Chapter 43: The Ship
The following week had arrived. Diddy and Dixie planned to meet with their four friends on the island to begin the plan they had proposed: to build a huge ship that would last long enough to make it through hurricane season, so that Diddy and Dixie could finally return to DK Island safely... Although both of them still thought that maybe it was just a game, because it was something very complex to achieve something like this in a short time and done by only six little apes; even the two of them had had a hard time building the boat they did when they tried to return to DK Island the first few days.
Diddy and Dixie were on their way to their friends' house. They decided not to tell Mr. Pinky anything about it yet, since it was obvious how he would react, although to tell the truth, they didn't hide it so much because of that, but because something told them that, anyway, that ship would be finished when the hurricane season also ended; they knew that a small group of six kongs wouldn't manage to finish it in record time. And other than that, they thought that maybe they could have fun in the process of trying to build, and thus spend more fun times with their four friends.
As they arrived, Jenny and Ricky got out of their house, and went down before Diddy and Dixie went upstairs. Apparently, they had something to say to both of them.
"Hi, friends!" Diddy and Dixie said, smiling at them.
"How are you, Diddy and Dixie?!" Jenny and Ricky replied in the same way.
"Will we start with the boat today?" Diddy asked them.
"Yes, of course," Jenny replied, before smiling with some tension. "Although... we have some news."
"Really? What happened?" Dixie asked.
"It's that you don't know something that happened to us," Ricky said. "Do you remember that we told you that when we were little there was a massive abandonment of children?"
"A couple of days ago we were taking a walk," Jenny continued, "and to our surprise, we came across some of those kids."
"Wow, wait a minute," Diddy said in confusion. "Are you referring to those children with whom you lived as children?... With whom you didn't get along?"
"Yes, the same ones," Ricky replied. "But that was many years ago when we were very young. Now that we met them again, we decided to forget all those grudges and better be friends."
"By the way, they're just in our house now," Jenny said. "Do you want to come and meet them?"
"What?!" Dixie exclaimed, confused, too. "Right now?"
"Yeah, come, they're cool," Ricky added, taking Diddy and Dixie's arms.
"Hey, is it serious?!" Diddy asked, all confused.
"Yes, really!" Jenny exclaimed, smiling. "We were waiting to introduce them to you."
"Say what...?" Dixie said, still surprised, as they were invited to the house.
Diddy and Dixie were all confused: their new friends now had other new friends? Or well… actually old friends, but... were they saying that they had met them again just now?
They both went up together with Ricky and Jenny to the house, although to tell the truth, Diddy and Dixie were a little nervous to meet new kongs to the two of them and, at the same time, they were still confused at the sudden announcement that their friends had given them.
"Oh, right... there's another detail," Ricky told them before entering the house. "I only ask you to have a little patience with them, is that some are very shy and others instead are somewhat rowdy, so to speak. Oh, and let's say some of them are not very civilized."
"But don't worry," Jenny added, smiling, "they've all changed, and now they're good kids."
Then, Ricky opened the door and they entered the house. When Diddy and Dixie walked in... they were greeted with stares and a little awkward gaze by maybe a dozen kong boys and girls, all of different species and characteristics: some appeared to be the same age as them and others looked a little younger or older. Diddy and Dixie felt the same feeling a new student would have in a classroom. Mandy and Melvyn were with all of them accompanying them.
"Hey! Diddy! Dixie! How are you?" said Mandy, greeting them with joy, before pointing to the herd of kong children. "Oh, yeah, look, we introduce you to some old friends; they-"
"You are Diddy and Dixie?!" asked one of the children, suddenly approaching the two.
"Well, yes... it's us," Diddy replied in confusion.
"Ricky, Melvyn, Jenny and Mandy talk a lot about you!" added another of the children with a voice too cheerful. "They say you are their best friends."
"Yes, yes... Of course," Dixie replied with a forced smile.
"Is it true that you saved them from a kidnapper ape?!" they continued asking.
"You two are a couple?!" another of the kids asked them.
Suddenly, several of the children crowded toward Diddy and Dixie, asking them nonstop questions. Many of them spoke in a lively voice as if they thought Diddy and Dixie were celebrities. Diddy and Dixie tried to answer them, but they were all talking at once and they couldn't even hear them well. The two were beginning to feel a little uncomfortable about the desperate crowding of these children and were just wondering: where had so many kong children come from?
"HEY! Stop now! Silence!" Mandy exclaimed, making everyone quiet. "Let them talk, you are scaring them!"
