Page 55 of Totally Wrecked
The kid wanders to the back of his Jeep and pulls out several cases of beer. “Wasn’t sure what your supply sitch would be, where’s the fridge? Oh, and help yourselves.”
My crew don’t need to be told twice, we’ve been out here for six days and the beer ran out on day two. The kid grins and pushes his floppy hair off his smooth, broad forehead.
“And I’m supposed to speak to someone called Rex?” I watch him fish a packet of smokes out of his back pocket.
“Ahem, you can’t smoke when you are working,” I tell him.
He gives a wide grin. “Good to know! I’ll have to get up early to chainsmoke before a shift.”
I walk over and tug the cigarette from between his pretty lips. “If you are on this side of a mountain and not at the base—that means you're working.”
His face falls. “Oh well. I probably smoke too much anyway.” Flipping moods, he beams at me. “I’m guessing you’re Rex. You’ve got that boss-man vibe.” Not waiting for my answer, the kid sticks out his hand. “I’m Leander, your new recruit!”
Within a couple of days, Leander became everyone’s favorite. He has a magic about him, and even though his antics could often push the limits of my patience, somehow everyone forgave him.
By the end of the first month he was sleeping with both the girls on the crew. Individually, and sometimes together. Gray and I would just shake our heads in amazement. Leander was a chaos agent, and we loved having him as part of the team.
I get to the top of the ridge and look around me. I can see the smoke from our fire puffing away, but no answering fire anywhere.
Give it time.
Settling into the shade of a rocky overhang, I study the landscape, looking where I thought I’d seen smoke earlier.
Is that?
There is still a haze in the air, but I’m pretty sure I can see a thin stream of smoke rising directly north of me, towards the tip of the other island.
That’s my boy, Leander. Bet the boat on it.
The boat is on the seabed, Rex. Bet on something else.
Bet my life on it.
Eighteen months ago, Leander almost died under my watch. Out of all of us, he was the last to leave the burns unit, but he survived. He always lands on his feet, his poor scarred feet. The nerves in his soles are all fucked. He can’t feel if he steps on something and damages himself, so footwear is vital.
Fuck, I hope he still has shoes on.
For a while, Leander was still receiving treatment in hospital, while me and Gray had been transferred to rehab. Neither of us liked being away from him.
Then one day, out of the blue, Leander hobbled into our PT session.
“What’s up, nerds?”
He was back.
“I have to be where you are,” he said. “I don’t feel whole without you.”
None of us feel whole. But together we feel complete enough to at least exist, get through life another day.
How much daylight do I have left? I look at the position of the sun. Maybe an hour? Shit, I need to get back. I need to report what I’ve seen, because it seems to me that we are going to have to do some serious thinking about how we get off this island and onto the next one.
KILLIAN
Rex is on the peak again, and Harvey has gone off with the fishing net.
Harv's a little happier about fishing, now the rocks are in the shade. I told him to stay out there until dusk. In the back of my mind, I remember that dawn and dusk are the best times for fishing. Something my Granda told me when I was a boy, no doubt.
I miss the old man.
