she used too much meat in the burger,” Kevin responded. “Burger joints usually advertise their burger contains one hundred percent beef. Then people naturally assume they’re getting one hundred percent meat. But in reality, they add other ingredients to the meat in order to cut the cost, or to enrich the flavor or whatever. But she didn’t know that, so she made the burger purely out of ground beef. And when they examined the burger, they figured out she must have planted the burger with the rat’s tail and charged her with attempted fraud.”
Andrew chuckled. “Serves her right for being that stupid.”
“Let me get this straight,” Julie said in a diplomatic tone. “What you’re saying, Kevin, is that the company fooled their customers into buying a product, different from what they were led to believe. And the same company probably made millions of dollars in the process. And in the end, that’s what saved the company from a million-dollar lawsuit.”
“I get what you’re saying, Julie, and I guess there is some irony to this story,” Kevin said. “But Angela is the villain in this story. She didn’t deserve that money. She only thought of herself, and a lot of people could have lost their jobs because of her. In the end, she was just a charlatan.” Kevin shook his head. “And apparently, she’d staged a car accident a few years before that. You know, for the insurance claim.”
“What won’t people do to gain wealth.” Kevin actually smiled. He didn’t show his teeth, but nevertheless, he did smile.
Jack and Andrew laughed, seemingly at Kevin’s remark. Julie didn’t smile though.
“Amen, brother,” Jack said, and looked at Kevin.
The modest smile on Kevin’s face suddenly vanished. Now, his eyebrows were low and sharp as he kept his focus on Jack.
Jack turned his head and looked at Julie. “I like the title of your book, Julie. I think it’s funny. Come to think of it, I could give you a deeper insight on the subject. But make sure you don’t use my real name.” Jack winked at Julie.
Julie smiled back at Jack, and looked both humbled and embarrassed. Jack seemed to be staring at Julie’s ears.
“You wouldn’t happen to have any piercing do you, Julie?”
Julie shook her head. “Why do you ask?”
“If I had a hook, then perhaps I could catch a fish.”
“There’s a steel wire in my bra. You think that’ll work?”
“It’s worth a shot. If you don’t mind.”
“It’s not going to work. The hook has to be thin and sharp enough to get stuck in the fish’s mouth,” Andrew quickly responded. “You’re wasting your time.”
Julie rolled her eyes. Then she turned her back on them and extracted her bra from under her sweater.
“There you go.” Julie handed her bra to Jack. “Thirty-four B. Have fun.”
Jack smiled briefly and looked a bit embarrassed. “I have to ruin it.”
“I’ll be sure to add it to my claim when I sue the airline.” Julie had a clever smile.
A few hours later, after the rain had stopped, Jack stood in the lake with water almost up to his knees. He’d pulled his black suit pants above his kneecaps and was holding a long branch with both his hands. He’d tied his shoelaces together, and used them as a fishing line with a small rock at the end and then something that resembled a fishing hook with a worm attached to it. Kevin and Andrew stood by the lakeside, and both of them shook their heads while they focused on Jack. Julie sat by Nancy’s side under the Chanterelle tree; Nancy was still asleep.
“Check if the worm is still there!” Andrew yelled.
Jack checked his line. The hook was still there, but the tempting bait had vanished; he replaced it with another worm from his pocket.
“It’s not going to work, Jack!” Andrew yelled.
Just then, Nancy woke up, and she looked just as disorientated as before. “Look.” She pointed at Jack. “He’s in the water now.”
“I know,” Julie responded. “He’s fishing.”
“He doesn’t have his shoes on, see…” Nancy pointed at a pair of black dress shoes by the lakeside. “He can’t run fast enough if he’s barefoot.”
“Why would he run?” Julie asked.
“And the short one is squinting, see…” Nancy pointed at Andrew. “He can’t see, and the fat one can’t run that fast. We can break free now.”
“What on earth are you talking about, Nancy? Those men are helping us.”
“No, they’re not. They’re dangerous,” Nancy said. “You’re not thinking straight.”
“No, you’re not thinking straight, Nancy. You’re confusing yourself.”
“No, you’re the one that’s confused,” Nancy argued. “You think they’re your friends, because you’re scared of them. That’s what happens when you’re scared. You have that disease… Your mind is fooling you.”
Andrew turned around, and squinted as he looked at Julie and Nancy.
“We have to run.” Nancy grabbed Julie’s arm.
“I can’t walk, Nancy. I broke my ankle. Remember?”
“They broke your ankle,” Nancy said and looked at Julie with wide eyes.
“Is everything all right, back there?” Andrew asked.
“Yes, we’re fine,” Nancy immediately replied.
Andrew turned his attention toward the lake, and shook his head once more. “That man is too optimistic.”
“I think he’s religious,” Kevin said. “Perhaps he thinks God is on his side.”
“You mean because of that amen remark?” Andrew asked. “I don’t think that’s what he meant.”
“I think I saw him praying the other day,” Kevin claimed. “That’s why I reacted to the amen remark. Christian people usually don’t use that word except when praying.”
Andrew lifted his left eyebrow. “Well, it would explain his annoying optimism.”
Then Andrew glanced back at Julie and Nancy by the tree before he leaned in closer to Kevin with a cunning smile on his face.
“I know a secret too.”
Kevin didn’t react to Andrew’s claim.
“Let’s just say I know one of us isn’t exactly who they claim to be.” Andrew winked his left eye as he looked at Kevin.
Kevin, suddenly looking furious, grabbed Andrew by the neck and squished his throat with his right arm.
“You shut your mouth! You hear me? This doesn’t concern you.”
Kevin pushed Andrew by the neck, and Andrew lost his footage and fell to the ground. Andrew stared back at Kevin with a startled and confused expression.
“They’re fighting,” Nancy said. “I’ll get help. I promise.”
Then Nancy jumped to her feet and ran toward the woods.
“Nancy’s running!” Julie shouted.
Andrew was still on the ground, and squinted toward the woods. Kevin stood still and looked confused, before he eventually began to walk at a fast pace toward the woods. Then Andrew rose and ran past Kevin. Jack ran quickly to shore, trudging in water, and still holding onto his fishing pole. He put on his black dress shoes, only to lose them as soon as he started to run. His hands shook as he bent and attached his shoelaces.
Eventually, Jack ran fast and with determination into the surrounding forest, screaming Nancy’s name, pleading with her to stop running.
Evening
The men and Nancy had been gone for hours. Julie was all alone, her eyes tracking back and forth across the shore. Occasionally, she yelled their names. She’d spent most of her time trying to get the branches hot enough by rubbing them against each other, but her effort seemed hopeless. Julie showed a sense of resignation as her eyes wandered between the empty sky and the distress signal written across the shoreline. The sun was about to set, and the woods grew darker as each minute passed.