Chapter Five: Tokyo Blues — Part 1
Three weeks on an island with Jynx in sick mode proves entertaining for George and Jude, who, among the crew, spend most of their time doing the least. ChoCho moved about the forest and down to the shore on a daily cycle, collecting and drying food in all its forms, to include fresh eggs from wild chickens found closer to the coast all along the island. Joe and Blake did minor and often unecessary repairs to the Edgewind. Kevin/Paige balanced washing with ChoCho, pleasing Daria, and cooking for everybody with the much coveted sleep that two souls in one body always crave, while Heath often dodged various things that Jynx threw at her when she came in with medicine, food, and bowls of hot water for a sponge bath. George and Jude enjoyed watching all of it, enjoyed hearing all of it, and spent their three weeks as if on vacation, eating, drinking, and lazing in the sun, and to Jude, the last three weeks were a reflection of a quietly perfect moment.
Two days before departure, Jude wakes up slowly, feeling groggy. Something is out of sorts. He listens about the camp, thinking the problem external in some way. He can hear Joe and Blake talking quietly with Heath, can hear the distinct sound of George sleeping next to him, and looks out to the tent of the foursome who are move like a Youth Corp when they are all awake at once. Though Jynx is currently healthy, showering on her own, and has been for a week, she is sleeping in, buried in the warm pile of bodies that mark the comfort of her lovers. She is growing restless, wanting off what she calls ‘The Rock,’ and usually this restlessness would have her up before the sun. She treats the Hawaiian Islands as if they are more a cluster of prisons rather than a tropical paradise, with an intensity that increases daily. Blake and Joe are at the table, waiting like hungry children for Paige to fill them up. George is snoozing, and Jude reaches down to give Gryphon a morning pat on the head, only to find the source of his concern. Jude is up instantly, staring at Gryphon in astonishment that is slowly growing into remorse. The cold, still form of the dog is peaceful, and the dog, looks as if it has suffered little in its final hours. Jude shakes Gryphon a little, but the stiff nature of the small dog’s body causes Jude’s hand to tremble.
Taking minutes to feel for a heartbeat and finding none, Jude bites his lip, not knowing what to do with the flood of emotion rushing through him. Gryphon had been very old, almost twenty, but had carried his age far better than Jude, who actually looks about ten years older than he really is. Moving on instinct, Jude takes one of Gryphon’s blankets and wraps him tightly into the bundle, starts walking out of Camp, bundle under his arm. Joe and Blake are both eating Heath’s meal of fresh chicken’s eggs and sugar biscuits, and Heath stops her cleaning when she sees the distraught look on Jude’s face. She moves quickly, taking her apron off and hanging it even as she walks after Jude, a look of worry on her face.
Heath puts a hand on his arm, and looks deeply into his eyes, trying to see what she already knows. “What’s wrong, Sugar?” Heath asks in her clucking, distinctly out of place Southern mother’s tone.
Seeing her concern, Jude breaks down into quiet sobs. He doesn’t see them, but Blake and Joe are scarfing their food down like wild animals, intent on emptying their plates before coming to help him. Joe manages to finish in enough time to get to Jude’s side before he can calm down enough to talk. Blake, a highly perceptive man, takes up a small hand shovel from a toolbox kept near the kitchen, keeps it behind his back as he walks up, trying to feel less like the undertaker than he does. By now Heath has an arm around Jude’s thin hips, and Joe has his arm wrapped over Jude’s shoulders.
“I’ll go wake the others, and we’ll make this proper.” Heath says, sniffling.
“I don’t want to inconvenience any of you over a little ball of nothing.”
“Oh Jude, don’t be so hard on yhourself.” Heath says, detaching from the old man so she can go wake the others.
She runs back first to George’s tent, and George is already awake and getting dressed. She can tell that he knows, and his quiet voice confirms it. “It really wasn’t a matter of if, but when, and when was coming soon.”
Heath nods and runs to the tent of the foursome. She kicks Kevin’s foot, and Kevin’s up. “Dog’s dead, sweetie. Jude needs us.”
Jynx sits up, looks groggily at Heath, and then at Kevin. She crawls over to her clothes, shakes them out instinctively, straps on her bra and pulls on her panties. She stretches carefully, pops her neck. Once properly awake, she turns slowly to Heath, who is frozen in place, watching as Jynx pulls on her skirt, buttons up a shirt. In one gentle gesture, Jynx shoos Heath out of the tent, and starts waking the others. Kevin is moving sluggishly now, waking the others, and Heath steps out, her heart racing unexpectedly. That moment is etched in her mind as something truly beautiful, and Heath will spend some time wondering why even as she walks quickly to catch up with the four men who are moving on ahead.
Heath is soon out of sight of the foursome, and while keeping her in sight would have been convenient, Jynx thinks she knows where she would bury a dog if she had a reason to put one in the Earth, and Daria is tracking the men with considerable accuracy. Nobody speaks, and nobody needs to. The morning will be spent in respectful silence, until Gryphon is buried and Jude is recovered enough to smile.
