Hasty Resolution

by Mullens, Sam Taylor

  We hike across a bridge to get over the swift flowing stream. We follow a well-worn path that quickly climbs upward. The trail winds back and forth in a zigzag path up the mountainside with tall pines lining the way. The crisp autumn air fills my lungs with each step. I am grateful my heart is staying strong and not failing me. Jake could probably run to his destination. Instead, he stays a step behind so I can lead the way. I’m not certain where we are going so I just follow the trail, yielding to the right of other hikers and riders on their mountain bikes.

  We curve around the peak to find a mule deer standing in the bushes, watching us hike. As we walk further, I hear the trickling of water nearby. At another bend, we come to a waterfall. It is flowing from a protruding ledge ten feet above our heads. It makes the path we are walking muddy and a bit slippery, but it does not impede our passage. Jake takes the lead, holding my hand as we walk under the fall of water. I extend my free hand to touch the diamond-white glistening water to discover it is freezing cold.

  After seven miles of the anfractuous path leading to a summit, Jake announces we have arrived. I stand in awe at the immense rock before me. I step onto the gray, jagged rock that is the size of a large elephant. When I step to the edge, I see that it overlooks a spectacular view of peaks and valleys exploding with autumn colors. I inch closer to the ledge to see an intense drop off from the rock. I look closely and see a path etched below.

  “Do you want to eat lunch or rappel first?” Jake asks nonchalantly.

  My eyes widen in terror. “You mean we’re going to rappel off this rock?”

  Jake’s face lights up and he says, “Exactly!”

  It’s an adrenaline rush for me just to stand on the edge of this mammoth rock and look over the edge, but not for Jake. I look away from Jake to conceal my terror and pull my hands into the sleeves of my sweatshirt to hide my trembling hands.

  “Let’s eat first,” Jake suggests.

  I’m not certain I should drop over the rock with a full or empty stomach. I don’t think rappelling off this rock is a good idea. Something could go wrong. This excursion is just getting started and it simply may be too much for me. I look to Jake as he is unpacking the ropes, laying them out precisely, taking inventory. I don’t have the nerve to tell him to count me out of this one.

  I unpack our lunch and lay it on a nearby boulder. As we eat, I bring up something with Jake that is completely none of my business, but my curiosity has gotten the best of me. There is no longer a point in speculating with Jake.

  “Jake, can I ask you something?”

  “Depends.” A smile creeps onto his face. “I’m kidding. Ask away.”

  I pick at my sandwich as I ask, “Why do Doug’s girls, at least two of the four, and now his son, look like you?”

  Jake chokes. “I didn’t expect that question. Do they really look like me?” he asks as if the idea has never crossed his mind.

  “Yes, especially Carter. He has your green eyes and your dimples. The girls’ hair feels like your wavy black hair. Doug is blonde. Jennifer is a chestnut brunette. They both have brown eyes. I’m not a genetic specialist, but they just don’t look like they belong to Doug. Well, the two oldest, Ashley and Emily do. The girls have Jennifer’s nose and face, but their baby, well, he looks as if he could be your own son.”

  Jake clears his throat. “They’re all Doug’s.” Jake takes a swig from his water bottle. “He’s their dad and that’s all that counts.”

  He finishes his sandwich before divulging the rest to me.

  “One day, we were out on an assignment in Iraq to locate insurgents. Not attack, just locate. We were not supposed to be closing in on the enemy. Suddenly, we were caught in the line of fire. One guy got nicked in the thigh, while Doug got grazed where no man should get hit. It wasn’t life threatening, but it was bad enough that he couldn’t father any more children. Jennifer was devastated when he returned in that condition. You heard how much she loves having babies. Doug wanted more kids, too, but an insurgent took the ability away from him. He was very hurt by the loss. When I was on a leave, they asked me to visit their fertility specialist, so I did. I would do anything for Doug.”

  Jake has disconnected himself with the fact there are three adorable kids walking around with his eyes, his smile, and his dimples, which all came from him. I suppose all donors do that. I wonder if Jennifer sees it. How many more will she have? Will they keep having Jake’s dominate features? It doesn’t matter. I guess the most important thing is Jake stepped up to help a friend in a way he needed it the most.

