فصل 25

25

Pineapple Pie

Ostin woke to the sound of knocking. “Hey, Thomas,” Jack said. “You alive in there?” Ostin looked around, trying to remember where he was. “Yeah. Sorry. I fell asleep.” “Save some water for the fish.”

“I’ll hurry.” Ostin got up and quickly washed himself with a bar of soap, rinsed out his clothing, and then hung them up on the rod where Jack’s clothes had been. He turned off the water and got out, hung Jack’s clothes back up next to his own, then dried himself off with a towel.

“Did Vishal come back with some clothes?” Ostin asked.

“Yeah, I put them on the floor outside the door. You’re going to love the shirt.” Ostin opened the door, reached out, and grabbed the clothes. Folded on top was a pink cotton T-shirt that read: PROUD TO BE A

FIJIAN

HOTTIE

“What the . . .”

“Pretty awesome, right?” Jack said. “Vishal said it’s the only thing he could find your size.” “Great,” Ostin said to himself. He looked at the shorts. At least they looked like something a guy would wear. He pulled on the shorts, put the T-shirt on inside out, then came out. Jack and Vishal both looked up at him.

“Your T-shirt’s inside out,” Vishal said.

“It’s the way the cool kids wear it in America,” Ostin said.

“You’re not in America,” Vishal said.

“That’s okay,” Ostin replied. “I’m not one of the cool kids either.” Jack grinned.

Vishal suddenly stood. “If you’ll excuse me now, I need to go back to work.” “Vishal leads shark dives,” Jack said. “For tourists.” “In parts of Fiji, the shark is worshipped as a god,” Vishal said. “Perhaps the one who bit your raft was a great god bringing you to me.” “Perhaps,” Ostin said. “Thank you for all your help.” “You’re welcome. I’ll be back around seven o’clock. I think maybe you both need some rest. I have a big bed in that room. You can sleep. When I come back, we’ll get some dinner. In the morning I can drive you to Suva.” Jack raised his eyebrows. “Suva?”

“Yes. Your hotel.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Ostin said.

“It’s no problem. It’s only one hundred and eighty-seven kilometers. About a two-hour drive each way,” Vishal said.

“We’ll just take a bus,” Ostin said.

Vishal raised his hand to silence their protests. “It’s no problem. I have friends in Suva that I would like to see. It will be a nice day for a drive. In the meantime, help yourself to anything you’d like to eat. There is pineapple pie in the refrigerator.” “Thank you,” they both said in unison.

After Vishal walked out of the house, Jack said, “I can’t believe he’s just leaving us alone in his house. We could totally rip him off.” “They’re trusting people,” Ostin said.

“They’d have to be to fall in with the Elgen.” “Maybe Vishal is Elgen.”

“Stop that already,” Jack said. “That’s just paranoid. When was the last time an Elgen fed you anything besides Rabisk?” He stood. “Anyway, he’s gone and I need sleep before stealing a boat.” “Me too,” Ostin said. “Some of that pineapple pie and sleep.” They walked into the kitchen and helped themselves to large pieces of pie. After they’d eaten, they went into the bedroom. They both stood there looking at the bed.

“Never slept in the same bed as a guy,” Ostin said.

“No big deal,” Jack said, sitting down and taking off his shoes. “In the old days, gold miners used to sleep like six guys to a bed. Probably sounded like a log mill, with all that snoring. You ever share a bed with anyone?” “No. Maybe with my parents when I was little.” “When I was little, we only had room for three beds. My parents took one, my sister took one, and I shared a bed with my brother. And he wet the bed.” “I could have lived the rest of my life not knowing that,” Ostin said.

“Yeah, now he’s a marine.” Jack looked at him. “You don’t wet the bed, do you?” Ostin looked at him. “No.”

“Good. Because I just got dry clothes.” * * *

They slept soundly for several hours. It was after sundown when Jack woke to the sound of someone entering the house. Instinctively his first thought was of danger. He lay quietly with one eye opened, focused on the door, watching it slowly open.

Vishal stuck his head inside. “Hello?” He turned on the light. “Wake up, gentlemen. Or you won’t sleep tonight.” “What time is it?” Jack asked.

“What day is it?” Ostin asked.

Vishal smiled. “It’s the same day it was when you came to my beach. And it’s dinnertime. I will take you out to dinner. Do you like pizza?” “We love pizza,” Ostin said, suddenly feeling more awake.

“I thought so. Americans love their pizza.”