Together in the Clouds

Chapter 3

Lise pushes her way through the thick foliage and steps into the clearing that Tuff and I have made our home the past few weeks. She's wearing the same dark layers of clothing as usual and carrying a small flat box.

"Nice hideaway. Took me forever to find you."

She lifts the lid of the box and presents it to me.

"Do you like donuts? My friend works at a coffee shop and gives me the day-olds for free. They're still good."

She steps closer and I look down at two rows of variously decorated spheres of fried dough.

"That's a Boston Cream, my personal favourite. I highly recommend it."

She points to a chocolate covered donut but I don't move or speak. I'm still recovering from the intrusion. There hasn't been another human in my personal space for weeks. Tuff adjusts faster than I do. Once he realizes there's no danger, he wags his tail and edges close to Lise. He's such a traitor when girls and food are involved. I swear he used to be a playboy in a past life. And like a teenage girl meeting a rock star, Lise responds to his advances. She balances the box in one hand and reaches down to rub his ears with the other.

"If you don't like Boston Cream, there're some jelly-filled, a crueller, a double chocolate – so good - and an apple fritter. Go on, take one."

I glance at the selection, then back at Lise. As far as I can tell, she poses no threat and just the sight of the donuts makes my stomach rumble. I pick out a jelly-filled.

"Not sure what kind of filling you'll get but, if you ask me, there's no such thing as a bad jelly-filled."

I bite into the donut and icing sugar floats down over my shirt. I wipe my chin but don't delay in taking a second bite. Lise waits to see my reaction.

"It's really good!" I say, through a mouthful of sweet, powdery dough.

"What flavour?"

"Lemon, I think."

Lise picks out the crueller and hands it to Tuff. Always a gentleman, Tuff takes it and lays it on the ground. He sniffs it and licks it, then flips it over with his nose for further inspection. He's not a picky eater, just cautious.

"Hilarious! I've never met a dog who didn't wolf down a donut in, like, two bites."

Lise picks out the Boston Cream, then closes the lid. We sit down cross-legged on the ground beside Tuff and eat our donuts in thoughtful silence. When she's finished, Lise wipes her face with her sleeve and looks around.

"Cool set-up. How long you been here?"

"Five weeks."

"You ever get scared down here by yourself?"

"I'm not by myself. Tuff's here."

"True, but still, you ever get scared?"

"I didn't until you came crashing onto the scene."

Lise nods at the obvious irony, hesitant to smile.

"If you ever do get scared, there's a shelter not too far away. It's pretty good. They don't ask many questions and as long as you're in by eight you're guaranteed a bed and a hot meal."

Lise offers me the box again and I take the double chocolate.

"Good choice," she says and takes the apple fritter for herself. Tuff looks hopeful but she doesn't give in, even when he uses his saddest eyes.

"What kind of shelter?"

"A homeless shelter for youth."

It takes me a second to understand what Lise is saying, and more importantly, what she's implying.

"But I'm not homeless."

Lise glances over at the tent and presses the corners of her mouth into a scowl.

"I can see you're well-equipped. But if you ever want a hot shower, maybe even a hot meal, there's a place you can go. That's all I'm saying."

"I'm okay. Really. This's just temporary. My home's on its way."

Lise stops chewing and narrows her eyes like she's trying to solve a riddle. She tucks a bite of donut in her cheek.

"Tell me how that works, exactly?"

"I live aboard with my father. He should be arriving in the next couple of weeks. Three at the most."

"You live aboard what?"

"A boat."

"What kind of boat?"

"A sailboat. A thirty-eight foot Catalina."

"Where's he coming from?"

"Miami."

"Let me recap in case I'm missing something. You and your dad live on a big-ass sailboat and he's bringing it up from Miami BY WATER and then you two are going to live up here?"

I nod and smile. I'm used to this reaction. I haven't met a lot of kids who grew up living on a boat. There were lots, like down in the Keys, who spent family holidays on their boat. And I met a few who were aboard for a year or two, sailing around the Caribbean so their parents could take a break from the rat race. But by the time kids get to my age, most sailing parents settle on land so they can send their kids to a proper secondary school. For reasons Dad and I can never quite figure out, a lot of people are inexplicably obsessed with getting what might be considered a formal education.

"Either you're bat-crap crazy or you think I am to swallow such a ridiculous story." Lise shakes her head and licks her fingers clean.

"What's so crazy about living on a boat?"

"I didn't know people lived on boats. Not like full-time."

"Dad and I've been living aboard nine years."

I stand and wipe bits of leaves and grass from my clothes. Tuff jumps up and begins to dance, like he can smell a walk on the breeze. Lise looks at me from her spot on the ground, but she doesn't move.

"What?" she finally says when I put my hands on my hips and look impatient.

"Let's go down to the lake. I guarantee there're people living on their boats down there. Lots of land people have a kind of boat blindness. They notice a bunch of boats tied to docks and they think, look at all the boats. But they don't see the boats individually and they certainly don't see the people living aboard. It happens to us all the time. But that's okay because we like being invisible."

Lise doesn't budge but opens the box of donuts one more time. She considers her choices before she takes a jelly-filled and bites into the side of it. "It's a long walk down to the lake, you know?"

She offers me the box but I pat my stomach. There's only so much dough I can swallow in one sitting, even if it's free.

"You've never been down to the lake, have you?"

Lise finishes her donut in two quick bites then jumps up like she's ready for a challenge.

"I been down to the lake plenty of times. After two years I been just about everywhere in this city. Good and bad."

She starts down the side of the hill at a fast pace and heads for the footpath that winds along the bottom of the ravine like a snake. Surprised, I scramble after her, and Tuff trots along at my heels.