“Morning, William.”
“Uh huh,” he said.
“What are you playing?”
“A game.”
“Yeah, I kind of figured. Which game? I don’t recognize the tune.”
“I call it Pirate Hunt.”
“Pirate Hunt, huh?” I set my bag on the ground next to the door and leaned over for a closer look. “Where’d you get it? Trade it with someone from another island?”
“Nope. Made it.”
I looked at him, but he was focused like a laser on the data mat. “You made it? Let me see.” I reached for it, but he swung his arm up and knocked my hand out of the way.
“Wait!” he yelled. “I’m just about to sink the mother ship.” His fingers flew across the screen, tapping icons along the side and then touching what looked like a large, old-fashioned pirate ship. Orange and red flashes erupted on the deck of the ship. Within a few seconds, it exploded and sank. Without looking up, he said, “Here.” He handed me the data mat.
The graphics were good, really good. And the user interface was pretty damned sophisticated. “So how do you play?”
Now more interested in a mosquito bite on his leg than the game, he said, “You start off with fifty people and two boats. The pirates attack the boats and raid the islands. That’s it.”
“Uh huh. And what’s the objective?”
“Are you serious?” He looked up at me, and then talked slowly like I was an idiot. “You kill the pirates. If you sink the mother ship, you win.”
I ignored the attitude and said, “When did you get to be such a good coder? Hell, I remember that tic-tac-toe game that you and your dad had developed and—” He got up and snatched the data mat out of my hands.
“I’m sorry, William. I didn’t mean to… well, I’m sorry.”
He shoved the data mat in his back pocket and started to walk off.
“How’s your mom doing?” I asked.
He paused and without turning around said, “She wants to see you.” Before I could ask why, he ran off.
“Shit.” Why did I have to ask? I knew how she was doing. Helen had sent me a message. She was getting worse.
I picked up my bag, went inside, and unpacked. Stalling for time, I took my dirty clothes to the laundry hut and threw them in the washer. When the wash finished, I folded my clothes and tried not to think about what I’d find when I got to Sarah’s hut.
There were a lot of reasons why I chose to study computer science instead of medicine. One reason was that I didn’t mind being around dying computers. Dying people, on the other hand, were a different story. I didn’t like being in the same room with them. I mean, what do you say to someone who’s dying? Bon voyage? It was nice knowing you?
As I entered Sarah’s hut, I suddenly wished that I had studied medicine. Maybe they taught doctors what to say. Right now, my mind was a blank.
Sarah was in bed covered with a single, dingy white sheet. The open window next to the bed let a soft breeze into the room. Helen sat in a chair next to her, trying to get Sarah to eat something.
“Come on, dear. Just eat one more spoonful for me, okay?” She held the spoon out in front of Sarah’s face, but Sarah just looked at me and smiled.
After a few seconds, she said, “I’ll eat more later, Helen. I promise.”
I could tell that Helen didn’t believe her, but she set the spoon in the bowl, got up, and wiped her hands on her ever-present apron.
“Okay, dear. I’ll leave you alone so you can visit with Aron.”
As she walked past me on her way out the door, she whispered, “Mohammad will be here in another hour to give her another treatment, so don’t stay too long.”
The word treatment was a stretch. Maybe Mohammad’s potions and yoga therapies were better than nothing. Who knows? But as I looked at her withered body, I found myself wishing that they would leave her alone and let her die with some dignity.
“Come here.” She patted the edge of her bed. “Sit next to me.”
I passed Helen on her way out of the door. She gave me the “I’m serious” glare before leaving. I opted for the chair instead of her bed.
“You’re looking better. That jungle juice Mohammad’s been giving you must be doing some good.”
Her laugh immediately turned into a coughing fit. When it subsided, she said, “It’s doing something, alright. It’s giving me diarrhea.” She looked out the window as Helen walked past. “Poor Helen. She’s been changing sheets twice a day. I told her that I didn’t want any more medicine, but when I saw the look on her face I promised to keep taking it.”
I tried to smile, but I must have failed because she said, “Aron, relax. I know that it’s hard for you being here, so I won’t keep you long. It’s just that… it’s just that I need to ask you something. Okay?”
“Sure. No… I mean… I’m fine. Really. It’s just that with the Council meetings and all the other stuff going on—”
“Aron Atherton, you were always a lousy liar. That’s why Rick loved playing poker with you. He said that he wished he had known you before the storm, so that he could have won your money instead of coconut chips.”
I ran my hand through my tangled hair that was getting too long in the back. “He cheated, you know. I never figured out how, but he cheated. Nobody is that lucky.”
She smiled and we sat in silence. Finally, she said, “Aron, I want to talk to you about William.”
“He was waiting for me this morning outside my hut, you know.” I was speaking too fast, but couldn’t slow down. “I saw that video game he wrote. Pretty impressive. He’s definitely got a knack for programming. A chip off the old block, I guess.”
“Unfortunately,” she said. “He got something else from Rick. A tendency to keep all of his feelings bottled up inside. That’s part of what I wanted to talk to you about. I’m worried about him and what he’ll do after I’m gone.”
“Sarah, come on. You’re not going anywhere. Helen wouldn’t allow it.”
“Aron, let’s not do this. Don’t make me play games like I have to with Helen and Mohammad. I’m dying.” She reached out and took my hand. “It’s okay. We don’t need to talk about it, but don’t pretend. Okay? Just sit there and listen to me. Can you do that for me?”
I cleared my throat. “Sure. Go ahead.” I looked up and pretended to study the cheap painting that hung on the wall above her headboard, hoping the tears that I felt welling up in my eyes didn’t roll out.
“Do you remember a few years ago after the raid on Embudu?”
How the hell could I forget something like that? Body parts scattered around the island, women raped, and children… children skewered on bamboo stakes, some roasted over open fires.
I nodded.
“Well, Rick and I talked about what if something like that happened here. I mean, who would take care of William if we both died and he survived? As we started to run through possible candidates, we both said your name at the exact same time and then laughed. That was all there was to it. We had decided.”
Shocked, I looked at her and said, “Sarah, I’m honored… really I am. But I can’t take care of a ten-year-old kid. I don’t have the time. I’m running back and forth to Male all the time, and when I’m not there I’m out fishing and that’s dangerous and…” My mind went blank. I just needed one good excuse, but nothing came to mind.
She smiled and seemed amused. Clearly, I hadn’t made a good case, so I tried a different tactic. “It should be Helen,” I said. “She’s great with him and she knows how to raise a boy. Come on, you’ve heard all of those stories about her and Bob raising six boys in the outback. She’s the one you want, not me.”
Sarah shook her head. “Helen is great and she’ll help you out when you’re off island, but William loves you. He looks up to you, he always has and after Rick died—” She paused and her eyes began to tear up. “After Rick died… well… he never lets you out of his sight. Do you know why?”