Chapter 7: Day 6 Afternoon

Now that I'm all bandaged up, I go into the jungle in search of fallen trees to use in rebuilding Linka's door. Linka, being typical Linka, was telling me how I was doing everything wrong…well, she was making suggestions as to how she would do it, but what she really meant was "Do it this way Yankee!" I sent her away so she'd stop bossing me around. But it was nice to get that glimpse of how we used to be with each other.

After a few hours, I had a new door rebuilt, and mounted back into the frame. I test it out to make sure it closes securely and evenly.

"Good as new!" I declare to no one in particular, but very proud of my handy work.

Now the tough part, getting Linka's approval. I just need to find her. After I sent her away, I assumed she went to the commons area since the others were all down at the beach swimming. Sure enough I was right. I watch her for a while, just sitting on the couch, flipping through the channels on TV. She's not even keeping anything on long enough to see if she finds something she likes!

"Miss me Babe?" I ask.

She tilts her head back to look at me and has the most beautiful smile on her face. Was she thinking of something before she turned around that made her smile, or was that smile meant for me? Does it even matter after the fight we had yesterday followed by the rough afternoon she's had today with the nightmare and getting sick? At least she's smiling. I smile back.

"Wanna see how badly I screwed up your door?"

"I have been dreading it for the last few hours!"

"You have no faith in me?!"

We get to her cabin and she tests the door. Opens, and then closes. Opens, and then closes. She's looking for flaws. Looking for a spot where the door rubs against the frame. Good luck finding it! This door is perfect!

"Well?" I ask.

"I am impressed! You do good work Yankee. My suggestions must have helped!" She says with a roguish grin.

"Yeah, whatever! You just keep telling yourself that!"

"Thank you," she opens her arms and steps closer to hug me.

I know I'm sweaty and gross and as much as it kills me to do it, I hold my hands up to stop her,

"I don't think that's such a good idea Babe. I worked up a pretty good sweat and am dirty and gross. I'll take a rain check on that hug though…after I shower?"

"Ok."

I give her a smile and a wink before exiting her cabin. As soon as I close the door, I open it, admiring my work once more and giving her a "thumbs up" sign. My little show causes her to laugh out loud and shake her head.

It's good to hear her laugh and see her smile.

"Meet me in my room in fifteen minutes, ok?" I ask.

"Sure."

I exit the bathroom to find her sitting on my bed looking through an old photo album that I'd pulled out.

"You're early."

"Oh, sorry," she says when she turns to see me watching her from the doorway of the bathroom.

"You're lucky I got dressed in there and didn't just come walking in here completely naked!" I joke as I nod towards the bathroom.

"Or unlucky," she replies with that mischievous smile that she's been giving me a lot lately, then chuckles.

I chuckle too, unsure of what else to do. After all, she was just joking…right?

Then she turns her attention back to the photo album.

"I am sorry, I do not mean to be nosey, I came in here like you wanted and saw this sitting here. I figured it would be safer looking through this than looking through your magazine collection."

I blush at the implication. Fortunately THOSE magazines are safely stashed away under my bed. It's not a hobby of mine to collect such things…it was just something I did when I turned 18, just because now I was legally able to purchase them…I even went out and bought a lottery ticket and a cigar, not because I wanted to smoke it, just because I could…I still have it. I have no desire to smoke it. As for the magazines, what would she think if she saw that all the models bore a striking resemblance to her with their blonde hair and blue eyes? Yeah, it's definitely a good thing those are hidden. She'd freak. I need to stop thinking about it and get back to the subject we were talking about.

"No need to apologize. I pulled it out because I wanted to show it to you…sort of introduce you to my family. That way, if I ever get to talkin' about them again, you can put a face to the name…or not. If you don't care…"

"Of course I care."

"It's kinda a stupid idea. I mean, it's not like you need to know…"

"I want to know."

