Back on Solid Ground (6 page)

“Of course
you can have something to eat,” Carlos interjected. “And while you’re down
here, I’d like to take a look at your wound, if I may.”

“Are you a
doctor?” she said, looking him over.

“Of sorts,”
he replied.  He had not waited for her to answer, but had lifted the bottom of
her shirt and was poking his fingers around the inflamed region. His hands were
sure and strong.

“Stop it,
that hurts!” Stacy said, slapping at his hand.

“I’ll need to
put a dressing and new bandage on it so it won’t get infected,” he said. “If
you will sit in here for just a minute, I’ll get my supplies,” he said,
motioning to a sitting area in the next room. 

Stacy went
into the room and over to the window and looked out admiring the tropical foliage. 
The room overlooked the jungle and there were three parrots sitting in a tree
right outside the window.  She decided that when she got back home, she would
move out of her condo and buy a house so she could have a yard.  When Stacy
turned back around she saw that Niki had followed her to the room and was
standing in the doorway watching her.

“What? 
You’re just going to stand there and watch me?” she snapped at him.

“You’re not very
nice,” he stated, taking a lesson from his brother.

“
I’m
not nice?   
You’re
the one who busted into a bank and blew a man’s hand
to kingdom come!” she said.  “You shot me, you kidnapped me, you cut off my
hair.  I’ve got a bruise in the shape of your handprint on my upper arm.  But
I’m
not a nice person?” she fumed.  “Tell me, which of the items on that list
would inspire me to be nice to you?” Stacy had worked herself into such a rage
that she couldn’t stop. “I swear, I’d love to beat the crap out of you!”   

Niki was
unprepared for her reaction to his taunting, and it left him speechless.  Eli
would have had a classic remark to throw back at her, but that was not Niki’s
forte.  He was glad when Carlos reappeared with his bag of medical supplies,
but Stacy was too worked up to let it go.  She picked up an ornamental vase and
hurled it across the room at Niki as hard as she could, barely missing him.  It
hit the wall and shattered into hundreds of pieces. 

“We never
liked that vase either,” Carlos said, without missing a beat.

The emotional
explosion left Stacy calm but drained.  She shot Niki a dirty look and sat down
so that Carlos could doctor her wound.

“It’s doing
fine,” said Carlos, as he spread a thick green paste over the wound. 

“What is
that?  It smells awful,” Stacy said.

“It’s an
herbal mixture with antibiotic properties,” he said, looking at the girl.  “It
should also help with the pain.”  She was pretty and he smiled.

“Did you make
it?” she asked, impressed.

“Yes.  There
are many medicinal herbs on the island.”

“Where did
you learn to work with herbs?” She had always been interested in the subject
and had dabbled in homemade medicinal oils and creams herself.

“My
grandmother was a healer,” Carlos said.  He finished bandaging her side and
placed his supplies back into his medical kit.  He could tell Stacy was distracted. 
He took her hands in his and looked into her eyes, and even in her debilitated
condition, he could tell by her aura that she was a kind and generous person. 
And the heat she generated was incredible, something he rarely encountered. 
She was meant to be here with them, that much he knew.

Stacy was
uncomfortable under his stare.  “You giving me the voodoo hex?” she asked.

Carlos
laughed out loud, squeezing her hands before letting them go.  He waved her up
from her chair and still laughing, said, “You are free to get something to eat
now, Miss Trent.”

Niki was
explaining to Jason and Eli what had happened.  “I commented that she wasn’t very
nice, and she lost it,” Niki said.  Then he looked at Eli.  “
How much
trouble could she be
?” he mimicked.

“Who would
have thought,” Eli said, shaking his head.  “Someone needs to be with her all
the time.  We can’t have her snooping around the house.”

“Yeah, we can
take shifts,” said Jason. 

Niki nodded. 
Stacy and Carlos were walking in his direction.

“How are
you?” Niki asked Stacy, motioning to her side.

“You’re
kidding, right?” Stacy snapped at him.

Niki ignored
her nasty tone.  “What did Carlos say about where you got shot?  Is it okay?”

“He said I’ll
live,” Stacy said flatly, then added, “although why you should care is beyond
me, since you plan on killing me anyway.” 

