Fins(49)

“Then he shouldn’t be ruler,” I argued. “He has a responsibility and it seems that he’s not doing a good job. Maybe he should hand it off to someone who cares enough to be there.”

“Like you?”

“No!” I laughed. “I’m way too young! I wouldn’t know the first thing about ruling over people. But don’t you agree he should be there?”

“I guess. But usually someone who’s been given that position knows a lot better than everyone else how to deal with things.”

“But he’s not dealing with anything at all!”

Sam didn’t answer. He seemed lost in thought.

“You want to hang for a while when we get to Jamaica?” He asked. “You’ll probably need a break from swimming.”

I agreed. My whole body had started to ache from swimming against the currents.

“They’ve got a really great coconut drink. It keeps me coming back each time – that and the Jimmy Buffet music. I love that guy. I’ll introduce you to my friends and my lady, too. Everyone but her is human, so you’ll have to talk human the whole time.”

It was agreed and by the time we finally reached Jamaica, both of us were so exhausted, we dragged ourselves onto the beach, not bothering to phase at all. The dolphin surfaced a few yards from the beach and watched us briefly before disappearing beneath the waves.

“This part of the beach’s always deserted,” Sam wheezed and started to cough. Looking up at the sun, now quite a bit lower in the sky than when I had started in Vero, I shaded my eyes. Sam’s coughing worsened. I sat up and phased, pulling on my bikini bottom.

“Are you all right?” I asked, touching his weathered arm. “You don’t sound good at all.”

“Yeah, I’ll be ok,” he said pulling at a black sarong he had tied around his waist. As quickly as he had pulled it down, he had phased and stood up.

“Let’s go!” He started toward the palm trees. I looked back toward the ocean and sighed. Thayde would have to wait. As much as I wanted to see him, I was starving.

“You coming?” Sam called after me, and turning, I followed him into the palm trees.

The smell of barbeque was the first thing to hit me – it was divine and I was famished. It took us a good ten minutes before we happened upon a thick green lawn. The blades of grass tickled the bottom of my feet and I treaded as lightly as I could on them.

Several small huts sprawled about and a cobblestone pathway connected each of them to a larger house with a deck that ran all around it. A spiral of smoke poured into the sky from a barbeque pit dug in the earth by the side of the house. In it, a large pig roasted in the flames. Island music drifted out through the screen doors and beer bottles dotted the railing. I could hear laughter and splashing coming from somewhere.

“They must be in the pool.” Sam motioned with his head and walking around the side of the house, we came across a turquoise pool set in the grass. A group of people were milling around its sides and several more were playing chicken in the water.

“Sam!” A petite lady about his age called out and sauntered toward him.

“Liesa!” He held out his arms and she snuggled into him.

“Where the heck’ve you been?” She smiled and sucked on the end of her cigarette.

“Here and there.” He took the cigarette from her and crushed it into the ground. “These’ll kill you.”

She rolled her eyes and when she saw me, pulled away from him.

“And who’s this lovely little thing?”

“This is my friend, Morgan.”

She enclosed me in a tight embrace. “Any friend of Sam’s is a friend of mine!” She smelled like cloves and patchouli. “You guys hungry?”

“Yes ma’am!” Sam reached into a cool box by the side of the pool and pulled out a beer. “There’s pop in here, too.” He chucked a soda at me and I gulped it down.

“Sam!” More and more people realized he’d arrived and many gave him a huge hug. It was evident Sam was well liked. They treated me like an old friend, fussing over me and filling my hands with a plate full of food. Everyone was laid back and easygoing. They reminded me of the people of Idaho. These were my type of people.

After they had stuffed me full of food and drink, most of Sam’s friends went back to milling about. Sam and I relaxed in some Adirondack chairs made from surfboards and sucked down on our drinks. The sun had sunk lower in the sky and the golden light of sunset hugged the skyline.

It was then that I swore I heard someone calling my name. Looking about, everyone was busy talking or drinking. No one was looking my way. I shrugged. Perhaps I was more tired than I thought.