Double Grades

by Kristine Robinson

“Love you, mom,” Beverly said. “I hope you know that.”

  “I do,” her mother said.

  Within the hour Beverly was all packed. She had been making a mental inventory of things she would need to take with her if she were to just make a run from her life, for some time now. She thought of the fantasy as some kind of coping mechanism. Now that she was actually taking off, though, she wondered how it would all turn out. Beverly hoped that the vacation proved to be just what the doctor ordered. That was something she found especially funny, being a doctor and all.

  As Beverly made her way to the boarding terminal the next morning, she thought about what she expected. It was vague, like something off of a television commercial. Beverly really didn't have much of an idea of what to expect. When it turned out to be different, she wondered if it was still a good idea. The mountainside around the resort was rough, real rough. The coast was cold, the captain told her, and the surf unwelcoming. Although there was a tropical jungle inland, it wasn't that warm this time of year. In fact, because of this, there were more dangers in the wild than usual.

  Beverly listened to all of this with a sinking feeling in her stomach. Maybe it had all been a big mistake, and she should have stayed back in stateside with her job. But she knew there was no way to unmake the decision. She exited the plane she hoped there would be a lot to do at the resort, because if there wasn't, she'd end up braving the dangers of the wild all on her own. And from the sound of the captain's voice, it was something that many tourists thought they could handle, but couldn't.

  “How are things, dear?”

  It was her mother, giving her a call on her cellphone using an app which allowed them to communicate using wifi rather than data. Beverly was at the resort now, laying things out on her bed.

  “Things are good, mom,” Beverly said. “I really appreciate you and dad taking the time to set this up, and for spending the money on tickets.”

  “It's no problem at all,” her mother said. “Well, I've got to go now. Your brother is here, and he's brought the entire family! All of the kids, and his wife. I hope you have fun!”

  Beverly told her mother that she would and let her go. Her mother was a great grandmother, just like she'd been a great mom. There were so many things Beverly remembered from growing up that were special because her mother and her father had been a part of her life. She hoped that this trip to Chile would end up the same.

  Chapter 2

  Beverly wasn't feeling so great after the long flight. She was hungry and tired, and also wanted to get a good few of the part of the jungle which butted up against the resort. Instead of getting all gussied up she just threw on a few easy things and headed down to the cafe that overlooked the jungle. Beverly had heard good things about the cafe, and especially the service.

  When she made it down to the cafe, she found it to bed jungle themed. It was only about a two stories above the actually top of the jungle canopy, and the sounds of monkeys hooting and hollering could be heard above the dull din of dinner-goers carousing as they waited for dusk to settle over the jungle's green.

  It wasn't long after she ordered, and she sat eating by herself as the sun set that Beverly realized someone was watching her. It was a woman who was handsome and well built. She could tell that she spent a lot of time on her physique, and that was something she could appreciate. She never imagined that the woman would boldly walk up to her table and seat herself with, but that's exactly what happened.

  “Hello, my name is Vanessa,” she said. “I couldn't help but notice that you're staring longingly out over the jungle. Usually, when people do that, they want to go for a hike.”

  Beverly couldn't help but smirk at Vanessa. She was confident, she had to give him that. If Beverly had been Vanessa, there would have been no way that she would have the confidence in approaching a stranger the way Vanessa did.

  “Well, that was on my mind, now that you mention it,” Beverly said. “But there seems to be the little bit of jungle, which touches the resort right in front of us, and then a pretty wide and sweeping mountain on each side. Which would you suggest?”

  Beverly couldn't help but shift in her seat so that her cleavage was more exposed. She was a milky skinned woman with red hair and a large bust to match her wide hips. Vanessa was a woman with olive skin, dark eyes, and even darker hair. Her teeth were all straight and nice, making Vanessa think of a piano.

  “What I would suggest,” Vanessa said. “Is that you start off in the mountains and then make your way down into the jungle a little further to the north. You see, right here, where the jungle meets the resort, it's really rough terrain. And although people go out by themselves all the time, it's not always such a good idea. For instance, yesterday, there was some kind of animal attack at one of the resorts close to this one. I didn't catch all the details, but it sounded like the person will make it after spending some time in Intensive Care.”

  Beverly's eyes grew wide. She'd been taking warnings about the jungle seriously, but at the same time, she'd never really thought about what it would really mean to be attacked by a wild animal in the jungle. She didn't know if she would be able to defend herself.

  “Now, I know what you're thinking,” Vanessa said. “And you know what? You're right. You probably shouldn't go alone. But luckily, I'm a tour guide. And I can show you around. Not only that, but I offer protection as well. In my pack, I carry a weapon and a flare gun, along with other stuff that would come in very handy if things go wrong.”

  A couple walked past them, having clearly had too much to drink. Beverly couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy at the way the couple seemed so happy and lost in themselves, in their own little world, as some people would say. But that wasn't the way that Beverly thought about it at all.

  “Aren't they great? I think so,” Vanessa said. “They're regulars here, at the resort. I've taken them on a few hikes, but really they are more into drinking and watching the sunset, then padding down to the beach to fool around as the sounds of the surf turn them on.”

