He approaches me and places a hand on my shoulder. “It’s fine, dude.”
I shake my head. “It’s not. Jules needs to be here.”
“Yeah … but what if you can’t take being here, among the people?”
“It’s not that,” I say. “It’s the technology too. Doors that can’t open without me standing in a strange spot, small devices people can’t stop staring at … books.”
“Oh, yeah …” He chuckles, gazing at Ella for a moment, which makes her blush. “I had a lot of trouble getting used to all that too. But I learned, eventually. And you can too.”
“Is it worth it?” I ask, looking at Ella specifically. “Did it make you happy?”
She nods.
“I didn’t do it for her. I did it for me,” Cage says, cocking his head. “If you don’t want to do it for you, then don’t. It’s not right.”
I sigh. “It’s not that easy, and you know it.”
“Yeah, it is. You hate people, and you miss the island. Why not go back?”
And there it is.
The final straw.
He’s right.
I’m not fit for this city. These people. The technology they use. The things they can do with those paper bills. How difficult it all is … I don’t fucking care. I don’t want to fucking learn. I just want things to be simple.
Like the island.
“Fuck …” I say, leaning back against the wall.
Cage gently pats my shoulder. “It’ll be okay. Just talk to her about it.”
I look up at him. “You think?”
“Yeah. And if not … well, then it wasn’t meant to be.”
As he turns and starts undressing so he can take a shower, his words still spin in my head.
Wasn’t meant to be …
Maybe he really is right.
Accompanying Song: “The Rocket Builder” by Johann Johannson
Juliet
It’s been a few weeks since we last saw his brother and Ella, and things have turned out much better than I thought they would. I never expected I’d get to meet a part of his family, let alone that it’d be this much of a success.
We even got to see pictures of their baby boy, Forest. Such a beautiful name.
Maybe we’ll get to meet him too, one day.
After Lock went to Cage’s fighting match, we all met at a local bar for a drink. We talked about Ella’s parents and how badly Lock wanted to apologize to them too, but Ella thought it was a bad idea, as Cage explained. She preferred not to tell them at all about what he did to her sister because it would hurt them too much. Instead, she’ll tell them about Cage’s brother, and let the man who took her sister be someone else.
It was her choice, so we accepted it. She seemed glad, so I guess that was what we wanted.
I get the feeling everyone wants to start with a clean slate.
I’m happy we got to make amends. Lock has finally stopped blaming himself for what happened to the girl.
Suzie. That was her name. According to Cage, Ella said she’s at peace in heaven.
I just pray Lock can move on too now that she’s forgiven him.
It’s a miracle, to say the least.
We can only hope the police won’t come after him either. But the case is so old now, and we’ve all changed. Not only mentally but physically too. We don’t look the same anymore, and I doubt they’re actually still looking for him.
We’re safe now. For the time being.
I’ve even gone back to work, so I could say hi to everyone and let them know how I was doing. And also because I needed to say goodbye to Pete and Ollie. There was a gathering at work to mourn our loss and to answer questions anyone may have had. I’m glad they didn’t ask much of me, though. No one blames me, which I’m happy for. It’s already tough enough to have witnessed them dying. And to be the only one to survive.
But right now, I’m okay. I’ve said my goodbyes; I’ve made my amends.
Within a few days, I’m sure I’ll be back at work again, doing my thing just as always.
Except something still gnaws at the back of my mind.
Something I can’t ignore.
Lock still isn’t happy.
It shows in everything he does. Whether it’s learning how to cook or watching the television or exploring my home. His face never lights up.
Even after I’ve made him taste literally everything from the supermarket and took him to the city to show him around. Books didn’t work either because he never learned how to read. The only thing that remotely excited him was the zoo … until he found out the animals were all stuck in a cage too.
I had to physically stop him from freeing them.
When we walk across the street, people look at him as if he’s a freak show. I know he’s huge, but that doesn’t give them the right to stare. But I guess people don’t understand.