He reached up to the long, dirty-blonde hair that covered his face and pushed it out of the way. “I told a friend.” He laughed again, and it turned quickly into a weak cough. “But there’s no such thing here,” he continued. “Next thing you know, Doov found me. Said I couldn’t talk to those guys. Said I was an infection waiting to happen. That’s what he called it. An ‘infection’. Like I was a fucking disease that would spread and kill everyone.”
Leb’s hair threatened to flop back over his eyes again, then, when it did, he ignored it. “Said I had to skip three grocery days. Said if I didn’t I’d be permanently banished. Said I was lucky for the chance to come back.”
He sighed deeply and cleared his eyes again. “I folded like a cheap card table. Told him I understood, that I’d skip groceries without complaint. Even thanked him. Thanked him for almost killing me. Like a fucking sheep.”
Though Obe had several thoughts racing through his mind, he still managed to stay sensitive to Leb’s needs rather than his own. “But… you didn’t even do anything,” he finally said. “I don’t understand it. Are we just stuck in another prison here, or what?”
“No,” Leb said quickly. The word almost fell out of him. “The Family’s a good thing. Not perfect, but good, Obe. Most men need a thing like that. It’s good for them.”
“Doesn’t sound like you’re one of those men,” Obe said. “Why didn’t you just run off to black sector? Or screw the Family and join the Hillbruhs.”
“The Hillbruhs. Jesus. They’re worse than the Family. And the black sector… it’s not that simple. The women would know. They’d find me and kill me on the spot. With guns. The guy I met told me so. No cars. No chasing. Just… gun me down for violating one of their most sacred rules.”
Obe didn’t respond. He felt he didn’t have to.
“I ate grass,” Leb said quietly.
“Grass? Can humans eat grass?”
“I did. It was disgusting. I don’t recommend it, even if you think you’re that hungry. Almost made me puke. Only thing that kept it down was thinking that there must be something in it that’s kept all those grazing animals alive all these millennia.” He sighed again, pushed his hair back again. “I don’t think it worked. I’ve been even hungrier ever since.”
He looked up again, and the look in his eyes was as pathetic as a scolded child hoping he would allowed to keep a toy he’d tried to steal. “What day is it? I’ve lost track of days. I don’t know when the last one was.”
“Yesterday was the third grocery day since I met you. So you still-”
“Two more days,” Leb finished. “Sonofa bitch.”
“Here,” Obe said, suddenly coming to a bold conclusion. He pulled all three items from his jumpsuit and handed them to Leb. “Take it all.”
Leb eyed the small horde, then eyed Obe suspiciously. “You sure you want to fraternize with the enemy? If somebody sees… you could be next.”
“Screw the Family,” Obe said, and Leb’s eyes shot open. “I’m not loaning this to you,” Obe said with a smile. “I’m paying you. For information. I’ve been looking for the damned stream for almost two weeks now and all I’ve found is a dry bed up north by the black sector’s perimeter poles. You tell me right where it is… and I say we’re even.”
“Obe, I couldn’t… it’s too much. You’ll never-”
“Shut the fuck up and take it.” And somehow that was enough. Leb, suddenly laughing now, was into the banana instantly. He surveyed the cache for only an instant before pulling down one ribbon of skin and taking a huge, deliberate bite. He nearly gagged as he tried to slowly chew on the browned fruit. In minutes, Obe watched as he devoured the bread, the water, and even the banana peel.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Leb said. “You try going a week and a half with no food and see how you fare.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Obe said, and he wondered just how long actual starvation would take. “Now, about that stream…”
Leb smiled for an instant, then suddenly frowned. “I’ll tell you where,” he said, “and better yet I’ll tell you how.”
“How?” Obe asked. “What do you mean? It’s a stream. How can it be… difficult.”
“It’s in Hillbruh territory,” Leb said. “As the guy in that movie said, ‘One does not simply walk across Hillbruh land.’ You can’t just show up and drink from it. Fill your bottle just because you’re thirsty. You need to pay for that privilege. With food, usually. That’s how they survive since the Family doesn’t let ‘em into the grocery alley.”
