12: Half a House

Vik

      I can't believe our luck. We may have actually found a good home.

      When we first arrived in the calm channel between an island and an abandoned town, Orion and I heavily debated which way we should go. It was only when I looked around with Reck's eyes did I decide we should head to the island. The abandoned town looked too obvious a choice. Plus, with Amina, I'd hoped the island would have less of a predator problem. I'd seen a few ruins amongst the trees, so I knew there would be at least a place to start. Little did I know there would be people living in the ruins, and least of all did I expect to see Rohan.

     Our first night was easier than I thought it'd be.

     Orion chose to sleep in what used to be the woman Yadira's hovel. It was a mess, but Orion was tired and just happy to sleep on a bed.

     Zuri and Amina took over what was only a slightly better hovel that the young man Asa once lived in. Asa showered her with blankets and things for Amina, but Zuri just complained of being hot, even though she was grateful.

     As for me, I dragged a mess of a single bed into the hollowed-out wreckage of an airplane. I don't mind sleeping alone. Zuri and I grew apart ever since running away from Reck's insanity. Not that I don't care for her or will stop taking care of our child, but there's nothing like being in constant close quarters to realize how much one doesn't have in common with the other one.
     I piled up a few tires for a chair of sorts, and I built a fire just for the sheer happiness that I could.
     I chuckle as I consider my new life. I think everything will be okay now. The people here are just as varied as Orion, Zuri, and I are. And I can tell that Rohan has done what he could in the past year, namely the newest construction for Asa.

     It's a small dwelling with glassless windows situated right in front of the crashed plane. He explained he planned on putting fabric or whatever over them, but I think I may be able to get some glass in place if I can find the right materials.
     Materials: There are LOADS of things I can work with here. For starters, the wings of this plane. They detached when it crashed. They're aluminum. Aluminum has a very low melting point for a metal.
     I don't want to step on any toes, and after a few days spent looking around and helping with menial chores, I watch everyone and determine the real leader of the group that was here before us is Sama.

     So the next morning, I wait for her to finish caring for her infant, and I ask her if she would walk outside with me to talk. We end up behind the also-new, small bathhouse.
     "This plane wing," I begin, "I think is a good place to start."
     "Start what?" She acts like she's still trying to figure me out, her exotic eyes watching me.
     I clear my throat and say a small prayer that I don't make her angry with what I say next. "This place is a mess, Sama. I realize you all have done what you could, but there is so much MORE than can be done with my help."
    "Oh thank the gods," she says in a rush of relief.

     "What?" I almost laugh. I'm asking her to elaborate.
     She takes a deep breath. "Rohan has really helped us. He's great at brickwork and construction, but he hasn't done anything with things here at our settlement. All he's been doing is scavenging, something Asa had been doing for years already, and he seems to want to pull things from other places rather than clean up what's right in front of him." She pauses. "Not that I want to speak badly of him, but... Well, I guess I just did." She has the biggest 'well, fuck' look on her face that I finally do laugh.

     "I'm sure he's been helpful. That idiot Reck made the Skeeves lose one of its best men."
     "I notice... You don't have the tattoo that Rohan says was a Skeeve thing. Orion does."
     "Yes. I was a latecomer. There were very few left from the original street gang. My home," I pause, reminding myself that it isn't my 'home' anymore, and I'd do well to stop thinking of it that way. I clear my throat. "Where I'm from was no longer inhabitable. There were oil spills and fire and mudslides, and well... I'm probably the only survivor. My point being: I managed to grab that sailboat before leaving the peninsula. At the rebuilt docks," Docks were always being rebuilt with the rapidly-rising sea levels, "I found something that I assumed would be very useful. It took a damn crane to get it aboard, but I managed it.
     "However, when I came upon the Skeeves, they already had one they'd found, so I left mine aboard the boat."
     "What is it?" she asks predictably.
     I smile. "A blacksmith anvil." I remember the day I found it. I couldn't believe my luck. It was worth the time spent repairing the crane to get it aboard, and I'm glad I left it on the boat. "It'll take a few of us to get it on a rowboat," I'd repaired a rowboat I found that had a few, minor problems, "and that's praying the rowboat can take its weight." I suppose if it doesn't, the channel isn't terribly deep. We could manage a kind of pulley system... But hopefully, it wouldn't come to that.

