Crap, I’d stolen his lighter.
I cupped my hands and flicked the lighter. A tiny flame caught the shake and I got a hit. As is custom, I handed the whole operation over to him and the lighter barely ignited, while he did his part. I caught sight of his colorful clothes, just a glimpse before the light was gone. I heard him draw on the pipe and then his signature cough; it was all in my hands again. We got our fill of the smoke and set it aside, well the lighter stopped working.
“Don’t you have anymore questions?”
I guess I was pretty stoned because I couldn’t think of any but I tried.
“Wait, give me a minute and I’ll come up with one.”
He waited patiently while I thought.
“Do you take any medication that I should know about?”
That seemed appropriate.
The munchies would hit soon, light or no light. I began to calculate where my snacks were located and then got a mental picture.
“No I don’t take any medicine on a regular basis. I’m fine on that point.”
He answered my hard thought out question and seemed to pause for more from me.
“Oh.” I heard him whisper.
“I was thinking of non-medical questions.”
I felt his head turn in my lap and I thought of a non-medical question.
“Would you like a snack?”
“Thank you, but not just yet; any other questions?”
Frankly I was flummoxed. I didn’t know what I should be asking him. Finally I gave up the ghost.
“Please forgive me my lack of knowledge but I’m uncertain what I should be asking you; do you have any questions of me?”
I felt satisfied that that was a pretty good come-back and question to ask.
“Only about a hundred.”
His voice had humor in it.
“Ok, fire away.”
“What’s your name?” He said simply.
Wow, I thought, this guy must be hurt; I told him my name before he tried to break into my stateroom. I guess he forgot.
“Like I said before, my name is Helen.”
“Where are you from?” He continued. I answered immediately.
“I’m from California.”
“How old are you?”
“29.”
I came back like I always do when someone thinks they’re entitled to have that exact information. There was no way I could keep the sarcasm out of my voice.
Then we had a few minutes of silence and I mulled over his questions. It hit me that I hadn’t been paying attention. He was asking personal questions. What the hell was the matter with me that I didn’t ask any personal questions? I let another minute slip by before I made the proper amends.
Not wanting to exactly imitate his questions, I went in another direction.
“Are you traveling alone? Will there be people worried about you who are on board this ship?” I was thinking of emergency contact people.
“Alone. No one will be looking for me. How about you?” he answered.
“I haven’t given her much thought, but I bet that my sister is getting concerned about our separation during this storm. I’m not as concerned about her because I know that she’s not alone.”
“Where are you from?” I asked.
“Canada.”
He came back with a one word sentence.
I felt myself get more interested in that line of questioning. I love Canada – at least I love the western provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, the North West Territory, and the Yukon.
“Where in Canada are you from?”
“Vancouver, British Columbia.”
His answer peeked my interest even more.
“Canada is wonderful; at least what I’ve seen of it. I’ve taken ‘solitude’ trips through Alberta and farther north up to Yellow Knife.” I explained.
“Do you travel much?” I said as I was getting the hang of the personal question thing.
“More than most folks do.”
There was a quiet weariness to his voice and I tucked that observation away for another time.
“What made you choose this cruise? Why would you travel alone on a cruise like this?” I asked.
“I needed to get away by myself; it didn’t matter where.” His voice trailed off to a whisper.
“Oh.” I understood the need for alone time.
Silence took over again. It was comforting. We were wrapped in our own reverie as the quiet continued. Ten minutes of blank air can be intimidating for some folks but it didn’t bother either of us.
My arms were cold. The rain had actually stopped but a chilly wind could some how reach us behind our chair barricade. I focused my thoughts on how I could hold some of that chill at bay. What in the world could I use to protect us further? I explored the close surrounding area with my left hand and took a mental inventory: the cooler; the small table; the CD player; the wet beach towel. Moving the towel out of the way in order to continue feeling around, I touched another piece of fabric. I grabbed it and brought it to me for closer inspection. Another towel, I didn’t know I had two towels out there. I surveyed the entire towel with my fingers and discovered that there was only a very small part that was actually wet.
I then dragged the towel over my charge’s head, shoulders, arms and torso being careful not to touch him with the wet part. Then I tucked it in as much as I could.
“Nice.” He said as he pulled the towel tight into his body. He turned his whole body on his side and was now facing my stomach. He reached up with the edge of the towel and wrapped it over my right shoulder so that my hand and arm were tucked in with him. Yes that was nice.
With my hand on his chest, I shook him ever so lightly and reminded him not to fall asleep. As if to defy me, he drew his knees up to his chest so that the towel covered him completely and snuggled in closer to me. I was instantly glad for a smidgen more warmth.
A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky followed by another immediately, very scary in the thick all consuming darkness. The thunder hit like it was right on top of us. I tucked my head down and hugged the bundle in my lap as I felt him hug back fiercely. The sound was so loud I was worried that my ears could be
