Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
CASH
I regret this decision already. Onyx isn’t wrong.
If I had to list all the people I know without a doubt that I could trust with this secret, it would be a very short list. To be honest, I don’t think my parents would make the list. Not because they’re bad people, but it would be just too juicy a topic, and they wouldn’t be able to help themselves.
The longer you’re on Kala, the more aware you become that there’s no such thing as a secret.
I’m not exaggerating when I say that the year after high school, while Lie was away, the biggest hot topic was our classmate Nate’s sex life.
Nate dated everyone, and he had a habit of getting it on in public.
Did you hear where Nate was caught last night?
Hmm. Now that I think about Nate, I wonder what happened to him. Last I knew, he worked in customer service. Is he still there?
I shake my head. Anyway. My point is that nothing is off limits. Arguably, Nate liked being the center of attention, or he would have learned after the first whispers spread around the island. All the same, there’s no such thing as privacy in a place like Kala.
That means my options for complete secrecy are limited to Onyx and… myself, I suppose.
I have the map of Kala laid out on the table. It’s not one of those tourist maps where it’s all cartoonish and only shows the paid sponsors on an exaggerated large scale. It’s kind of geographical with topographic lines and a few key features noted, such as the airport.
On top of the map is my notebook with my list of places I want to hit on this tour.
My goal is to move us around and through the entire island chain, showing the more exciting features and the most fascinating lore.
Fascinating to me, anyway. I think they’ll like it, even if they’ve heard it before.
Then I plan to just cruise around for a little while and let them enjoy each other’s company without my constant chatter. That’s the plan.
The knock on the front door makes me jump. It’s not ridiculously loud or anything. But I know who it is.
“It’s open!” Dad calls from around the corner.
I look up as the door opens, and Onyx steps inside. His eyes immediately meet mine, and my stomach flips with nerves. He steps inside, smiling at me. I don’t return it and turn my attention back to the map.
Yes, I regret this already.
My parents come around the corner as Onyx stops at the table where I am. “You ready to discuss your secret project?” Pops asks.
I roll my eyes. They’re annoyed in a playful way that I won’t tell them the secret.
All they know is that I’m doing my very first private tour.
I’m as excited as I am nervous. It helps that I’ve known these guys my entire life.
I’m actually really impressed that they’ve managed to keep their secret thus far.
“Yep,” I answer. “Go over there, please.” I wave to the living room.
Pops kisses my head. “Alright, alright. We’ll give you privacy. When you’re finished, we’ll get dinner ready and eat outside. It’s going to be a perfect night.”
“Okay, Pops,” I agree.
Though I feel a little foolish that my parents are taking time off, so I’m not in a position where I’m alone with Benson, I really do love having them home more. Of course, I knew I missed them, but I hadn’t realized just how much I missed them until they began to be home most nights.
My fathers leave us at the table and cross the wide-open space to sit on the couch at the far end. They flick the television on and cuddle up together. I smile when I catch them sneaking a kiss.
I love how much my dads still love each other.
“So,” Onyx says, “how’ve you been?”
I glare at him, and Onyx holds up his hands placatingly. A smile fights to come out as he looks at me.
“Here’s the route I’m thinking of taking. Mind you, I know nothing about where you can take the boats, so you’ll have to tell me.”
I drag my finger from the docks on Anapos and weave around the islands. Onyx doesn’t say anything as he watches until I’m done.
“One more time around Etsumi,” Onyx says.
Once again, I trace the line.
“There’s a sandbar here,” he says before I finish the loop. “Are you circling there because you want to go around all the islands, or is there something specific you want to see there?”
“So, I came across some stories that if you park somewhere around here and look at Etsumi, you can see the shape of a sleeping woman in the natural features.”
“Is that the only thing you want to see in that area?” Onyx asks.
I shake my head. “There’s supposedly underwater ruins right there.
