Fresh Flesh (12 page)

"As for how much I see the other convicts?
They rarely come over to this side of the island. We try to leave
each other alone. That's the way both sides want it. I knew that I
could survive on my own without their help and the drops and have
tried to forget that we share this island."

"A few times over the years I've gone to
their side of the island, more out of curiosity and loneliness than
anything, to spy on what's new. It's always the same over there
though."

"Every once in a while a newbie convict comes
along and that's something new to talk about. How did this one get
here? What did he do? And so on. But there hasn't been one, as far
as I know, for quite some time."

"How long?"

"If you remember I didn't know what year it
was when you first arrived so this is just a guess: maybe five
years? I'm pretty sure Bobby was the last newbie. I'm kind of in
the dark because like I said, I rarely go over there. I stay over
here and they stay over there. Bobby parachuted off course and
landed on the southwest beach so I was the first to meet him. I led
him over to the east side of the island and left him there."

"If they really don't like you, and they're
as insane as you think, why haven't they tried to kill you?"

"Ah," he said and stopped pacing. He came
back and sat down. "Good question, Jessica. They haven't tried to
kill me because I haven't gotten in their way. And I told you once
before that I was no dummy. I didn't intend to come here and die, I
saw this island as a second chance at a life I would never have
outside prison.

"The other reason they haven't tried to kill
me is because their leader hasn't ordered them to yet. Their leader
has sent spies to this side of the island on occasion to keep tabs
or maybe to see if I've finally gone and killed myself. Bobby might
have been on one of those routine checks today, I don't know. But
his spies don't usually engage me. They will come over, see what
I'm doing and then head back over there."

"Like I said, they leave me alone. They don't
understand, with the exception of their leader, why I want to live
outside their camp. My fear of them, in part, is what has kept me
going. And their leader has known that and doesn't see me as a
threat."

"Is their leader an original convict too?"
Jessica asked.

"Yes, I think we're the only two originals
left. The rest came after. He makes sure they don't die, or do, if
he dislikes them I guess. Many of those hopeless convicts would
starve outside without his help. He is a skilled woodsman and is
the only other person that knows this island at least as well as
me, if not better."

They traded pensive gazes. Jessica was
disturbed by what was happening here.

"That's it," he said. "That's the true
story."

"Bobby," she said, "You were going to tell me
about Bobby?"

"Oh yes. You see, I have never killed any of
the spies sent over here. It may seem like I killed Bobby without
any emotion but it was to protect you. Bobby was their leader's
best friend. His favorite pet. When he realizes I killed Bobby. .
."

"But you did it to save me."

"That's why I'm concerned. In the eleven
years I've been here there has never been a reason to come over and
attack me, outside of their leader disliking me, maybe. But after
today? Things are different now."

His eyes burned through her and she had to
turn away.

"What does this all mean?" she asked.

"It's a matter of time before he finds out.
Maybe he already knows about you. He might have been annoyed but
still forgiven me for killing Bobby. But you? Just like when Bobby
parachuted to the wrong place, I was under an obligation in their
leader's mind to bring him to them. I did. Their leader feels like
everything here is a possession. He is a god here. When he learns
there's a woman on the island, he'll have every one of his psychos
hunting us. They'll want you, he'll want you, Jessica. I can't let
that happen."

"Do you think he knows about me?"

Dick stood up, grabbed Bobby's buck knife and
tested the blade's sharpness.

"Hope not."

Dick said he wanted to go look at something
outside and would be right back and left the cave. She sat near the
fire and watched the burning branches. She tried to accept the
story Dick had told her. She could be a deep thinking, feeling
person. She had never weighed in on any deep political or religious
issues. Capital punishment didn't directly impact her life, didn't
alter her rich world. Heck, she wasn't registered to vote. She had
no opinion on whether she was for or against capital
punishment.

A strong gust of wind blew in as if to scold
her for living so non-committal.

She looked away from the fire and saw Dick
standing still, watching her from the cave entrance.

"I checked the ground by Edward's hand for
footsteps. Only yours were there."

"And that means?"

"I hope it means that—I don't know. Maybe
birds carried his hand there?" But there was something wrong in
Dick's voice that suggested he didn't believe that's what
happened.

Dick walked across the cave and held out
something. She took it, eyeing it by the firelight. Dick had
cleaned away the nastiness before presented it to her.

Edward's wedding ring.

"Jessica, I hope you can understand now why I
deceived you. I wanted to shelter the bad stuff on this island from
you. I was hoping we could. . .get to know each other and I could
break the truth about this place to you at some later date. Maybe
in stages. You almost died on me and I didn't want you to run away
and—"

"You should have been straight with me from
the beginning."

"I'm sorry. I said it before, I can't take
anything back. Please believe me. All I can do is apologize and
hope that you'll forgive me. I didn't know anything about Edward —
and I had nothing to do with his hand—
I swear
."

She never once looked up at him. She stared
only at Edward's unique gold wedding ring. Once again, she saw Nile
Waters, the shifty jeweler, greasing her: "I'll tell you what, Mrs.
Stanton, you don't want to wear just any ring, you have to have
something to match your charming figure. Now, don't be fooled by
the small dollar imitations. Let me have a one-of-a-kind ring made
especially for you. Expensive? Well. . ."

Edward's ring wasn't unique, it was a dusty
relic. The last single, solitary proof here that Jessica Stanton
ever existed.

Out of love, not the rage and depression that
poisoned the island, she threw the ring into the fire.

They both awoke the next morning like the
devil had pursued them in their dreams. Neither spoke about their
nightmares. Dick went out, caught some fish and retrieved some
coconuts. Jessica followed him everywhere.

They ate in silence. Jessica played with her
food for quite some time before Dick said something. Then she
grudgingly ate, but only a small amount.

