Chapter 11: Day 7 — The Axle Spins
Berapi woke up to ATVs arriving a few hours later. While everyone else went back to sleep, Michael got up and grabbed his machete. Sam was also awake.
"Go to sleep, Sam," Michael said.
"I've tried, I just… I just…"
Michael sighed, "Ok. Ok. Why don't you come with me? Maybe if we figure out what happened, it can take your mind off things."
"Ok…" Sam said standing.
Their ears caught the sound of outboard motors and they turned.
Three boats landed up the beach and a couple dozen staff and security officers disembarked with rakes, buckets, and fire extinguishers.
Michael and Sam glanced at each other then began walking over. One of the security guards spotted them.
"Stop!" he shouted, raising his palm.
Sam and Michael stood in place and watched them finish unpacking and walking up. The man who shouted at them diverted from the group to speak to them.
"Don't go up there until we give the all clear," he said.
"Is there going to be an official investigation of some kind?" Sam asked.
"Burning down the forest is not against the rules," he said rudely, "And as long as it does not spread out of our control and need outside intervention, the local authorities don't care."
"Wait, so the helicopter last night was yours and not the coast guard or something?" he asked.
The man pointed in Sam's face. "Stay out. Until after we give the clear and leave."
Sam put his arms up defensively, "Ok. Ok."
The man stomped off after the others.
"Well… that was helpful…" Sam said, lowering his arms.
Michael gave a half chuckle, "Yeah, really."
They looked over at the crews finishing setting up and beginning to head over.
Michael raised his arm to them to flag someone down.
Michael's crew came up to them while Sam's crew walked off with the others towards the camp.
"Heard you had quite the night," he said. "Once everyone is up and around, we'll be wanting to interview each of you for confession."
Sam nodded.
"Becky confessed to trying to start a fire in that area earlier yesterday and failing," Michael said, "She also made a half convincing argument for Vegeta setting it afterwards, which is rare for an idiot like her."
"Thanks for the tip," he nodded. "We'll make sure to bring it up."
Michael shifted his weight to his other leg and crossed his arms. "Now. When we went to call for help last night the batteries were removed from the radio. We need—"
"What?" he said loudly. "As in the foil was broken? Those were sealed to stop you from using them to start your fires."
Michael raised his hands defensively, "I know. I know. We ALL know."
"The person who did it will be removed right?" Sam asked hopefully.
"Not without proof," he said.
Sam moaned as any hope escaped his body.
"Let's just head back to the shelter," Michael said, shaking his head. "There's no point at the moment and even Hassim isn't getting up."
Sam looked over and saw that Hassim was still lying on the ground.
"Yeah, if he's not going to pray yet then we might as well try…"
Michael patted Sam on the back before putting his arm around his shoulder. "Let's try and get another hour or two…"
The men returned to camp and laid down.
Sometime later, Hassim shook Sam awake.
Sam rolled over and looked at him bleary eyed.
"The firefighters just left. Want to go check where it burned?"
"Yeah… yeah… give me a moment." Sam rolled over and shook Michael. "Michael, Hassim said the guys are gone. We can go to the fire now."
Hassim sighed visibly frustrated.
"Oh good," Michael said as he rolled over. "Ichiro, stay and watch camp."
"Mhmmm…" he moaned.
Michael rolled onto his knees. "Ok let's go," he said, getting to his feet.
The group went into the burnt area.
"How the hell did any of this burn," Michael said. "This is the swamp."
Sam suddenly pointed. "There."
He jogged over. Michael and Hassim followed.
They came to a hollowed-out log.
"Fire started here…" Sam said, looking into the hole. "Wait… Isn't this? Oh fucking hell, Becky." He turned around and ran his hands through his hair, "Jesus Christ, that fucking witch."
"Thought process, please," Michael said.
"Look at where we are. This is the log Sugar Petal got her bugs from."
He raised his hand and rotated his index finger. "And? She told us about the log last night."
He turned around. "I saw dugout canoes made in Hawaii when I was a kid." He put his hands on either side of the large hole. "This tree did not have a big hole like this in it. So, this had to burn for hours before it got big enough to set everything else off." Sam suddenly stuck his head down closer to the hole.
"Michael, remember when the security said the reason they had the back of the radio sealed was because 9-volts can be shorted to make a fire?"
"Yes."
"Look in the ashes in the bottom," Sam said, stepping back.
Michael looked in, then backed away. "Stick the camera in there," he commanded, pointing at the hole.
Michael's cameraman filmed the inside. Inside were the remains of the two missing 9-volt batteries. And two earrings with their heads poked in the socket end.
"If Becky's missing her earrings, we got her dead to rights," Michael said, picking the remains out of the ashes.
"She's still going to blame Vegeta at the top of her lungs," Hassim said.
"Vegeta successfully starting a fire wouldn't hollow out the log like this. Becky tried to light the log on fire by short-circuiting the batteries," Sam said. "And when it didn't instantly go fwoosh, she abandoned it only for it to smolder and go off later." He leaned over, hands on his knees, "I want to puke…" He started coughing.
"Yeah, no kidding…" Michael said. "Those batteries smell." He put his hand on Sam's back. "If you're up for it, we should check the rest of it too."
Sam put the back of his hand to his mouth, "Ok…"
"Becky shouted about steps at a waterfall," Hassim said, walking past them. "Since you said this is her food log, they must be nearby."
"Wow," Hassim said. "Nice little waterfall. Make a good postcard. Too bad there's not a pool. We could actually shower like in the movies."
"Hey check out this cool erosion over here," Sam said.
Hassim came over but Michael looked worried as he followed.
They came to the huge hook.
Sam pointed across the stream, "Look. The stream hit that rock and has been digging in this way into the hillside ever since. All that sand and pebbles used to be from over here."
"How long do you think that took?" Hassim asked.
"Who knows." Sam pointed to a spot, "But eventually the bank is going to give way right there and the whole stream will tumble… down… Holy fuck! This is what had Vegeta spooked."
Michael clamped his hands onto Sam's and Hassim's shoulders. "But that will be years away, just like you just said," he forcefully grinned. "Besides, it's the dry season. There won't be any serious rain for months," he chuckled. He grabbed both their arms and pulled. "Now let's find that staircase and go do what we actually came here to do."
"Well, those are so perfect they look fake," Michael said pointing at the roots on the hillside.
"Yeah…" Hassim said. "Tempted to look for a hobbit hole." He began climbing up.
"Careful!" Sam said. "The bark is burnt. We don't know what the wood is like underneath."
"Sam, just chill," Michael said, following after Hassim.
"Everything is just, gone," Hassim said.
Sam looked up, "Leaves are gone. Branches are burnt but the trunks are fine. This spread through the trees here."
Suddenly the proximity alarm started to beep.
The three crew producers turned off the warning and the fastest looked at his phone.
"We're approaching the edge of the game zone here," Sam's producer said.
Michael looked back up stream. "That bamboo over there looks untouched," he said pointing.
"A lot smaller footprint than I thought from all the fire and smoke," Sam said. "Firemen must have gotten here just in time."
"Yeah… Whatever helicopter pilot did this had good aim." Michael said, scanning the area. Suddenly he walked forward and squatted down. "Found her camp," he said, holding up a brick. "Let's take these back."
Hassim turned around to his crew, "What's going to happen to Becky?"
"There's going to be no police investigation, so no charges," his field producer said. "But there hasn't been a review yet by the producers. If anything does happen, I wouldn't expect it until the afternoon."
Hassim nodded.
"So she could remain in the game?" Sam said startled.
"No proof is no proof," Michael said, putting his hand on his shoulder. "Let's just go back to bed. If she's not hauled off by sunset, we'll all talk then."
"Ok…" Sam nodded.
Meanwhile, with Samundra…
Morning came to Samundra beach and Jessica had begun her clay craft.
