Bad Son Rising (17 page)

“Seriously?” he mulled it over. “Hmm, maybe I had more game than I gave myself credit for.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” she teased.

Lying on a blanket under the moonless sky, they tried to pick out constellations, but neither of them knew all that much about astronomy and didn’t get much further than the dippers, Orion’s Belt and the Pleiades.

“Do you think the stars here look different?” Zac gently rubbed Lily’s fingertips with his own.

“I do. I think they look totally different.”

“Could just be the lack of ambient light,” Zac ventured, thinking that everything looked different now that Lily was in his life.

“It’s more than that,” she validated his thought.

Silently, he nodded. It was more than that. Stars twinkled bolder and brighter. He had noticed that from the night of their first walk. When he looked into the night’s sky now, he felt like they were their stars, his and Lily’s, and he wondered if others noticed how brightly they shone or if their magnitude was a private show, a personal gift, just for the two of them.

“Do you feel like they’re our stars?” He could say things like this to her without feeling like she’d think he was weird or a total loser.

Turning to him, “I do. I feel like you and I are at this special juncture in time under our stars,” and she laughed. “Now how crazy does that sound?” She was smiling the beautiful Lily smile.

Smiling back at her, “Pretty crazy, but I totally get it.”

Whatever magic was surrounding them, they both felt it. It was everywhere, in every look and every touch, behind every tree, in the twinkling stars, in the hand pumps that became functional, in the cascading streams of clean water that glinted like rainbows in the sunlight, in the village children dancing in the streets as the water flowed on a hot afternoon. The magic surrounding Zac and Lily permeated every cell of their beings, pushing them daily to see more, do more, feel more, be more. They had opened themselves up to one another and to the world surrounding them and the universe was responding in kind, flooding their senses with all it had to offer and taking them on a joyous ride.

Neither had yet uttered the three words that were constantly on their minds and fighting their way back from the tips of their tongues. The truth was, neither Zac nor Lily had ever said them to anyone. What most experience as teens had eluded this pair, for they were both masters of hiding behind screens and presenting illusions for the world to see. Lily had perfected cold intellectual to camouflage her overwhelming fear of being rejected for being different, while Zac masked his inability to get close to anyone with throw-away sex, the perfect shield to thwart off those who wanted to damage him more deeply.

Beyond saying those three little words, they were both embarrassed to admit to the other that this relationship was their first love, the great love that they’d each dreamed of, yet was certain would never be in the cards for them. Each held their secret tight and reveled in the overwhelming feelings, fearing if they voiced them, their worst fears would come true.

Giving her hand a playful yank, Zac pulled Lily on top of him.

“I like this,” he tugged at the hem of the short flouncy polka dot skirt she wore.

“I don’t get the chance to wear a skirt very often over here.”

“Wear them for me,” he whispered in her ear, his hands already up the bottom of the skirt and in her underwear, caressing her soft, rounded bottom. “I love your ass,” his fingers pressed into the soft flesh.

“You don’t think it’s too big?” she was serious.

He laughed, “I think most women would kill to have an ass like yours and all men, straight or gay, are great admirers of your ass. Trust me.” He reinforced his point with a squeeze that made her gasp. “But I’m the only one who gets to do this to it.” Softly, he ran his fingers from back to front, being met by goose bumps all along the trail.

“That feels so good.” She closed her eyes as he continued the feather soft movement, “So, so good.” She shivered from his touch.

Reaching down with trembling hands, she unzipped his jeans, “I need you here with me,” and she pushed her moist underwear to the side to give him access.

In that moment, he felt like a slave to her, there to give her whatever she needed to feel whole, complete. His sole purpose being her satisfaction and happiness. Or maybe it was his soul purpose. He wasn’t quite sure.

Without either of them removing a single article of clothing, they made slow, fiery love under their stars. Zac wanted her to be greedy with him, for he knew she wasn’t using him, not in the way he’d been used. Her pleasure was his pleasure and watching her above him receive so much joy from what his body could do to her felt like the most selfless gift he could ever bestow.

