Authors: John Strauchs
Jared woke around eight o’clock.
That was unusual, he thought.
He slipped out
of bed without waking Jenny.
The sun was beaming through the window and one shaft
of light fell across the bed. The soft downy hairs on the small of Jenny’s back were illuminated. It gave her a glow. She was tanned everywhere except her buttocks. The white
skin seemed to emphasize them and made her look especially nude. He felt a stirring in
him. She was sleeping on her stomach, curled up around a large pillow.
He pulled back the sheet some more. Her long hair shimmered in the sunlight
every time she moved.
She wasn’t wearing perfume but her natural scent was intoxicating. She was so captivating. He sat in a chair for a while and just looked at her sleeping.
He never thought that it was possible that he could fall in love.
Yet, he loved her so
much that it hurt. This was all new to Jared.
He left the bedroom and went to take a shower.
Ginger knew that he was finally
up. He could smell the coffee brewing. He went into the shower room. The shower felt
so good. Moments later, Jenny walked in.
No one had every called him darling. He liked it.
It was a comfortable, homey
feeling. Jared never had a home before—or at least not for a very long time.
She smiled and stepped into the shower with him. They kissed. They were quick
kisses. She looked so sexy wet.
She could have waited to take a shower after his, but to Jenny, this was a small
part of not having secrets or private things with someone you loved. She didn’t want any
facet of her life to be a secret to him. It was a small demonstration of her desire to be as
open and honest with him as was humanly possible
He didn’t think that he was ready to share his “
private things
.” Not yet. It was
much too soon.
In fact, he hoped that he never would have to, but he couldn’t imagine
how it could be avoided.
It was nice that the bathroom had two vanities, she thought.
He shaved and she
dried her hair and put on some makeup. This was definitely a makeup day. She noticed
that he looked on intently as she put on lipstick. She enjoyed his attention. He wasn’t a
virgin but he obviously hadn’t been with many women. That thought pleased her.
She wasn’t going to work today. She wanted to spend the entire day with him.
She had to go back to Cambridge this evening.
She wanted as much of him today as he
was willing to give her.
While Jared was cleaning the boats, Jenny borrowed one of Jared’s many laptops
and began to enter the research data she had collected over the past few days, setting it up
in tables for her doctoral thesis. It was slow and tedious work and she wasn’t that good
with Microsoft Word.
Excel was great but Word was not user friendly when it came to
making tables.
Jared seem to like to work on the floor but it made her stiff and her back began to
ache from leaning over for so long. She needed a break. Jenny went into the kitchen and
poured a glass of iced tea.
She took it out to the veranda where she could flop into
Jared’s marvelous hammock.
As she sidled into the hammock, some movement outside
caught her eye.
She instantly recognized the red shorts.
With her drink in hand, she
stepped outside and began to walk to where she had seen Jared.
She couldn’t believe her eyes.
He wasn’t cleaning boats.
He was playing with
boomerangs. She counted. He had two flying…no three…it was incredible…he had four
flying. As each boomerang arrived, he only took a step, at most, to catch it and send it up
again. Most of the time he didn’t move. His movements were so graceful. She watched
as they would climb, then circle, and then return to him.
That evening he took her back to the mainland. She pulled her Land Rover out of
the garage. He piled her things in the back seat.
“I’ll be back next weekend,” she said.
She was choked up with emotion. She had forgotten about the cut on his forehead
until now as she was holding the image of his wound in her memory.
It was completely
clear. The skin was a little paler, but that was all she could see. She was confused, trying
to remember what it looked like after he fell. He was talking to her.
“I’ll miss you, Jared. I’ll call when I get in.?”
“Ahhh…Do you think phone sex is gross?” he asked.
“No. I suppose not. I’ve never tried it.”
“Then be ready for something special when you call,” he said. She smiled.
They kissed. Hard kisses.
“Bye.”
“Bye, Jared.” She drove off.
He said nothing. He should have said something. But what? He watched until her
taillights disappeared on the horizon.
He took the boat back to the island. He walked up to the house and went in. Ginger was turning the lights on as he entered.
Mozart came on.
