“You don’t like blueberries?”
“I had plenty before. These are for you, Julie.”
“Stick your tongue out,” Julie said enthusiastically.
Jack barely extended the tip of his tongue.
“Yaayyy…” Julie cheered in a way that one could expect from a small child. “We’re like blueberries you and I,” Julie said with, the same enthusiasm.
“Okay.”
“We’re two of a kind, me and you,” Julie said in a high-pitched tone.
Jack looked both baffled and appalled.
Suddenly, Julie looked sad and frightened. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I was only thinking that you’re probably right,” Jack said. “Just me and you are left to tell the story.”
“What story?”
“We’re the only ones who know where the plane is,” Jack said. “That lake will freeze soon enough. It could be years before the plane is discovered.”
“Well, there’s the SOS sign. Somebody is bound to notice it, sooner or later.”
“I suppose,” Jack said.
“And then there’s Kevin,” Julie said. “He can take care of himself.”
“I think Kevin quit.”
“What do you mean he quit?”
“I think he just gave up,” Jack said. “I felt sorry for him at first because of what happened to his wife and all. But now, I’m not so sure about him. He knew your ankle was broken, and he knew Nancy suffered from head trauma. But it didn’t stop him from leaving. He was too scared to face the truth. He ran away from his problems, instead of facing them. That’s not very noble is it?”
“No, it’s not.” Julie looked at her feet. “But either way, he’s still out there. He could be on his way to the ocean. Perhaps he’s in front of us?”
“I doubt it,” Jack responded. “I think he’s gone.”
“Is Kevin a foreigner?” Julie blurted out. “His accent sounded so strange. Like he tried to disguise his voice or something.”
“I noticed that too.” Jack nodded. “But I thought he sounded like an American pretending to pass himself off as a foreigner.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Perhaps his wife was foreign and her accent rubbed off on him. I remember switching to a Southern accent when I served with a guy from Texas. I actually had trouble getting rid of the accent after he left. I remember I had to concentrate really hard whenever I spoke.”
“So, you were in the military?” Julie asked. “Is that where got those muscles?”
Jack nodded slightly.
“Did you get that scar on your neck in battle?”
Jack exhaled.
“I’m sorry,” Julie quickly added. “I didn’t mean to pry.”
“I rather not talk about it. I’m done with that part of my life.”
Julie put her arm through Jack’s arm, and curled up close to him, much the way a small child clings to a parent.
30 THE LETTER
Friday evening
George struggled to finish the letter to his sister. He didn’t think it sounded right. It sounded like something a public relations manager had written, and not someone’s brother. He decided to take a cold shower, hoping the cold water would reset his mind.
George had requested a few hours off from work to visit his sister in the hospital the next morning. Truth be told, he hoped Mike would deny his request, as he dreaded visiting his sister. Not because he didn’t care about her, but seeing his sister’s apparently lifeless body was unsettling. He felt as if a mannequin had replaced his sister. Her body was present, but the person was gone.
A shower later, he was back in his living room, and he noticed how the blue light kept flashing on his cell phone. He had two missed calls from his boss and also a text message.
George hesitated as to whether he should call his boss or not, given the late hour, but his curiosity took the upper hand. However, Mike didn’t answer his call. George sent a text message instead, confirming the next day’s meeting. Then he swallowed hard and dialed a different number.
“Hi, Mom,” he said, and swallowed once more. “Listen, I have to go to work in the morning, but we—”
George extended his arm far enough to protect his eardrums.
As he listened to his mother’s endless shouting, he focused on the letter on his living room table, the letter that he’d written to his sister.
How could things possibly get any worse?
He kept staring at the letter.
31 THE RING
Saturday morning
They’d walked since early morning. Eventually, they’d stopped by a high, flowing creek with shallow waters. Jack gathered worms under the nearby rocks, as Julie drank from the creek. Julie was on her knees, but she’d stopped drinking to stare at her reflection in the water. For a brief second, her lips almost touched the surface.
Jack came up behind her, and focused on the back of her neck. Julie twitched when she noticed him, appearing startled by his sudden appearance. Jack sat down next to her, and washed the worms in water.
“You know, I’m not wearing any makeup, right?”
Jack didn’t respond. He just kept chewing his food.
“Women look a lot different without makeup. You know that, right?”
“Good for you, Julie,” Jack muttered, and kept chewing.
“Excuse me?” Julie looked puzzled.
“I mean, women wear so much makeup these days,” Jack mumbled. “And some women even have surgery.”
“So you prefer women who aren’t wearing makeup?”
“I guess.” Jack shrugged.
Julie looked disappointed and then turned her head away from Jack. Then she closed her eyes for a brief second and exhaled before she turned her head around and faced Jack with a stiff smile.
“So what gets you going, Jack? Is it the wrinkles? The tired eyes? The pimples?”
“I don’t know.” Jack sniffed. “It feels closer, I guess.”
“Closer? You mean, as in intimate?”
“And genuine,” Jack added.
Julie glanced at the water surface before she turned her head away from Jack. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Jack briefly glanced at the water surface, but then he kept staring at the back of Julie’s neck.
“Nowadays, it seems as though women strive to appear less human. Like being human, isn’t fashionable anymore,” Jack said. “Nowadays, women don’t have wrinkles and they smell like pastry.”
Julie turned around and made a face. “You don’t like pastry?”
“No, I like pastry.”
“Then you should like the perfume I’m wearing,” Julie said with a modest smile. “It’s apple pie and cinnamon.”
“No, that’s not it.”
“I’m pretty sure it is, Jack.”
“No, you don’t smell like apple pie.”
“I think I know my own perfume.” Julie leaned into Jack. “Smell me.”
“I can’t smell your perfume now, but when I carried you around for the first couple of days, I thought you smelled like chocolate or something, but now you smell—”
“Careful now Jack,” Julie interrupted, and looked Jack in the eyes. “I believe the word you’re looking for is genuine.”
Jack chuckled, and then coughed a few times. “I was about to say, like a human being, but I guess genuine is just as true.”
Jack focused on the worm that sprawled around between his fingers.
“Can I interest you in a worm?”
“I’m more in the mood for apple pie, now.” Julie smiled.