The Dream Jumper's Promise

Chapter 24

The water was surprisingly calm in the channel between islands as Tina steered Maui Dream along the West Maui coastline towardsMolokai. Jamey positioned himself beside her, probably waiting for her to crumble. But she wouldn’t. Now that she had hope of putting all this to rest, she felt better than she had in months. Turned out, she did want to move on. If Hank was dead, she wanted to know. She’d woken at Jamey’s place with this new attitude and finally she felt good.

PassingKapaluaBay, Jamey pointed to a turtle on the surface. Sea turtles had to breathe every few minutes. Couldn’t stay down forever. Everything was a fricking metaphor for her life even if sinking below the surface was not a possibility now.

Jamey attempted to keep her distracted on the boat ride, pointing out sights, asking questions, keeping it light. Never had it been more important to find closure. He’d know what was at stake for her. What she’d known of Jamey, years before, didn’t equal how much she’d learned about him in the last weeks. He was complicated it turned out, but still small-town nice.

“How did you ever figure out that you were jumping dreams?” she asked as they motored along.

“My childhood friend, Mark, told me about a dream on a sleepover at my house. We’d been fighting some bad guys in the dream, and I remembered the fight. When I told him I was there, he said I was crazy. I shut up after that, whenever I found myself in friends’ dreams. I told my dad, and he told his brother, who was a jumper. Uncle Don sat me down to swear me to secrecy.” He grinned at her like it was a simple boyhood inconvenience, when it probably had frightened him to death.

“My grandmother had magic dreams. Did I ever tell you that?  I wonder if this is related in any way.”

Jamey’s eyes widened. “What are magic dreams?”

“I never knew. She said we needed to have a sleepover for me to have a magic dream with her.”

“You have got to be kidding.” Jamey’s face went white.

“You think my grandmother was a jumper?"

“Don’t you think it’s strange?”

“Yes. I just remembered this yesterday.” But she’d never entered dreams before Jamey came back into her life. Not that she knew of, anyways.

“Maybe you got this ability from your grandmother, and it lay dormant until my ability passed to you, or Hank’s ghost did something. I don’t know.” Everything was up for grabs.

As they passedHonoluaBay, the site of Hank’s supposed death, Jamey stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around Tina’s shoulders, his chin resting on the top of her head. He’d always been a touchy-feely guy. She remembered years ago telling him jokingly to keep his hands to himself, and he’d said, “When you’re within touching distance, that is absolutely impossible."

The wind picked up as they headed across the channel towards the gardenislandofMolokai. Obi found his usual place on the rubber mat between Tina’s feet. She recalled Obi’s lump, something she hadn’t thought about since the day before. The biopsy report seemed suspect now that her head was clearer, and now that Noble’s integrity was in question. The vet said it would be at least four days before they knew anything. She’d call the clinic when they got toMolokai. See if they’d actually called to report it was benign.

Molokaiwas not getting larger fast enough for Tina, and she struggled to lower her expectations with every mile. She needed closure but was still frightened. If they found Hank’s body, she’d be an emotional junk pile. And if they didn’t find him, she’d be a different kind of mess.

***

When the boat broke down two miles from the closestMolokaishore point, Jamey tried not to swear in front of Tina. His knowledge of marine mechanics was somewhat limited. If it was something serious, they’d have to paddle to the nearest shore.