"Oh, we're sorry," the children said in succession as they walked away from Diddy and Dixie again.
"Uh, excuse us, friends," Mandy said to Diddy and Dixie. "As I said, they are all our old friends, the ones we mentioned from when we were abandoned almost as babies. A few days ago, they arrived right on this island and we met again, and well... we received them here. Now, everyone greet Diddy and Dixie."
All the kong children greeted Diddy and Dixie, this time more calmly, while the two introduced themselves to them and, likewise, each of the children introduced themselves with their respective names. Although to tell the truth... Diddy and Dixie were somewhat uncomfortable, what would they do now with so many "new friends"?
"Well, now wait a while, please," Jenny said to everyone else, before heading to the kong couple. "Diddy, Dixie, we have to talk to you, let's go outside."
Diddy and Dixie looked at each other quite confusedly, but then agreed. The four left the house along with Diddy and Dixie to talk more privately with the two of them.
"Now yes. Uhh... excuse their attitudes," Jenny clarified with a small laugh. "It's that they're all new here and sometimes they get a little hyperactive."
"We already realized," Diddy said with a forced smile.
"Yeah, and as we mentioned, some are not totally civilized," Ricky added. "You know, everyone here grew up without a family, so there are some who don't know much about life, or are very quiet, and there are also others who are kind of hyperactive. Even not everyone is one hundred percent sane, so to speak, so we had to have some patience with them."
"So... wouldn't it bother you if we have them here for a while?" Mandy asked them both.
"No, of course not, not at all," Diddy replied with a bit of insecurity. "After all, they are old friends of yours. By the way, in case they are looking for a place to stay, they can also go to the animal shelter-"
"Oh, no, don't worry about that," Ricky said smilingly. "We'll make some small booths for them to stay during these weeks. They'll only be here temporarily, as they were brought here also by the hurricane."
"Okay. So, we don't have any problems," Dixie added in the same way as Diddy. "Uhh... but what about the huge ship we were going to build now?"
"That's exactly what we wanted to talk to you," Ricky said. "You see, I hope you don't mind this either, but... we told them about our ship building plan, and in fact, they told us they can help us too."
"Really?!" Diddy and Dixie exclaimed, much more confused.
"Yes, really. Some of them also want to travel somewhere else," Mandy added, "so we told them they can join our trip. And they're very excited to build our boat as well."
"But wait a minute," Dixie interrupted, about wanting to give up. "And... how are they all supposed to help us?"
"Don't worry, we're going to teach them how to build a boat, including you," Jenny replied. "And rest assured; when the ship is ready, we'll take you home first."
Diddy and Dixie were somewhat doubtful; they had the idea that the ship would only be for the six of them, but now... would it be for about twenty crew members? It was clear that Diddy and Dixie didn't feel so comfortable with the other children due to their unexpected appearance, but they only hoped to get to know them better and thus be able to change their perception. Although after all, it wouldn't be bad to have more hands collaborating on a large construction like the one their friends planned.
"Okay... So. what are we waiting for?" Diddy said with a forced smile and not yet so determined. "We can start as soon as possible."
"Well, so, let's talk to the others," Ricky said, inviting them back into the house.
The six of them re-entered the house while the other kong children were talking to each other.
"Hey, everybody!" Jenny exclaimed, calming them all. "As you know, we're going to build that huge ship, so... let's start now."
And then, that "megaproject" was launched. What could already be considered a herd of kong children, went in search of a perfect site for the construction of the great ship. The place they chose was a place not so far from the house of the four and at the same time close to the sea; it was large enough for the size of what would be such a boat, and also had several trees behind it that could give more privacy to the construction.
As they were all gathered in that chosen place, the group of four kids showed the rest a sketch plan of what the ship would be: it was very detailed and had almost perfect strokes of each perspective of the ship and its dimensions, in addition to a quite clear explanation of the instructions. Diddy and Dixie gasped for a few seconds at the sight of all that.
"Well, here's all we have to do," Jenny said to the others, pointing to the entire plan. "We'll have to follow everything to a T. Don't worry, we'll help you with any difficulties you have."
"Hey... and where did you get this sketch plan?" Diddy asked them curiously, looking at it with a look of strangeness.
"We did it," Melvyn replied. "It took us two whole days to do it."
"Wow... I didn't know you draw so well," Dixie flattered, still admiring the sketch plan. "Seriously, it's all good... detailed."