I wonder why…I know nothing about her family…other than Boris and her uncle. She never speaks of her parents. Then again, I never really have either until I told her about James. Maybe now she will. Maybe this will lead to more opening up. I mean, it'll give us something to talk about other than Planeteer stuff.

So we sat there for a while, just flipping through the pages and I'd tell her who each person was and she'd ask me what events we were celebrating.

"I have lost both my parents, my grandmother brought me up," she confides out of the blue. "You are lucky."

I shrug. Lucky? Is that what you call someone with an alcoholic dad? "It didn't always feel lucky."

She rests her head on my shoulder and leans against me, rubbing my arm soothingly.

I put my hand over hers, holding it in place and ask,

"It must have been tough for you though, being alone?"

"I do not even remember my mother now, I was too young… just a vague feeling of being loved by someone warm and caring. Sometimes I wonder if my father went away then too, he always kept his feelings to himself, though I know he loved me and da, it was hard when I lost him. But Grandmuska had always been there for us and Uncle Dimitri would come by to cheer us up."

She shrugs and I can tell she's thinking about her Uncle and how he was there for her. I'm sure she wishes she could be there for him too. I look at her out of the corner of my eye. I can see her eyes getting glassy as she tries to keep her tears from falling. She turns the page. This picture needs no explanation. I didn't need to tell her who the red headed baby with the cake all over his face was, or what we were celebrating. She smiles widely as she looks up at me and exclaims,

"Oh Wheeler! You were so cute…! What happened?!" She teases.

I stick my tongue out at her and bump my shoulder against hers as she turns the page. I'm glad she's smiling and laughing again, even if it is as my expense!

"That's James holding me when I was a baby. He was 5…and here's me when I'm 5, holding my cousin Joey after he was born," I say as I point to the picture on the opposite page.

"I can see the resemblance, except for the red hair; you look just like he did at that age."

Hopefully the resemblence between me and James ends with our looks. I went from wanting to be just like him, to praying I'd never be as stupid as him. That I would appreciate and cherish all the good things I had and not throw them away. This opportunity that I have gotten with the Planeteers was exactly what I needed...and it brought me to Linka.

We continue to flip through the pages and I tell her more stories. I get to the last pages. The last picture I have of James…a family picture. He's sitting on the floor with his wife, two kids, and two dogs. It's Christmas. This is something we did every Christmas, the families would each pose and have their pictures taken after we were done opening presents. I briefly wonder what it would be like to take Linka home to really introduce her to the family and have our picture taken like this. What a stupid thought. I dismiss it just as quickly as I think of it.

On the opposite page is a prayer card from his funeral and a pressed flower from one of the many floral arrangements that were there. She runs her hand over the page before closing the photo album.

"Thank you for sharing this with me," she says as she wipes away a tear.

"Sure. Thanks for letting me share it. I'm sorry if it upset you though."

"What did I tell you about apologizing?!"

"Right. I keep forgetting."

I look over at her, hoping that the expression on my face can convey how really grateful I am that she's here. "Oh, speaking of sharing. I picked these out for you," I say as I stand up and pull a stack of folded hoodies out of my dresser drawers. I also threw in a few sweatpants for her to wear as well. They'll be way too long for her, but with the elastic leg holes, they should be fine. "These oughta keep you warm."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep. I'm not using them at the moment." I'm tempted to remind her of what I said before. How seeing her wearing my clothes makes me feel…but after the day we've had and with Kwame's words still ringing fresh in my head, I decide against it.

She leaves to take the clothes back to her room. When she returns, I ask,

"Wanna go for a walk?" I stand up and hold my hand out to her.

"After you give me that hug that you promised."

Oh right! How could I forget! I'm surprised that she was the one to remind me. Could she have been looking forward to it? I can only hope! I open my arms and she steps into them. I wrap my arms around her as we squeeze each other. I kiss the top of her head and then pull back to look her in the eye when I say,

"Come on, I wanna show you something."

To Be Continued…

Don't forget, you HAVE TO read Linka's side of the story in Chapter 7 of LouiseX's Codependence.