“I’m an outdoors girl and I’ve spent most of my life outdoors at one carnival ground after another. I promise you if the glade is not as close as it appears, I will turn right around and head back.”
“Anything you want me to tell Keg when I see him?” Reko asked.
“Nah,” Etta grabbed a water bottle and a flashlight from the utility closet just in case she needed it because of the rain. The clouds had gathered over the sun and made it appear darker earlier. “We’ve been here four days and he’s hardly said two words to me, so I doubt he will care enough to ask about me.”
“Etta, trust me it’s not like that--”
“Save it. I have eyes and I don’t have to be a psychic to see Keigo and your sister, Carla, have this funky vibe going on,” Etta interrupted. “But hey, Mister Buff and Sexy, Keigo doesn’t owe me anything. I’m just here doing community services remember? Later!”
“Etta, remember what I said!” Reko yelled after her.
Etta felt tears burning in her eyes. She was hurt and disappointed Keigo looked as if he had moved on without her. She just wanted to get away from prying eyes and have the cry that has been threatening to spill forth since she got into the jeep. She was disappointed when he didn’t protest Carla moving from the front seat to sit beside him in the back. She had thought he was saving that place for her. It didn’t matter now. She just needed to stay focused on why she was here and get pass the thirty days. Afterwards, she would never have to see Keigo again.
***
“Hey, Reko, how’s it going?” Keigo pushed the wet hood of his rain parka off his head as he entered the back kitchen door.
“Great. I was just finishing up the washing of the aprons. What’s up? Did they get the sewer lines fixed before it started raining?”
“Finally.” Keigo rolled his eyes heavenward. “Some tree vines had choked and busted a line, causing the back up. They were bulldozing in the last layer of dirt before the sky opened up.”
“Glad the weather held up until the job was finished.”
“Indeed.” Keigo looked around, impressed by the pristine condition of the kitchen. All the stainless steel appliances glistened and the lanolin floor shined. He didn’t want to give Etta more work by tracking in mud, so he stayed on the large rubber floor mat close to the door. From what he could see, everything was perfect for his final walk through tomorrow. Then the next day, the inspectors and if all goes well, the buses were set to arrive two days later.
He was disappointed to see Etta wasn’t in here. He had hoped to finally spend some time with her before things got really crazy, but from the looks of things she must have turned in early. He frowned, wondering if he should go and visit her in the cabin she shared with Nan.
“Hey, Keg, what’s on your mind?” Reko broke the lingering silence. “Everything is cool here. Etta is something else. We got done earlier this year than all the years before. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone as focused and organized as she is in the kitchen.”
“I knew she would be an asset to the camp.” Keigo looked at his booted feet.
“Okay, you’re starting to freak me out.” Reko chuckled. “You’re not upset because Carla decided to come back this year, are you?”
“Carla? Of course not; I’m lucky to have her back to help us out.” Keigo looked at his old high school buddy. “No, as far as Carla is concerned, that was over before it started last year. I realize you can’t relive your youth and Carla and I was before I married Claire. ”
“I don’t know if my sister feels the same way you do. It surprised the hell out of me when she let Etta have the front seat and sat in the back with you. It makes me wonder if the only reason Carla came back this year was because she thinks another year has made a difference for you,” Reko said, throwing him an apple. Keigo caught it in his right hand and brought it up to his mouth to take a bite.
“It surprised the hell out of me, but Etta didn’t protest, so neither did I,” Keigo stated. “As for Carla, we’ve talked about it and decided to be friends. The chemistry isn’t there.”
“I’ve seen how you stare at Etta when she isn’t looking at you. You can’t tell me there is no chemistry there,” his friend commented.
Choosing not to elaborate, Keigo asked, “How is Etta? Has she said anything about not seeing me around?”
