Worth Every Step

by K. G. MacGregor

  Addison had the hot tea to herself once Gilbert delivered a tin of cocoa powder called Milo. “I bet that stuff has cocaine in it. That’s why you’re all craving it,” she said.

  “Speaking of drugs…” Drew pulled a small bottle from his pocket. “Is anyone taking Diamox?”

  Diamox was a medication that facilitated the oxygen exchange in the blood in case the body didn’t adjust on its own to the altitude. Tom had mentioned it in the guide as something climbers had used for years, but he stopped short of recommending it, insisting that going up slowly and drinking a lot of water was sufficient for most.

  Mary Kate had gotten a prescription just to cover all her bases. “I brought some, but I haven’t taken it yet. I haven’t really noticed any effects of the altitude.”

  “We started it as soon as we got to Moshi,” Courtney said. “My doctor said it needed to be in your system two days before it would take effect, so you might want to go ahead and start.”

  “What are you going to do, Addison?” Mary Kate asked as they geared up to start the afternoon hike.

  “I hadn’t planned on taking it. I was hoping the water would be enough.”

  “But by the time you need it, it might be too late to do any good.”

  Addison shrugged. “It’s a moot point. I didn’t bring any.”

  Mary Kate read the directions on her bottle and washed down her first pill. Addison was right about the water, but the Diamox wouldn’t hurt. She wanted every advantage. “I have fourteen pills. I’ll share if you want some.”

  “Nah, I’ll take my chances.”

  Luke loaded up his pack and waited for them to line up. “Before our next break, I promise you a spectacular sight.”

  Mary Kate shifted her position in the line until she was behind Addison. Though they had few things in common, she liked thinking they might end up with a friendship that lasted beyond this trip. It would be nice to have a close friend who was so different from the people she knew back home, or even from the other small town girls at Savannah State. Ironic that so many of her close friends were—

  “Everyone stop!” Luke yelled. When he had their attention, he turned and pointed to the top of the ridge they were climbing. Beyond its crest was a slim band of white. “The mountain.”

  Mary Kate whipped out her camera and zoomed in on the sight. Given the direction of the trail, it was clear the entire mountain would come into view once they crested the ridge. Here, with only its snowcapped peak visible in the distance, it was tantalizing.

  With every step toward the top of the ridge, the mountain grew exponentially larger as it revealed itself. When she finally got her first full view of Kilimanjaro, Mary Kate was awed beyond words.

  “Like he said, spectacular,” Addison said.

  “No kidding.” Completely devoid of vegetation, the mountain was gray, its glacier top like icing on a cupcake.

  “And it’s almost ten thousand more feet to the top”

  Luke clicked a series of photos of the group with the mountain in the background, and Mary Kate traded cameras with Addison to get a solo shot.

  “Come stand with me,” Addison said. “Hey, Drew. Make yourself useful.” She handed him her camera and slung her arm over Mary Kate’s shoulder.

  “I want one of these with my camera too.”

  “Save your battery. I’ll send it to you.”

  Mary Kate smiled broadly as the camera clicked, practically giddy that Addison was already talking about staying in touch after this trip.

  They hoisted their packs and lined up again, but Luke held back, pointing to a cluster of colorful dots about a mile ahead on the plateau. “That is our camp, Shira One.”

  The remainder of their afternoon hike was easy, and they entered the open flat camp just before three. Mary Kate was glad to get there, but felt good about her stamina. Two days of hiking had gained them six thousand feet in altitude—about seven thousand feet higher than she had ever been in her lifetime—and she wasn’t feeling any effects so far. In the next three days, they would hike about fifteen miles, but climb only three thousand feet. Tom had said the slow ascent would be their greatest ally for acclimatization.

  “I’m whipped,” Ann said, dropping her backpack underneath her rain guard. “I might catch a nap.”

  “Go ahead. I’ll do the water,” Nikki said. She joined Mary Kate at the water station. “My aunt was up most of the night. It’s going to take her a couple of days to adjust.”

  Mary Kate nodded with understanding. “I think I slept about ten hours last night, so I should be caught up now.” She and Nikki held the water bladders and filter as Drew filled them from the jug Gilbert had provided.

  “Hey, Mary Kate! You want your sleeping bag out?” Addison and the others had spread their bags across the tops of the tents to dry the condensation that had gathered overnight.

  “Sure, thanks.” She liked the camaraderie of their teamwork. Though they each brought their own experiences to bear, all were novices on the mountain, and their inclination to help each other gave her a sense of security.

  Gilbert appeared again and proudly presented them with freshly popped popcorn, which disappeared almost as soon as he set down the enormous bowl. Retreating to the cook tent, he fired up the stove to make more.

  “Man, that water’s freezing!” Kirby said, rubbing his hands together briskly as he returned from the creek that crossed directly between their campsite and the mountain.

  “Water?” Addison ducked inside their tent and returned a few moments later with several items rolled up inside a towel. “I’m feeling kind of grungy. I think I’ll try to find a wide spot in this creek and catch a quick bath. Anyone else game?” She locked eyes with Drew and stuck out her tongue. “Besides you.”

