Chief Distraction (13 page)

Mak knew being rescued by an outside source
probably wouldn’t happen now. That made him the man for the job. He’d have to
get them out of this one without his trusted team backing him up.

Blythe let him go and wandered around the room,
her arms wrapped around her waist in a self-embrace. Mak watched her for a
moment, finding her vulnerability irresistible. “Let me take on the stress of
all this, Blythe. I’ll do the worrying for you.”

She stopped and stared him down. “Easier said
than done. You’ve been in these kinds of situations. Said so yourself. I
haven’t. I need a task, something to distract me from all this.”

“Okay, you can start by searching this shack for
anything useful.”

“Gladly.” Blythe walked with purpose toward the
cabinet. “Nothing’s going to come flying out at me, right?”

“Can’t promise you that.”

Blythe swallowed and stared at him. “I’ve had
enough surprises on this interview.”

Mak laughed. “Don’t worry, there aren’t any
animals on the island aside from a few monk seals at the shoreline and I don’t
think they’d be hiding in the cupboards.” He held his smile as he turned and
opened the top cupboards, rifling through empty glass jars and plastic bags.
“Aha, a first aid kit. Bonus.” He pulled it down and rested it on the small
wooden table. He turned toward the cabinet and yanked out another drawer. “A
drinking box!” He held it up and waved it around triumphantly. “We can share.
Hope you like apple.”

After inspecting the package of generic liquid,
Blythe downed her half of the drinking box before passing it back to Mak. She
then inspected the small package of crackers, flipping it over a few times in
curiosity. “There aren’t any expiry dates on this stuff.”

“Don’t think about it. Just eat,” Mak huffed. He
drained the rest of the drinking box and threw the carton onto the floor. The
acidic taste of concentrated apple made him thirstier, the small amount of
liquid a mere tease. “I still have to find us some water.”

“Is there another supply building or is this
it?” Blythe asked.

“You’re looking at it.”
 
“But what about those other
buildings? Are they empty?”

“They were used as storage for military gear and
as bunkhouses long ago.”

“So we can sleep in a bunkhouse?” Blythe asked.
“Like the scientists do?”

Mak shook his head. “No, the scientists rarely
sleep on the island. If they do they tent in another area, close to their
research. Besides, scientific expeditions are few and far between here. Depends
on the time of year.”

“Hmm.”

“Are you tired then? I’m surprised you can think
of sleep at a time like this,” Mak asked.

“I’m exhausted, but I have no plans to sleep
until we’re rescued…if we ever are. Can we lock ourselves in the bunkhouse for
the night and stay protected? Maybe we’ll find some blankets for warmth.”

“That’s not a bad idea. Lets make sure we’ve
cleaned this place out of anything that might be useful first.”

They
left the safety of the shack and ran for the bunkhouse. Mak knew which one was
best from previous visits. Darkness settled around them as they ran, making
Blythe feel a little less exposed and overt. Even so, in the sudden quiet she
was sure she’d seen movement behind a window of one building as they’d passed.

“Did you see that?” she asked.

“See what?”

“I could have sworn I saw something move over
there, in that building.”

They ducked into the shadow of the bunkhouse and
waited, straining to hear something, anything. Blythe’s senses felt acutely
heightened, like her sight and smell and hearing was supersonic.

“Was it a person?” Mak asked.

Just as she was about to answer, a door creaked
open in an adjacent building and slammed shut, then opened and shut again in
the wind.

“It was probably just the wind then,” she
confessed, feeling paranoid.

They kept moving around the building until they
reached the front door. Mak twisted the knob and it opened, making him leery
that it wasn’t locked like all the others. Cautiously entering the open-concept
cinderblock building, Blythe expected to see row after row of military style
cot beds, all made with care, blankets pulled so tightly you could bounce a
quarter on them. Instead they found a long empty space with two piles of metal
cots stacked in the corner, the exposed springs giving the beds a barbaric,
dated look from another era. The thin mattresses were rolled and tied with
twine and then stacked on a table against the wall. Beside the mattresses were
stacks of folded grey blankets. Blythe walked over and ran a hand over a
blanket, feeling the starchy woolen texture and cringing. “Not the coziest
accommodations.”

“But they’ll do?”

“I guess. There isn’t much in here of any use,”
she said, skirting the parameter of the room until she reached a metal storage
cabinet. She unlatched the handle and the door swung open to reveal bare
shelves. Bending, she inspected each shelf with sincere gullibility that a
hidden treasure was surely awaiting her at the bottom. And to her surprise, she
found something on the very last shelf.

“Binoculars. These will be useful,” she placed
the leather strap around her neck and wore them proudly. They grew heavy by the
time she’d walked back to Mak so she placed them on the window ledge.

“Better keep clear of the windows, Blythe. We
don’t want to attract any unwanted attention,” Mak said as he lifted one cot
and then another from the pile. The beds creaked on their frames as he placed
them side-by-side at a distance from the window. “Wanna grab a few blankets
while I unroll the mattresses?”

“Sure.” She flicked the blanket and it spread
down the length of the small cot. “How are you ever going to fit in one of
these things?”

“I’ll manage. It’s better than the ground.” Mak
tucked the ends under haphazardly. “There we go. Hop in, your luxurious bed
awaits.”

Blythe giggled, forgetting for a second where
they were and why they were running. It felt good to laugh, like a slice of
normal in the twilight zone they now found themselves. She lay in one bed to
test it out, the springs creaking and bowing with each toss and turn she made
to get comfortable.

“Well this is…nice,” she said with condescension
before hopping out.