Getting the hint, Reko answered. “I think she believes you and Carla have something going on. Other than that, she’s been unusually quiet.” He folded his arms over his chest. “You know Keg, I like her. She works hard and she has a great sense of humor.” Reko shook his head and laughed aloud. “She’s even given me a new name, Mister Buffed and Sexy. She also told me I needed more fiber in my diet.”
“She’s right,” Keigo murmured satirically. “You’re full of shit.”
“Good to hear the old Keg is back. You haven’t had much humor since Claire and Miko died.”
“Buffed and sexy? What the hell kind of name is that? Etta really sucks at names. How difficult is it to say Reko, instead of that mouthful, buffed and sexy?”
“What you getting all hot and bothered for? It doesn’t bother me none. A fine lady like Etta calling me sexy is not offensive at all,” Reko’s eyes twinkled with mirth. “Man, that dancing and yoga stuff really works because she’s got a bottom that doesn’t quit. She has to have a booty-delicious gene from her equally attractive mother.”
Keigo scowled. What the hell was Reko doing looking at Etta’s ass and how could he have the nerve to brag about it in front of his face? Taking another bite out of the apple, Keigo heatedly pondered on something Reko had said that hounded him more than he cared to admit. “You said you like her.” Keigo chewed on the bite of apple in his mouth and swallowed with a gulp. “Do you mean like her…like her?”
“Are you asking me would I fuck her?” Reko chuckled. “Hell yeah. Not only does she make me laugh, she has a sexiness about her that isn’t obvious at first. You know, it’s as if her beauty sneaks up on you. One moment you don’t really notice, then bam! You can’t take your eyes off her smile...or her ass. Also--”
“I got it, Reko. Damn!” Keigo snapped.
Reko’s chin dropped as his mouth fell open in surprise. “I…I can’t believe it,” he sputtered and released a laugh. “After three years of Keg, the walking dead, I finally see signs of my best buddy. I should go get Marco and Nan in here just in case this is a fleeting moment. It will be like old times.”
“How can a giant of a guy like you be such a drama queen?” Keigo shook his head.
“I’m a genteel giant,” Reko spread his hands wide. His smooth olive skin stretched over high cheekbones in a wide dazzling display of straight, white teeth. “You got to love Ree-ko Suave.”
Keigo laughed, “I haven’t heard that since the old college days.”
“Now, those were some good days,” Reko’s voice said in fondness. “Keigo, the wonder-boy, Reko the suave, Marco the emperor.”
Together, Keigo and Reko looked at each other and said, “Nan, our African princess.”
“How did the three of us end up with a girl we shadowed over the entire time we were in college like she was our little sister? Hell, all of you are two years older than me.” Keigo teased.
“Hey, not everyone is walking around with your I.Q. and has the ability to skip ahead.” Reko reminded. “You used to get bullied so I became friends with you first.”
“I suppose you’ve always been my bodyguard, haven’t you?”
“Nannette grew up being neighbors and best friends with Marco. They went to the same elementary school, middle school and high school. I suppose it was natural they went to the same college together. At first she felt like one of the boys. The girl could play all kinds of sports and was good at it. The next thing I know, she started looking like this fine honey and was no longer interested in doing guy things.”
“Yeah, I noticed. I guess she just finally grew up.” Keigo frowned. “It seemed as if it was out of the blue.”
“Out of the blue? Naw, I think she found a guy that opened her nose and she wanted to impress him,” Reko chuckled.
“Wow, he must have been one hell of a guy.” Keigo’s frown deepened. “I never noticed her dating. She seemed to be around us all of the time.”
Reko threw back his head in laughter, taking the apple core Keigo held out to him and dropped it in the waste can. “I think if you had taken your head out of the books sometimes, you would have noticed Nanette has always had a thing for you, Keg.”
“No,” Keigo protested. “It’s Marco she’s been dating on and off for years.”
“That’s because Marco has always had a thing for her, but I bet if you were to walk up to Nan right now and ask her if she’d like to hook up, she would no longer give Marco any play.”