“Music off,” he said. The
stillness of the house was unbearable.
He turned Ginger off.
He went into his den to
read. He missed Jenny. He wanted to tell her how he felt about her, but was afraid to.
That was a new emotion he had never experienced before.
Fear!
He wanted to understand it but then repeated to himself over and over, “
analysis is paralysis
.” Sex was very
important to Jared.
It was his Rosetta stone to ordinary people.
He always knew that.
Sex was the one thing—the only thing—he had in common with everyone else. “
But
then
,” he thought, “
maybe love worked that way too
.” He wasn’t sure. It was alien territory. Jenny was gone and he was lonely again.
It would take her a few hours to get to
Cambridge. He didn’t want to miss her call so he put his cell phone in his pocket.
“Damn it,” he said out load.
He forgot to give her his cell phone number.
He
rarely gave that number to anyone. Jared never forgot anything, but this—he forgot. He
left the house to run laps around the pond.
The darkness was not a problem for Jared.
Forgetting something that important was the problem. Why did it happen?
Decayed thoughts were seeping back into his consciousness.
Jared recognized it
for what it was, sophomoric debating.
He couldn't stop it. His personalities argued with
one another as he ran.
What greater good was served by his existence?
Why was there
so little in life that gave him pleasure?
Why bother living at all? Did he have a conscience like other people did? Are there any absolute values in the universe? Was all morality simply contrived by humanity? He didn't like the answers spoken in his mind.
He stopped at the pond and sat down on a log. The evening chill was relaxing. He
watched a pair of loons swimming in the gloaming. They mated for life. He wondered if
there were any meaningful differences between him and the loons. Intelligence was a veneer. It was like beautiful furniture. The mass of the furniture was in the base wood, not
the thin shiny layer you could see. And yet, there were profound differences at the genetic level. Jared had no intrinsic drive to make sure his chromosomes survived after his
death.
He wasn't entirely certain of it, but he didn't think he had any paternal instincts.
The death of people around him had little significance to his life.
He never mourned.
And yet, he did feel deep grief when his parents died. This was all confusing to Jared and
confusion was an extreme rarity for him.
Not understanding.
That made the depression
so much worse.
He understood the clinical process of depression and the chemical imbalances that exacerbate those feelings, but that did little to help him cope with it. The
Black Dog was back.
Being alive had no long lasting meaning for Jared. That much he understood. He
stood and continued his run. He couldn't run fast enough. He couldn't outrun the wind at
his back.
“Your Spanish is not very good.
There is too much static on the line. Please
speak English,” said Rubio.
Sami was amused.
Sami’s Greek and Italian were pretty good, but he knew his
Spanish was bad. It was too different from Italian.
“OK, speak English. Why you not learn Russian when you study in Russia?”
Rubio winced. Sami’s English was worse. It had to do. He didn’t want to annoy
him much more. The money hadn’t arrived yet. He had to be friendly.
“I didn’t think I would need it. All the courses were in Spanish. Anyway, I have
the equipment we need in the cabin. Not the one by the lake but the one…”
“No name. Do not say name,” said Sami.
“I wasn’t going to.
As I was saying, all the gear we need is assembled.
I leased
the RV.
I can also quickly lease a helicopter if we need it. I need American money
soon,” said Rubio.
“Excellent. Money arrive soon. Not to worry,” said Sami.
“The aerial photographs of the island were very expensive,” said Rubio.
“Yes, and for that too. Is plan finished? I want see plan as soon as finished,” said
Sami.
“No, it will be a few weeks yet.
I am sending someone to do reconnaissance on
the ground. He will pose as a fisherman. Photographs are important but we also need information from human eyes,” said Rubio.
“THREE WEEKS COCK SUCKER. NO MORE,” said Sami.
“You do not wish to rush this.
We must be thorough.”
Rubio hated talking to
Sami. He was a crude and ignorant man.
“Be thorough in three weeks. No more.”
“OK. Three weeks,” said Rubio
“Russian
fail
because
took
too
much
time.
He
lost
surprise.
This
fellow…rabbit…should not be underestimated,” said Sami.
“I didn’t know the Russian, but I heard he was sloppy and missed.”