Mak grabbed two folded blankets from the pile.
He sauntered over to the wall and threw each one down beside it. “I’ll go
looking for a cistern in a few minutes. Just want to rest for a second.” He
slid down the wall onto the folded blanket. He leaned back with his legs
outstretched and crossed his ankles. “I’ve gotta think of a plan.”

“
We
have to think of one. You’re not in this
alone, Mak.”

He tilted his head up at her and patted the
second blanket. “Have a seat.” He watched as she cautiously followed suit,
sitting close but not too close. She was holding it together better than he expected.
Even still, he knew that despite their dire situation, she was fully aware of
his curse – even though it seemed more absurd now than ever. “What have
you heard about me?” There was no time like the present for some honesty. He’d
been honest with her, now he expected the same.

“What do you mean?” she said a little too
defensively.

“Well, are you superstitious?”

“Depends on your definition. I avoid black cats
if that’s what you mean.”

“I mean do you believe in our island
traditions?”

Blythe paused as if pondering her present
situation. No doubt thinking his curse had roped her in along with him. “I’m
certainly beginning to believe. More than ever before.”

“You know about my curse. I can tell.”

She hesitated. “Yes, I’ve heard.”

“I’m just trying to figure out which version
you’ve heard.”

“Lou told me the true version this afternoon.
Before that, I’d heard the false version.”

Mak snapped his fingers. “I knew it. I figured
something had changed when I picked you up at the peer. You seemed different.”

“Nicer?” Blythe smiled.

“Yes. Nicer. Or was it pity?”

Blythe turned serious. “You’re too strong in
character to pity, Mak. Only weakness should be pitied.”

“Then what?”

“Admired. I admire how you shoulder the brunt of
your grief, how you stay.”

“No other choice. This is my life.”

“I guess I don’t understand why you don’t tell
everyone what really happened?”

“There’s no point. People believe what they
want. To make things worse, some hotshot reporter wrote an article about the
damn curse and I swear everyone on the island read it. How can I convince an
entire island what really happened when they’ve read a different version in the
paper? People believe what’s in print.”

                 
<><><>

Blythe
gulped and stayed mute.

“Thing was, the article wasn’t accurate. Damn
near ruined me. Said I was this womanizing bastard and my ex-girlfriend placed
a curse on me. The article was written to make a point that if everyone
believed in curses, more women would be cursing their boyfriends and where
would that leave us? The reporter basically said people in Maui are gullible
and will believe anything. It was very derogatory.”

“So the reporter used your story as an example
to make a generalization?” Blythe tried to make him realize that he shouldn’t
have taken it personally – though she did regret writing it now more than
ever.

“Yes, it was supposed to be a generalization,
but the writer published my name and where I live in the article. My story was
what every woman in Maui clung too and my love life has deteriorated ever
since.”

“Who wrote it?” Blythe chanced asking, holding
her breath.

“Someone who’s name I’ll never forget. Angela
Dyson. Thing is, she wrote the article from Chicago after digging up the local
dirt in Maui. She worked for some gossip rag. Hey, maybe you know her? You’re
from Chicago, aren’t you?”

Blythe shook her head a little too vigorously.
“Nope, never heard of her.”

“Hmm. I thought maybe. I’m sure the world of
journalism is tight, being so competitive and all.”

“Nope, Chicago’s a really, really big city. I
have no idea who she is. What did you mean by she ‘worked’ for a gossip rag? Do
you know where she works now?” Again, Blythe’s adrenaline spiked.

“No. I tried to track her down but her trail ran
cold. Seems she dropped off the face of the earth – which suits me just
fine. She’ll never know how damaging that article was to me. Like I said, it
kicked me while I was down. And it was so random, so out of the blue. I often
wonder what I’ve done to deserve being treated like that. I’ve been forced to do
a lot of soul-searching.”

“And? What’s the verdict?”

“I’m an innocent victim. Even so, I refuse to
play the victim role. Life’s too short.”

She appreciated his honesty. But there was no
way in hell she was going to reciprocate. Not now, not ever.

“You put that much stock in the elder’s
spiritual preaching that you’ve believed in this curse all these years?”

“Yes, Blythe, I do. We do – the entire
community. The elder was taught by her Kupuna, one of the last great Kahuna of
our time.”

“Kapuna?”

“Her father. She shares his blood, his gifts.
She is a vehicle for the Uhane Hemolele.”

“Holy Spirit?” Blythe chuckled. “You’re joking,
right?”

“Please, Blythe, we take this very seriously.
Mainlander’s are very limited in their understanding of such things.”

Blythe leaned away. “Well, excuse me.”

“She can also see the future as Akua allows it.”

“Hmm, a Hawaiian fortune teller. How much does
she charge?”

Mak shook his head. He wondered why someone so
beautiful hid behind a wall of sarcasm. Self-preservation, he thought. Didn’t
everyone have a reason? “See. You don’t get it.”

“Listen, Mak, I’m a hard facts kind of girl in
case you hadn’t noticed. My dad is a physician; my mom’s a lawyer. I was
brought up on concrete thinking. There was no room for flights of fancy in my
household.”

“No room for flights of fancy? Well isn’t that a
shame.”

“I’m serious. It was a no-nonsense environment,
very practical. Rachel has her moments of belief, but for the most part she’s
the same. She’s a Systems Analyst for goodness sake!”

“Well I’m sorry about that. You must have
something magical that you believe in. What about Santa Claus?”

“Let’s just say I knew Santa was a marketing
fabrication right off the bat. My parents didn’t think it was fair to lie to
their children.”

“Lie to their children? What about creating myth
and enjoying the fantasy?”

“Nope.” The silent lull that suddenly fell
between them was charged. “Maui’s quite a special place. I could certainly
learn about it’s magic from just being here, like osmosis,” Blythe blurted,
attempting to clear the air. “It has to be special to make you stay.”