  “You seem to be very familiar with this place,” Beverly said. “How did you get to be a guide?”

  “That's a funny story,” Vanessa said. “One that starts with me being a guest here first and foremost. And then my parents cut me off, and I had to figure things out for myself after my then boyfriend left me. He was the last man I was with in the romantic sense.”

  The comment hung in the air for a bit too long before Vanessa moved on. She started talking about all the different qualifications she had, all the medical certifications, and Beverly didn't even think to break in and tell Vanessa that she was a doctor herself. There was something about the way that Vanessa had said it, the way there was still a wistful hurt that longed to be soothed. Beverly could completely empathize with the idea that Vanessa, a handsome and striking woman, would be victimized by some asshole boyfriend after the way Sean had just treated her.

  “But anyway,” Vanessa said. “I don't want to bore you with any details you don't want to hear.”

  “I'm sorry,” Beverly said. “I just got lost thinking about a boy dumb enough to lose you. And it made me think of the boy who was just dumb enough to forget me. What happened to your boy?”

  Vanessa laughed and looked around, then leaned in conspiratorially.

  “You know,” Vanessa said. “They say that he wandered out into the jungle and then was never heard from again. I'm not really sure what happened, nor am I that concerned. You know how it is with little boys sometimes, they can't handle their women, so they act foolishly!”

  Beverly couldn't help but chortle at this. She ordered two drinks from their server and finished her dinner so that she could focus on drinking and Vanessa.

  “So you'll take me out there,” Beverly said. “And in exchange, I'll pay you what? How much do you charge?”

  “For you? I'm not sure,” Vanessa said. “You see, good looking ladies are good for my business. I'd help you travel for free. That's how much it woul
d help my business.”

  Beverly had to think about it for a moment as she stirred her drink with a finger. The cafe buzzed around them as the night took hold. People from all over the world were here to drink and listen to the sounds of the jungle as they tried to have a good time on vacation. There were many older couples who had passed the age that would allow them to frolic through the jungle. Now it would be nothing but moving sidewalks and paved roads for the duration of their lives.

  Beverly didn't want to spend the rest of her vacation in such a manner. This Vanessa woman seemed interesting, and she also seemed like she wasn't full of shit. Although Vanessa's overconfidence was a little off putting for Beverly, it was also something she found easy to overlook. If Vanessa had cultivated confidence while living a dream job, that made sense to Beverly.

  “All right,” Beverly said. “We'll see how it goes. I'm on board for now, though.”

  Beverly could tell that Vanessa was excited, although she didn't want to show it, often burying her face in an expensive drink she ordered, made special, from the bar. There was so much excitement in the air that Beverly found it hard not to be swept away. There was the way Vanessa was acting like anything was possible, like they could just walk out on top of the mountain crags as if made weightless by the splendor and majesty of an evening, or waltz through the jungles snares and pits with each other without ever stumbling. Beverly couldn't help but feel that way as well, but to a different degree.

  For her, it wasn't the way that all things were possible, because she'd always known that. It was the way that there hadn't been much other choice. Fate, it seemed, had drawn them together. Vanessa was a smooth operator, and a bold one at that, but there had been more going on than simple commerce as they seemingly floated above the steaming jungle canopy. Bats swooped up above the very tops of the trees, hanging in the air for a moment before descending back toward the jungle floor. Somewhere behind them, blocked by the building, the moon shone down on the jungle. The pallor it cast gave everything a muted, ghostly looked, as if an amateur photographer had washed out one of his pet projects working too late one night in his photo lab. The jungle was very much alive, that much was certain. And it made both of them feel more in tune with nature. They were both women, and the moon above still connected to them just like it did the tide, and so much else that went unseen in the world.

  “Do you ever think about how women are more tied to this place than men, now,” Beverly said. “Maybe men, at one point, had more of a sense of the earth and its movements. But in this age of current commerce, doesn't it seem more likely that the female sex is the one still listening to the hymns of the moon?”

  Vanessa looked over at her with a knowing smile.

  “I agree with you, dear,” Vanessa said. “But I'm less poetic about it. I certainly appreciate all that nature has to offer, but there is something that makes me think we've all drifted so far away from the original intent of the world that there is no way to find our way back now.”

  Beverly didn't say anything back, and Vanessa got up to leave after casting a sultry stare her direction. The night was young, but they were parting ways as the moon's light had just started to muddle from cloud cover. For a few moments it seemed as if the clouds would break, and the moon would be allowed to shine through. Beverly looked back at Vanessa as she made her way from the cafe to parts unknown, but the clouds didn't break, and the night's course didn't alter. But that was all right with Beverly. With so much promise held for the future, she was more than hopeful that things would go in a direction she enjoyed.

  Ordering another drink seemed like the right thing to do, and because it would most likely be her last drink of the night Beverly spent nearly thirty dollars. The splurge made her not feel so bad about not throwing herself into a bar binge after the thrill Vanessa had just given her. There would be plenty of time in the future to figure out exactly what was supposed to happen between the two of them. Tour guide, or friend? Beverly didn't know what to think, and knew that ultimately it would have to be something that Vanessa helped her decide. There wouldn't be any easy answers, or shortcuts. Except maybe through the mountainside.