  “When did you start figuring all this out?” Jake asks, returning to his inventory of ropes.

  “When I was changing the baby into his sleeper, I noticed his dimples and the color of his green eyes are the same as yours. Cater looked at me, kicking his feet and grinning while on the bed, and all I could see was you. I guess that’s when I looked at the girls more closely. When I was braiding Ashley’s and Emily’s wet hair, it was thin and blonde and fit tightly into the elastic band, while Hailey’s hair had all these dark fly-aways that wanted to spring out of the braid. Hailey and Maddy have hair that is coarse, like yours. They have your green eyes, but Carter, more.”

  Jake smiles at the idea of Carter looking so much like him.

  “Maddy. It was Maddy I watched come into this world on Skype. She came out with dark curly hair. When they placed her in Jennifer’s arms, all she could see were black curls. Jennifer kept touching her hair and pulling at it with her fingers as if she was hypnotized by the blackness,” Jake says with a smirk.

  “You think that’s amusing, don’t you, Jake?”

  “Hey, she asked for it and she got it. I guess you better be careful what you wish for because you might just get it. Now, she has three of them. Doug adores them and he’s a great dad. They were meant to have a big family; I just forget I had a part in making that happen for them.”

  Jake hooks the anchors and sizes the amount of rope needed before making the necessary knots as I gather the remains of our lunch and water bottles. As Jake finalizes the ties binding the ropes together, two guys walk onto the rock from the trail.

  “Dude, you hooked up a rope for rappelling? That’s awesome!” he says in a surfer voice.

  “Can we try it?” the other asks.

  Jake says, “Sure.”

  He tosses two harnesses so the men can hook on. I am rationalizing to myself; Jake can rappel off this rock with these hikers while I walk down the trail to the truck. One of the men backs gingerly down over the ledge while the other guy takes an aggressive backward leap over the edge.

  The aggressive one yells, “What a rush!” His voice echoes off the rock and across the summit.

  The man’s rope gives quickly from the top faster and faster. The first man’s rope gives at a moderate speed. Jake is noticing the extreme difference in the two.

  “That asshole is going to hurt himself if he is not careful,” Jake mumbles.

  He lifts his boot and plants it on the rope so it cannot give further for the aggressive man.

  “Take it easy!” Jake yells over the rock.

  Jake walks to our empty packs, places them in his hands, and tosses them over the side of the rocks. My eyes follow the packs over the edge until they tumble lightly to the ground where there is a trail. We glance over the rock to find one man is still cautiously making his way downward, while the other man is almost to the bottom. The aggressive man doesn’t keep rappelling all the way to the bottom. He reaches with a hand and undoes his harness.

  He hollers up to us, “It’s all yours. Enjoy!”

  The man pushes off the rock and jumps to the top of a nearby pine tree. He misses by a hair. He plunges to the ground, screaming obscenities.

  I cover my mouth as Jake vigorously rubs his face and eyes before leaning over to pull the harness and rope completely back up to us.

  I back away from the edge. Jake notices I have retreated to sitting on the boulder where we ate our lunch.

>   “I’m not going over the rock, Jake, not now.” My voice shakes.

  “It’s not dangerous, Liz. That guy is just a crazy adrenaline junkie. I won’t let you get hurt.”

  I furiously shake my head, taking a stance not to go over the edge of the rock.

  “I’ll stay up here, release the anchors safely when you are done, and then walk down the trail.”

  Jake looks disappointed in my suggestion.

  “Liz, I’m not letting you hike down the trail alone. That mule deer might eat you,” he says sarcastically.

  I stand upright from the boulder on which I am perched. “Who has the smart mouth now?” I step closer to smack his rear end playfully.

  Jake grabs my wrist before it reaches his back pocket.

  “As much as I like you spanking me, you’re still going to have to let me know what your final decision is. Either we both walk down the trail or we rappel down the rock together. I think you need to make up your mind quickly, because I think those fools down there need some help. You decide, but we stick together. We’re not splitting up.”

