Page 29 of Totally Wrecked
“That’s right. Remember when we went to one with your Papa? The food was wrapped in banana leaves and then covered with damp…”
“Cloth?” She wrinkles her nose.
“And that cloth was burlap sacks,” Leander says triumphantly.
I can see Keyara’s brow clear, “I know exactly what a burlap sack is now, fa'afetai.” She turns back to read.
“Fa'afetai?”
“It means thank you,” she tells me.
“Fa'afetai for telling me that!” I reply, making her giggle again.
Leander ruffles her hair and looks at me. “Umu is so good, kinda like a clambake. You heat the stones until they are red-hot, then put fish and sweet potatoes wrapped in banana leaves on the stones to cook. Takes a few hours. You can cook pork, taro, cassava, all sorts.”
“It sounds like you love living in Samoa.”
For once his ready grin and funny banter are not his first response. “Being here saved my life.”
He stops abruptly and doesn’t elaborate further.
I don’t ask questions. It’s obvious that he, Gray, and Captain Rex have been through something. I got hints of that from Gray, but up until now, I hadn’t noticed the shadow hanging over Leander. For someone so bright and vibrant, he suddenly looks breakable, desperate, like he could shatter at any moment. Compassion wells inside me, and I have an intense desire to wrap my arms around him, but instead I settle for reaching out a hand and resting it on his back.
But, in a night-and-day switch, Leander is already shaking his head like a shaggy dog that’s been soaked on a rainy walk. “Hey, no worries, got in my head for a second. Hey! Has anyone ever said you look like Hilary Duff? Holy cow, Lizzie McGuire was my first crush.”
Hilary Duff? Must be my new blonde bangs—and my not-new short stature. It’s definitely a step up from the last guy I went on a date with. He said I reminded him of Margery Taylor-Green. It was worse when he said that turned him on.
Leander leans toward me and presses his forehead against mine. The beads around my neck swing, and Leander holds them for a moment, close to my throat. “Pretty, like the wearer.”
Cheese Louise, this boy must break a lot of hearts. What a flipping charmer.
Suddenly, without warning, there is a huge bang. The jolt knocks us both off our feet, and we crumple in a heap almost crushing Keyara.
I instantly swivel to check on the little girl. “You OK?” She nods and I look at Leander. He is on his knees, clutching his head as it presses against the hard steel hull. I get myself into a sitting position, Keyara is still laying on her back, stunned. “That was noisy, right?” I help her to a sitting position then turn towards Leander’s huddled form.
“Leander?”
He turns his head toward me and his eyes are wide and staring. I don’t know what he sees, but I don’t think it’s me. This is not the Leander who was here a minute ago.
“Are you hurt?” He doesn’t answer. Shouts coming from all over the ship, but I ignore them and concentrate on what’s going on in my immediate vicinity. Putting my hand out to Keyara, I pull her close.
“It’s OK, honey. I think Leander just bumped himself,” I tell her, then I move to his other side and I can see some blood. Keyara gasps and buries her face in my shoulder. The blood is coming from his temple—he must have hit something.
“I’ll go get help.” I keep Keyara’s hand in mine, but before I can get up, Leander suddenly lurches and stands upright, almost knocking us both over.
“Fire,” he croaks, his eyes wild. “Fire!” he screams. Keyara is screaming as well; she’s scared and confused. I hug the little girl and turn her face to my body.
“It’s OK, I can’t see any fire,” I try to tell them both.
Again he yells. “We have to run!”
A second later, a siren starts to blare, and now I really can smell smoke. This is bad. Another explosion booms, and Leander pulls away from me and runs to the railing, making as if to climb over it.
“LEANDER!”
I go to grab him, but Keyara gets there first, grabbing onto the back of his t-shirt. Another explosion, the third, and this one sends Leander and Keyara flying over the rails and down into the ocean.
Time seemed to slow. Without even being conscious of it, my hands are loosening the pair of life rings that are right in front of me. Keyara has surfaced and is splashing wildly. I can’t see Leander at all.