     "You mean to use with an actual FORGE?" Her eyes light up.

     "Yeah." I smile. "It won't be too hard to build the rest of the forge. I'm not too shabby with it, either." Am I bragging? I suppose I am. It's just I'll be damned before I let her think Rohan is the only decent builder out there. I'm itching to prove myself.

     "That's so exciting! So that's why you brought me here to talk about the wing? You want to start with it?"

      I relax, not even realizing I'd tensed up. Sama isn't some megalomaniac chieftain. I still feel better that I discussed things with her, or, well, am discussing things with her. I wonder what her story is, but I suppose I'll hear it eventually. At any rate, I felt that if there was a decision to be made to do with everyone, she would be the one making it.

     "Yes. I can make a few things, but mostly, it'll be to clean up the mess." I need to figure out a way to disassemble the huge fallen beam and the automobiles. They're steel. That means tools. And weapons.

Asa

     I'm all-too-happy to give away my old place to the new girl Zuri and her daughter. It still has my old bed upstairs, and I run and get whatever I can to make a bed for her toddler.

     Am I happy that there are yet MORE people here on our island? I'm not sure. I mean, that oaf Orion is really annoying, but, haha, that's mostly Rohan's problem, I think.

     At first, I thought Zuri and Vik were a couple, but I don't know anymore. They've hardly spoken to one another since they climbed the hill to the settlement. No, in fact, Zuri seeks me out every chance she gets.

     Like right now. Amina is asleep, and Zuri decided I show her my new house.
     "There isn't really much to see. I didn't need a lot of space, so Rohan and I fixed a couch we found and carried another bed up here. The rest of the things are just things I think are cool."
     She laughs her little laugh she does. "But you have many of these 'cool' things. Some books. Do you like to read?"

     "Uh," I blush a little, "no. Not really. Sama kind of pushed those on me. I don't mind." I almost say it doesn't matter because I finally have four walls and a roof over my head, but I stop myself, remembering she's living in my old space. Sure, it's livable in the warmer months, but with the entire back wall gone (probably blown off), it only felt like half a house.

     "Ah, but you are so smart, no? That is why Sama gave them to you, I am sure."
     Is she teasing me? I laugh nervously. "Sama just has a lot of books. There used to be a library here."
     "I will have to look at your books then. But I'll do that tomorrow." She pauses. "Have you always lived here?"

     "Not exactly here." I tell her how when Sama, Yadira, and I were all kids, we lived in the city across the channel. I tell her how I found Yadira and Sama found me. "Then one night, Sama swore she saw a tiger roaming the streets, sniffing as if to try to find us. That really freaked her out. I never saw the tiger myself, but I guess it could've been there. I think there was a zoo or something. We found a boat and came across to hide here and have been here ever since." The boat fell apart a few years after that.
     She nods as if understanding completely. "So you and Rohan's wife probably owe her your lives. I would not be surprised if the tiger was real, and I'm glad Sama saw it before it found you. Sama must mean a lot to you."
     I chuckle. "I guess she does, even though we butt heads all the time."

      "She is your girlfriend?"

     Whoa. "Uh, no." I try to swallow, but my mouth just went dry. Am I IMAGINING the little pout she did when she asked that? "We're just... No, we're not." Sure, I supposed it was going to happen out of necessity, but now... That's the last thing I want.

     She steps closer. "You have a cute nose, Asa."
     I blink. "I do?"
     She does her little giggle again. "Yes, you do." She reaches up and lightly runs her finger down my nose.
     My heart starts beating faster. Oh, fuck, I have no idea what to do here. Is she wanting me to kiss her? Because I'd be an idiot if I didn't want to. But she wants... ME?
      "And you have beautiful lips."

     That... just happened. And I want to kiss her, more than what she did to me, but I still can't get over the surprise that that really just happened.
     She watches me and smiles. "I should go and check on Amina." Her fingernail lightly skims my chest as she passes me to the door.
     I turn and watch her give me the most sultry smile I've ever seen as she quietly closes my front door.
     Minutes pass while I stand here with my hands on top of my head. Does she want me to follow her?