  My eyes drift to the edge of the rock while Jake still has a hold of my wrist. I know we came all this way to go rappelling and Jake wants to go over this rock. Weather conditions and the change of season won’t allow us to come again anytime soon. In a little while, the trail will be packed with snow and the rock will be covered in ice. I can’t be the one to hold Jake back.

  Jake sees apprehension in my eyes as he pulls me into him. He wraps his arms around me and kisses my head. “I won’t let anything go wrong.”

  I lift my chin up and he kisses my lips.

  “I know you won’t. I trust you, Jake.”

  Jake knows I am faking a smile as I tremble in his arms.

  He has a bandana hanging out of his back pocket. I grab it as he walks to the anchored ropes.

  “You aren’t using the bandana, are you?” I ask as I shake it out and fold it in half.

  “No.”

  “Good.” I wrap the bandana around my cranium and tie it off in back. I tuck in every strand of hair so no blonde hairs are showing.

  Jake laughs at me. “You have to go gangsta style when you go rappelling?”

  “I’m not worried about what I look like. There is a bit of a breeze. If it kicks up and blows my hair into the direction of the figure-eight, then it won’t turn out well. I’ve had my hair intertwined in a figure-eight before. My hair was much longer and the drop wasn’t as intense. It all happened fast. My long hair tangled within seconds and I felt like I was hanging by my hair follicles for an eternity. I wanted the guys who were with me to just cut me out, but instead, they painfully worked out every hair. The figure-eight wouldn’t function properly with strands of hair in it. I had this massive rat’s nest on top of my head and a piercing headache when I reached the ground. I was ready to run from the scene, but the guys I was with convinced me to go back to the top for a second run so I wouldn’t be afraid of rappelling. Before the second run, a guy ripped up his T-shirt and made a do-rag, like this bandana, to protect my hair from getting caught.” I point to my head.

  “This is the only way I’ll wear my hair going down the ropes. I won’t risk braids or ponytails.”

  Jake has his harness already hooked up and pulls me in to fasten mine.

  “You look cute like that.” He smiles a boyish grin at me. “Thanks for going down with me. Give me a second to adjust the ropes. I’m going to rig them closer together so it will feel as if we are going down on one rope.” Jake gives a final tug. The ropes are securely fastened, which calms some of my apprehensions. Jake inches his way backward over the rock, leaning his weight into the rope and harness.

  “Liz, just hold on to the rope, back up, and step when I step. If anything happens, you will just fall into me.”

  I nod in agreement, breathe in deeply, and inch backward, hanging tightly onto the rope. Jake’s rope is between my feet. I don’t look over my shoulder or down at Jake. I nervously keep my eyes on my feet and the ropes. The first steps over the edge of the rock are the most challenging. Exhilaration blows through every inch of my body. I feel like an ant in comparison to my surroundings. I creep backward, trying to stay close to Jake, so if I do fall, it won’t be a hard drop into his arms. Jake is strong enough to take my weight. I don’t question the bearings he has on the rock. The thing not helping to subdue my nerves is the man wailing on the ground below. His shrills echo through the summit and the sound makes me cringe.

  When the rock comes to the end, we hang midair with nowhere to plant our feet. We rely on the ropes to guide us down the rest of the way. A slight breeze kicks up. I feel a sudden cold chill on my skin. The wind makes my eyes water. The gust increases and we drift from our perfect vertical drop. The rope is now at a slight angle when Jake urges me to keep going. This is when my arms weaken. I keep a grip on the rope and slowly descend on my own. Jake waits for me to get closer to him. I am startled when I am inches from him.

  “Come closer,” Jake tells me.

  I drop further until I am within Jake’s reach. He grabs my waist. We suspend horizontally together in midair, relying on the ropes to sustain us. I can finally breathe again, knowing Jake has me in his arms.

  “You really are doing great, Liz. We’re almost to the ground.”

  I look to the left to see the tops of the pine trees. “I’m not jumping to the tree,” I say in a shaky voice.

  “Please don’t.”

  My heart is racing. Jake can feel it. He can hear how intensely I am breathing as he speeds our final plunge to the Earth. Jake’s feet land first and he pulls me from being suspended by the ropes. Jake holds onto me as I wrap my legs around his harnessed waist. I wrap my arms around his broad shoulders and bury my face in his neck. I stay in his arms until my heart can stop feeling as if it is going to burst from my chest. Jake is calm as he undoes my harness.