Keigo grimaced, “It would be like hooking up with my sister. Besides, I will always see Nan as Marco’s girl. Maybe one day she will wise up and see how much he loves her.”
“True.” Reko nodded and leaned his hip against the kitchen butcher block. His muscular arms crossed in front of him. “Now, I’m wondering how long it’s going to take you to realize there is something special about Etta.”
“I already know there is something special about Etta,” Keigo calmly said. “I knew it from the moment I looked down and the crazy woman was shoeless in my courtroom. I knew it the moment I realized she has an aversion to bras and underwear. The very thought of it drives me to distraction so much I walk around with a raging hard on.”
“Too much information, pal.”
“Reko, she’s skittish when it comes to love. So I’m trying to keep my distance so I won’t scare her away. I’m trying to give her the chance to miss me. I’m hoping she will realize how in such a short time we’ve become very close.”
Reko’s eyes widened at his friend’s open declaration. “My God Keg, I haven’t seen you this whipped about a woman since the first time you saw Claire at that frat party we crashed.”
Keigo laughed. “Excuse me. I was invited because my father wanted me to change colleges. You crashed the party and embarrassed me by physically carrying my ass out of there.”
“Hold up!” Reko put up a hand. “For you to be the youngest, you have a memory for shit! If I remember correctly, yes, your old man set you up and got you to the party, hoping that his friend’s son could introduce you around and get you to want to change schools. Which it worked by the way, but it was a girl that swayed your ass in the end.”
Keigo shot him a vulgar middle finger.
“Yeah, you went in there and fell hard for a defense lineman’s prom queen girlfriend. Your stupid ass asked her out in front of him. His buddies kicked your geek ass. Claire felt bad about it all and the only reason I showed up was because she hit the last call button on your cell phone and called me to come and get you.”
“Hey, my methods worked. I got the girl in the end,” Keigo gave his friend a wide toothy smile.
“Yeah, you did and am I going to have to kick your ass to make you see what a great catch Etta is and that you better let you know what you’re feeling because she’s walking around here thinking you’re banging my sister, Carla?”
“You set her right didn’t you?”
“She wasn’t hearing it,” Marco shrugged.
“She wasn’t hearing it? Or are you hoping she will believe the worse so that you can throw your hat in the ring?”
“I’m not going to say I haven’t thought about hooking up with Etta,” Reko admitted. “But I don’t have to use a lie to get a woman, so you better watch it. As a good friend, I will allow you only one accusation. I’m happy to see you back in the game,” the taller man spoke in soft tones. “Now, whether I pursue Etta depends…”
Affronted, Keigo cocked his head to the side in question. “Depends on what?”
“It depends on where your head is. Are you thinking: may the best man win or I’ll kill you if you touch her?”
“Yeah,” Keigo nodded. “That one.”
Reko dark eyebrows lifted. “Which one?”
“I’ll let you know when I finish figuring it out.” Keigo smiled sheepishly.
“I see. That isn’t an answer.” Reko laughed out, mockingly. “So until then?”
“You just keep it strictly business.” Keigo’s eyes locked with Reko’s in warning.
“I got it.” Reko chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. “As usual, wonder boy wants to eat his cake and keep it too. You know, I didn’t think I would ever see the day another woman would interest you. I thought you had cut your heartstrings forever and--”
The sound of chiming music went off.
“Do you hear music?” Keigo asked.
“Yeah, sound’s like I’m Every Woman,” Reko frowned.
“If I walk on Etta’s clean floors, she’ll kill me.” Keigo rolled his eyes heavenward. “Search around, sounds like someone’s cell phone.”
“I found it. It’s on Etta’s workstation. Damn, she didn’t take her phone with her. I wonder--”
“Speaking of Etta, where is she?” Keigo cut his friend off abruptly. “Did she go to her cabin since you knocked off early?”
“No, she said she was going for a walk, something about an empty glade she’d spotted, but she should be back by now. She promised to return in an hour and that was a little over two hours ago.” Reko walked over to where Keigo was standing and handed him the cell phone. “It looks like her Mother is trying to reach her. It might be an emergency, so you might want to take it to her.”
