Love To Hate You

Dora the explorer she's not

Brandon

I stop by the spring with a row of bananas over my back. Last night, I saw smoke on the other side of the jungle. Now that I know we’re not alone, I begin to form a plan. I spend the morning stocking fruit while she sleeps it away. I’ll have to convince her to enter the jungle. Even though I know she’s terrified to step foot in it. This morning, I climbed the tallest tree I could find and git the layout of the island. if we used the beach, it would take days, maybe weeks.

Mary’s eyes light at the sight of bananas. Holding back a grin, I place them in the pile and work on fashioning the dead raft into a suitable carrier. She stuffs down two bananas in the span of a minute. Watching her eat them hives me an oddly satisfying feeling. I like her this way, dependent on me. Especially knowing I can rip the rug out from beneath her any time I want to.

“What are you doing?” She asks. I pack the fruit. Before replying, “Getting us off this island.” She looks confused by my answer. It’s adorable the way she crinkles her nose. Where the fuck did that come from? I shake my head. This island is getting to me.

“How are you going to get us off the island?”

Making two slits in the material, I slip my arms through, testing it. “By going through there.” I point toward the jungle before continuing.
“Our best chance is to explore the island and find a way out of here, preferably by boat.”

Mary shakes her head vigorously.

“No, nope. Not going in there. Not a chance.”

I had a feeling that would be the way of it. Slipping the pack off, I pass her a bottle with water and head toward my path.

“Suit yourself. I’m going, whether or not you come is up to you.”

She sputters before telling me she’ll take her chances here. A twinge of guilt churns my stomach when I see her eyes get misty, but she sits away from me, cross-legged on the beach. Is she truly that stubborn? How will she eat if she won’t even enter the jungle?

“Wait! Brandon?”

I stop with one foot in the brush, the other still in the sand, unable to stop the wide smile that spreads across my face. Thought that would do it. She walks over, placing the half empty water bottle in the sack and squares her shoulders.

“Try not to slow me down, princess.”

Her eyes narrow at me. She looks ahead and her lip trembles. I brush off any guilt I feel, remembering our past. We get as far as the river before she has to stop and rest. It’s hot today, even in the shade. I dip my shirt in the cool water and wrap it around my neck. Mary wipes at her face, taking a good swipe at her two-day-old mascara. It smudges giving her raccoon eyes and I chuckle.

“What’s so funny?”

She’s only mildly offended when I tell her.

“Is this water safe to swim in?” She asks.

Of course it is, we’re drinking from it.
“What do you think?” My words drip with sarcasm. She looks back at me, making a face like I’m the one clueless. I don’t know how she made it through life so far. Then again, I don’t know any debutantes that attend boy Scouts. I give her a break with a simple answer.

“Yes.”

She steps in up to her hips and scrubs herself raw. I watch her while chewing on a mango. The already clinging dress sticks to her like a second skin and my eyes hood at the sight. I never realized how curvy she is. She was always covering herself in draping summer dresses, or cozy sweaters. Mary dunks her head a few times, combing out her hair until its knot free. Every time she bends over, her ass stretches the fabric and I can almost see her skin through it. She’s driving me crazy. I’m so hard I’m getting a tension headache.

“That’s enough!” She jumps at my sharp tone. “We have to get moving before dark.”

I’ve obviously upset her, good. She’s disturbed the hell out of me. I stand waiting with my arms folded. For fuck sakes, she might as well be naked. When she emerges, the dress clings to every groove and hollow. My jaw slackens as my eyes skate across her beaded nipples. I’m a fucking saint for not taking advantage of our situation.

“What?” She asks, eyeing me warily. I realize I’m gawking and my anger spikes. Continuing on, I don’t say anything as I  cut through the thick brush aggressively. We slow the pace and the sun starts its descent. We’ve got an hour tops before it’s dark. She did okay today, complained the whole time, cursing me under her breath before moaning and griping for the last hour or so, but I have to admit; she hasn’t slowed me down. We come to an opening a few minutes later and I can hear flowing water not far off.

“Well, stop here for the night.”

Mary lets out a long-suffering sigh before dropping on a dead log. “Thank God! I thought you’d never rest.”

Placing the pack down, I dig a small narrow hole and begin scrounging for deadwood.

“What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

“I don’t know, that’s why I asked you.”

It’s the first time she’s snapped back at me today. I’m surprised she hasn’t sooner. I’ve been short with her since the river.

“Starting a fire to keep us warm and safe. Who knows what’s lurking in this place. I’m not about to become dinner.”
That keeps her quiet. I don’t know why I’m being overly cruel, I can’t help it. The sun is setting; it takes some time, but I manage to get a spark between two rocks. When the wood begins to smolder, I carefully blow and almost cheer when the brush ignites. Mary has stayed exceptionally quiet throughout the process. I look over curiously.

Her heels are off and she’s rubbing her feet. It looks like she’s in pain. Her shoes are modest in height but in these conditions any footwear other than hiking boots is treacherous. I approach her. Upon closer inspection I see blisters on her heels surrounded by red irritated skin.

“Jesus, why do you wear those?”

She drops her foot, snapping at me. “I’m sorry, I left my boots on the beach. They didn’t go well with this dress and I didn’t want to look bad in front of the monkeys.”

Okay, I deserved that. I grab her foot,  ignoring her efforts to pull away.

“Stay there, I’ll be right back.”

Grabbing the bottles and my shirt, I head toward the sound of moving water. When I get back, Mary is eating a mango with her feet perched up on the log she was occupying earlier. It’s dark now, and the glow of the fire lights her features. She’s extraordinarily beautiful. Without makeup, I can see the light dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks. I’m surprised to find she has naturally curly hair. It’s so thick, I always thought it was straight and she curled it with an iron or something.
I place my wet shirt against her feet, startling her.
“Relax, this will help take the swelling down.”
She sighs when I wrap it around her aggravated skin.

“Thank you.”

I mumble what I think resembles a welcome, placing the fish I caught on a rock and begin cutting them. Mary cringes turning away.

“What? you don’t like fish.”

Siting up on her elbow, she looks back over.

“No, well, I never tried it. I could barely stomach the smell growing up.”

I’m shocked.

“How do you grow up surrounded by ocean and have never tried fish?”

She shrugs, “An impeccable sense of smell.”

Chuckling at that, I spear the fish and sit back against the rock. My mouth salivates as they cook and I’m happy I don’t have to share.

“It doesn’t smell so bad now.”

Looking across the fire, I see her eyes locked on the sizzling fillets and decide to toy with her.

“No, you wouldn’t like it.”

Pulling the spear off the fire, I blow on the meat watching her. Mary swallows, licking her lips. My erection springs back to life at the sight. I picture her looking at me that way and I have to adjust myself to avoid the sharp pain of my zipper cutting into the rigid flesh.

“I think I would like to try.”

Bringing myself back to reality, I pat the ground beside me.

“Come have a taste.”

My voice comes out a bit more raspy than I mean it to, and her eyes fly off the fish and onto mine. Hers widen and she bites her lip in trepidation. The moment feels surreal and I keep our gazes locked. Mary is now on the same page as me, and I’m desperate to know what she’s going to do. She breaks contact, looking away.

“Your probably right.”

I can’t even hide my disappointment this time. Can’t say I blame her, I’ve been a miserable prick. Jabbing her every chance I get. The steady in and out of her breaths tells me she’s fallen asleep. I finish the fish and lay back, looking up at the stars until I doze off.