Page 51 of The Hitchhiker in Panama
I turned my head and playfully bit Eivind’s pec. “Yes, if we are still together.”
He was quiet for a moment, lightly stroking my arm. “I have to stay onEik, you know this?”
A nasty little feeling rose in my gut, even though he was just confirming what I already expected. “Right,” I said quickly. “And I would fly over here again and still have some time to backpack.”
He hummed. “We can talk more about it tomorrow. For now, go to sleep.”
“Wait, wait. One more thing.”
“Ja?”
“What’s the deal with Jonas and Elayna? I mean, it was pretty bad today, right? Do they fight a lot?”
My head rose and fell with Eivind’s sigh. “No, they do not normally fight like this. My brother can be a bit dense about women sometimes.”
I grinned into the darkness. “How so?”
“Elayna was interested in him early on. I think he was too focused on his responsibilities to pay attention to her, but she was waiting. And I know that my brother gets lonely—we all do. So, one night, a couple months ago, she made a move at a little bar in Antigua.”
“It’s surprising to me that Jonas wouldn’t have been paying attention to her. She’s very pretty.”
“He was different after the divorce. More unsure of himself. And he already felt like he had to work hard, I think. After our dad left, he was the man of the house, and taking care of our mother and me was his job.”
“Sounds like he grew up fast.”
“Ja. I want him to enjoy this trip. Maybe it will help him loosen up.”
“And Elayna?”
“I like Elayna, but not for my brother. I hope she’s able to move on.”
We snuggled into bed together, and I listened to Eivind’s breathing even out and deepen while I pressed against his chest. My mind raced, though, too energized to sleep. This was a huge commitment to make, not just to my travel plans, but to Eivind. What had started as a fling was ballooning out of control. I tried to consider my options, but I didn’t have enough information. I carefully pulled away from Eivind and rolled to the other side to pick up my phone.
I quickly found that there were airports in the Marquesas Islands, and they connected to Tahiti, which connected everywhere.
Opening my spreadsheet, I used the tiny screen to scroll around and readjust my schedule. Could I still visit all five countries? I had already cut a week out of Colombia, but to sail across the Pacific, I would have to cut a month.
Gone was the side trip to the Galápagos, which helped my budget significantly. I cut out Colombia completely. I could use a fraction of that money to book a group tour on the Inca trail. I thought about Marcella’s stories of Argentina and wondered if it would be cheaper to fly from Bolivia to Buenos Aires instead of to Santiago.
On a notepad on my phone, I started to write out some questions and make some lists. What would I need to survive life at sea for a month?
Twenty-Three
It turned out, just like going through the canal, I would mostly be along for the ride. Bleary-eyed from staying up too late, I ran over my questions and concerns with Jonas in the morning during breakfast.
“Would I take a shift?”
“Yes, we will give you one shift, two hours every afternoon.”
“So everyone else divides up twenty-two hours? That doesn’t seem fair.”
He shrugged. “Four or five hours a day is nothing. We could sail the boat just me and Eivind if we wanted to.”
“What about chores?”
“Marcella cooks. Clean your room, keep a good watch, and I will be happy.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