  “Wait for me!” Mary Kate stowed her water and went into their tent for her things.

  The other women, all but Ann, also collected towels and a change of clothes, and fell in as Addison led the way.

  “What about me?” Drew whined. “I’m grungy too.”

  “That’s right,” Neal said. “You stink and you snore. And the naked women don’t want anything to do with you.”

  After ten minutes of hiking downstream across the rocky terrain, they found the perfect spot, a clear, shallow pool about ten feet across, well out of sight of the camp. The pool was fed by a small waterfall above and emptied through a narrow channel at the bottom. The sloping sides gave them a place to sit partially submerged as they washed.

  Mary Kate wasn’t sure what the others had in mind, but she had spent enough time in locker rooms to be comfortable changing in front of others, but only if they were changing too.

  “This was my idea, wasn’t it?” Addison said as she eyed the water skeptically. Then she pulled off her boots, socks, pants and shirt. “In for a penny, in for a pound.” To that pile, she quickly added her briefs and sports bra, squatting tentatively to slip waist deep into the water’s edge.

  “How is it?”

  “F-f-fine,” she answered. “Quite warm, in fact.”

  “Jesus Christ!” Rachel said as she dipped a toe. “Addison lies.”

  Studying Addison from behind, Mary Kate was mesmerized by the contrast of the sinewy muscles of her upper body and the curve of her hips. The lesbians she knew who played basketball were either wiry or broad and muscular. Addison had the best combination of all, a body that was both fit and feminine. If Mary Kate were ever going to be attracted to another woman, it would be someone like Addison.

  Courtney and Rachel took off their shirts and pants and sat on the rocks next to the water, opting for a sponge bath away from the icy flow. Nikki and Mei gamely stripped down to join Addison in the water, both slinking wide-eyed and gasping into the edge of the frigid pool.

  “Be careful,” Mei said. “These rocks are slick.”

  Mary Kate eyed a slab of rock across from Addison that would allow her to sit waist deep like the others. She dropped her towel and change of clothes nearby and brave
ly shed every stitch, dreading the first touch of the water. Addison echoed Mei’s warning as she cautiously inched down the slight incline. Just as her feet settled into the icy flow, they sailed out from under her and she plunged full force to the deepest part of the pool.

  “Oh, shit!” she screamed, gasping to draw breath into her frozen lungs. “Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit.” The slippery incline offered no traction as she tried frantically to pull herself out. She grasped Addison’s outstretched hand and noticed that her other hand was covering her mouth. “I can’t believe you’re laughing at me. What did I tell you about paybacks?”

  “I can’t help it.”

  Mary Kate scooted up to sit next to her. She took the offered bar of soap and rubbed it briskly over her tingling skin. “For all you know, I could be injured.”

  “Are you?”

  “No, but that’s not the point.” She couldn’t maintain her serious tone with everyone on the verge of laughter. “Go ahead and laugh, all of you. But if I see a bug going into your water bottle tomorrow, you can bet your sweet asses I won’t be filtering it out.”

  Nikki hurriedly dried her skin and pulled on her fresh clothes. “I have to hurry back to camp now so I can write all of this in my journal while the picture is still fresh in my mind.”

  “Very funny!” Mary Kate shouted.

  Mei, Courtney and Rachel followed close behind, leaving her alone with Addison.

  “Seriously, are you all right? You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?” All traces of teasing were gone. Addison had pulled on her pants and shirt and was standing barefoot.

  “It’s too late to be nice to me now, Addison. I predict your air mattress will spring a leak tonight.” Mary Kate finished rinsing and hastily dried her legs. Despite her invigorating plunge, she reveled in the special satisfaction that only being clean could bring. As she stood to pull on fresh panties, she was surprised by the touch of a towel to her back.

  “There you go,” Addison said, dabbing at the drops of water.

  “Thanks.” Mary Kate took the towel and dried her front, feeling ridiculous at her sudden rush of self-consciousness. Sure, she had admired Addison’s body when she was nude, but she had been discreet about it. Addison didn’t even pretend not to look.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get so personal.” Addison winced. “I just thought you’d want your back dried.”

  “It’s okay. I appreciate it,” she said, embarrassed to hear the quiver in her voice. She was relieved when Addison sat down to put on her boots, and she used the opportunity to quickly pull on the top to her long johns.

  “I’m kind of a touchy-feely person with all my friends. If that makes you uncomfortable, don’t be afraid to say so, and I’ll shove my hands in my pockets or something.”

  Mary Kate chuckled, trying to shake the tension. “I told you already. It’s too late to be nice to me. I’m poking a hole in your air mattress.”

  Chapter Twelve

  They had been in their tent for over two hours, talking about why they had decided to come to Africa, and their chances for reaching the summit. Addison had explained her quest for the Hunger Coalition, and how everyone else had canceled. “I have to admit, I sort of dreaded coming all by myself, but I’m glad I did.”

  “I’m glad you did too.”

  “Right. Otherwise, you’d be sleeping with a moose.”

  “You mean not sleeping with a moose.”

  She chuckled. “I’m not sleepy at all tonight.” They could hear murmurs from the other tents, a sure sign they weren’t the only ones unable to sleep.

