“Andrew didn’t see very well. So, perhaps it was just an accident.”
“But he was on his stomach, when we found him.”
“I know.” Julie swallowed. “But perhaps he ran into a branch, and hit his head when he fell backward. Then walked until he collapsed and fell on his stomach.”
“That make sense.” Jack sneezed. “Perhaps it was just an accident then.”
Jack kept coughing, and Julie patted him on his back.
“So you have a son?” Jack eventually asked.
“Yes, I have a son.”
“How old is he?”
“I didn’t mention him before because I get so worried when thinking about him,” Julie responded, and then suddenly twitched. “He’s seven.”
Jack nodded and kept coughing.
“He’s with my mom,” Julie said and looked Jack in the eyes.
“So, what’s his name?”
“Geronimo,” Julie said in a Spanish accent.
“Named after a great warrior. I like that.”
“No, he’s named after his father. A great imbecile.” Julie shook her head. “He’s the reason I’m in this mess.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s the reason I flew to Alaska. I was supposed to testify against him in court on Monday. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here,” Julie said. “After all this time, he still manages to ruin my life somehow.”
“He sounds like a real charming fellow.” Jack coughed. “But you can’t blame him for what happened to the plane, Julie. It’s not his fault we’re stuck out here.”
“But if it wasn’t for him, then I wouldn’t have been on this flight,” Julie said in a slightly deeper tone. “I hate him so much.”
“You can’t think like that, Julie.”
“Don’t tell me what to think, Jack. You don’t know him like I do.”
“I know.” Jack coughed a few times. “But sometimes these things just happen, and nobody’s to blame. Like what happened to Andrew. Either way it was an accident.”
“You think it was an accident?”
“Even if Nancy hit him over the head—”
“No, I meant the plane crash,” Julie interrupted.
“It must have been something wrong with the plane,” Jack said. “Why, what do you think happened?”
“I think it was just an accident,” Julie said. “No one’s to blame.”
“Okay.” Jack said in confusion.
“No wait,” Julie said. “The NTSB is to blame.”
“Who?”
“The National Transportation Safety Board,” Julie pronounced clearly.
“Why are they to blame?”
“It’s their job to find us,” Julie said. “It’s their fault we’re in this mess. Someone isn’t doing their job properly.”
Jack looked mystified, then coughed a few times before he cleared his throat. “So, how did you end up with a guy from Alaska? If you don’t mind me asking?”
“No, he’s from L.A. We both are. I recently moved to Seattle. Finding work in Los Angeles was hard for me,” Julie said. “They just caught up with him in Alaska.”
“At least you have a valid reason for not showing up in court.” Jack smiled. “I think the judge will show leniency.”
“You think?” Julie chuckled once, but then bowed her head. “It’s my own fault, really. I always fall for the wrong guys, and now Geronimo has to grow up without a male role model in his life.”
“I can relate to that.” Jack coughed some more.
“You didn’t have a male role model growing up?”
“I never knew my father,” Jack said, and his shoulders dropped. “It was just me and my mom. There were no one else.”
“That must have been tough on you.”
Jack bowed his head, and nodded slightly. “I think a child needs a role model of the same gender. I remember feeling weird and out of place. I didn’t have anyone to relate to, and I felt I couldn’t be the person my mother wanted or expected me to be. My childhood was very confusing. I always…”
Jack never finished the sentence. Then he looked at Julie with an apologetic expression. Julie trained her eyes down.
“I like your son’s name,” Jack said. “It makes me think of him as a great warrior.”
“It’s just a name.” Julie shrugged.
“It’s strange how the mind works that way. You think of one thing, and then you automatically think of another,” Jack said. “Like your name for instance. When people hear Julie, they think of July, and then automatically think of summer.”
Julie smiled and gazed at Jack for a long time.
“What? Did I say something?” Jack asked.
“I was born in July.” Julie shrugged.
“Oh, so you were almost named June, then?”
“Almost.” Julie’s smile grew, and she kept gazing at Jack.
“It’s a good name. People associate your name with something they enjoy.”
“I like your name too, Jack.”
“It’s strange how attached people are to their names,” Jack said. “I mean, it’s just a random word.”
“Well, addressing one another without names would be hard.”
“I understand why we need names for practical reasons. But I think it’s strange, how much we identify with a specific word, which doesn’t say anything about us. Jack isn’t who I am,” Jack said. “At least names like, Sitting Bull, or Crazy Horse, describes some aspect of a person’s life.”
Julie suddenly burst into laughter.
“What?” Jack looked baffled.
“I just thought of a perfect name for you, Jack.”
“Okay.”
“Man who eats worms,” Julie announced slowly.
Jack began to laugh, but again, he ended up coughing.
“Maybe I’ll change my name when this is all over. At least then, I won’t have to be associated with masturbation,” Jack said, and rolled his eyes.
“I’m sorry for bringing that to your attention,” Julie said. “I don’t understand why masturbation is considered a bad thing. After all, you are having sex with a person that you care about.”
Jack laughed, and then cleared his throat. Then he smiled briefly before he suddenly rose to his feet. “I’m going to get his pants before it gets dark.”
Jack walked toward the woods, and Julie looked frightened as she watched him leave.
“Jack!” Julie yelled and swallowed once. “You’re coming back, right?”
“Of course, I’m coming back.” Jack frowned.
Julie kept her eyes on Jack as he disappeared into the woods.
Evening
Julie spent most of the afternoon staring at the sky. But as the sun had started to descend, so did her face. She wiped the tears with her sleeve, and stared at her feet.
A small cracking sound escaped the woods. Julie shuddered and turned her head around before, her jaw dropped.
“Kevin!”
Julie smiled and squinted toward the woods, but then, suddenly, her smile vanished quickly. She looked terrified.
“Kevin too?” Julie’s voice shook.
“No, I haven’t seen him,” Jack eventually said.
“But you’re wearing his jacket.”
Jack averted his eyes and looked at the black blazer he wore. “I took the jacket off a dead guy floating in the lake,” Jack claimed. “You should have seen this guy. He was huge. See it’s still wet.” Jack extended his arms. “When did everybody get so fat all of the sudden? Have you noticed that?”
Julie didn’t respond to Jack’s question. She just kept staring at her feet.
“Everything is based on portions these days, and the portions are way off. It seems today’s restaurant portions are measured against the biggest customer, rather than the average one.” Jack shook his head. “And this guy never missed a meal in his life.”