Sand was honestly bad for clay, so she walked into the trees and found a level, mostly sand-free area in earshot of the camp. It was under a large tree, and judging from the badly-disguised caterpillars, was one of the camera trees Vegeta had mentioned.
It took most of the morning to complete her three projects.
One was a giant mound with a ring of holes in the bottom and a flame out the top. The second was a cylinder of clay with a small fire on the bottom and flames shooting out of the top. The other was a thick plate with holes in it she sat aside.
"Holy crap, Jessica," Jamal said, checking up on her. "You building a flamethrower?"
"This is the stove I mentioned," she smiled, "Final firing and it's good to go."
Jamal got on his hands and knees and looked in the bottom hole with wood. "Are you saying those little twigs are making that big a fire? Damn… Bob is going to need to eat his words with ketchup."
Jessica laughed. She laughed a lot harder than Jamal thought was warranted, but he kept it to himself.
"And this big thing?"
"Charcoal dome," she said. "For the filters and anything else we think of."
"Filters? Wait, are you going to try and make salt?"
"Also won't hurt to have extra fresh water. If Vegeta isn't getting sick then we should be ok."
Jessica stood up and went over to the clay dome and peaked in the bottom holes. "Looks like it's time to seal this tight and wait till tomorrow. Want to hand me some mud from that pile?"
Jamal looked around and spotted a very small pile. "That isn't the last of the clay Vegeta brought, is it?"
"No. This is from another hole near the beach. Too impure for pottery, but it's still usable for these kinds of things."
Jamal passed her handfuls of mud and she closed the holes.
"You must have learned a lot living in India," Jamal said.
"Hmm hmm," she said. "While the ideal is to be isolated from the world, the temples usually end up doing community work. When I first came, a lot of people thought I was just another yoga tourist and were really surprised I stayed. It took a lot of work to be respected, and then all over again on my first pilgrimage from the local villages and sometimes the resident holy man." She took a breath and closed her eyes. "But I proved myself."
"Good for you."
"Yeah…" she said. It sounded almost regretful.
Jamal decided to change the subject. "So Bob and Casey are worried about how brown some of those plantains are getting."
"Plantains age differently than Cavendishes," she sighed frustrated. "Black is when they can be eaten like a dessert banana. They are not rotten."
"Had to explain this before, huh?" he chuckled.
"You have no idea," she rolled her eyes. "So Jamal, would you be willing to help me out? Daisuke agreed to be my little helper, but extra hands will go a long way."
"Well the sea salt was my idea," he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'm down."
She nodded. "Go find Daisuke."
Jamal nodded and walked back to camp. But he wasn't gone long before he came back alone. "Hey umm… Jessica," he said sheepishly. "Bob just ordered us to head to the stream to go fishing. He said your side projects aren't a priority."
She sighed frustrated. "Well, can you grab Casey or Nick then?"
"Actually, he's calling all hands on deck. Minus you. He wants you to watch the camp."
Jessica sighed frustrated. "And no one has the guts to tell him no?"
"Jessica, it's not like that. Bob just wants us to get some meat. That's all."
"And if Bob wasn't midnight snacking, the meat would have lasted longer."
"I know. I know. Jessica you're awesome and kept us more than fed without rice, it's just that not everyone is used to being a vegetarian."
"I'm not saying no to fish, just that it doesn't take everyone." Jessica looked to the side. "Actually…" She looked back at him. "Vegeta went into the mangroves and found a lot of useful plastic, glass and metal. If you walk far enough, he said you'll find the garbage pile the staff threw everything in. It's within the game boundaries. If I can't get help with my pottery, then scour that place clean."
"I'll bring that up to Bob," Jamal nodded. He turned and left.
After he left, Jessica put her face in her hands and shook her head.
"What are you thinking?" her field producer asked.
"Nothing…" she dropped her hands. She looked up. "I'm just… tired…"
"Everything is dead," Casey said. "Oh my God. What happened to all the little fishies!"
Everyone looked at the mouth of the stream full of dead fish and flies.
"Last I saw something like this was a hazmat spill into the trout stream," Bob said. "Something has poisoned the fish. This isn't normal."
"So… Now what?" Nick asked.
Daisuke looked at Bob. "Ocean fishing?"
"If we go that way," Jamal said, "Jessica said Vegeta found a small garbage dump in the mangroves. He's been gathering stuff there."
"And how does she know this?" Bob asked suspiciously.
Jamal shrugged. "Eh eh Eh?" he moaned to the rhythm of 'I don't know'.
He sighed, "Seems Vegeta isn't the only one who likes to cohort with the other team."
"Finally!" Nick said, throwing his arms in the air. "Someone gets my point."
"The field producers would have stopped the conversation if it broke the rules," Bob said. "But still. Maybe we should start babysitting Jessica more. We can't stop Vegeta coming here. But we can stop us approaching him."
"I'll do it," Daisuke said. "She won't be threatened by me."
"What do you mean threatened?" Bob asked.
"Really Bob?" Jerry said, crossing his arms. "Really?"
"I'm just saying Jessica can pull off surviving on her own just as much as Vegeta," Daisuke said. "What is stopping her from leaving just like he did and what will happen to us then?"
"We have coconuts. And we know where the bananas and those weeds are. We are beyond the need for her anymore."
"Are you saying she should be the next vote out?" Casey shouted. "Bob what the hell?! Is that why you left her behind?!"
"I'm not touching her," Jerry said.
"Same," Jamal said. "If anything, we need her more now than ever now that something is poisoning the water."
"I never said anything about voting her out," Bob said defensively. "I'm just saying she's not as critical as Daisuke thinks."
"So are we going to go ocean fishing," Nick asked. "Or are we heading back to camp since the stream is a bust?"
"Daisuke, Jamal. Show us where you caught those three fish," Bob ordered. "And if we come across it…" he sighed, "we can take a look at Vegeta's dump…"
Meanwhile, on Berapi…
Sam saw Sugar Petal roll her strings into a loop around her hand and elbow and walk over to a leaning, tall tree full of coconuts. He then saw her drop the string and slip her feet through.
"Sugar!" he scrambled over. "No. No. Don't!" He got to her when she was readying to hop up. "You're too weak. Here, let me do it."
"Ok!" she said, but her usual pep sounded more like a whimper. She slipped her feet out and Sam slipped his shoes off.
"Hey, look at the bozos," Michael pointed with his thumb, leaning in to talk to Lisa. Becky laughed as everyone turned to watch Sam begin to climb the palm.
"He's… actually doing it," Ichiro said, watching him scurry up the tree. "Huh. I have new respect for the guy."
"Naw he's going to slip," Becky said. She leaned forward grinning like a predator, "This is going to be good."
Sam made it halfway up the tree until he reached the bend in the truck. When he put his knee on the trunk to rest, the rope slipped off his right foot. He went to put his weight back on his heels and slipped.
"Ah!" he screamed as he ended up dangling from his arms.
"Sam!" Hassim got up and rushed over to him. He stood underneath and raised his arms. "I got you! I'm underneath!"
Sam managed to get his legs round the trunk. "Oh God," he said breathing hard. He looked over his shoulder at the ground, then at the top of the tree upside down.
He moved his hand forward and shimmied a few inches up.
"Are you still trying to get those coconuts?" Hassim shouted. "Come on, it's not worth you getting hurt over."
"Idiot," Michael mumbled, and he and Ichiro stood. "Sam! Get down before you hurt yourself! We can't afford to lose you!"
Sam looked up at the top of the tree.
"Sam now!" Michael ordered.
Sam sighed and began to shimmy down. Eventually he slid to the ground with Hassim and Ichiro ready to catch him.
As Sam turned around, Michael pointed the machete, still in its sheath, in his face.
"Never do that again!"