"Oh, thank you," Jenny replied, laughing with the group. "Well, the first thing we'll do is get the materials, so we'll have to divide. We can go to the beaches, since there are many remains of boats."
Everyone was assigned to fetch every material they needed; in general, the one that was most required was wood, so they had to go in groups to areas of fallen trees to get it, since they had to assemble large pieces, they even went to the areas where the remains of boats were, where they could get a lot of pieces to recycle in the work. Likewise, the group of four had brought a few tools for construction. Diddy and Dixie were still somewhat confused by the unexpected events, but they still played along with their four friends.
The quartet of friends of Diddy and Dixie showed good knowledge about the whole process and guided others very well. Previously, Diddy and Dixie had thought that between only six kongs they couldn't carry out the construction well, but with the arrival of those old friends of the four kids, they were convincing themselves that maybe they could finish that ship as they had planned, that by the way, those new children worked very well, as if they also knew a lot about those things; they were even more serious during the work than when they met them recently.
"How long have you been friends with Ricky and the other three?" the new kongs asked Diddy and Dixie.
"Maybe about four weeks ago," Diddy replied.
"You've known them all your life, haven't you?" Dixie asked.
"Yes, since when our parents had abandoned us," replied one of the new kong children. "We were a whole herd of kids."
"Hey, and by chance... is it true that you didn't get along with them?" Dixie asked the children.
"Yes, but that was a long time ago; we already have become friends," the kong children replied. "That was a little kid thing," he added with a slight laugh. "Hey, what island do you come from?"
"From DK Island. What about you?" Diddy told them.
"We've been to several islands," replied another of the children. "And what do you like to do? Do you like to play on the beach?"
"Uh, yes, you guys too?" Dixie replied, continuing the conversation.
Diddy and Dixie, during the search for materials, talked to the other children they had met; they were already starting to sympathize with them and, as their four friends had mentioned to them: some of them were shy and quiet while others were outgoing and talked too much. Although to tell the truth, some were somewhat strange; there were a few who literally spoke almost nothing or showed much expression. However, Diddy and Dixie were liking the new kongs better; they appeared to be good and quite friendly children that even Diddy and Dixie didn't understand how it's that their four friends said that they treated them badly and made fun of them when they were little children, although perhaps as they had been told, they were things of little and immature children.
The first thing they did to start the construction was to assemble a support so that it could hold the entire ship during its construction. As they did so, the main quartet reunited with Diddy and Dixie.
"How about you, friends?" Mandy spoke to both of them. "What do you think of our old friends who arrived?"
"Well, I liked them," Dixie replied as she helped Diddy hold one of the beams of the construction support.
"Me too; they seem to be cool," Diddy added, smiling. "Did they really used to treat you as weirdos?... Because they don't seem to be like that."
"As we told you, that was many, many years ago. The past stepped on," Ricky said with a shrug before pause. "Hey, and we wanted to tell you that after this support we are going to start with the structure of the ship."
"We're going to need the help of several of us here," Jenny added. "This is one of the most complex steps."
The whole herd continued with the process. While the others were taking care of small pieces of the ship, the quartet was teaching Diddy and Dixie important steps such as the ship's base structure. Diddy and Dixie, who had initially underestimated their four friends, were amazed at their good command of guiding them all and their knowledge. Even, both didn't know why, but... they were no longer seen much as a quartet of helpless and itinerant children; from that day on, they were seen in a different way.
"Where did you learn all this from?" Diddy asked the four as they gave them instructions with wooden beams.
"We've been perfecting ourselves all these years," Mandy replied, smiling firmly. "And of course, it's not that it has been easy either. You cannot imagine the number of boats that were terrible at the beginning. But now we have already improved a lot."
"That's great, I see you guys know quite a bit," Dixie added, flattering them along with Diddy. "You should be boat builders."
"That's what we thought," Ricky said, smiling at them. "But we prefer to be free... And well, as I said, you have to put those beams over the bonfire so that they bend; they are called frames and they are important in the internal structure of the boat."
Diddy and Dixie took charge of what the four of them were assigned, while they went to get more materials. As they had been instructed, with the help of some of the other kongs, they put several wooden beams over a large bonfire, having to watch them and change their position constantly so that they would not overdo it with the fire. Both Diddy and Dixie were surprised at how the day was going so far.
"It looks like we'll be able to get back to DK Island early," Dixie said to Diddy quietly, seeing that they had started off pretty well. "I think our friends are serious."
