Page 88 of Totally Shipped
“Yeah, thanks. Is there a shower anywhere?”
He gives me a grin. “I’m glad you asked. The rest of your friends have already cleaned up…”
“And I stink?”
“You really do, sir. No offense.”
“None taken.”
The person I see in the mirror is very different from what I was expecting. My skin is deeply tan, and lines around my eyes are pronounced. Tangles and dreads make up my hair, which is now several shades lighter than it used to be—same for my beard. I’ve scratches and scars and dirt on every inch of my skin. My toenails are off the hook. How had I not noticed that on the island? I’ve basically got bird-claws for feet. A row of showers are to my left, and toilet cubicles to my right.
Toilet paper.
My stomach gurgles, struggling with the soup and sandwich, but I don’t care, because then I’ll get to use toilet paper. No more leaves, at last.
First things first. I strip and step under the water, not waiting for it to get warm. As the water runs over my face, I open my mouth and drink at the same time. I feel like I could stand here forever. It takes a while, but I eventually muster the energy to use some soap. My hair is a dead-loss; I’ll have to shave the whole lot off, but I rub some soap into the mats anyway. Dirt comes off me in brown rivulets, and I watch with fascination as the bottom of the shower fills with silt and sand.
“Leander?”
“Hey, Rex. Welcome to heaven.”
I hear water running in the cubicle next to me.
“Holy fuck.”
“Right?”
We don’t talk any more. There is too much to talk about, think about, and deal with. At the moment, we just should enjoy this bliss.
Eventually exiting the shower, I see Rex has a pile of clothing identical to mine. They’re basically hospital scrub pants, a plain t-shirt, and some flip-flops. It makes me think about Gray and Rex’s homemade flip flops. I wonder what happened to them?
“Do you know what’s going to happen next?” I ask Rex as I dry myself.
“We are going to American Samoa first to deal with some paperwork, then onto Samoa. I’ll call Nanda and Nikau.”
“And tell them you have their daughter. That you kept her safe.” After a moment I add, “It’s going to be hard not having the little noodle around.”
He doesn’t reply.
“There is a lot to figure out,” I say, mostly to myself.
“Yeah,” Rex says, exiting the stall. “Nothing is straightforward, that’s for sure, but as Meemaw always says; ‘making things easy is hard’.”
DAISY
Pulling into port, there are vehicles and people everywhere.
I’m immediately getting ushered into an ambulance. Someone is trying to take Thea out of my arms and I hiss at them. This is all too much.
“Wait for me!” says a voice, and I see Leander running over.
“Leander, don’t let them take me away from you all.”
“Baby, it’s OK, I’ll come with you. And we’ll all be together again soon, but they need to check you two out properly.”
“What about Key?”
“Rex is going in an ambulance with her. Gray and Killian are together.”