Keigo accepted the phone. “I’m still trying to process the fact that you allowed a novice to go walking out there in the forest alone.” Keigo’s tone was coolly disapproving.
“She mentioned being familiar with the woods because she grew up in a traveling carnival,” Reko yelled, running a hand over his hair and pushing off the cap he wore while cooking. “You know how she is. What would you have me do? Lock her in the walk-in meat locker, or what?”
“I’m sorry. It’s just…..if she is still out there somewhere in this hard rain, she could be cold, wet and scared. You know how unpredictable the grounds are up here when it rains.” Keigo sighed with exasperation.
“Calm down Keigo. The rain has just started and Etta promised to stick to the main driving path. If she did as she said, she should be back by now. She's probably in her cabin or with the gang watching movies in the recreation room,” Reko said calmly. “How about you go to check and see if she returned to the cabin, and I'll go to check the rec. room.”
Reko disappeared inside the utility closet.
“Did she take anything with her?” Keigo called out.
Reko yanked on his jacket. “She had on her parka. I saw her with a water bottle and from what I can see one of the flashlights is missing.
“Great,” Keigo cursed, shaking his head. “If the nit-wit comes upon a wild animal she can blind it with the fucking flashlight,” his voice became shrilled. “Damn! There are seventy-three miles of wildlife and thirty miles of recreational parkland. If we’re lucky, she’s still within the park areas. For the most part, it should protect her from most of the dangerous predators. However, because Etta don’t know the area, it’s easy for anything to happen. How long did you say she was gone?”
“A little over two hours,” Reko repeated.”
Keigo washed a hand over his face. He pulled in a deep breath trying to regain control of the sense of panic that arose in him at the thought of what he was about to do.
“Reko, go to the recreation room and get everyone together. Tell them no one goes out alone. Do a sweeping search starting with inside the camp. You know the drill. I don’t have to tell you time is fragile with it raining like this. Where will you be?”
“You can call me on the cell phone if you find her. Meanwhile, I will drive…drive up the main path to see if she might have been hiking back when the rain broke. Are the keys in the jeep?”
“Uh, yeah.” Shock was written all over Reko’s f
ace. “Keg, are you sure you want to do this? How about I drive up and see and you go help the others?”
“No,” Keigo grounded out. The tensing of his jaw betrayed his deep frustrations. “You know the only thing she asked of me was that I drink that bitter tea and for me to drive up here. If I had done as she asked me, there wouldn’t be this distance growing between us and she might have come looking for me instead of walking out there in the woods, alone.”
Reko placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder as they made there way out onto the back deck off the kitchen. “You can’t take this on yourself, any more than what happened to Claire and Miko, Keg. You can do this; I’ve always believed in you. You just have to believe in yourself. You aren’t in this alone, this time. You have all of us.”
“To answer your question from earlier, Reko. Yes, I’ve fallen in love with Etta.” He had a possessive desperation in his voice. “I just hope I get the chance to let her know how much.”
“Then we must get your lady back, bud.”
Keigo nodded, stepping down off the deck.
“Keigo, I know you can do this!” Reko yelled back over the pounding rain.
He gave him two thumbs up and took off to the parking area.
Keigo paused with his hand on the door handle. Fear gripped him deep in the gut. “Fuck! I can do this…I can do this…” he repeated it the mantra until he was sitting behind the Jeep Cherokee’s steering-wheel with the engine running, windshield wipers swishing and lights on. “This time if there will be anyone dying today, it will be me. I refuse to come back without her if she’s out there somewhere.” He shifted the gears and slowly lurched forward.
CHAPTER 9
Etta had started out in the right direction back down the rock path trail leading back to camp, but that was also the moment she discovered a grove of wild berry bushes, just a few yards away. She had her pockets half full when the first raindrops fell.
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