"I hope so," Diddy replied, smiling and shrugging. "The only thing I hope is that Mr. Pinky is not going to go crazy when we tell him... Although anyway, I feel like we'll be ending this at the same time as the hurricanes, so he won't tell us anything bad."
"I don't think he'll tell us anything bad without hurricanes," Dixie added in the same way. "Hey, but seriously... I didn't think our friends really knew that much about building boats, I mean... they know things that not even my cousins, my sister and I knew when we built boats or rafts."
"Yeah, I thought they were just joking," Diddy continued. "Wow, they have to have experienced enough to know much about boats. I swore this was going to be just a game, but we're seriously building a ship."
"Hey, but it's real," said one of the newly arrived kong children, intruding on the conversation. "Ricky, Melvyn, Mandy and Jenny told us that we are going to sail on this ship."
"We already realized," Dixie replied with a forced smile, before returning to normal. "By the way, have you also learned about boats?"
"Of course," replied another of the new children. "This is what we have learned all these years living on various islands."
The small group continued with the procedure they were in: Diddy was on one side lifting one of the long beams to change direction, while Dixie was at the other end. Everyone had to be very synchronized so as not to damage the beams and, with the help of the other children, it was made less complicated.
"Hey, Diddy," Jenny called him, coming to them. "Could you come and help us with something?"
"Yes, what's going on?" Diddy asked her as he held the beam.
"We need some specific vines that we saw over there, but they are very high. Could you help me take them down, please?"
"Okay, I'm going to in a while," Diddy replied.
After a few minutes, Diddy went to tell Dixie and the others that he would be away for a while, and then went along with Jenny where she had indicated. They came to a place full of trees where at the top there were a huge lot of vines and, as Jenny had mentioned, they were at a considerable height, and the group of the four kids used to fear great heights.
"Those are, Diddy, could you get them down?" Jenny pointed to the vines above the tree.
"Ah, that's very easy," Diddy replied before starting to climb. "Wait here, I'll get them down."
Diddy climbed up the trees until he reached the pointed vines. Then, with a little difficulty, he took out several of them and dropped them to the ground. It took him a few minutes, as these were hard to tear off, but then he finished and came back down from the trees without further complications.
"Wow, Diddy, you made it!" Jenny exclaimed with excitement.
"Well, it was just a little hard to get them off," Diddy said, smiling as he finished climbing down the tree with the vines in hand. "Now we just have to untangle them."
Diddy placed the vines on the ground, and then began to untangle and collect some of them along with Jenny, since they would have to select the ones that were in better condition.
"Geez, they're too tangled," Jenny commented, helping to untie them. "Although this is already the least difficult... How have you done so far with the ship building? It's just getting started, though, of course," she added with a slight laugh.
"All right for the moment," Diddy replied with a nod. "Hey, but you know? Dixie and I thought you guys were just joking or that this ship was going to be just for playing."
"Really? No, no, we were serious," Jenny replied with a little laugh. "How do you think we were going to lie to you? We already told you: we want to help you return to your island. If it was just a game, we would have told you."
"If you say so," Diddy replied in kind. "But well, the important thing is that we have already started, and despite recently we didn't want to believe you so much," he added with a few small laughs."
"Why did you think that?" Jenny added, laughing with a look of surprise. "This was serious."
Both continued to untangle the vines for several minutes. Suddenly, Jenny began to look at Diddy for a long time and, at the same time... she was starting to smile at him.
"Hey, Diddy," Jenny said, heading toward him. "Has Dixie told you you're a cute monkey?"
"She always tells me that," Diddy replied with a little laugh as he continued to untangle the vines. "Why?"
Suddenly, Jenny began to get a little closer to Diddy, earning a look of strangeness from him.
"I already see... Because... you really are, Diddy."
"Uhh... really?" Diddy said, looking confused and with a forced smile.
"Yes, Diddy," she replied, smiling and running her hand over Diddy's face, which became a bit strange to him. "You're a very brave monkey... and very handsome too. Ever since I met you, I've thought that about you, Diddy, you know?"
"Uhh, yes, thank you, Jenny, b-but... I have to go and get on with what I was doing before," Diddy replied, immediately pulling away, still with a forced smile and starting to retreat, but not before Jenny grabbed his arm.
"Hey, wait! We're not done with the vines yet," Jenny said, holding him by the arm. "Can you help me take them to the others?" she added with a smile.
Suddenly, Diddy was confused by Jenny's gestures, but decided to finish collecting the vines along with her anyways. Diddy didn't even finish untangling the vines well; he just picked them up as fast as he could, and when they were done, they both headed back to the other kongs.