“Yes, that true, but you must listen. Rabbit intelligent. He sense danger just like
rabbit. He strong. He fast. I say this before. If you believe easy, you fail.”
“I do not fail. That is why I am careful and why I want to take as much time as is
needed. If you rush this, you could cause failure.
I will do as you command, but I recommend that you think about this,” said Rubio.
Sami thought about this for a moment.
“OK, take more time.
You must keep me informed.
Use Internet like before,”
said Sami.
“I need more passports…for the cold country,” said Rubio.
Sami was not happy.
“How many more?”
“I need five more,” said Rubio.
“Each one increase risk.
The cold country not stupid.
You must be careful and
you must separate. You know this.”
“Yes, Yes, I know this,” said Rubio.
“We talk too long. What else?” asked Sami.
“Who is the traitor?
I would like to contact him by Internet when the time is
right. I must know for certain when the rabbit is on the island,” said Rubio.
“FUCK NO!
YOU WILL NOT KNOW HIM,” yelled Sami.
He calmed down.
“He must not know you. You only talk to me. He only talk to me.”
“Can I be certain that his information will be correct and will be timely?”
“Of course. This fellow is close to rabbit. They good friends,” said Sami.
“I have been told that the rabbit knows what people are thinking.”
“Forget that,” said Sami. “It not like you think. Not problem.”
“If he discovers the traitor, we are lost,” said Rubio.
“Traitor knows rabbit. Rabbit not suspect,” said Sami.
“The lives of my men depend on the traitor.
I have not even seen the rabbit. I
have no photograph of him as a man—only as a boy.”
“Yes, Yes, that true. I have thought of that.
Traitor will arrange for you to come
in contact with rabbit so you know what he look like. That will be soon.
You must be
ready.
You check Internet this evening.
I will post name of town you and men go to.
Rent room and wait hear from me,” said Sami.
“We need a new password. It has been a month,”
“Yes, of course. Your son’s name. It unusual name,” said Sami.
“No, it will not be my son’s name,” said Rubio.
“Why you make me angry? It will be son’s name.”
“It will not. Shall I hang up?” asked Rubio.
Sami was enraged. He had to kill this son of a bitch when it’s over. But for now,
he had to be nice. No one talks to Sami like that.
“OK, OK. Use name of lake at first cabin.”
“Yes, that will do,” said Rubio.
Rubio wanted to use long passwords consisting of letters, numbers, and characters, but he knew that Sami was too stupid to not screw it up. He wanted to use an operating system like Linux. If their security failed, it all failed. Rubio would protect himself.
He did agree that it was wise not to use scramble phones. They were too risky and difficult to get in Canada or the United States without attracting attention. At least that decision was smart.
“We talk too long,” said Sami. He hung up.
It was a sweltering hot afternoon.
Jenny loved driving his Lexus. It drove like
silk. Boston had been hot, but Maine felt hotter. It was difficult for Jenny to imagine that
Maine could be hotter. It was further north.
Even with the tinted windows, the sun kept
pumping through the glass on the driver’s side. Jared’s Lexus had excellent air conditioning, but Jenny kept adjusting the vents.
“I’ll hold the wheel. Take off your panties,” said Jared.
“You can’t be serious. I’m driving.”
“I’ll hold the wheel.”
She knew that this was a big turn on for Jared, so she relented. It wasn’t the first
time he asked her.
His need for sex play was escalating a little every week. He was beginning to concern her.
After all, she wasn’t Krissy and she was a good Lutheran girl.
Could Jared be getting bored with her so quickly?
Did he need this to stay interested in
her?
Was she putting up with it because she was afraid of losing him?
How much of it
was fun for her too? “
Some
,” she thought, but she would have preferred to not do it.
He grabbed the wheel and she lifted up and slid them off. She couldn’t get them
off her feet. Her foot came off the accelerator.
Jared reached down and untangled her.
He held them up and smiled.
“There better be a payoff. I don’t get anything out of this, mister.”
“You get great pheromones!” declared Jared.
“Oh thanks a lot.
I was running out of them,” she said. “It’s a little selfish. You