Michael then saw Sugar Petal holding the rope. He stormed over and ripped it from her hands. Michael then jogged back to camp and threw it in the fire.
"Hey!" Sam shouted. "We could have used that to make something else!"
Michael took the fire poking stick and pressed it deep into the flames. "Not worth it if you're going to pull stunts like this."
"Hey Sugar Piss!" Becky shouted, "You know this wouldn't have happened if you didn't start this right?! You almost got Sam killed and now you got all our stuff destroyed! Stop wasting our oxygen and go breathe in some sea water!"
Sugar Petal just stood there with her signature smile.
Becky snarled and began to stand up, but Lisa grabbed her arm. "Not with the men here," she whispered sternly.
She groaned and laid on her back. "I still don't see why we can't cut her pigtails off or light them on fire," she whispered back. "All that hairspray will make a perfect little puff ball and the ocean is right there."
"I'll cut off your hair off if you don't drop it," Michael whispered before going over to Sugar Petal.
"Before you get into more trouble, go get some firewood," he said. "And not stuff that's too rotten to burn this time. You keep doing this and you need to go back again and again and it's not helping anyone, especially yourself. I know you're smarter than this. Use some common sense for once."
Meanwhile, with Samundra…
"Wow," Bob said looking out at the muddy tidal plain at the mouth of the large river, "Vegeta was right about the dump." He put his hands on his knees and looked at Daisuke and Jamal. "Is… Is this where you… you guys climbed out of the water? This is like a half mile."
"No," Jamal pointed north, "There's an old boat dock on the other side of those trees." He turned back to the mud. "It had to have been at high tide. This wasn't here before."
Jerry put his hands on his forehead, shading his eyes, "Looks like the trash mostly piled up closer to the trees. That's probably what he was talking about."
"Ok," Bob said. "How do we want to split up? Who's fishing and who's dumpster diving?"
"Well, I'm not stepping on glass," Jamal said. "So, Daisuke and me on fishing."
"Guess that means Casey and I are going through the trash since we have shoes," Jerry said.
"Bob?" Daisuke asked. "Are you going to be ok?"
Bob stood up. "Yeah," he chuckled, tapping his belly. "It's just been a long time since I've run a mile. Just give me… a minute and… I'll be out in the water with you."
"Well, let's get going," Casey said walking back into the trees.
"Wow, plastic central huh?" Jerry said.
"Yeah," Casey said, looking over the debris. "I'm getting a massive pollution vibe. I can see three red gas cans from here," she pointed. "This mud can't be healthy."
"Vegeta definitely doesn't care," Jerry said. "You can see the holes he dug."
"I don't want to risk it," she said. "It's not like we have soap."
"Let's walk around the back before we give up," Jerry said walking around through the trees.
"Hey Casey! Look at this."
Casey walked around the back of the pile. There was bamboo laid out into the mudflat.
"Vegeta built a bridge!" Jerry said, jumping on it. "Nice and sturdy too. It goes all the way out."
Casey walked across the bamboo and it felt like it was laid out on pilings put into the mud.
"Dude, he put fences up! Casey, look at this." Jerry pointed out into the tidal marsh.
Out in the marsh, Vegeta had used sections of the blue net to fence in the trash pile in two concentric rings. They were only knee high and clogged in plastic bottles. The bamboo walkway went out to them.
Casey's jaw dropped when she realized what she was looking at. "He made a tidal trap for the trash! He's letting the tide do all the sorting. Holy shit, that's genius."
"Well," Jerry said crossing his arms, "Vegeta obviously wanted us to find this. Let's take a look." He walked off."
"Yeah…" Casey thought out loud. "Vegeta definitely wanted us to find this." She shook her head, "Where does he find the strength and time to build all this?"
Meanwhile, out in the woods…
Sugar Petal was out in the woods followed by her three-man camera crew. She had been sent to gather firewood again. This was her fourth trip today, and it was barely midday. Michael was being hard on her for always messing up such a simple task. Lisa she expected, but now Ichiro was saying that the wood was wrong and the fire was struggling. And Becky continued tossing the wood in the ocean.
She obeyed Michael every word, but he kept changing the instructions. Or it sounded to her like he kept changing the instructions. The fire almost looked like it was being smothered in sand, but that couldn't be right either. But with Ichiro backing them up and Sam and Hassim out on the sand bar with the snorkel, it must be her. She felt so stupid. No wonder she was being treated like this. She was useless.
Then suddenly, she saw a pile of something covered in ants and a few other types of insects she knew she could eat. She thought she was hallucinating, but she stumbled over anyway.
They. Were. Real.
Sugar Petal scooped up the insects and a little bit of the mush they were on and put it in her mouth. She had a fleeting, half-recognition it tasted like bananas before it got lost in the haze.
Suddenly she heard a snap and found herself tangled in a net. She screamed.
Vegeta heard the scream at his camp. "Come on let's go," he told his crew and they picked up and ran after him.
Vegeta ran to his trap and found Sugar Petal. Vegeta went over to the trap line, "Don't worry. I'll get you out in a minute."
Sugar Petal started sobbing.
"Don't cry," Vegeta said walking over to pull the net off her, "It's not like I'm going to eat you or anything."
Sugar screamed and started to thrash.
"Stop it! Stop it right now!"
She stopped and started sobbing again.
Vegeta finished untangling her. He spotted the mush in her hand. "If you want a banana that hasn't been on the ground, there's several trees at my camp." He stood and offered her his hand.
She looked at it like he was holding a gun at her.
Vegeta frowned. "If you're not going to take my hand. Then at least get out of the net so I can reset the trap."
Sugar Petal crawled to a nearby tree. She used it to pull herself up. Then, she fell backwards.
Vegeta grabbed her before she hit the ground.
"Ms. Petal?" Ms.?" He tapped her cheek. "Ms. Petal?" He pinched her arm.
No response.
"Shit!" Vegeta picked her up and ran back the way he came, leaving the two crews in his dust.
Sugar Petal woke up somewhere soft and warm. She found herself on animal skins on a bamboo floor. In front of her is a little fireplace made of stone, mud, a metal reflective back, and a bamboo chimney.
"Oh good, we were getting worried." She looked at the voice and saw her camera person and the field producer.
"Where… am I?"
"Vegeta's tree house," the field producer said. "When we caught up to him, he had already gotten you up here."
She started to panic.
"Calm down! Calm Down! Everything is fine. You're perfectly safe. Don't be scared."
"Is she awake?!" they heard a shout from outside.
"Yes!"
"Ok!"
"Hey Vegeta, she's awake." They heard someone say softly.
"Bananas and the water are still where I showed you." Vegeta said.
"We're not allowed to do this. This isn't a medical intervention."
"Oh, for the love of the goddess…"
Not long after, a noise came from the other side of the house and Sugar turned her head. This side of the house didn't have a wall and she could see two bamboo poles sticking up. A flame of hair appeared between them and Vegeta crawled into the house with a crude palm leaf basket. He pulled out a length of bamboo and two bananas. He uncorks the bamboo and pours some water into the cork, now a cup, and hands it to her.
She backs away and shakes her head.
Vegeta sighed. "I promise it's not poison. Here, look," Vegeta took a sip of the water then refilled the cup. He extended it again.
Sugar Petal awkwardly took it and sipped the water.
Vegeta left the bamboo leaning against the wall and placed the bananas next to it. "I'll leave you alone," he crawled back to the ladder. "Don't eat both of them at once, and do it slowly. Eating too much too fast after not eating can stop your heart." He climbed down.
Sugar Petal cried as she drank the water and nibbled on one of the bananas.
Down below, Vegeta could hear her sobbing. He closed his eyes. Then suddenly his eyes snapped open and he clenched his fists. He took a deep breath and it sounded like growling when he released it through his nose. He then went back inside the large bamboo hut. Vegeta had finished cladding the pinnacle with fan palm leaves, and now he was doing the finishing touches on the floors and shelving in the three-story structure.
