Page 52 of The Hitchhiker in Panama
He grinned at me. “It is.”
Marcella told me if I was going to join them, I should run to the supermarket and stock up on any personal effects I would need for a month or two and whatever kind of munchies I wanted. She said they had a lot of food—the fridge and freezer were full of vegetables and meat, but Marcella would have to stock up on more canned goods to feed an extra person.
“What will I need to pay for?” I asked.
Jonas and Eivind looked at each other. Eivind answered. “Thirty dollars a week for groceries. If you want to buy anything special for yourself, then keep it in the cabin with you.”
That was less than I had planned to spend.
“I could book a flight out of Tahiti on April first. This might work.”
Jonas shook his head. “Wethinkwe will get in by April first, but we might not. Plus, you have to fly to Tahiti from Hiva Oa. You would have to just cancel your flight if you came with us. I am sorry, Lila, but I cannot let you keep us on a schedule.”
“Oh.” I deflated a little bit. I would have to cancel my flight, and all of these plans I had in South America, and would have no idea when I could resume my schedule.
I reran my budget over again and trimmed my schedule down even more. Now, instead of three months exploring South America, I was looking at a measly three-week vacation, enough time to visit two or three countries.
Like the day before, we split up to accomplish various tasks. I headed to shore with Elayna and Marcella to tackle our laundry situation. With the bare minimum clothes I had, I needed to do laundry often, but I usually washed my things by hand. Combined with the laundry for all five of us, though, it made much more sense to head to a laundromat.Eikeven had a community laundry budget tucked away in a bag of coins. Jonas told me to throw my minuscule pile of laundry in with everything else.
SinceEikwas about to set out to sea, it was the last chance for laundry—everything had to be washed. That meant we struggled and tripped over eight large trash bags full of laundry: all the dirty clothes, pillows, sheets, towels—anything that could be washed was in our bags. And we had to pull those bags up ontoEik’s deck, into the dinghy, out of the dinghy, then carry them down the dock, shove them into an Uber, and lug them from the Uber to the laundromat.
We were sweaty and gasping with laughter by the time we arrived. We worked quickly, dividing the laundry between multiple machines, then settled down into chairs to wait.
Immediately we all pulled out our phones. I was still trying to finalize my budget and itinerary, growing increasingly frustrated by the limitations of a small screen.
A few minutes later Elayna sniffled.
Marcella and I exchanged concerned looks over Elayna’s head. I squeezed Elayna’s shoulder. “Hey . . .” I crooned at her.
“Désolée,”she said, sniffing again and wiping a tear on her cheek. “I was just chatting with my girlfriend and telling her that . . . Jonas and I are not . . .” She struggled with her words. I looked at Marcella, wide-eyed. She pulled out a tissue and handed it to Elayna.
Elayna dabbed her eyes with the tissue. “You and Eivind are so cute, but Jonas has never been interested in me like that. In the two months since we first slept together, it’s been more about needs and loneliness than romance. To go on a date . . .”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, and pulled her in for a side hug.
Marcella rubbed her back. “I am sorry too, Elayna. What can we do?”
“Ah, this is nothing. I just feel foolish. Jonas has always been like this. I thought maybe when I stayed in his cabin, things would change, but they have not. It was never like that for him.”
“But you like him a lot?”
“Yes.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. “Is it bad enough that you would leaveEik?”
Elayna sat up with a bit more determination this time. “No. It is sad, but I will just have a cry over it and move on. I want to cross the Pacific, and it would be even more foolish to give up an opportunity like this.”
“Good,” Marcella said. “I am glad. It would not be the same without you.”
“I want to talk about something else. Lila, do you think you will sail with us?”
“I don’t know. It’s not just extending a few days; it really changes my whole plan.”
“Yes, it is a commitment.”
“You both are more well traveled than I am—what would you do? Cross the Pacific or stick with my original plan?”
Marcella scrunched up her nose in thought. “Hmm . . .”