“I have no
intention of killing you,” Niki said, stung by the remark.

“Oh, you
don’t do your own dirty work, is that it?” she fired back.

Niki
surrendered.  “Come on, let’s get you something to eat,” he said, opening his
arm for her to pass, but making sure not to touch her.  Niki, Eli, Jason and
Stacy set out towards the kitchen but Carlos called Stacy back into the room.

“Miss Trent,”
he paused, debating on whether to continue, “I know you are scared and upset,
but may I suggest that while you are here, you enjoy your surroundings.  This
is a beautiful island,” he said, motioning out the window.   “None of us knows
what the future holds, so we should enjoy every day as if it were our last. 
That should be how we all live life, don’t you think?” he asked. “We won’t hurt
you.”

“You won’t,
but
someone
will, is that it?” she said. 

“Please,
enjoy what the island has to offer,” he said, choosing to ignore her question.

“I’ll
consider what you said,” she told him.  Stacy couldn’t help but like the guy,
and for some reason, she trusted him.  She turned and walked out, leaving him
alone in the room, then she caught up with the others in the kitchen. 

Eli was at
the refrigerator when she came in.  “What do you want to eat?” he asked Stacy. 
He wondered if she would hold a grudge.

She looked
out the window at the beautiful water, the white sand, the palm trees, and
decided she was going to take Carlos’ advice, at least for a couple of hours.  

“Do you have
stuff for a Piña Colada?” she asked. 

“You want me
to make you a Piña Colada,” he repeated.  “It’s 10:00 in the morning.”

“I didn’t say
I want you to
make
me one,” she said, in a nasty tone of voice.  “I
asked if you
had the ingredients
.”

“Yes, I
have
the ingredients
,” he mocked, “and yes, I will make you a Piña Colada.”

He got out
the blender and started to mix up her drink.  “It’s such a sissy drink,” he
told Niki.  He tasted it, added more rum, then tasted it again.  “Uhmm, but
it’s not bad.”

It looked nice
and frothy. “Make me one too,” Niki told him.

“Make a
pitcher,” said Jason. 

“Why didn’t
you say that when I first started mixing it?” Eli said, irritably.  He poured the
concoction into a tall plastic cup and handed it to Stacy.  “I’ll have to make
more.”

Everyone
watched as Stacy took a big gulp. “Oh my God!  That is sooooo good!” she said
dramatically.  It was the first time they had seen her smile. 

What a
beautiful smile, Niki thought.  It lights up the whole room.

Stacy needed
to be by herself to think.  “I need some air,” she said.  “I’d like to go down
to the water and sit for a while.  Would that be okay?” she said, directing her
question to Jason.    She knew that Niki was their leader, but she needed to
know how much authority he wielded.  Was this a democracy or a dictatorship? 

Jason
answered without consulting his friend.  “Sure, we’ll walk down there.”  Before
she could protest having to be chaperoned, Jason interrupted, “Why don’t we all
go down there.”

“Yeah,” said
Eli.  “Niki, you coming?”

“Yeah, I
think we could all use some air,” said Niki.

Stacy threw
her hands up in the air.  “The whole point of my wanting to go to the beach was
to get away from all of you!”

“Hey, don’t
be that way,” Jason said, acting offended.   “Anyway, it’s a big beach.”

Eli finished
his bartending duties and the foursome headed towards the beach.  They walked
slowly, allowing Stacy to set the pace.  Her side hurt when she moved, so she
tried to keep her torso still when she walked.  She admired the tropical plants
that bordered the beach.  The foliage was incredibly dense, so that in some
parts there was virtually no daylight under the canopy of trees.  She had no
idea how big the island was, but imagined a person could easily get lost in the
jungle. 

They walked
down the beach and came to a dock and pier where they stopped and the men sat
down in the sand.  They were discussing some sporting event, so Stacy headed
out to the end of the pier for some solitude.  It was impossible to tell how
deep the water was because it was crystal clear.  She could see every grain of
sand, every shell on the bottom, and hundreds of brightly colored fish swimming
around.  It would be an incredible place to scuba dive or snorkel.