"Wow, Diddy, I also see you're very gentlemanly," Jenny hinted before approaching again and hugging him.
"Hey, hey, wait a minute!" Diddy exclaimed, turning away earlier. "What's wrong with you, Jenny?!"
"Oh, I was just going to give you a hug of thanks," Jenny said, laughing and fiddling with her hair.
Along the way... Diddy noticed that Jenny didn't cease to look at him, which seemed stranger to him, so he avoided having eye contact with her. He started walking faster, wanting to get there as fast as he could... He was beginning to become uncomfortable with Jenny's sudden attitude towards him; it was something he didn't expect from her and never expected.
They arrived back at the construction site, where the rest of the quartet were gathered along with Dixie. Then, Diddy and Jenny joined them.
"Ah, Diddy, you brought the vines we wanted," Ricky said as he picked up the vines. "Thank you!"
"Hey, Diddy, the beams are almost ready for us to start bending," Dixie pointed to the beams that were over the fire.
"Great, let's go right now," Diddy replied before going to Dixie.
Diddy and Dixie continued with the beams, and then folded them one by one until they gave them the curved shape for the structure of the ship, this with the help of the other kong children. Meanwhile, Diddy and Dixie's quartet of friends were assembling some upper parts of the ship as the masts for the sails, although they were just getting started.
By nightfall, everyone was tired of working all day. It had been a very hectic day, but even so, they managed to make a lot of progress on their first day. The newly arrived kong children were gathered in small groups under some trees taking their respective rest. Meanwhile, Diddy and Dixie were with their four friends under another tree.
"I think I'll sleep too much today," Melvyn said, leaning back on the tree trunk.
"My arms hurt," Mandy added in the same way.
"It wasn't too bad today, though," Ricky said, looking at the ship under construction in the distance. "It was productive after all, despite being our first day."
"In the end it turned out to be true that we would make a boat," Dixie added with a slight laugh. "Hey, and seriously we have been surprised; you know a lot about this. I thought it was just a game."
"Of course not," Jenny replied. "And if we hurry well, it can be ready in a few weeks."
"You should teach us more about ships," Diddy added, smiling at them. "It sounds good to learn these things for some emergency situation."
"And you thought we were just joking with you," Mandy told them, laughing a little.
"And we really thought so," Dixie replied the same way.
The group continued to talk until a little later. They even joined the other children who had just arrived that day. When everything was darker, they started lighting fires and mobilizing, while Diddy and Dixie knew it was time to return home.
"We have to leave, friends; Mr. Pinky must be waiting for us," Dixie said to the four of them. "Tomorrow we'll continue, right?"
"That's right, we have to work on this every day if we want to hurry," Mandy replied. "We'll wait to see you tomorrow, friends."
"Well, so, see you tomorrow, friends," Diddy said, smiling at them along with Dixie. "See you later!"
Diddy and Dixie said goodbye to everyone, including the other kongs. Their hopes of being able to return to DK Island suddenly had the green light again. They had greatly underestimated the plan of their new friends, but now it seems that there was a chance that it would go well. The only thing they were worried about was Mr. Pinky's reaction... And in fact, they were much more concerned now that the plan was going well. Although anyway, they wanted to carry out the plan calmly.
Late at night, Diddy and Dixie were already resting at home. Dixie was combing her hair, while Diddy was swinging in his hammock. The two also talked about the long day they had; about how the ship would be, what they would say to Mr. Pinky, but above all... they were talking about the other kong children who had appeared that day; those children did seem a bit strange because they didn't seem to be as their friends had described.
"I don't understand why they said they treated them badly," Diddy said of those kongs they met that day. "They all look harmless and as if they would never hurt anyone."
"I say the same thing. I thought they would be something like those fool school bullies," Dixie added as she fiddled with a bracelet of bright and colorful stones. "But they're all good. I'm just amused by their multifaceted faces... And by the way, I still don't believe how our friends have known so much about boats."
"We even made good progress despite being the first day," Diddy added. "Could it be that it's really finished in a couple of weeks as they said?"
"I think it wouldn't surprise me anymore," Dixie said, fiddling with the bracelet.
"Hey, what's that over there?" Diddy asked curiously as he observed what Dixie was carrying in her hands.
"Oh, it's a bracelet, Jenny gave it to me," Dixie replied, showing it to Diddy. "We have one each of the three of us with Mandy. It's like an accessory of friendship."