When it was finally beyond his control and he was sure she was satisfied, he reached out and held her down onto him tightly, sealing their bodies together as he thrust up as deeply as he possibly could. Way beyond clear thought, he needed to go deeper, to be within her, lost, it was imperative. He needed to be there. He needed to be one with her. He needed it. It was so far beyond want.

And finally, he was one with her. Somewhere under their stars, in a land far, far away, a place where demons had yet to discover and destroy, a place where his psyche hadn’t thus far been tattered and his soul had not been defaced, a place where anything was possible, the impossible had happened.

She had found him and he prayed that she would never, ever let him go.

“We have a special treat this morning,” Lily advised Zac at breakfast.

“What’s that?”

“We’re going to be escorting Belvie and Lionel back to the village. Arthur has a meeting here this morning.”

Arthur Mabila was the regional liaison to the project. An indispensable authority on local customs and politics, the man was most known and loved around base camp for his kickass version of moonshine, which tended to show up at the most opportune times. Having received an engineering degree in Italy, he returned home to the Congo to work with Project Hydrate, interfacing with staff and local village government. His daughter, Belvie and son, Lionel, who were six and seven years old, often accompanied him to base camp. Well-mannered and polite, the two little ones were generally found helping the kitchen and maintenance staff. Arthur’s direction to them of “make yourself useful” was taken literally and the two treated their work at camp as an honor.

Reminding Zac of less devilish versions of Nathaniel and Portia, he enjoyed having them around and had spent his fair share of time kicking a soccer ball around with Lionel. Although he’d spent less time with Belvie, the little girl was always very sweet and well-mannered.

“Oh cool,” and then pointing a finger at Lily and giving her an evil eye, “so no funny business from you today, missy,” he teased.

Taking the path instead of the main road to make for a shorter journey, Lily amused the kids with classic ghost stories that had them screeching and whooping. Hanging back on the path a little, Zac couldn’t help but wait for the moment when Lily was about to deliver the big scare and rushed upon them with a big growl. Heart stopping screams ensued, followed by raucous laughter.

“Got you good, didn’t I,” Zac laughed.

“You scared me so bad, Zac,” Belvie had literally jumped with fright.

Laughing, he hugged the little girl to his side, “Sorry, Belvie.” Then he smiled down at her, “Did you ever hear the one about the haunted house.”

Smiling up at him, she shook her head, no.

“Seriously, you don’t know that one? It’s a good one. Let’s see if I can remember it.” He thought for a second, then began, “It was a dark and stormy night…”

A lightning bolt slashed the clouds in the sky before them just as Zac finished his sentence, causing another round of frightened screams.

Looking at Lily, “Wow, I am good,” he bragged.

With clouds rolling in fast, the wind picked up and the temperature began to drop rapidly. Zac and Lily knew from experience how quickly these flooding storms were upon them.

“Ok, kids, we’re going to jog and try and make it to cover before the storm hits,” Lily led the pack with the two kids following, and Zac picked up the rear. When Belvie started to fall behind, Zac scooped up the little girl, without even breaking stride.

By the time the heavens let loose, they had just rounded the curve in the path, the blue shack finally in sight.

“Lil, let’s go in the through the back,” Zac called up to her over the wind’s howl.

Turning her head she nodded, letting him know that she had heard him. With Lionel now in tow, she dug in deeper to get to the shack as the electrical storm was striking all around them. Reaching the back door of the shack, she tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge.

“I can’t open it,” she called to Zac.

As he reached them, he placed the little girl down next to her brother and rammed the paint-chipped old door with his shoulder. The door gave way with a loud thud, and he ushered the others into the shack, closing the door behind them against the harsh wind.

Shaking the rain off, Zac looked at Lily with a smile, “Déjà vu?”

Blushing, she smiled back at him recalling the sweet memory of that day, the day they both leapt off their self-induced precipices, taking a chance at the love they each desperately craved and secretly feared.

