Who You Say I Am (A Jai Courtney Fanfic)

Chapter 27-Jai

Jai

Meg and I make it to the group congregating just near the bus. There's a heap of things Ben was loading up before out on the ground now. He just started explaining what's going on. "Okay, everyone. The tents are here, the sleeping bags there. The married couples will have their own larger tents, the rest of us are split up separating males and females for obvious reasons. If we happen to have a downpour, we're to gather under the building over here," he says motioning to the freestanding pavilion behind him. There's open air on three sides with a wall on the back and a roof supported by beams. "It's not in the weather forecast but God makes up his own plans. The tents should be waterproof but if there's an onslaught, we'll be sleeping in here. Showers and restrooms are along the back wall separated by male and female. We'll set up the tents over there, have the lunch provided and get to work. The foundation has been set, support beams added, and the underground plumbing pipes are in. It's the only services that have been paid for by the school. We will handle the rest. Thanks God that we have so many skilled workers and apprentices here that've volunteered. The rest of us will assist as best as we can to fill in where needed.  Let's start with the setup."
He passes out what looks to be military grade tents and swag. I sigh at the camping experience but Megan looks excited. She grabs one of each and passes them to me before she gets them for herself. She looks up to me smiling and I can't help but be happy to be here with her. It honestly feels like she's getting over that bogan and I'm glad. There's plenty of time for me to help her move on. I see the sheilas go off in one direction and I sigh following the rest of the blokes.
I see some of them setting their stuff down and kind of waiting around.
"Do you blokes know how to set these up?" I ask everyone.
"Not really," Izaak shrugs.
"Nope," Efrem shakes his head.
I look around and nobody knows.
I sigh, "Alright. It's been like a decade or two for me but I think I remember."
I set my bag aside along with the swag. I open the bundle with the tent inside and lay out the parts. It all looks similar to what I'm used to. I show all of the blokes what to do. I use my foot or hand to push the pegs into the ground since I don't have a mallet. I set it up quickly and even get the rain fly up. I show them about how far away to space them and even help clearing some stones, sticks, and other debris out of the others' sites. Most everyone is working on setting up their own when Pastor Ben arrives with a mallet. I set my swag inside along with my luggage.
"Wow, you guys are fast," he says in disbelief. "I just got the ladies started."
"Do you need some help?" I offer.
"Nah, I've done this before," he tells me. "Some of the ladies could use some, though."
He doesn't need to ask me twice. I stride over to their area. I can already see Megan helping others so I join them.
"Need some help?" I offer.
"Sure," Meg grins up at me. "I've got just about everyone started. You want to help me with mine?"
I nod happily following her over. She tossed her things in a heap. We start by opening her bundle and laying out her inner tent. We allow enough room between the one next to us.
"Who's your neighbor?" I ask since it's up and they're gone.
"Gale," she says simply. "She's never camped before. She's pretty excited. I showed her how to set it up and now she's assisting the others."
We spread out the tent and I start to push the pegs into the ground.
"You can do that by hand?" she questions me surprised.
"Yeah. How'd you do the others?" I ask.
"I stepped on them until Pastor Ben came with the mallet," she explains. "You must have more finger strength than me."
I grin at her and I continue to put the rest of the pegs in place. We put the poles in and then put up the rain fly.
"Where are you at?" she asks.
"I'm only two down. Still neighbors," I smile.
She smiles back.
"Lunch!" I hear someone shout.
"Are you hungry?" I ask.
"I could eat," she shrugs.
I help her to set her things inside her tent and we walk to the covered area to get some tucker. I see a large, flat space nearby covered in cement with some metal beams and I realize that's what we're going to be working on.
We arrive to the pavilion. I see some picnic-style benches here. There are different Jamaican ladies serving up tucker than who I remember from the hotel area. There's a large stock pot they're scooping out large bowls of some kind of dish that smells delicious. Pastor Ben joins our side and he's rubbing his hands together excitedly.
"This one's called gungo peas soup," he tells everyone.
It looks like some sort of a stew. Meg takes a bowl and thanks the ladies. I do so as well. There's some sort of dumplings that I get also and what I'm told is lemonade but after I take a sip, it's more like a limeade. I'm not complaining, though.  It's good. I sit down with Megan and I'm all smiles that I'm here with her.
"Are you looking forward to all of the manual labor?" she teases.
"I honestly have no idea what we're going to be doing," I tell her.
"Truthfully... neither do I," she admits. "I think they'll probably keep the stronger guys together. I'm afraid my mom tattled on me and I won't be doing much."
"What makes you say that?" I question. She seems strong and capable.
"Since I was sick, my family has treated me like I can't do anything anymore, like I'm weak and helpless," she confides before taking a bite.
I rub her back in comfort. "What happened?" I ask.
She finishes chewing her bite before she explains, "I caught a bad cold during the flu season about this time last year. It got into my lungs and eventually turned into double pneumonia. It got so bad that I was hospitalized for a while. It damaged both of my lungs. My doctors are assuming the damage is permanent but I feel like I've been getting better. I only really have issues breathing when I'm under a lot of stress. The rescue inhaler helps. I try not to use it unless I really need it."
"What about the other one?" I ask. It was different looking.
"If the rescue inhaler isn't enough, I'm supposed to use that one daily to get my breathing back to normal—or as normal as it can be. I've only had to use it when I started treatment. I really haven't used it lately. My mom insisted I bring it because she wasn't sure how I'd react to the flights and the mountains. Our home is really low and flat—no mountains or hills—and she didn't know if the altitude would affect me," she elaborates.
"That makes sense," I nod. "Perhaps she's just worried about you."
"Yeah, I know she is," she replies. "It's just frustrating. I've always been so strong. It's hard to admit that I'm not sometimes."
"We all have times of weakness," I tell her gently.
"Yeah," she agrees.