About 20 minutes later, Vegeta came out and climbed the ladder. He peeked his head in. Sugar Petal was lying down again and the bamboo was corked. "She sleeping again?" he said softly.
"Yes," her field producer whispered, nodding.
Vegeta climbed back down and walked over to his junk pile. Vegeta had been salvaging down in the tidal marshes and mangroves at the mouth of the stream. He now had metal, glass and lots of plastic.
Vegeta checked on a plastic container someone had made out of a very large gas can by cutting off the top that he had lined with mud. The mud was almost dried. Vegeta then cut a large hole in one side and inserted another rock he had hollowed out away from the cameras. Then, he inserted the other half of the aluminum liquid container he had cut up along the back and sides.
Once he was finished, he took a large piece of dragon bamboo and began breaking the inner supports with a long, sharpened stick with a metal tip he hammered from a beer can. Afterwards, he took the hollowed bamboo into the woven house, cut a hole and forced it through the roof.
Vegeta then went to his small clay mud pit he dug not far from camp and filled a palm leaf basket there with a clump of wet clay. He carried it back and lined part of the second floor with it under the bamboo. He then placed river rock on top.
Vegeta exited and grabbed the plastic tub. He placed it on the stones and mudded it in place. He pulled down the bamboo until it was right above it. He then took some leftover bamboo strips and made a funnel cap connecting the tub and the bamboo tube and finished off the rest of the mud sealing everything up.
Vegeta exited and walked down to the stream to wash up.
When Vegeta returned, he saw Sugar Petal climbing down the ladder.
"You really should rest more, but if you leave, I can't stop you."
Sugar Petal just nodded and began to walk away.
"You should wait for the rest of your crew to climb down." Vegeta smiled, "I get yelled at quite a bit if my babysitters lose sight of me."
Sugar Petal stopped, then turned around. The others began taking turns climbing down the ladder.
"You don't have to be scared of me, Ms. Petal. I'm not the devil you've been told about. I'm not going to rape you, kill you or eat you or anything else. And no, I'm not fattening you up beforehand."
Sugar Petal looked up from the ground startled and took a step back.
"Ok," the field producer said, climbing down, "We all ready to go?"
"I'm good," said the cameraman.
"Me too," said the technician.
"All right, Sugar Petal. We're ready to leave when you are."
"You're welcome back any time," Vegeta said, "I'll have food and water waiting."
Sugar Petal nodded and scurried up the hill.
After they disappeared, Vegeta sighed. "That woman has Seget. I don't know the English word for it," he said suddenly unprompted.
"And what is that?" Leticia asked.
"It's when the liver can't keep up with a healing injury and the dead blood leaches out, staining the entire body from the inside out," he said. "In Saiyans it's yellow. I guess the same is for humans as well." He glanced back at them. "Yesterday her coloring was off, but now her eyes are fully turning. Her skin will match by tomorrow if she continues to disintegrate." He looked back the way she went, "Healthcare on this planet is so ridiculous. Any other planet an hour in a tank and she'd be completely healed."
Vegeta grabbed some sticks from the wood pile and lit them in the fire pit. He then entered the hut and placed them in the fireplace. The metal reflected a large amount of light, illuminating most of the second floor and the ring of third floor shelving. Once he was comfortable that the sparks were landing inside or on the hearth, Vegeta left and brought in more wood.
He spent the next few hours testing the fireplace by building larger and larger fires and adding more mud where needed.
Sugar Petal made it back to the beach with more wood. Her head clearer from the burst of sugar and fresh water, she immediately noticed something wrong.
No one was in the camp.
She came into camp and dumped the wood. She looked around and saw everyone's clothes neatly piled up. She scanned the water and saw a bunch of people and a film boat out on the sand bars. She put her hands over her eyes to get a better look.
She blacked out, only coming too with some type of gag tired in her mouth.
"I'll teach you to go off eating," Becky said, beginning to drag her off by her hair. "I know bananas when I smell it."
Sugar tried to struggle but found her hands tied too.
She looked and saw she was taking her to the water again.
Sugar Petal stopped fighting and went limp. She took a deep breath through her nose right before Becky plunged her head into the water. She breathed slowly through her nose to keep it clear of water and when her head lifted briefly, she took a breath. This repeated several times with the length underwater getting longer and longer each time. The gag quickly saturated making it feel like she was still underwater.
She quickly lost control over her breathing as she began trembling. Water dripped down her throat and water began filling her nose from mistimed breaths.
Suddenly Becky was thrown off of her and her crew pulled her out of the water.
Becky was getting screamed at by a voice over a phone as she had what turned out to be Becky's bra was untied from her head.
"Hyo-jin, breath slowly, cough if you need to. Get the water out of your lungs," her cameraman said. She glanced around and saw both cameras on the ground facing the trees.
"Hey! Becky! Stop whatever the fuck you're doing!"
Everyone at the sandbar had finally noticed.
Michael was screaming and there were two people in the water rapidly closing in on the beach. Sam and Lisa were also in the water doing the fastest doggy paddle they could muster.
Ichiro and Hassim charged up the beach. Hassim headed to Sugar Petal and Ichiro was stopped by staff from approaching Becky.
Michael dove in and reached the beach the same time as Sam and Lisa.
Sugar Petal was coughing with a crew member hitting her back. She winced.
"I know this hurts but the water is more important," he said.
"Reynolds' given the clear, move!"
Everyone moved aside as the team's medics surrounded her and took her up the beach.
"What did you do!" Michael shouted.
"She was out eating bananas!" Becky shouted. "So I dunked her! Bitch deserves a lot more."
"You dunked her with a gag in her mouth," the field producer with the phone shouted, "That's —"
"Waterboarding."
Everyone looked at Hassim. He was physically trembling with eyes burning. He suddenly turned and stomped off into the trees.
"You… tortured her…" Ichiro said, also shaking. "That's literally a war crime." He looked at the crews. "And you just watched?!"
"We pulled her off the second we got the clear to intervene," the producer said. "Fifteen seconds tops."
"Fifteen seconds too long!"
"This is not a war and dunking someone isn't a crime," Becky scoffed.
"With cloth in their mouth it is!" he shot back.
"And how do you know tha—"
Suddenly they heard Hassim scream.
Everyone looked but he must have been deep in the trees.
He screamed twice more. It was obvious it wasn't in pain or fear.
Ichigo turned and headed into the trees himself.
"Keep her on the beach! I'm on my way myself!" came from the phone.
"10-4 Reynolds."
Ichiro found Hassim near where he prayed. He had taken his shirt off and placed it on the ground. He was rocking forward and back touching his forehead over and over as he sobbed.
"Looks like we had the same idea," Ichiro said, making his presence known.
"Ichiro?" Hassim said, looking up.
"Any ants I should worry about?" he chuckled.
Hassim's mouth twitched up, "Not here."
Ichiro sat down. "I'm surprised. No one other than us even knows what it is. How do you know?"
"Two centuries can't erase what was written in desert sandstone," Hassim answered.
"I'll take your two centuries and give you my three."
Hassim touched his thumb to each of his fingers as he counted in his head.
"The World Wars?"
"Hai," he nodded.
"Ichiro. This needs to stop now. The next elim is in two days. Let's lose on purpose and vote Becky out. You, me, Sugar, Sam is four. We can talk to Vegeta at the challenge and that's five."
"I'm not voting anyone out before Vegeta," Ichiro said sternly.
"What the bloody fucking hell, Ichiro!" Hassim suddenly stood. "What is wrong with you?!"
"You know exactly why I want him out first."
"I don't care if Vegeta is some infamous murderer!" Hassim pointed at the ground. "Right here, right now Becky is hurting people right in front of our faces while Michael grins like a psychopath in the shadows."
