Paul stumbles down a footpath, trying to get as far away as he can without swimming. The path leads him over the coral ridge that forms one side of tranquil Orient Bay to the tumultuous Atlantic side of the island. After the sand trail runs out, he carefully steps from one jagged rock to the next to get as close to the cliff edge as he dares.
Looking down, mountainous waves crash against the vertical wall with thunderous spray. Raw sensations blot out his befuddled thoughts. Sunburned cheeks crinkle as he roars defiantly back at the ocean, yells lost even to his own ears amidst the clamor.
After the initial collision of a roller with the wall, the wave gurgles through voids in the coral beneath his feet and erupts in spewing geysers behind him. The atomized water from the crashing waves in front and the geysers behind flash rainbows all around.
He traces one of these tunnels to a car-size chasm. An intruding wave fills the depression to the depth of a bathtub, and then immediately begins leaking back through the porous rock. A sand floor is exposed for a few seconds before the next wave. After watching a few waves churn in and out, he carefully climbs down the wall. Below the rim, the staccato crash of the waves becomes the muted rumble of distant thunder.
The gushing water threatens to knock him against the jagged sides so he sits on a smooth copper-colored boulder in the center of the sand bottom. Above, past the rim, is blue infinity. Being hidden away inside the earth where time and events pass unnoticed comforts him.
He slides down the boulder until his back is propped against it. The next incoming wave swirls around him until only his head is above water. When it recedes, he pulls off his T-shirt and wraps it around his sneakers to form a pillow. When the water gushes in again, his head anchors him as his arms flail and his weightless body floats free of the sand. When he closes his eyes, the universe becomes small, just large enough for him. Nothing exists beyond the brick-clay hue of his eyelids.
A voice is barely audible above the thumping heartbeat of waves and churning digestion of water slushing through the coral voids. “With you, it will be different.”
When the flow reverses and the water rushes out, he screams at being flushed into an alien world.
≈≈≈
Lily Ana relaxes on a stool behind the bar, recovering after the lunch crowd. Paul stumbles to the back door of the café wearing a wet bathing suit, sneakers, and pullover T-shirt. His legs are splotched with dried blood from scrapes and scratches. She had seen this before when naïve tourists tried to walk on the coral rock on the ocean side of the reef. He holds onto the door frame a moment as his eyes adjust from the sun, then reaches out for the bar for stability as he stumbles toward her. The anger on his face frightens her.
“Give me a Jack Daniels, straight.”
There are a dozen questions she wants to ask but instead, she just stares in disdain.
“Using alcohol to treat a hard day is a slippery slope.”
Paul’s eyes narrow into a drop-dead glare. It is the look Legion would have given her if she had said that to him. Until now she hadn’t seen any resemblance between father and son. When angry the flame in their eyes is the same. She starts pouring the drink before either of them can say anything they would regret and sets it on a coaster.
“Will you call me a cab, Lily Ana?”
“Going into town?”
He covers his face with his hands, rubbing the palms into his eyes, “I’m leaving. I’ve got to get away from this God-forsaken place before it drives me crazy.”
The empathy she feels surprises her. She doesn’t know what has brought this despair, but she knows the feeling well. “Don’t go,” she entreats.
Their eyes lock. Paul seems to be questioning if she is sincere. “I mean, don’t go because of me. I know I’ve—”
“No, no. This is nothing to do with you. I’ve just got to go. I need to leave right now.” His hands cover his face again, to hide teary eyes. “It’s just me. I’m all fucked up.” He wipes at his eyes with the back of his hands and looks at her. “Will you call a cab—please?”
Lily pivots to the phone on the wall behind the bar and calls the resort’s reception desk. She speaks briefly in French before hanging up.
“It will be here in twenty minutes—out in front of the office. I don’t know where your father is; you can probably find him on the beach.”
“Good, I don’t want to see him.”
Instant anger surges through her. “You can’t go without talking with him!” she shrieks. “He’ll think––”
Paul pounds the bar with both fists, “I don’t give a damn what he thinks!”
≈≈≈
Paul’s ears roar. Faces are leaning over him, mouths moving. He tries to recall why he’s lying on the floor. This dumpy guy had grabbed him by the back of his shirt and shoved him toward the door. When he had turned to take a sock at him, everything went black.
That dude’s face, hanging over him now, freezes when Paul smiles. Paul feels a sense of release akin to joy. He tries to tell the man that he wants more, but his mouth won’t open. He takes a feeble slap hoping to provoke another punch. Lily Ana, her eyes dripping, grabs at the podgy guy’s arm but it’s too late.
And then the faces are gone leaving him to the most peaceful sleep in days.
≈≈≈
Lily Ana wraps ice in a bar rag to put across Paul’s forehead. His innocent smile belies the drool of blood from the corner of his mouth. When he doesn’t respond to her imploring words, she bends to kiss him on the lips. His smile seems to grow, but his eyes still do not open.
She rushes through the front door to the beach thinking how she will explain this to Legion. After stopping and looking both ways, she jogs along the beach asking everybody she knows but nobody’s seen him.
She should call an ambulance. When she runs back into the café, Paul is gone. Eduardo wipes sweat from his face with his apron before he shrugs and points towards the resort office where the cab would be waiting.
≈≈≈