Chapter 24

We began our second day in Eilat by lingering in bed until late morning. By noon, we were up, dressed, and driving to the aquarium.

“You’re going to love this place,” he said while paying for the tickets. “It’s the only underwater observatory of a coral reef in the world. Think of it as putting people in a tank, not the fish.”

The tank was over crowded, not with fish, but with people. And of course, half of them wanted to talk to Avi. I maneuvered myself into a spot against the glass and spent a half hour watching blue tangs, clown fish, and parrot fish. When a giant sea turtle swam by, everyone in the observatory crushed against the glass to watch. Avi was correct. I loved the place.

I found him against the back wall, talking to a group of teenagers. I clasped his hand and waited patiently. Eventually, he excused himself, and we beat it to the elevator. “Did you get to see any fish?” I asked.

“Not really. I caught a quick glimpse of the sea turtle.”

“Don’t you ever get tired of talking to people?”

“Depends on what they want to talk about. I hate when people ask me what it’s like to be rich and famous. But, I don’t mind talking to people like the boys we just left. They’re interested in technology and wanted to learn more. I could talk tech stuff all day.”

“Shit, that reminds me of Lek,” I said. “Remember him? My little friend at the hostel in Patong Beach? Before I left for Koh Samui, his Game Boy broke. He begged me to bring you to the hostel to fix it. I felt so bad for the kid. But, I didn’t have enough money to buy him a new one.”

“I couldn’t have fixed it anyway. When you dumped me to take a shower, I did the best I could with it. The device was shot. I’ll call Sam and tell him to buy the kid a new one. Orrie can deliver it.”

“Wow, that’s really nice of you.”

He tossed his arm over my shoulder. “What can I say, I’m a nice guy.” An impish grin lit his face. “And, since I’m such a nice guy, you can reward me by extending your stay.”

“Profiting off the misfortune of a small child in Thailand--sad.” I laughed.

***

The two-lane road from Eilat to Tel Aviv winded up a mountain side. We passed Bedouin tents and watched two kids riding a donkey parallel to the highway. As we approached the town of Arad, we spotted a roadside open-air shop peddling all types of wares. “Look!” I pointed at the parking lot. “Is that one of our camels?”

“I don’t know. They all look alike to me,” he replied.

“Can we stop? I want to pet one before I go home.”

“Fine.” He pulled into the parking lot. We walked over to the camel. Avi and the owner conversed in Hebrew. I picked up enough of the language to know they were discussing money. Finally, Avi pulled out his wallet, handed cash to the man, and turned to me. “Get on.” He swooshed his arms at the sitting camel.

“Really?”

“Really.” He nodded. “You’re going on a ride.”

“Will you come with me?”

“Hell no, you’re on your own.”

I looked at the owner, like the man in the Old City selling camel rides, he wore traditional robes, a keffiyeh, and leather sandals--excellent marketing strategy. Authentic Arabian Nights wear probably sells more rides than Levis and Nike sneakers. The camel gazed at me. The look in his eyes reminded me of Avi’s words--they spit. I stepped backwards, away from what I assessed to be spitting distance.

The owner gestured for me to approach from the back side of the camel. He helped me climb the hump and position myself in the saddle.

“Ahhhh!” I yelled as the camel stood. From the ground, the camel looked tall, but the view from the top of the hump was terrifying. The ground looked far away. “I’m scared,” I said, looking down at Avi.

A harness looped over the camel’s head and nose, connecting under its chin to a lead the owner tugged to get the camel moving. The camel lumbered forward. After about ten steps, I twisted in my seat. “This is so cool!” I yelled at Avi.

“If you say so,” he yelled back.

The owner led us around a worn-down trail. I gathered it was the standard tourist-camel-ride-route, returning to the spot in the parking lot where we started. The camel kneeled onto his front legs and then folded his back legs to reach a camel sitting position. The owner helped me climb off the camel’s back.

I ran toward Avi. “That was great! I can’t wait to tell Ja--” I stopped. There was no Jack to tell. As I bit my bottom lip, the vice clamped my chest. Avi pulled me into a hug, and I rested my head on his shoulder. “I don’t know if Jack rode a camel while he was here.”

“I bet he did. And I bet he’d have laughed if he could have seen your face when that beast stood up.”

“Probably.” I sniffled and acknowledged that the crushing sensation would always be there to remind me of what I did to my brother.