Page 13 of The Explorer
Banni kept his eyes on the bottle in his hand and carefully shoved a tablet into it. We watched as the water changed color to a faded yellow.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“We call this tabletla bavarde; it means a chatterbox or someone who gossips. If the water is clean, there will be no change of color, but if there’s pollution, the tablet will tell us. This color means that there’s a low level of pollution in the water. You wouldn’t die if you drank it, but you might get a stomachache.”
“Huh, that’s clever.”
“Oui.” Banni made some notes on the bottle and put it in a box with the others. “And about your question, I think it depends on what you like. Everyone is different. What do you think makes a sex partner good?”
My answer was honest and prompt. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had sex.”
The two men stopped mid-movement and stared at me.
Val spoke his first English word so far: “Never?”
Shaking my head, I pointed my thumb over my shoulder in the direction where we’d left the others. “Can you imagine an Nman being fine with casual sex? Nah, they would all try to claim me and make me marry them.”
Banni’s Adam’s apple moved in his throat and his eyebrows tightened. “But how old are you?”
“Twenty-seven.”
The two men once again exchanged glances as if a twenty-seven-year-old virgin was the craziest thing they had ever heard about.
Looking over his shoulder, Val whisper-shouted something to Banni, who looked to me.
“What is he saying?” I asked.
“Val and I are happy to offer you a sexual experience if you want to have sex with someone mature enough to not get possessive.”
“I’m flattered.” Standing back up, I brushed my hands on my pants and smiled. “But since I already like you, I don’t want to subject you to Indiana’s wrath if he found out.”
Banni frowned and packed up the water samples. “What if I talked to him and got him to accept us having casual sex?”
We started to walk as I replied with a light chuckle. “I think it would be easier for you to make this water completely clean overnight than it would be to convince Indiana to look the other way while I have sex with you and Val.”
“Hmm…” Banni took long, strong strides up the hill from the river. “If Indiana is your friend, he should be happy for you to have this opportunity to experiment with your sexuality. If what you’re saying is true, there’s a chance that he’s inexperienced too, so it goes for both of you. Here in France you can have as many sexual adventures as you want to without anyone judging you.”
The idea of experimenting spoke to me and feeling amused by this conversation, I elbowed Banni with a grin. “I came to explore.”
He grinned back at me. “Then we’ll help you convince Indiana.”
CHAPTER4
Exploring
Indiana
On our first night in the wilderness, we ate dinner around a bonfire.
I tried to convince Aubri to record a holo message for our families back home, but she was hesitant, thinking that everyone was angry at her for volunteering to stay here for a year.
In the end, I recorded a message myself and had her wave in the background.
We ate a stew that tasted a lot better than expected and talked about our favorite dishes.
“Are you exhausted from the work today?” Alex asked us.
“Why? Was this supposed to be hard?” I said with humor in my tone.