Pulling out the satellite phone, Zac just shook his head, “I’m beginning to think these things are useless.”

Sitting down on the floor with the kids, “Now that we’re in the haunted house, maybe this is a good time to tell ghost stories,” Zac teased.

“No. No more ghost stories,” Belvie begged, shaking her head vehemently.

Lily gave the little girl a hug, “He’s pretty mean, isn’t he?” she winked at Zac.

“I think he likes scaring us,” Belvie surmised with a nod.

“Is this someone’s house?” Lionel was taking it all in.

“At some point it probably was, but now it’s just an abandoned shack and lucky for us that it’s here.” Zac couldn’t help but smile at Lily.

The next hour was spent playing camp games. They began with
Telephone
and laughed hysterically at what they’d thought they’d heard whispered to them. That was followed by multiple rounds of
Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar?

By the time they started rounds of
Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore,
the rain had slowed down considerably.

“Did you go to camp?” Belvie asked Lily. The kids were totally intrigued by the concept.

“I did. I went every summer when I was a kid,” she told the little girl.

“Did you go too, Zac?”

“I went to a different kind of camp,” he explained. “I went to tennis camp. It was a sports camp.” As he finished the sentence, something caught his eye outside the window. His autonomic nervous system kicked into high gear as a burst of adrenaline coursed through his veins, preparing him for fight or flight mode.

“Get down,” he reached out and pressed the kids to the floor. “Interhamwe and they’re armed.” Even from the slight distance, he could tell that each of the four rebels was carrying a semi-automatic weapon. Forced out of Rwanda post the genocide, members of the terrorist group had sought asylum in the Congo and Uganda, hiding in the forests. Responsible for killing tourists in Uganda’s Bwindi National Park, Zac knew the danger they now faced, death being the least of it. These men were ruthless killers.

Panic immediately registered on Lily’s face, as her color drained. She moved her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Getting to a vantage point where they couldn’t see him through the window, Zac quickly assessed the situation and it did not look good. From their current position on the road, the insurgents had a clear view of both the front and back of the shack. There was no escape and Zac knew there was not a shot in Hell that they wouldn’t search the shack looking for whatever could be pillaged. Finding a beautiful woman, an American man and two children would be the jackpot.

“Ok, this is what we are doing and we have to act fast if we’re going to make it out of this. When they get to the front of the shack and no longer have a view of the back, I’m going to count to three and I’m going out the front door and I’ll create a distraction.”

Lily began to protest and he stopped her with a sharp tone.

“On exactly three, you are going to go out the back, stay low, move fast and stay on the path. Under no circumstances go to the main road. I’m going to bring them in on the main road. After you get to the curve in the path, try calling in to base camp and get help out to the main road.” He handed the satellite radio to Lily.

“You can’t go out there, they will kill you,” Lily was shaking.

“They very well might, but it’s the only chance we have.”

Reaching into the front pocket of his jeans, he pulled something out and shoved it into the front pocket of her pants. Taking her face in both hands, he looked into her golden eyes, knowing it might be the last time, “I love you, Lily.” The words would not go unsaid.

“I love you, Zac.” Her eyes said it all for too brief a moment before fear eclipsed the beautiful emotion.

With a smile that quickly faded, “Go,” he commanded in a harsh voice.

Going to the front door, he consciously pushed his nerves to the edges of his psyche, knowing they had no place in what he was about to do. As he pulled off his white tee-shirt, he once again dug into the front pocket of his jeans.
Please forgive me, Grandpa,
he said silently and then in a voice loud enough for Lily to hear, “One, two, three. Go!” And flung open the front door.

Standing in the doorway of the blue shack, white tee-shirt waving in his left hand and a shiny object glinting in his right, stood Zac Moore, Con Artist Extraordinaire.

“Gentlemen,” he announced in a loud voice, all eyes and rifles immediately trained on him. He continued to wave his white flag at the surprised quartet who never expected a tall, white, blonde man to emerge from the rundown shack on a dirt road in the Congo.