Bad Son Rising (9 page)

“So, Dr. Castillo, it sounds like there’s a lot of decisions made on the fly depending on what is discovered out in the field.”

“Exactly, Zac, this is led up by an engineering team that assesses daily, actually hourly, if the plans are working, and execute based on real-time assessments.” Berto picked up his red wine glass.

Just nodding, Zac didn’t comment, his wheels were spinning too fast to verbalize a coherent thought.

Pointing a fork at him, Schooner smiled, “You should be over there.”

Expecting an argument from his son, just like he’d gotten every time he broached the subject of Zac going to Zambia, Schooner was surprised by the serious look in his son’s eyes and the nod of his head.

“You are an engineering student,” Berto added.

“It’s all very interesting and very hands on and is exactly the type of engineering I’m studying, civil engineering and urban planning.”

“You should do this,” Schooner announced. “These are the types of opportunities and experiences which will shape how you move forward in your career and life. It’ll be memorable and life altering, mark my words. And you will make incredible memories.” With a shrug of his shoulders, “There’s no reason you can’t defer for a semester.”

Turning to Dr. Castillo, “Do they even need people?” Zac was praying Berto would say yes.

With a wave of his hand, “They are grossly understaffed and a big able-bodied young man like you, with an understanding of mathematics and engineering, would be considered a godsend.”

“What do you think?” Schooner asked his son.

“It sounds interesting,” Zac was trying to play it cool, not show his hand, but the thought of being overseas with Lily, working together on a project, was without a doubt, the coolest opportunity to ever cross his path. There was no way she could ignore him over there. And he’d make sure that Brit stayed far away from her.

Regarding Zac Moore with a very serious look, Berto’s voice was rife with sincere pleading, “Zac, I would sleep better at night knowing you were there with Lily. I’m not kidding. But you and your father should know before you decide to embark on a journey like this, that it’s rough over there. The environment is merciless, the conditions are unstable, it’s fairly dangerous, but the work is grand. And rewarding. And you’d be there with Lily, which would give me and her mother great peace of mind.”

Zac didn’t realize at first that he was smiling. The thought of heading someplace where he’d be living on the edge made the blood course through his veins double-time. The fact that Liliana Castillo was there, on the other side of the world, was just a dream come true. For if he were honest with himself, on some level, he had compared every girl to her since the day they met and no one came remotely close to the silken haired serious Yalie.

What he hadn’t realized was that maybe he and Lily were actually kindred spirits of a sort and that her irrepressible adventurous soul had created a situation for them to explore what he knew in his heart was that elusive something he yearned for, dreamed of and in his most private thoughts, prayed could eventually be his.

Finally speaking, “I think it would be the coolest thing. I would love to do this.”

Schooner Moore sat back and smiled. Clearly pleased with his son’s decision.

Over a quarter of a century before, Schooner had been asked by his own father and Mia’s father to watch out for Mia, as she was only a sixteen year old college freshman, three thousand miles away from home and he was a few years older. Now, in a scenario somewhat similar, many years later, history was about to repeat itself as he asked his son to take on the same commitment to which he had agreed.

“Zac, I want you to watch out for Liliana. Make sure that she’s OK. We need you to take care of her.” Schooner’s serious sapphire eyes bored into his son’s nearly identical eyes.

Nodding, “I will, Dad,” and looking at Dr. Castillo, “I’ll look out for Lily. I’ll be there for her.”
As much as she’ll let me,
he thought, thinking of her tenacious personality and how she would probably let him know, in no uncertain terms, that she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

Zac knew, as he made the commitment to both fathers, that he would protect Lily. Whether she wanted him to or not, his decision had been made the moment he knew she was in a dangerous place - he would protect Lily. And the very first thing he would protect her from was this Brit.

Zac Moore arrived at base camp in the Congo with quite a splash, or one might say, in typical Zac style. The young American, ever the entrepreneur, showed up with a container full of LeBron 11 basketball shoes and he planned to make a killing selling them to both teammates and locals.