Stacy scoped
out the place from this angle and noticed what she assumed was a boathouse and
a couple of sheds further down the beach.  Possibly a means of escape and
definitely something she would need to check out when the time was right.

The place was
truly incredible.  She stripped down to her oversized T-shirt and underwear and
dangled her feet in the water.  She was bummed that she didn’t have a swimsuit;
the water felt great. But no sooner had she sat down than the brothers had the
nerve to intrude.  She was sitting with her back to them, but could feel the
vibration from their footsteps as they got closer. 
Unbelievable!
  She
considered that maybe they were tormenting her on purpose.  When they reached
her, she turned around ready to be irritated, but they had not come empty-handed.

Niki offered
her another Piña Colada.  “It was going to melt.”

“Oh.”  She
accepted the drink without getting up. “Thank you.”

She was glad
they had brought her the drink, but she wanted them to leave.   She needed
privacy to plan her escape.

Niki sat down
beside her.  “Planning your escape?” he asked.

“Escape from
you?  Now why would I want to do that?” she said, looking out into the water.

“Before you
go taking off into the jungle, let me warn you that there are snakes in there
as big around as your thigh,” he said, looking at her legs.

“Well, then
why don’t you take a long leisurely stroll in there?” she said, trying not to
laugh.  Stacy could feel Niki looking at her and she turned and met his stare.

“Our eyes are
the same color,” she said, out of the blue.

The comment
threw him and he lost his train of thought.

Eli poked his
head down, “What was that?” he said smiling.

“Fuck off,
Eli,” Niki said irritably.

“That was
ugly,” Stacy told Niki.

“For someone
with such a foul mouth, you should talk,” Niki shot back.

“I do not
have a foul mouth,” she said.

“Uh, let’s
see . . . we have
asshole, son-of-a-bitch, fucker
, am I leaving anything
out?”

“And taken in
context, all used appropriately,” Stacy fired back.

“You two
sound like an old married couple, ‘
nag, nag, nag
’,” said Eli. 

“Fuck off,
Eli!” Stacy and Niki said in unison.

“Add another
one to the list,” said Niki, pointing at Stacy. 

“Don’t point
your finger at me, unless you want me to break it,” she threatened.

“Point . . .
point . . . point,” Niki said, jabbing his finger at her each time he said it. 
He couldn’t resist tormenting her.

“Stop it!”
Stacy grabbed his finger and pushed his hand away from her.  She took a sip of
her drink to hide her smile.  She should have eaten something because she was
already getting a buzz.  

Niki got up,
laughing.  “Anybody want to swim?” he said, taking off his shirt.

Stacy caught
herself staring at his chest. It was bare, except for a small tuft of hair
right in the middle. 
They should bronze that body and make a statue out of
it
, she thought.

“You want to
swim?” he asked her.

Stacy took
the last sip of her drink and thought about it.  “Why not?” she said.  She was
stiff from sitting and she ached when she stood. 

Niki jumped
in and shouted up to her.  “You better go in from the stairs.”

Stacy climbed
down the steps with Eli behind her, and she pushed off into the water.  It was
deeper than it looked and she couldn’t touch the bottom.  She was having to
move her legs to stay above water and each movement brought a stab through her
side.   The current was carrying her further from the steps and Eli could tell
she was struggling so he swam over to her.

“Here,” he
said, offering his arm. 

Stacy hated
to do it, but it was either that or sink.  She grabbed on to Eli’s arm.  “Can
you touch?” she asked.

“Just,” he
said. 

She moved
closer to him and held on to his shoulder so she wouldn’t drag Eli under. 

Eli loved
it.  “I bet it really pisses you off to have to accept help from me,” he said.

 “You have no
idea,” Stacy admitted.  She held on to Eli as he walked back over to the
stairs.  His shoulders were strong and muscular and if he hadn’t been such an
asshole she might have enjoyed it.

Stacy sat
down on a step.  “That hurt,” she said.  She pulled her shirt up and examined
the bandage.  There was a stain of green ointment mixed with blood seeping
through and it looked disgusting.   “Gross,” she said.

“What’s up?”
Niki said, swimming up to the steps.

“She was
drowning so I saved her,” Eli stated.

“I was not
drowning
,”
she said exasperated.  “I was in pain.”