  “Me neither. I wonder if it has anything to do with the altitude.”

  “It’s probably just the time change. We’ll adjust in a day or two, especially with all the hiking.”

  “Tell me some more about your job in London. I have no idea what an investment banker does.” Addison had told her a little about her father’s firm.

  “I like development projects like the one I worked on last year for my internship. The Fed—that’s the Federal Reserve Bank—it has a branch in Miami, and I helped to oversee one of the community lending projects down in Homestead. The idea was to get a cluster of small businesses off the ground near one of the new subsidized housing projects. The people who live there need these services and the jobs too. I helped to screen the business owners and match them to the right lenders.”

  “I bet you feel like you’re doing something good in the world.”

  “I told my father I wanted to look for investment opportunities in underdeveloped countries. Unfortunately, I have to prove myself with the conventional projects first, and that could take a few years.”

  “Still, you’re helping to build something. That’s important.”

  “Look at you, teaching kids with behavior problems. That’s hard work, and it does a lot of good. I can’t imagine many people want to do that.”

  “Not many do, which means I could go just about anywhere I wanted and find work.”

  “And you chose to go back home.”

  Mary Kate sighed. “It seemed like the thing to do at the time, but I sort of wish I’d tried for something different.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  “You have to understand how things are done in small towns. Not many of the kids from my class went to college, and most of the ones who did go didn’t finish. They left, got homesick and came back. And what happened to me is that my mom—she teaches biology at the high school—she talked to the superintendent, who talked to the principal at my school, and he called me in Savannah my junior year to tell me he’d have a job waiting for me when I finished. I never even bothered to apply anywhere else.”

  “Do you like it?”

  “I guess. But if I had gone to work somewhere else, maybe people wouldn’t think they could push me into all this other stuff.”

  “You mean like your boyfriend?”

  “Especially him…well, no. It isn’t really that Bobby pushes me. It’s more that everybody else expects me to marry him…all of my family, the people at our school.”

  “He’s a teacher too?”

  “Assistant principal. My boss, technically.”

  “I bet that’s sticky.”

  “Not really, but everybody knows everything about our business. And Bobby told all the other teachers that he’d gotten me an engagement ring for Christmas, so when I didn’t take it, everybody had to come and tell me what a fool I was.”

  “Wait a minute. You didn’t take his ring, but he’s still your boyfriend?”

  “I wasn’t ready. He said he’d wait, but that when he asked again, that was it. I either said yes, or we broke up.”

  “So the next time will be an ultimatum.”

  “Which I got at the airport as I was leaving. He expects an answer when I get home.”

  “Are you breaking up like you said, or still thinking about it?”

  “Both,” she said, her voice rising with irritation. “I’ve made up my mind, but now I’m dreading what everybody’s going to say.”

  “It’s your decision. What does anyone else have to do with it?”

  “Nothing,” she said with a groan. “My mother will probably be the most reasonable about it, but even she’s going to remind me that I could do a lot worse than Bobby.”

  “You could do worse than a lot of people, but that’s no reason to marry someone you don’t love.” Mary Kate probably wouldn’t appreciate the comparison, but Addison had felt the same way about her job. It was her decision, and she hated the pressure she got from her father. “Maybe it’s time for you to change jobs. You could at least go work at a different school, and you wouldn’t have to look at him every day.”

  “It’s not that simple. There are only two elementary schools very often. Once people get tenure, they tend to stay for life.”

  “Who says you have to stay in Hurston County?” Addison cautioned herself not to join the chorus of people telling Mary Kate what to do. She had probably thought all of this out
on her own, and was staying where she was because, deep down, that’s where she wanted to be.

  “I’ve thought about maybe checking into openings somewhere else. One of my friends from college teaches in Charleston. That could be fun.”

  “It’s a bigger city, right?”

  “Everything’s bigger than Mooresville, but I have to stick it out for at least another year. I signed a letter of intent last February, so I’m committed.”

  “What happens if you change your mind?”

  “Nothing really. It’s not like they can make you teach there if you don’t want to. But it won’t look good if you apply to teach somewhere else.”

  Addison couldn’t get a bead on Mary Kate’s mindset. On the one hand, she sounded bored and disenchanted with life back in her small town. On the other, she seemed resigned to it, as if it were her unavoidable fate. “Have you thought about what you’re going to say to Bobby when you get home?”

  “Not really.” Mary Kate sighed with what sounded like frustration. “The whole thing’s just one big mess.”

  Addison worried she was making things worse. “I’m sure you’ll handle it all just right, Mary Kate. You’re too level-headed to do something without knowing how it’s going to work out.”

  “I appreciate you saying that. You have no idea what it feels like to always have people around you who think they know best.”

  “I do, actually, at least as far as my father is concerned. He’s never seen any future for me other than working at his company in London.”

  “He must have a lot of faith in your work.”

  That was probably part of it, but Addison was more cynical about his interest. “Maybe, but I sometimes wonder if getting me to move to London is part of the contest he’s been having with my mother for the last ten years. Once I go to London, he feels vindicated. And on top of that, he gets to work on me nonstop about being gay and how that won’t fly in the business world.”