Starting their TDYs the same day as Zac was fellow American, long-haired Matt from Michigan and burly Australian, Jake. Sizing them up quickly, Zac’s first impression was that neither one of them would be competition for Lily’s affection and that they’d probably both make good wingmen in furthering his agenda du jour, whether that be getting closer to Lily or selling the LeBron 11s.

Located on the outskirts of a small village, base camp consisted of five buildings; administration, mess hall/general gathering area with satellite TV and internet, male dorm, female dorm, and living quarters for those in charge. The buildings were rustic and the necessities barely basic. At his cot, Zac unpacked his gear, stowing the LeBrons in his locker. The final thing he pulled out of his duffel bag was placed on the small nightstand next to his bed, a photo of Nathaniel and Portia in a frame they had made themselves. Under their smiling faces, the edge of the frame said “Heckle + Jeckle” in ceramic paint. Placing it by his bedside, he felt too far away from them, a pang of sadness rushing through his chest.

Hoping to catch a glimpse of her before being ushered into orientation in the main lounge, just the thought of Lily felt like home and he knew seeing the sheath of her hair would in an odd way help him from missing Natie, Po, Liz, Brian, and his dad. His life. The life he gave up to come halfway around the world.
For what?
he wondered.
An adventure? A chance with some girl who really wasn’t his type? What the hell am I doing here?

Staff started to come in from the field, excited to meet their new teammates. Zac first saw them from the corner of his eye. Dressed in cargo shorts and hiking boots, his first thought was,
Holy shit, they’re hot and foreign
and they were openly checking him out, devouring him with their eyes.

Anneliese and Katje were on Zac in a New York minute. Speaking in heavily accented English, the two German students were making claim to the tall, handsome blonde boy, promising him they’d show him around and help him get acclimated.

Wanting to ask about Lily, but not ready to reveal his hand to anyone, he kept scanning the room, checking out everyone that entered. Small groups arrived every few minutes. Katje explained they were the teams from the different work sites. Listening, to get the lay of the land, he couldn’t wait to get to a work site and see what needed to be done.

The glint off her silken sheath of hair under the florescent lights made his heart skip a beat.
When had she entered?
he wondered.

Excusing himself, he made his way across the large room. Several feet away, with her back still to him, Zac stopped dead in his tracks. The familiar scent hit him like a ton of bricks and for the second time in just a few minutes, he was slammed with a visceral response. He had not anticipated this particular sense to become overwhelmed, activating memories that had lingered on the edges of his consciousness, vacillating between hope and devastation.

Approaching from behind, with the lithe grace of a cat springing from a ledge, his lips were right next to her ear when he whispered, “You still smell like a Piña Colada.”

Spinning around to face him, her eyes were filled with surprise. He’d clearly caught her off guard and it appeared as if she had momentarily stopped breathing.

“Remember me?” Zac couldn’t control his heartfelt smile. He was wearing his heart on his sleeve for this girl and she had no clue.

“Of course I remember you. I saw your name on a list but I didn’t know if it was the same Zac Moore.”

“The one and only,” he kidded.

“What are you doing here?” She appeared suddenly nervous, as if she’d gotten caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing.

Zac could feel Lily’s defenses going up. This girl had personal force fields which she could activate with an immediate flipping of some internal switch.
It’s me, don’t hide from me,
he wanted to yell, but knew that she had probably never given him a second thought after his dad’s wedding, while she had affected him in a more than slightly obsessive way.

“I’m an engineering student. Civil engineering. This is the kind of stuff I love.”

“Really?” She cocked her head, “I never would have pegged you for the engineering type.”

He sidled up to her, possessively slinging an arm over her shoulder in a casual manner, but there was nothing casual or spontaneous in the move.

“I see you’ve met one of our new recruits, Liliana,” his accent was British and the hairs on the back of Zac’s neck stood at attention.

It was time to greet the enemy.

Taking control, Zac stuck out his hand, “Zac Moore,” his voice was strong and clear, his gaze piercing and cold. He towered over the slight man by at least four to five inches and Zac’s muscular bulk made the difference more dramatic.

