Page 76 of Haze of Obedience
"Wow. Is it hard?"
"It's a good workout and wouldn't take you long to get the technique down. You could do it."
"What's something you haven't done but want to try?"
He doesn't hesitate. "Ziplining. I've done it for military training, but I want to do it over a cavern or through a jungle. Have you done it before?"
"Not outside, but in my concerts."
"I bet you've gotten to do all sorts of awesome things from your tours."
I shrug. "Not anything too crazy."
"Hey, I forgot to give you a lozenge for your throat. They're in the pocket of my bag."
"It's okay. I can get it later."
"It's been almost a day, and we didn't get to make your tea last night. You should take one."
I set my oar on top of the boat. "My throat's already feeling a little better."
"That's good, but humor me."
I unzip the pocket and pull one out. "Aye aye, boss. I'll have one if it'll make you feel better."
"It will."
I bite back a smile. "You need anything?"
"Throw me a pack of food. You should have something to eat too."
I remove two packets and hand him one.
"Tamales are sounding better and better, aren't they?" he says.
"Don't torture me talking about them."
"Forgot to ask you something."
"What?"
"My rat wasn't spicy back at camp, was it?"
I scoff. "No way. I don't know what they were complaining about. On a scale of one to ten, I thought it was a three."
"That's what I thought!"
We eat in silence, and when I finish, I put the slippery elm in my mouth. A boat passes far enough away from us, but it creates bigger waves, and we get sprayed with water.
"Zoe, you all right?"
"Yep. I'm a diva, but I won't melt."
"Funny."
"The water felt good. The sun is hot."
"We'll put more lotion on when we stop."