Ichiro began standing up.
"Vegeta is even protecting her for God's sake!" Hassim continued, stamping his foot on the ground for emphasis.
"You are thinking too short term here, Hassim."
"Allah does not care if the person next to you is a sinner while you both are saving someone else's life. I feel sorry for you that those you believe in think differently." Hassim reached down for his shirt.
Ichiro grabbed his arm forcefully. "You will never get Sam to join you. All your little tantrum will do is put a target on your back."
Hassim shook his head. "I'm not winning this game. And you're crazy thinking Michael is taking you to the final vote. This isn't about that anymore." He pulled Ichiro's arm off of him. "I'm done with the mind screws."
He grabbed his shirt.
"Look at her Ichiro. Really look at her. Jaundice is already appearing around her bruises. I dare you to look into her yellow eyes and tell her grandma thinks it's ok for her to be treated like that."
"What do you mean by that?!" Ichiro shouted.
"You both believe in talking to the dead, don't you? Tell her the voices in both your heads want her to suffer, I dare you!"
Ichiro swung at Hassim, who dodged and Ichiro hit the tree behind him.
While Ichiro was gripping his hand, Hassim disappeared into the undergrowth.
Hassim made it out to the beach first.
He saw a medic take the stethoscope off Sugar Petal's back. He nodded and she put her shirt back on.
Even at that distance, he could see her ribs.
Hassim jogged over to her as the medics stood and packed up.
Michael intercepted him, "Hey. Give her some space. One of the producers will be here any second to deal with Becky."
Ichiro came out of the woods next, much closer to Sugar Petal. He ran over to her and began talking. Sugar Petal looked their way crying before looking back at Ichiro. She began nodding along.
"Bloody Gobshite…" Hassim said through gritted teeth.
Michael glanced down at Hassim's formed fists. The corner of his mouth twitched up.
*fuzz* Separate Becky from the others. We'll be landing shortly. I will be talking to her alone. Drop her off then stand far away and turn your backs. *fuzz*
"10-4." Becky's producer put his radio away. "Ok Becky. Let's go."
Becky smugly smiled towards Hassim before following her crew towards the narrow beach.
"I hope she gets ejected," Sam said.
They watched intently as a single boat came ashore.
"Nope, she's staying," Michael said.
"Why do you think that?" Hassim asked.
"There's no security. They practically called out the military when Vegeta attacked me."
"Oh, freaking God," Sam turned around and gripped his hair.
Hassim sighed, then took a step towards where Sugar Petal was laying.
Ichiro suddenly jogged over and quickly sat next to her.
He glared at Hassim.
"Rebecca Martha Summers," Reynolds stomped through the wet sand.
"Middle name, huh?" She put her hands on her hips and leaned forward. "You're not my daddy," she smiled smugly.
"You are in so much trouble," he continued.
"No I'm not," she said confidently, "There's not a single gun in sight." She raised her tone to sound like a child. "I'm just here for a little scolding."
Then she turned serious, "You can't touch me. After everything that's happened in broad daylight, you're just worried about a little PR." Becky crossed her arms, shifted her weight, and tilted her head waiting for a response.
"You have a lot of nerve provoking me."
"I've had lawyers tell me how far I can go since I was a child. I know this game better than you." She smiled, "I was told the rules going into this, you know? He sought me out for a reason. He wanted chaos. Check my contract and your bank account. I've already been paid two times the prize money. And I'm due another two times once I leave."
"Bobby has been fired."
"But none of us has signed new contracts. Meaning they are all still legally valid. And even if you changed them now, that has no effect on what's already happened."
Reynolds glared at her.
"Since you're being so picky, I won't gag her next time," Becky said, turning around. She lifted her hand goodbye.
Reynolds stomped back to the boat, splashing in the water.
Meanwhile, on Samundra…
"Oh no… What happened here?" Jessica said, coming to the mouth of the stream. "The fish…"
She then ran to the ATV track and kept going until she found her crossing. Jessica knelt and looked into the deeper water. "Nothing… not even little fish."
She looked upstream, "Everything was so lively just a few days ago. What did you do, Vegeta?"
"Why do you think it has anything to do with Vegeta?" her producer said, catching his breath.
"He has a lot of knowledge and lives on the stream." She looked up at her crew. "And the rest of the red team doesn't on both counts," she deadpans. She stood and began walking.
"Wait," the producer grabbed her arm.
Jessica shouted a yip, spun and ripped her arm away. Her face was a mix of fear, panic and rage.
He raised his hand apologetically. "Oh, sorry. I forgot. But you can't go after Vegeta."
Jessica calmed and looked back down the trail. "There are lots of plants used for fish poisons, but only a handful that have other uses." She turned back to the crew, "Vegeta is not sabotaging us, so this is a side effect of a plant he's using in the stream that is important enough that he's used it enough of it to kill the whole stream in just a couple days."
Jessica turned back to the stream, "Saponin does this. And if Vegeta found some, he'd be using it like crazy. But I'm not familiar with any local plants that would have it. It's not like there's any soapnut trees in the area." She growled and pulled her hair, "Come on. Come on. Think. What could be killing the fish?"
Suddenly she stopped and turned her head to the crew. "You reacted to the word 'soap'," she said slowly. She lowered her hands and stood straight facing them. "Vegeta found a soap plant didn't he and has been bathing with it? Maybe to get all the blood off?" she quizzed. "If blood is the only thing that can be treated because of the law, then butchering multiple large animals surely qualifies."
The three men stare blankly.
Jessica clapped her hands and pointed at them. "I'm right! You can't hide your emotions from me." She looked back at the water and sighed. "Ok… it takes a huge amount of it to be poisonous to people so it won't hurt anything. The problem here is the dead fish…" She sighed again. "Ok," she clapped her hands, "I'll just keep everything away from the food until I find whatever Vegeta is using to clean."
She then hopped in the water and began picking up smaller, palm size stones. After examining them she either threw them into a different part of the stream or onto the track.
"What are you doing?" the producer asked hesitantly.
Jessica grabbed one larger rock and carried it to the track. "I will be making proper cutting tools that won't lose their edge after a day."
She picked up all the rocks and walked back to the beach. There, she dug a hole in the dry sand at the edge of the steam's mouth that quickly filled with water. She then put on her sunhat and sat down. She held up one of the small stones.
"All of these stones have a thin rounded edge," she ran her finger over it. She then threw wet sand on the larger rock and began grinding, "And now I will be making it into a sharp rounded edge. Don't try this at home kids, unless you have hours to do absolutely nothing else."
The sun had moved towards late afternoon when Jessica finished her last rock. She again held it up to the camera for comparison. "Ta da." Then she turned it to look at the edge, "I thought this would take a while because we're on a bunch of volcanic islands, but this is kind of soft for a rock." She then picked up all the rocks and stood up.
She sighed looking out into the mangroves. "No sign of them coming back any time soon… hope they will all be ok. Jamal fainted after fishing all the way out there…"
Jessica returned to camp and tossed her rocks down. She then got a shatter-edged sharp stone and a bamboo cup from the house. She went over to the well first and drank before she went to the shorter palm trees near her meditation rock outcrop and began pulling and cutting the last of the low hanging fronds. She looked at her megger haul, then up at the taller trees.
"Maybe I should make a climbing rope…"
The sun was not quite ready to color the sky when the blue team got back to their beach.
"Three rays! I can't wait for Jessica to cook them," Nick said.
"And how did you know there were crabs in those holes, Jerry?" Jamal asked, looking in the old white concrete bucket with seven crabs in the bottom.