A story from a few hundred years ago says that the islands we call Etsumi and Ceto were connected by an elaborate land bridge, but the inhabitants disrespected the island gods, so Mount Pepper erupted and spat big rocks to collapse the bridge.
I’ve read accounts that people have seen rocks that could either be those thrown from the volcano or are part of the old bridge. ”
“Bottom line is you’d like to go between the two islands,” Onyx says.
“Ideally, yeah.”
“You know, the ferries don’t even move between the two islands.”
“I heard that there’s a curse and the ferries are no longer allowed to travel that route.”
“Because of the sandbar,” Onyx muses.
“Or, because the volcano goddess is angry that the people who once lived on Ceto and Etsumi polluted that part of the water, and she vowed that she’d take lives until the water is clear again. It is cloudier there than anywhere else around the islands.”
Onyx watches me, a smile playing on his lips. I cross my arms in challenge.
“I thought there was a volcano god? Not a goddess.”
“The god has a daughter, of course. All gods have children.”
“Ah.”
I glare at him, but Onyx turns back to the map. “Maybe we can figure something else out. Which part of Etsumi is the sleeping woman seen from, and why can’t we see it from shore?”
“It’s here.” I point at the area that’s pretty much directly in the middle of the island, over the cloudy water area. Where the sandbar is, apparently. “You can’t see it from Ceto because of the angle. You have to be somewhere in the middle of the water between the islands.”
Onyx nods. “Maybe we need to adjust the route a little so we come in from this direction. I think the sandbar is right here, so I can’t get there from that side. Is there a reason you wanted to go in that direction?”
My shoulders rise, and I shake my head. “Not really. It was about the most sensible route where we could hit all the places I wanted to talk about.”
He pulls my notebook toward him. “These places?”
“Yes.”
Onyx looks over my list, turning the page to see the back of the page where it continues. “How long do you expect this tour to be?”
“Well… do you have a time limit?”
“I’m yours all day.”
My heart skips around like it’s playing hopscotch. “I think the talking part will be ninety minutes, but then I thought we’d float around somewhere somewhat private for them for a while. Or maybe go out to sea a bit. Not far because I didn’t reserve that kind of boat.”
“Do you have something we can use to mark all the locations from your list on the map? I’m thinking pins, but without stabbing the table. Maybe we can adjust the route a little bit—still hit all your places but avoid the sandbars and reefs.”
I stare at the map for a minute as I consider the things I have that aren’t pins but can be used in the same fashion. Oh. Maybe…
Leaving Onyx at the table, I head to my bedroom.
I don’t think I have anything that will work, but I bet Lie does.
The majority of my closet is filled with bins and boxes filled with dick things.
Lie calls it cockerabelia. Random shit shaped with dicks or has random parts of their bodies swapped out for a dick.
Like the octopus with all eight legs ending in a cockhead.
Or the new stemware and the flute portion of the champagne glasses are upside-down dicks.
Lie’s mother is a little… I wouldn’t call her conservative or a pearl-clutcher exactly, but she would certainly not find the humor in any of it.
His dad would, but not his mother. So his ever-growing collection is stashed here and hidden throughout his room.
I think he has things sent to Laiken’s house, too.
I open the bin on top with all the little things. There are smaller plastic containers filling it, all with something different inside. If I’m not mistaken, there’s something very specific… “Ah.” I close my hand around the small container and then shake it with a grin. “Perfect.”
Returning to the table, I set it down and open it up before I begin to place the individual items all around the islands. Onyx leans closer and then starts laughing.
“That gives a whole new meaning to microdick,” he says, still laughing.
I grin. They’re tiny 3D-printed penises of various colors. They’re maybe half an inch tall, and I’m being generous. They’re slender, though, so they do the trick. Not quite as concentrated in a tiny area as a pinpoint would be, but this is perfect.
“Lie doesn’t discriminate on size. He thinks all dicks are beautiful,” I tell him.
Once again, Onyx laughs.
