Disclaimer on Chapter 1
Notes:
1. It's Troy Polamalu. Number 43. He plays defense for my boys, the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Byaa!
Chapter II
As the group trudged through their umpteenth jungle, Ma-Ti couldn't help but observe the closeness they had all developed over the past five years. There were changes – they were all growing up, after all – but the comfort among them was palpable.
Kwame had truly emerged as a leader. He now stood over six feet tall, and his physical presence added to his quiet confidence. Kwame could get pensive, sometimes isolating himself from his friends. Right now, however, he was clearly in his element; the Chadian jungle was similar to the one in his native Kenya.
Gi bounded behind him, as always, full of energy. At age twenty-one, she retained a cuteness and vitality that could only be defined as spunky, and her short hair accentuated this disposition. She was also re-embracing her Thai heritage and had been communicating with home more frequently. In fact, Ma-Ti seemed to recall a boy named Kim coming up in conversations on more than one occasion.
Wheeler had changed very little. Despite adding inches to his height and muscle to his weight, he remained much like the jovial teenager he had been when they met. Maybe a little tamer, Ma-Ti reflected, given the anti-Americanism that they had encountered recently. He remembered an exasperated Wheeler shouting, "Hey, you think I voted for the guy?"
Right now, he was gleefully poking Linka with a twig he had found.
Linka had chosen to immerse herself in study. It was as if she wanted to show the world that she did not intend to take the easy road by getting by on her looks. Which were, Ma-Ti admitted, more spectacular than ever. He could hardly blame Wheeler's constant attention on the girl. And given such attention, Ma-Ti found it shocking that they two still hadn't figured out how to move forward in a relationship.
Five years. Five years ago I was only a child, he recalled. He was still on the short side, but lots of exercise from eco-emergencies had grown muscles on him. He was wearing his hair long now and Wheeler had jokingly called him 'Polamalu', after an American football player he apparently resembled.
Ma-Ti's thoughts trailed off as Mfuto led the group towards a ravine. "We go down to the river from here," he said. The cliff before them dropped off suddenly to a ledge of jagged rocks. At least 800 meters below flowed the slow-moving river, winding its way through the Chadian jungle. "We will camp on the other bank then follow the river to the basin in the morning. It will be best to get the jump on Plunder first thing in the morning when he is least aware."
Linka looked over the edge to the river below. It was a long, long way down. "How exactly do we get down there?"
Mfuto smiled at the blonde. "We have a system," he said. With that, he walked over to a nearby tree and pulled a strap with two handles from a branch. "If you look carefully, there is a cord that runs from this tree across the river. We use these," he gestured to the strap, "to slide down it."
"No way!" exclaimed Wheeler, "we get to zip cord down there?" He grinned, "That is possibly the most awesome thing we've ever gotten to do!"
"What about saving those Asian elephants?" asked Ma-Ti.
"And shutting down that hazardous waste dump near the Ganges?" asked Gi. "We must have saved 5000 people!"
"Da, and being present when Kyoto was signed. Not that your country agreed to it, Yankee…"
"And watching the penguins in Antarctica? And going to Carnivale? And…"
"Well…yeah," interrupted Wheeler. "But…zip cording! Man, that's cool!"
Mfuto demonstrated, sailing down the rope and letting go over the deep water. Gi followed, hitting the water gracefully. Kwame and Ma-Ti were clumsier, but their laughter echoed up the ravine, attesting to their safe landing.
Linka slung her strap over the cord. She bit her lip and looked back at Wheeler, who was standing right behind her. "I do not know about this, Wheeler."
Wheeler smiled as he looked into her nervous green eyes. "You saw them all go, babe. It's easy."
"But it is so far…"
"Look," he reached up and placed his hands over hers, "You just hold on tight here, an then…" he let his hands trail down the outside of her arms and sides before resting his fingers on her hips, "…you let your legs carry you down. Got it?"
The heat from her blush was intense, and Wheeler knew he'd struck a nerve. Emboldened by a lack of response, he wrapped his arms around her. Their friendship had grown much stronger through the years, despite their frequent squabbling. They had become closer in every way but the physical, and that was usually ok with him. But sometimes, he thought, feeling her warm body pressed against him, not so much.
Linka had been surprised by his affectionate display, and even more surprised at the warmth that uncoiled itself in her stomach over it. She caught herself before unexpectedly doing something uncharacteristic. "Da, I got it," she snapped, pulling his arms from her waist. She pushed away from him and rushed into her descent. As she sailed down, her mind molded itself to the memory Wheeler's hands on her hips, his breath on her neck. The thought was disruptive to her equilibrium and her hands felt sweaty. "Der'mo!" she cursed, her arms growing unsteady.
Once over the water, her hands slipped loose and she fell at an awkward angle. She hit the water with a hard smack and felt the breath forced from her body. "Idiota!" she chided herself silently. "Shto ti delala?"
After she emerged and regained some composure, she saw the others looking at her with concern. "Linka, are you ok?" asked Ma-Ti.
"Fine," she shot back, her face red with embarrassment. She took a quick inventory and decided that nothing had been hurt in the fall. Except, of course, her pride. This is all Wheeler's fault…
Her thoughts trailed off as Wheeler splashed down nearby. He broke the surface and swam nearer to her. "Hey babe, what happened out there? Are you ok?"
His dark red hair was dripping river water as his light blue eyes reflected concern and, Linka surmised, probably a hint of amusement. She closed the distance between them. "This is your fault, Wheeler!" Then, more quietly, "How dare you!"
"What?"
"Why would you touch me like that? Did you not think it would disrupt my balance? Bozhe moy, you could have killed me!"
"Come on, Linka," he said in irritation, "You're fine. You just hit the water a little funny, and…"
"What made you think you could do that to me?" She was face to face with him now, glaring defiantly at him.
The others watched the scene silently. Mfuto looked concerned, but Kwame shook his head.
"Well," sighed Gi, "the proverbial shit was bound to hit the fan at some point."
"Is everything alright?" asked Mfuto.
Gi cast a look back at the pair, who were locked in a glare-off. "They'll either kill each other or kiss each other. Either way, we should probably set up camp and leave them to it."
"So you falling was my fault?" Wheeler was asking, incredulously.
"Da, konyeshno, Yankee. Of course it is. You should not have touched me like that!"
"Look, Linka, if my touching you has that much of an effect on you, then we really should have a talk."
She turned away, spitting a Russian expletive.
"Don't turn away from me, babe. We need to talk." He grabbed her by the shoulder and was rewarded with a splash of water in the face. "Hey!"
She held his angry gaze and then looked down at the circles in the water forming as droplets fell from her eyelashes. "I think," she said evenly, "that you should be leaving me alone. You are a distraction to me and I do not appreciate it."
"I distract you!" Wheeler's eyes widened at the incredible nature of her statement. "Bullshit, Linka! You want to know what distraction is? Distraction is trying to do this goddamn job, which is tough enough, while you've got a raging hard-on for the girl standing next to you!"
Linka grimaced. "That is disgusting. We are through with this conversation."
He stared at her for what seemed like an eternity. "Yeah. I think we're through with a lot of stuff, babe." He began swimming towards the campsite.
Linka continued treading water for a minute. "Khorosho," she said quietly, trying to hold onto her angry feeling as long as she could, but they morphed into a mildly nauseous sensation in the pit of her stomach. She swam towards shore, letting the river catch the odd tear from her eyes.
