Page 112 of Adrift

“Fuck.” The rain picks up. It’s a light drizzle to start with, but by the time Calvin backs into the cave, the drops are large. I’m not going back down, not with how much darker it’s become. So it’s into the devil’s mouth with the devil himself. I poke my head inside.

“Come feet first. There’s not enough room to turn around,” he growls.

When I was in elementary school, I went on a backpacking trip with my dad. It’s one of the memories I have that’s just him. No phone. No work. No stepmom. We stayed in a small backpacking tent. This reminds me of that. Long enough that Calvin could stretch out completely. Really, if I wanted to, I could turn around or sit up.

“Don’t think of sitting up—the roof of this place is like razors.”

If anyone had told me three hours ago I’d be lying next to Calvin in a sand-floored cave staring out into the darkness, Iwould have laughed in their face. “Why didn’t you tell anyone about this place?”

He clears his throat. “We can’t all fit in here.”

There’s an emphasis onall. And I smirk. “You wanted to show Haley first.”

“Shut up and go to sleep, Rockwell.”

I roll over onto my side and grumble. It hurts. Not bad, but enough to know I’m bruised.

“You going to make it?”

“Yeah, I’m just peachy.” I move around. We’re close but not touching. And honestly, I’m grateful he let me in. I watch the shadows of the spikes on the ceiling and try not to think about spiders. “You going to tell me why you hate your brother?” Emily has pissed me off from time to time, but I could never hate her.

Fuck, I hope they made it somewhere. I hope to hell that she and Dad are having drinks in a port city planning our rescue. That’s the only way I can think of my sister. Laughing, giving away her inheritance to charity. Shopping in secondhand shops. Bringing home clothes with somebody else’s used tissues in them.

Calvin doesn’t answer right away. And I go back to blinking into the darkness.

“I don’t hate him. Not really. I hate what he did. I hate what she did.”

She, he. I get it. “The she was?—”

“My ex. Well, she wasn’t my ex when... They have two kids. They’re cute. I mostly avoid them when I go home. Which is almost never. I suppose it doesn’t matter now.”

“Don’t say that, man. We’re going to get rescued. I told you I saw a boat.”

“Right, a boat with no lights on.”

“Yes.”

“Rockwell, a boat with no lights on is a death sentence. Pirates. They find us? They’ll kill us. Well, we’ll get off easy. Haley, on the other hand... Yeah, not such a great way to live. Pretty blonde. That’s not what I want for her.”

“Yeah, you said that already.”

“I’m sorry about your dad’s fiancée,” shoots out of him.

“Thanks.” Candy was a gold-digging bitch. But she didn’t deserve death by anything other than a pack of lawyers ripping her away from the money she loved so much.

Memories of Dad and Emily before Candy, before Dad’s second wife, float around me. The rain spatters down outside, and eventually I use my arm as a pillow and drift off to sleep.

When I wake, I’m by myself. I’m also covered in little flea bites down the side of my legs. But I’m dry. Honestly, the driest I’ve been since we landed on this island. I stretch. I reach upward, and fuck, I cut the side of my right hand. Damn, it stings. Blood trickles down my wrist. “Fuck.” I pull off my shirt and wrap it around my hand. It’s no big deal.

Outside, the jungle is alive with birds. I stand by the opening for a minute and take in the view. The mountain goes up higher. If I hadn’t given my hand the little slice, it would be nice to get to the top of it. But it’s taller than I imagined. Instead, I make my way down and stop and admire the waterfall. It’s amazing.

I crouch and clean the cut. It’s nothing. It wouldn’t even need stitches if I was back home.

The foliage along the path hasn’t lost last night’s rain, and by the time I’m to the big map tree, I’m fairly wet. I round the path and come out onto the beach. The first thing I notice is that the raft is missing the canopy. The second is that the furry thing in Haley’s arms is moving.

Chapter 45

Limey

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