He watches as I go through my list and put a dick on every spot that I want to hit. There are just over three dozen, which might be overkill.
“You have something to say about every one of these spots, do you?” Onyx asks.
“Yes! So many of these are far more interesting than the things that the tours currently talk about, too. The tours seriously just commercialize all the stops. They’re pointing out expeditions and whatever.
There are some really amazing things I think people would love to hear about because they’re interesting. ”
I stop talking because Onyx is watching me. The way he’s looking at me makes me blush. “What?”
“I forgot how much you love Kala and its history.”
“Yes, well…”
“I love that about you,” he says, voice quiet. “Most people don’t have that kind of passion about anything, much less where they live. Your excitement has a way of making everyone excited about the story you’re telling them.”
I’m not sure how to answer that, so I don’t. I pick absently at the corner of my notebook.
“Let me think about it for a minute,” he says, turning his attention back to the map. “I understand your logic in circling the islands like that, but you didn’t take into account the areas where boats aren’t allowed.”
“The sandbar?”
“There are others, too. This one right here.” He touches the corner above Makara.
“This area is protected because of Mount Pepper’s lava flow.
Right here is closed too because the water has shifted the sands and uncovered old pier posts off Bane.
The constant waves are bringing them up, and they’ve reached a height where they could cause damage to boats passing overhead if hit in just the wrong way. ”
“I didn’t know any of that.”
“There’s a bulletin sent to everyone who holds a captain’s permit, either when something changes or once a month, whichever comes first.”
“Oh, that’s cool.”
Onyx nods. “I don’t drive often anymore, but I still read the reports every time there’s a new one. Just in case.”
“In case you eavesdrop and insert yourself into someone else’s business?”
His smile isn’t the least bit apologetic. “There’s that. I’d do a lot more to spend time with you again.”
I ignore his comment. We’re only talking about the boat and the tour and where the boat can go or whatever. Nothing else is an approved topic.
We sit at the table in silence as Onyx stares at the map.
Keeping him in my periphery, I study him.
His facial hair is scruffy, probably a few days’ growth.
His hair stands up at odd angles, as if he’s run his hand through it too many times, or maybe it’s windy out.
I can’t really see his light eyes from this angle, but they’re my very favorite shade of baby blue.
His skin is smooth, neck sleek. There’s a chain around his neck, the end hidden beneath his shirt. Is there a pendant on it, or is it just a chain? Does it hold significance?
Onyx looks up, his eyes meet mine, and I quickly turn away.
“You find a new route?” I ask.
“I have a few outliers. How long do you have the boat?”
“Twenty-four hours. Midnight to midnight.”
“So if we have to cross the same routes to take a different turn at the other end to hit all the spots, we have time.”
I nod. “Yes. It wasn’t so much about time but efficiency.”
“Okay, give me another couple minutes.”
“Sure.” This time, I determinedly don’t look at him. I concentrate very hard on my notebook.
“You boys ready for dinner yet?” Dad asks from the living room.
“You can help your dads prep dinner if you want,” Onyx says. “I should have this figured out by the time you’re finished, and we can go over it.”
“Yeah, sure. Okay.”
He looks up at me as I get to my feet. Our eyes meet, and I’m pretty sure I’m not imagining the charge I feel stretching between us. My heart jumps and skips until I break eye contact and turn away.
“We can make dinner now,” I tell my dads.
My fathers join me in the kitchen.
“You figure it all out?” Pops asks, glancing at Onyx sitting over the map with all the little penises dotting it like totems.
“Not quite. I didn’t take into account that there are places where we can’t drive the boat. He’s working out a route that’ll allow me to hit all the places I want to talk about and not sink the boat in the process.”
Dad laughs. “We’re definitely going to need to book a tour.” He grips my arm gently on his way by. “Maybe Onyx will be up to captain for us after your secret project is done.”
I’m not sure if I’m excited about the idea of more forced time together for business or dreading it. It could go either way.