Peace Out (The Futures Trilogy Book 1) (8 page)

“Come on,” Sammy said. “It is just fruit. It is really good too.”

“No way,” Christy said, but she followed them over to one of the trees. There were stepladders all around. Sammy ran to get one. She tossed two apples down to Becca.

“Are you sure, Christy?”

“Sure.”

“OK.” Sammy came back down the ladder and took an apple from Becca. Crunching down on it, she wiped the juice from her mouth with one hand. “Let
’s go look at flowers then, OK?”

“Fine,” Christy said.

“This one is pretty,” Becca said, beckoning them over. The flower was the size of a dinner plate. The bright pink outer petals gradually faded to white at the center of the flower. “But it doesn’t smell like anything.”

OLIVIA AND JOE

With all our work toward extending the length of human life, what we have really failed at is improving the quality of such a life. People may live longer now, but they frankly don
’t live much better. Ask any octogenarian how he or she is feeling and you’ll get a litany of ailments. If I invented a magic pill offering 65 guaranteed years of life with the body and mind of a twenty-year-old versus growing old until you die, I don’t think anyone would turn it down.

Dr. Anuj Kothanderanum, Medical Commentator, 60 Minutes, 6/18/2029.

“I’m really not feeling well,” Joe said. “You should go without me.”

“I don
’t want to,” Olivia replied.

“I
’m just going to see the doctor and refill my pain meds. You don’t need to be with me for that.”

“The whole point of this trip is for me to do things with you.”

Before Joe could respond, the phone rang. Olivia picked it up. “Hello?”

“Liv, it
’s Sophie.”

“You don
’t sound so good.”

“I
’ve got an awful stomach bug. Hit me all of a sudden. Listen, are you guys going on the excursion today?”

“No. Joe isn
’t feeling up to it so I’m going to stay with him.”

“Oh darn,” Sophie said. “I was hoping you guys would keep Ned company. I
’m going to stay in bed all day, but I’m making him go. He has always wanted to do a real African safari and he isn’t going to miss it just because I can’t keep breakfast down.”

“I
’m sorry,” Olivia said.

“Why aren
’t you going? Is Joe making you stay?”

“No,” Olivia said, a little put out. “I want to stay.”

“Does he want you to go?”

“Well, he says I should, but...”

“What other chance are you going to have to see a pride of lions prowling the veldt? Or gazelles bounding across a grassy plain, a leopard hot on their tails? This is it, Olivia. You’re Peacing Out in a few months. Make the most of it!”

“For me, the most of it is spending time with my husband,” Olivia said.

“Well, I respect your dedication,” Sophie said. She gagged. “Sorry. I need to throw up now.”

Olivia put down the phone.

“Sophie?” Joe guessed.

“Yes, she caught a stomach bug. Wanted us to keep Ned company on the safari.”

“Why don’t you? There is really no reason for you to stay. We’ve already paid for the excursion. If you don’t go, we just wasted twice as much money.” Joe yawned. “Go. Have fun.”

“You really don
’t mind?”

“If I wanted you to stay with me, I
’d say so. Now go!”

“Olivia! I thought you weren
’t coming!” Ned said, waving her over to him.

“I changed my mind,” she said. “Where
’s the tour guide?”

“See that yellow umbrella making its way toward us?”

The tour guide was a pretty young woman with intricate braids. She spoke crisply accented English. “Welcome to Tanzania,” she said. “My name is Adisa Afram and I will be your guide today. Our drivers are Michael and Gabriel and they are waiting for us at the station. Dream Tours is happy you have chosen us for your safari experience.” She reached into her purse and took out a bag of earbuds. “If you will insert these, please, then you will be able to hear my narration as we walk and in the Jeeps. They are also trackers so if you get too far from the rest of us, I will be alerted.” Adisa gave the bag to Olivia, who took one and passed it to Ned.

She put the earbud in her ear and the woman
’s voice boomed.

“Slow taps raise the volume, fast taps turn it down.”

Olivia tapped five times in quick succession and the tour guide’s voice grew tolerable.

“Is everyone ready?” Adisa asked. “OK then, follow me. The port is a little crowded, so just keep an eye out for my umbrella.” She walked at a reasonable pace given the average age of her followers, umbrella held high. They had no trouble keeping up, despite the crowds around them.

“I don’t recognize anyone on the tour,” Olivia said.

“That couple over there embarked in South Africa. I
’ve seen them on the Lido deck, but haven’t had a chance to make an introduction. Those ladies over there are high school friends from Texas. They are all widows. Their first week on board the one with the rhinestone coat asked Sophie if she could borrow me for a dance.”

“And what did Sophie say?”

“She was incredibly gracious and prepared ice packs while I proceeded to trample the poor woman.”

Olivia laughed. “I am amazed at how you manage to know everyone.”

“I’m the unofficial ombudsman of the Lady Luck,” he said. “I think I’ve been on board almost as long as the captain.”

“How is Sophie feeling?” she asked.

“Not great,” Ned said. “I think her latest treatment hit her a little harder than usual. She claims it was something she ate last night, but I had the same food and I feel fine. Who knows, maybe it will be my turn tomorrow.”

“I
’m sorry,” Olivia said. “How is her cancer?”

“Unchanged,” Ned said. “The doctors advised us to leave the ship and go back to Sydney. That there may be some experimental trials they can try there.”

“When are you leaving?”

“We aren
’t,” Ned said. “Sophie won’t go. She likes the Lady Luck. She likes being a world traveler. She says if it weren’t for me, she’d stop treatments altogether and just enjoy her remaining days roaming the earth.”

“I
’m sorry,” Olivia repeated. “Do you think she will Peace Out?”

“Only under directive,” he said. “Sophie is too much of a fighter to go quietly into that good night.”

“What are you going to do?” Olivia asked. “After.”

