Page 94 of The Last Man on Earth
She watches my reaction. Sharp lady.
“How do you feel about that?” she asks.
“I don’t know. Surprised, I guess.”
“Did you have a sense of time on the island?”
“Not really. Sunrise and sunset.”
She nods. “What’s the last thing you remember before the crash?”
I blink hard, my jaw tight. “I remember my cousin laughing about something or other, and then the plane hit turbulence. We were shook, but I tried not to show it because I didn’t want Arito see me scared.” I swallow hard. “Then there was a loud bang. The cabin filled with smoke. Ms. K screamed. It was chaos.”
She nods, writing something down on a notepad. “You mentioned your cousin. He didn’t survive, is that correct?”
“Correct.” The word tastes sour in my mouth. “Neither did Ms. K. Or my nephew. Or anybody else besides Ari.”
“Do you think about them often?”
I look away. “Not when I was out there. I tried not to.”
“Why is that?”
I breathe so deep, it hurts. “I was trying to survive. I guess I couldn’t…afford to be sad.”
I stare down at my hands. They look dirty to me now. My nails are ragged. My skin is cracked. There’s blood under my thumb nail and I can’t even remember whose it is.
“How do you feel about being found?”
I laugh once, a dry, brittle sound. “I don’t even know, to be honest with you.”
She stares blankly.
“Relieved, I guess. But weird, too. Like everything is supposed to go back to normal instantly.”
She leans forward a little. “What do you think normal will look like for you now?”
I shrug. “I was supposed to get married. That would be normal. I make music, so that, too, I suppose. I got a son to raise. Family. Friends…” I pause, rubbing the back of my neck. “Am I supposed to wanna go straight back to all that? And be happy about it?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say you’re supposed to doanythingat this juncture.”
“I definitely want my son. No question. But everything else…I don’t know.”
“What makes you think you aren’t ready?”
Because of Ari. Because the happiest, the most peaceful, the most genuine I’ve been in years was on that fucking island with her. Because the world looks too bright and sounds too loud right now, too full of people who wanna take from me and not give me shit in return.
But I don’t say that. I just shrug again. “I don’t know. Maybe I just need a day or two to get my head right.”
“Did you and Ms. Williams support each other while you were stranded?”
“Yeah. We ain’t have no choice.”
She taps her pen against her leg. “And how would you describe your relationship?”
Her tone is neutral, but I can’t help but wonder where the fuck she’s going with this.
“She was working when I met her. On the plane. We were strangers. Now, we ain’t.”
