Kaitan the Awesome, chapter 6

“Your aunt?” Julie inquired while raising her eyebrow. “I thought you said—”

“Does it LOOK like I know what’s going on!?” he hissed. “Aunt Brenda?”

“Kyle, it IS you!” her loud voice shouted, making all three since and cover their ears.

“A little louder, most of us still have hearing!” Julie snapped.

“Who’s Kyle?” Kimi asked, and her question was answered by Julie pointing at Kaitan.

“His real name,” she said.

“But what—oh, right, Anderson.”

“GUYS!” Kaitan stage whispered. “I have a BIG problem here! My AUNT, whom I haven’t seen in 8 years, is on the island!”

“Why’s she here?” Julie asked.

“What are you—no, that’s rude. Um, Aunt Brenda, it’s nice to talk to you, but… why are you here on the island?” he asked.

“Why, to see you, of course!” she replied, as if it was so obvious even he should’ve figured it out. It was so obvious, even to him, that he groaned and rubbed his face. “I wanted to know what Jimmy’s son was doing on an island like this one!”

Kaitan only needed to look up at Julie waving her arms around, shaking her head and mouthing a few things to get the signal. “Um, I’m kind of busy right now,” he said. Julie sharply rolled her eyes.

“Well then, can we meet, say, tomorrow?” she asked.

He didn’t need to look to Julie to get an idea. “Sure,” he said. Julie and Kimi’s only reaction was to sigh in relief. Even he sighed. “How about noon?”

“Ooooh, a lunch date!” she said. “Are you bringing anyone?”

“My ma—uh, girlfriend—Julie!”

“YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!!!” she screamed. “I CAN’T WAIT TO MEET HER!”

Kai immediately decided to end the conversation before things went deeper. “Okay, noon tomorrow at the research camp. See you then!”

“See you!” she said before Kai turned the radio off.

“Was I rude?” he asked.

“I dunno,” said Kimi.

“I’m sorry you have to feel this way, sweetie,” Julie said, walking up to him and stroking his cheek. “When we see her tomorrow, we’ll be honest; you’re a real-life Tarzan and prefer living in the wild instead of going back to civilization.”

“How do you know you she wants me to come back?” he asked.

“I think it’s pretty obvious,” she replied. “Why else would she come here?”

“Good point,” he said.

“Wot?” Kimi asked.

“I highly doubt that his aunt would’ve shown up RIGHT NOW to see Kai out of some altruistic reason,” said Julie. “Something’s up.”

“What if it is altruistic?” Kimi asked.

“That’s one possibility,” said Julie.

“You don’t know my aunt,” said Kai.

“Which is why I’m leaving a possibility,” said Julie. She turned away from him to walk over to her laptop. “I think I’ll look up some stuff on your dad’s company. Just in case. Meanwhile, you should try on some of those business casual outfits.”

“ARE YOU KIDDING!?” he shouted, not with anger, but fear.

“Well, whaddaya expect to wear to a lunch meeting!?” she asked. “THAT!? Those are jungle clothes, not something I’d want to wear to something pretty formal, even if I swore I’d never wear civilized clothes again and I’m just as unhappy about it as you are.”

Kai had something he wanted to say, but it stayed on the tip of his tongue, because he couldn’t figure out exactly what it was that he wanted to say. But knowing Julie was just as unhappy about this as he was, he could feel at least the tiniest bit relieved.

He stayed away from Julie and Kimi for the rest of the night, though. He sat out on the porch with his bare right foot dangling a couple stories off the ground, staring into the green, then black nothingness of the jungle. He only got up to have dinner, and once he was finished, he returned to the porch to sulk, or something like that. Maybe it wasn’t sulking, but thinking, instead.

But it irked, or at least appeared to irk, a certain woman from California; enough to make her look up from her laptop for too long extended periods of time to wonder if he was ever coming back inside. Every now and then the sight of him just sitting there got to be a bit much for her. It was just as annoying having to look up at him, since she’d lose her concentration and space on the page. Of course, Julie didn’t think that her mate’s concerns were invalid. But as she adjusted her hair bun, the thoughts of how he seemed to be acting worried her.

“Kimi, could you go outside and check up on Kai?” she asked.

The Australian in question grumbled as she put the copy of Journey to the West down on the chair’s armrest.

“I heard that!” Julie called.

“Oi! Kaitan!” Kimi called out to the Jungle Dude who had his back to the treehouse and a thus illuminated. He turned around. “Julie wanted me to check on ya.”

“I’m fine,” he said. “Just thinking.”

“Bollocks,” Kimi muttered, a sentiment that Julie visibly shared. Fine time to be overdramatic like some stupidly overdramatic… anime or something.

But she knew he’d have to come inside eventually. And she knew when that was.

Tonight, they slept in a nest outside and above the treehouse. It was a ball-shaped nest built into the tree, made out of sticks and old branches. A comfy, but bare-bones bed was tucked inside, a mirror hung from the wall, and it even had a small little counter for a candle light or lantern. It also had a mosquito net covering both entrances. And a ladder attached to the treehouse led up to the front entrance. The nest was small, but its spherical shape made it bigger inside than it appeared on the outside. And it was very intimate, too.