  Beverly looked forward to those.

  Chapter 3

  The next day Beverly and Vanessa set out from the resort on a hike. Before they left, Vanessa had drilled into Beverly that this was a serious hike for people who were in shape, not for the elderly or folks who just wanted to go on a tour of the surrounding countryside. Vanessa explained that many of the people that came to the resort were either too old, or didn't understand what they were getting into. She blamed it on places like Colorado becoming a destination spot for the retired folks who still wanted to be able to amble across the rough countryside as if they were in their late twenties, not their late fifties or sixties.

  It was a beautiful day, but Beverly was glad that Vanessa had told her what to expect. Right away they had hiked up a rough hill that had been full of thistles and covered in jagged rocks. After that, they didn't stop moving for the next three hours. It all flew by for Beverly, though, because she'd never seen this part of the world before. It amazed her how the mountains and the jungle existed so close to each other that they literally touched. She guessed she was lucky that was how things were, because Vanessa was serious about hiking up into the mountains and then heading back down into the jungle to see a waterfall that was one of her personal favorites.

  “It's not listed on any websites, so there won't be anyone else out there but us. That means we'll really be able to enjoy it for what it is, instead of having some well-meaning family completely ruin what would have been a good outing,” Vanessa said. “I don't mean to sound like a loner at all, but in my line of work, it pays to know how to get away from people. There are just too many folks around here who at first seem genuine, but then turn out to be nothing more than mean-spirited cunts with happy smiles.”

  Beverly didn't know what to make of that comment, but Vanessa had turned and was moving down the trail before she got a chance. They moved through the mountainside on trails which had long ago been carved into the rock by goats and the streams of people who came to the area, seeking both solitude and the company of those absent but still known by the paths they left behind.

  Finally, after what seemed like forever, they moved out of the mountains and down into the jungle. It wasn't a smooth transition, however, and there were times Beverly wondered if Vanessa realized how advanced of a trail she was taking. Maybe there was simply no other way, and since Beverly hadn't objected when Vanessa had first given the disclaimer that only the well-fit could treat the way, she thought it absolved her of having to worry about anyone but herself. Or maybe Vanessa didn't want to feel as if she was helping a client, which was something that, when Beverly thought about it, she could certainly understand. Vanessa had a great job, a job that Beverly could only imagine was the most fun a person could have while still working a real job, but at the same time, Beverly knew that Vanessa had to get tired of being fake nice to people.

  As they made a descent down a hill made slippery by loose shale rock, Beverly thought about the people she had seen at the resort and wondered what it would be like to live with them all the time. There wasn't that much a person could do to stay away from them if they worked at the resort. Being an employee of the resort meant that, no matter what, a person would have to keep at least friendly relations with their peers. They wouldn't be able to just tell people to fuck off if they wanted to. And there would be times when they'd want to, Beverly was sure of that. There was no way there wasn't a ridiculous amount of drama going on with the small community of people who made up the resort staff, and people who made their livings from the resorts patrons.

  When they made it to the jungle, Beverly heard the waterfall before she saw it. A mighty roar met them, and they followed its sound through the forest. There was something very mystifying about the way the forest's sound seemed to all throb together, the way the stars twinkled above them
in apparent unison at times, while at other times all separate. Beverly wondered at the stars, and how they were visible in the sky so early in the afternoon.

  “It's funny, isn't it? The stars,” Vanessa said. “I'm still getting used to it, and I've been here for years. It's enough to make you feel like we've really gone all the way to a different planet instead of just hiking half-a-dozen miles. You know what I mean?”

  Beverly opened her mouth to say something, she didn't know what, when they crested the high point of a clearing, and their view dropped down in front of them to include the falls. They were magnificent things, although not the biggest in the area. The way the water arced through the air making a number of rainbows appear in the air. Strange birds dove down through the mists to snap small fish up from the pool that collected at the base of the falls, before the water turned into a river that ran away from them before they lost sight of it.

  “This is amazing,” Beverly said. “I can't believe that you're the only one that knows about this place!”

  “It is amazing,” Vanessa said. “I don't really take anyone here, and rarely come here. With the weather changing I won't be back for a few months?”

  “Why is that,” Beverly said. “Does the waterfall disappear in the winter or something?”

  “No,” Vanessa said. “That's not it at all. It's that in the winter time the jungle's vegetation is less dense. I'd be more likely to leave tracks, and someone might spot me from a plane or something. You never know who is surveying the terrain with binoculars. I just don't want to tip off the other guides to this spot. I know that might sound petty, but it's a cutthroat job.”

  “No, I understand,” Beverly said. “I used to work sales, back in the day. I kind of still do, but in a very different way.”

  “Oh, really? What is it you do? I don't think I've asked you before,” Vanessa said. “I sort of had you pegged as someone important or something, from the way you carry yourself. Are you a lawyer?”