"I grew up in the everglades, I know what mud looks like," he said proudly looking at his haul. "Glad they said crabs were good to go here. Oh!" He turned around and walked backwards looking at the others, "You know what I haven't had since I was a kid? Swamp cabbage! If we only had that, that would be a good meal. My mom would yell at us to stop eating it or there wouldn't be any left for the stew when we got home." He chuckled as he turned back around, "My dad was a horrible influence on all us kids. She never shuts up about it. How dad had me pickin' at three and skipping school to go to the bar to watch his band play. And Dad goes right back at her with her Satan's music and how she ruined me with her electrical stuff."
"And all while sitting in the big mansion you bought them, right?" Nick laughed.
"Oh no, they're still out in the marshes with their horses and propeller boat. Only thing that's changed is the solar panels and the antennas so the grandkids can have their fancy Wi-Fi."
Sounds like your parents would love my grandparents," Casey said.
"Probably." He smiled, "Are they your visitor?"
"Nope, it's my uncle's son. Uncle Joe runs the family ranch back in Texas. Me and Tommy are kissing cousins."
"Oh, looks like Jessica was cutting palm leaves," Bob said walking up to a pile.
"Why did she put it all the way out here though?" Daisuke said.
Suddenly a huge leaf crashes from the sky. "TIMBER!"
Everyone looked up and saw Jessica up in the tall tree. She waved.
"How the hell did you get up there?!" Bob shouted, putting his hands on either side of his mouth. "Don't kill yourself coming down!"
Jessica dropped the cutting rock, "Ok! I was done anyway!"
Jessica made her way down the tree by the three ropes she had made. One for a harness and two for stirrups.
The group watched as she loosened one rope from its loop around the tree only for it to retighten as she put weight back on the stirrup before repeating with the other. Eventually she shimmied all the way down.
"That was some Tarzan shit right there," Jerry said.
"That's some good Boy Scout work," Bob said, watching her untie the knots holding the ropes to the tree. "You learn this in India?"
"No, Dominican Republic. I saw the gardeners at the hotel trimming palm trees like this."
"Well, it's better than the foot wrap we were shown," Jamal said. "Less falling to your deathiness."
"Still… Maybe we should get a ladder." Casey said.
"Yeah, that's nice." Nick eyerolled, "Can we cook the fish now?"
"Don't forget my crabs!" Jerry said, holding up his bucket.
"That's what she said," Jamal said.
Everyone laughed at various levels of comfortableness.
"Wow, you really did find crabs. There's one for each of us." She looked at Jamal, "And three rays. I see you cut the poison part off."
"Wait… rays are poisonous?!" Nick shouted.
"The barbs in their tail," Jessica said, "And you gutted the center out."
"All we need to eat are the wings," Jerry said. "Tastes like scallops."
"Jerry, have you cooked rays and crabs before?" she asked.
"Not personally but I've watched it done by my buddies after fishing. I think I remember enough drunken fragments to piece together a coherent list of steps."
"Close enough," Jessica said. "I'm getting the basket and go get the leaves. Get the crabs and fish started." She ran off.
Bob looked up at the tree. "Should we have asked her to get coconuts before she ran off?"
Meanwhile, on Berapi…
Sugar Petal was trying to make more string to replace the length Michael had burnt, but was having trouble rolling it with her fingers.
"Hey Sugar Petal, can we talk?" Hassim asked, sitting down.
"No," she said succinctly.
"I'm sorry for what I shouted at Ichiro," he said, "There is no context that makes it better. I know how much your grandmother's presence is important to you after you fought Becky."
"Good. Now leave."
"We were arguing about whether to vote Becky or Vegeta out first. Even without Ichiro, with you, Sam and Vegeta, we have four which will lead to a tie breaker."
"Have you spoken with Vegeta?" she asked, clearly knowing the answer.
"No."
"Go talk to him and Sam, if they both tell me yes next time we meet, I will vote if we lose."
"When we lose," Hassim said. "I want to lose it deliberately."
"Go talk to Vegeta," Sugar Petal said again. "If you can get away with it." She looked back down at the fibers in her fingers, "Now go away."
Hassim nodded and stood. He spotted Sam heading out of camp with the two net bags and ran after him.
This caught everyone's attention at camp.
"Hey Sam, wait up."
Sam stopped and turned around. "What's up?"
"I need to talk to you about voting out Becky. Sugar Petal won't agree unless I get both you and Vegeta on board."
Sam backed away, "I'm not going out and talking to him again. Michael's pissed as it is."
"I'm not either, but a quick chat at the challenge and I know he'll agree in a few seconds. Right now, I need you to agree to help."
"But what if we win the next challenge and Michael finds out about this?"
"We throw it."
Sam steps backwards again shaking his head. "Nope. Nope. Nope."
"I'll take the heat for it. I'll lose the game. I just need your vote."
"Wha-What if you get chosen to sit out? Who's going to do it then?"
"There's no way Sugar can compete. Look at her. She's starting to look like a school bus."
"I know. I know. Asians aren't supposed to be literally yellow," Sam said defensively. "But if we're going to do this, why not just vote little Sugar off? She's not going to get the care she needs if she stays here."
"Because you can't vote for yourself," Hassim said. "We'd need one of those maggots to go along with it." He put his hands on Sam's shoulders. "Sam, Michael has been twisting all of this too far to keep us away from Sugar Petal. He told me that he would make Sugar tell everyone I raped her and he would make sure those accusations would destroy my life."
"What?!" Sam shouted.
This really got everyone's attention. Michael grabbed Ichiro and began walking over.
"Michael has been doing the same things towards you right? Finding something to make you hesitate, second guess yourself. To keep you away and under his control?"
"I… Michael!"
Michael and Ichiro finished walking up. "So what's going on?"
"We… We.. were just…"
"Still trying to get Becky voted out?" Ichiro glared. "It's not going to work."
"But I do like the idea of losing on purpose," Michael smiled. "Which I just confirmed from that Reynolds guy is not against the rules." He put his hand on Hassim's shoulder and pressed hard. "In two days we lose and will have a unanimous vote to get him off. Do we have an understanding?" He grinned.
Hassim pushed Michael's arm off of him and tried to walk back towards camp.
"No you don't," Michael grabbed his arm while extending his other hand, "Sam, give Hassim the bags. You're staying in camp with us."
"I…" Sam hesitated.
Ichiro silently ripped the bags from his hands then shoved them into Hassim's chest.
Michael then let go of Hassim and put his arm around Sam gripping his far shoulder.
Sam was surprised how unsubtly Michael was pushing him from behind.
"Ok. Ok. Michael, I'm coming." Sam began walking forward.
Michael continued walking with him making small talk. Ichiro walked backwards watching Hassim for several steps before falling in line taking position to the rear of Sam.
Hassim took the bags and left towards the narrow beach.
Sam noticed Sugar Petal coughing again and excused himself to walk up to her.
"Are you feeling alright? Sugar Petal?"
She nodded while still coughing.
Sam sat down next to her. "Here, let me help. It's my fault anyway…"
Sugar Petal did not put up resistance as Sam took the bundles from her.
He quickly made progress.
Sugar Petal wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
"Are you ok? Your eyes are watering?"
"I'm fine."
Sam noticed her tone. "You don't sound fine."
"Hassim said something bad about me to Ichiro earlier. Hassim just tried to apologize. I told him to go away."
"I can't imagine Hassim ever saying something bad about you," Sam said. He thought about the entire situation for a moment.
"Are you sure Ichiro didn't exaggerate something minor?" he said slowly. "What you think he was apologizing for and what he thinks he's apologizing for might be completely different."
"He said he thinks I'm crazy that my grandmother visits and talks to me," she said, pulling her knees up and hugging her legs. "This it's just voices in my head." She peaked over her knees. "What do you think?"
"I…" he paused. He needed to word this right. "I think God finds ways to send messages to us. If you are most receptive to your grandmother's memory, then that is his method. When did this start?"