“Right,” Obe said, putting the pieces together. “What movie is that?” he added, thinking immediately of Tick.
“Dunno,” Leb said. “Just some cool line that stuck in my head. I think it was a fantasy. Dragons or wizards or something. Doesn’t matter. What does is that you don’t have any food.”
“I can get more.”
“By stealing from greens?” Leb shook his head. “How long do you figure that’ll work for you? How many men in blue did you see killed in green streets just because the women saw them there?”
“A lot,” Obe admitted.
“Exactly. It’s adding an unnecessary risk. Not worth it unless you’re truly desperate. Hell, even I didn’t go there yet, though I admit I was thinkin’ it these past few days. Might have done it if you hadn’t come along. But it probably would have been the death of me. I’m so weak. Can’t run. I guess that’s why I didn’t bother.”
“But what am I going to do? I just joined the Family. They took my first bag and I went without my first time. I’ve had only a little more than you have the past ten days. And I already owe a whole fruit to Swin. How else am I going to survive?”
“A man can go longer without food than without water,” Leb said. “And there are other ways. Food isn’t the only commodity they deal in. Come on,” he said. “I’ll explain on the way. First, you better roll that pant leg back down. You’ll never even get your foot in the door if it’s up. After that, it’s up to you.”
Obe unrolled his pant leg and helped Leb to his feet, steadying him when he wavered. “You sure you’re up for this?” he asked.
“Close enough,” Leb said. “Besides, I’ve got a debt to pay. And if there’s one thing I learned about this place, it’s that an unpaid debt gets noticed almost as fast as a screaming engine.
“I wouldn’t-” Obe began.
“Oh, but you will,” Leb said. “We all do. It’s in our nature. Sometimes it’s easy to forget, but every man here is a criminal.”
Obe thought about his past as they walked. About the “crime” the women said he’d committed to get him to the island. He didn’t exactly agree with Leb’s assessment, but he didn’t exactly disagree with it either.
An hour later they were lying in the grasses at the crest of the hill above the stream. In the half hour they’d been there they had seen the blue car not once but twice.
The stream was in a large ravine that Obe had twice almost ventured into. Hillbruh members aside, it was nevertheless a very good thing he hadn’t. One glance down the steep sides confirmed how dangerous it was. A man could break an ankle falling down that slope. Even worse, if spotted by the women there was clearly no easy way out. The place was death calling, the perfect trap.
“The women police the area all day,” Leb explained in a whisper. “Not sure if they know how many men are hiding in these grasses, but they only seem to run down guys they actually see in the ravine.”
“How many?” Obe asked. He was looking around for signs of other men but could see none.
“About a dozen, give or take. The Hillbruhs are a small group, but they have a choke-hold on this location. Some of ‘em never leave.”
“Like Lace.”
“Yeah. As far as I know, nobody’s ever seen him outside of this place. Listen, you be careful when you go for it. You’ve only got one shot at this, trust me.” Obe nodded. The plan Leb had outlined for him was risky, but he didn’t see any better alternat
ive. Certainly it was better than running the streets of green sector and hoping to never get caught there.
“Well, I appreciate all the help,” Obe said.
“You got it all?”
“Yeah. I think so. How long do you think I should wait?”
“Well, as long as the sun’s down and the women are gone to bed for the night, it doesn’t matter much. Someone will be watching all night long, so there’s no true safe time. But I guess more men come in the early morning, so you’d have a better chance later tonight than early tomorrow. Sorry, that’s the best I can do.”
“It’s far more than I had coming here without you. Thanks again.”
“So we’re cool then?”
“If you mean your debt, hell yeah. I got way more than I was hoping for.”
Leb laughed. “Good. Just don’t go saying stuff like that out loud. The next guy’s liable to ask for more food.”