After breakfast, Dick and she sat on their
facing rock seats.

"Jessica, can I ask you something?" Dick
said.

"Sure."

"You've been here well over a month and
there's something that I can't figure out about you."

She looked at him, perplexed.

"You don't act like some rich, stuck up
woman. I mean, don't be offended or anything, but you don't act
like every wealthy person I've ever known. Don't you miss
everything about your life?"

"I miss the things I did by myself. I had a
life of free time. Edward was away on business a lot and when he
was home he spent a lot of time working in his office. Sure, I miss
the money, the cars, the glamour, but at some point you can have
too much of that stuff. I think Edward liked that I didn't flinch
over signing a pre-nuptial agreement. I don't miss most the people
in that world. Too many self-consumed braggarts. I do miss my
closet,
my shoes
, dammit."

They both chuckled.

"I think I'm beginning to understand
you."

She smiled. "Maybe."

He started to smile and she caught a glimpse
of his rotting black mouth. It ruined a good moment. He sensed her
disgust and closed his mouth.

"I'm sorry I'm. . .not. . .not good to look
at."

"I'm sure that you were a very handsome man
at one time."

"I was," he said excitedly, "I never had any
cavities. I never had an acne problem, I never had. . ." He shook
his head, saddened.

Jessica was silent for a moment.

"Would you rather I call you Richard?"

"No one has called me Richard for a long
time," he said with cloudy eyes. "I'd like that very much."

"Okay, Richard," she said.

"You know, that kind of has a ring to it,
doesn't it?"

"It does."

"Richard. . ..yeah, funny when you forget how
your own name sounds."

Jessica giggled.

Richard started to chuckle too, until he
heard something. They both heard it. They both looked at the cave
entrance; their bright moment of happiness shattered.

A voice called for Richard by his last
name.

"Templin. TEMPLIN. Get out here."

Richard stood up and took a deep breath.
Jessica stared at him with wide, confused eyes.

"Don't move and don't make a sound," he
whispered. "Maybe he doesn't know about you."

She would have felt better if either of them
believed that.

He went to the cave entrance.

"What do you want?" he replied.

"Richie, Richie, Richie, I knew you were in
there," a cold, low voice replied.

"I said what the fuck do you want?"

"Hey, I come over to say hi, and this is my
reception? Sounding out obscenities? I'm shocked. Richie."

"Seems like you are on the wrong side of the
island," Richard said. "There's nothing over here for you."

"Ah, yes. That has been our little agreement.
But Richie, please remember we had several agreements, didn't
we?"

"What are you here for, Roberts?"

"Me and you, we go back. Being the only
originals left, we are almost family, yes? So that makes our
original rules the only rules that matter, wouldn't you say?"

"Whatever."

"We agreed to me staying on the east side of
the island and taking care of the boys."

"You like being their leader."

"You bet I do. Like a mother bear, you might
say." The voice was cold. "But now you have broken some of our
rules?"

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, you think I'm stupid or something?
You think I don't fucking know that you killed Bobby? You think I
don't know you ain't the only fucking one in that cave?"

Jessica stopped breathing. Her heart pounded
like the long-range BOOM! of fourth of July fireworks.

"Bullshit." Richard lied. "You know damn well
there's no one else on this island but you, me and the other
convicts."

Brief silence. Wind blowing.

"Now if I believed that everything would be
convenient, wouldn't it? But I'm afraid my sources have said
otherwise. It seems some rather, how should I put it, disgusting
debris floated in on one of our shores. I noticed you've seen fit
to remove it. I think it's safe to say there has been a shipwreck
nearby. Could it have been the night of that bad storm a short
while back? A shipwreck with at least one non-survivor and one
survivor, wasn't there? A
woman
survivor, perhaps? Have you
been harboring a woman, Richie? In fact, why don't you be real nice
and show me that sweet piece of ass?"

"Come on, Roberts. There's nobody fucking
here but you and I."

"There go those obscenities again."

"I told you—"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU TOLD ME."

"Kyle, please. I really don't know what—"

"No, stop. I know what you're trying to pull.
You're playing the same bullshit you played on the boys. Look, it's
Richie the recluse. Don't go off and hang out with that guy. It
might work for them, but it doesn't for me. I'm responsible for you
staying alive and you damn well know it. I could have put the hunt
on you at any time and this is how you repay me? You get some sweet
prize and try to keep her all to yourself?"

"Go back to your side of the island, you
don't know what you're talking about."

"You killed Bobby."

"No."

"Then
she
did."

"You're letting the sun get to you, there is
no she."

"You're a lousy liar, Richie. Do you want me
to come up and see for myself? You know I can, and you know I
will."

"Leave me alone."

"No, no, I'm afraid the situation has changed
now. All these years, I've let you live because there was nothing
worth taking from you. But now there's something you have that
belongs to me. Tell me, Richie, is she beautiful? Is she a good
fuck?"

Richard lost it, "KISS MY ASS."

"Richie, Richie, Richie, I guess I'll just
have come up and see for myself. . ."

"No! No,
please
, no."

"Begging for mercy, are we?"

"What do you want?"

"Bottom line: give me the woman and I'll let
you live. Share or die."

"But it's not sharing, is it? I give her to
you and she'll die."

"No. Now there you go being all selfish
again. That's not how it will be at all. We've got history, Richie.
You were always welcome to stay on the other side of the
island."

"I know exactly what will happen to her."

"Do you?"

"Yes. Even if I gave her to you now, you'd
send your boys up to kill me anyway."

"Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Your
intelligence, your bravery, it just never ceases to amaze,
Richie."

An icicle formed on Jessica's spine.

"Please. You have enjoyed freedom here that
you never had back there. Please don't take her from me."