  The man’s wails are piercing our ears, but Jake is untroubled by them as he whips the bandana off my head. He shakes out my blonde hair. The uninjured man was begging for help.

  Jake glances over at the man groveling in pain. “Liz, you’re not getting this bandana back anytime soon.”

  The man lying on the ground is sweating in pain. I had assumed he had severely sprained his ankle or scraped his leg. However, when I walk closer to him, what I actually see is nothing I could have ever imagined. His shin is dripping blood from where the broken tibia tore through his skin. The sight and smell is gruesome.

  “You have got to help me get him outta here!” the man pleads with Jake.

  “It’s going to hurt worse with the bone sticking out.” Jake points at the break.

  Jake kneels down to the injured man, takes both of his hands to the wound, one at the top and one below the protruding bone. The man cries in pain at Jake’s touch. Jake quickly pulls the bone and sets it back in the skin. The man wails at the top of his lungs. Jake wraps the bandana around the broken tibia to cover the skin and uses a stick to support his leg. Blood seeps ceaselessly through the bandana.

  “It’s not perfectly set, but it will be easier to transport him without doing more damage,” Jake says to the uninjured man.

  Jake retrieves a water bottle from the backpack to wash his hands. The man is anxious to get his friend to their vehicle. He helps his friend to his feet and anchors his weight. I run to help balance the other side of the injured man down the trail to the parking lot. I look over my shoulder to find Jake yanking hard on the ropes and figure-eights we used. They fly off the rock before falling to Jake’s feet. The metal rappel ring is left for future rappelling. Jake swiftly winds the ropes and gathers the pulleys into the pack. I hear the backpacks zip before Jake runs down the path to catch our trio.

  “Here,” Jake says, handing off the backpacks, and takes over transporting the injured man.

  Jake picks up the man from behind the shoulders and orders the hiker to keep his legs elevated. Jake’s method is a lot faster and much easier on the inj
ured man.

  The trail is not far from the bottom of the rock. It is on a gradual downhill slope, leading straight to the parking lot. I offer to run ahead with the keys to unlock the small sport utility vehicle. I set the back seat down and Jake lowers him gently in place. I take off my sweatshirt and lay it over the injured man. He is going into shock. His skin is turning a pasty white, his entire body is shaking, and sweat is cascading from his temples. Jake closes the back hatch and the driver speeds into reverse.

  Before the man shifts into drive, he rolls down the window. “Hey, thanks, man. I couldn’t have done that all by myself.”

  Jake and I wave him away as he speeds out of the dirt parking lot and onto the paved road nearby. I take the backpacks from my shoulder and toss them into the bed of the truck before walking toward the passenger side of Jake’s truck.

  “I assume you don’t want to go on a second run,” Jake says.

  “That was awful, Jake.”

  “What part? The rappelling or the part where the dickhead thought he was a monkey flying through the treetops.”

  “The part where the guy thought he was a monkey. Should we follow them to the hospital?” I ask, concerned.

  “The only point would be to retrieve your sweatshirt. We’ve already experienced our fair share of emergency rooms. We are not going again,” Jake tells me. “We are running out of daylight quickly. Rappelling in the dark off that large of a rock may not be the safest tonight,” Jake adds before shutting my door.

  I decide not to demand we follow the men to the hospital. The sun is sinking as we drive back to the cabin.

  “Liz, do you realize you did a lot in college?”

  “Yeah, those were some really fun years for me.” I smile at the memory.

  “What happened?” Jake asks, keeping his eyes on the road.

  “What do you mean?” I ask, confused, turning to Jake as he drives.

  “I mean, what stopped you from still doing stuff?”

  “When you put it that way, it sounds as if I stopped living. After college is when I started having kids. My life was no longer filled with clubbing, dating, and intense outdoor recreation. It was replaced with going to the park, diapers, play dates, and children’s movies. It was my choice. I felt like I had done everything I needed to experience and then I knew it was time to move on. I couldn’t stay in college forever. I still did stuff with my kids. I just dialed it down a huge notch.”