Obe laughed with him and offered his hand. Leb shook it and made a quiet exit through the grasses. Then Obe hunkered down to wait.
5
Obe had waited in the security of the grasses, eyeing the ravine the whole time, until deep into nightfall. Before long he had come to see it anew. It was more than just a place of replenishment. It was life, and it was hope. Water was down there. Fresh water that didn’t crash and foam upon rocks like a giant, heavy fist. And lots of it, not the little plastic bottle you had to ration out over the course of three or four days. He had been policing the area himself all evening and the last time he’d seen a car had been several hours ago. All he saw now were those tall grasses on the slopes of the ravine waving constantly in the soft wind. He knew better, though. He knew that hidden among them were the men of the Hillbruh gang.
Leb’s plan had called for at least one other man to come before Obe ventured down, but he was finding that part difficult to follow. Despite Leb’s assurance that it was a subtle but important part to his cover story, his thirst and his impatience were getting the better of him. Eventually three men arrived together on the far side of the ravine and began their descent. He watched only briefly before he emerged from his hiding place and began his own tentative steps.
His foot slipped almost immediately, but he managed to catch himself. It was worse than he’d thought, worse even than Leb had warned. Even at the top the grasses were thick enough to blanket the dirt entirely.
He made ten more steps- almost nothing on this giant hill- before he slipped again, landing on his thigh. It was soft and didn’t hurt, but he quickly slid another ten feet down the hill, roughing up his leg. He’d also put undue pressure on the thumb which had not yet fully healed while grabbing fistfuls of grasses. When he stopped, he sat and flexed the thumb tenderly, wanting to stand and let his leg breathe but worried he’d slip again.
Then, carefully, he stood and found secure footing by sliding his foot underneath the thick grasses. Only then did he finger the leg down at the exposed calf and found it to be badly brush-burned. Determined, Obe picked his next step down and continued on even slower than before.
He did his best to root his toes under the grasses, but to dig all the way to the dirt took too long, hurt his toes, and worst of all threatened to take his precarious hold away from the other foot.
Halfway down, he paused to check his progress. He was surprised to find his heartbeat had picked up and his breathing was labored. At the bottom of the ravine the three men stood conversing idly while drinking lavishly from their bottles. Obe had no bottle to fill- it had gone to Doov the night before in his first payment to the Family- and he felt the glands in his mouth open and salivate.
He continued downward, working his feet into a solid, grassy mold one step at a time before daring to lift the other foot. Twenty paces from the bottom his downhill foot unexpectedly gave way and sent him tumbling and rolling backward down the hill. He landed in a painful yet exhilarating splash in the cold water and smooth rocks at the bottom.
He got up awkwardly on all fours, feeling the water saturate his hands, his jumpsuit, his filthy, unwashed feet. The other men, one of whom had just begun the dangerous ascent back, looked to him but did not laugh or point like he expected. The other two were walking toward him.
Lace? Obe wondered. Or is he still hiding in his perch somewhere. Who did Leb say was his personal bouncer? Deet? Or was it Deek? Doesn’t matter. I’m not supposed to know any of them.
He waved awkwardly at them but neither waved back. The ravine was long which meant he would have several moments before they arrived, and Obe was glad for it. He wanted the privacy to understand what he’d just discovered. It had been months since he’d had this much clean water in his sight.
He pulled a hand up and saw the drops streaming down his fingers and palm and disappearing under his sleeve as they continued running a wonderful cool course up his arm to the elbow. He plunged the hand back in again just to feel it submerged, surrounded on all sides by that fresh, clean coldness.
He cupped the hand and lifted some of the water straight from its natural source to his tired, stale mouth. The crisp intensity of it as it wet his lips- as he sucked it in, flowing across his tongue, into his cheeks and filling his mouth- was like breathing again. He swallowed, and it sliced down his throat, so cold it was almost sweet.