They slept in the nest every now and then whenever they KINDA wanted to get back to nature. When they really wanted to sleep in nature, they’d sleep in a nest in a tree. There was also the added benefit of more privacy, and a little more, as we’ve already used the word “intimate”, with just the both of them in this little nest, it was good for a lot of “alone time”. Oh, and solitude. Kimi’s slept in here, and the Jungle Couple have slept by themselves, too. Individually, that is.

Kaitan lay in the bed, staring up at the branches when he heard someone climbing up the ladder. It was obviously Julie, and she carried a lantern and a book in her hands. After gingerly getting inside, she laid the lantern on the little counter before facing the mirror. There, she took her hair out of the bun, letting it cascade down her back in all its messy, wild glory. That would surely change when she washes it tomorrow. He didn’t look away, even when she removed her top and loincloth and attached it to a little hook above her.

“I love reading naked,” she said to herself. “By the way, now that we’re alone… what were you doing staring off into the jungle earlier?”

He moved to get up, but she kept him in place. “You’re not running away,” she said. “This is like that shit with the ruins a couple months back. I want answers. You’re scared, aren’t you?”

He didn’t answer.

She sighed and plopped down next to him so she could open the book and start reading. And she read in the, comfortable to her, uncomfortable for him, silence. He tapped his fingers on his toned, hairless bare chest, looking over at her every now and then to see her still reading. He hugged his slender, muscular body and turned to the side, only for her to start flipping pages even louder than she had before. This was getting ridiculous.

“You wanna talk?” she finally asked without looking up from her book. “Or would you rather let your monkey friends talk for you?”

He got up again. She bookmarked her page and closed the book in a split second enough to stop him right where he was and shoved him back onto the bed. “What is it?” she asked. She stroked his smooth cheek and played with his messy hair. “Something’s bothering you. Is it your Aunt Brenda?”

“Not really,” he said.

“Is it about the Island Games?”

“No,” he said.

“Was it about the guy you have a history with?”

He nodded hesitantly.

“I’ll count that,” she said. “But there’s more to it.” She looked him in the eye. Her eyes bore into his. Her face, illuminated by the lantern’s orange glow, wore a stern, but concerned expression. “Please, tell me,” she said in a soft voice. “You’re not an Ayn Rand character. You’re not stoic, like Tarzan. You need all the help you can get. And I want to help you. Please, just tell me.”

“It was earlier today,” he finally said. “Some of the villagers asked why I didn’t help them. I… I just… Ah, I dunno.”

“So it’s guilt,” she said to herself. “Kai, listen to me: you can’t be in two places at once. Chief Manti said it himself. Or was it Kame? Whatever, can’t remember. Oh wait, that’s not it, is it?”

“What kind of hero am I?” he asked.

“A human hero?” she replied. “I already said, you’re not Tarzan, and you’re definitely not Superman. But you’re kind and brave. I know you’re capable of great things. Just because you can’t be everywhere on a very large island doesn’t make you any less of a hero. You’ll always be MY hero. And I’ll always be glad I decided to stay with you. Because what I love about you is everything that makes you a great hero. Now listen to me! I’ve gone on and on!”

“But I wish I knew,” he said.

She laid still, then quietly shifted so that she was sitting up. “There’s more,” she concluded. She examined his fearful expression lit by the lantern’s orange glow. She’d never seen this particular expression ever since she went native, joining the Teo Tribe and then going wild. “On a scale of 1 to 10, how complex is this?”

“Eight,” he replied.

“An eight?” she asked, completely stunned in disbelief. “It’s that bad? Wait, do you even think you’re a good jungle hero?”

“I never said I wasn’t,” he said. They were both quiet as he shifted as well, removing his loincloth and sitting up with his legs crossed. She pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged them tightly.

“Tell me; PLEASE,” she begged, with a voice so low, but not a whisper, that only he, in their confined space, could hear her.

“I don’t know,” he said, just as quietly. He adjusted her legs and scooted closer to him. Their faces were inches apart and they could feel the others’ gentle breaths on the other. She gently touched his fidgeting hand and lifted his chin up so he could look her in the eye.

“It’s okay if you don’t know,” she said. “It’s okay to be scared. Quit acting like you have to be impervious to inner pain and stoic all the time. I know I sound like I’m repeating myself. But if it takes you to get into that thick, jungle-boy skull of yours, so be it!”

“It’s not just that,” he said.

“You know, I’m REALLY trying,” she said. “Work with me here!”

He glowered and turned away. She pulled him back to look directly at her.

“Something happened,” she said. “What was it?”

He swallowed; hard. “It was when I was 19,” he said. “I think it was before the Island Games. I was tracking these slavers who were bringing some slaves away. I attacked them and tried to free the slaves. Some of them got away. But so did some of the slavers. They didn’t kill any of their slaves, but they brought them with them.”