Suddenly, Diddy changed his face and was serious, as he knew something wasn't right... He remembered a curious event that had happened that same afternoon; he didn't want to tell Dixie, but at the same time, he needed to do it... despite not being sure if it would be correct or if it would be quite uncomfortable.
"Is something wrong, Diddy?" Dixie asked him, noticing the nervous expression on him.
"Uhh... no, it's just that…" Diddy replied slowly, beginning to fear a little for the reaction that Dixie might get. "Well, there's one thing I wanted to tell you, now that... you mention... Jenny."
"Yeah? What about her?"
Diddy had a bit regretted mentioning it, but he also knew that he would have to tell her anyway.
"Well... I hope you don't take it badly or something, but... this afternoon, when I went to help her with those vines... she was behaving in an unusual way."
"How?" Dixie asked, looking confused. "What do you mean, Diddy?"
"You see... In short, she was implying to me that I… seemed cute for her," Diddy said as he watched Dixie's expression slowly change. "She got very close to me and told me that she always thought that of me. Oh, and not to mention that when we were returning, she hugged me without wanting to let go, but I pushed away," he added, still worrying about Dixie's reaction. "And the rest of the day, I realized that every moment, she was watching me... and too much."
Dixie was shocked by what Diddy had just told her; now she also adopted a very serious face. She felt as if she had a blow to her chest, at the same time she squeezed the bracelet she was carrying tightly and dropped it to the ground. Diddy showed himself not knowing what to do after telling her; he was afraid of how Dixie would react and right now he was watching her. He didn't want her to feel bad or worse, to think anything bad about him.
"Oh... I'm sorry, sorry, Dixie," Diddy hurriedly said as he made his way to sit next to her. "S-sorry if it bothered you that I told you that, and-"
"No... that's okay, Diddy. It's okay with you telling me," Dixie interrupted, remaining calm, but at the same time, adopting a shocked expression. "It's just that... I've noticed certain things about her lately."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Diddy asked in confusion. "About what things?"
"It's that... in these last days, I have seen how she looks at you and how she stares at you... and sometimes I've caught her looking at the two of us badly," Dixie replied, looking thoughtful and looking down at the floor.
"What are you saying?" Diddy asked again strangely. "How has she been doing that?"
"I thought it was just my imagination. I didn't want to think badly or create speculation, but now that you tell me that... I see that it already makes sense."
Diddy was much more confused, as he hadn't even noticed anything Dixie mentioned.
"Wow, I've never noticed it. You're very observant, Dix," Diddy commented with a few small laughs, before starting to feel a little guilty about the situation and speaking quickly. "Uh, b-but no, Dixie, don't think I see her that way too, I don't want you to think badly of me... You didn't get angry, did you?"
"Well... the truth is... obviously, yes," Dixie replied truthfully and looking somewhat disappointed. "But not with you, it's just that... I don't know what to think about her now. I mean... I didn't think it was true and wanted to believe it was just my speculation."
Diddy began to feel bad; he didn't know if it was the right thing to have told her, but he had to... In addition, with the fact that he hadn't reported his bad classmates from school on time, he had already learned not to keep bad things to himself. Even so, he didn't want Dixie to feel bad.
"Dixie... Uh, you know Jenny is a friend to me just like Ricky, Melvyn and Mandy. They're our friends," Diddy added, placing a hand on Dixie's shoulder. "Please, I just don't want you to think anything bad about me."
"I know, Diddy, don't worry... It's okay if you tell me," Dixie replied again, smiling a little. "I don't think I should be mad at you for that. In addition... I hope it's just a small mishap."
Dixie, after a while, smiled at him again, which also made Diddy feel better. Then, he hugged her, feeling relieved that it wasn't a bad idea to have told that little detail to Dixie that had been tormenting him a bit the rest of the day.
Although on the other hand, while they kept embracing, Dixie again adopted a seriousness for herself... Although she wanted to take it easy, deep down she did feel a little discomfort with what Diddy had just told her; it was not because of him... but of Jenny. And it was true, she had noticed certain attitudes of her in the past few days and made her think several things, but anyway, she didn't want to overthink too much at that time, so she tried to keep calm.
Minutes later, both said goodbye for that day, before settling into their respective hammocks to sleep. For his part, Diddy wanted to be a little calmer... However, some concern about what he told Dixie, could not leave him so calm. Although anyway, he didn't want to continue giving it importance and wanted to think that it was not something so serious.