Chapter 7
W e continue walking down the market, eagerly pushing towards the end. There are hundreds of people swarming the area. People trying to haggle for a cheaper price and pick pockets moving through the crowd stealing collectibles to resell at their families booths. It's an endless cycle. Every alleyway we pass is filled with people either doing sketchy deals or there are dead bodies from starvation, slowly decomposing and mixing with the dirt and sand in the ground. The closer to the alley you get the more you can smell the rotting corpses festering in the sun's heat. We finally push through all the people and vendors and make our way towards our ship. The exit is far busier than the entrance was when we arrived. ?? ??I start to head towards the line but suddenly feel Ace grabbing the back of my tunic holding me still.
“Excuse me, sir! I would like to get back to our docking station before the night steals the daylight.” I playfully announce.
We try to get back to our docks before dark every day. The Island during the day is unsettling but at night, It's completely reckless. People get kidnapped, women raped, anyone can be murdered for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. All sense of humanity is tied to the sunlight.
“We are not going through that line! It’ll take ages to get through and I am starving. Walk the border with me?” He asks in his most charming voice. The tone he uses when he's confident he will get his way. Every time we come to this Island we have always walked the border at least once to exit. It’s nothing but a sandy beach and when the sun is going down, it's a beautiful view. Both the sky and ocean blend with the bold reds and oranges of the sunset. The ocean’s breeze wisps through your hair, erasing all of the negativity from the island. It’s a wonder we don’t see more people doing this. But for years it’s always just been our thing.
“Fine, Ace, I will walk the border.” My smile becomes larger with every word. I spin around and see Ace light up. His body is standing tall and confident again. No more slouching or sadness. In all honesty, I’d do anything to keep that smile on his face. I try to shove playfully into his arm but immediately bounce right off.
What a failed attempt .
I find myself rolling my eyes over his unmoved body, Though he found it amusing because he starts laughing. I scowl over at him but can’t help but to laugh as well.
“Ace! Abby!” Shouts a voice in the distance. We both spin around to the long security line and see my father standing right at the exit doors with a few other men and a bunch of wooden barrels and boxes full of food. “Hey, come give us a hand!” He shouts again.
Ace’s expression is overwhelmed in disappointment. “Duty calls.” He says, now staring out into the distant ocean. ??
“We always have tomorrow.” I respond sympathetically. I know he’s bummed but we aren’t done with this Island yet. It takes days for us to properly gather all the items needed for our next trip and to trade handyman services for all the items we get.
He nods in agreeance, though still very obviously disappointed and we run over to the items laying on the ground and pick them up. “They are with us.” My father gestures to Ace and I, speaking to the security guards. They look right at Ace and shout, “They’re good, let them through.”
It was strange that they were so willing to let us exit so easily while there was a huge line of people being patted down and they were checking all their items. That is the standard process to make sure people don’t take something of worth or sacred from the island. Maybe they just didn’t want to mess with Ace, or maybe it had something to do with Ace’s conversation back at the boot makers. I pick up a large crate of fruit and follow my father through the doors.
We drop the items down by the ship and continue back and forth until it is all sitting there. We had boarded right by all the storage buildings so we could keep adding things throughout the day and bring them up onto the ship all in one go.
“Ace, I need to do some things on the ship. Go ahead and empty out our storage and bring everything onboard.” My father demands as he pats him on the shoulder.
“You got it, Captain.” Ace replies.