Page 75 of The Hitchhiker in Panama
She stalked off to the cabin—the crew bunk she shared with Marcella—and slammed the door. Jonas shook his head, returning to his cabin and back to his nap. Eivind and I said nothing as he returned to his watch and I helped Marcella right the galley.
* * *
Hours later Marcella worked on dinner, and the tension had not improved. Even though everything had been put away again, she was opening cabinets and huffing and muttering and slamming. Just watching her made me tense, like there would be an explosion.
I tried to help as best I could. Despite the boat’s rocking, I was trusted with a sharp knife and was prepping some of our last vegetables. While I chopped, Marcella stirred, simmered, and baked circles around me.
“Take care of these.” She handed me two cans that had held the marinara sauce now bubbling on the stove. I took them and, without thinking, pulled open the trash receptacle and threw them in.
The minute I closed the lid, I gasped. Marcella stared at me.
“Did you just do that?”
“Oh my gosh. I forgot I was supposed to wash them first. Marcella, I’m so sorry.”
She tapped the spoon against the rim of the pot aggressively. “I am so careful in my galley. No food goes in the trash. Everything is washed and dried and condensed into as small of a shape as possible. I take care of these things, Lila!”
“I know, I am so sorry.”
“You made a mistake, yes, but I will suffer. The trash will smell, and we only have so much space for trash,” Marcella huffed.
“What is going on?” Eivind came down the stairs.
“I spilled tomato sauce in the trash bin.”
Eivind leaned down and peeked into the trash. “I will help you clean it.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” I wrinkled my nose. Even clean trash was still trash.
“Lila can do it herself,” Marcella snapped. “We have to be responsible for our own messes.”
Eivind held up his hands. “Calm down, Marcella. We also are a team and help each other out.”
“I just . . .” Marcella pinched the bridge of her nose. The room was quiet for a moment, save for the water rushing pastEik’s hull and the creaking of her lines. “Can you please finish dinner?”
“Of course,” I murmured, and Marcella climbed the stairs into the cockpit.
* * *
Elayna waited until the last minute to creep out of her room for dinner. I had been picking through every last piece of trash that had gotten tomato sauce on it, washing it and putting it in the sink drain. Eivind got dinner on the table. A few times I’d peeked outside to find Marcella looking small and a little lost, curled up in the corner of the cockpit and staring out to sea.
We called her down, and the five of us sat around the table. For a few minutes we were noisy with the clatter of tableware and dishes, asking for things and making yummy noises.
“Sleeping with other crew members is a bad idea. I was a little worried about Lila joining us on this trip, and I didn’t say anything. I am sorry,” Marcella said.
Eivind looked at me and cleared his throat. “Lila and I are fine, Marcella.”
“You are fine, sure, but it still changes the dynamic, even if you are happy. It’s not a good idea.” She paused. “Do you remember when we met in Antigua? And I had been kicked offOdyssey?”
“Ja,” Jonas said.
“It was because I slept with Seb. And my captain found out.”
Jonas put his fork down. “Marcella . . . you did not tell us that.”
“I was embarrassed.”
Jonas touched her shoulder, and she waved his concern away.
