Джордан Шор - The Search

George felt he understood what Trisha was getting at.

“I don’t gossip, Trisha,” he said. “I don’t care for it.”

“I don’t care for it either,” Trisha said. “Sorry about last night. I’m not used to drinking, and I guess I went a bit overboard.”

“What happens in Paradise…” George never finished the sentence—instead, he gave her a wink.

“Thanks, George.” Trisha smiled. “And thanks for not taking advantage of me last night. A lot of guys would have.”

Once again, George felt astonished by how wrong the otherwise so perceptive Trisha Boyle was. He was just about to set her straight, but decided not to, as she was well on her way out of the car.

Thursday afternoon

Jack and Julie sat next to each other on top of a pile of pine tree branches, which resembled a bed. Julie stroked her hand across the sweater on his back, the sweater Jack wore as a cape.

“Did the sweater make a difference?”

“Not so much.” Jack coughed repeatedly. “I wish I had a jacket.”

“If you go back and get his pants, then perhaps you could use them as a blanket or something,” Julie said. “It might not be much, but it could make a difference.”

Jack nodded slightly before he coughed hard and then shook his head.

“Are you all right, Jack?”

“I’m just so sick of it all. I just want it to be over.”

“You don’t think they’re coming for us?”

Jack shook his head and kept coughing.

“Perhaps we should just leave then,” Julie said. “Like you said, if we can get to the ocean, then we’re bound to come across something, sooner or later.”

“If we leave, then they’ll probably be here the next day.”

“Yeah, that’s the irony of life,” Julie agreed. “But they’ll see the SOS sign, and keep searching for us. I’m sure they can track us with dogs.”

“I suppose.” Jack coughed. “You want to leave?”

“That’s up to you, Jack. I’m just a passenger.”

“Today’s Thursday. How about if we wait until Monday. That’s ten days from when we crashed, a nice round number. How does that sound?”

“I prefer round numbers, too. I don’t care for odd or dodgy numbers. They don’t look right to me,” Julie said and smiled. “Or we could leave tomorrow. Then, we waited a week before leaving.”

“You want to leave tomorrow, Julie?”

“I could leave tomorrow.” Julie looked at her feet. “But like I said, it’s your call. I’m just a passenger on this journey.”

“Okay then, we’ll leave tomorrow, as soon as the sun rises. I’ll get Andrew’s pants today, and check the crash site to see if Nancy or Kevin has returned,” Jack said. “And fill up on worms. You should eat, Julie.”

“No, don’t eat Julie.” She giggled.

Jack chuckled at first, but then he kept coughing.

“ It’s been a week ,” Jack eventually stuttered.

“I have low metabolism, and I’m just sitting still. You need it more than I do.”

Jack chuckled and cleared his throat. “They’re plenty of worms to go around.”

Jack pointed at the rocks by the shore of the small and narrow lake. Julie never turned her head. Instead, she made an awkward face, and focused on the sweater, the sweater Jack wore as a cape.

“You still think Nancy killed him?” Julie asked.

“The back of his head was smashed in, so somebody killed him,” Jack responded. “He probably startled her, and she got confused, and hit him with a rock. Why do you ask? What do you think happened?”

“Andrew didn’t see very well. So, perhaps it was just an accident.”

“But he was on his stomach, when we found him.”

“I know.” Julie swallowed. “But perhaps he ran into a branch, and hit his head when he fell backward. Then walked until he collapsed and fell on his stomach.”

“That make sense.” Jack sneezed. “Perhaps it was just an accident then.”

Jack kept coughing, and Julie patted him on his back.

“So you have a son?” Jack eventually asked.

“Yes, I have a son.”

“How old is he?”

“I didn’t mention him before because I get so worried when thinking about him,” Julie responded, and then suddenly twitched. “He’s seven.”

Jack nodded and kept coughing.

“He’s with my mom,” Julie said and looked Jack in the eyes.

“So, what’s his name?”

“ Geronimo ,” Julie said in a Spanish accent.

“Named after a great warrior. I like that.”

“No, he’s named after his father. A great imbecile.” Julie shook her head. “He’s the reason I’m in this mess.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s the reason I flew to Alaska. I was supposed to testify against him in court on Monday. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here,” Julie said. “After all this time, he still manages to ruin my life somehow.”

“He sounds like a real charming fellow.” Jack coughed. “But you can’t blame him for what happened to the plane, Julie. It’s not his fault we’re stuck out here.”

“But if it wasn’t for him, then I wouldn’t have been on this flight,” Julie said in a slightly deeper tone. “I hate him so much.”

“You can’t think like that, Julie.”

“Don’t tell me what to think, Jack. You don’t know him like I do.”

“I know.” Jack coughed a few times. “But sometimes these things just happen, and nobody’s to blame. Like what happened to Andrew. Either way it was an accident.”

“You think it was an accident?”

“Even if Nancy hit him over the head—”

“No, I meant the plane crash,” Julie interrupted.

“It must have been something wrong with the plane,” Jack said. “Why, what do you think happened?”

“I think it was just an accident,” Julie said. “No one’s to blame.”

“Okay.” Jack said in confusion.

“No wait,” Julie said. “The NTSB is to blame.”

“Who?”

“The National Transportation Safety Board,” Julie pronounced clearly.

“Why are they to blame?”

“It’s their job to find us,” Julie said. “It’s their fault we’re in this mess. Someone isn’t doing their job properly.”

Jack looked mystified, then coughed a few times before he cleared his throat. “So, how did you end up with a guy from Alaska? If you don’t mind me asking?”

“No, he’s from L.A. We both are. I recently moved to Seattle. Finding work in Los Angeles was hard for me,” Julie said. “They just caught up with him in Alaska.”

“At least you have a valid reason for not showing up in court.” Jack smiled. “I think the judge will show leniency.”

“You think?” Julie chuckled once, but then bowed her head. “It’s my own fault, really. I always fall for the wrong guys, and now Geronimo has to grow up without a male role model in his life.”

“I can relate to that.” Jack coughed some more.

“You didn’t have a male role model growing up?”

“I never knew my father,” Jack said, and his shoulders dropped. “It was just me and my mom. There were no one else.”

“That must have been tough on you.”

Jack bowed his head, and nodded slightly. “I think a child needs a role model of the same gender. I remember feeling weird and out of place. I didn’t have anyone to relate to, and I felt I couldn’t be the person my mother wanted or expected me to be. My childhood was very confusing. I always…”

Jack never finished the sentence. Then he looked at Julie with an apologetic expression. Julie trained her eyes down.

“I like your son’s name,” Jack said. “It makes me think of him as a great warrior.”