He noticed she went to say something, but stopped and hid her face in her knees.
"It's ok, if it's painful you don't have to say anything."
"You said memory…" she looked up at him. "You think God is impersonating my grandmother. That she is not physically here."
Sam immediately heard the anger and backpedaled, "That's not what I meant. Just that she is the best messenger for you specifically. Everyone is different."
"You are not elect. All your words of God are poison." Sugar Petal went to stand, but shifted her weight back down as she began to cough again.
"Wait. Wait. I'll go. You just rest. Just rest." Sam stood, took the fibers and walked off down the tree line behind her.
Michael noticed this, but waited ten or so minutes before walking up to him.
"So, umm. What just happened there?" he asked, sitting down next to him. "Sugar Petal is never mad at you."
"She's still mad?" Sam looked behind him and saw her stare out at the ocean. He sighed, turning back around. "Hopefully she'll be back to normal tomorrow…"
"I have to ask…" Michael said. He continued to look at him waiting for a response.
Sam sighed again.
"Apparently Ichiro told Sugar Petal Hassim thinks she's crazy for thinking her grandmother talks to her. I said that sounded like an exaggeration and Hassim would never be so mean to her. So she asked me my thoughts…"
"And she got mad?"
"I gave a normal Christian answer. That anything is possible with God." His voice fell, "But she's not a normal Christian…"
"Your cult theory?"
"She said I was not elect and all my words of God are poison," he put his head in his hands and shook his head. "I hope she can get over this. This is the second time she's said that to me and walked away, or tried to…"
"That's why you left just now?"
"Yeah, she almost fell over trying to stand up."
"Ok," Michael nodded to himself. "Ok, let's leave her alone for a while," he said standing up. We'll revisit this later once everyone has cooled off."
"Thank you," Sam said.
Michael turned and walked back to camp. Sam saw him slap Ichiro on the back and looked like he had a broad smile as he talked to him.
He thought about what Hassim said.
"Would he really go that far?"
Meanwhile, with Samundra…
Jessica returned with her basket full and a banana leaf over her shoulder. She spotted everyone sitting around the trees near her minicamp.
"So what is everyone doing?"
"Jamal said we should try your stove to cook," Casey said. "I have never seen water boil so fast before. Good job."
Jerry had taken one of the chest plates and was using it to crack open the crabs after being boiled.
"Only two more to go then we're good to go," he waved. "Wings were boiled to skin them first."
"Be nice if we had another cooking pot," Bob said.
"Gee," Jessica said grinning, "Who would have thought."
Daisuke chuckled.
"What?" Bob asked.
"Did you already forget about her pottery project?" Casey asked.
"Are you still going on about that?" Bob looked at Jessica annoyed.
"All we do is lay on our butts all day, might as well do something productive with it," Jessica said, placing the basket down. It was full of moringa, amaranth, and a new white flower.
"What's with the flowers?" Jamal asked.
"Cloeme," she said. "So how was the trip?"
"Sharks," Bob said. "Big ones."
"The bottom feeders that went after some of the fish we scared," Jamal said. "Not the ones we were told to look out for with the black fins." He leaned back against his tree. "Too bad we couldn't get one of them. A shark tooth necklace would be so cool."
"You really wanted to go after a shark that big?" Bob said amazed, "They had to be four feet. And they were almost as fat as they were long."
"Pregnant females," Jerry said. "Always baby sharks in the mangroves in Florida."
"Oh perfect…" Bob said.
"Oh," Jessica said sitting next to Jerry at the stove, "I gleaned some information from my crew. Vegeta found a plant with saponin in it. It can stun fish temporarily, so I think they may just be floating down then getting into saltier water and that's what is killing them."
"So Vegeta is washing vegetables in dirty stream water?" Bob said. "That's not smart."
"Wait… you mean saponin as in yucca roots?!" Casey said excitedly. "Holy Jesus my hair could use a wash."
"Wait, like shampoo?" Nick said in disbelief, "Vegeta found a plant that grows shampoo?"
"There's lots of plants with saponin in it," Jessica said. "There's a type of asparagus I saw being used in the mountains on that leg of my first pilgrimage."
"Asparagus huh?" Jamal said, "Not shit…"
"So, the rich bastard found some swanky herbal soap his wife probably uses and has been bathing every day in the steam?" Nick said looking up. "Fuck him."
"Any clue?" Cassey asked.
"Nope," Jessica said. "But it can't be like an herb or weed." She looked at the basket. "Only reason we have that is because the banana fields were abandoned recently and the forest hasn't fully reclaimed them yet. Coming seasons there will be nothing there."
"So, a tree then…" Bob said.
Jerry took the lid off to check on the latest crabs. He then grabbed two sticks. "Dreaming of hot showers is great but we're in the middle of something important right now," he said, taking the three crabs out. Jerry then refills the pot from the canteen. "Cook them until they turn red, so that's like twenty minutes. Once that is done, we'll rinse the pot then boil the veggies and coconut then add the meat last minute to get some flavoring."
"Sounds good to me," Jessica said.
"Yep, all we're missing is the beer," Jerry said, trying to drop the last crabs into the pot without getting pinched. He finally got the lid on, "Little pain in the ass didn't want to get eaten."
After dinner, everyone passed out blissfully with full stomachs at the main camp, with some inside.
Jessica however is at her minicamp trying to get some last-minute work done while there is still light.
*fuzz* Red 9 calling Blue 2. Vegeta just finished the axle you wanted. If the belt is completed, we can do the trade. *fuzz*
Jessica's field producer picked up his radio. "She's working on it currently. We'll contact you when completed."
*fuzz* Ok. We'll tell him. *fuzz*
Jessica glanced up at her crew before returning to her weaving.
"So," her field producer said, "You were about to explain why you are weaving a new mat after finishing the apron.
"I'm making overlapping panels," she answered. "He said it was for 'dirty work'. I assume he meant butchering. If this idea works, I can redo Jamal and Daisuke's clothes."
"So, you are experimenting on Vegeta?"
Jessica paused. "WITH his clothes," she stressed going back to work. "I'm not his wife."
"Wha?" the field producer said.
The cameraman and Technician start to laugh.
"Phrasing!" the tech doubled over.
"Oh God…" the producer finally got it. "Ok we are doing this interview again once everyone stops laughing."
After three false starts, the crew, mainly the technician, finally got themselves together to get a clean cut.
"I'm making more than a simple apron. Since when he said 'dirty work' he most likely meant butchering, I'm making overlapping panels to cover him better. If this new design works out, I can remake Jamal's and Daisuke's clothes. I was in a rush to make something simple and quick, but with a little more time and care this could work out better."
Jessica held it edgewise to the camera. "This is thinner because I have time to actually cut the leaves."
"So I heard the word phrasing, but it wasn't my joke."
Jerry had come to the trees.
"So that's what those little stones were for," he said, seeing her rocks. "I didn't want to touch them for cracking the crabs." He looked at her crew. "Everyone else is packing up."
"And we're filming something important."
"So that hidden camera in the tree isn't enough?"
"We have no idea what you are talking about," the field producer said while the others flinched
"So… if I take all those little sleeping caterpillars off the tree right there," he pointed at the tree with a knowing smirk, "you wouldn't care?" Jerry chuckled and walked behind Jessica.
"Jerry," she rotated one way then the other to follow him, "What are you doing?"
He leaned down and poked one of the caterpillars. "Pokey. Pokey. Wake up little guy. No? How about you?" he moved his hand to the next one. Suddenly Jessica grabbed it.
"Stop Jerry. It was part of the reason I chose this spot. I'm not stupid. There are cameras hidden everywhere."
She let go of his hand and Jerry stood straight. "So, that's for Vegeta? Looks nice. If it works, show me how and I'm up for making stuff."