He cupped and drank again. So wonderful. So delicious. How had he ever gotten by without this? He cupped and drank again. It was so clean. He drank again. So fresh. And again. So life-giving. He felt younger, stronger in those first few moments. Then he dunked both hands in a pulled out a veritable bucket of cold mountain water in his two hands. He dipped his face in and sucked it down. One, two, three full swallows of fresh water. He lifted his head again and so much of it ran unconsumed over his face, down his neck and chest.
“Whoa there, buddy. You even got that kind of payment?”
Oh boy, Obe thought. Here we go.
“Huh?” he asked, spinning around. Of the two men who stood before them, one was roughly the size of a truck. It was his deep baritone voice that had challenged Obe.
“Wait, who are you?” the big man asked.
“I’m Obe, O. B. E.” Obe said. He paused, counting to three, and watched their eyes.
They’ve heard of me, all right, Obe thought. Leb was right about that.
Then he added, “Aren’t you going to tell me who you are? The women say we must always introduce ourselves properly. It’s one of the rules. I’m new here and I don’t-”
“No shit,” the second man said. “You’re new? I couldn’ta guessed. How long you been into stealing other men’s property, O. B. E. Obe?”
“What? I don’t understand,” Obe said. “I didn’t steal anything. I only drank some water. You can search me. I don’t have anything else.”
“He means the water, dumbass. Jesus, did you even graduate the third grade or is the island your only form of education?”
Obe looked at them wide-eyed. Leb hadn’t been joking. The Hillbruhs didn’t play games. “You… own the stream?” he asked, as stupidly as he could muster. “They let you do that?”
“Course not, moron. But this is Hillbruh territory, and the water is ours. You want some, you gotta pay for it.” The big man put his fingers to his lips and blew a sharp double-shrill of a whistle into the night. “You stay here till Lace comes,” he said. “If you’re lucky, he’ll offer you a place among us instead of just killing you.”
“No!” Obe shouted. “I’m sorry!”
“Keep your voice down, you idiot. You want to wake the women straight from their beds and ask them to come kill us?”
“I’m sorry,” Obe whispered this time.
Neither of the men responded and the three of them then stood ankle-deep in the flowing stream while a man approached from far above. Despite the treacherous descent, he navigated the slope with ease and arrived safely at the bottom in mere minutes.
He walked to them slowly, confidently. It was the body language of a man not only in charge, but also in comple
te control.
“Hey Lace,” the big man called as he neared. “We got a freeloader here. Thinks he can just take as much as he wants and doesn’t have a bite of bread for pay for it all.”
Lace stepped into their circle and Obe saw by the waning moonlight that a series of small tattoos covered his face. More tattoos adorned his neck, wrists, and back of the hands, but Obe barely noticed them. The face tattoos were too powerful an image to ignore.
The mysterious man said nothing at first, and only the constant flood of rushing water at their feet could be heard. He looked Obe in the face, glanced once at his right pant leg, then finally in the soft, Spanish accent that sounded so much like patience and death.
“What’s your name, esé?”
“It’s Obe. O. B. E. Obe like robe and strobe and especially probe. What’s your name?”
“Obe like probe,” Lace said. “I like that. The women are getting funny these days.” He tilted his head and seemed to listen to Obe’s breathing. “Deek my friend, you remember Stoup the Wise?”
“Of course, Lace. Every Hillbruh knows that name.”
“Why don’t you tell Obe here who he was.”
“Our founder,” Deek said simply. “But he was one of the Cretes first. Almost made elder, as the stories go. Then he was betrayed like so many others. Defected and moved to the hills. He knew many tricks for surviving out here. He invented even more.”
“And do you remember his tag line?” Lace asked.
“Sure. ‘Stoup like soup, but half as filling.’”
“Yeah,” Lace said in his soft, breathy voice. “That’s it. Half as filling. Not so funny back in the old days, were they? This Obe here. I like his name. I may let him live.”
Obe swallowed hard. Despite his assistance from Leb, these men would kill him if he didn’t play the next part of his story just right.
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