Raindrops

Quicksilvre

Sorry for waiting so long to write the next chapter. I wrote myself into a bit of a corner last time, and everything's been pretty crazy. Anyway, here it is.

)-)-)-)

Sitting in the passenger's seat of Jai's truck, Summer watched as Sonn and a few boxes bounced in the truck bed. The bumps in the dirt road they were going down and the speed at which Jai was driving made Sonn's job of keeping everything in, including himself, very difficult.

"You might want to slow down, Sonn nearly went tumbling out the back."

"Ah, the kid's fine." Jai kept his eyes glued to the road. "You gotta keep the momentum up on this baby; the second you ease up, you hit some mud, boom–you're stuck."

It was a few weeks after Summer got called down to Marissa. She had recovered quite nicely, at least on the outside, but Jai was not nearly as sure about the inside. He noticed that Summer was spending more time in the grove, eight or even ten hours a day, sometimes leaving at daybreak and only returning for dinner. He had to insist that she get away from work for a day and help sell some of the newly ripened plantains at the market in town.

Summer kept an eye on the rearview mirror as Sonn bounced around behind her. Ever since Marissa's death, she didn't want to be social with anyone unless it was completely necessary. She was always able to put a smile on her face and a perk in her voice for any guest that needed something. But she left to chop and harvest as early as she could, and would stay out there as long as she could without stopping. No breaks, not even to eat–whenever she broke her focus, the thoughts would come back.

Every erg spent working was an erg not spent on thinking.

Thinking was the last thing she wanted to do. Besides, she didn't want to go back to that town again. Not considering what happened the time before.

Too late now. Buildings were already coming into view, and far in the distance, Summer could see ant-sized people and stands.

"The boy's still with us, right? I can't see him back there but I didn't hear any loud thumps either."

"Yeah, he's behind the crate on the left side."

"Good." Jai checked his mirror and, seeing Sonn, nodded to him. In her mirror, Summer saw Sonn nod back. "Normally," Jai continued, "the plantains ripen a couple of weeks later than they have this year. Since we're the first ones with them, we'll probably get a good price." Jai looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "We ought to have plenty left over after necessities, so you and Sonn will have some spending money."

"Yeah?"

"I can bring you two up here next week. They've got some stands with things like clothes."

"Really?" Summer had, in her wardrobe, five tank tops, five short sleeved shirts, and ten pairs of jeans. All were basically the same. "Great!"

"Thought you'd like that."

"Heh. You've got no idea. You should have seen me when I was still in California." Summer plucked at her shirt in an exaggerated manner. "Ew!"

"Ha!" Jai pulled on the side of the road, near the edge of town. "Help me unload. Sonn'll set the stand up."

"All right."

)-)-)-)

"Four, please." A gentleman went up to the stand and deposited a small pile of coins upon the stand in front of Summer.

"Certainly." Summer took a bunch, chopped four plantains off, and gave them to Sonn for them to be bagged. She counted up the coins and put them in the cash jar. "Thank you!"

"Thank you." He took his bag from Sonn and continued on his way.

Summer wrote down the sale in the accounting notebook. "Looks like we're picking up the money at a good clip."

"Yeah." Sonn knelt down beside her and tried to open up the next crate. "We'll probably be sold out by later this afternoon. Might be able to have dinner there in the Tongau."

"Excellent." Summer looked down at him. "Need help?"

"No, I'm fine. The tape is just a little..." Sonn struggled with the knife. "Tend the top." Sonn ducked down lower, out of view from the front. "If this doesn't work, I'm going to have to run into the crowd and...nope. This blade is dull." Sonn got back up. "I can't cut in; I'll have to go find Jai and use his switchblade. Know which way he went?"

"He was going to get plywood...that way." Summer pointed in the direction Jai went.

"Thanks."

Summer sighed and leaned onto her elbows. It was mid-afternoon already, and the day was brutally hot and sunny. She would feel her shoulders and face bake in the sun; even though she used some of the ancient-looking sun-screen that the Tongau had lying around in tubs, she expected to spend most of the next day peeling off her skin.

Minutes passed. Summer was able to serve a few more people, but she began to grow a little concerned with the dwindling supply of plantains–she was left with only one bunch of six or seven. As she guessed Sonn was lost, she got down herself, and tried to rip away at the crate. It had been closed up with clear tape, to keep it from flying open on the ride over. It resisted both her nails and the old knife Sonn had left behind, but Summer was able to crawl around a bit and find a sharp rock. One slice, and the cargo was free.

"Heh heh. Yes." She grabbed a couple of bunches and popped back up. To her surprise, she found herself face-to-face with a youngish-looking, unshaven guy. "Oh, hello. Sorry about that...can I help you?"

He held up a folding knife. Opening it up, he said, "All that cash in that jar would be nice."

Summer paused, staring at the knife. "Uh..." She looked to the side. From the corner of her eye, she could see Jai and Sonn out in the crowd, twenty-five yards away but looking in the opposite direction. A thick bundle of sheet wood sat under Jai's arm.

"C'mon. Do it." He stuck the knife forward, until the tip brushed her collarbone. Summer reached for the jar, and for just a second the thief relaxed. It was then that she struck, swinging her arm and striking him in the head with the jar and its coins.

"Sonn! Jai!" She could see them whip around and start running over, before the thief tackled her. "Help, get over here!"

"Shut up, bitch!" The thief's face was distorted with pain and his eyes were nearly clenched shut, but he was still easily strong enough to pin her down by her neck, choking her. He reached for his knife, but before he could, Summer quickly kicked up, plunging her foot into his stomach. His wind was knocked from him, but he was only stunned for a moment. He was able to quickly grab the knife and jump back at her, leading with his blade.

Summer closed her eyes and lifted her arms to shield herself. It was just then that she heard a warrior's scream. She felt not a stab, but a tremendous concussion, sending her rolling to the side.

)-)-)-)

"I wish you didn't do what you did. You should have just left him take the money." Jai sounded calm, but his arms trembled as he drove the three of them away. His left arm was heavily wrapped in bandages. A knife wound–but a shallow one; a midwife in the crowd patched him up easily.

"I know. I just...I saw him vulnerable for a second and...I didn't want him to take the money from me." Summer's hand was clenched on her bruised face. A shiner was developing on her face, and on Sonn's as well, in the fight that followed with the thief. He was stubborn and strong, but they were persistent. They were all hurt, but the thief was vanquished and rounded up by the authorities.

"Okay. But he had a knife, Summer."

"I didn't..." Summer thought about how she was going to word it. "I didn't want to be the...weak one."

A pause. Jai kept driving for a few seconds.

"You're not weak."

Jai turned to her. It was the first time Summer noticed him face anything but the road. Or slow down, for that matter. "Just, don't try to be the hero next time. Okay?"

Summer managed a weak smile. "All right."