"They just radioed Vegeta finished the wheel. Once I get this done tonight, I want to get the pots done now that everyone finally sees the need. Except for Bob."
"If you're in a hurry, I can get the others and we can hammer it out together."
Jessica smiled, "It's ok, really, I'm just doing a little extra work on it. Technically it's done."
"Ok, I get the hint," he began to walk away. "Oh, before I forget. Bob's been quizzing my ass on country music since I've obviously made the mistake of saying it's what my father made me listen to growing up. I know I'm going to get struck by lightning singing in front of a nun, but I'm ready to sing something good and dirty just to shut him up."
"Someone in my collective has Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy as her ringtone," Jessica said. "Haven't listened to the whole thing but if you know the song, it may be what you're looking for."
Jerry pointed at her with both hands, "One, your friend is awesome. Two, you're petty as hell and I love it. Thanks for the tip." He turned around and jogged off.
Jessica went back to work and only lifted her head briefly when she heard. "Hey Bob! I got a good ol' American country song for you! Listen to this!"
Meanwhile, at Berapi…
The crews left, and Michael pulled Lisa out of camp.
"Lisa, I need you to go talk with Sugar Petal."
"Me? Why me?"
"Because you're an outside force here. Ichiro, Sam and Hassim all have stakes in what happened today. And the hell she'll ever open up to Becky."
"And you want all the information before you act on it," Lisa said.
"Yes. I can always count on you to understand," he smiled. "Look at her," he nodded in her direction and Lisa turned. "She did not even bother coming to camp for dinner today." He lifted his hand and formed his fist, "I think we got her. But I need to know how deep the hook is before I reel her in. In a little bit, take the canteen over and let her get a drink. Need to pull her back to us from Vegeta giving her water. I'll warn Ichiro not to stop you."
Shortly after, Lisa walked over with the canteen and a bowl to where Sugar Petal was laying.
"How are you doing, Sugar Petal?
Sugar Petal's eyes looked at the canteen.
"Michael okayed it. We need you for the challenge."
Sugar Petal nodded and Lisa poured water into the bowl.
Sugar Petal let the water linger in her mouth before swallowing.
"Thank you," she said before taking another sip.
"Your voice sounds better now that your mouth isn't dry," Lisa complemented.
"Been a tough few days, hasn't it?" Lisa asked awkwardly. "But I'm glad you're doing so well after you fell like that."
"I have grandma with me. Without her, life will lose all meaning. I would have no reason to stay. But I am alive, so I know Hassim and Sam are wrong."
Lisa recognized the button that needed to be pushed. "Can you tell me about your grandmother?"
"Oe-halmi has always been here. She hugged me and kept me warm. She showed me where food was. She made the pain go away. I learned how to make the shrine from some of the older field slaves. It wasn't much different than lighting candles with Oe-halmi at church so I repeated things I heard even if I don't speak churchese. But others were jealous and told on me. I was treated really bad after that, but then a big storm came and there was a landslide. Everyone thought I caused the landslide and I was sent to a prison. All the women were taught to sing and dance there for men. I saw lots of money be given to the guards that brought us back and forth. Some men had torn clothes. Some wore brown suits. Some had splotchy green suits. Some had big suits like my father wore for his company. I began seeing only green suits and big suits after a while, then one day I saw a big suit give a suitcase instead of money to the prison guard and he took me and I was put on a plane with some other girls.
"At first uncle was my only suit but then another one came and became my only suit since I started singing. He's younger than uncle, but uncle bowed to him. There are always other girls there with their suits. I'm always nice to them, but a new girl I saw on one plane ride slapped me when I tried talking to her and went with my suit to another room in the plane. Uncle removed me from my group after that and I began singing alone. He made going solo sound like a good thing, but I see a lot more empty seats than when we all sang together… I haven't been given yet either. After we get too old we are given a husband to serve. Everyone else my age has been given away, but Uncle says no one has been interested in me yet and to try harder."
Sugar Petal looked at Lisa, "Michael is one of your former suits before you were given to your late husband?"
"He's an old boyfriend," Lisa said quickly.
Sugar Petal cocked her head, "But you are afraid of him. I see no love in your eyes like I sing about." She smiled, "Oh, you're blushing. No need to feel embarrassed. We are the same."
"Why do you think I'm afraid of him?" Lisa scoffed.
"You always touch that scar on your stomach…"
Lisa realized she was unconsciously touching her bellybutton and moved her hand.
Sugar Petal continued, "…He forgot to take his ring off like he did with me."
"Wi—with you?"
Sugar Petal smiled cheerfully. "Yes. Every night after everyone is asleep."
Lisa suddenly stood and walked away.
She watched her walk back to Michael, who had left camp with the excuse of using the communal tree.
"So?" Michael asked, smiling.
"She's being used by her producers sexually. Seems it's been going on since she was a small child."
"That's completely obvious," Michael said, annoyed. "I figured it out days ago. What else?"
"What, when you hit her?"
"I haven't touched her," Michael said forcefully. "Is that what she told you?"
"Then how does she know you take off your ring?"
Michael put his hand to her neck making her flinch. He traced her jaw with his index finger and lifted her chin. "Your jealousy is so adorable. But I've never touched her no matter how many times she's opened her legs for me. Now, tell me what I need to know."
"Her grandmother, this Oe-halmi is her strength. She's been a physical presence, talking to her, helping her since her family was murdered and she was sold as a little girl."
"That's a lot of info to just randomly tell a stranger," Michael said surprised. "How did you get that out of her?"
"She thinks we're the same."
"You are the same," he said bluntly, "minus the ghosts of a murdered family. Only difference is you're one of only a dozen women in history intelligent enough to master the game and win."
Lisa tried to turn her head, but Michael did not let her. "You didn't run off with that old man for love." He leaned in, his breath blowing over her lips, "I know you've never gotten over me. Now," he pulled back his head, "Anything odd? Anything that stands out?"
"She was sent to prison for causing a landslide as a child."
"How?"
"I didn't understand why. But it sounded like it was after someone ratted her out for talking with her grandmother and she started being treated badly, her words."
"That doesn't make sense with how Ichiro freaked out. There has to be something else."
"Churchese," Lisa stuttered, "She called something churchese. She would say it with her grandmother when they lit candles at a church altar before she died. She still uses it when they talk."
Michael took his hand away and put it under his own chin. "What type of church lets random people light candles and uses…" His eyes widened and he smiled excitedly, "I got her." He put both hands on Lisa's cheeks. "You owe me a kiss once we can brush our teeth."
Michael tried to walk away, but Lisa grabbed his arm. "Wait," she said earnestly, "At least tell me how."
"Witchcraft, Lisa," Michael said quietly. "Her grandmother was catholic. What does a six year old's attempt at Latin sound like to even someone who knows what they are trying to say?" He was practically gitty, "And she's in some protestant thing now if she still calls it churchese."
Lisa let go.
"Ichiro's tantrum today cut her off from Sam and Hassim better than I ever could," Michael continued. "And she's in deep if she's shouted this elect thing at Sam twice now." He turned and mumbled as he walked back towards camp, "I'll need to have a long talk with him first about what that whole elect thing means before…"
Lisa fell to her knees.
Above, a young set of fingernails dug into an ancient staff.
Meanwhile, at the resort…
"So, you saw Reynolds come from the dock and his feet and pants were wet this afternoon?" Conner asked.
"Yes, sir," the editor said. "There are also two breaks in the footage from Berapi today. About 30 minutes each, but the first gap for Becky's and Sugar Petal's crews was one hour. When I asked the crews about it, they just whispered 'C-19.'"
Connor nodded knowing what it meant. "Thank you for risking coming up."
"Yes sir," the man nodded.
Conner shut his bedroom suite's door.
"Mother Mary, what's going on now…" he said, putting his forehead against it.