“So you think you’re a failure,” she said. “You’re NOT a failure. Is that it? Everyone fails. I even failed a class when I was at Berkeley. I’ll do what I can to help, okay?”

“Okay,” he said.

“What did I just say?” she asked as she got up in his face. She stopped and then started to laugh. “Man! If this were a movie, I’ll bet critics will say this is the best scene! Sorry, sorry. We can face this. Together. Okay?”

The Jungle Dude hesitated and thought for a moment, before he finally slightly smiled. He kissed her as a gesture of thanks. She kissed back for a second, then stopped him for a moment. He was unhappy about it at first, but then she turned to blow out the lantern.

Making love in a nest hanging three stories above the ground in the jungle is very fun.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

They were woken up by a familiar sound of something hard hitting the nest’s wooden shell. It wasn’t a bunch of monkeys dropping nuts or… road apples… but a torrential downpour. It’s just one of many downpours, and why the jungle, or the tropical rainforest, is called a rainforest, because it fucking rains! Julie got up and stuck her head out of the little nest-ball. Her hair long, mid-back-length hair was soaked in seconds. In just as many seconds, she woke Kaitan up, grabbed her outfit and climbed out of the ball-nest.

Kaitan wasn’t far behind. He was soaked as quickly as she was, and had to climb down the ladder as carefully as she was. Once they reached the porch, Julie ran inside. She came out a minute later with Kimi, some buckets to collect drinking water, razors, shaving cream, shampoo and some soap. This was not the first time Kimi would shower in the rain of the jungle, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. But she reacted to it the same way she did when she first got the chance, with pure and utter excitement.

They all showered together. This is actually fairly common in some places of the world, like Japan, where children and adults bathing together is considered to be “normal”. But for the sake of privacy, Julie and Kai faced away from Kimi. They soaked in the rain first. Then they went under the overhang of the roof so they could soap up. Then they went back into the rain. Then back under the overhang to shampoo. Then back again.

The author has never actually been naked in the rain (in fact, he hates being out in it), but the Jungle Trio loved it. They laughed and giggled, splashing water on each other, even as Julie and Kai were shaving. With it being in the morning, they had plenty of time to forget their troubles and just enjoy the natural rain cascading down their now-clean skins. It just felt right. It was the small moments that made their lives in the rainforest all the more worth it.

They came inside after several minutes to dry off and for Kai and Julie to get ready for the lunch date they both dreaded. You could see it in their eyes every time they looked at each other. It started when Julie was helping Kimi brush her hair. Kaitan walked past the both of them, and he and Julie shared a quick, worried glance. Kimi noticed this for a split second. But the relaxation and sisterly-from-another-misterly bonding she was enjoying with Julie soured.

Breakfast didn’t offer a respite. Even though the atmosphere was jovial and relaxed, the occasional glance or wrong look derailed the conversation and had Kai and Julie looking at each other. It got awkward, really easily and really fast. Kimi was so frustrated that she finally asked, “What’s going on? Are you that worried about your aunt, Kaitan?”

The Jungle Dude rolled his eyes, sighed and put the fork down. He stood up and tried to walk out, but not before Julie grabbed his wrist to keep him still. “No, we need to talk,” she said. “I said I wanted to help.”

“Yeah, but how are we going to do that?” he asked.

“Sit down,” said Julie. He did that. “Alright, here’s what I think we should do. I may have said this last night, but I’ll say it again. Maybe we should just be honest: That you love it here and don’t want to go back to Canada.”

“What if she doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer?” he asked. “I kinda remember that she was pretty stubborn at one Christmas party.”

“Well, I’m not going to take that answer,” said Julie. “From her, not you.”

“You could try lying,” said Kimi.

“We could,” said Julie. “But we should be prepared if she calls our lies out pretty quickly. And if we have to, we’ll be blunt. Just say shit like how bad you smelled when I first met you.”

“HEY!”

“You smelled like ASS,” she said. He quickly smelled his pits. He smelled of aloe.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Maybe I could tell her about the jungle,” said Kaitan. “Like about how everything could kill her, like it almost killed you.”

“Ah, a darkly humorous warning, I like it,” she said while steepling her fingers.

“Or just a warning,” he said.

“Your tone said otherwise,” Julie replied.

“I think you should go all ape and tear into a piece of meat,” said Kimi.

“But Aunt Brenda’s a vegetarian,” he said. “She won’t have meat served.”

“Oh,” Kimi groaned.

“It was an honest effort,” said Julie.

“Of course,” Kaitan said as he played with the applesauce in his plate, mixing it with the scrambled eggs and bacon. “Unfortunately, I haven’t seen her in years, so—”

“Vegetarians I know tend to stay vegetarians,” said Julie. “Especially in LA. Hell, when I went to Berkeley, I met a girl who was raised vegan.”

“Got it,” he said.

“And, I know you’re not going to like this,” she said nervously. “But you’ll have to wear something nice. Wait, I already said that. Didn’t I say that last night?”

“You did.”

“Whatever,” she said. “You’re going to wear something nice and so will I. Now, let’s get ready.”