“William Bray, project director,” he took Zac’s hand.

“Nice to meet you, Bill.” Zac smiled, as if he were just a friendly American boy.

“It’s William,” the older man’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Zac nodded his acknowledgement, but made no attempt at a correction or apology. Smiling at Lily, “I have a picture back in my dorm that you’ve gotta see. It’s of Portia and Nathaniel, you’re not going to believe how big they are.”

At the mention of Portia’s name, Lily’s eyes lit up. She had been with his father and Mia in Zambia when they first met the endearing toddler in an orphanage. “How are they?”

“They’re devils,” he laughed, his smile revealing his love for his little siblings.
Score one,
she and I have a history, Billy-boy. And although it’s not extensive, you don’t need to know that.

Strategy was flooding Zac’s brain. Leaning down, he kissed Lily’s cheek, “So good to see you. I need to head into orientation.” He nodded at William, before turning around and heading straight back to Anneliese and Katje. No need to antagonize any further the man who had the power to give him shit jobs and keep him away from Lily. Let him think that Zac’s interest lie in nailing the hot German girls and let Lily think the same.

“You know the American Ice Princess?” Anneliese was curious.

“Ice Princess?” Zac laughed. “My father and her father are involved in projects together.”

“She’s a bitch,” Katje muttered. “Oh, sorry,” she then apologized to Zac, but it was clear that she was anything but sorry.

Zac took a seat at the back, flanked by the Germans. Right up in the front row, Liliana sat front and center. Zac silently laughed, thinking how the seating structure was already emulating high school. Cool kids in the back, teacher’s pet up front. The thought of Lily being Billy-boy’s pet made a wave of nausea roll up from Zac’s gut and unconsciously his legs spread a little farther apart, touching the thighs of the adjacent blondes.
Look back at me, Lils,
he willed.
Look. Back. At. Me.

As if feeling the eyes boring into the back of her head, Lily turned around, her expression visibly souring at the sight of the girls hanging on Zac. His smile was slow and knowing and as their eyes locked, Zac winked at her. Lily’s eyes widened, and she whipped her head around to the front of the room, hair swishing with the sudden movement.

No more following you around like a little lapdog, Lils. That’s not how I roll. I’m not fighting for your attention anymore. Come get mine.

William stood at the front of the room, facing them, his small, wiry frame taking on a surprisingly authoritative stance.

“Good evening, everyone,” he began with a self-confident smile.

“Good evening,” the room returned in unison.

“Tonight we are welcoming the newest members of our team, Matt from the United States. Matt please stand.”

Matt stood and waved to the room and was met with a chorus of “Hi Matt.”

“Jake is joining us from Australia.”

Jake stood, receiving a hearty greeting that rendered a deep blush on his fair complexion.

“And finally, yet another American, Zac.”

Standing to his full height, Zac hit the room with his bad boy smile, “Hey everyone.” He didn’t bother to look at Lily.

“After a short orientation with our new teammates,” William began, “We’ll all reconvene for a group meeting. Please be back here at 19:00 sharp.”

Zac was again surprised at William’s commanding presence and wondered if that was part of Lily’s attraction to him. He possessed an unlikely charisma and Zac’s keen sense for quickly summing up people was working overtime, gathering data on the man he viewed as his opponent.

“Why don’t you come sit up front,” William was giving Zac a polite order.

Smiling, with affected genuineness, Zac made his way up to the group.
He’s threatened by me,
he thought.
He sensed something in Lily’s reaction to me and I’m a threat. Maybe Liz was right. Maybe she felt it, too, the first time we met.

The numbers were staggering. Over 70 million people had lost access to water over the past twenty years due to a failed source. 70 million. Over eight times the population of New York City. So hard to fathom, impossible to visualize and the numbers just grew — one to four billion people without safe drinking water.

Billion.

With every stat William threw at them, devastating death rates from water-borne disease, harrowing infant mortality numbers, Zac became more and more convinced that he was in the right place and even if he could only make a difference for a few people at a time, he would be part of the solution.