Page 43 of Wild Like Us
A camera is going to be on Sulli while she free-solos. All I can think is that her death might be filmed for the whole world to see.
She’s won’t die.
I believed that.
When she announced her free-solo plan on her dad’s birthday, the reaction was heavily mixed. For the parents, she might as well have announced she was pregnant with the devil’s spawn.
They were horrified.
But I was in the “let her do it” camp. I’m still there. Ihaveto be. Sulli is too determined to drag her to a halt, and I’ve always known her as the girl who goes for gold.
I send a quick text back:For sure, I’ll keep you in the loop. We’re on our way to Yellowstone Country. You won’t need to come out for a few days at least. She still has to practice the climbs with a harness & rope before free-soloing.
As soon as I look up, an older white man shuffles out from the back of the office. Wrinkles sagging his neck, he adjusts a pair of reading glasses on his slender nose. “You need a room?” he croaks.
“Two. Adjoining if you have them.”
“Only have the one,” he says. “Would you like by the night or by the hour?”
By the hour…
That reminds me of Banks.
He told me in high school, he’d fuck in motels if he had the cash to “go all-out” for his date. Pay by the hour, buy her flowers, light some Dollar Store candles.
I never had an issue finding places to have sex.
Perks of growing up wealthy, thanks to my dad’s lucrative job. I was an only child in a humongous mansion-sized home with a nice pool house. Perfect for those nights alone with my high school girlfriend.
Banks slept on a pullout couch most of his childhood. I realize we’re different in a lot of ways, but similar in ones that are needed to protect Sulli.
To the old man, I say, “For the night, not by the hour.”
“Forty. Cash only.”
I slide a few bills out of my wallet and pass them over. Before I can ask how many beds there are, he’s handing me a key. Guess it doesn’t matter anyway. It’s the only room.
But shit, what if there’s onlyonebed?
That scenario plays on loop with every footfall back to the Jeep. Banks and Sulli are out of view behind Booger, but the closer I approach, the more I hear.
“I bet you I can do twenty,” Sulli says competitively.
“You know what I weigh, mermaid? If I sit on you while you do push-ups, I’d break your back before you hitfive.And then Akara will shred me to pieces.”
“He’s not here, Banks.”
I’m right here.
Really, I’m actually still thirty-some feet away. Sulli is just loud. It doesn’t take a lot of strain to overhear her.
With a kicked-up pulse, I vacillate between walking faster. To interrupt them. And slowing down…just to see what happens.
“Tell you what, get on my back,” Banks replies to Sulli. “If I can’t do forty push-ups with you on me, then I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Deal.”
I move faster.