“You mean, am I going to commit sati and throw myself on her funeral pyre? No. Even if I wanted to, she wouldn
’t let me.”

“How would she know?”

“Oh, Sophie would rise from the grave and strangle me. She always sings this song: Time is a gift, precious and rare...”

“Take it and make of it all you can, use all you can, there
’s not a moment to spare!” Olivia sang. “I loved that movie when I was a kid.”

“The remake, the remake of the remake, or the original?”

“All of them,” Olivia said.

“Well, Sophie wants me to use my time. She says I still have work to do.”

“What kind of work?”

“The work of living,” Ned said. “She wants me to keep consulting with my firm. She wants me to travel and enjoy the fruits of my labor. She wants me to love again.”

“Love again?” echoed Olivia. “Do you think that will be possible?”

“I honestly don
’t know,” he said. “When she dies, she is going to take so much of me with her. I don’t know how much of me will be left.” Ned paused. “Are you using your time, Olivia?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you Peacing Out with Joe? I’ve been wanting to ask you, but it didn’t seem right to do it in front of him.”

“How long have you and Sophie been together?”

“Forty years.”

“Can you imagine your life without her?”

“No.”

“I can
’t imagine my life without Joe.”

“Just because you can
’t imagine it doesn’t mean you should Peace Out,” Ned said. “His gift of time is almost over. Yours isn’t. Aren’t there things you want to do? Things for yourself?”

“Not really,” she said. “I never wanted more in my life than to be a wife, mother and homemaker. I
’ve done all of those things.”

“What about your children? How are they taking your decision?”

“Not well at all,” she said. “They’ve accepted it though. We haven’t talked with them much since we left. We do see the grandkids every day. They don’t know yet.”

“You can still be a mother and homemaker,” Ned said. “A grandmother.”

“No thanks,” she said. “I don’t want to live with either of my daughters-in-law. They run their homes in their own way. I’d be allowed, but not welcomed. It wouldn’t be home. My daughter and her husband don’t have the space.”

“Buy them a bigger place.”

“They would never accept that from me, and even if they did, I wouldn’t want to make her feel beholden to me.”

“So Peace Out is the answer?” Ned asked.

“Holding hands with Joe, my family around me,” Olivia said.

“So what
’s going on with Joe?” Ned changed the subject. “He seemed fine yesterday.

“I think he is in pain, more than he lets on.”

The yellow umbrella stopped in front of two Jeeps. They divided into groups, Olivia and Ned with the other couple in one Jeep and the Texas ladies in another. Adisa sat in the front seat of Olivia’s Jeep next to driver Michael. It was a long drive to the reserve and Adisa entertained them with stories of Tanzanian history, food, and culture. She informed them they would be trying one of the staples of the Tanzanian diet, cassava mush.

“Sounds appetizing,” murmured Ned.

Olivia laughed.

About thirty minutes into the drive, Adisa announced that she would be taking a break. Olivia heard a click and the earbud went silent. The couple across from them smiled at Ned and Olivia.

“I’m Jane,” she said. “This is my husband Bill.”

“Ned.”

“Olivia.”

They all shook hands.

“So how long have you two been married?” Jane asked.

“Let
’s see,” Ned said. “I’ve been married forty years. How long have you been married, Olivia?”

“Forty-two,” she said.

Jane looked at them uncertainly.

Ned laughed. “Our spouses weren
’t feeling up to a safari today. We’ve been on ship together for what, a month and a half now?”

“Seven weeks.”

Jane looked relieved. “Bill and I have been married for thirty-five years,” she said. “He turned seventy last week and I’ll turn seventy in a few months. So we are doing a little trip before we Peace Out.”

“Pledge 70?” asked Ned.

“Oh yes,” Jane said. “It is so important these days, things being the way they are.”

Adisa took up her narration again and they listened attentively. Once they entered the reservation, everyone got out their cameras. Michael drove slowly, stopping each time anyone saw something of interest. The next few hours sped by. They stopped around lunchtime in a compound in the middle of the reservation. The tourists followed Adisa into the
welcome coolness of the restaurant. Michael and Gabriel passed out icy glasses of water.

Olivia took a long drink and wiped the sweat from her forehead. They had seen a pride of lions, giraffes, elephants and a solo rhinoceros so far, along with a bunch of colorfully plumaged birds. The roads were unpaved and bumpy, the Jeep
’s seats were hardly padded, the temperature was sweltering, and the air was dry and dusty. Olivia didn’t care. She was having a wonderful time.

Joe was asleep when Olivia got back to the room. She felt grimy after a day on the veldt so she took a shower. When she went back into the bedroom, Joe was sitting up in bed, reading on his tablet.

“How was your day?” he asked.

“Amazing,” Olivia said, going to the closet to get dressed. “We got so close to the animals. Ned and I shared a jeep with this couple from Minnesota. Our guide was very informative, but also knew when to be quiet and just let us marvel at the scenery. My least favorite part was lunch. That exotic stuff is not really for me. But at least we had dinner at a more American-style place. I had a burger.

“It was nice to get to know Ned a little more. He told me all about how he and Sophie met. It was through an executive dating search. She was the CFO of this small company based in Melbourne and he had just made partner at his firm in Washington D.C. They dated long distance for over a year before she moved. Not like us. I told him how you swept me off my feet at that bonfire freshman year of college. Though it did take you ten years to propose. Anyway, remember how Sophie said she never wanted children? That wasn’t quite the truth. They tried for years and she couldn’t have them. It is so sad. Ned said she didn’t want to go with IVF, surrogacy, or adoption, so they just didn’t have any. Ned says he really envies you, that you have this legacy to leave in your children and grandchildren.

“I took a lot of pictures. I have them on my tablet if you want to see them.” Olivia went to the table to get it.